Oruchuban Ebichu



"That's the wrong hole!" -- Ebichu

a.k.a. Ebichu Minds the House; Ebichu the Housekeeping Hamster

Ebichu is the talking pet hamster of a woman identified only as "Owner", "O.L.", or "Office Lady", a 25 year old, technically single woman facing Christmas Cake status. O.L.'s life consists of trying to get by, negotiating the hazards of dating her philandering boyfriend "Kaishounachi" -- a nickname literally meaning "useless" -- and beating Ebichu like an ugly redheaded stepchild on Sunday for minor infractions and major insults. Ebichu's life consists of thankless housework, cheese, an astonishing lack of anything remotely resembling tact, an unfortunate tendency to interrupt O.L. and Kaishounachi in flagrante delicto, and getting beaten violently. Around this core swims a sea of perverts, private moments made public, illicit liasons, promiscuity, and the odd side character who finds Ebichu sexually attractive.

Kid's fare, this is not.

The show was originally part of an anthology series (Ai no Awa-awa Hour) and each episode is approximately eight minutes apiece. While the other two components were reputedly much tamer (and forgotten by the fanbase) the good people at Studio Gainax apparently took advantage of the late-night time slot to push the envelope as to what Japanese censors would allow. The result was a frequently hilarious, incredibly irreverent show whose short format perfectly suited the rapid-fire verbal and visual zingers.

According to one source, the origin of the anime stems from the production of Neon Genesis Evangelion; Kotono Mitsuishi would read the manga between takes to lighten the mood, often showing others why she was laughing. The decision was eventually made to animate it for Ai no Awa-awa, and the lead role was promptly offered to Mitsuishi.

For those not easily offended, it is an enjoyable series which would not require a huge investment of time to see. The whole shebang is on Youtube, if you dare. (Warning: Extremely NSFW.)

This series provides examples of:

 * Big Eater - for something her size, Ebichu is a surprisingly big eater.
 * Brand X - Several renamed popular products. (Zabu detergent = "Zabubu". Donna Karan New York (DKNY) = DINKY. Yebisu beer = "Yebichu", a joke carried over from Evangelion.)
 * Christmas Cake
 * Cute but Cacophonic -- Ebichu; the cute part is open to question.
 * Dead Baby Comedy - Dead, and thrown in a blender.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything and Lampshaded Double Entendre in equally hefty portions.
 * Dream Within a Dream (Makun dreaming about Ebichu)
 * Easily Forgiven -- All it takes is a few kind words from Kaishounachi, and Office Lady will immediately forget his neglectful nature.
 * Fan Service and even Hentai, subverted into the ground.
 * Family Unfriendly Violence -- not that the show in general is family friendly, but you don't expect a tiny rodent to have so much blood...
 * Foot Focus -- Sometimes, whenever OL attacks Ebichu.
 * From the Mouths of Babes: Nearly all of Ebichu's lines, and the main reason she gets beaten up so much.
 * Gratuitous English -- the opening sequence of "Ebichuman"
 * Hoist By His Own Petard -- OL once drugged Kaishounachi's drink to make him stay. She drank her glass that comes from the same, drugged drink, knocking her out too.
 * Interspecies Romance -- Makun and Ebichu
 * Jerkass -- Office Lady and Kaishounachi. The former is usually only mean because of Ebichu's antics, but the latter has no excuse.
 * Kotono Mitsuishi in the title role.
 * Nosebleed -- Makun is extremely susceptible to this.
 * Mahjong -- Makun first meets Ebichu over a game of Mahjong.
 * Michie Tomizawa as Office Lady.
 * Mitsuo Iwata as Makun.
 * Office Lady
 * Only Known By Their Nickname -- The protagonist is simply known as OL (Office Lady); her sexual partner as Kaishounachi (useless bum)
 * Padding - Oh my..the already short episodes are padded with stock sequences of Ebichu wiping the floor, etc.
 * The parts you're referring to are actually just short segue clips shown before and after commercials.
 * Refuge in Audacity (the show's sexual escapades are done in deliberately crude style to keep them humorous and unappealing)
 * Running Gag - Many of them, run straight into the ground, through it, and out the other side.
 * Satchel Switcheroo -- In "Ebichuman 3", Ebichu mixes up two packages she is supposed to deliver.
 * Stylistic Suck -- Just to make sure it's not turning you on ...
 * Superhero Episode -- Ebichuman
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial -- This is exactly why Ebichu is a Bad Liar
 * Talking Animal
 * Tomokazu Seki reuniting with his Evangelion co-star as Kaishounachi.
 * Trademark Favorite Food -- Ebichu loves camembert cheese and ice cream, and to a lesser extent, syrup.
 * Unusually Uninteresting Sight: A talking hamster who does chores? Nothing weird about that, no siree!
 * A Worldwide Punomenon -- The "manko" (pussy) puns will surely get on your nerves by episode 15 or so.