Haré+Guu

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Haré+Guu (Japanese: ジャングルはいつもハレのちグゥ, Hepburn: Janguru wa Itsumo Hare nochi Gū, literally "The Jungle Was Always Sunny, Then Came Guu") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Renjuro Kindaichi. Fan names for the series include Hare Nochi Guu, Haré+Guu, Jungle Hare Nochi Guu, Haré and Guu, and Jungle wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu

Haré is a boy who lives in a jungle village with his young, slightly-alcoholic mother Weda. Life is good in the jungle, and Haré is a happy boy, until the day a monster eats him. He wakes up the next morning, uneaten and in his own bed. While he is wondering if it was all a dream, Weda announces that she has adopted a little girl named Guu. With her pink hair, shining eyes, and sweet smile, Guu charms Haré's mother -- but when Weda's back is turned, Guu becomes a scowling dark presence that frightens Haré. Not only that, she is capable of swallowing anything she takes a fancy to -- whole bananas, live birds, even people and landscapes -- and Haré discovers that anything Guu swallows is still alive inside her, in a completely different world...

Haré's life turns into an endless parade of torments by Guu as he tries to keep her out of trouble, and find out what kind of creature she really is. This is all made rather difficult by the wide array of paranormal abilities she possesses, the bizarre supernatural events that happen around her, and her enjoyment in toying with Hare's neurosis.

Despite the apparent horror overtones, this is actually a rather wild and surreal comedy, kind of like the Cthulhu Mythos as written by Mel Brooks or perhaps Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker. It's filled with sight gags and absurdities (the "primitive" jungle village, for instance, is filled with all manner of conveniences such as a public address system and video games). Still, there are serious elements hidden behind the comedy -- for instance, Haré is almost 10, and his mother is only 24, and he worries about why she moved to the jungle village. A severe Mood Whiplash results when it turns out Weda got pregnant ten years ago by a character who COMES BACK, making Haré realize he's been a bastard child all this time.

The title of the series is a rather elaborate pun that can be read several different ways, due to different readings of some of the words:

  • In the Jungle was Always Hare but then came Guu
  • The Jungle was Always Nice, Then Came Guu
  • The Jungle Is Always Sunny or Hungry

and the most obscure, a pun on a common phrase in Japanese weather forecasts:

  • The Jungle Is Always Clear, With A Chance of Showers
  • The Jungle is Always Clear, With Scattered Guu

(where "Hare" means "clear" and "Guu" means "showers").

Any way you read it, it means Guu is turning Hare's life upside down.


Tropes used in Haré+Guu include:

Guu: And today's lesson is... no underwear.