HATE FUN 2003! Dokkoida?!

Smart, fun comedy from the once promising ufotable studio. Though looking back now, I think it was just the manga they were adapting and the fact they had Jun Shibata working for them that was their appeal.

Impoverished university student Suzuo Sakurazaki gets a part time job as a field tester for a toy company. Unfortunately the toy company is from outer space, and he’ll be testing a power suit. And unbeknownst to him, he’ll be sharing an apartment building with the field tester for a rival company AND a collection of super villains. Comedy ensues. There’s an element of satire running through it, as well as a degree of sadness (all the villains have a tint of tragedy to them), but the series has a big enough heart that never seems exceptionally mean or dwells in melancholy.

And what points it loses in using the well worn “alien can’t cook human food gag”, it makes up for having a character look like dog-eared, disturbing 70s puppet Hartley Hare.

One thing I really liked about this show was the ED animation, which reminded me a little of how the old Paddington Bear cartoon used to look: