Not Goldfish Warning, Goldfish Forecast. That’s what Toei call it, so that’s what I’m calling it.
I was originally planning on doing another “What Anime Looked Like In 199X” post for 1991, but I thought I’d actually dip into a few of these shows first. Starting with Goldfish Forecast.
The show’s position in history is that of a precursor to Sailor Moon, in that many of the staff would move onto that show. Notably it shares a director in Junichi Sato, and a composer in Takanori Arisawa. Kunihiko Ikuhara (Utena, Penguin Drum) and Takuya Igarashi (Ouran Host Club, Star Driver) directed some episodes on this show too. But you could have learnt that from wikipedia anyway.
Based on the shoujo manga by Neko Nekobe, it’s basic plot should be that of a heart warming melodrama. An orphan whose only friend is a goldfish battles evil upper-class schoolgirls and the family lawyer who is trying to steal her inheritance. It could almost be a WMT storyline.
Except into that has been inserted an pink haired chirpy Arale-chan-alike with near super human speed, a kid who dresses like Maverick from Top Gun and a whole load of farm animals with near human intelligence. Then the orphan herself is fairly unlikeable. And everyone over reacts to everything to the point where their eyes are popping out their heads.
The first episode contains two stories, the first introduces us to Chitose Fujinomiya, the poor little rich orphan who’s been booted out of Metropolitan Academy with her valuable lucky goldfish, Gyopi. She is found by the students of impoverished Countryside Junior High, led by pink haired, Super Deformed, hyperactive moppet Wapiko.
They help her get back her inheritance and she buys the school so she can use it to get revenge on her former Metropolitan Academy classmates who turned on her.
The second story sees Chitose’s corrupt lawyer team up with the Metropolitan Academy student council, while the revived Countryside Junior High starts to take in new students, some of which are actually human beings.
It’s not particularly packed with gags, but there’s a degree of humour from the characters and more from the extreme reactions they have to events. There’s not enough use made of big eyes that squish and stretch and explode nowadays. In Goldfish Forecast they are the most energetic part of the human body, except maybe for Wapiko’s super fast legs.
Also there’s a lot of funny looking animals. Animals that are technically about as far away from being anatomically correct as you can get while still being recognisable as cows, chickens, pigs and cats are always pretty funny. This is why I’m excited about Akitaro Daichi’s Poyopoyo show next year. Who doesn’t want a show about a spherical cat?
So, a pleasant enough show that warmed up some creators before they started making a big impact.