Nine episodes have been fansubbed so far, and as it seems somewhat overlooked and I’m enjoying it, here’s a brief bit of enthusiasm for it.
I wondered a little as to who it was aimed at. While it’s from NHK Education, the educational content seems a little hidden by gags based on famous scientists. But then I realised I was underestimating the kids watching it, after all when I was a kid I had smart science humour aimed at me from Johnny Ball, Wilf Lunn and the like. And kids today are getting smart historical humour aimed at them with Horrible Histories. So it’s entirely fair that Japanese kids get this comedy that comically defines scientists by their discoveries and theories.
So we have a pretty boy Isaac Newton obsessed with apples. Marie Curie adds radium to everything. Heinrich Hertz runs a noodle stand with noodles of different frequencies. And so on. The writing is smart and funny, and manages to work in a scientific theory into each episode’s silly, often slapstick takes on famous physicists.
Then on top of great scripts, there’s the wonderful character and background design and even better colour design. Occasionally it’s undone a little by shot composition that gets too busy, but it’s still one of the more visually interesting shows of this year.