Cinderella Boy
You think about Takehiko Inoue and “Slam Dunk”, “Vagabond”, “Real” comes to mind.
You think about Rumiko Takahashi and “Lamù”, “Ranma 1/2”, “Inuyasha” comes to mind.
You think about Monkey Punch and “Lupin the Third” comes to mind.
Stop.
Few other authors of the Japanese anime scene have linked their name so inextricably to a single character, capable with his own endless and imperishable fame of "vampirising" the one who life has given him. The masterpiece had already been completed, and the brave Monkey Punch (stage name of Kazuhiko Kato) did not oppose particular resistance to the siren song of oblivion. Since then he has practically lived on an income, firmly supported by that real empire created around the most famous Japanese-French thief in the world and transforming his profession of mangaka more into a pleasure than into a food urgency.
Artistic epitaphs aside, it is not exactly correct to say that Monkey Punch has not produced anything other than “Lupin the Third” (“Rupan Sensei”); in the now distant 1965 he gained a certain notoriety thanks to "Playboy Nyumon" published on the pages of the magazine "Manga Story", followed shortly by "Ginza Senpuji" and, two years later, by the quartet of thieves who gave him eternal fame.
Over the years the various "Isshuku Itteki", "Gyaku Isoppu Monogatari", "Dracula-kun" and "Toomei Shinshi" followed.
Monkey Punch in recent years has preferred to supervise the creation of new animated series based on his favorite subjects rather than bowing his head at the drawing board on pen and paper. The series "Shiyamu-neko", "Scoopers" or "Saver Kids" were born from his intuitions.
An incredible career certainly but, honestly, who knows these works by him? Are we sure anyone still remembers him for these series?
At the age of sixty-six Monkey Punch had another television intuition, from which "Cinderella Boy" was born, an anime in thirteen episodes proposed by Shin Vision almost simultaneously with the Japanese airing and broadcast in Italy on MTV.
The anime is set in the near future. The imaginary town of Kirin Town holds a very unenviable record, that of the city with the highest crime rate in the world. To clean up the streets of so much scum who else is better than a former criminal converted to the cause of justice? No! For this purpose the chosen protagonist Ranma manages an investigative agency (based inside a caravan) together with the busty Rella: the "R&R". The two could not be more different: Ranma is messy, penniless and clumsy, Rella is rich, sophisticated and a lover of luxury. Nevertheless, as per tradition, opposites attract and although never clearly explained, it is clear that there is something tender between the two. Divided in everything, therefore, except at work, where they form a close-knit couple beyond the congenital differences in the way they operate.
Unfortunately for them the work/sentimental idyll ends soon and also in a tragic way. During a harmless investigation inside a casino aimed at unmasking the vice of the green table of a very inconsiderate husband, the two become aware of a gigantic arms trafficking, in which the casino acts as a cover. Discovered by surveillance, Ranma and Rella just have to try a desperate escape through the streets of the city aboard their levitating car (we are in the future after all). The escape will have a dramatic epilogue: pressed by the henchmen who have launched in pursuit of them, the car is channeled into a track of the motorway still under construction, ending its run in a kaleidoscope of fire and flames after a flight of tens of metres.
So does the end come at the beginning of the anime ? Of course not. Because someone intervenes to their rescue. Who it is is not clear, perhaps a doctor, or a mad scientist or a god; the fact is that Ranma wakes up perfectly unharmed where the car had crashed. Small detail: a week has passed and there is no trace of Rella. The afflicted Ranma becomes convinced that a mocking twist of fate saved his life, but not his partner whose death he mourns.
But Ranma hasn't come to terms with the most unexpected of secrets: Rella is not dead but rather lives in him. Or perhaps it is he who lives in Rella. Technological prodigy or magical intervention, the reality is this: every midnight Ranma loses his dangling masculine features to gain the shapely ones of Rella, and so in reverse the next day and for all the following days. The two detectives are thus forced to live on alternate days without the possibility of meeting and without retaining the memory of the day spent in each other's shoes.
From this moment on, misunderstandings abound and both Ranma and Rella begin the frantic search for a partner who always seems to escape at the last moment. Will they be able to solve the riddle?
Meanwhile there is a detective agency to carry on ...
There was great anticipation among animation fans for this series at the time of its announcement, if only for the important name of Monkey Punch who was baptizing the launch. Was it a trust repaid? Sorry to admit it but unfortunately the answer is “no”. Damn "no".
"Cinderella Boy" represents one of the most burning disappointments coming from Japan in recent times and the reason is easy to say: this series is bad. Without possibility of appeal. That behind its design there is the hand of the master Kazuhiko Kato can be guessed only from two factors: the features and movements of Ranma (modeled on those of the million times more famous Lupin III) and the tendency of the protagonists to remain naked for the most varied reasons (nude shown in any case with a modesty that one would not expect from its author).
For the rest it's all a symphony in decline, starting with a technical side that mortifies the entire series. The animations are not very present, and even when they are used more consistently the result is stiff and graceless. It wouldn't even be the worst of evils if this already debilitating factor didn't add a very uninspired characterization of the characters, all of them, without exception. Ranma himself, despite being on balance a Lupin with more hair, turns out to be not very expressive and, consequently, not very intriguing and much less likeable than he would like to be.
Rella? Fans of Monkey Punch are too familiar with the dead cat Fujiko to take her seriously. Outside the circle of protagonists, the result is even more bleak, specks without an iota of personality that empty each episode of any dramatic, humorous or sensual intent. In summary: this cartoon is badly drawn and even worse animated.
Just a few backdrops are appreciated (and it is not the first time this has happened in an anime), but this is certainly not enough to save "Cinderella Boy" from shipwreck. Strange indeed that the creator of "Lupin III" was given such a limited and so badly used budget; he really didn't deserve it.
And there would also be a discussion on the level of the scripts. The reference target of the series is low, too low compared to what this anime is aiming for. Each story inevitably dissolves into farcical comedy, nullifying any dramatic premise. The seasoned Monkey Punch has always shown that he prefers the humorous and grotesque side of his stories, but not for this renouncing bloody staged and very little veiled sexual allusions. In "Cinderella Boy" all this is missing; probably the author has changed over time, perhaps times have changed or perhaps we have changed.
Only the observation remains that this anime is not fun and does not involve. Just enough to decide its fate.
The Shin Vision shows its proven professionalism, and despite the obvious deficits demonstrated by the series, it takes care of presenting it to the Italian public in a more than acceptable guise, albeit with notable qualitative ups and downs. The video is simply excellent, with very bright, saturated colors that don't show the slightest sign of compression artefacts. Much less excellent are the menus, absolutely minimal and not very animated. On the other hand, the extras sector is really subdued: two versions of the opening and closing theme songs (however very beautiful and full of rhythm, by Domino 88 and Takako respectively), the DVD credits (!) and the inevitable trailers.
Another flaw could be represented by the sound: you have to settle for a Dolby Digital 2.0; however, the conditional finds a raison d'être in the fact that the anything but exaggerated technical claims put on the plate by the series make it absolutely enjoyable even in this way. More than on the audio format, however, it is necessary to emphasize the duo of Italian voice actors Franco Mannella (Ranma) and Barbara De Bortoli (Rella), simply heroic in the dedication with which they do their utmost to enrich the psychological depth thanks to their intonations of the characters with so little bite.
It's almost sad to note that the good brought to light on a technical level by this DVD has been lavished on a negligible anime such as "Cinderella Boy".
Sentence without appeal then? Just wanting to throw one last lifesaver to the series, it could be said that Lupin III fans could find a certain taste in reliving with "Cinderella Boy" some brief stylistic flashes learned to know in Monkey Punch's complete work. Before the comparison between the two series overwhelms them in a whirlwind of dismayed disappointment.
But we are really at the fruit and the verdict can only be one: "Cinderella Boy" is a charmless anime, largely recycled (badly) and technically modest.
