Mankatsu

Katsudou Dai Shashin "Mankatsu" (roughly translated Big Movie Show "Mankatsu") aired on the Japanese satellite station WOWOW. The series presented a variety of short works from Monkey Punch. The core of each episode were two stories; a "Mini Stage" story lasted fifteen minutes with a thirty minute "Main Stage" after it. Wrapped around both of these segments were a series of eight vignettes ("Short Corners"). Additionally, the marketing for the original broadcast also mentioned a "Real Copy Gravure Idol Corner" segment featuring a lovely idol or model. These segments were not included on the DVD release, and this author has yet to see a raw broadcast recording to confirm these segments did air.

The stories and vignettes are all based on previous manga work by Monkey Punch. One of the more notable vignettes is "Lupin World" featuring our favorite band of thieves frustrating Zenigata at every turn. The name "Mankatsu" is given to vignettes revolving around the antics of various apes and monkeys that can only speak by saying "Mankatsu". Quite often, the Lupin cast would show up in these shorts as well.

Nearly all of the stories showcased Monkey Punch's ribald sense of humor. Two shorts focused solely on puns and wordplay intended to give the viewer one mental visual (usually sexual in nature) but then reveal a completely different, innocuous visual.

Japanese Title:

Katsudou Dai Shashin "Mankatsu"

Initial Air Date:

2003 June 24

Final Air Date:

???

Episode Count:

12

Run Time per Episode:

60 minutes