Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
Arumi and Sasshi
Genre	Parody
Manga
Abenobashi: Magical Shopping Arcade
Written by	Gainax
Published by	Kodansha
Anime
Directed by	Hiroyuki Yamaga
Studio	Gainax

Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (アベノ橋魔法☆商店街, Abenobashi Mahō Shōtengai) is a 13-episode Japanese TV series and manga from the famous anime studio Gainax; it is directed by Hiroyuki Yamaga. This series has been licensed for North American distribution by ADV Films, initially as a 4 volume set, and later repackaged as a smaller 3 DVD thin-pak collection with fewer extras. The series aired on G4's (At the time TechTv) Anime Unleashed.

Story

Template:Spoiler Childhood friends Arumi and Sasshi are residents of the Abenobashi shopping district in Osaka, Japan. After an accident, they find themselves transported to another Abenobashi, in another world — a world based on RPG-style videogames such as Dragon Quest.

Arumi and Sasshi attempt to get back to their own Abenobashi, but willy-nilly find themselves traversing a series of apparently nonsensical worlds based on genres including science fiction, war, fantasy, dating sim games, and even American movie genres such as film noir. Their quest to return home is at core a Bildungsroman because the Abenobashi dimensions are mostly hobby worlds of increasing sophistication. Not only does each alternate Abenobashi manifest Sasshi's otaku fetishes in surreal fashion, they are peopled by surreal analogs of Arumi and Sashi's relatives and acquaintances. They also repeatedly encounter a mysterious blue-haired stranger who is eventually revealed to be the man who developed the shopping arcade itself decades before: the legendary onmyoji mystic Abe no Seimei.

Eventually it is learned that Sasshi does not want to go home, and in fact is the sole force propelling them between worlds. While chasing the cat in the first episode, Grandpa Masa (Arumi's grandfather) fell off the roof and died. With this new trauma pressuring him in addition to his apprehension about the destruction of the shopping arcade and the Asahinas' moving away, Sasshi was no longer willing or able to cope with reality, and unbeknownst to even himself, he had caused their dimension to rewrite itself into worlds echoing his escapist obsessions.

However, Eutus and Mune are quite real. During the Heian Era, Abeno Seimei (aka Eutus) was a close childhood friend of a noble named Masayuki, and his wife, Mune. While he was away from the palace, Masayuki often asked Seimei to stay by his wife's side, guarding her and keeping her company. However, during the time they spent together, Mune and Seimei fell in love and became increasingly romantically involved. Unbeknownst to them, Masayuki soon learned of the affair, and became overcome with grief and jealousy. One day while Seimei was on a trip to Edo, Masayuki snapped, murdered Mune and committed suicide. Guided by a premonition, Seimei rushed back to his hometown only to find that he was too late. Overcome with guilt, he decided to perform a forbidden Onmyo ritual that would allow him to resurrect the dead by transferring himself into a completely different world where they were still alive. In doing so, Seimei soon found himself as "Mr. Abe" in mid-20th-century Osaka, where Mune Imamiya and Masayuki Asahina were pre-existing residents of this alternate world. Now, Masayuki was an ambitious, but largely unsuccessful young man who had enlisted Mr. Abe's permission to buld the Abenobashi Shopping Arcade. He was also madly in love with Mune, a local girl whom he tried to woo (with little success) at every possible occasion. It was not long, however, before Mune fell in love with Abe, constantly pursuing him and offering him home-made lunch. Abe tried for a time to resist her advances, but eventually he was no longer able to contain his feelings, and made love with Mune in his apartment. Unbeknownst to them, an instantly-jealous Masayuki accidentally discovered the truth. The next night he became staggeringly drunk and invited Abe to meet him at the Abeno Shrine, planning to murder him with a hidden butcher knife when he arrived. At first unsuspecting, Abe arrived on the scene, but once he saw the decrepitly drunk Masa he knew what was underfoot. He promptly bid Masayuki farewell, then disappeared, going back to his job in the Heian Era, leaving a pregnant Mune behind him; her child is Sasshi's father.

Because of Masayuki's death in the real world, Sasshi, the grandson of Eutus, subconciously triggered the same Onmyo spell that Seimei had originally used to bring himself, Masayuki and Mune into the "real" world; therefore, although each world exists as Sasshi had envisioned it, Masayuki, Eutus, and Mune existed in each one; since he had not previously known Eutus and Mune, they retain the same appearance as they were when Eutus first cast the spell.

After revealing all this to Sasshi, Eutus decides to train him in the ways of Onmyodo, so he can figure out how to return himself and Arumi to their proper world. However, Sasshi is still reluctant to return to his world, as he cannot bring himself to tell Arumi the truth about her grandfather. After visiting several more bizarre (but increasingly elaborate) worlds, Sasshi finds himself with no other places to escape to, and he and Arumi are confronted by none other than Sasshi's father, who had apparently remained unaffected by the changing worlds the entire time. He tell Sasshi that he cannot keep running from reality, and that it is time to return to his and Arumi's proper world. However, when Arumi realizes the truth, Sasshi suffers an emotional breakdown, and suddenly transports them to another world again. This world, however, is a world of pure nothingness, and the only other person there is Mune-Mune. After confronting Mune as his grandmother and undergoing a long process of internal reflection, Sasshi hesitantly agrees to go back home. However, as Arumi soberly thanks him (for what is a subject of potential debate) Sasshi is overcome with frustration over his own helplessness to change his world, and calls out for Abeno Seimei, angrily demanding to know why he is "still a child".

Ending

The meaning of the events directly following this scene is uncertain, and still a subject of debate among fans. Abeno Seimei appears, and casts a spell on Sasshi, revealing his future to be that of Kamono Yasunori, another famous Onmyoji of renown comparable to Seimei himself. The scene switches back to what appears to be the "real" Abenobashi Shopping Arcade. Grandpa Masa is again chasing the cat on the roof of the Pelican Diner; however, this time the cat jumps off of the pelican statue just in time, and instead of falling to his death, Masayuki steps off the framework instead, to greet Sasshi and Arumi. It is subsequently revealed that the Asahinas' business deal was called off at the last minute, and the Abenobashi Shopping Arcade is now sceduled for renovation instead of demolition. The series ends with Sasshi and Arumi watching the sunset from the roof of the Pelican Diner; it is unclear whether they remember any of their experiences traveling between dimensions anymore. As they look out over the city, the Asahinas come out of the diner to greet the man in charge of the new renovation project, Mr. Abe, accompanied by his assistant, Mune. As the final scene ends, Sasshi quips to Arumi what was originally her line: "Bein' human, havin' your health - that's all that matters, right?" Whether Sasshi has actually altered reality, or if they are still in an incredibly advanced hobby world, is never revealed.

Cultural Context and Adaptations

The series is replete with cultural allusions to elements of Japanese media, pop culture, dialects, stereotypes, businesses, games, anime, and even puns and train routes, so much so that the American DVD release includes a special feature which enables pop-up glosses: AD Vid-Notes. The distinctive Osaka dialect (or Kansai-ben), for example, is put to good comic use throughout the series.

The English dub for the series equates the Osaka dialect with an English Texan dialect. A pamphlet included in the first DVD volume of the series states that a Texan accent was determined to be the English equivalent of Kansai-ben because of the similarities shared by both districts in terms of cultural significance and portrayal in the media. Further supporting this decision is the "cowboy"-style appearance of Sasshi's hat, as well as the frequent use of banjo music in the soundtrack - all things that Western viewers would, incidentally, associate with the Texas region.

The manga of the same name was created after the anime was developed, and while the major characters and plot elements remain the same, the overall story arc was (according to the production notes in the first volume) changed to fit the medium better, and a few new characters and subplots are added (i.e Sasshi is shown to have feelings for Arumi and confesses them in the last half of the second volume; in the anime, Sasshi is not shown to care for Arumi anymore than as his best friend). Furthermore, the manga features more frontal nudity than the anime.

Characters

Satoshi "Sasshi" Imamiya - Sasshi Imamiya is a precocious, hyperactive 12-year-old boy with an Osaka accent. Something of an otaku (he takes more pride in this in the manga), he has a huge passion for collecting things such as baseball cards and vending machine toys. He's also a big fan of RPGs, sci-fi, dinosaurs, guns, and dating simulation games. Sasshi's family used to run the local bathhouse, the Turtle Bath, but was forced to give it up and move out due to redevelopment plans for the Abenobashi shopping arcade area. Sasshi spends his lazy days hanging out with his best friend Arumi.

Voiced by: Tomo Saeki (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)

Arumi Asahina - Seemingly the more influential, or, at least domineering of the two, 12-year-old Arumi Asahina is Sasshi’s best friend and classmate, having practically grown up together with him in the Abenobashi Shopping Arcade. A sensible and pragmatic girl, who acts as the more rational counterweight to Sasshi’s oddball antics, Arumi can often be found keeping Sasshi in line by smacking him with her paper fan whenever he makes stupid comments or is up to no good. Arumi’s eccentric father and stubborn grandfather run a French restaurant in the Shopping Arcade known as the Grill Pelican. It appears, however, that the Asahina family will be closing up shop in the near future as part of redevelopment in the area and moving to Hokkaido, forcing Arumi to leave Sasshi behind.

Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka (Japanese), Jessica Boone (English)

Masayuki Asahina "Grandpa Masa" - Masayuki Asahina, or Grandpa Masa as he’s known to the kids, is Arumi’s grandfather and the founder of the family’s restaurant, Grill Pelican. A stubborn and grumpy old man, Grandpa Masa is dead set against the idea of closing the Grill Pelican and leaving Abenobashi, despite his son’s urging to join the family in moving to Hokkaido to work in a high quality French restaurant at a resort hotel there. Having put his life’s work into the Grill Pelican, and his livelihood in Abenobashi, Grandpa Masa remains defiant to the end. The Rashomon-like Flashback episode, which tells the story of the beginning of Abenobashi and something of Masa's life and loves, is told from his POV as a young man.

Voiced by: Takeshi Aono (Japanese), Andy McAvin (English)

Mune-Mune - Sasshi and Arumi routinely encounter this energetic red-head in the assorted Abenobashi dimensions. Initially extremely well endowed (much to Sasshi’s delight), Mune-Mune becomes noticeably less florid through the course of the series as his perception of her matures, or at least becomes less immature. Her numerous attempts to either "kill" or to "help" the children, which are always undertaken with great flair, stand out against even the surreal background of the hobby worlds. More seriously, however, Mune-Mune is nearly always searching for Eutus, of whom she is quite fond; their backstory is alluded to in the Flashback episode. In the Heian Period Eutus reveals to Sasshi the true nature of her relationship with Sasshi.

Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (Japanese), Kaytha Coker (English)

Sayaka Imamiya - Sayaka Imamiya is Sasshi’s older sister. A stereotypical teenage girl, she is quite intent on being cool by shying away from the family’s Osaka influences; she also diets and has an interest in fortune telling. Sayaka frequently shows up within the various Abenobashi dimensions accompanying Mune-mune and Ms. Aki as the Abenobashi Angels -a troika which has more in common with the Marx Brothers than the Three Graces.

Voiced by: Akemi Okamura (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)

Ms. Aki - The neighborhood cross-dresser who wears a thick application of make-up, Ms. Aki has been good friends with the kids for a very long time. While nothing is revealed of Ms. Aki’s background, this peculiar individual has been a resident of the Abenobashi Shopping Arcade for years and is quite knowledgeable about the history of the area and its residents. Ms. Aki typically shows up in the different dimensions of Abenobashi in the company of Sayaka or Mune-mune, but whatever the dimension, Ms. Aki is not easy on the eyes. In the manga, he is shown to be a manly boy, until he sees Masa's Moé drawing of Mune-Mune.

Voiced by: Kouji Ishii (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English)

Eutus - Eutus, a.k.a. Abe no Seimei, is a mage, demiurge, geomancer, psychopomp, Fifth Business and property developer whom Sasshi and Arumi encounter as they wander through the various Abenobashi dimensions, typically at or near the climax (or anti-climax!) of an episode. He recognizes that he and Sasshi share some sort of powerful fate or yuanfen, although it takes him a while to comes to terms with this. Eutus initially comes off as a wise know-it-all who hates being called “Mister” due to the implied difference in age -he would much rather be referred to as "Bro", or something similar -more of the man behind the persona is revealed in the Heian Period. Eutus has had some covert but powerful connection to the Abenobashi Shopping Arcade from the very beginning, but apparently this connection has not always served him well. For the duration he is doomed to wander the various Abenobashi dimensions until the cause of this misfortune is somehow rectified; this frame story is arguably the MacGuffin of the series. Despite being the Fifth Business of the piece, it is strongly implied in the flashback episode that he and Mune-Mune are lovers. This is also mentioned in the Noir Episode. In this episode, she claims he always watches the stars, a sentiment with which he does not agree...

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)

Kouhei - Foul-mouthed, boisterous and (seemingly) neighborly, Kouhei is a rather shady businessman who runs a stall selling food as well as many different trinkets that may or may not be as helpful as he claims. Kouhei always seems to have a friendly aside for Sasshi and Arumi - especially when he perceives the opportunity to wring them for money. Kouhei is a supporting character who always doing pretty much what he does in the original world, but always with a slightly bizarre twist which is in keeping with the Abenobashi dimension. Despite his surly demeanor and shady motives, Sasshi and Arumi still view him as a neighbor and accept him as part of the Abenobashi community.

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), John Gremillion (English)

Abenobashi Dimensions/Hobby Worlds

• Medieval RPG World (Sasshi quests, dies, and resurrects repeatedly until he and Arumi defeat an Evil Overlord in surprising fashion)
• Science Fiction World (although Arumi loses her panties to a goblin in a mecha milieu, she and Sasshi must nonetheless combine into a giant robot to defeat Space Pirates)
• Hong Kong World (Sasshi must compete in a martial arts tournament)
• B.C. World (featuring cartoon-like dinosaurs for which Sasshi nevertheless knows the exact taxonomic classifications)
• Film Noir World (a pastiche of Edwardian London, American gangster movies, hard boiled detective pulp fiction, and film noir in general)
• Flashback World (not an Abenobashi dimension from Sasshi's head, but rather its genesis circa Sputnik (itself depicted in the opening credits))
• Dating Sim World (a parody of the genre featuring several well-known anime characters, this is by far Sasshi's favorite world - and Arumi's most despised)
• Heian Period (the classical historical era which is the site of Eutus's bachelor pad, this world is arguably his Hobby World)
• Fairy-tale World (Sasshi's idea of a girl's fairy-tale world, as wrought by his new-found onmyyou powers)
• War World (the conflict between Arumi wanting to return home and Sasshi wanting to stay in order to prevent her grandfather's death is made manifest)
• Fake Abenobashi/Movie World (a rousing pastiche of Hollywood action films)
• Blank World (Sasshi's attempt to warp into another world so Arumi won't find out about Grandpa Masa.)

Goblins

• Medieval RPG World - A blue goblin with two horns
• Science Fiction World - A goblin that resembles Pikachu and wears Arumi's panties on its head.
• Hong Kong World - A goblin that looks like a three-eyed "bottle" with arms and legs
• B.C. World - A green goblin resembling a cat
• Film Noir World - Eutus (not really a goblin, but decided to bring them back himself)
• Dating Sim World - Arumi
• Heian Period - Sasshi
• Fairy-tale World - A bunch of goblins that work for Sasshi while he is an Omnyu Mystic.

External links

• Official US release website
• Template:Ja icon Official website
• Magical☆Shopping Arcade Abenobashi OST: Abenobashi Magical Music Mansion at MusicBrainz