Anime movie review- Kochikame movie

Kochikame is one of the best selling mangas in Japan. It follows the life of a good for nothing middle aged cop named Ryotsu who works in Kameari police station. Ryotsu's wealth is spent in buying mangas, toys, gambling, pachinko and drinking. Ryotsu's creativity is tapped to its fullest for devising money making schemes which are often financed by Nakagawa, his subordinate. His boss, Ohara is a father figure and critisizes him for his faults. There are other side characters who appear in the series like Honda (an ex- motorcycle gang leader), Sakonji (a dating simulation fan), Maria (a former boxer), Ryotsu's creditors and Reiko, one of Ryotsu's colleagues.

Kochikame is a laugh out loud comedy which efficiently uses Ryotsu's character to churn out amusing situations and lots of jokes. His colleagues are also used to create comedic situations. Kochikame remains the longest running manga in Japan which has been running for over thirty years with over 170 volumes in print. Unfortunatley, neither the anime nor the manga have been licensed. The movie is available with english subtitles. Some of the anime episodes I have earlier seen also have subtitles. The mangas is currently not scantalated by anyone in english.

The movie is a mixture of seriousness and light hearted comedy. It starts with the most serious case Ryotsu has ever seen in his life- the bombing of Shinatora's (a multi-millionare who builds ugly buildings) buildings. A pro bomber called Benten is the source of these bombings and swears to wipe out Shinatora's empire. The police force is alerted. All the cops (including Ryotsu) are forced to investigate the bombings. Ryotsu is paired with Lisa, an expert in bomb disposal. She has a robot which helps her.
The movie is hillarious in the beginning but later drifts to a serious tone. Ryotsu's lack of technological knowledge, narrow mindedness, money making schemes and traditional behaviour are prominent. Lisa and Ryotsu become good friends during the movie. Later, Ryotsu discovers that Lisa is Benten. He compares bombing to crackers and tells her that the only difference between them is that fireworks bring happiness wheras bombs brings sadness. Lisa is touched by Ryotsu's rare display of sesitivity and decides to quit her job as a bomber. Since no one is harmed or killed, she doesn't get any serious punishment. Ryotsu goes back to being a full time slacker.

The movie was more balanced than the series because it had emotional as well as funny scenes. The anime focuses on comedy and Ryotsu's money making schemes while the movie focused on his human side. The story-line was strong. The characters were the same ones in the manga and anime with Lisa being an addition to the cast. Lisa is not shown in the anime. Ryotsu's character is strong and unique and that's what keeps this show going.

The animation is good and the illustrations are bearable. Kochikame is one of the most hillarious anime/manga out there and should not be missed. Viz should translate it soon. The series maintains its light tone.

I would definitely recommend Kochikame to everyone because this series truly makes me laugh. It is hillarious. I have tried other hillarious mangas (Ranma 1/2, Shinchan) but they failed to make me smile. Kochikame definitely should not be missed.
I saw the anime before the movie but I guess it is all right to see the movie before the anime.

Art- 4.2/5
Music- (I couldn't hear any)
Characters- 4.6/5
Storyline- 4.5/5
Overall- 4.4/5