Don't let the cute hamster fool you.

After finishing Evangelion, Hideaki Anno wanted to chill the heck out, so one of his next projects was the adaptation of three adult manga about the realities of modern relationships. The anime is super dirty and was only shown on later night TV in Japan. Gainax originally planned to make 48 episodes, but for whatever reason, changed the number to a typical run of 24 shows.

Oruchuban Ebichu (Ebichu minds the house)

So far, Ebichu is the only of the three show segments to be fansubbed. A friend of Anno's introduced him to the manga. Kotono Mitsuishi (the voice of Misato in Evangelion) was also a fan of the manga and signed on to voice Ebichu.

Ebichu is a crazy show and it's not everyone's taste. It takes some getting used to, but if you just accept the vulgarity and roll with it, Ebichu can be pretty funny. The show centers on a single 25-year-old office lady, her no-good, cheating boyfriend, and her pet hamster, Ebichu, who she throws across the room every five minutes or so.

Music

Here's the theme song: Nan de Ka na. It's cute.

Links

Official site (English) - be sure to check out the staff diary, with only two translated entries, but a pretty informative statement by the series director, Morikawa.

Official site (Japanese)

Episodes at Animesuki - since this show will almost certainly never get licensed, download away!

Anime Project Alliance Gallery - a couple magazine scans of the show