For this trip to the Island of Forgotten Anime, we're going to showcase some religious-themed anime made by Hikyou-Kisei Studios, which were usually international co-productions with various religious institutions around the world. First we have the children's educational adventure series Genki no Bakagai no Eluron or Elron the Happy Clam. This was produced in association with the Church of Scientology (AKA Dianetics) and featured two school children, Tom and Katie, who traveled backward and forward in time accompanied by Elron, a clam who hoped one day to become "clear" and thus a true human being instead of a shellfish. Tom, Katie and Elron go back in time to the first instance of a clam growing legs (as a result of talking to himself in endless psychobabble), and forward in time to a nightmare world where man-animals are kept as slaves to evil aliens who can't fucking act. Each episode ends with Tom and Katie learning a valuable lesson about buying expensive books and equipment in order to remain clear.


Next, we have Ichijikan no Chou no Kyougaaru Seitanu or Satan's Fun Time Super Hour. In this totally different educational show co-produced by the modern Church of Satan, two children named Damien and Rosemary learn about Satanism by going backward and forward in time with their talking pet goat, Anton. Despite the rather menacing subject matter, the show itself is light-hearted and not at all scary, except for that one episode that features hippies dancing around naked. Yeeesh.


And finally, there is Bobu Bobu Bobu Hai Hai Hai which... well, I can't quite translate into anything coherent, but it features the adventures of two children, Cash and Penny, who travel around the world accompanied by the disembodied head of preacher Robert Tilton and learn about the importance of giving money (to Robert Tilton) so they can make better use of their prayers to God, or something. I don't get it either.

Sadly, Hikyou-Kisei Studios went bankrupt in the early 90s due to a rather large scandal involving embezzling company funds to buy enormous amounts of nerve gas and cocaine.

All contents copyright © 2003-2014 Shaindle Minuk.

MAIN