Product Details

• Actors: Kyôko Tongû, Kôsei Tomita, Shigeru Chiba, Tesshô Genda, Taiki Matsuno
• Directors: Takashi Watanabe
• Writers: Takashi Watanabe, Gô Nagai
• Format: Animated, Color, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Adv Films
• VHS Release Date: November 11, 1998
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 6303949800
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,958 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A very violent anime trying to be funny..., September 29, 2001

By 

Rowena Wendy Lim "anime reviewer" (Asia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Abashiri Family [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Abashiri family - one of the most notorious criminal gangs ever. Papa Abashiri decides that it's about time his little girl is raised more appropriately -- as a young lady, and not as a deadly gang member. Papa then decides to send his dear daughter Kikunosuke to an elite boarding school. The problem is, this school doesn't have any intention of graduating their students. Crazed faculty members with homicidal and perverted tendencies, violent and unfriendly classmates... all of them welcome Kikunosuke to her new home. Pretty soon, it's an all-out teachers vs. students war in school. Will she be able to finish school before school finishes her?

The Abashiri Family is a very violent anime. There is a lot of fighting and bloodshed, yet TAF tries to treat these situations lightly. Keyword: tries. I doubt any of the violence will seem light-hearted to audiences. In fact, some of the supporting characters even die. I find TAF quite strange plot-wise. The main storyline is very simple, mafia daughter gets sent to a bizarre boarding school and has to somehow get out of it... but a lot of events take place to make it seem more complex than it actually is. The comedy is slapstick in style, and there are some sexually suggestive scenes and dialogue. I didn't find anything particularly funny though, but then I have never been a fan of slapstick comedy. Watching TAF is quite a confusing experience because it seems like it's trying to be funny and yet at the same time there are tragic turns that are anything but comical. The characters are caricature-ish, and most of them don't seem capable of being serious. The art and animation border from okay to mediocre for most part. Eccentric -- that's the word that best sums up TAF. I guess this is what sets it apart from other anime titles.