Just finished up with Hanada Shounen-shi, which outwardly seems dull and ugly, but is actually a lovely little show. It starts off on the wrong foot, with opening and closing themes by THE BACKSTREET BOYS. No, really. Anyway, as BSB were around looooong after I outgrew boybands, even though the opening animation is quite lovely, I had to skip it every single time. Shame, really. Ichiro Hanada is the youngest child (but eldest son, hence Ichiro)of the poor hardworking ordinary folks the Hanadas, who live in a small town in rural Japan. Though the time period it's set in is never explicitly specified, Ichiro periodically begs his parents to buy a colour TV, so I assume it's set a while ago. He's a troublesome little tinker (i.e. a cheeky little sod) and is always breaking the rules, playing around and generally disregarding any/all adults in favour of playing. Unfortunately for poor Ichiro this freedom is short lived - following an accident which leaves him with minor head injuries, he gains the ability to see ghosts. Of course, once the ghosts find out he can see them, they won't leave him alone wanting him to take care of their unfinished business... One of the reasons why this is such a nice series is that Ichiro really matures as the series progresses. He's still a child, and he's still a naughty kid, but as you watch his adventures helping the many ghosts who ask for his help, you really get to see his good qualities too. More than anything this episodic series is a lovely portrayal of people's relationships, especially of family. It can be funny, cute, heartwarming and sentimental sometimes within a 5 minute timespan. I've heard some stupid comparisons with Crayon Shin Chan, but it's clear that the person who made this comparison based it on the amount of screentime Ichiro's smacked bottom gets. There's not a great deal of action, and it's visually pretty uncompromising - if you're looking for moe girls or bishies you won't find any here. The protagonist is a little boy, and in keeping with little boys, all you're going to get is muddy knees and runny noses. What you will get is a lovely slice of life series with fantasy elements (the ghosts) that'll make you laugh and cry in equal measure.
