Grrl Power ADV 25 minutes English/Japanese English Subtitles Released: 06/08/2004 Reviewed: 10/25/2005

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Where I come from "Grrl" is used almost exclusively to describe what I guess is an offshoot of the punk/indie music scene. Riot Grrl, as we on "the street" call it, tends to involve bands comprised entirely of women who do nothing but bash on guitars and shriek into the microphone. It should be quite obvious that this would find good purchase in someone with my eclectic musical tastes. Babes in Toyland, Sleater-Kinney, L7, Bikini Kill, I'll take them all! Provided you don't try to bog me down with the terrible vocals of Bratmobile Riot Grrl and I are two companions that get along together with nothing but spectacular results. Naturally something with the title of Grrl Power would immediately catch my eye, bringing up fanciful images of a late-80s Kathleen Hannah with dyed hair and red leather jacket. But Akitaroh Daichi, creator of such things as the spectacular Now and Then, Here and There and the mildly-funny -- but still too steeped in Japanese humor for me -- Jubei-Chan, sees fit to unleash his torment of psychedelic screeching little girls upon the world because... well... that sort of seems to be his thing.

Sometimes I like what Mr. Daichi puts out, but just as often the man has me at a loss. For example: What the eff was up with Elf Princess Rane? And what about Fruits Basket? I don't even know anything about that one. I guess there's a guy who's also a cat (or a dog, maybe). The majority of my knowledge on the subject comes from what was emblazoned on my membership badge at Otakon 2003. So many years later... I just don't care. I'm sure "Fruba" is all crazy and counter-cultural because it's a harem show where the GIRL gets a bunch of GUYS, but... well I ain't in any rush. Maybe the time next Funimation sees fit to send us a free DVD. Grrl Power is similarly... weird. There's these three preteen girl who quit elementary school because... apparently that's something you can just do in Japan. Or at least, you can do it in anime. Now they run a business that comprises everything you could ever want. In the cutesy introductory scene, characters delivery lunches to fishing boats, help boyfriends break up with overbearing girlfriends, and (personal favorite here) help menial Mexican labor keep their backbreaking job in the sweat shop.

I only wish I was joking about that last one. The girls are given very little respite, which I imagine is fair, Japan can be expensive place to live when you're not a triumvirate of eight year old girls trying to make their way in the world AND buy a private island sometime in the near future. To anyone that asks they relate their sob story of disappeared parents and the people that disappeared them. And why does this sad tale comes up? Well, because they are approached with a curious proposition: keep a young kid in school, which is exactly the thing they aren't doing themselves! The irony is delicious! The spunky redheaded girl makes a point to drag poor Riku, the bored ex-student, around on all her menial tasks. There are no more itinerant workers in sight, fortunately, but there are some incomprehensible stunts involving chimneys that I'm not particularly comfortable watching.

Daichi often injects overdoses of childlike wonder and saccharine into his works, but Grrl Power acts like he's been hiding this want behind a facade of gun battles and vaguely homoerotic Dragonball-style pieces. The cute literally explodes all over the screen in this show, like a terribly imporer ejaculation of his preferred director's style. I'm not saying that it's in any way improper or creeper. Heck, I've seen plenty of shows where lolita porn is all over the place, it's becoming a staple of anime these days! This ain't one of them. It's perfectly innocuous. I guess if I had kids (god forbid) I could probably feel comfortable sitting them in front of this while I neglected my parental duties, as I would no doubt be chronically known for. It's sure a heck of a lot better than the crappy/creepy kids programming they have an TV nowadays anyway. And it teaches kids to stay in school! And... also not stay in school. There's a ton of life lessons to be learned here somewhere... ...if you're five years old. As an adult, I don't really see how anyone could have more than stance of respect for what Daichi's got here. I have no qualms against Grrl Power, but I can't imagine the type of person over the age of eight that would actually glean anything from it. Then again... I guess anime fans like stranger things. It's just not my style... I think I'll stick to the other kind of "Grrl" this time. You know, the ones that swear (and are lesbians).