Crayon Shin Chan Movie Review: Action Kamen vs Leotard Devil

I discovered Crayon Shin Chan has tons more movies than I knew about. I thought they only made the Adult Empire Strikes Back, but the Japanese (Subbed) version has 23(!) movies available (with number 23 coming out this year). How did I miss this? See, this is why you should never watch ONLY the dubbed version of Anime. Usually, I only watch the subbed versions of shows, but Shin Chan was not available subbed when I watched it. I’ve only seen the American Dubbed version where they change some of the jokes, so Americans will get them. I am happy to remedy the situation and I will be watching and reviewing each movie (as many as I can find). We are starting with the first movie released August 2010 on TV in Japan, Crayon Shin Chan: Action Kamen vs Leotard Devil. The only place I can find a DVD release of this movie is in India. (Lucky!) You can watch it for FREE on AnimeHere.

Cast of Characters

*From here on out I will be using the English dubbed character names, not the Japanese names. I don’t know the Japanese names well enough to use them properly.

Some of the characters from the English dubbed version are missing from the movie, such as Hima Nohara (Shin’s baby sister) and Ai Suotome (one of Shin’s friends).

• Shin Nohara – the main character, a kindergardener with a foul mouth and a gift for ass dancing. Long time cult follower, I mean fan, of Action Bastard and hater of green peppers. Digs the ladies.
• Mitzi Nohara – Poor mother of Shin, wife of Hiro, cursed with a small bust.
• Hiro Nohara – Father of Shin, husband of Mitzi, employee of a crappy sales company. Addicted to the flight attendants in “Sky Mall”.
• Whitey Nohara – Shin’s dog. He sleeps outside, he is underfed and under walked, but will still risk everything to save Shin.
• Shin’s Friends – Maso, Boo, Penny, and Georgie. Fellow students at the Super Happy Fun Time American School.
• Mr. Ench – Principal of the Super Happy Fun Time American School
• Shin’s Teachers – Miss Anderson, Miss Polly, Miss Katz
• Action Bastard – Shin’s favorite super hero from another dimension.
• Loli Pop – Action Bastard’s barely legal sidekick. “Jail bait poon is on the scene!”
• Professor Go (called Kitakasukabe in the movie) – He invents all of Action Bastard’s toys and can usually be found on the toilet due to extreme constipation.

Plot

In a nutshell, Action Bastard is real. The Leotard Devil stole Action Bastard’s Action Stone which allows him to travel from his Earth to ours in order to protect them both. Now Action Bastard is trapped on Earth and Leotard Devil is running amok in the other Earth. Shin finds a rare Action Bastard trading card (number 99) and he, and his family, uses it to unknowningly transport himself, and his family, to the other Earth. They are found by Loli Pop in the knick of time and she and Professor Go (who remains in the toilet this whole time) explain the situation and that they have a spare Action Stone in their possession disquised as candy… which Professor Go emerges from the bathroom long enough to discover Shin ate. With the help of Mr. Ench and the students and staff of Super Happy Fun Time American School, Shin and co are relocated via the school van to Professor Go’s secret lab. They are ambushed by the Leotard Devil’s three sisters and their henchmen and only Shin and Whitey are able to escape on a special tricycle built by Professor Go. Shin makes it to Leotard Devil’s lair and is able to call Action Bastard for help. After an epic battle Action Bastard and Shin save the day. Shin and his family go back to their Earth and everything goes back to normal.

Compared to the Americanized (dubbed) TV Show, the movie was pretty tame. Not as many pop-culture references, not as much foul language…. there’s still some nudity (no ass dance, but an elephant dance or two can be seen), but not as much of the potty-humor. Still funny. Well worth the watch and a great addition to the Crayon Shin Chan Universe. It makes me watch the show a little differently since Action Bastard is real and the Nohara family are the only ones who know it. Makes you think.