Sunabôzu Online

The Desert Punk, the Demon of the Desert, the Kanto Desert's Number One Mercenary, Sunabozu is the pint-sized protagonist of this series. Desert Punk is the "hero" only because he's the lead character. Chasing after women and money are his entire life and he intends to get both through being the best mercenary, do-any-job handyman in post-apocalyptic Japan.

The character is unique in that he will become obsessed with something at the drop of that hat, but that characteristic is not the standard deus ex machina that writers usually use it as. He'll obsess over a gun, get the gun, and lose the gun and it won't have to do much with the plot. Obsessing over jobs gets him nearly killed several times, such as obsessing over destroying a tank so much that he attacks with with nothing but a knife after several failed attempts.

Anatomical and gross out humor are very common in the series, but funny. I expanded my vocabulary for slang for breasts by watching this, even noting a "Tits McGee" reference from Anchorman.

If you like your heroes callous and immature, yet still adventurous and exciting, this is the series for you. Harder edged than Lupin III, but softer than Hellsing. I know that's a weird location, but that's where the tone of the series lands. Orphans are sold and toilets are blown up, but hey...

that's life in the Kanto Desert.

First off, if you buy the DVD's, switch the voices over to Japanese and put the subtitles on as you would with most imports. Occasionally, you stumble across a reasonably good dub, but this one just isn't close enough to be quite as enjoyable as the original, IMHO. The original Japanese voice actors did a remarkable job giving the characters quite a bit of depth, and the English VAs just came across as flat. The title translation to "Desert Punk" is an odd translation of the original title as well (Sunabozu meaning, roughly, "Sand Monk".) Masked by silly, decidedly adult humor is a reasonably original story and plot. The setting has a bit of a Trigun-like feel to it, but probably more of a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic basis.

However, the real strength of the show is the hero, Sunabozu. Mizuna Kanta/Sunabozu is probably one of the most interesting antihero-type characters I've seen in anime. Unlike the typical "powerful hero rising up to fight evil overlord" types that dominate Japanese animation, you have a character that is the quintessential survivor. He is a true rogue. He's egotistical, cunning, virtually amoral, and incredibly selfish. A thoroughly disgusting person. However, he's also incredibly insightful, quick-witted, and a remarkably entertaining character through and through. The comparisons with Lupin The Third are shallow, and mainly based solely on both characters' similar woman preferences. Lupin was mainly motivated by money and large-breasted women, and while on the surface that seems to be the same case with Mizuna Kanta, there's a lot more to it than that, and his character is unraveled throughout the course of the series.

The character designs are very different than your typical Japanese fare...instead of everyone looking very pretty in the typical anime way, you have real diversity here. There are a smattering of highly attractive people mixed in with generally plain to ugly folks everywhere. In a lot of ways, this gives it a greater sense of realism, while defining characters a lot more clearly (you can immediately sense who the suckers are, who the pretty boys are, who the bad guys are, and which women Sunabozu will attempt to bribe into having sex with him right off the bat). For those who are bored with the typical eye candy, the artwork and character designs are very refreshing.

The opening and ending music initially seem like very odd choices, but they fit the series. There's a lot about Sunabozu that just works, if you question it, then you probably just don't get it yet. It's a series that balances humor with a deeper message of individuality and freedom in an incredibly adroit way...unlike the aforementioned Trigun, which just shifted gears halfway through from humor to maudlin mode. You can't go into this one thinking that it's chauvinistic as well...as you will see, the humor applies to men as well.

Desert Punk revolves around the titular mercenary, who will do anything (for a price) so he can to get by in the harsh post-apocalyptic Kanto desert.

The art is well done, there aren't many grand vistas in the desert so for what they provided, the art team made the scenery interesting. The animation is really nothing to write home about, not terrible not fantastic.

One of the strongest features of the show is definitely it's strong cast of supporting characters, all of whom contribute to the plot and have interesting/entertaining interactions with each other. The main character, with Desert Punk, is notable for being just an all around selfish asshole, sculpted by the unforgiving desert, with literally no redemptive qualities.

DP draws similarities to Lupin III, of whom I am a fan of, in that they are operatives with unmatched talent. This is when the show shines, Desert Punk in action. Watching him execute his plans and use his wits is when I found myself enjoying the show the most. However, there is a good amount of fluff that you have to wade through to get to these parts.

The plot was well paced on a whole. Starting with a few one offs to introduce the characters, the overarching story that appears in the later half of the series is well put together, making use of callbacks to previous one offs and such.

I didn't much care for the frankly obnoxious sidekick character, too much of a Determinator. DP's over the top obsession with boobs (to a very close to rape-y extent) was something that I was willing to overlook until it was dragged out to the extent that it was and made it off putting. Otherwise, the visuals are acceptable and the story shines brightly when it gets serious but is bogged down by the aforementioned fluff, and DP is a interesting take on what a protagonist is (ie. insane and cruel to the weak).

As I was doing some internet shopping on Amazon I came across one user's list of his/her favourite anime series. One of the anime listed was Sunabozu. I decided to do a little research on it before finally coming around to buying the whole series on Ebay. Couple of days later I received the package, opened it, popped the disc into my player and before I knew it, I was hooked.

Plot wise, well there's nothing really clever about it other than a 'Handyman' undertaking various jobs in post apocalyptic Japan covered entirely by desert. Over 40 degrees during the daytime, and drops below 0 degrees during the night the desert known to all in the series as the Great Kanto Desert. The handyman and ultimately the main character of the series is known as Sunabozu (Desert Punk or literally Sand Monk), real name: Mizuno Kanta.

In a post apocalyptic world the term 'survival of the fittest' is applied here. In Sunabozu one must use whatever means necessary to survive in the hellish desert. This is something which the main character would agree with and shows this side of his personality in most of the episodes. His selfish behaviour, cunningness and craftiness would ultimately lead to his survival.

He has a reputation of completing all his jobs and is known in the desert by all as the 'Ghost of the Desert' due to his combat techniques. But every powerful man has a weakness, yes his insatiable desire to sleep with big breasted women and one of his rival happens to be one of them named Asagiri Junko.

In most cases you can see Kanto being objective about any tasks given to him, caring only about the reward. However in some, other 'factors' that takes place affect his decisions. Throughout his work we meet more of his rivals such as Amagumo, Dragon Kong and the Machinegun brothers, each hating him for the same reason: his behaviour and his fame. Later on in the series we come across a little girl called Kosuna who later becomes his disciple.

I expected to see many different 'enemies' as each episode ended with him defeating a rival however this series deviated from the generic path that some animes like to take. In fact old rivals are used again and it is this consistency that I like about in this anime. It actually make reference to what happened previously rather than just coming up with a new bad guy for him to defeat and then making us forget about that new enemy.

I particularly like the second half of the series where we understand his character a bit more and the relationship between the master and the disciple. He remains faithful to his character's persona and the decision he makes near the end of the series reflects this persona. The flashbacks we receive with him and his disciple is perhaps the more emotional aspect of the series, trying to take a break from the comedy side and be serious once in a while.

Very funny and humorous in most places, and really emotional and sad in some. To me its as if the series got a little serious towards the end of it, although it did try to maintain its comedy side until the very end. It tries to bring out a hidden message that an individual should strive for their own success rather than depending on others. A theme that is mentioned in some of the episodes.

It has really decent animations especially the fight sequences displaying some of its artistic flare. Color for a setting like this is still used to good effect thus making it attractive in most areas. The entire series portray a variety of characters with different attitudes and looks. It tries to establish diversity of appearance for each character and it does it well.

Overall I would recommend this anime to anyone who just love any kind of anime. Its fun to watch with great animations.

This show is pretty good and I'd definitely recommend it.

Plot - From episode 1 to around episode 20, this show is made up of funny, entertaining, and mostly self-contained stories. There are some elements that carry on from episode to episode, but there isn't much of an overarching plot. That works really well. Unfortunately, from episode 21 to episode 24, they try to shove in a complex plot that is way too underdeveloped to work. If this plot had been established much earlier on, then it would've been fine. The problem is that is way too rushed and ends up being boring. If you watch this show, I'd recommend stopping before you hit episode 21.

Characters - Everyone is well-written and entertaining. I'm not saying that these are people I'd like to spend time with, but they are believable and fun to watch.

Audio - The music for this show is great. When they change the theme song halfway through its ok. Nowhere near as good as the initial music for the opening and closing credits, but still decent. The voice acting is also great. Everyone is clearly into their roles.

Visuals - The opening theme song for the first half is live action, but the rest is animated. The animation and character designs and sets are all great. This show looks really good.

Kanta Mizuno, AKA Sunabozu, AKA the Desert Punk isn't like most protagonists; he is not particularly likable; in fact he is the sort of person who would leave a child to starve in the desert if he didn't think he could make some money selling them into slavery! He is however a master of his trade and routinely defeats his enemies even when the odds are against him. He does however have a weakness; women… especially ones with large breasts. In particular he is obsessed with Junko Asagiri; a rival who whose breasts are bigger than her head! As first Sunabozu works alone but he soon takes on fourteen year old Taiko as his apprentice (he only agrees to take her on after she shows him a picture that she claims is her large-chested mother). Over the course of the series they get into various scrapes and gradually Taiko becomes more skilled.

This series was a lot of fun; there is plenty of action and Sunabozu is such an amoral person it is funny. The way he behaves around Junko could be seen as sleazy but it is very clear that she is in charge of the situation most of the time as she uses her attributes to get her way. Sunabozu's sidekick Taiko is a good character too; in fact as the series progresses her role grows until she is the main character. This is primarily an action comedy however there are a few darker moments later on. Although Sunabozu's breast obsession is played for laughs it does mean the series isn't really suitable for younger anime fans… not that it was aimed at them! I liked the character designs and the backgrounds perfectly captured the desert setting.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

I understand why so many people find this to be a superb anime. As far as most can say it is by far the most zany anime out there. The first thing to note about this anime is that the voice cast is superb. Eric Vale is the perfect voice for our hero. It comes as no surprise that Chris Sabat, Sonny Strait, and Mike McFarland also lend their talents for this show as well. The animation is above par and is perfect for this show. The length is also very good since 24 episodes can give a lot of story to an already superb anime. However the last three episodes are too serious and come off as a horrible end. The anime is very re watchable and is perfect for rainy days.

All in all it is very good and is perfect for any comedy anime fan.