Less Words, More Boobs

Bouncing back to an ecchi recommendation, Oruchuban Ebichu probably isn't the first title in most connoisseurs minds. Based around a housekeeping hamster called Ebichu, the story follows the antics of the poor rodent who wants nothing more than to please her middle-aged owner. Although not particularly perverted on the surface, this series is extremely puerile with its view on people getting down and dirty. Remember when you were younger, and first found out about sex and embarrassing your parents with innocent but crude comments were the funniest thing ever? Imagine an entire series of jokes about willies, boobies and vibrators ready to take you back to that time....

Although it is a 24 episode series, each bite-sized snippet is only 5 minutes and pretty much revolves around one simplistic joke. Be it the mistress and her good-for-nothing boyfriend having sex as Ebichu reads a trashy romance novel, or the antics of deranged Maa-kun who has fallen in love with the house-proud hamster, the show never takes itself too seriously. In fact, there are moments when the viewer will watch open-mouthed in disbelief that the Japanese dared to take a joke quite that far...

On the surface, Oruchuban Ebichu has nothing going for it; the animation is extremely crude, the premise is  bizarre and at the end of the day, who really cares about a hamster? I can safely say after laughing and snorting my way through the entire series that I do. Watching the rodent smashed into the wall for cleaning her mistresses delicate panties doesn't sound like comedy gold, but once you get to know the unique characters, you too will come to look your beloved in the eyes and utter the the word "De-chuuuuu".