Summary: >

An attack android with a cat's brain isn't what you would think would make a good housekeeper, but Natsume decided that's the best excuse he could come up with while trying to keep Nuku Nuku's secret and bringing her home. Despite the fact that Nuku's body is made of steel, it's got all the right curves - which is something that doesn't go unnoticed Natsume's son Ryuunosuke. Ryuunosuke's head was spinning with the lovely new house guest, but at the same time a mysterious super woman appeared that was able to disable an attack droid with a single blow. That's a lot for a 14 year old boy to ponder.

And so everyone has a different piece of the puzzle. Nuku Nuku who lost her memory tries to remember who she is. Natsume is trying to figure out what the Mishama cooperation is up to. His wife Akiko is trying to keep her head above the sea of work at the Mishima corporation. And Ryuunosuke ... well, he's all hormones, but could Nuku Nuku and the super chick be related in some way???? Nah!

Thoughts: >

It's hard to talk about this title without mentioning the OAV. The OAV has stuck in anime culture for a long time as THE catgirl anime. A series which is a lot of fun and never takes itself seriously. It comes as quite a surprise that Nuku Nuku Dash would do a complete about face with the series. As such Nuku Nuku Dash needs to fill out a new set of attributes - but unfortunately it falls flat on just about all accounts.

First we have the animation. The designs are okay - interesting, and no corners are cut. But I will tell you one thing that bugs the hell out of me: Nuku's visor. At some point in human history, someone had a great vision and realized that sunglasses were cool. Now we are in the 21st century, and while that is still true, old people have started to wear them too. Not cool sunglasses mind you, but these HUGE visors with absolutely no fashion sense but are probably very practical. I find it hard to get caught up in the action with a super anime chick, in a fight scene wearing this butt ugly retirement home grade visor. (Just a personal complaint.) Unfortunately much of the animation is well, very lame. Nuku's big fight for an episode basically consists of her throwing some lame lighting balls, or a lackluster sequence of her "scratching" her opponent. Hell even the stock transformation footage is pretty sad - even Sailor Moon got that right!

As for the plot, well it was there although very thin. Pretty much every episode builds up to Nuku Nuku fighting something - results are always predictable. The formula of building an overall background story for a climactic final 1 or 2 episodes just didn't do a good job of building any real suspense. It was pretty much perfectly linear just like each episode.

So how about the romance? Forget about it. It seemed like a key component of this anime, and the reason they made Ryuunosuke older; was going to be some sort of backdrop romance. Even in the intro sequences you get that impression. Unfortunately you eventually understand that the intro sequences are all made up from Ryuunosuke's fantasies! Nothing every really happens, which is a big disappointment from where it all could have gone.

So is it worth it? I'd have a hard time saying yes, but I can't say no either. The anime has it's good points, but certainly not as many as the OAV did. This anime ends up existing just to exist. It doesn't really shine in any way shape or form - it sort of reminds me of the more aimless superhero anime of the 80's. Akiko and Natsume live together which is one of my favorite parts - the assertive wife living a corporate life and her wacko mad scientist husband is seriously something I could watch all day and never get tired of ^_^; But unfortunately it's just not enough to carry an entire title when they're background characters.

My advice, watch something else if you can. Nuku Nuku dash might be okay for a rainy day when you have nothing else to see, but there's much better anime you could be watching.

Screen Caps: >