Sunabouzu

It’s the great big desert. The merciless sun shining down on the scorching hot sands. Nothing but sand everywhere. People are struggling to live while some parts are still lawless. You do whatever it takes to survive. Sorry people, if that sounds like some old wild west story, it’s not. Sunabouzu takes place in the distant future where some catastrophic event has turned Japan into a huge desert. It’s the survival of the fittest. A dog eat dog world. You better take every meagre opportunity that knocks on your door or it’s curtains for you. With all the bizarreness, violence and perversion just to survive a post-apocalyptic world, you wonder if these people have learnt anything. Obvious short answer: No. Hey, it’s a funny series to begin with! Why so serious!

Episode 1
A small family is being harassed by some bandits. Until the famed Sunabouzu, Ghost of the Desert pops up to confirm if they were the same baddies who attacked some transport trucks 3 days ago. He’ll let them go if they tell him their boss’ hideout. They look down on him and try to kill him. But soon they are dumbfounded by his ‘magic tricks’ like flying in the air and even cloning himself. Suddenly they start to feel paralysis. Looks like Sunabouzu has sprayed them with a chemical. Then he beats them up to let them spill the beans. Makoto Kawazu is the boss of his clan. His men receives a letter from Sunabouzu that he is coming for his head. He remains calm despite the letter mostly trash talks on him. Until he badmouths his mom that he becomes enraged and turns into the Hulk! Sunabouzu finds a hot babe, Junko Asagiri passed out in the shade. WTF he trying to rape her? Of course she beats him up but realizing he isn’t a bandit, pleads for his help. She claims she was kidnapped by the Kawazu clan and forced to make pudding every day so she ran away. Don’t worry, Sunabouzu also has an appointment with them. But where to find their hideout? You can’t miss it. There’s a balloon sign. Definitely an ambush. Thanks to Sunabouzu’s equipment, he could detect the baddies’ whereabouts and ambushes them before they realize it. But what if their numbers are too overwhelming? Run! Luckily he planted trap bombs in the building so despite running in familiar territory, those bozos got owned by the traps. Sunabouzu now faces off with Makoto and his remaining men. Sunabouzu not sure about the letter they claim he wrote to them but anyway everyone starts firing. Of course, we see Sunabouzu using his tricks again to outsmart them all. Makoto then starts to pound all the Sunabouzu clones and in the end the real one defeats him. The other lackeys run away. After Sunabouzu gets Makoto’s treasure, an explosion hits him. Don’t worry, he still survives. He is happy to see Junko again but apparently she takes the treasure from him. She was commissioned to retrieve the same treasure as him. She also reveals she is a bounty hunter like him and his rival. She set this whole thing up to have Sunabouzu and Kawazu clan take on each other and she’ll just take the spoils. Bye now. Sunabouzu is mad that he got tricked and vows revenge. Yeah, hope those boobs and ass were worth it.

Episode 2
Sunabouzu easily defeats a group of bandits. It’s easy without any busty women to distract him. Yeah, still can’t help think of those boobs sometimes. Nearby, Amagumo the repo man shatters a couple of bandits’ pride by stripping them down and make them run back to town! Sunabouzu and Amagumo are rivals and you can say they hate each other’s guts. Somewhat. Sunabouzu goes to get his next job and it is to collect debt from an old guy named Koike. However at his place is Amagumo! Turns out he is also here to collect debt from him but from a different company. Damn, this guy is in double debt? They ransack the place but couldn’t find anything of value. When his daughter, Noriko returns, they watch their pitiful condition since Koike himself is sick. Sunabouzu obviously is smitten by Noriko’s cuteness and thinks of asking the company to extend the deadline. However Amagumo is not convinced. He gets rough with Noriko and thinks of selling her! She is the only thing that is worth of value. This leads to them having a showdown. Sunabouzu says he will buy her then. But because this means Amagumo will still be left in debt, both men now face off in a duel. The winner gets to sell Noriko and the loser find other ways to clear the debt. If he survives, that is. And so the gunfight begins… Yeah, the villagers watching are finding it boring… What a waste of bullets. When ammo runs out, they resort to knives, throwing stones and even shooting rubber bands?! And then it descends into a fistfight. None giving up as it is already night fall. The bandits they crossed see this chance to kill them. However their own stupidity has them trip and kill each other. WTF. When dawn breaks, Sunabouzu and Amagumo laugh everything off. So they’re best friends now? Yeah, let’s take a break before resuming the fight. However… Noriko knocks them out and steals the debt document. Then with her father they skipped town. Looks like they are swindlers as they are planning how to get another loan in another town. Of course the biggest loser, Sunabouzu is now saddled with their debt… Not to mention ammo and equipment repair costs… Boobs not even the cause…

Episode 3
Sunabouzu can only drool seeing a rifle he wants. Yeah, it costs a lot and it doesn’t help that he is in debt. But what is worse than a debt collector knocking on his door? It’s Junko! Oh no. Boobs trouble. Junko laughs at Kanta Mizuno AKA Sunabouzu because without his helmet on, his face looks like a kid! Trying to harass those boobs for some payback, huh? That’ll cost you… Anyway, Junko is here to hire him after hearing he is in debt. Despite owing 1.6 million, he lies that he owes 3 million. She’ll pay him 6 million then. JOB ACCEPTED! Then we see them along with the Kawaguchi bros AKA Machine Gun Brothers (hired by Junko of course) running away from a giant tank named Kong! How they gonna beat that?! They manage to hide and escape so Kanta wants to know the real deal. She must have something that Kong wants otherwise, why didn’t the tank just kill them? Junko reveals the treasure she swiped from Sunabouzu in episode 1 is actually a key that belonged to the wife of some wealthy old dude. Whoever gets it back will be his heir. First son Koichi was the one who hired her to get it but second son Koji wants it too. Basically, Junko tried to be smart and negotiated between them in secret. She got too far so Koji got mad and started hunting her down in his Kong. Suddenly Sunabouzu is being taken out by Kong! Koji has his men strip Junko for the key but Sunabouzu isn’t dead! With all his gear destroyed, his mind is also broken. He goes to fight Kong all by himself! This might look dumb but the Machine Gun Brothers know he has snapped and nothing can stop him. Sunabouzu is crafty making Kong chasing him all around. When Junko and the brothers pull him in and want him to hand over the key, Sunabouzu threatens to blow himself up along with the key. Stay out of this! He goes back to ‘play’ with Kong. At this point, Koji is so mad that he is going to ram Sunabouzu over. Sunabouzu has the last laugh. He fires the last of his shotgun at the arch as it crumbles all over Kong. Then he signals to the Machine Gun Brothers to fire away. Koji and his men are trapped and can’t get out or they’ll be caught in the crossfire. Or sit in here like waiting ducks until Kong explodes! In the end, our heroes get a great sum of money and everyone is praising Sunabouzu. He might have gone too far trying to fondle Junko’s boobs…

Episode 4
Sunabouzu has fixed and gotten new gears and guns. You bet he is happy to hunt again. But what’s this? Suddenly he finds himself in danger of being sniped by a sniper named Jiro Onuma? Jiro is a good sniper and has Sunabouzu on his toes. As Sunabouzu tries to track him down, he becomes the prey instead. At one point, Sunabouzu almost loses his life when Jiro shoots his wire and sends him plunging a few metres. Sunabouzu continues to look for Jiro but instead stumbles into this young girl, Taiko Koizumi. They talk about things and eventually Sunabouzu learns she did meet that Jiro guy and wants to know his whereabouts. No need to look for him because he is here sniping you out! Sunabouzu ducks for cover and tells Taiko to do the same. However she is confident she won’t get shot and runs away with his supplies. This is when Sunabouzu realizes Taiko is working in cohorts with Jiro, a reason why he was thrown off in trying to track him down. Without his supplies of water and batteries, he is feeling the heat inside this suit of his. Now it is a waiting game. When the sun rises again, Sunabouzu gets desperate as he now makes a dash out of his hiding. Jiro snipes away but misses. Sunabouzu then presses the button so that his coloured explosives will explode to reveal their location. He didn’t want to do this since it will blow up his supplies as well. When Jiro and Taiko recover from it, they are now surrounded by Sunabouzu clones. Which is the real one? Well, so far Jiro only hits the balloons. Sunabouzu invokes fear by taunting them. Just when Jiro thought this is another fake, it is the real one who knocks him out. He steals all of Jiro’s stuffs but only notes his gun as the only worthy item. As he leaves, Taiko wants to become his disciple. Sunabouzu refuses because she brings back bad memories. She remains stubborn and will continue to follow him till he agrees. Uhm, wouldn’t the outcome be the same? He claims he isn’t interested in young flat chest kids. Taiko promises to grow them big!

Episode 5
A desert town is trying to dig a well in hopes of striking it rich when it hits water. Sunabouzu is hired to protect the town because it is believed a group of bandits known as Edogawa Gang plans to attack and steal their water when they strike it rich. Hence Sunabouzu starts acting like a dick and not only he demands a hefty payment, but he is guzzling water and eating food like a king! That’s supply worth half a day for the town! Even more so when this useless guy, Tamehiko sucks up to him and serves him well. One night as Sunabouzu wanders around, this hot chick, Mariko Marimo confronts him. She intends to test his resolve in protecting the town. Uhm, those underfed men are going to beat him up? Sunabouzu also gets beaten up but obviously he gets the better of them. Mariko is impressed he has such skills. Sunabouzu is insulted with this treatment and wants her to pay with her body. She agrees but only after he successfully defends the town. The jerk holds her to her word. When the town finally hits water, everyone celebrates. Soon, news that Edogawa Gang is making their way here. All the men are gathered at the eastern side as this is where Edogawa Gang is believed will be attacking from. But why did Sunabouzu flee to the south then? Mariko confronts him about this. Sunabouzu then beats up Tamehiko because he is a spy for Edogawa Gang. Everyone is shocked as Sunabouzu explains how they are more likely to attack from the south. Mariko is impressed and thinks he is acting like a dick to fool the spy. I don’t think it was Sunabouzu’s intention… Time to get him off his high horse as an explosion rocks the eastern side. Edogawa Gang is attacking from there! Eh? WTF, Sunabouzu?! Since they have rockets, they are much faster than Sunabouzu. Eventually the desert dick flees. Edogawa Gang forces the mayor to hand over the town to them. Suddenly reports come in that Sunabouzu has laced the well with bombs. Hey, his contract is to protect the town, not the well. Uhm isn’t the well in the town?! Anyway, he reasons that since the well is what gives the town its worth, destroying it means Edogawa Gang will no longer bother with it. It is then the mayor switches side. He’ll do and give anything to the Edogawa Gang. Just kill that crazy Sunabouzu bastard!

Episode 6
Mariko threatens that if he blows the well, she will not have sex with him! Breach of contract! Since this is going nowhere, Sunabouzu suggests a duel with Edogawa Gang to see who gets this town. As they fight, it is obvious that Sunabouzu is trying to lead them to somewhere. Indeed. When all seems lost to Sunabouzu, he threatens to use the detonator. Turns out it is the detonator he set up to bomb this place and not the well. He risked his own life going into the trap with them just to lure them. Amidst all the chaos, Sunabouzu defeats Edogawa Gang. The villagers are impressed but Sunabouzu still hasn’t forgotten about them saying they want to kill him. He gets too cocky lecturing them about this when a rock falls on his head. When he wakes up, sexy Mariko ready to live up to her promise. Oh yeah. Come here, baby! Suddenly her face becomes ugly. WTF, he was almost going to make out with Tamehiko?! Turns out after he fainted, everyone threw him on a truck out of this town. They don’t think they want him as a tyrannical leader. Of course Sunabouzu wants revenge and of course to get that sexy Mariko. Despite a few days walk, Sunabouzu is going there. So either Tamehiko will lead him there or he’ll die. So we see the duo trek through the scorching desert while cuddling together like gay men as they sleep for the night. Yeah. Funny and weird. Both think they are using each other for their own gains but they’re just ruining each other. Until their final water canteen is no more, eventually they collapse. Luckily they are found by the Machine Gun Brothers. They were hired by Mariko to look for him. Flashback shows when the village was acknowledged it had found water, Mariko spotted the brothers and learnt they’re from the same home as Sunabouzu. She told of what happened and that the village chief did all this behind her back. The brothers laugh at Sunabouzu’s misfortune but also envy him because he really snagged a hot chick. That is when she asked them for a favour. So if they stumble into Sunabouzu on their way back, please save him. And because of that, Sunabouzu doesn’t owe Mariko anything. Smart girl. Yup, Sunabouzu the biggest loser. At least he gets to live another day…

Episode 7
Remember Taiko? Yeah, she still wants to be Sunabouzu’s pupil. So she continues to follow him everywhere. In the next town, Sunabouzu has become a laughing stock because the Machine Gun Brothers have been spreading rumours about him being stranded. If that isn’t bad enough, Wataru Mizuta is making him even more jealous because this unemployed guy lives off his harem babes! Taiko’s solution is to make her his disciple and so he will never be alone. Why would he want a flat chest loli? She shows a picture of a hot busty babe. Yeow! Who this mama?! That is Taiko’s mother! SERIOUS?! This means she has her genes and she’ll grow up to be busty too. Hence Sunabouzu will put her to the test to see if she is worthy. This means doing hard labour errands. While she slogs in all her jobs, Sunabouzu thinks he has got it covered. He will raise Taiko to be the ideal woman and then go on to form his ideal harem. Such lofty dreams… When Taiko comes back and says she can’t do it anymore, he lectures her about adaptability. Now get back to work! When he goes to collect her pay, he is instead given a bill. Taiko is more than useless! She broke and ruined everything in every job! Sunabouzu rushes to find her. She should be walking some fancy bug pet of a rich client. Well, there she is. EATING THE BUG!!! OMFG!!! At least Sunabouzu brings it back to the client. Just tolerate the lecture. Yeah, his reputation has really tanked. So as he spaces out and thinking about his future, here comes Mizuta. Looks like his face is badly bruised. Apparently his harem can’t take it no more. He thought of giving all of them his love equally but they had other ideas and turned on him. He goes back to apologize to them individually as Sunabouzu realizes he too needs to work hard. And so he takes Taiko to be his student. She is nicknamed Kosuna but as narrated, no trust between them. Just selfish dark desires. Yeah, Taiko still clumsy on the job.

Episode 8
A rich guy wants a cursed rock removed. However with some trying their luck, all of them were met with bad luck. Desperate, he is willing to pay 500 grand. Too bad everyone gives excuses of not wanting to take this job. Even the Machine Gun Brothers. They’re not scared, right? Eventually the only one left is Sunabouzu. Although he laughs at those chickens, he is reminded of his debt and recently tanked reputation. I guess he has no choice. Taiko starts getting scared because the curse is already starting to take effect as Sunabouzu gets into minor mishaps. As they make their way, Taiko tries to change his mind. And for every bad luck he gets into, he dismisses it is something else. The Machine Gun Brothers are secretly tailing them. Their plan is to usurp Sunabouzu because if that bugger really does it, it means they’ll forever be inferior to him. More bad luck as Sunabouzu perseveres and Taiko at the edge of her sanity over all the mishaps. Finally they reach the rock. Amagumo is also there. Yup. To usurp him. However his gun jams and backfires. Taiko is scared, claiming she saw a white mist. But Sunabouzu didn’t see anything. Now it’s the Machine Gun Brothers’ turn but they too got their guns backfired at them. As Sunabouzu gets ready to destroy the rock, a sandstorm hits. He then starts dreaming about having fun with a busty dog girl. In reality, Taiko sees the white mist appearing from the rock trying to overwhelm Sunabouzu. However, Sunabouzu’s dark aura is fighting back! The hot babe secretly tries to kill him but Sunabouzu’s desires are greater! Damn, this guy is raping her?! In the end, the dark desire wins! In the aftermath, the rock is blown down. Sunabouzu thinks it is the sandstorm but whatever. It is his victory. Now to go claim the reward. Taiko is confused as ever. Although rumours of the curse subsided and Sunabouzu’s reputation went back up, she wonders if her master’s curse was the greater evil. Don’t think too much on it!

Episode 9
Look who’s back! Yup. Can’t miss those boobs. Junko! She has a job for him but first, this is Junko and Taiko’s first time seeing each other. You bet, boobs rivalry. Sunabouzu being smug because he is confident in raising Taiko to be a busty babe. But we can tell Taiko has been lying as she says this is the first time she sees someone’s racks this big. Forgot her own mom, huh? But Sunabouzu is in a dilemma. He has to wait for years for Taiko to bloom. Junko’s might wither in a few years so he wants hers now! Boobs antics aside, Junko brings them to an old man named Kaoru Kaizuka, Kanto’s greatest treasure hunter. Sunabouzu is sceptical he can pay 10 million to them but after remembering this is the dude who discovered the old board game of Life and made it popular, you bet Sunabouzu is willing to be at the beck and calling of this man’s whims and fancies. So all they need to do is carry his luggage and do other odd jobs. Yeah, old geezer trying to flirt with Junko, the reason he accommodates her request to hire them. So as they make their travel, Sunabouzu tries to satisfy the old geezer while the ladies have more boobs antics. Sunabouzu’s investment in boobs is the only thing that makes him carry on. Finally they reach a huge city ruins. Kaizuka has them scout it. Sunabouzu and Taiko investigate the ruins but feel uneasy. They see lots of dead treasure hunter bodies before some huge dude attacks them. Run! Because Kaizuka won’t tell anything, Junko decides to go and investigate herself. Sunabouzu’s shells just can’t penetrate the enemy so he has to run like hell. Junko arrives and uses her grenade launcher. The enemy gets scared and escapes. This was what Kaizuka gave to her in anticipation of this. As Sunabouzu lies in wait to trap the enemy, suddenly he pops up from behind and has the ladies hanging on for their lives at the edge of the crater. Sunabouzu in a dilemma who to save. You mean, whose boobs to save, huh? Eventually, he does a reckless move by diving down into the crater with the ladies and then firing the bazooka at the enemy. Sunabouzu now knows why the enemy is able to spring up surprises as the ruins has lots of underground tunnels. They return to Kaizuka to demand for answers. He claims the enemy is the guardian of this city whose citizens died centuries ago. All those who enter the inner walls will be punished.

Episode 10
Kaizuka explains how he and his friends stumbled upon this place 10 years ago. While happily digging for treasure, they woke up this guardian. They ran for their lives but the guardian slowly owned them one by one. Kaizuka is the only survivor as he managed to get out of the ruins’ perimeter in time. With an old computer in hand that contained the Game of Life, he returned to make his millions before returning here 5 years later for revenge. After all, it is believed there are more treasures located deep within the ruins. This motivates Sunabouzu and Junko to go look for the treasure. But soon, Junko gives them the jump because a large group of men are seen infiltrating the ruins. Looks like she is a spy working for a different rival company. While those men slowly gets owned one by one by the guardian, Sunabouzu plays smart and tries to go and steal the treasure while the guardian is busy. But it is Taiko who faces off with Junko and tries to kill her for being a traitor. Being the naïve kid she is, she fell for Junko’s taunts and is left humiliated in defeat. Sunabouzu has his hands busy with the guardian and finally defeats him with his traps. He then returns to Kaizuka and knows what his true goal is. The guardian is actually some sort of android with high combat ability. A single unit is able to cause a civilization to collapse. Kaizuka’s goal is to test its capabilities and has been doing so for the past 5 years by sending unsuspecting treasure hunters to their doom. Kaizuka further elaborates on how awesome these androids are. This particular one has been fighting for the last 5 years without replenishing itself and under extreme conditions. It wasn’t its peak performance but its capability is still spectacular. Imagine if you had an army of this to back you up. Meanwhile Taiko manages to turn the tables and defeat Junko. She brings the traitor back to the guys. Sunabouzu then pulls his gun on Kaizuka. If the government knows about this, they’ll send people to crush him and all those who know about this. Hence Sunabouzu thinks of killing him to make his death look like an accident. They’ll be spared and they can take their base fee. Of course he still has honour and keep his client’s identity a secret. Taiko asks if Kaizuka is going to mass produce and make money of this, would it not be futile if the androids eventually destroy humanity? If humans are weak, so be it. After the dark ages, a new government formed to rule everyone. Kaizuka doesn’t like that and is trying to find a way to oppose them and show them who’s boss. He escapes in his helicopter and if in 10 years they are still alive, come to see him. He’ll use them. Sunabouzu warns him they might become his enemies then.

Episode 11
Since Sunabouzu isn’t going to dispose of Junko, he blindfolds her and takes her to his secret hideout. She’ll be his prisoner so make herself at home as there is food and water. Junko helps herself to the goodies and thinks she can escape anytime. Meanwhile Sunabouzu spies on her from the vents and jerks off… But as the days passed, Junko starts to feel stuffy and hot from the poor ventilation. In good timing, the door opens and it leads to the bathroom. After taking a nice bath, she realizes her clothes are missing. Yes, it is Sunabouzu taking it away in exchange to make her wear this swimsuit and high heels. Locked in another room, I guess we can see what’s coming next. He wants to f*ck her and bear his child. Surprisingly she agrees. Well, what choice does she have? Sunabouzu also tells her to raise his child since he isn’t a family man. Surprisingly she also agrees. Because she’ll raise his kid to kill him! Imagine having his killer skills to kill his own father. Sunabouzu gets mad and is going to assault her but she kicks him in the crotch and beats him up. She tries to escape but realizes the lock is too complicated to be open. Only Sunabouzu knows it but he has amnesia! Or does he? Because if she lets him do her in many times, maybe he’ll remember. And so the duo start fighting and arguing for a few straight days. I think the power has run out. Are they going to die like this? Not sure how Sunabouzu is so shrivelled up but Junko still remains a smoking hot babe. In his last desperate attempt, he pleads to have sex with her because he feels like going to die and wants to feel alive in his last moments. Wait, she agrees?! However she wants to do it on equal standing and hence he has to write a long contract of this and that. Wow. It must be exhausting from all that writing so let’s take a break before starting. The next time Sunabouzu wakes up, he is in the clinic with Taiko next to him. WTF is he talking about his child?! Taiko knows about his secret hideout because she tailed him there. She had the Machine Gun Brothers break the door down. Junko? She left yesterday. Why she did that?! Well, he had a letter that forgave her sins, right? Oh sh*t… That’s not all. Sunabouzu is now the biggest loser as the Machine Gun Brothers and other looters ransack his hideout with lots of goodies. There goes his posterity plan…

Episode 12
Shimada and his men have kidnapped Wakame for ransom. Of course Sunabouzu has been hired by her father to rescue her so he sneaks into the complex and takes Wakame from under their noses. However Wakame is a brat, complaining about everything. I mean, everything! Heck, she thinks it would’ve been better if dad came to pay the ransom so that everything will be over instead of going through this dirty escape. Sunabouzu tries to instil fear in her like how sleazy men will rape her. Instead she gets ecstatic that she is cute enough for that! Soon they have to run as Shimada’s men are on their tail. But more complaining from Wakame as she wants to go to the toilet this time. Yeah, she’ll do it around the corner. And don’t peek! Since she is taking too long, he takes a look and finds she has been taken hostage by the men. The men now want payback. Either he jumps off the building or get shot by them. Sunabouzu drops a flash grenade to temporarily blind them and then escape with Wakame into the vent. Yup, still throwing tantrums. He manages to give those men the slip by having them fall into an opening after blinding the corridor with his smokescreen. He thought he is home free but Shimada is waiting for him. This time Sunabouzu takes Wakame hostage! Guarantee his safety and he will not harm her! Yeah, he’ll make some sort of excuse to her father to get his pay too. Shimada doubles down and doesn’t care if Sunabouzu kills her. He will not give in to scumbags like him. In that case, Sunabouzu triples down and will bomb everything till nothing is left! This is when Taiko pops up to initiate whatever plan Sunabouzu told her to do. Because of the frequent change in plans during this operation, she got confused so she bombed the entire building! Luckily our heroes are floating via parachute. Oops, a deadweight as Shimada desperately hangs on. Losing altitude fast. As the guys struggle, Wakame cuts off the rope, dropping them like a rock. I guess they deserve it. Oh man, Wakame really the badass one. In the end, Sunabouzu is left bandaged in hospital. She took a big chunk of their cut and leaves Sunabouzu with pittance. Pitiful… No wonder he’s crying…

Episode 13
On their way back, Sunabouzu and Taiko spot a couple of stranded kids. Taiko wants to help them but Sunabouzu tells her to do so at her own risk. So I guess they’ll be the devils and let them die. But soon after Sunabouzu finds a nearby town, he goes back to get them. Not because of the goodness of his heart, but because he wants to sell them! However this time they see a man stranded with them. After forcing Masaru Kaidou to sign a contract and then giving him water, Sunabouzu being the greedy bastard he is, wants him to pay up. No money? Then he’ll have to earn it for him. As for the kids, Asari and Shijimi, since they got to money, Sunabouzu wants to sell them. But Masaru says he’ll also pay for their freedom. Sunabouzu is not pleased that Masaru is actually a good guy and wants to help the kids out from the goodness of his heart without any profit. Next day in town, Sunabouzu tries to sell Masaru for 1.5 million but all the potential buyers pass him up because of the price. That’s greed for you. Masaru thinks Sunabouzu’s greed is shameful so Sunabouzu himself tells him the great tragedy that made Japan a huge desert. It is because people like Masaru with lofty ideals that caused all this in the first place. Then they see a group of guys trying to capture the kids. Masaru instantly goes to beat them up. He knows what he is doing is useless but that is the way he lives. After seeing how Masaru fights, Sunabouzu changes his stance. Looks like he is keeping his distance and treating him slightly better. Because Masaru knows martial arts (a lost killing technique in today’s world), he believes he is from an elite military from Oasis. Sunabouzu saw those movements once. They were sleek and no movements were wasted in getting the job done.

When some Mad Max dude comes over to get revenge for his beaten up pals, Masaru does his martial arts again to bring him down. This makes Sunabouzu happier because with all those potential buyers watching this action, Sunabouzu takes Masaru back to town for auction. Damn, the bidding begins and the price can only get higher. But Taiko poses a question for Masaru. Despite of his good heartedness, he cannot take care of the kids forever. They’ll end up dead at this rate. Despite Sunabouzu being shrewd, at least the kids will have a chance to grow stronger if they survive. Hence she thinks Masaru is only out to satisfy his self-ego and hindering the weak from becoming stronger. Masaru knows that. But he will still help those who are weak and find his own path. Suddenly the auction is called off and they’re surrounded by guards. They are taken in for interrogation and accused of stealing, fraud and murder! Turns out the kids are actually wanted criminals! The men Masaru beat up was actually some youth group out to apprehend them. They swindle others by having good hearted people picking them up and leech off them. So the trio endure a harsh interrogation for 3 days before learning of Masaru’s background. Instantly they are released. Now the kids are gone and Sunabouzu is mad that his money is gone too and he had to pay for that youth group’s medical fees. The irony that it is all Masaru’s fault but it is also his background that saved them. Finally Sunabouzu sells him off for half a million and is smirking. Because he sold that guy to some gay! Let’s see how long his ideals will last! This is a way of helping people too! On their way out, they see those kids stranded. Another con? Let them be. We’ve learnt our lesson.

Episode 14
Taiko continues to do menial jobs under Sunabouzu. She laments she is still far from achieving her goal of becoming a great desert beauty. As she daydreams of how skilful she is and how everyone admires her, she is attacked by a bandit but Sunabouzu comes to her aid. She feels ashamed of her weakness as Sunabouzu rants how useless she is for not being able to take care of this simple task. Soon, Sunabouzu brings her to a gunsmith, Igarashi. Seems she believes if she has a bigger and more powerful gun, she’ll get the job in an instant. Igarashi takes her to try out a small gun but she insists on her dream gun, .308. Igarashi wants to see her skills and has her dig a hole. As she picks a smaller shovel, he points out shouldn’t she have picked the bigger one? She does so and starts digging, realizing what he is implying about practicality as the bigger shovel is harder to control and takes more energy to dig. But she won’t give up. Igarashi and Sunabouzu talk about all the guns here are replicas of those found before the dark ages. The Oasis dug them all up and only released those approved to the people. The rest are kept hidden in their treasure vault. Igarashi shows a customized gun that is trying to be different from all the replicas. Turns out this customization request belongs to Amagumo. Igarashi hasn’t completed the customization yet but Amagumo is willing to wait. Also, Amagumo has stopped his repo job. He hints there is more money to be made in the battlefield rather than underneath poor people’s houses. The duo go see how Taiko is doing. Well, she dug a huge hole. Igarashi then gives her try .308. She tries it out to her delight. But it is heavy and hard to control. However she amazes the guys as she hits all her targets from a distance! In the end, she doesn’t want it because it’ll be too much to carry across the desert. She doesn’t want to be a burden to Sunabouzu. Igarashi describes the bad points Sunabouzu has but is also amazed by his tenacity to haul his ass across the desert to get the job done. They are shocked when Taiko’s answer is that she views Sunabouzu as a strong guy. Igarashi gives Taiko a small submachine gun. It lacks power and is hard to master but Sunabouzu knows this means Igarashi has judged her to be able to master it. Jealous Sunabouzu tries to remind her that busty women doesn’t need to live independent lives… WTF… So it is back to mundane job tasks for Taiko. But she can take heart as she realizes what she needs isn’t a strong weapon or tool but a strong heart to accept her weaknesses.

Episode 15
Sunabouzu meets the Machine Gun Brothers for a job. You can tell both sides distrust each other as Taiko and Haruo are at sniping positions ready to take out the enemy if they act strange. Yeah, they did that. Made their guys dancing masters! On to serious business, looks like Natsuko (Machine Gun Brothers’ sister) who works for Oasis is coming back and is giving them this job. Turns out this job is to extract poo from a town?! Is there some real monetary value in this crap?! Oh well, a job is a job. On the way back, the path is blocked by the boulder. The guys go to check it out and obviously it is a trap as an explosive is set off. Sunabouzu almost got killed but is safe. Too bad Fuyuo broke a few rib bones. This is an ambush led by Amagumo! Despite knowing the contents are poo, he and his team has come fully equipped to make the steal. As the transport makes a move to escape, Amagumo’s team continue to try and assault and occupy it while the rest try to defend from the onslaught. Taiko almost got owned but Natsuko saved her ass. In the end, Amagumo’s team failed to mount a capture. Taiko is infatuated with Natsuko as she explains to Sunabouzu about her cool kung fu moves like Masaru. As they stop for the night, Sunabouzu discusses with the Machine Gun Brothers that something is really up. After watching Natsuko in action, he is certain that she is a great captain. So great that it is just suspicious that Oasis put her in charge of an insignificant mission like this. Even so, with full military gear. What’s more, Oasis taught a civilian martial arts? Something doesn’t feel right here. More than meets the eye. Speaking of Natsuko, here she is. She points her gun at Sunabouzu. Trying to shut him up? Bang!

Episode 16
Of course she just fired a warning shot and is not impressed Sunabouzu beat up her men to interrogate for info. Amagumo’s team is watching from a distance. Sunabouzu and Taiko disguise themselves as the enemy to sneak up on him and tie him up. Sunabouzu forces the truth out of him. Just as he suspected, it is not the poo that is valuable. It’s something else. At the boundary of west and south Oasis, the excavation team found some new findings. However they were ambushed and slaughtered by bandits. Although the bandits ran away with the treasure, they had to ditch it at the town where they sucked up all the sh*t. It is also rumoured that also discovered there was a stockpile of genocide weapons. Basically, weapons of mass destruction from the dark ages. Sunabouzu deduces the south new about the weapons so the west sent fake bandits to butt in. After Taiko destroys the jammer (so that Natsuko could call for reinforcements), Amagumo makes his sly escape. A flare lights up in the sky as Amagumo’s side ambushes Natsuko’s forces. The next day, Amagumo’s side has taken all of Natsuko’s forces as bandits as they ride their vehicle back. It is all cramped up since Sunabouzu stole their truck and ran away. The rest think he chickened out of this mission. But there he is before them. So he is going to try and stop them with his machine gun?! His plan is to shoot a bomb placed underneath the vehicle to disrupt the electronics and to stop its motion. Mission succeed.

Only, the vehicle still has momentum and crashes! Oh yuck! Poo and urine all over!!! So we see both sides slug it out in the faeces, under the hot desert sun. This has got to be the worse. But this has Natsuko remember those miserable times. Thus why she trained and studied hard and moved up the ranks in the military. Amagumo tries to attack Natsuko but she can also fight back. He realizes he is no match for her and escapes. After all the stress, Natsuko cries like a girl. Her brothers worried. She hated Kanta a lot and that’s why she wanted to get stronger. Speaking of which, here comes the devil. She beats him up and feels good. Taiko is confused. Weren’t they good friends? The brothers dismiss it and reveals it was Sunabouzu who always led them into trouble. Natsuko sacrificed herself to save them. That includes letting him fondle her boobs! I guess the last straw was when he tried to rape her! He is the worst! After that, Natsuko ditched her home chores and started studying in the military. Sunabouzu catches Natsuko communicating to someone else about the mission’s success. The cargo has been delivered. He realizes all this was just a decoy and she struck a deal with the enemy. He doesn’t like this sh*t but she finds it funny because she always gets crap whenever he gets involved. She warns him not to stick his nose further and since he failed, she’ll cut his pay in half. So who’s the biggest loser now? As narrated, the south and west jointly began developing a secret weapon.

Episode 17
Oh dear. Those familiar boobs come looking for Sunabouzu again! You bet it’s Junko alright! She needs his help and to prove it, there is a job order that pays 2 million just to help her! Tempting. But Sunabouzu learning his lesson?! He won’t help her?! Well then, is he okay if he gets married off to someone else?! Yeah… That sure earned his attention. So I guess he never did learn… However somebody starts sniping and Sunabouzu takes a hit! Don’t worry, he is still alive and just a mild concussion. They have to run and hide as Taiko can tell he is a pretty good sniper. Junko adds that he also has a very hi-tech suit so no ordinary tactics will work on him. Against Taiko’s reasoning to refuse this job, Sunabouzu says they’ll do it. Wrong head thinking again, huh? Despite he hates being used by her, he can’t stand for the fact she belongs to another man! Yup, definitely the wrong head used. Although he wants her to be his man, she refuses. Because he is the great Sunabouzu, he must use his skills if he wants her to be his. And if he does, she’ll do anything he wants for free! Oh yeah! Here, sign this contract too! Taiko can see where this is going… But they have to run as the sniper has found them. Holing up in a rock forest, Sunabouzu makes Junko spills the beans. The sniper dude is Seiji Tanigawa and he works for Uzumaki Chemicals who developed this suit. Because it is based on technology from the dark ages and done without permission, it is contraband. As she dated to get close to him, one day he is willing to sell the company secrets to rivals for money so they can live comfortably. Of course she didn’t reciprocate his feelings and beat him up and stole the documents. The rest is history. Tanigawa continues to hunt them down. Damn, Sunabouzu close to admitting defeat! Because Junko scolds him for being pathetic, he gets an idea. Tanigawa gets close enough to Junko before a flare lights up. Before he knows it, Sunabouzu is next to him and fires point blank. Tanigawa realizes he couldn’t detect him because he was covered with mud and hence erasing the heat signal. But where he found mud in the desert? Actually… It’s Junko’s piss and sh*t!!! OMFG!!! Tanigawa sounds defeated but before Sunabouzu could take his suit, he unleashes a toxic gas to knock Sunabouzu out and then kidnap Junko. OMG, Tanigawa’s rape face…

Episode 18
Sunabouzu dreams of Junko becoming Tanigawa’s wife and they have a bunch of kids! Nightmare! He thinks he has got it bad when he wakes up with Taiko sleeping next to him. Did he make a move on her! Until she explains she had to use her body warmth to warm him and save her suit’s battery. And he smelled like piss! As they return to the hunt, they realize that there are a few mercenaries from Uzumaki also hunting Tanigawa. Hence Sunabouzu decides to make a detour to an abandoned mine nearby first. As Tanigawa tries to fix his suit, an explosion rocks, Junko thinks Sunabouzu is here and screams for help. However they are those mercenaries. They give Tanigawa 10 minutes to give or they’ll kill him. Knowing that he’ll die either way, he frees Junko. Tanigawa then goes to fight off the mercenaries. Since he is of no match, thank goodness Sunabouzu is here to help. He gives Tanigawa some weapons to fight. They’ll settle their score once their common enemy is eliminated. Junko is being pursued and cornered by one. Trying to offer her body won’t do any good. He prefers doing it on a dead body! Taiko’s reinforcements can only do so much but it is ultimately Sunabouzu who comes to the rescue. His strategy now is to wait till sunrise. They manage to hold out from their trigger happy onslaught and as soon as the sun rises, a rocket launcher is sent towards the mercenaries’ position. It’s the government tanks! Sunabouzu called for help at the mines as it was one the government’s control now abandoned. Inside is a direct hotline. Junko thinks he is the government’s dog but Sunabouzu doesn’t care what she calls him. As they are enemies of Uzumaki now, they’ll send bandits to hunt them down. It’ll never end. Hence he will destroy the company. Sunabouzu also captures Tanigawa. Score settled. In the aftermath, the government official interrogates Tanigawa and thanks him that they are now aware of Uzumaki’s wrongdoings. The executives will be put to death and their families cast into the desert. Tanigawa feels guilty but thinks it isn’t his fault but the company’s. The official now wants to interrogate Junko but Sunabouzu wants his payment. The official rips the contract and his men beat him to a pulp! When they leave, Taiko laments they worked for nothing but can take heart that evil boobs woman got what she deserved as she has been taken away. But Sunabouzu is in no mood for jokes…

Episode 19
What hurt Sunabouzu more was before Junko was taken away, she told him off she’ll never fall for him and the likes. But I guess he can’t wallow in despair forever because it’s job time. Ikeda who is an archaeologist needs his help to protect him as he is looking for someone. Soon they are attacked and the attackers are no other than the Machine Gun Brothers. Turns out they are looking for Natsuko who went missing. Because she was sent on a secret mission, the government isn’t even issuing a search order yet. And since Natsuko is the person whom Ikeda is looking for, it makes it easier for them to work together. Ikeda takes them to a secret underground that not even the government knows. It is a large ruined city back from the dark ages. They talk about the lore and stuffs from those old days before Ikeda gets serious in talking about Oasis’ main HQ. Aside from the huge door outside, it actually houses an even larger underground city. So huge that the government can’t even utilize all its space. If you get lost in the maze-like ruins beneath, you are as good as dead. However, 10 years ago, a lost person ended up 50 km alive from there. This is the place he stumbled into. Hence this could be the backdoor into Oasis. Before you can call it all impressive, Sunabouzu scorns at Ikeda for this info. Because it means there is an anti-government faction rising. Sunabouzu looks like he shot at Ikeda but it is towards a spy who followed them in. Soon, lots of soldiers surround and fire at the spy but because of their armour, all the bullets bounce off. The spies have orders to take the commander the alive. And if they can’t differentiate, take everyone in! With Natsuko popping up, Sunabouzu further explains that her disappearance was a lie. A story cooked up to have Sunabouzu join them to fight against the government. But he doesn’t understand why they showed him their trump card even before joining them. Natsuko says she was against him joining but someone wanted him. Sunabouzu doesn’t want to get involve with this messy stuff so he flees. He then watches how the spies cannot die despite taking in all the bullets and bombs. Yeah, they owned everyone too. This distraction allows Natsuko to knock him out and drag him back. He’s in for the ride whether he likes it or not.

Episode 20
Junko serving Sunabouzu in a nurse outfit?! Best dream ever! Only, this is not a dream! Apparently this is one of the deep corners of the cave under Oasis and the rebels are using it as their base. Surprised to see Masaru here, along with Ikeda and Natsuko, they are part of the rebel faction known as Reverse Handy Man (RHG). Their mission is to overthrow the current Oasis government. However Sunabouzu disagrees that the current government is all that bad. They just give you enough supplies to live and the rest is on your own. He doesn’t hate that idea. He is brought to see RHG’s leader who is no other than Kaizuka. He is the one who insist in recruiting Sunabouzu into the team. So why now and not in 10 years as he said? Things are changing too quickly to wait that long. Looks like the more the dark age technology the government unearths, the more dangerous these technologies are. Hence Kaizuka has been working hard to get a hold on these technologies to overthrow Oasis. Also, because of the dark age that caused the planet to become a huge desert, the government has no intention of rejuvenating it. It will take millennia if they are to wait for nature to do that and hence Kaizuka’s other plan is to quicken the world’s rejuvenation process. Of course Sunabouzu isn’t interested in all that. He just wants to know what he is being made to do. Eventually he agrees to join them because otherwise he’ll be killed. Of course he has a plan too. While Masaru is delighted to have him on board, Natsuko is still sceptical. The place is under attack by a lone robot spy. Sunabouzu so deep in his thoughts that he is ignoring Junko’s flirting boobs?! Tanigawa is part of RHG too and shows some of the stuffs to Taiko. They go show off to Sunabouzu but looks like he is chasing after Junko’s boobs. I mean, RHG will pay him anything so it doesn’t matter how much it costs to touch them, right?! As the attacker alert is sounded, the rest go to protect and evacuate Kaizuka. Sunabouzu talks to Taiko and graduates her from his tutelage. Now she is made to go attack the enemy from the front. Because Sunabouzu predicts the enemy will attack from the rear and he is going to fight them alone there. Kaizuka and other RHG members manage to escape safely thanks to Taiko’s ingenuity. When she tells of Sunabouzu’s plan, Natsuko thinks he ran away. This earns Taiko’s slap for belittling her master. Sunabouzu manages to take on the real attack in the rear. He didn’t think his prediction would come true and thought he could use this chance to run away! Suddenly he is killed off by a robot spy! Oh sh*t. Sunabouzu dead?! After RHG escapes, a huge explosion destroys the entire place. Taiko becomes distraught her master may be caught in it.

Episode 21
6 months have passed. Taiko returned to the site from time to time but no master found. Only sand and rubble. She fears he might have actually died. But she vows to reach her dream and carry on his legacy. Are we ready for Sunabouzu the Second? His death has mixed reactions from many as some are relieved the Ghost of the Desert is dead although they never thought he would actually kick the bucket. After getting her own custom made winch from Matsunami, it is time for a job. Looks like she has an assistant named Mitsuru. He is a weak and meek guy. Now she gets to boss over him. Yeah, like how she was, right? Such a vicious cycle. Looks like the Kawazu clan is back and being a nuisance. Taiko goes to do her job and sees the Machine Gun Brothers taking on some of the goons. As the goon retreats, Taiko kidnaps one of them to initiate her own Sunabouzu style of fighting. We see Makoto reborn and he thinks he can do anything now that Sunabouzu is dead. Until one of his men returns with a letter supposedly from Sunabouzu. Makoto remains calm until the letter badmouths his mom. Hulk time! Makoto will not fall to all the tricks again as they fire all they’ve got at Sunabouzu. When Sunabouzu is seen running away, they all go after him. Turns out this Sunabouzu is Mitsuru and a random guy Taiko ‘kidnapped’ in town. The fun begins as Taiko snipes all the mines they dropped while running away. Since the desert is too wide to plant mines, making them chase after them was the best method. It isn’t over as Makoto is still enraged. He is about to dump a huge rock on them when suddenly Mitsuru goes insane and matches Makoto’s raw brute power! Oh sh*t! This guy is laughing like a maniac! OMFG! In the end, Makoto loses to his madness. Mitsuru could’ve turned on Taiko too had he not passed out. Flashback shows Mitsuru is the son of Sunabouzu’s master, Koidemizu. He had Taiko take him as her assistant since one day he too will be doing this kind of job. Well, have to start them young. He assured her Mitsuru will be handy in times of pinch. Yeah, she didn’t know it was this kind of moment. She also learnt Mitsuru’s condition stemmed from a trauma when he was 3. Taiko returns to Natsuko’s side and vows to continue carrying on Sunabouzu’s legacy.

Episode 22
It seems there are rumours that Oasis will kill its own citizens who are digging ruins on your own (it is considered a crime anyway). Hence RHG will conduct their first meeting to tackle this problem. Turns out the location is at that huge city ruins. Upon arrival, they see a lot of defeated soldiers. These are trained soldiers. Could it be the guardian at work? Taiko thought it is the work of Amagumo since he showed his face but Natsuko tells her they have hired him for today’s job. The perpetrator left footprints so they go track it down. When the footprints go missing, Masaru suddenly gets ambushed by an invisible enemy. Nothing they can do but hide from his hail of gunfire too. Yeah, do ghosts shoot guns? Amagumo flees the scene while Masaru and his strong sense of justice goes after it. Looks like the culprit is dangerously heading to the underground stairs, supposedly where the meeting is held. Once again, Masaru gets ambushed and this time the culprit reveals himself to be a robot spy. He is going to kill Masaru as Taiko beats up Mitsuru in hopes he transforms into the Hulk to save him. No need for that. Masaru’s martial arts enough to tackle him. The culprit then runs towards the stairs but is set upon some paint trap. With paint all over him, he is now visible. This is thanks to Amagumo’s idea. Yeah, he ran away to get this paint of his. Even so, no bullets can harm this robot. After he dives down the stairs, a huge explosion caves in everything. Mission failed? Not quite. Natsuko reveals this mission was just a lie and a bait to lure out the perpetrator. Everyone got deceived by her. Apparently this is Kaizuka’s idea. They dig up all that’s left of the robot. Only the head. But before they could ask for answers, the commander shoots and destroys the head to silence it forever. Taiko returns home from this tiring mission only to find Matsunami’s shop is on fire.

Episode 23
Taiko has a lot on her mind but looks like she and the Machine Gun Brothers will have another job from Natsuko. Don’t worry, it won’t be a decoy job again. This time they are to protect a secret lab located at some huge crater that was caused by the tectonic plates blah, blah, blah. Basically its hellish conditions made it a great place for Kaizuka’s secret lab. So they make their way down there as the rest tease Mitsuru he is in love with Taiko, the reason why he follows her instead of Masaru whom he also idolizes. Embarrassed Taiko beats her disciple up. His fault? But this wuss is lagging behind so much, she strips him of all his equipment, making him bear enough to just head back up to the truck and wait. We take a detour as we see Kaizuka checking on Tanigawa’s work on some robots he has developed using what’s left of that robot spy. So far he is able to create a few of them. By the time Natsuko’s team reaches the lab, it is all on fire. They discover broken guardians all around. Taiko realizes this is what Kaizuka is producing as Natsuko reveals they are made to help stop fight those robots from Oasis. You know, it takes a monster to fight another monster. But who could destroy these guardians easily? Look no further. It is Kong! That menacing tank is back and packs a powerful punch! It’s owning the guardians easily like child’s play. As they run and try to find and save Kaizuka, they are then cornered by Kong. A familiar face turns up from the cockpit: Junko! Seems she has made a deal to kill Kaizuka and all members of the lab. They can’t fight back as the place is surrounded with robot soldiers. Surrender now. However Taiko will not and shoots at the robots. They’re made of balloons?! Taiko saw through this trick because despite standing on weak concrete, there are no cracks at all. A familiar voice then praises Taiko for maturing up. Why, look who’s back! Sunabouzu!!! I knew it!

Episode 24
Taiko leaves it to the Machine Gun Brothers to deal with Kong while she goes to find Natsuko. The Machine Gun Brothers easily defeats Kong the same way Sunabouzu defeats him the first time. That is, shoot the ceiling and let it all collapse on the metal behemoth. Taiko stumbles into Junko and both women fight. May the best boob size wins. Justice prevails because Junko wins and is about to kill her. Not before Amagumo ties her up. Junko is about to blow herself up so Taiko shoots her. Damn, her boobs go so much blood?! After they leave, the blood is of course fake and just tomato juice. Junko escapes and bails out on Sunabouzu. Natsuko tells Kaizuka to escape since this place is history. However Kaizuka is busy activating something so he will not lose. This is when Sunabouzu shows his face. He is going to kill him because of his lies. He thinks Kaizuka is not doing this for the people but for himself. Natsuko agrees to it to some degree but believes he is a much better person than Sunabouzu. With this place going to blow, Sunabouzu runs and has a spy robot cover his ass while the rest take pot shots at him. Taiko arrives too late since her sensei is already gone. When they all resurface, Sunabouzu is waiting for them. The military surrounds RHG. They can’t do anything about it since they are pretty good snipers. Amagumo the cowards runs!

Taiko takes this chance to talk to Sunabouzu. I think she’s a bit anxious, the way she tries to cram in so much into her lines to tell him. Sunabouzu admits he used them as a decoy to escape back then. Although backfired, he managed to end up where he is now. He is happy to be working for the government. Because war is coming, he is going to use what it takes to rise up the ranks. That’s why Kaizuka’s death will help propel that. He offers Taiko to come join him because she is useful now. Doing so means she is closer in achieving her dream. Anything is possible in war. But first she asks if he burnt down Matsunami’s shop. He admits he did because he couldn’t let those who know he was alive live. At this time, the spy commander has taken Mitsuru hostage. Taiko berates him so a soldier fires a warning shot that grazes her cheek. In that moment, Mitsuru turns into Hulk and starts smashing. It is then Sunabouzu realizes Taiko doesn’t have her winch. You bet she doesn’t because she used it as detonators around the place. The rightly timed bombs set off at her command to allow the rest to escape. Amagumo returns in a truck to pick them up. Taiko rejects her master’s offer. In that case, we’ll be enemies from now. Yeah, a myriad of flashbacks of their time together. Well, not the best but it’s definitely their time. Taiko’s reasoning is that she would love to go with him because she is finally useful to him now. But doing so would mean she would be the same useless idiot she was a year ago and she’ll never achieve her dream. Everyone escapes in time before the biggest and brightest explosion lit up the desert sky like it was day. We see snippets of everyone living out their meagre desert life. Must be used to it by now.

Punk’d! Sand In Your Pants!
Sunabouzu switching allegiance? Well, it’s not like he has ever been loyal to anybody but himself in the first place. But who would have thought that somebody like him would join a group and even more so the government. I don’t really remember any anime characters who decide to go join the government because it is mostly groups and factions or even individuals who fight against the government tyranny. So it is sad for Taiko that her final reunion with her master had to end this way but don’t let all that nostalgia blind your future. So perhaps it was a bittersweet but fitting goodbye for master and disciple. In no time we will see if the student has learnt to become better than her sensei the next time they meet in the battlefield.

Many of the episodes here feel like random standalone fillers. However they are not totally 100% unrelated like as though if you’ve seen one episode, things that happened in it won’t be brought over to future episodes. While it does seem a lot like that but there are a few minor elements that made it not so like some of the side characters recurring and of course the big build up to the possible plot of overthrowing the Oasis government. With that story coming in pretty late, I doubt it would get animated here. And since there weren’t any sequels after this, I guess for those who are pretty much interested in what happens next, you’ll have to find that conclusion from the manga, which surprisingly found out just ended at the end of 2020. Wow. That’s just so freaking recent! As far as the anime is concerned, these random misadventures fit the series like a glove (almost) because what else can you be doing in this post-apocalyptic desert?

Our titular character isn’t your typical hero with any redeeming qualities. At least what we all think qualities a typical and clichéd hero is supposed to have and be. You can tell after the first few episodes that he is a very shrewd and greedy person. If that isn’t enough, let’s add more labels like selfish, immoral, sleazy, douchebag, scumbag, arrogant. Are you satisfied now? But then again, this is what makes him survive in the desert and earned him a fearsome reputation. After all, it was just us assuming he is the hero because of him being the main character. So you either love him or hate him. Or both. I think that should be it. He isn’t a very likeable person in the first place due to his dark desires (especially of the flesh) but at the same time you can’t help admire that he stays true to his principals even if it is for his own selfish gains. This villain and rogue-like behaviour that is not really a hero but not so much of a villain either makes him an amusing watch and an interesting character to begin with. You’ll be kept guessing what kind of trickeries he’ll be playing since he is somewhat unpredictable. Except when it comes to boobs of course.

So it was a bit odd when they somewhat killed him off towards the end of the series and made Taiko take over his role. Of course I knew that a guy as tough as nails like him could not keel over so easily and within my expectations, he’s back! We’ve been through the misadventures of the desert from the start so it was pretty odd to see a couple of episodes at the end without this dude. Hey, Sunabouzu is just a title and anyone worthy of it can inherit it. The show is not named after Kanta, right? But still, it was a strange case for me to see Taiko taking over the lead for a while. Oh well, I suppose it is to show that she hasn’t been following blindly her master all this time. Of course with him around, she will still continue to walk under his shadow. The presumed death of Sunabouzu did shake things up and wake her up a little. Now that she is independent and on her own, her apprenticeship under his tutelage proves not to be a waste. I guess many of us only grow up and mature overnight when we are thrust into such unexpected situations. Good for her. And now the cycle repeats itself with Taiko taking up weakling Mitsuru. Like master like student. Now she can boss him around all she wants. She earned that right. Wow. The vicious cycle coming full circle. Seeing yourself in him? But that’s life. Maybe one day he’ll be of help to her. Provided his Hulk transformation don’t kill them first.

However this Taiko taking over Sunabouzu’s role and legacy foreshadows something darker. You see, I later found out that Sunabouzu himself betrayed all his friends when he became the government’s dog. Hence the reason why Taiko then took over as the main character somewhere halfway in the manga volumes after she declined his offer to switch and join his side. Sure, this was hinted in the final episode regarding Sunabouzu’s defection but I read the anime’s version differs from the manga. This however might not come as a surprise to fans of the series because right about the time this anime ended, this is where the development of the manga has arrived at (back in year 2005). Then the manga takes a 5 year hiatus before releasing a volume and then another 4 more years of hiatus before releasing a volume every year until it ends back in 2020. Oh well, now that the series has finally been completed, not sure if any interested parties might want to revisit this and make a sequel. It’ll be actually weird to see the former Sunabouzu now a real villain and final boss, taking on the new Sunabouzu in what would be the ultimate master-student showdown. I suppose it is true that you either die as a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. I wonder if all this is his revenge after his secret base was looted… Can’t retire in luxury, might as well be the baddie!

Some of the other characters are interesting and amusing like Junko who is Sunabouzu’s counterpart. She is as crafty as him but only has the upper-hand because she has boobs. Yup, those pairs are what he will always lose to. The main reason why he never learns. At least when it comes to boobs. She could turn him into the Cuckold Ghost of the Desert for all you know! Junko is also pretty hard to tell if she is an ally or foe because she too has her own agenda and this makes her allegiance as solid as shifting sands. You bet she has something she wants when she uses her sexual charms to attract Sunabouzu. Always gets the job done. The boobs, I mean. Yup, that is how we all identify her. It’s her best identifiable trait ever. I can understand why flat chest Taiko is always so antagonistic against her. It’s hard to say if Junko also has betrayal tendencies like Sunabouzu because she’ll switch sides easily too depending where her interests lie. One minute she might be working for RHG but the next she’ll be the government’s b*tch. Amagumo is also an interesting character but he makes less appearances than I expected. You bet something dumb and funny is going to happen when Sunabouzu has a showdown or competition with him. You know what they say about birds of the same feather… Towards the end, it’s like his favourite game looks like running away but then comes back with something to help out the rest. Is this his new tactic or something?

I feel the Machine Gun Brothers are just barely there. They’re just like extra arms needed and because they are childhood friends with Sunabouzu, sometimes they stumble into each other and the brothers love teasing the hell out of him and laugh it all off. They’re also pretty protective whenever it comes to Natsuko. I guess that’s what you do when you have an only sister in the family. Natsuko seems too serious of a character like as though she is having her own ulterior motive. I digress it because she couldn’t be that kind of character, right? Or I could be wrong… Her polar opposite is Masaru who is a simpleton who lives passionately to his ideals. The brains of it all is of course the old geezer Kaizuka who may be more than what he seems. His goal is to overthrow the government and free the people from their oppressive tyranny but he doesn’t deny the fact that he may have another motive for that and it could be world domination. I mean, who else going to take over the government after that? You think people can live freely without some sort of government? Hence he is a smooth talker and a great manipulator in having many joining him for his cause. It would’ve been too easy had Sunabouzu joined his side but seeing that he defected, you bet the civil war has been guaranteed to be prolonged. Another dark age on the cards.

As this is not your typical anime for kids, there are some questionable content. For instance, Sunabouzu being the dirty bastard he is, in initial episodes we see him strip his enemies naked and let them run through the desert. And with those dudes in their birthday suit, you can see their dicks. Censored of course! There are a few instances like this and this could be one of the few non-hentai series with a lot of censored dicks ever! Don’t worry if this only has dick fanservice. We have boobs fanservice too courtesy of Junko. Makes me wonder if those are fake (nope, they aren’t) because they’re so bouncy like as though they’re made out of water balloons. I now understand why Sunabouzu kept losing to this temptation. And of course Taiko’s picture of her mom is a lie, right? Must be a random photo she got and since Sunabouzu used his wrong head to think, it’s a success. And the other questionable content was that poo escort mission. Wait. Sunabouzu covering himself in Junko’s piss as camouflage! YUCK! Thank goodness I didn’t throw up when the characters cover themselves in those human wastes and slug it out. It might be disgusting to us but for these characters who have faced things that are far worse, this is nothing.

The action sequences are also entertaining although some of them are really outrageous. Like the time Sunabouzu took on Kong himself. That was really crazy. Oh well, Sunabouzu himself snapped and became crazy, the reason he could take on such machine monstrosity without any second thought. It’s also nice to see Sunabouzu use his tricks when he fights his enemies. They might look like simple tricks but they’re the difference between victory and defeat. He has great foresight in planning and while his setup of traps looks implausible but with such vast experience from the desert, it might be possible. Heck, it is possible because he always remains many steps ahead of his enemies. When you have made so many enemies along the way, this is what you do if you don’t want them to get back at your ass.

Art and animation typically reek the 2000’s era style. However I do feel that a lot of characters generally look the same especially those minor extras in the background. Sure, all those weather bitten and overworked men are skinny and have this haggard look. Even our main characters look a lot bland even for Kanta and the Machine Gun Brothers. Same case for Natsuko even if she is supposed to be tomboyish. At least Junko is identifiable by her huge racks. And uhm, thick eyebrows? Understandably, with the post-apocalyptic desert as the setting, the backgrounds look bland and boring too. Sand everywhere and the town settlements are just backwater. Yeah, it’s just depressing. And sometimes the sun is too bright and reflecting on the sands, it could be a little blinding. Even the suit power suits Sunabouzu and other characters wear look pretty meh. Sunabouzu of course as the main character so he stands out a little but generally the design is still average to me. WTF he wearing a fishbowl as his helmet or what? Even with all that hi-tech equipment in such suits, it is not reflected in it so it looks one kind. Hence Amagumo’s design is my favourite since he looks badass in it. Can’t say the same for his character, though. This anime is animated by veteran studio Gonzo who brought us old nostalgic hits like Hell Sing, Full Metal Panic, Trinity Blood, Black Cat, Chrno Crusade, Gankutsuou, NHK Ni Youkoso and Rosario To Vampire.

Voice acting, my favourite goes to Norio Wakamoto as Amagumo. I just got to love his voice in making his character sound eccentric and funny at the same time. I thought it was Kikuko Inoue behind Natsuko but I was dead wrong. It’s Yuko Minaguchi (Yaone in Gensoumaden Saiyuki). I was surprised after I learnt that Hiroshi Kamiya and Ai Nonaka had cameo roles here as Makoto and Wakame respectively. I really couldn’t identify them despite going back to hear their lines. Did they sound that different back then or was it my audio? Or was it just me? There is a hell lot of casts lending their voices here due to the many minor characters but I’ll just list down the main ones. They are Chihiro Suzuki as Sunabouzu/Kanta (Ikko in Amaenaideyo – say, doesn’t Kanta look similar to this character? Also a pervert?!), Chiwa Saito as Taiko/Kosuna (Aika in Aria series), Tomoko Kotani as Junko (Mikura in Mezzo), Kouichi Toochika as Masaru (Neji in Naruto), Tamio Ohki as Kaizuka (Kikunojo in Black Bullet), Jiro Saitou as Fuyuo (Choukou in Ikkitousen), Otoya Kawano as Akio (Seishirou Sakurazuka in X), Yasuhiro Takato as Haruo (Gluttony in Fullmetal Alchemist), Tadahisa Saizen as Tanigawa (Berserker in Fate/Stay Night) and Shigeru Mogi as Mitsuru (Seina Yamada in Tenchi Muyo GXP).

I love the first opening theme, Sand Mission by Hideaki Takatori and Zetki. He’s got that sexy manly voice that makes you think he was one of the band members of JAM Project. He makes this jazzy rock piece sounds uber cool. I wished they remained this theme for the rest of the series but they had to change it halfway to Destiny Of The Desert by Yuka. This rock piece feels like a downgrade from the first one. I’m not saying it is very bad but I still very much prefer the first one many times over this. Making it even weirder is its animation credits that spams a lot of Sunabouzu’s sexy fantasy delusions of him swimming in boobs/cleavage and surrounded by his harem. Yeah… I don’t know, is this way better than the first animation credits that sees a live action cosplay of someone as Sunabouzu bumming around the desert. Hideaki Takatori also sings the first ending theme, Sunabouzu Ekaki Uta. It’s a weird song because just like its title says, it is how to draw Sunabouzu! But I guess what we want to draw is Junko’s bouncy boobs tempting us at the end!!! F*cking hell, are those boobs blowing in the wind???!!! But the song is epic in its own right with all the jazzy fanfare with some traditional elements in it. For the second ending theme, Yuka sings Shinkirou. After all the craziness we have seen, suddenly this song is a slow lovely ballad! Eh? It’s not bad but I feel to have such song here feels so out of place.

On a trivial note, I am not sure why the English licensed version has a different title altogether than the Japanese one. Many of them I noticed do not seem to be related to what that episode is about. Maybe they do but I don’t see how it is connected. For instance, the second episode was originally titled Sand And Rain but the official English version became Rock, Paper, Scissors. Uhm, I don’t really see how the latter became relevant in this Amagumo’s episode debut. Unless you tell me the whole thing about the stupid dudes fighting over the girl is like playing this childish game. Yeah. Maybe that. Hence many of the English version’s title have this vibe but I don’t really care to deliberate further on this. I mean, I’m not going to get some sort of prize, am I?

Overall, this anime is fun and enjoyable if you can stomach all the perverted and dumb jokes as well as a not so desirable main character. I had lots of fun and laughs watching this flashy and loud spectacle that isn’t shy to display its crude brand of humour, so it’s pretty good in my books. Too bad morally upright people and those with no sense of humour won’t even know how to appreciate this sandy trash. This anime isn’t supposed to give Mad Max for its run nor does it even compete to be something similar to that. Need to get that off my chest eventually because post-apocalyptic desert survival show for me has mostly been associated with that retro Hollywood movie. Despite the desert being a dangerous and boring place to live, these guys sure showed how to light things up. For the sake of comedy, it’s no wonder why these guys never learn. And so do we. Got a problem with that, punk?!