Mr. Stain on Junk Alley

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Mr. Stain on Junk Alley
The cover of Ga-Ra-Ku-Ta: Mr. Stain on Junk Alley DVDs released in USA.
GenreComedy
Anime
Mr. Stain on Junk Alley
Directed byRyuji Masuda
Written byRyuji Masuda
StudioFUNimation Entertainment, Ltd.

Mr. Stain, also known as Ga-Ra-Ku-Ta: Mr. Stain on Junk Alley (ガラクタ通りのステイン Garakuta-dori no Stain), is a digital computer series (CGI) created and directed by Ryuji Masuda.[1]The producer of the show is Shunsuke Koga and the characters were designed by Wakako Masuda.[2]The series involves surreal adventures centered on characters living in a junk-filled alley.The episodes are short, with a duration of about seven minutes, and start with Mr. Stain finding an object.There are no dialogues, just music and sound effects, similar to the old Looney Tunes cartoons. Each show's ending credits are a list of all the characters who appear in the show, followed by a segment of everyone dancing and having fun.[3]

The CGI was produced by FUNimation Entertainment and broadcasted in Japan by Kids Station on 6-January-2003 at 12 p.m. (JST) on Monday, Thuesday and Wednesday. The show also premiered between 10:50 p.m. and 23:30 p.m.(JST) on 31-December-2002.[4]It was aired in Brazil by Cartoon Network (L.A.)[2]and in India by Animax.[5]FUNimation also included episodes of Mr. Stain on many of its other DVD releases. These short comedy bits were a great extra to include on discs and interest in the series grew.[6]A DVD release of the show was also launched by FUNimation for USA/Canada region.[7]


Characters

The characters in the series are an odd bunch with names that suggest their fate(or role) or their physical appreance.For example, "Eaten" is a fish that is consumed.[8]

  • Mr. Stain - A vagrant who sees the garbage littering Junk Alley as undiscovered treasure.
  • Palvan - A huge stray cat who wanders the back streets of Junk Alley.
  • Eaten - A cute and mysterious fish born from an abandoned egg.
  • Pylon - A crab who uses a red pylon as his shell.
  • Rings - Lizards with ravenous appetites who wear rings as necklaces.
  • Heavenly Bird - A rainbow-colored tropical bird.
  • Radio Boy/Radio Girl - Robots created from boomboxes.
  • Lost Kitten #1 - A kitten found and cared for by Palvan.
  • Lost Kitten #2 - A kitten that follows the Woolen glove around.
  • Squeezed Dog- A dog that has overgrown the collar it wore as a pup.
  • Masked Monkey- A presumed monkey with a paper-bag over its head, which reveals only an eye.
  • Robot S1-T3- A remote controlled toy that can think for itself and wants to be free.
  • Woolen Glove- A magical woolen mitten that comes alive and helps Stephany out of the Junk Alley.
  • Stephany - A little girl who gets lost after wandering into Junk Alley.
  • Lomeria- A mystical flower that grows from a seed Mr. Stain found.
  • Mother Ship - An alien spacecraft.
  • Tiny - A fish that lives in the fountain in Junk Alley.
  • Baby - An infant abandoned in Junk Alley.
  • Policeman- An officer of the law who comes to Junk Alley on his rounds.
  • Handsome Stain - The alter ego of Mr. Stain.
  • Lifa - A pianist who falls in love with Mr.Stain.
  • Free Bird - A bird that Robot S1-T3 wants to be like.

Storyline

File:Mr Stain screen1.png
At the end of each episode the characters are seen dancing around the fountain to the beat of "Tandem" by HALCALI.

Mr. Stain is a street-dwelling vagabond who uncovers the mysterious and bizarre world of Junk Alley. Objects in the alley have magically come to life. Stain makes friends and along with them has adventures within the alley. The episodes usually start with him finding an odd object and an adventure ensues. The episodes are hilarious and comic with some intensity and thought provoking scenes.

One touching episode is Heavenly Bird, where Stain discovers a big bird in a cage and wants to eat it. After a riotous chase through the alley while he tries to capture the animal, Stain realizes that the bird is sad and dying, it just wants to see its tropical homeland once again. Stain works through the night to build a cardboard mock-up of the birds homeland and when the Heavenly Bird sees it, he thinks he's back home and passes away.

An amusing episode is Toy Robot, where a remote controlled toy decides that it no longer wants to be a servant, it wants to fly in the sky like the birds it sees. Stain, being helpful, comes up with several different ways of making the robot fly, all with comically tragic results.

The last episode is an epilogue to the series and is for half an hour. In this show, Stain sees a woman who lives in the high rise apartment and immediately falls in love with her. After a few comic attempts to get to her, all of which fail, he accidently ends up switching places with the attractive Handsome-Stain from his mirror. This Stain has no problems getting to the woman and seducing her.

Episodes

File:Mr Stain screen3.png
The "faceless" Palvan drawn by Stain in episode five, this Palvan has no eyes but two oranges forced into the sockets by Mr. Stain.

Volume 1: Egg

Duration: 6:59

Mr. Stain finds a uniquely colored egg and decides to take care of it. Palvan, on the other hand, wants to eat the egg and Stain is forced to violently fight him off. During the night, the egg hatches into a seemingly harmless fish. But, when the fish shows its carnivorous nature, the situation turns for the worse.

Volume 2: Refrigerator

Duration: 6:59

Palvan finds a refrigerator and keeps the possession to himself, preventing Stain and Rings from approaching it. But he cannot open the door and eventually teams up with Stain and Rings, beginning a series of disturbing attempts to try and open it.


Volume 3: Portrait

Duration: 6:59

Stain finds a portrait of a beautiful woman and falls in love with it. He is enthralled by the painting, as he does not move, drink or eat anything. Palvan thinks that he has a perfect cure for Stain's condition, but the feline's good intentions are met with disastrous consequences.

Volume 4: Heavenly Bird

Duration: 7:59

Stain stumbles upon an exotic bird with rainbow feathers and a gift to dance. He initially thinks of it as his next meal, but soon realises it is lonely and is about to die. As an act of kindness he replicates the birds paradise island.

Volume 5: Cassette Tape

Duration: 6:59

Stain and Palvan obtain a mystical cassette tape and use it, along with other spare junk to construct a robot. The robots only desire is to dance to the tune of the tape and it uses Palvan and Stain as non-stop dancing partners. Unable to bear the dancing robot, the two must fix the situation before it discovers its ability to display anger.

Mr. Stain trying to help the robot to fly like a bird in episode eight, the robot can be seen using two rockets as a jet-pack.

Volume 6: Magic Crayons

Duration: 6:59

Stain discovers a box of crayons that appear normal, until it brings all that is drawn with it to life. Realizing the possibilities, Stain and Palvan start on a humurous adventure of drawing things into existence, but this quickly goes out of hand.

Volume 7: Binoculars

Duration: 6:59

Mr. Stain finds a pair of binoculars and looks from a distance to see Palvan's softer side. It turns out that the cat is secretly raising and nurturing a tiny kitten. Stain continues to observe this interesting event, when a new factor is introduced that could change Stain and Palvan's future.

Volume 8: Toy Robot

Duration: 6:59

Mr. Stain finds a remote-controlled robot, that refuses to obey the remote. When Stain tries to figure out the robot's reason for rebelling he discovers that the robot is tired of being ordered around and wants to be free like a bird. Stain offers his help with catastrophic results.

Volume 9: Woolen Yarn

Duration: 7:59

Mr. Stain picks up a thread of wool that was once knitted into a magical mitten which came to life and helped a lost girl find her way out of Junk alley.

Volume 10:Seed

Duration: 6:59

Stain plants a seed which rapidly grows into a beautiful flower. At night he fantasizes about it becoming a beautiful woman and dances with it.

Volume 11:Clay

Duration: 7:59

Stain comes across some clay and fashions it into a bust of himself, which acts with a mind of its own and takes over Palvan to form a living replica of Mr. Stain.

File:Mr Stain screen4.png
Lifa, the pianist Mr. Stain follows in love with in episode fourteen.

Volume 12:Fishing Rod

Duration: 6:59

Mr. Stain and Palvan finding a fishing rod, decide to go fishing in the alley's fountain and end up catching a big fish. After they eat the fish, Stain discovers the babies of the fish yearning for their mother. Stain takes pity on the fish and decides to raise them with outlandish results.

Volume 13:Human

Duration: 7:59

Mr. Stain finds an abandoned baby in Junk-Alley's garbage dump. In order to feed the baby he decides to steal milk and a baby bottle, which incites a police officer to come after him. Refusing to bend for the law, Stain faces dire consequences and sets off a series of twists that lead to a struggle between life and death.

Volume 14:Epilogue (or Harmonica) [9]

Duration: 28:00

Stain, while playing his harmonica, sees a beautiful woman across the alley and immediately falls in love with her. However, a twisted set of events begin to unfold that forces Stain to compete for her attention with his alter ego, Handsome Stain.

DVD Release

Contents

DVDs of Mr. Stain were originally released on 26-March-2006. They come in a standard amray DVD case that contains a two-disc set and have a paper insert listing other FUNimation releases. The DVDs, besides containing the fourteen episodes of Mr. Stain, have nearly two hours of bonus material.[10]

Disc 1

  • Episodes 1-13 of Mr. Stain on Junk Alley.

Extras

  • Interview With Director Ryuji Masuda, Part 1.
  • Interview With Director Ryuji Masuda, Part 2.
  • Interview With Director Ryuji Masuda, Part 3.
  • Interview With Producer Sunsuke Koga, Part 1.
  • Interview With Producer Sunsuke Koga, Part 2.
  • Production Process Explanation With CGI Director Daisuke Suzuki.
  • Interview With Meyna Co.
  • Staff Interviews.
  • Cast Profiles.
  • TV Spots.
  • Trailers of other anime from FUNimation.

Disc 2

  • Episode 14 of Mr. Stain on Junk Alley.

Extras

  • Mr. Stain on Junk Alley Special.
  • Junk Alley Goes to Pusan.
  • Staff Comedy #1.
  • Staff Comedy #2.
  • CGI Shorts: Drawing.
  • CGI Shorts: Stain vs. Palvan - Showdown.
  • CGI Shorts: Her Scheme.
  • CGI Shorts: Creator.
  • CGI Shorts: Giant Cat in Tokyo.
  • Credits.

Audio and Video Quality

The video is in anamorphic widescreen format which preserves the original television quality. The video is clear, and the CGI production is well done. It does not have any audio options, since there are no dialogues in the main series.However, the music and sound effects, come out clearly. The extras are in Japanese with English subtitles and are well recorded.[11]

Music

Opening Theme

  1. "Tandem" by HALCALI.

Ending Theme

  1. "Tandem" by HALCALI.
  2. "Giri giri surf-rider" by HALCALI. (episode fourteen)

Reception

Reviews

The CGI has got a very positive response from its reviewers. John Sinnott of DVD talk compares it to the old Charlie Chaplin comedies[12], commenting that it is "very funny and filled with well thought out slapstick gags and odd situations"[12]. But he is let-down by the fourteenth episode which, he feels, is a "drag".[12] Jeremy Mullin from IGN calls the show "weird", but adds that the weirdness makes the show appealing.[13] Michael Bartholow, Advanced Media Networks(anime), calls the anime "wacky, bizarre and humorous with touching moments that are thought provoking".[14]He specifically praises the show on its choice to be visually oriented rather than rely on conventional dialogues.[15]

Jeremy Mullin acknowledges Mr. Stain to be "perfect for a nice break from reality when you want some laughs with the occasional moral message".[16] All the reviewers conclude that the show can be watched by any type of viewer. They also credit it with an "infectious" and "foot-taping" music at the end[17][18][19]

Overall Ratings

Out of Ten

  • Advanced Media Network(Anime) 9.1 [20]
  • IGN 7.0 [21]

Awards and International Recognition

  • Received Excellent Animation Award in Cultural Affair Agency’s Media-Art Festival.[22]
  • Specially invited to the “Pusan International Film Festival” in Korea.[22]
  • Officially invited to “Melbourne International Film Festival” in Australia(2004).[22]

Notes and References

  1. ^ The director confesses to a spiritual experience he had with his cat. "A Secret Story". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  2. ^ a b AnimeNewsNetwork. "Encyclopedia entry". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  3. ^ para 3, Jeremy Mullin's Review, "IGN.com". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  4. ^ Shows released in 2003. "AnimeNewsNetwork". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  5. ^ Synopsis of Mr. Stain. "Animax-India". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  6. ^ para 1, John Sinnott's review, "DVDTalk". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  7. ^ DVD release, "Amazon.com". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  8. ^ Character details have been obtained from the Official Site of Mr. Stain under the "Characters section". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  9. ^ Though on the Official site the episode is called Epilogue, the reviewer Jeremy Mullin calls it "Harmonica" in para 3. Also in the episode listing of AnimeNewsNetwork the fourteenth episode is called Epilogue with four parts named as Haamonika or Harmonica.
  10. ^ DVD contents, "Amazon.ca". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  11. ^ Audio and Video section of Michael Bartholow's and Jeremy Mullin's Review.
  12. ^ a b c para 3, John Sinnott's Review, "DVDtalk". Retrieved 2007-12-30. Cite error: The named reference "DVDtalk" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ para 4, Jeremy Mullin's Review, "IGN.com". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  14. ^ para 2, Disc Review, Michael Bartholow's Review, "Advanced Media Networks(anime)". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  15. ^ para 3, Disc Review, Michael Bartholow's Review, "Advanced Media Networks(anime)". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  16. ^ para 4, John Sinnott's Review,"DVDtalk". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  17. ^ Bottom line, Jeremy Mullin's Review,"IGN.com". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  18. ^ Bottom line, Michael Bartholow's Review,"Advanced Media Networks(anime)". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  19. ^ Final thought, John Sinnott's Review,"DVDtalk". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  20. ^ http://anime.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=2734.
  21. ^ http://dvd.ign.com/articles/709/709689p1.html.
  22. ^ a b c About Ryuji Masuda.


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