Ronit J

Crayon Shin-chan Spin-Off is an anime series that’s a spin-off of the incredibly popular Crayon Shin-chan that is exclusively streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Unlike the main series, the spin-offs are split into four distinct volumes, each featuring a different futuristic or fantastical setting.
In this post, I will be talking about all 4 volumes and in the end, I’ll be ranking the four volumes as well.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Crayon Shin-chan Spin-Off (2016-2017) Synopsis:

On the 25th anniversary of the start of the animated series Shinchan was presented in a new style for four seasons. Available now in Japanese and English dubbing on Amazon’s Prime Video.

Crayon Shin-chan Spin-Off Review:

I remember seeing this on my feed a few years back, but honestly, I’ve grown out of Shin-chan. I loved the show when it aired on Hungama. However, I only learned later that most of the ‘Bollywood’ songs and jokes were originally very mature. Anyway, last weekend I ended up getting food poisoning and I desperately needed something to distract me. Aliens vs Shinnosuke popped up on my feed again, and in an attempt to distract me from my discomfort, I ended up bingeing on all four volumes. I thought it was only 1 volume, but it ended up being four.

Honestly, I really enjoyed it. It was nostalgic, and it was stupidly funny. Of course, I won’t condone the problematic elements, but as a former fan, it was nice revisiting this little troublemaker and the Nohara family.

Volume 1: Aliens vs Shinnosuke

Set in a futuristic age, the Nohara family wakes up aboard a mysterious spaceship. The last they remember is going to the supermarket for grocery shopping, and now they’ve woken from cryo-sleep. Long story short: they’re here along with a roster of strange characters, all who’ve been aged for 100 years so they can be eaten by the mysterious alien Butt-man.

The volume really evoked the classic sci-fi horror of Alien, but with the crass and silly humour of Shin-chan. To be fair, I did not expect to enjoy this one as much as I did. However, everything from the ‘who’s the alien among us’ mystery, to the ‘bad guy seizing authority’, to even the ridiculous ‘final showdown’ between Shin-chan and the Butt-man was an absolute delight to watch.

Yes, there are problematic elements to this, specifically the way women are often the butt of the joke. Also Shin-chan trying to hit on older women. All that was a harsh reminder of everything that’s wrong with this popular IP. But apart from that, the Alien vs Shinnosuke spin-off was actually quite enjoyable.

Volume 2: Toy Wars

Toy Story meets the Pied Piper, Volume 2: Toy Wars was somehow more absurd than the previous one. This one featured a lot more of Shin-chan and his friends, Kazama, Nene, Masao and Bo-chan. The story begins with Obaan, a middle-aged supervillain who’s an extremely popular icon on children’s TV show: Middle-Aged Mask. However, her popularity is short-lived, and all the show’s merchandise ends up in the trash piles. A strike of lightning animates Obaan, who uses her magic to animate her underlings, proceeding to begin the ‘toyification’ of the real world by abducting children and turning them into toys.

A really absurd twist on Toy Story, Toy Wars was a little more daunting than the previous volume. It somehow featured a little less of Shin-chan, instead choosing to focus almost equally on his friends, as well as the two toys, Middle-Aged Mask & Obaan. This actually helped keep things a little fresh, but the over-reliance on the Toy characters made me lose interest in some of the episodes. All-in-all, the volume was as ridiculous and funny as expected, with the end being quite endearing.

I am partial to Aliens vs Shinnosuke, but Toy Wars was almost as good.

Volume 3: Lone Wolf & Family

A play on Lone Wolf & Cub, this volume was more focused on Hiroshinosuke (Shin-chan’s father) and his ‘butt-sword play’ technique. Of the four volumes, I found this to be the funniest and most absurd. It was nice to see the whole Nohara family working together, especially with Hiro & Shin-chan swordfighting with katanas clenched between their cheeks. Of course, there’s the whole plot of the secret princess and her evil uncle who’s usurped her estate. The entire volume reminded me a lot of Kurosawa films and the manga series by Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima (Lady Snowblood, Samurai Executioner, Lone Wolf & Cub).

The plot was once again straightforward, but a little more dramatic and comedic than the previous two volumes (in my opinion). The absurdity of the sword fights is what really took the cake for me. We even got a complete training montage and hero’s journey for Hiro, which made this volume’s story a lot more satisfying than the other three for me. Of course, almost all of it was predictable, but it was also very entertaining.

Volume 4: O-O-O No Shinnosuke

Set in a small town with a girl named Fumie as the main character, this fourth and last volume features Shin-chan as a monster named O-O-O-No Shinnosuke, with Hiro being a monster named Papa No-Balls. Yes, they really did that. The two are searching for Misae (Shin-chan’s mother) and Himawari (Shin-chan’s baby sister), who’ve gone missing. The small town has just recently become victim to monster attacks, and Shin-chan’s Remote Control Undies allow him to fight these monsters.

A Pokemon meets Cardcaptors meets Inu-Yasha, this volume really went all out with the monsters and the monster-hunters trope. The ending even made me think of Scooby-Doo, with the Mayor unleashing all these monsters so he can drop property prices and sell the town to casino owners. Much of the humour didn’t really work for me in this one, and neither did the whole Fumie plot. But I’ll admit that the ‘search for Misae’ plot and their eventual reunion was quite heartwarming.

The ending was also appropriately epic. All-in-all, a good bookend to this 4-volume spin-off series for Crayon Shin-chan.

Crayon Shin-chan Spin-Off Ranked:

Since I’ve already shared my mini-reviews, I’ll only be ranking the volumes here. Honestly speaking, the four volumes had more-or-less on the same quality. So really this ranking all boils down to my enjoyment and preference:

1. Lone Wolf & Family
2. Aliens vs Shinnosuke
3. Toy Wars
4. O-O-O-No Shinnosuke

Are the Crayon Shin-chan Spin-Offs worth watching?

Depends. If you’re a fan of Crayon Shin-chan, you’re sure to enjoy these. However, if you’re not, these won’t do anything to change your opinion.

In Conclusion:

Crayon Shin-chan Spin-Off is a stupidly funny spin-off series featuring some pretty creative premises with nostalgic familiarity.

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