10 Second Anime - Outbreak Company - Episode 10

Outbreak Company - Episode 10

The magical elf-dwarf soccer match gets leaked, and the Last Otaku saves a massive secret operation by making a bad movie. Magical Girl Petrarca is a big hit in the Eldant Empire.

After some hijinks with Megane-Oppai-Meido Minori-san, we find out that some of the video the Japanese soldiers were taking of the elf-dwarf soccer match has been leaked to their world's version of niconico, a video sharing site. Matoba is worried that they'll have to scuttle the entire operation, but the Last Otaku shares his genius: make a bad movie documentary. Bad movies get cancelled all the time, especially when some viral marketing techniques show it to be a dog instead of a running wolf. Shinichi says they need to make a ripoff of Magical Madoka, release some making-of shots too, and the online and real world will savage it, and all will be forgotten. Minori backs him up, and signs on to be the director. They need a star, and the only one it could be is Magical Girl Petrarca. At the same time they're making this bad movie documentary, they'll be making a real movie, the first one, for the Eldant Empire, and its first star has to be the empress.

We've got some green screen flying, wardrobe changes, and even dragon wrangling. Who knew dragons really hate aerosol antiperspirant? The dragon wrangler knew, and nice job with the running joke of Minori's damp armpits. In the soccer match, the Japanese were awed by the war-making ability of mere children. But when a real dragon destroys the animatronic one, and is about to attack the whole movie crew, the Japanese Defense Force gets to show their own awesome powers in repelling this dragon. We got a mere gag out of a fire extinguisher disabling a magic bomb, but rocket launchers, artillery, and machine guns is no throw-away gag.

Using the students to be script writers, costumers, editors, and crew could have been a disaster, but the motivating factor was calling it their "club's" project for the school cultural festival, and in a month they have a screening of the finished project. One thing to mention is that the Eldant actors have to speak in Japanese instead of relying on the rings, so there's a bit of added complexity to their lines. The actors seem fine, but Petrarca has never seen or heard her own recorded voice and action, and is entirely embarrassed by the stiff delivery and the lack of regal bearing in her expressions. Ah well. The Last Otaku's plan works in Japan, however, by focusing the marketing on the special effects, the movie has a short run and is quickly forgotten.

Also, this episode showcased how difficult it is to bring popular anime and manga creations to the live-action screen. While the special effects may be up to par, the acting and script are usually not. It has been a rare title that has made the leap, and even now, the Japanese creative industry is still trying. We shall see if versions of Old Boy or Lupin III live up to the spirit of their original media formats. In America, the comic book translations to movies has been a bit better, mainly waiting for special effect technology to match the visual immersion of the art, and since those titles have really flat stories and characterization, movies have been able to add an emotional depth usually not seen in their own format. But they can fail too, if the spirit of the title doesn't make it to the screen.

But back to this week's episode, I have to comment on Minori's outfit getting a little too busy in the meme department. Having three fetishes thrown in there is pushing it.

Even Shinichi agrees...

And, just because, we need to have a Magical Girl Petrarca tee-heeing all by herself.