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The Super Milk-Chan Show, known in Japan as , is a comedy anime about a potty-mouthed talking baby girl named Milk-chan, who is entrusted by the President of Everything to defend the world, despite the fact that she cannot do very much other than curse and make popular culture references, leading to its American slogan "Wholesome? Probably not. Good for you? Definitely." Super Milk-Chan is produced in Japan by Studio Pierrot. The version dubbed in English is produced by ADV Films, which also distributes the DVD in North America. The show originally aired in the USA on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, starting on November 8, 2004. Summary The show centers on the activities of Milk, a 5-year-old superheroine who may not actually have any powers; what she does have is a severely poor attitude and a drooling problem. She lives in a house on a suspended platform (similar to The Jetsons), with her malfunctioning robotic maid Tetsuko and her drunken pet slug Hanage. The show follows a fairly rigid formula. In each episode, the President (of Everything, apparently) calls with a new mission; whether Milk actually takes the mission is not guaranteed. Regardless of whether or not she takes the mission, she always takes credit, and celebrates her success by going out for sushi ("or something"). Likewise, there are a number of other constants that follow through the series, often under contrived circumstances. The show began as 8-minute segments (fourteen segment episodes) on the Fuji Television program Flyer in 1998. All of those episodes are rated TV-PG. It was later made into twelve full-length episodes, which are rated TV-14 in the United States. ADV created two dubbed versions of Super Milk-chan: a "direct translation" dub that retains much of the uniquely Japanese humor (this is the one that Williams Street, Adult Swim's producers and programmers, chose after acquiring the broadcast rights) and an Americanized version which adds Western pop culture references and a live-action segment involving the ADV voice actors, and is much more vulgar. The North American DVD releases are two-disc sets that include both variants. Characters Milk (a.k.a. Super Milk-Chan) (ミルクチャン Miruku-chan) - The title character of the show, Milk is a little girl who may or may not be a superhero. She is selfish, vain, has a short temper, drools and often yells, “You dumbass!” (with the camera zooming in) at anyone who offends her. Often tormenting the President or her robot maid, Tetsuko. Technically, she works for the President, but she only does so when she feels like it. Oddly enough, her house is in the shape of a baby bottle and she still drinks powdered milk from a baby bottle on occasion. Milk sometimes fires a tokarev. Tetsuko (テツコ ) - An obsolete robot maid, she lives with and works for Milk. Tetsuko is a more conservative character, the only occasional voice of reason on the show when she is questioning Milk's greedy, immoral or random decisions. She yearns for a stable traditional family life, which the humans around her do not even consider. Milk often calls her a piece of junk, and Tetsuko is torn between loving Dr. Eyepatch (her "daddy") and being disappointed in him when he insults her or offers to replace her. She has the ability to generate a fart ("Tetsuko's gas") that can kill a raging bear. The only character that brings out Tetsuko's aggressive side is Robodog, whom she hates. They are in a constant battle for Milk's affections, to Milk's amusement. Hanage (ハナゲ) - Hanage is Milk's green, middle-aged, pet slug; he has a drinking problem and is incapable of speech, yet he can understand other languages. When he does speak, the words are expressed as his thoughts, usually a maudlin soliloquy, that call themselves "the voice of Hanage's heart." "Hanage" means "nose hair" in Japanese. The President (of Everything) - No one knows how this man got elected. The President of Everything is a little bald man who apparently runs the country Milk lives in (referred to only as "our nation," a subtle jab at the Japanese habit of referring to their country as such instead of using the proper names "Nihon" or "Nippon"). He assigns missions to Milk, but whether she takes them or not is her business. The President is a complete idiot, at one point firing his country's best missile on his own country. He has stumps for arms, which he pounds on his desk when talking on the phone. The President likes wine, women, and song but he usually enjoys cheap wine, loose women, and off-key karaoke. He also attracts flies. A lot. Dr. Eyepatch - Seen only on a TV screen, Dr. Eyepatch runs the King's Idea Laboratory (Ō-sama no Idea Kenkyūsho in Japanese). In each episode, he provides Milk with a new invention, or gives info about such a thing. He created Tetsuko, but always belittles her or offers to have her replaced. The eyepatch over Dr. Eyepatch's right eye changes its design every episode, and on a few occasions, several times in the course of a single episode. The Landlord - A bald, blue-skinned creature with a head shaped like a daikon radish, in a shirt with straps on the sleeves, Ooya (大家 Ōya) /Lalo (original/dub names) is Milk's landlord. As she's perpetually over six months behind on her rent, he continually tries to get money from her. However, whenever he tries to get the rent, she does or says something that shocks or tricks him, causing him to run back across the ladder to his own home, as he is not very bright. He is also panicky, as he once thinks he loses his "purse," but shortly finds it, but only after making a racket over it. The landlord has admitted to being a homosexual in the Japanese version of episode 9, "Financial Decay Peninsula". His homosexuality is bluntly referred to in more than one episode. The Ants - A family of ants (a mother, a cuckolded father, and a little baby larva) live underground near Milk's house. Their part of the show follows their constant marital troubles. The family consists of Yoshiki Arita, an overbearing, suspicious husband, Helen, an unfaithful wife, and Ario, their son. After noticing his wife's behavior and realizing she is cheating, Yoshiki becomes more and more furious and eventually Helen takes Ario and leaves. In the final episode of the show, Yoshiki writes a letter to his family and commits suicide. Robodog No. 1 - A rude, bladderless robot that Dr. Eyepatch made to help on some of Milk's missions. Tetsuko and he are bitter rivals. Robodog winds up causing a lot of fights and problems on Milk's missions. Other characters Haruo - A robot that Tetsuko has a crush on. He only appears in the vintage episodes. The Counterfeiter - A counterfeiter who (really) likes Belgian waffles. He makes counterfeit bills to buy a lot of them. His main catchphrase: "BELGIAN WAFFLES!!!!!!" His design (outfit) seems slightly similar to Jotaro Kujo's in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Kyuu the Myna Bird - A bird that Tetsuko started keeping, but died the next week. It looks like a toucan. Kanchi - The president's beloved cat that runs away and Milk and the gang have to find her. Mecha Elderly No. 7 ("Furby") - A robot that is designed to look like an old man. Fueled by ramen, he will suddenly become surly if he hasn't had any. He has no real function. Bear Slayer Robo Willy No. 8 - A robot designed to slay bears unconditionally. On the mission he gets destroyed easily by Leonardo. His design is vaguely resemblant of Jim Kelly's character in Enter the Dragon. Leonardo the Japenese Bear - A violent bear from an Osaka bear farm. He defeats Robo Willy, but gets knocked out by Tetsuko's gas attack. Pastel Mr. Shin - An elderly man dressed as a young kid. He tries to get kids to play with him, but they can't because their parents said they couldn't. He gets shocked and throws a tantrum whenever they say he's not a kid. His name (Pasuteru Shin-san in Japanese) is a parody of Crayon Shin-chan. Keizao Butae - The factory manager of the Gentucky Pork Legs Factory, who resembles Colonel Sanders. Barazou - A live-action cross-dressing man who appears frequently on the news. The Flies - Flies that are attracted to the President. Akiko Matake - Akiko is heard but never seen. She is seemingly a young Japanese girl who does video art. Her "art" is never much more than a pretentious monologue read by her as she takes a video of normal things happening in Japan. The videos are not animated and cut randomly into the show in various episodes. Tonkichi & Tonko - Two pigs that are in love that try to run away, but only to be turned into pork legs. Kings Idea Laboratory Mechas Episode guide Note that the plot listed for an episode often doesn't start until halfway through. 1. The Evil Spirits Go Marching In. (First Episode) A counterfeiter is making money that closely resembles the real thing. Milk is sent to uncover him, and soon discovers his one weakness: Belgian waffles! "Give me all the Belgian waffles I can buy with this money!" 2. From Giba-Chan to Dioxin. After dreaming that people who look suspiciously like the Ku Klux Klan try to kill him in a guillotine, the President fires a missile on his own country. His attempts to get Milk to stop it fail miserably. 3. Don't Give Up, Sumi High Baseball Team! A ship carrying a load of wine sinks in the middle of the ocean. Milk is sent to aid the drunken fish. 4. The Return of the Young Master from the Planet. Aliens, seeking new sources of food, have kidnapped the President. Milk goes out to find him but doesn't even know where to start. 5. Rice Cakes Stretching and Shrinking. Milk seeks a way to make a better version of her favorite treat. Her searches are interrupted when the President orders her to find a missing baby. Despite the title and the dialogue, the "rice cakes" are actually mochi. 6. The Towering Homeless. After the cardboard houses of the homeless burn down, the President orders Milk to build them new homes. This episode repeats itself as its own sequel. 7. Ra-Ra-Racoon Dog, Heisei Pig Wars Oink Oink. A mishap involving sexual harassment causes trouble at a pig leg factory. Two pigs in love escape and are now defecting. Milk is ordered to stop them, but she's too busy with her snack foods. 8. The Virtual Sound System. Milk accidentally eats a priceless tyrannosaurus rex egg, but the President is too busy crying over his lost cat to worry. In order to smooth things over, Milk sets out to find his cat. The title of the episode refers to two actors who provide all the sound effects for the episode. 9. Financial Decay Peninsula. There's a rash of purse thefts in nursing homes. Milk is sent out, with the aid of an old-man robot, to combat it. 10. Hou Houkekkyo, Who's Going to Die? Tetsuko breaks down due to the Y2K bug (although the 2K stands for the number of farts). Before Milk has a chance to fix her, she's sent to combat a killer bear. 11. Having a Thick Talk for Dinner. An outtakes episode, hosted by Dr. Eyepatch and a man with three eyes who claims to be the show's creator. 12. Farewell to Mankind. (Last Episode) Reality is being warped by a machine that resembles a shiitake mushroom. Milk is sent to take care of the problem, but has some trouble as the mushroom's rays keep sending her back in time. 13. Milk Chan Has Arrived! The First set of the Super Milk Chan vintage episodes. These may have been taken from the DVD by Cartoon Network. The set includes: 14. Milk Chan's Challenger Of Fire. The second set of the Super Milk Chan vintage episodes. These include: 15. Farewell, Milk Chan! The last set of the Vintage Episodes. This episode only has the last four and one is repeated from the second set. T.V. segments These are the shows that they watch: Times Milk scared off the landlord Fake names/addresses Completed and failed missions English Voice Actors Milk: Hilary Haag Tetsuko: Monica Rial The President: Mike MacRae Hanage: Ben Pronsky Dr. Eyepatch: Tommy Drake Robodog: David Matranga Landlord: Rob Mungle Yoshiki Arita (Father Ant): Todd Waite Helen Arita (Mother Ant): Shelley Calene-Black Ario (Baby Ant): David Matranga Theme songs Japan (Oh! Super Milk-Chan) Openings: Endings: U.S. (The Super Milk-Chan Show) Opening: Ending: | |||||||
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