Catalano

Hoshi Neko Fullhouse (English: Star Cat Fullhouse) is a 4 episode OVA (Original Video Animation) series made by now defunct Studio Artland, which aired in late 1989. It was made to be a comedy SF set in space. The story is very simple and in-your-face, it's about a guy named Yaoi Seitarou who's piloting a ship called the Green Goblin and his misadventures in space, that's it. You know this show will be a comedy from the first minutes of episode 1, when the robot Chiraku is telling a fun, somewhat dirty joke. If you laugh at the end of the joke, that means the showis for you and you should expect more of that, if you didn't, that's a sign this isn't for you. I think letting the viewer know about the anime's atmosphere from the beginning is a good thing and that joke really breaks the glass, I liked it and I expected to be entertained more, which happened all the way till the end of episode 4. The viewer should not expect a heavy plot, sure something big happens that will shake our characters actions but all in all it's a slapstick comedy, what is important is how the characters react to different events in the anime, what funny, out of place things they'll do to keep us on watching. The show works this way because the two main characters on the pirate ship are fun to watch and interesting. The biggest asset is the characters, some of them may be cliche and boring but they work well and they offer us great moments of comedy. - Yaoi Seitarou, the captain, is characterized in episode 2 by Chiraku: "The captain of the pirate space ship, Seitarou is a smuggler, still a virgin, and quite the bad guy. He brings porno discs produced on the dark side of the moon to buyers in the space colonies. He also takes sand from Mars and sells it as an aphrodisiac for high prices." - Chiraku, a perverted robot who tells dirty jokes - Meifa, Lyla and Jojo, three rich high school girls who board the ship - Gannet, a Haman Karn look-alike - Purin-Purin, the ship's sentient computer who has the appearance of a hot girl - Hoshi Neko, a cute small cat I liked Seitatou's personality, he's a cool guy, free as a bird, a pirate, he's not your usual dense harem protagonist or super perverted geek, sure, he likes girls, has a porn stash, he developed his ship AI to look like a hot girl but he's not boring to watch and anything can happen when he's around. On the other hand, the robot Chiraku is a perverted and crazy character and he always makes fun of Seitarou, he is voiced by the veteran VA (Voice Actor) Kamiya Akira who played Mendou Shuutarou, Saeba Ryou, Roy Focker, Kazamatsuri Shinnousuke, the way he puts soul into Chiraku is great and he became for me a lovable character ever since I first heard him. The three girls are kinda bland in the beginning of the anime, one is a crybaby and the others are just there. The voices don't help either, the VAs sound like just reading lines and get on with it, very weak in my opinion. Only in the end though, they sound more "in-character" and like they put their soul into it, like they are part of the anime. many viewers may have problems with this, it can be a bit annoying. Even if this is a comedy, expect a bit of drama related to space travel, robots trying to conquer humanity, kidnappings, space battles, gun shootings, pirates, lots of plot twists and so on. There's a character in there who looks just like Haman Karn (Gundam Zeta and ZZ), and she's important in one of the episodes, I say this is great fanservice for 80s Gundam enthusiasts. The art style has a classic 80s look, with realistic looking characters (normal noses, normal eyes etc), it's not the best animated piece ever created but it's fair, the movements are a bit stiff but it doesn't endanger the overall experience. The backgrounds look fine, the ship is well detailed, the interior has many details too, the celestial bodies look alright, the robots and mechs too, you can see that a lot of work was invested into it. We don't get that many sexy moments, some rare cleavages, few panty shots and maybe a scene with the boobs of a girl fully exposed, the creators wanted to cater any kind of audiences and they didn't exaggerate with some elements. I say it's pretty fine, in a 30 minutes episode we don't need two thirds of it to be filled with naked ladies (not that there's anything wrong with that), so the overall result is fair and watchable for different types of viewers. No romance here either, our main guy hits on almost all the girls but there's nothing serious going on. The interactions between the characters was the thing I liked the most. There are some scenes where our boys and girls have fun on the ship, talking, cleaning rooms, making food (slice of life stuff), it felt fulfilling and it was nice to get to know them a bit more, it added depth to our bland girls and made Seitarou a more interesting guy, just my kind of thing. And by the end of the show you'll see that the relationship between them was really there, it looked authentic, it evolved from A to B, it wasn't just for convenience sake, but you'll have to get throw all of it to see it building. It was a very easy watch for me, I knew where I was getting myself into from the first episode, I liked the laid back atmosphere and the idea of a guy who is a space pirate (I like this idea of freedom), the only bad things that he does is selling porn related stuff and dumb artifacts, so he's not a real evil pirate who hijacks ships and all, he even wants to save people from time to time (and if he gets something in return that would be a plus). The girls were cute, they were annoying in the beginning but I got used to them and by the end of the OVA they were interesting and I felt that they offered something overall. Chiraku was great with his jokes and shenanigans, Gannet has short appearances but she was fun to watch, she has a fiery personality (different that the 3 girls) and she has an awesome design (I'm a Haman Karn fan). In conclusion, this show is for everybody, the animation is not dated, it doesn't have a heavy plot, it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's good for 80s anime lovers (it has that feel) and it's a fresh break from the serious plot and action heavy anime. It has about 2 hours in total and something happens every episode (be it a bizarre plot twist or some comedy moments interrupted by space battles), the overall plot is resolved at the end, so the viewer won't be disappointed if he wanted to find that out. It's a mix between comedy, SF, action, and space, it worked for me for I enjoyed it, I laughed every episode at the jokes, I was impressed by the ship's designs, I liked the characters and I easily followed the story. It was an enjoyable watch.