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Hale is a 10 year old boy living in the jungle with his mother. Life is pretty much normal for him and his village,
until the day he’s attacked by a weird monster while shopping. Later that same day, his mother brings a little girl named
Guu back from a village meeting. Guu’s charm quickly wins over Hale, and he thinks that his life will only get better as
he goes to sleep for the night. However, as soon as he wakes up the next morning, he realizes that he is now living in a
nightmare, orchestrated by Guu.
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There is no good way to describe the kind of humour that Jungle wa Itsumo Hale nochi Guu supplies.
It is so unique, so creative, and so bizarre that you’ll rarely be actually able to understand it.
However, that won’t stop you from laughing your head off throughout the entire 26 episodes.
The main strength of Jungle wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu is the characters, and how each is perfectly designed with
traits to create a perfect chemistry, enabling much of the humour in the series to actually work. Every single character
that appears, from Hale to Dr. Clive to even the lowly Pokute, has something about them that makes them unique and
special, and there are no characters that contribute nothing to the series. From an audio standpoint, the soundtrack,
while not something to listen to alone over and over, sets the tone and creates the mood very well when needed. The
voice acting is also excellent, only serving to accentuate the characters.
Of course, the show is not without its flaws. For one, while the characters are all lovable and have wonderfully diverse
personalities, there is next to no character development throughout the series. The plot is also quite weak, not picking
up until the last six episodes or so. This leads to a very rushed and abrupt ending, which produces the feeling that the
producers tried to cram the entire plot in at the last second.
However, these flaws are really irrelevant. The point of the show is not to make one think, but rather, to make one laugh,
and to that end it succeeds magnificently. There were some especially brilliant moments from this anime that will forever
remain etched in my memory, specifically, two particular episodes featuring the Doctor and a certain old lady. Anyone who
wants bizarre but very effective humour should look here, and also look for the sequel OVA that’s supposed to wrap up some
loose ends, Jungle wa Itsumo Hale nochi Guu Deluxe.
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