A show about an egg.
When people think about Sanrio, one name tends to come to mind; Hello Kitty. Obviously. But if you’re a big nerd ass weeaboo, particularly one engrossed in Japanese silliness in the mid-2010’s, then you’re likely already familiar with the Sanrio character Gudetama. Gudetama is one of the more successful Sanrio characters, and has even had a couple of video games based after it.
Gudetama is basically Japanese for “lazy egg,” and it describes the character to a T. Gudetama’s whole shtick is being an egg yolk with a butt that is lazy and encourages people to give up on their enthusiasm and just allow things to happen. In fact in the world that the character inhabits you can’t see Gudetama unless you are lazying about. Otherwise it just looks like a raw egg in a dish. Gudetama also loves soy sauce.
The short Netflix series comes up to 10 episodes that range between nine and thirteen minutes, a live action animated mixture that looks far better than a show about laziness has any right to be. Gudetama (Roger Craig Smith) “hatches” meaning his egg shell breaks at the same time as a young chick Shikipiyo (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and the two create an instant duo of the lethargic pessimist and the overly enthusiastic optimist. Shikipiyo decides that they are going to set out on a journey to find their mother, which Gudetama reluctantly agrees to, and they set out on an adventure.
It’s a thoroughly enjoyable show to turn on and be lazy and watch. The world of Gudetama is both strange and shockingly well thought out. There is a man who follows Gudetama around trying to capture it to create a show based on his fascination with odd creatures. It’s all the funnier when you understand that the humans who can clearly see and talk to Gudetama are not jarred by the existence of a talking egg, and the guy trying to create the show is constantly existing at such a level that he doesn’t notice the things right under his nose.
There’s a whole world that revolves around eggs including an egg mafia that traffics in silica gel packets, a drug that claims to stave off rotting. The don of the egg mafia is of course a giant Sicilian style omelette. The detectives are hardboiled eggs, a deep reference to American literature going back to the 1920s. The sentience of food is somewhat creepily built around a desire to eventually be turned into a dish and eaten.
Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventure never tries to be more than it is. There aren’t really any high stakes, nobody learns much in the way of lessons, and the show doesn’t try to shove in any sort of morality or commentary on current events that might immediately set its expiration date. It’s a show about a lazy egg and an enthusiastic chick who go out to try to find their mother. Nothing more, nothing less. And with a rather endearing animation style combined with the real world setting, it’s exactly the right show to watch on a lazy Saturday.
Rating: A
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