Eternal Family
Encyclopedia
is a 1997 OVA
directed by Koji Morimoto
and released by Japanese animation studio, Studio 4°C
. The film is about the daily life of a group of six very different strangers who, for scientific purposes, are brainwashed into believing that they are a family. The family is filmed and to recoup scientific expenses the distribution rights
for the footage
are sold to a television station
for broadcast as a domestic soap opera
called Eternal Family. The show becomes highly popular in the outside world so when a plumbing disaster results in the family accidentally escaping, the television station and the residents of Champon
City spare no expense to retrieve them.
The story was written
jointly by Morimoto and Dai Sato. Eternal Family represents Sato's debut as an anime screenwriter, and Morimoto's first foray into the field of broadcast media
. In 2004 the OVA
was collected for release on one DVD
.
named Ben and a group of six unrelated men and women have been implanted with false memories that they are his family. They live together in a capsule with a pet dog and chicken and apart from Ben, none of them know anything about the outside world. The outside world, however, is intimately acquainted with their lives, as the artificial drama is broadcast live as a real-life soap opera
in the simulated community
of Champon City.
After the show has become popular, a plumbing disaster occurs that shatters the capsule and sends the family out into the real world, which they explore as the world around them searches for them in order to return them to the show. With the use of high-tech equipment and with a reward
of ¥2 million for the return of each member, the family is soon rounded up and returned to a new capsule where they are again brainwashed.
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
directed by Koji Morimoto
Koji Morimoto
, born December 26, 1959) is an animator and one of Japan’s premier anime directors.- Biography :Born in Wakayama, Japan, he graduated from the Osaka School of Design in 1979 and a couple years later joined the studio Annapuru as an animator for the TV series “Tomorrow's Joe”...
and released by Japanese animation studio, Studio 4°C
Studio 4°C
is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense.-History:STUDIO4°C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film titles include; Memories , Spriggan and Princess Arete...
. The film is about the daily life of a group of six very different strangers who, for scientific purposes, are brainwashed into believing that they are a family. The family is filmed and to recoup scientific expenses the distribution rights
Film distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...
for the footage
Footage
In filmmaking and video production, footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by movie camera or recorded by a video camera which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work...
are sold to a television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for broadcast as a domestic soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
called Eternal Family. The show becomes highly popular in the outside world so when a plumbing disaster results in the family accidentally escaping, the television station and the residents of Champon
Champon
, also known as Chanpon, is a noodle dish that is a regional cuisine of Nagasaki, Japan. Due to the inspiration from Chinese cuisine, it is also a form of Japanese Chinese cuisine. Champon is made by frying pork, seafood and vegetables with lard; a soup made with chicken and pig bones is added. A...
City spare no expense to retrieve them.
The story was written
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
jointly by Morimoto and Dai Sato. Eternal Family represents Sato's debut as an anime screenwriter, and Morimoto's first foray into the field of broadcast media
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
. In 2004 the OVA
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
was collected for release on one DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Plot
The storyline follows an actorActor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
named Ben and a group of six unrelated men and women have been implanted with false memories that they are his family. They live together in a capsule with a pet dog and chicken and apart from Ben, none of them know anything about the outside world. The outside world, however, is intimately acquainted with their lives, as the artificial drama is broadcast live as a real-life soap opera
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
in the simulated community
Simulated reality
Simulated reality is the proposition that reality could be simulated—perhaps by computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds which may or may not be fully aware that they are living inside a simulation....
of Champon City.
After the show has become popular, a plumbing disaster occurs that shatters the capsule and sends the family out into the real world, which they explore as the world around them searches for them in order to return them to the show. With the use of high-tech equipment and with a reward
Bounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...
of ¥2 million for the return of each member, the family is soon rounded up and returned to a new capsule where they are again brainwashed.
Cast
- Ben Hanada (Masashi HiroseMasashi Hiroseis a Japanese voice actor. He works at Production Baobab.He is known for the roles of Ramba Ral , Rikishiman , Gosterro , and Nakano-sensei .-Anime television:...
) - The patriarchPatriarchOriginally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
of the family. He is the only member of the family who has not been brainwashed and who knows that the family is being broadcast on television. He carries a blow-up dollSex dollA sex doll is a type of sex toy in the size and shape of a sexual partner for aid in masturbation....
that serves to hold a hidden cameraHidden cameraA hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object...
for the TV station. - Akiko (Yūko MizutaniYuko Mizutaniis a Japanese voice actress working for Production Baobab.-Notable voice roles:*Alfimi, Katana & Byakuya in Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Endless Frontier EXCEED*Andrea Zuckerman in Beverly Hills, 90210*Anri in Bubblegum Crisis*Apple in Zillion...
) - The eldest daughter. Highly given to dramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
tics, Akiko is a pyromaniaPyromaniaPyromania in more extreme circumstances can be an impulse control disorder to deliberately start fires to relieve tension or for gratification or relief. The term pyromania comes from the Greek word πῦρ . Pyromania and pyromaniacs are distinct from arson, the pursuit of personal, monetary or...
c in search of her "darling" (presumably her ex-husband). - Tamasaburo - The family dogCompanion dogCompanion dog usually describes a dog that does not work, providing only companionship as a pet, rather than usefulness by doing specific tasks. Many of the toy dog breeds are used only for the pleasure of their company, not as workers...
. Endowed with copious amounts of hairCoat (dog)The coat of the domestic dog refers to the hair that covers its body. A dog's coat may be a double coat, made up of a soft undercoat and a coarser topcoat, or a single coat, which lacks an undercoat...
, Tamasaburo's explosive barkBark (dog)A bark is a noise most commonly produced by dogs and puppies. Other animals that make this noise include wolves and quolls. Woof is the most common representation in the English language for this sound...
is much worse than his bite. - Michael (Wasabi MizutaWasabi Mizutais a Japanese voice actress. She currently resides in Iga, Mie and is represented by Kenji Utsumi's Ken Production.As of April 2005, she is the voice of the title character in the long running Doraemon anime...
) - The baby of the family. Michael is given to animal crueltyCruelty to animalsCruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with...
and enjoys being coldColdCold describes the condition of low temperature.Cold may also refer to:*Common cold, a contagious viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system*Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...
. He plays with scissorsScissorsScissors are hand-operated cutting instruments. They consist of a pair of metal blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting various thin materials, such as paper, cardboard, metal foil, thin...
and often cuts people's pants off. - Sasuke Tamasaburou (Kappei YamaguchiKappei Yamaguchi, better known by his stage name of , is a Japanese voice actor and actor from Fukuoka, affiliated with Gokū and 21st Century Fox.He is best known for the roles of Ranma Saotome , Jackson Neil , Tombo , Yattaro , InuYasha , Ryuichi Sakuma , L , Usopp...
) - The eldest son. Extremely violentViolenceViolence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
, Sasuke owns a machine gunMachine gunA machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
that he often fires indiscriminately. He enjoys spray paintingSpray paintingSpray painting is a painting technique where a device sprays a coating through the air onto a surface. The most common types employ compressed gas—usually air—to atomize and direct the paint particles. Spray guns evolved from airbrushes, and the two are usually distinguished by their size and the...
graffitiGraffitiGraffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
and huffing paint fumesInhalantInhalants are a broad range of drugs whose volatile vapors are taken in via the nose and trachea. They are taken by volatilization, and do not include drugs that are inhaled after burning or heating...
. - A-ko (Ako Mayama under the pseudonymPseudonymA pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Lin Suwon) - The motherMotherA mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
of the family and Ben's wifeWifeA wife is a female partner in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the wife regarding her spouse and others, and her status in the community and in law, varies between cultures and has varied over time.-Origin and etymology:...
. A-ko is frequently constipatedConstipationConstipation refers to bowel movements that are infrequent or hard to pass. Constipation is a common cause of painful defecation...
. She loves the starStarA star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s although she never has an opportunity to see them. - Sae (Tie Kumashiro) - The youngest daughterDaughterA daughter is a female offspring; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements.-Etymology:...
. Sae is very introvertedExtraversion and introversionThe trait of extraversion-introversion is a central dimension of human personality theories.Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and interested in seeking out external stimulus. Introverts, in contrast, tend to be introspective, quiet and less sociable. They are not necessarily loners but...
and withdrawn. She speaks through the use of a hand puppetHand puppetA hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the leg or face that occupies the interior of the puppet. Glove puppets are a variation of hand puppets...
with whom she often argues. - Chicken - An offering of live foodLive foodLive food is living food for carnivorous or omnivorous animals kept in captivity; in other words, small animals such as insects or mice fed to larger carnivorous or omnivorous species kept in either in a zoo or as pet....
that arrives from the food dispenser for the family to eat. The family instead adoptsAdoptionAdoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
it as a petPetA pet is a household animal kept for companionship and a person's enjoyment, as opposed to wild animals or to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals or sport animals, which are kept for economic or productive reasons. The most popular pets are noted for their loyal or playful...
. The chicken often wears clothingClothingClothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
because Michael had cut and plucked off most of its feathers. - Xavier (Ken'ichi Ogata) - The head of the television station. Dressed as St. Francisco de XavierFrancis XavierFrancis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534...
(just as all other members of the TV station), Xavier was the one who hiredEmploymentEmployment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
Ben. It is Xavier's job to head the round-up effort when the eternal family escapes.
Staff
- DirectorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, character designModel sheetIn animation, a model sheet, also known as a character board, character sheet, character study or simply a study, is a document used to help standardize the appearance, poses, and gestures of an animated character...
, setting/world viewFictional universeA fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
: Koji MorimotoKoji Morimoto, born December 26, 1959) is an animator and one of Japan’s premier anime directors.- Biography :Born in Wakayama, Japan, he graduated from the Osaka School of Design in 1979 and a couple years later joined the studio Annapuru as an animator for the TV series “Tomorrow's Joe”... - Series content: Shinichi Matsumi
- WriterScreenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
: Koji MorimotoKoji Morimoto, born December 26, 1959) is an animator and one of Japan’s premier anime directors.- Biography :Born in Wakayama, Japan, he graduated from the Osaka School of Design in 1979 and a couple years later joined the studio Annapuru as an animator for the TV series “Tomorrow's Joe”...
, Sato Hiroshi - Animation directorAnimation directorAn animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
: Takamitsu Kondou - Art directorArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
: Hiroshi Katou - DirectorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
: Kusumi Naoko - ProducerFilm producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
: Eiko TanakaEiko Tanakais the chief executive officer and the president of STUDIO4°C, an animation studio she founded in 1986. Tanaka is also the chief executive officer of a producing company called Beyond C.... - Animation Production: Studio 4°CStudio 4°Cis a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense.-History:STUDIO4°C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film titles include; Memories , Spriggan and Princess Arete...