The Daichi's: Earth Defense Family Vol. 1: Dysfunctional Heroes Review

The Daichis is about the least likely family in the world to be chosen to be superheroes. Our heroes (and I use that term very loosely) are a family that are in the beginning stages of a divorce. The father is an overweight, out of shape computer nerd. The mother is an overbearing woman who loves her TV and career more than her family. Then there’s the emotionally scarred because she was forced to grow up too quickly teenage daughter and the obnoxious, bratty son who is obsessed with women’s underwear, poop and breasts.
 
One morning over their daily fights, they receive a fax which tells them that they are now in charge of defending the Earth… at this point my first thought was ‘we’re doomed’.
 
But over the course of this first volume, a family that can’t even stand to be in the same room as each other must learn how to cope with their emotional issues and learn to work as a team with their brand new battle suits and incredibly ridiculous weapons to save the Earth from alien invaders.
 
They’ll face many challenges including their son giving birth to an alien creature and worst of all, missing the final episode of their favorite TV show.
 
We’re so screwed.
 
The Good And The Bad
 
The problem with this series is that it tries so hard to be funny and charming but it fails in almost every way with each and every attempt. I will admit that by the end of the volume I wasn’t bored out of my skull. I wouldn’t say that the characters grew on me so much as I just got used to them.
 
What I think I dislike the most about this series however is just how crude they are willing to be. The poop jokes I can forgive, but do we really need the gratuitous nudity? It’s not even good nudity… it’s really annoying nudity that doesn’t need to be there such as the overweight father’s naked butt, the annoying son’s tallywacker (yes, I call it a tallywacker) and some occasional skin shots of the mother and daughter (though no actual nudity is shown on them).
 
Music
 
With a series this crude, it’s only fitting that the opening theme be just as crude and I would’ve enjoyed it much more if I hadn’t let my curiosity get the better of me and read what the translation is. I’m not sure that I can repeat what the lyrics are within this review but let’s just leave it at the opening theme is about 2 minutes of very suggestive sexual innuendo (warm honey anyone?) over a catchy surf rock guitar riff.
 
Dub vs. Sub
 
But once again, the actors do their best and I have to give the edge to the sub track simply because it’s much easier to ignore the bad poop jokes when they aren’t so ‘in your face’ about it. The sub track is much calmer than the English track and while there are still plenty of jokes that I really could’ve done without, it’s a bit easier to swallow.
 
Overall
 
Is this a great series? Not by a long shot. Would it ever have been considered a contender for ‘Anime Of The Year’? Over my dead body.
 
What we have here is completely mindless entertainment. The characters are flawed and the plot is completely outlandish and absurd to an insane degree and yet that’s what gives this series any semblance of charm.