Let me introduce to you one of the best anime released in the summer of 2012: Binbougami Ga! (or Good Luck Girl! in its English release). Literally translating to “God of Poverty“, this slapstick comedy of a show revolves around a high school girl with an unusually high level of luck (enough to disrupt the world balance), and a God of Poverty who’s trying to regulate said balance but is always out-lucked by the human girl.
Their brand of out-of-this-world comedy is reminiscent of Gintama – situational parodies of other anime (DBZ, Doraemon, Lupin, etc.), breaking the fourth wall, fire-forged friendships, double act with the straight man and funny man, etc. That said, I believe it’s already understood that this is a must-watch.
16-year old high school student Sakura Ichiko – rich, beautiful, intelligent, talented and blessed with a great body, has caught the attention of the Gods due to her abnormal level of fortune that’s disrupting the karmic balance of the world. They dispatch Momiji, goddess of poverty and misfortune, to fix the problem.
The following screens ensue:
After a violent first encounter, Momiji explains to Ichicko that she needs to have some of her fortune removed. But the thing is, if Ichiko consents to having her fortune taken away, a nasty amount of bad luck would fall upon her. An example for Ichiko’s upcoming life would be to fail in school, lose her house, get married to an otaku and have five children together- with the father and children having the same face as their dog lol.
Ichiko rejects the goddess’s proposition, which then led to the all-out karmic war between goddess and human. Momiji may be fun and games, but she’s serious: if Ichiko doesn’t concede, she’ll continue to absorb the fortune of other people around her until they themselves run out of luck (having death as the most probable end-game for anyone.)
You want me to become a bum on the streets so that other people can be happy? Screw that! -Ichiko
Momiji was left no choice but to forcefully take Ichiko’s fortune out of her.
As Momiji was about to commence extraction, lucky Ichiko slipped on the floor and avoided the attack. A comical chase of cat and mouse followed, with our human girl winning in the end. It seems that Ichiko’s fortune is more powerful than Momiji’s misfortune. This event pretty much made the lazy-bum ass of a goddess motivated to screw the mortal who humiliated her.
Like Gintama, the anime has got real talent in smoothly playing with the audience’s emotions in a snap of a finger. One scene you’ll be getting stomach aches from laughing so hard, then the next minute you’ll be taken over with empathy for the characters and their sad life situations. And when you’re about to shed those manly tears, they’ll turn the scenario upside down again and re-convert those sad tears into happy ones. This is exactly what I love about Gintama and Binbougami Ga! – both can make you laugh and cry so hard in a very short span of time.
Here are more parody screens from episode 2 and 3:
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