Beloved Anime Series WITHIN Anime Series We Love
Sadly, some things get lost in the sauce or left out of adaptations. Small details, Easter eggs, you name it. Imagine my joy when watching the Fruits Basket reboot when I realized that Mogeta, the in-universe anime was left in–for laughs! The small pink creature’s animated series was referred to a handful of times as is really seen as a throwaway jokey piece of a story-line. I started thinking of my other favorite beloved anime within the anime series that I loved in real life that are worth mentioning! Here’s a short list with some video examples linked for your viewing pleasure!
Fruits Basket’s Mogeta
As I stated above, I was so happy to see that Moegta, the popular anime loved by several characters in Fruits Basket anime, made it to the 2019 reboot. Never becoming a huge part of the storyline, Mogeta is a manga and anime in the FB universe about a boy and his pink creature sidekick who engage in battles, fighting evil. The younger characters in the Zodiac family seem to really love it like Kisa who happily runs to someone wearing a mascot outfit of the character at a school festival.
The anime itself appears to be incredibly cheesy and something older teens or adults wouldn’t enjoy since its target audience is children but even Kyo, Yuki, Tohru and Kagura go on a double date to watch one of the films. Mogeta is thrown around several more times for joke fodder and also in some important relations development with Yuki, later. Looking incredibly silly but having emotional weight and popularity has always made Mogeta an anime within an anime I always wanted to know more about.
Sailor Moon’s Sailor V franchise
Before my fellow Moonies throw me to the wolves, this entry slides in here as a technicality. In the 90’s anime adaptation of Sailor Moon, Usagi admires and imitates Sailor V: a beautiful young woman out there being cute and fighting crime. Audiences will mostly remember Usagi’s near obsession with the Sailor V video games at the arcade and such. Sailor V will later be revealed to us to be Minako becoming part of the inner senshi/scout as Sailor Venus.
Sailor V is uber popular: she’s the talk of the town. There’s merch and it is implied that she has a show, probably an animated one, with her likeness even though we never see it on screen. Sailor V is a real person, but has nothing to do with any of the media popping up and does not financially profit off it, hilariously.
Crayon Shin-chan’s Action Kamen/ Action Bastard
Oh, Shin-chan! Crayon Shin Chan features the slice of life misadventures of Shinnosuke “Shin” Nohara and his family that includes his mother, father, baby sister and dog. Well loved, the animated series has seen a few dubbed versions and an excellent gag dub in English by way of Funimation’s efforts that I love. Shin’s favorite show of all time is Action Kamen or better known to those who watched the English dub on Cartoon Network as Action Bastard. Funny, Satirical, Over the top: nothing compares to these episodes of Action Bastard and how young Shin idolizes him.
Action Bastard has goofy gadgets, no pockets, a not quite magical girl transformation in costume and a plucky sidekick in the form of a young girl. His victory pose at the end of each episode is emulated by Shin before he goes out to be like him and pester his parents into purchasing all the Action Bastard merch they did not want to get him in the first place. One of my favorite episodes featuring Shin’s antics is this one where Action Bastard Says, “Put Your Mouth on a Sausage!”
Spy x Family’s Spy Wars
Starlight-Anya, I mean Anya LOVES Spy Wars, the animated show and its main character Bondman. The espionage is dialed down a whole lot for sake of children’s programming but having it included in the story-line of the manga and show is very tongue and cheek. Especially since Anya uses it to relate to her father’s line of work, unbeknownst to him and inspire some of her outings and motivations. (Superior Father) Loid, practically used an entire theme park at night to make an live-action version of a Spy Wars inspired episode for his darling Anya as well which is worth mentioning as Bondman is a household staple in the Forger home.
Loid also contemplates the use of animated programming for children when doing a small math lesson with Anya — not quite IF JIMMY HAS FIVE APPLES — when she gives a correct answer when watching Bondman and seeing how many bullets he has left. In true fashion, when a dog later completes their family, Anya names him Bond, after the main character. I look forward to seeing what other lessons and shenanigans Anya learns and picks up from the show in the planned upcoming Spy x Family movie.
Carrie McClain is a Californian native who navigates the world as writer, editor, and media scholar who firmly believes that we can and we should critique the media we consume. She once aided Cindi Mayweather in avoiding capture. See more of her on Twitter and on https://carriemcclain.carrd.co/
