Mr. Stain
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Mr. Stain (2003) is a digital computer series (CGI)[1]created directed by Ryuji Masuda for FUNimation Productions, LTD. Movies.com calls it "bizarre and ingenious." The main character, Mr. Stain, is described as "an eccentric hobo, Mr. Stain, and his enormous alley-cat friend Palvan get involved in a series of outlandish, hilarious, and frequently surreal adventures centered on the junk-filled alley where they live" (movies.com). Amazon.com's blurb invites the viewer to step. . .
"into a twisted world where trash comes to life and imagination rules! In an impoverished garbage dump known as Junk Alley, the city's collected trash grows greater by the day. But within this land of junk lies a twisted and bizarre world where Mr. Stain and his misfit friends dig into one outlandish mishap after another" (Amazon.com).
This captures some of what the series is about but the tag lines "twisted" and "comedy" are, while true, not sufficient. Within all the undeniable strange elements there seems also to be a powerful metaphor about human existence. Every episode begins with Mr. Stain discovering some treasure in the junk alley after which he surreptitiously looks about as if he were afraid that someone might steal it from him. This is in fact true since his friend Palvan is as likely to be his competitor as well as his friend. Remembering that every object one "owns" has come from another (even if it is a manufacturer) points to the basic underlying truth of Mr. Stain in that we are all transients gathering junk. Thus, while very funny and undoubtedly surreal, Mr. Stain is also profoundly serious and a bit sad. Critical support for the series has been solid IGN.com's review seems fairly typical:
FUNimation has been promoting this CGI series for a while, now, including episodes on discs for other releases, such as Samurai 7 and Desert Punk. This is definitely a weird one, funny yet serious at the same time. You usually get a good laugh at the antics of Mr. Stain and his friends, but sometimes things get dramatic in a thought-provoking way that gets to you. Some moments are particularly disturbing, like in episode 13 where Mr. Stain finds an abandoned baby and the trouble that follows. It's a very serious episode with little of the humor the rest of the show has, but like the rest of the show, it all manages to work out in the end.
Links of Interest:
* The Official Mr. Stain Website [2]
* Mr. Stain DVD available on Amazon [3]
* Review on Movies.com [4]
* Episode One "The Egg" on YouTube [5]
