Desert Punk (砂ぼうず Sunabōzu?) is a post-apocalyptic manga series written and illustrated by Usune Masatoshi, serialized in Enterbrain's Comic Beam since 1997. The published chapters have been collected in 13 volumes.
The manga was adapted into a 24-episode anime television series produced by Gonzo and directed by Takayuki Inagaki with character designs by Takahiro Yoshimatsu and music by Kōhei Tanaka. FUNimation has licensed the series for distribution in the United States.
Plot[]
After an implied nuclear catastrophe, like many other countries, Japan has been reduced to a desert and the surviving humans seek out a meager living in the hot sands. Desert Punk focuses on the adventures of a desert handyman called Kanta Mizuno, nicknamed Desert Punk (Sunabōzu), due to his seemingly incredible feats of skill and daring while on the job. Throughout the series, he acquires an apprentice and makes a few friends as well as enemies.
Characters[]
Protagonists[]
- Desert Punk (砂ぼうず Sunabōzu?, lit. "Sand Boy")
- Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese), Eric Vale (English)
- "Desert Punk"'s real name is Kanta Mizuno (水野 灌太 Mizuno Kanta?). Also known as the "Demon of the Desert", he is a lecherous mercenary of the Handyman Guild, overly obsessed with big boobs and sex, but is highly professional, accomplishing his task no matter the cost. Although he is thought of as a despicable person, this has no effect on his capabilities of winning when the odds are stacked against him. His legendary reputation of 'always getting the job done' came around due to his grandiose self-advertisement wherever he goes, as well as being enhanced by his uncanny good luck and practicality, combined with a sharp wit, intellect and specialist equipment. He is 17 years old.
- Desert Punk first meets his 14-year-old apprentice Kosuna in episode four, when she was then apprenticed to the Shimmer Sniper, a man hoping to make a name for himself by killing 'the great Desert Punk'. He fails, and is defeated by Desert Punk, who literally leaves him stranded in the desert lying naked in the sand.
- Kosuna then deserts her master, and runs after Desert Punk into the distance. Nothing more is heard about Kosuna until episode seven, whereby Kanta is seemingly saved from certain death by Kosuna. Although reluctant at first, he manages to be persuaded by Kosuna to accept her as his apprentice after being shown a photo of a beautiful and large breasted woman in a bikini, whom Kosuna claims to be her mother. In his lustful excitement, he hopes that Kosuna will grow up to be the same, albeit selflessly devoted to Desert Punk due to his careful shaping of her personality over the years. His decision is humorously replayed over the series, especially when he is confronted with Kosuna's initial uselessness and inabilities and has to force himself to restrain his anger in case he damages his future sex slave.
- The firearm that Desert Punk uses is an old military Winchester Model 1897 shotgun that his father left him as a memento, which has been modified to hold one additional shell. Kanta also uses an array of useful gadgets in his ploys to fool enemies and set traps. On his back, beneath his cape, is a rocket which is used to propel him to high places and swing around on structures in a Spider-Man-like fashion. When enemies fail to notice the cord holding Kanta up, they assume he is flying. He also carries a number of balloons that can be quickly inflated to resemble himself in his desert gear and can therefore be used as decoys. Kanta is also an expert with explosives and grenades. He has been known to rig his own backpack with a smoke bomb of a variety of colors for occasions in which someone steals his gear, a tactic he uses on the Shimmer Sniper when Kosuna stole his gear and brought it back to him.
- Kosuna (小砂 lit. "Little Sand"?)
- Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)
- Real name: Taiko Koizumi (小泉 太湖 Koizumi Taiko?). Kosuna is the former apprentice of the Shimmer Sniper. Her goal is to become the desert's number one "power babe" mercenary, meaning stronger than any man and more beautiful than any woman. After the Shimmer Sniper is defeated by Kanta, Kosuna follows him and constantly begs to be made his apprentice. Kanta highly objects at first but eventually accepts her after she shows him a picture of a large breasted woman Kosuna claims to be her mother, implying how attractive Kosuna would be in years to come. Kanta, a heavily perverted guy, can't help but accept her, though his personal motives are clearly to groom Kosuna to be his personal mate when she grows up.
Kosuna is young and flat-chested, and quite androgynistic in the manga - something Desert Punk teases her about - causing her to dislike huge chested women like Junko. Kosuna detests Junko's ability to manipulate her master and has attempted to kill her on more than one occasion. Seemingly unable to complete any task by herself at first, she's surprisingly an able assistant and honestly looks up to Kanta, despite his pervertedness. She is very loyal and follows orders with little or no complaints.
- As the series progresses, Kosuna becomes an excellent merc, skillful in desert survival and assessing emergency situations. Later on, she seems to have become an excellent marksman, sometimes hitting targets that Kanta cannot, either by luck or training with her previous master, even if her weapon is unfamiliar or too heavy. After Desert Punk is seemingly killed in the anime, she takes his place as the new Desert Punk and mentors her own apprentice. Starting in volume 13, which picks up 3 years after volume 12 Kosuna is the series' main character.
Machine Gun Brothers[]
- Childhood friends of Desert Punk back from the days when the Punk was still stealing candy from a hard-working street vendor. Nevertheless, when there is a job to be done, these guys are definitely the tricksters of the trade. Smart-alecks to the max, they are always making fun of Desert Punk even though deep down they respect him. They often find themselves deciding whether to save Desert Punk or finish him off, clearly shown when they are talking about how they respect him only when after they were finished state "well, time to go kill him."
- Their names are based on the seasons of winter, autumn and spring respectively, while their sister's is based on summer.
- Fuyuo Kawaguchi (川口 冬夫 Kawaguchi Fuyuo?)
- Voiced by: Jiro Saito (Japanese), Jeremy Inman (English)
Fuyuo is the biggest of the three, and is seen giving orders occasionally. He, along with brothers Akio and Haruo, make up the Machine Gun Brothers, and all are very protective of their sister Natsuko. Fuyuo's weapon of choice is a Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun with rifle stock and forward grip.
- Akio Kawaguchi (川口 秋夫 Kawaguchi Akio?)
- Voiced by: Otoya Kawano (Japanese), Justin Cook (English)
Akio is the second oldest brother and the biggest smart aleck. Akio uses an M249 SAW.
- Haruo Kawaguchi (川口 春夫 Kawaguchi Haruo?)
- Voiced by: Yasuhiro Takato (Japanese), Mike McFarland (English)
The youngest brother, Haruo was a crybaby in his youth and still carries these traits. good frends with Taiko. His weapon is an M60 machine gun.
Others[]
- Junko Asagiri (朝霧 純子 Asagiri Junko?)
- Voiced by: Tomoko Kotani (Japanese), Stephanie Young (English)
- A female rival of Desert Punk with extremely large breasts. Known as the "Vixen of the Desert", this beautiful mercenary's first encounter with Desert Punk involves her using her sex appeal to trick him into retrieving an important key from the pudding-obsessed, Hulk-like morphing Mokoto Kawazu, the leader of a desert gang. Junko becomes the object of Kanta's desires, a fact that she continuously takes advantage of in order to manipulate him. Towards the end of the anime series she joins Desert Punk in the government and fights against Kosuna and the anti-government rebellion. It is never confirmed that she and Desert Punk become officially involved with each other.
- Rain Spider (雨蜘蛛 Amagumo?)
- Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto (Japanese), Kenny Green (English)
- A male rival of Desert Punk, and an equal match for him in combat. He is renowned as a fearsome debt collector who not only collects the money, but even the soul of his victim. While he has earned his reputation through forceful tactics, he is not against running away when he is at a disadvantage. However, despite appearing to flee several times during the rebellion, he always comes back with help for the rebels.
- Natsuko Kawaguchi (川口 夏子 Kawaguchi Natsuko?)
- Voiced by: Yuko Minaguchi (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (English)
- Sister of the Machine Gun Brothers. Natsuko was a childhood friend of Kanta and a crybaby (according to him). She has not been in contact with Kanta and her brothers after leaving to work for the Oasis Government, where she has risen to the rank of captain. She is a proficient hand-to-hand combatant and the current idol of Kosuna.
- In a case of real life mirroring art, Kosuna's seiyū, Chiwa Saito, is a good friend of fellow seiyū Natsuko Kuwatani, who shares the same name, in both kanji and romaji, as Kawaguchi.
Media[]
Manga[]
Desert Punk began as a manga series written and illustrated by Usune Masatoshi, which began serialization in Enterbrain's Comic Beam manga magazine on August 5, 1997. Thirteen bound volumes were released in Japan between April 25, 2001 and August 31, 2005 before going on a more than four year long hiatus. The manga restarted serialization in the October 2009 issue of Comic Beam. The manga is significantly different from the anime with a more realistic look and far more common use of black comedy as opposed to quirky and sexual humor. Many changes were made to give the anime a more light hearted feel when adapting it from the manga. The manga also has a different ending than the anime. Also notable is that five story arcs are missing from the anime and at episode 19 the anime separates from the manga, leaving a new 6 episode ending in place of chapters 43 to 86 of the manga.
Anime[]
During the first half, the series has light-hearted overtones as Kanta and his life in the desert are introduced through his humorous adventures. The show adopts a more serious atmosphere during the second half of the anime as Kanta becomes embroiled in political turmoil that erupts over the Great Kanto Desert. This change in tone is reflected in a change of the opening and closing themes of the series.
Episodes[]
| # | Title (Dubbed) | Original air date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Demon and The Double D's "Akuma to Boin" (妖怪と、ボイン) |
October 4, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| The introduction of Desert Punk (Sunabōzu), where he is manipulated to fight the Kawazu gang by Junko. However, it is Junko who reaps the rewards. | |||||
| 02 | Sand and Rain (Rock, Paper, Scissors) "Suna to Ame" (砂と、雨) |
October 11, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Desert Punk and Rain Spider (Amagumo) are hired by the same company to collect the debt of an old man and his daughter. Upon finding out that the old man has no assets, Rain Spider wishes to sell the daughter as payment, an idea which Desert Punk opposes. A duel for the girl subsequently ensues between the two mercenaries. Neither of them are victorious because when they stopped to rest so they can continue fighting the old man's daughter knocks them both out with a pipe | |||||
| 03 | Tank and Machine Gun (Fire Dragon Kong) "Sensha to Mashingan" (戦車と、マシンガン) |
October 18, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Junko convince Desert Punk and the Machine Gun Brothers to help destroy a powerful tank called Fire Dragon Kong. | |||||
| 04 | Sniping and Footsteps (An Ace in the Sand) "Sogeki to Ashioto" (狙撃と、足音) |
October 25, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| A sniper, with the assistance of his apprentice Kosuna, tries to hunt Desert Punk in the hopes of becoming famous for defeating the great desert demon. Kosuna begs Desert Punk to become her new master after he defeats the sniper, but he refuses. | |||||
| 05 | Water Well and Trap (The Price of Water) "Ido to Wana" (井戸と、罠) |
November 2, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| A village that expects to have an abundant source of water hires Desert Punk to defend the village against impending raiders. While Desert Punk waits, he lowers the villagers' morale by gluttonously consuming their food and water. | |||||
| 06 | Rocket and Wandering (Wandering Lust) "Roketto to Hōrō" (ロケットと、放浪) |
November 9, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Desert Punk defeats the raiders, but is taken outside of the village while sleeping and left on his own with little food and water. He then tries to return to the village for payment but finds himself on the verge of death, only to be saved by the Machine Gun Brothers. | |||||
| 07 | Master and Disciple (Age Before Beauty) "Shishō to Deshi" (師匠と、弟子) |
November 16, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Taiko, a.k.a. Kosuna, convinces Desert Punk to make her his apprentice. | |||||
| 08 | The Dog-girl and Rock (A Dog in Heat) "Inuonna to Iwa" (犬女と、岩) |
November 23, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Desert Punk crushes the cursed seal of the dog woman. | |||||
| 09 | Life and Game (All That Glitters) "Jinsei to Gēmu" (人生と、ゲーム) |
November 30, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Desert Punk and Kosuna are convinced by Junko to work for an eccentric millionaire to find a lost treasure. When they find it, they are attacked by a robot guardian. | |||||
| 10 | Keeper and Treasure-seeker (A Little Bit of Wisdom) "Bannin to Takara Sagashinin" (番人と、宝探し人) |
December 7, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Continuing from episode 9, Junko betrays Desert Punk and the millionaire in hopes of keeping the treasure for herself. Desert Punk discovers that the robot guardian is really what the treasure hunter is after, and Kosuna gets revenge on Junko for her betrayal. | |||||
| 11 | Sin and Punishment (Compromising Positions) "Tsumi to Batsu" (罪と、罰) |
December 14, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Desert Punk tries to make Junko his wife and have his children. | |||||
| 12 | Girl and Rescue (A Change of Heart) "Shōjo to Kyūshutsu" (少女と、救出) |
December 21, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Desert Punk and Kosuna rescue a kidnapped daughter of a government minister. | |||||
| 13 | Ideals and Reality (Opposites Collide) "Risō to Genjitsu" (理想と、現実) |
December 28, 2004 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Desert Punk meets Stryker, an idealistic young man trained as an elite soldier of the government. | |||||
| 14 | Fine Sand and Full Auto (Kosuna - Fully Automatic) "Kosuna to Furuōto" (小砂と、フルオート) |
January 17, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Kosuna gets a new weapon to become stronger. | |||||
| 15 | Sibling and Childhood Friend (The Girl Next Door) "Kyōdai to Osanajimi" (兄弟と、幼なじみ) |
January 11, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Desert Punk and the Machine Gun Brothers are hired to protect a "fertilizer" rig, but there is more going on than simply guard duty. | |||||
| 16 | Curry and Rice (A Load Of...) "Karē to Raisu" (カレーと、ライス) |
January 18, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Continuing from Episode 15, things have gone bad and now the rig has been captured by Rain Spider, so it is up to Desert Punk to save it. | |||||
| 17 | Junko and Pursuer (Perv in Pursuit) "Junko to Tsuisekisha" (純子と、追跡者) |
January 25, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Junko comes to Desert Punk for help after Tech, a former squeeze in a corporate spying job, is looking to force her into marriage. | |||||
| 18 | Discouragement and Despair (Too Close For Comfort) "Zasetsu to Zetsubō" (挫折と、絶望) |
February 1, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Continuing from Episode 17, Junko has been captured and Tech's former colleages have arrived. | |||||
| 19 | Up and Down (Scratching the Surface) "Ue to Shita" (上と、下) |
February 8, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Desert Punk has been hired in what is thought to be a search for a missing person, however he finds himself soon dragged into something he did not expect. | |||||
| 20 | Reverse and Convenience (A Raw Deal) "Ura to Ben" (裏と、便) |
February 15, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Dragged into Kaizuka's organization (a.k.a. The Underground Mercenaries) to overthrow the Oasis government, Desert Punk and Kosuna must decide on their next move. The end result, however, may not bode well for Punk. | |||||
| 21 | Master and Disciple part 2 (Successor of the Desert) "Shishō to Deshi part II" (師匠と、弟子partⅡ) |
February 22, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| With Desert Punk seemingly dead, Kosuna takes his place as Desert Punk II with her own apprentice, Mitz, a timid boy who is the son of Desert Punk's old master Koid and who has his own special talent. However, transitioning from apprentice to master is a bit harder than expected as Kosuna and Mitz take on the Kawazu gang. | |||||
| 22 | Rain and Sea (Hidden Agendas) "Ame to Umi" (雨と、海) |
March 1, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| The Underground Mercenaries head to Skeleton City to attend the first strategy council meeting against the Oasis government, but things are not as they seem. Kosuna and Mitz return home only to find her old friend Matsu's house engulfed in flames. Near the end of the episode there is a brief shot of Kanta. | |||||
| 23 | Suspicion and Ambition (Voices in the Wind) "Giwaku to Yabō" (疑惑と、野望) |
March 21, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Kosuna mourns the loss of Matsu and ponders her current situation. The Underground Mercenaries begin to take action with their cause and embark on a mission to journey to and guard a secret laboratory, but they are interrupted by none other than Junko and a surprise guest: Kanta. | |||||
| 24 | Taiko and Kanta (The Demon Revealed) "Taiko to Kanta" (太湖と、灌太) |
March 28, 2005 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| With the thought of Kanta being dead quickly erased from her mind, Kosuna sets out to prove herself as a true mercenary one last time against her old master. Kanta reveals that Kaizuka may not be all that he seems to be, and the Underground Mercenaries are destroyed. Kosuna chooses to forget about her past and Desert Punk, knowing that is the only way she can truly become Kanto Desert's greatest power babe. | |||||
Music[]
- Opening theme songs
- "Sand Mission" by Hideaki Takatori (Japanese Version)/Gary Eckert (English Version) (episodes 1–12)
- "Destiny of the Desert" by Yuka (episodes 13–23)
- "Shinkirō" ("Mirage") by Yuka (episode 24)
- Ending theme songs
- "Sunabōzu Ekaki Uta" ("How to Draw Sunabōzu") by Hideaki Takatori (episodes 1–12)
- "Shinkirō" ("Mirage") by Yuka (episodes 13–23)
- "Sand Mission" by Hideaki Takatori (Japanese Version)/Gary Eckert (English Version) (episode 24)
- Original soundtracks
- Composed by Kōhei Tanaka
External links[]
- Official Japanese website
- Funimation's official English website
- Desert Punk (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
it:Desert Punk pt:Desert Punk ru:Пустынная крыса zh:沙漠神行者