Butt Attack Punisher Girl Gotaman Review

Butt Attack Punisher Girl Gotaman is a little-known 2 episode anime parody released by Studio Kikan back in 1994. It is about a student named Mari Amachi who transfers to a special boarding school called Perfect Religion Academy. The school raises young minds to become tomorrow’s religious leaders. Mari is a devout Catholic that aspires to be like Mother Teresa one day. While Perfect Religion is open to students of all religions and there is there is general acceptance of differing religious beliefs, there is a dark side to the school. An evil cult of perverts called Black Buddha aims to convert everyone to their religion and take over the world. When they kidnap Mari’s friend, Saori, Mari prays to God to rescue her, but instead, Buddha appears and gives her a sumo belt that allows her to transform into the warrior Gotaman. After transforming into Gotaman, Mari defeats evil villains using special butt attacks, keeping the school safe and maintaining religious freedom.

If it weren’t already obvious from the title, this anime is a parody and it does everything it can to come across as such. The characters within the series are named after famous people in Japan; Mari Amachi, for example, is the name of a famous singer and actress from the 70’s. The situations that Mari faces and the statements that she makes are direct references to Sailor Moon, which was airing at the time. To take things even further, there are appearances by Dark Vader, Teenage Mutant Ninja Octopus, Frankenmuscle, and a robot resembling Terminator.

Referencing nearly everything does make Butt Attack Punisher Girl Gotaman very silly, but silliness doesn’t always translate into humour. The novelty of a scantily-clad super heroine that battles evil using her butt wears off very quickly as she engages in numerous battles within an episode. The ridiculousness of the villains’ plans also starts to taper off at one point after reaching a high point where they try to find out Gotaman’s identity by placing girls into a Gotaman butt-mold to see who fits.

In terms of animation quality, Butt Attack Punisher Girl Gotaman actually presents itself decently for an anime from the mid-90’s. I did not notice any problems with incorrect proportions, unfinished backgrounds, or repeated use of the same frames. Considering this anime does lean towards providing ample fanservice, I don’t find this surprising. Of course, regular viewers of today’s anime may find the animation style takes time to get used to and that the fanservice is in different taste.

It takes a certain type of person to really enjoy this anime. Gotaman brings silliness to a level that is typically not found even in anime that live off silliness, making it a good candidate for one of the strangest anime. The series is good for a few laughs, but beyond that it’s no surprise why it has been largely forgotten nearly 20 years later.