Introduction



The origins of Hameln no Violin Hiki (literally: The Violinist of Hameln) go back to the year 1991. It was in this year that Japanese video game maker, ENIX, began it's first venture into the monthly comic industry, "Monthly Shonen Gan-Gan". The Hameln no Violin Hiki manga, by Michiaki Watanabe, was among the first stories ever printed in this monthly comic. It was a slapstick oriented manga with Hameln, the main character, starring in a 'lecherous hero' type of role. The manga became very popular and is still running in "Gan-Gan" (now twice a month) today.

In Japan, it is very common to have 'triple features' consisting of 3 separate 30 minute anime movies based on various manga stories (usually related to one another by the comic book they're serialized in). In 1996, the popularity of the manga spawned such a movie version. This, like the manga, was very popular, and a TV series loomed on the horizon.

Said TV series began later that year on October 2nd, employing Character Designer Atsuko Nakajima ("Your Under Arrest!"), Writer Yasuhiro Imagawa (Director of "Giant Robo") and the musical talents of Kouhei Tanaka. The TV version of Hameln was decidedly different than the manga/movie versions. Imagawa decided against using the slapstick formula of the previous versions and instead wrote a much darker storyline for Hameln. An excerpt from this years 'Anime Expo' interview session with Imagawa:

Q. Why was Hameln made darker than the manga?

Imagawa: Much of the comedy in the original manga was difficult to make into an animated story. The author and sponsor's request was that x amount of plot to take place in the first 12 episodes. The manga was...inconsistent. Parts of the manga involved characters going on a killing spree, finishing up with "Maa, ii ka." / "Oh, well." The audience would have clearly seen through the lie. After episode 12, the anime became completely independent of the manga continuity.

Creators of the anime originally intended it to become a long running epic. However, the show received terrible ratings and was forced to finish at 25 episodes. In fact, the show was so unpopular, that when an episode in the middle of the series was pre-empted due to a live news event, the station didn't even bother to reschedule the show. As a result, that episode never aired at all. There are a few reasons why this happened. First, fans of the original manga and movie versions of Hameln were terribly dissapointed with this new, ultra-serious version created by Imagawa. And second, it was decided by the production staff to use a different form of animation for the tv version. The show fluxuates between 45% traditional animation, 45% high quality still frames (usually paintings of characters engaged in routine activities, such as walking, thinking, or talking) and 10% mind-blowing animation (reserved for dramatic zooms/pans, spells, attacks and summonings). Many were immediately turned off by this. From the same interview at Anime Expo:

Q. Was the use of still frames in the anime of Hameln driven by style or budget restrictions?

Imagawa: Stills were used for stylistic effect, although the budget certainly played a role. [Laughs.]

Hameln has received little, if no attention in the American anime scene and has only a handful of devoted followers in the states. Hopefully, with this website, more people will become exposed to Hameln and see what they've been missing.

Thanks, and Enjoy the site!

Gene Jones



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