Drama
A Man in Full
Talent and intrigue ultimately can’t cloak the truth about this vulgar, crass and graphic drama on Netflix.
Naoko wants the same things in life that any other middle school girl wants: friends who love her, a cute boyfriend, a healthy lunch and, of course,the ability to control her emotions so that she doesn’t turn into a multi-story, fire-breathing dinosaur and destroy her school—or you know, embarrass herself.
Not that Naoko’s penchant for turning into a dinosaur is really that unusual, given her school’s eclectic makeup. Kids who attend there include humans, animals, robots and even comets. It’s a unique place to say the least, but as long as Naoko keeps Gauko (her dinosaur alter-ego) in check, they’re willing to accept her oddity.
This English-dubbed show is aimed right for kiddos and tweens, and the content is pretty mild. Naoko, along with a little help from her friends, navigates bullies, parents, bad grades, acne and the occasional world-conquering alien, all while trying to find ways to impress Toshio, her croquette-selling crush. While cartoon violence can show up on screen, especially when Gauko takes control, none of it is particularly scary and certainly not gory. Romance is sequestered to simple middle school crushes. And if there were any profanities at all in the Japanese original (which, frankly, is pretty doubtful), they’ve certainly been filtered out for the English-language version of the show.
Naoko joins Toshio’s samba team after one of the other dancers is injured.
Naoko loses her temper and transforms into Gauko twice, chasing the people responsible for making her mad. She becomes jealous when Toshio dances with another girl on the samba team. Her mom becomes annoyed when she learns that Naoko is joining the competition since she is on a rival team. Someone litters. Naoko’s mom’s team wears midriff-baring samba costumes.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
Talent and intrigue ultimately can’t cloak the truth about this vulgar, crass and graphic drama on Netflix.
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