Product Description

With the invention of the automatic vacuum robot and the time-set video recording devices, what is the next breakthrough in home appliances? Why that would be cute female mini-robots that kill bugs of course! In Ichigeki Sacchu!! HoiHoi-san, a corporation in this alternate universe has created such a pest control agent and it's the hottest selling item ever. Journey along with one enthusiast of these robots called HoiHoi-san's and experience the joys & suffering of being a dutiful owner of these new adorable, bug killing, wallet busting machines.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #614272 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

A light-hearted, single-volume comic
In the near future, insects are immune to pesticides, resulting in the need for household bug-killing robots. A popular robot model series called "Hoihoi-san" is taking Japan by storm. It's a cute, doll-like combat robot with swappable costumes, weapons and accessories.

The comic chronicles the Hoihoi-san phenomenon through the eyes of a hopeless fan, a retailer, the fandom itself during a fan convention as well as the inner turmoil of the company that designs and produces the household appliance.

It's a distinctly Japanese comic that lightly parodies their culture of rabid consumerism. The comic often highlights how the fanboy protagonist blows his living wages on the latest Hoihoi-san doo-dad, as well as pays for costly repairs and replacements as he damages his toy and bricks its firmware.

The comic also parodies consumerism from an industry perspective as Hoihoi-san execs pitch concepts for accessories as well as deal with their competitor's "Combat-san"-- in one scene, the fanboy buys a Combat-san dreaming of a bug-killing tag team, only to later discover that his Hoihoi-san trashed it overnight.

The comic also follows the characters as they attend a Hoihoi-san convention, where they buy and sell unofficial home-made accessories and costumes. Anyway it's a cute and rather odd comic series that simultaneously parodies and celebrates "otaku" consumer culture. The artwork is high quality and full of personality, and the English-translated book itself includes several full-color illustrations.

The Hoihoi-san series continues in Japan as a PS2 game, a very short anime OAV, and a new spin-off comic, "Hoihoi-san Legacy".