Tokyo Pig, probably better known in Japan as Hare Tokidoki Buta (はれときどきぶた or "Cloudy with a Chance of Pigs" or “Fair, Then Partly Piggy”) than in the rest of the world, is a comedy anime directed by Shinichi Watanabenote based on a series of picture books. The show revolves around the main character, a young boy by the name of Noriyasu (or Spencer in the English translation), and his pet pig, Harebuta ("Sunny Pig) which he created by drawing him in a magic diary. Other cast members include "mama" and "papa", his sister Tama-chan (Dizzy Lizzy in the English translation), and a weather lady called Yamada-ana (literally, "Announcer Yamada").
The show thrives on lightning-fast delivery and a somewhat unorthodox over the top style of humor, which of course Nabeshin had something to do with. Additionally, the show has No Fourth Wall and a lot of the jokes are from characters addressing the audience and humorous asides. The artstyle of the show is very simplistic, but effective and a bit different than most other shows. It includes almost every anime comedy trope known to man.
A poor dub was made by a company called "Studio E", and distributed by Miramax Television, airing on what is now Freeform, with only 28 episodes (out of 61) adaptednote Additionally, only eight episodes were released on DVD. It's woefully ignored by fansubbers, so the only way to view it is by scouring Nico Nico Video. This is why the show isn't well known outside of Japan (the only other place where it's famous is Philippines where it's known as 'Sunny Pig'). It's very much worth the effort though, and the jokes are generally quite easy to follow even without knowing Japanese, and if you're familiar with Nabeshin's other works, you'll know more or less what to expect. Thankfully, someone had uploaded all 61 episodes, with subs, on YouTube.
Another English dub was recently found, titled Sunny Pig (the same title as the non-Japanese Asian releases). While the names from the Miramax dub were used and the Japanese text was translated into English, it was more faithful to the original Japanese version. It can be seen here
. It is unknown what country made it nor which studio it was recorded in.
Tropes:
- No Fourth Wall: Even in the Japanese version, and especially by Announcer Yamada / "the weather lady". She comes out of the television in the show… and gives commentary to the actual show while it's going on.
- The Nudifier: The episode "Summer! Pool! Principal!/Pigtoven vs. Principal" has a scene where Pigtoven uses his conductor's baton to turn the swimming trunks of two boys and the swimsuits of two women into pigs, leaving them in the nude. The scene was cut in the English dub.
- Pokémon Speak: In both versions, Hare-Buta / Sunny Pig usually just says "Bu-bu" (as in "buta"), or variations on it when he speaks.note
- Pop-Star Composer: Sort of. The opening and ending theme songs in the Japanese version are performed solo by Yumi Yoshimura (AKA: "Yumi" of Puffy AmiYumi).
- Reality Warper: Hare-Buta / Sunny Pig, even though Noriyasu / Spencer was one himself already thanks to his diarynote .
- Recycled Animation: In the Miramax dub, footage is reused ad-nauseum, with some reused animation cycles being blatantly obvious, such as the taxi driving in reverse in "20,000 Leagues Beneath a C+".
- Shout-Out: The first episode features "Pig-Zilla", known as simply "Buta Gojira" or "Pig Godzilla" in Japan. Another episode features Hare-Buta / Sunny Pig as the "Bu-Bu Rider", known in the English version as the "Oink-Oink Rider".
- “A Trip To The Slopes” involves Spencer turning into a Gundam bot to get revenge on the Australian surfer dude who disowned the Snow Lady in the middle of Hawaii. Said episode also has a scene where the Snow Lady undergoes a Sailor Moon-esque transformation sequence when she brings a flurry of snow back to the mountains.
- Tsundere: Tama-chan / Dizzy Lizzy is this towards her brother Noriyasu / Spencer in a familial way. Despite often giving him a hard time, she cares for him deep down and is clearly distraught over his disappearance in the Final Episode and how her parents forgot about him.
- Unnamed Parent: In both versions, they're just "Mama / Mom", and "Papa / Dad".
