is a 1997

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

directed by Koji Morimoto and released by Japanese animation studio,

Studio 4°C is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka and Kōji Morimoto in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense. History has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film titles include ' ...

. The film is about the daily life of a group of six very different strangers who, for scientific purposes, are brainwashed into believing that they are a family. The family is filmed and to recoup scientific expenses the distribution rights for the

footage In filmmaking and video production, footage is raw, unedited material as originally filmed by a movie camera or recorded by a digital video camera, which typically must be film editing, edited to create a motion picture, digital video, video cli ...

are sold to a

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

for broadcast as a domestic

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

called ''Eternal Family''. The show becomes highly popular in the outside world so when a plumbing disaster results in the family accidentally escaping, the television station and the residents of Champon City spare no expense to retrieve them. The story was

written Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

jointly by Morimoto and Dai Sato. ''Eternal Family'' represents Sato's debut as an anime screenwriter, and Morimoto's first foray into the field of

broadcast media Broadcasting is the distribution of audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wit ...

. In 2004 the

was collected for release on one

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Plot

The storyline follows an

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

named Ben and a group of six unrelated men and women who have been implanted with

false memories In psychology, a false memory is a phenomenon where someone recalls something that did not actually happen or recalls it differently from the way it actually happened. Suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation ...

that they are his family. They live together in a capsule with a pet dog and chicken and apart from Ben, none of them know anything about the outside world. The outside world, however, is intimately acquainted with their lives, as the artificial drama is broadcast live as a real-life soap opera in the simulated community of Champon City.
Eternal Family
''. Beyond C. 1995. After the show has become popular, a plumbing disaster occurs that shatters the capsule and sends the family out into the real world, which they explore as the world around them searches for them in order to return them to the show. With the use of high-tech equipment and with a reward of ¥2 million for the return of each member, the family is soon rounded up and returned to a new capsule where they are again brainwashed.

Cast

*Ben Hanada (

Masashi Hirose is a Japanese voice actor from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He works at Production Baobab. He is known for the roles of Ramba Ral (''Mobile Suit Gundam''), Rikishiman (''Kinnikuman''), Gosterro ('' Blue Comet SPT Layzner'') and Nakano-sensei ('' ...

) - The

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

of the family. He is the only member of the family who has not been brainwashed and who knows that the family is being broadcast on television. He carries a

blow-up doll A sex doll (also, joy toy, love doll, fuck doll or blowup doll) is an anthropomorphic sex toy in the size and shape of a sexual partner. The sex doll may consist of an entire body, or just a head, pelvis, or other body part (vagina, anus, mouth, ...

that serves to hold a

hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...

for the TV station. *Akiko (

Yūko Mizutani was a Japanese actress, voice actress, narrator and singer from Ama District, Aichi. Throughout her career, she worked with Production Baobab, and was working with Aoni Production at the time of her death. Mizutani was best known for her an ...

) - The eldest daughter. Highly given to

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

tics, Akiko is a

pyromania Pyromania is an impulse-control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'f ...

c in search of her "darling" (presumably her ex-husband). *Tamasaburo - The family dog. Endowed with copious amounts of

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

, Tamasaburo's explosive

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

is much worse than his

bite Biting is an action involving a set of teeth closing down on an object. It is a common zoological behavior, being found in toothed animals such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and arthropods. Biting is also an action humans participate ...

. *Michael ( Wasabi Mizuta) - The baby of the family. Michael is given to

animal cruelty Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction of suffering or Injury, harm by humans upon animals, either by omission (neglect) or by commission. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm ...

and enjoys being

cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjectivity, subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute t ...

. He plays with

scissors Scissors are hand-operated shearing tools. A pair of scissors consists of a pair of blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting var ...

and often cuts people's pants off. *Sasuke Tamasaburou (

Kappei Yamaguchi , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and '' rakugoka'' affiliated with Gokū and 21st Century Fox.Doi, Hitoshi"Yamaguchi Kappei" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 11, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. After making his ...

) - The eldest son. Extremely

violent Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

, Sasuke owns a machine gun that he often fires indiscriminately. He enjoys

spray painting Spray painting is a painting technique in which a device sprays coating material (paint, ink, varnish, etc.) through the air onto a surface. The most common types employ compressed gas—usually air compressor, air—to atomize and direct the pa ...

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

and huffing paint fumes. *A-ko (Ako Mayama under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Lin Suwon) - The

mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

of the family and Ben's

wife A wife (: wives) is a woman in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until their marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgment; or until death, depending on the kind of marriage. On t ...

. A-ko is frequently constipated. She loves the

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

s although she never has an opportunity to see them. *Sae (Tie Kumashiro) - The youngest

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show r ...

. Sae is very introverted and withdrawn. She speaks through the use of a

hand puppet A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hands that occupies the interior of the puppet.Sinclair, A, ''The Puppetry Handbook'', p.15 A glove puppet is a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppeteer's han ...

with whom she often argues. *Chicken - An offering of

live food Live food is living animals used as food for other carnivorous or omnivorous animals kept in captivity; in other words, small preys (such as insects, small fish or rodents) fed alive to larger predators kept either in a zoo or as a pet. Live ...

that arrives from the food dispenser for the family to eat. The family instead adopts it as a

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

. The chicken often wears

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

because Michael had cut and plucked off most of its feathers. *Xavier ( Ken'ichi Ogata) - The head of the television station. Dressed as St. Francisco de Xavier (just as all other members of the TV station), Xavier was the one who hired Ben. It is Xavier's job to head the round-up effort when the eternal family escapes.

Staff

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, character design, setting/world view: Koji Morimoto *Series content: Shinichi Matsumi *

Writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

: Koji Morimoto, Sato Hiroshi *

Animation director An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated or television film, or an animated segment for a live-action film or television show. Alternatively, the animation direct ...

: Takamitsu Kondou *

Art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

: Hiroshi Katou *

: Kusumi Naoko * Producer:

Eiko Tanaka is a Japanese anime entrepreneur, the co-founder and current chief executive officer of and producer of the studio. She is also the CEO of a producing company called Beyond C. Tanaka was one of the supporters of Studio Ghibli at its inception ...

*Animation Production:

References

External links

The Official ''Eternal Family'' Website
{{Studio 4°C 1997 anime OVAs Anime with original screenplays Comedy anime and manga Seinen manga Studio 4°C Films directed by Kōji Morimoto