Common Name: Warau Salesman New
Alternative Names: Laughing Salesman New, Smiling Salesman New
Score: 6/10, 5/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Supernatural
Summary: All the people of this world--young, old, man, or woman--have something they yearn for. Luckily, the Laughing Salesman Moguro Fukuzou is willing and able to help because he is not just a salesmen. He is a salesman who deals with matters of the heart, able to grant the wishes of anyone in need. The best part is that he doesn't charge for his services, so long as his rules are followed. If a deal is broken though, it'll cost something far more valuable than money.
Review: Since Warau Salesman New was created as a "new" take on an old show, I can't really decide if it's amazing or terrible and whether that's because of the source material or not. Remakes are, of course, something of a slippery slope to both make and review. If the show changes too much or takes an entirely different direction from the original, there's the worry that fans won't respond well to the studio "butchering" something they grew up with. If they don't change enough though, then it'll be criticized for just being a rehash that will likely never grab the attentions of a new, younger audience. Technological advances, social norms, and artistic innovations are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the different things that need to be accounted for when making a remake. Let's not forget the most important problem for remakes though--relevance. If a show just isn't relevant to a modern audience, then what's the point of making a new version for that audience? Despite all those risks, there's strangely been something of a resurgence in older shows lately. Ushio to Tora, Osomatsu-san, Sailor Moon Crystal, heck even the prequels to Osamu Tezuka's Atom (Astro Boy) and Black Jack are perfect examples of this growing trend that seems to believe those old shows still have value to modern audiences. If all of these remakes were as solid as Warau Salesman New though, I could definitely be convinced that adapting older shows for a new audience is a net positive, regardless of the source material.
Man, what would I give for a good remake of Speed Racer or Trigun. Heck, I'd sell my soul
for a remake of Fruits Basket if it wasn't total garbage.
Unfortunately, being solid in this case just means that it did its job and that's about it. Rather than trying to deck out the new series with an actual plot or character development or solid backstories, Warau Salesman New just settled for throwing a new coat of paint on the 1989 series. That means what we get is a series of short stories, some old and some new, based on Moguro Fukuzou's various "misadventures" as he exploits Japan's gentrified populations. There is an inherent problem with this series though. Once you've seen one story, which takes up half of an episode, you've seen them all. There are a few variations every now and then, but the plot never really breaks from this formula:
1) We're introduced to a middle-class Japanese person who isn't happy about something.
2) Moguro "bumps into" this person and offers to help.
3) The person takes Moguro's up on his offer.
4) With their dream fulfilled, the person is momentarily happy/satisfied.
5) The person becomes dissatisfied and is tempted to indulge in Moguro's offer again.
6) Moguro appears again to remind the person about the rules of their agreement.
7) The person breaks the agreement out of a need to be happy/satisfied again. 8) Moguro appears for the last time and magically destroys the person's life in a way that involves the thing they wanted.
While this kind of story is certainly interesting in that it is basically a series modern day fables that warn against evils of greed, gluttony, lust, and little men who claim they know just what you need, it does get repetitive and dull after a while. Even the implications that Moguro is a modern interpretation of a devil or demon hellbent on tempting and ensnaring gullible humans can only drive so much interest. I certainly found it interesting that the bar Moguro frequents and is filled with demonic imagery is called Ma No Su, which translates as "Devil's Nest," but the show never actually does anything with this information. It's a cute pun, sure, but its presence doesn't seem to be necessary or vital to any of the stories. So, in the end, I can't really form any solid, critical opinions about this work. It's not all that satisfying due to the format and rigid storytelling, but that's how the original show and manga did things as well. So, I can't necessarily blame it for those shortcomings. At the same time though, I can't ignore how great the remake looks. It does a lot to create general feelings of unease and hyper-stylizes some of Moguro's scenes to highlight his inhuman nature. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with claiming it's a fantastic remake of an old series. If you're not interested in repetitive fables or episodic series that never really go anyway, then it'd probably be better to just ignore this show and its predecessor.
