Ask John: Is Amazing Nurse Nanako Actually a Parody?

Question:
Every website I’ve seen has labelled “Amazing Nurse Nanako” as a fan-service anime, but I’m not so sure about that. This is just so outrageous that I figure it’s parodying it’s own genre, kind of like Jonathan Swift did with his essay “A Modest Proposal.” I’d just like your opinion on this matter.

Answer:
First of all I’d like to state that I don’t think I could have ever imagined that I’d ever encounter an analogy comparing Nanako Kaitei Shinsyo to Neo-Classical British literature.

I can understand where the idea of Nanako being parody may be drawn from, but I don’t think that I personally support the comparison. In the case of Swift’s Modest Proposal, Swift used the style of a political treatise and the rhetoric of political dogma to elaborate a satire. I’ve never actually heard of a “fan service” genre in and of itself. Most “fan service” anime are actually contained within another larger genre heading. Aika and Burn UP X are firmly action shows. Jungle de Ikou, Iketeru Futari, Colorful, Hanaukyo Maid Tai and Idol Project are all comedy. Sakura Tsushin is light drama. Where does Nanako fit? To be a parody of a specific genre, a show, like Swift’s Modest Proposal, has to conform to the standard characteristics of the genre or format parodied. Nanako simply doesn’t doesn’t seem to emphasize action, making its classification as an action show problematic. The emphasis of the show is clearly on situational comedy, but within that frame, Nanako doesn’t satirize or parody any of the traditional stereotypes of the comedy genre.

Allow me to present some examples. Burn Up W and especially Burn Up X are a parody of the action genre. Burn Up X, with which I’m most familiar, presents all of the conventional trappings of a police show, then adds transvestites, direct Evangelion parody homage, juxtapositioning of serious crime with silly misdemeanors, serious action taken against peeping toms and panty thieves, and so on. The Grandoll OAV series parodies the magical girl genre by continually establishing conventional, stereotypical situations then resolving them in ways totally opposite to the traditional magical girl method. Project A-ko likewise parodies the comedy genre by remaining within the structure of a comedy, yet including obvious anime references to acknowledge the fiction and pretense of the show, and constantly presenting events and situations contrary to expectations.

As a parody of either action or comedy animation, I don’t think Nanako succeeds in utilizing and simultaneously contradicting expectations the way parody must to be successful. But, taken as a parody of an amorphous “fan service” genre, Amazing Nurse Nanako may be considered a parody sheerly due to its excesses, especially Nanako’s unusually generous physical endowments, and the show’s virtual lack of cohesive linear character development and story.