Gokudo DVD

Gokudo Yuccot Kikansky is an adventurer in the most technical sense: he travels, he fights, and occasionally things get resolved. His actual goals are considerably less noble than the word "adventurer" implies — specifically, he wants all the money in the world and as many beautiful women as possible, ideally with minimal personal risk and maximum personal gain. He is rude, cowardly, lazy, and spectacularly unpleasant. He will absolutely skip out on a restaurant bill, steal from anyone not paying attention, and abandon his companions at the first sign of genuine danger. His career of cheerful villainy takes a complicated turn when an old seer in a tavern warns him that an evil king is out to get him — a warning he ignores while robbing her. This turns out to have been a mistake. What follows is a cascade of increasingly absurd magical disasters: a gender-changing genie named Djinn who would rather lecture Gokudo about responsibility than grant wishes; Rubette, a noble tomboy archer who joins the party and regularly questions her own judgment; Prince Niari, the demon prince of the Magic World who has been stripped of his powers and forced to tag along; two dangerous Chinese witch sisters; and a panda who appears to be permanently drunk.

Gokudo is a 26-episode fantasy comedy series based on Usagi Nakamura's light novel series, produced by Trans Arts and aired on TV Tokyo in 1999. It is a thoroughgoing parody of the fantasy adventure genre — subverting every heroic convention by making its protagonist not just an anti-hero but an active liability, while surrounding him with a cast of increasingly exasperated companions who somehow keep ending up in more trouble than before they met him. The series was praised for its sharp comedic timing, escalating absurdity, and the genuinely surprising depth it develops in its latter episodes.

Originally released in North America on DVD by Media Blasters under the Anime Works label, the Collection Extraordinaire boxset collects all 26 episodes across 6 discs. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Kunihisa Sugishima
Original Light Novels: Usagi Nakamura (Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko)
Series Composition: Takao Yoshioka
Studio: Trans Arts

Cast:
- Akira Ishida as Gokudo (Slayers, Escaflowne, Now and Then Here and There)
- Manabi Mizuno as Rubette La Lette (Catnapped!, A Wind Named Amnesia)
- Shin'ichiro Miki as Prince Niari (Escaflowne, Arjuna, Vampire Princess Miyu)
- Yutaka Shimaka as Djinn (male form)
- Mami Kingetsu as Djinn (female form) / Carrie (Knights of Ramune)

DVD Features

- Media Blasters / Anime Works Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ゴクドーくん漫遊記 (Gokudō-kun Man'yūki)
Runtime: ~650 Minutes (Complete Series, 26 Episodes)
Director: Kunihisa Sugishima
DVD Release Year: 2001–2003 (U.S. Release); Collection Extraordinaire Boxset 2003
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): April 2 – September 24, 1999 (TV Tokyo)
Publisher: Media Blasters (Anime Works)
Rating: Unrated
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Adventure
Themes: Anti-Hero Protagonist, Genre Parody, Gender-Changing Genie, Demon Prince, Comedic Questing

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.