Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
lavonMAL
I got into this with absolutely no expectations, and it turned out to be a surprisingly good watch! This is a short review.
Kuuchuu Buranko is an anime about everyone: the circus artist coming to your town, the high school kid next door, and even the childhood actor you remember who fell off. It dives into every person's mind and investigates their worries. I think that's a pretty cool concept!
Everything about this anime is abstract---the art style more than anything else. It fuses live-action and animated sequences, which admittedly feels quite weird, LOL. It can also be very colorful, which I'm fond of! If you can look past the weirdness, try watching.
Now, the only criticism I have of this is its episodic structure. I noticed that after a while, the individual stories began to blur…
Read at the sourceKurovamp01
Welcomeeeee~! ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
I decided to watch this for the Spirit of Science 2025 event, because it was short, and the summary sounded mildly interesting to me. I was quite surprised. I happily recommend this, and wish it was more well known.
There are several meme-able moments that I was genuinely shocked to find out weren’t memes. Yes, the art-styles (yes, I said styles) can be off putting, but I got used to it, so others can too. But of course, it’s not just funny (although absurd comedy isn’t for everyone), it also has heart.
Light spoilers:
If you aren’t sure if you like it, just stick it out because the last few episodes (although 11 is technically non-canon if you care) are where it got truly good for me. The ending of episode 10 especially felt…beautiful to me. Sure, the first few w…
Read at the sourcePheasantTaste
I enjoyed this show, as many other people have, but most MAL users would not. The visual style is somewhat abnormal and the episodes are self-contained. Also, other reviews and synopses overstate the presence of psychiatry in the show beyond a fun setting. The show isn't really about psychiatry; it's just psychiatry-flavored. This is not a bad thing, but if you watch this show expecting something substantial in that regard, disappointment is inevitable.
This idea deserved more than just 11 episodes. My only complaint is that Irabu could've used more screen time.
Semi-spoilers:
I thought the last episode sucked. I fear that if they had made more episodes, they would've tried to deviate even more from the working formula.
Read at the sourcerooster_
An episodic comedy about an eccentric psychiatrist treating a series of male patients for various conditions. The mixed-media style (which freely throws in 3DCG and even live-action) and the po-mo, polka dot-heavy art direction bring to mind late-2000s SHAFT, but shockingly this was done by Toei. Each episode focuses on one new patient and resolves his issue before the credits roll. Each of these stories take place over the same few days leading up to Christmas (it is not a Christmas show), and sometimes these stories interact in minor ways, but there is no overarching narrative. I find Dr. Irabu's three-pronged personality and his sexy goth-nurse Mayumi very charming, even if they're never fleshed out as characters. The show wisely focuses on each patient's life and background, which make…
Read at the sourceTeramol
Kuuchuu Buranko, also known as "Trapeze" or "Welcome to Irabu's Office", quite ironically doesn't have much to do with the circus act of trapeze as the name and the first episode would initially suggest. In this series, we follow the work of Dr. Irabu, a mysterious psychologist with a rapidly changing personality and a huge injection fetish.
The whole series is an episodic one and takes place inside the Christmas week or so. Because it's episodic and it's the same week every episode, the series also is a little achronological. Sometimes during the episodes we see other weird things happening in the background and then later on we realize those scenes will be cases of their own in future episodes, which I thought was very cool and it let the keen viewers pick up on all kinds of small detai…
Read at the sourcesansneant
If your diet primarily consists of anime, there's very little meat. It's mostly dessert, quick tastes of shows that are easy to digest and leave you feeling good but lack real weight or sustenance. You don't see a lot of anime that can successfully find a place between "i'm 14 and this is deep" and "completely meaningless" - both “empty-comfy” and “valueless” types of meaningless. I would go so far as to say the medium of anime abuses its visual similarity to Western cartoons to actively avoid making its viewer really chew on those important issues - it’s digestible, it’s understandable, good and evil, quips from anti-heroes and dark haired male fantasy protagonists and the couple ends up together at the end. Even shows which feature conflict heavily create a "good guy" and a "bad guy," wh…
Read at the sourceMyrmiderp
What a show. Kuuchuu Buranko takes you on a bizarre tour of the mental illness pervading the surprisingly small world surrounding Irabu's hospital. If unconventional art puts you off, this certainly will. If surreal and unexplained metaphorical shifts in an anime's reality would distract or bother you, this is not the anime for you. Kuuchuu Buranko is about desires and fears and things that get in our way, and it takes many artistic liberties when trying to get its point across. The only way I could imagine someone saying it's boring is if they were so overwhelmed that they just tuned it out.
The art direction is nuts. If you've seen Mononoke, it won't surprise you that they share a studio. The colors and patterns clash harshly, there are pictures of real places, real human people, anime…
Read at the sourceR_2_R
(Contains Spoilers)
To say that Irabu's office is odd is quite an understatement. "Welcome to Irabu's Office" is a trippy episodic tale that explores problems of mental illness/disorders. If you've seen atleast one scene or clip from this show, there's a good chance you might have felt that it looks off or weird. It's an odd but meaningful experience. Once I started to understand what the show aims at, it became really easy to go with the flow of the show and I think, you should give it a try too. And I'm gonna share my experience.
"Visuals"
Irabu's office doesn't have a single art style it sticks to, and constantly switches between these different art styles. You have your traditional 2D Hand drawn with it's colorful touch, you have 3D/CGI objects scattered around everywhere in the backg…
Read at the source666
A series deeply set in psychology that illustrates the importance of personalized and adaptive care instead of systematic approaches on patient treatment, while presented in a comedic manner to keep you engaged. If I had to describe this show it would be as "surreal" or as an "insane, crazy, mind-trip" and that's largely to do with its art direction. It's an interesting culmination of traditional-style anime with lots of vibrant colors, real-life people and beautiful backgrounds to some extent. The use of real people is definitely a turn-off but it doesn't really affect the overall product.
While seemingly featuring a ton of visual metaphors and is fairly heavy on symbolism, it doesn't use its symbolism as a crutch to make sense but it certainly adds a lot of content to the show. Every ch…
Read at the sourceKonataIwakura
What's your problem? Whatever it may be, step into his clinic and Dr. Irabu might be able to help you out with your issues.
In the anime Kuuchuu Buranko ("Trapeze"), the extremely eccentric psychiatrist Dr. Irabu, his multiple personalities (or are they?) and the beautiful nurse Mayumi who literally blurs the line between 2D and 3D help people overcome all sorts of crippling psychological issues all with a single vitamin shot, like a journalist with OCD who's unable to work because he believes a stove left on or a lit cigarette in his trash will set fire to his building at any moment, a guy with a permanent raging erection due to massive stress and a man who constantly has to keep his urges to randomly destroy shit around him in check. Each and every episode deals with a different patient…
Read at the sourceluugi
This is a long ass review, i suggest reading this only if you are extremely interested in what a random 15 yr old has to say about this show.
I will preface this review by saying Kuuchuu Buranko is not for everyone. Especially for those newer to the anime genre, the style and content of this show can seem quite jarring and intimidating, not to mention difficult to understand. I myself tend to dislike watching psychological anime which require more thinking and thoughtfulness to be enjoyed than your average adventure or slice of life, simply because I dislike being confused. If you aren't prepared to make an effort to process and understand the things that aren't clearly laid out in front of you, I recommend you stay away from kuuchuu Buranko until you are ready to do so.
From a surface…
Read at the sourcekedamoyes
Welcome to Irabu's Office is extremely surreal 11 episode psychological comedy about a psychiatrist called Ichirou Irabu and the patients that ask for his help. Each episode focuses on a different patient with a different (often ridiculous) psychological condition that interferes with their lives. The patients show extremely abnormal behavior that end up being manifestations or coping mechanisms for their individual struggles.
For example, episode 6 is about a teenage cell phone addict that can't go without texting for any amount of time. He can't even put it down for family dinner and when his phone breaks he has a panic attack and immediately makes his mom buy him a new one. From the outside looking in it's easy to view him in a pretty 1 dimensional and negative way, but what this belie…
Read at the sourceZedlin
Watching anime can become tiresome. It can feel like a second job to our already strenuous lives. With the monotony of seasonal shows, I endeavor to dive back into older anime whenever I can. Kuuchuu Buranko is an exceptional plunge into the psychology of humans and has a distinctive art style. It accomplishes something that can only be done with anime and is an engaging watch.
Kuuchuu Buranko revolves around a psychiatrist Ichiro Irabu. Throughout the show he determines patients disorders with unorthodox treatments. Each episode centers on psychological issues the patients have episodically. Not each episode is in chronological order. Ichiro in some parts is seen curing multiple people a day. The obstacle patients have altered too, allowing diverse, imaginative events that keep the audie…
Read at the sourcemouthpiece
This show is definitely a hard watch, as it deals with a rather hard topic to tolerate: Mentally unstable patients who go to a shrink. Oh sure, having crazy characters in anime is fun, but these particular dudes are not having fun at all. They need help! Because they are crazy! So basically you need to tolerate a series where everybody has a very bad opinion about themselves and turn to a coocoo doctor to give them advises. This is not something most viewers would gladly sit down to watch.
Before I move on, I must mention a western comedy movie, starring Robert De Niro. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122933/
The premise of “Analyze This” is quite similar; a mafia boss has psychological problems and his familia rush to fetch him a psychiatrist to help him deal with his issues before his riva…
Read at the sourceThe_Triumphant
I loved Kuuchuu Buranko (Welcome to Irabu's Office) dearly, but I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.
First off, the animation is very stylized and abnormal. It very well may turn off some people with its crazy colors, metaphorical representations of people, and exaggerated (real-life) superimposed footage. Yes, it looks bizarre and a bit off-putting, but it fits the subject matter quite nicely!
The show is centered around the main character, Dr. Irabu, who takes on several patients suffering from various mental and emotional disorders. Rather than simply prescribing them pills, his unconventional method seeks to identify and resolve their deeper problems.
One of the highlights of the show is the non-linear progression, which devotes an episode per patient over a 9 day period (in the sho…
Read at the sourceZahyo
Do you really know the struggles your colleagues, friends, and family deal with on a daily basis? Unfortunately for most people, the answer to this question is a resounding “no.” Yet despite this, lots can be learned from understanding the problems of other people, however trivial they may seem. There are a select few, however, that spend their time listening to the canaries and attempting to come to an understanding with the complications others are faced with. In quite possibly his most extraordinary project to date, director Kenji Nakamura attempts to analyze and unravel the ever-complicated human psyche with his avant-garde spectacle, Kuuchuu Buranko.
Originally aired in the fall of 2009, Kuuchuu Buranko revolves around the bizarre office of Dr. Ichiro Irabu, a psychologist with a pec…
Read at the sourceLima-Sama
In the sea of "Generic" that is the anime industry, every once in a while it's nice to come across something that is, forget good or bad, at least different. And this show is that, in fact, it's one of the most unique and undiscribable pieces of art I've ever come across.
This is a show about mental health, something that our society should pay as much attention to as physical health, but it doesn't. With visuals straight out of an acid trip, blending traditional animation, 3d and live action, effortlessly and brilliantly (think "Mind Game", if you've seen it,If not, go see it). Throw in a blend of wacky, adult humor and some extremely deep, dramatic moments and you got kuuchuu buranko.
This balance of comedy/tragedy, real/imaginary is the main force behind the show. The characters are w…
Read at the sourceSasunaru4life
Story: 4 The story is episodic but all of the characters live in the same city and know each other to some degree. I love the humor and the characters. The thing that bugs me has nothing to do with the characters and all to do with the diagnosis and how they come to the conclusion of the diagnosis. I know it is played for laughs but there are dumb people in this world that can legit look at things like this and try to apply it to themselves *facepalm* I know that it is all for humor but at the same time, a lot of the diagnoses were wrong and the definitions were nonsense. There were a few definitions that were spot on and correct and not outdated but only a few were not full of out-dated garbage.
Art: 9 very unique and beautiful! I LOVE how different the art was!
Sound: 9 Music was on p…
Read at the sourceTheBrainintheJar
Often you’ll hear how being unique isn’t enough to make a good anime. That’s not entirely true, since being unique is overall a good trait. Why would you want to sit in front of a screen, watching the same thing over and over? What these people do get right is that mere uniqueness isn’t enough. Although in the end, all great works of art are unique and highly original, not all original works are great works. That’s because true greatness which comes from true uniqueness isn’t just a unique art style or a cool storytelling method, but a thematic depth.
All the problems with this anime are in this sector. It’s eccentric and utterly bizarre. Better anime don’t break their conventions like this, but in the end it’s all just quirks and a unique style that don’t reach any profound conclusion. A…
Read at the sourceFlamell
First and foremost, don't watch this anime if you aren't interested in human psychology, or if you are too young (14, 15 years old). I'm glad, I've watched at present time and had already started thinking about the problems we face psychologically as modern day humans. Also, this is for those who think this is a medium for the expression of ideas, not just some cheap thrills.
This show is all about a subtle build up until you start getting why you are even watching this, if you are into waiting until everything makes sense - like me - you'll like this anime. 11 eps is short and "marathonable".
The art is diferent, but it matches perfectly with the narrative, the facial expressions show with this tecnique (the same used in "Aku no Hana", but merged with actual animation) are needed for th…
Read at the source
