Ga-Ra-Ku-Ta: Mr. Stain on Junk Alley (ガラクタ通りのステイン, Garakuta-dori no Sutein)[1] is a 3DCG animation created, directed, and written by Ryuji Masuda, with character designs by Wakako Masuda.
The series revolves around Mr. Stain and his large cat friend, Palvan, as they go about their daily life going through the junk in the alley. They get into and get out of situations by using the objects they find. Each episode revolves around an object, and then ends with the characters dancing in the end credits.
Each episode is roughly 7 minutes long, minus the final episode, HARMONICA, which is 30 minutes long. There are 14 episodes total. The ending theme song for episodes 1-13 is Tandem (タンデム) by HALCALI, and the ending theme for episode 14 is Giri-giri surf-rider (ギリギリサーフライダー) also by HALCALI.[1]
This is Ryuji Masuda's second work as a director following Popee the Performer. The series aired on Kids' Station in Japan, similar to Popee the Performer, with it's original run from January 6th, 2003, until March 25th, 2003.
Episodes[]
| Episode | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Vol. 01 | Egg | Mr. Stain finds an egg in the alleyway and, instead of eating, cares for it. But danger lurks around the corner... |
| Vol. 02 | Refrigerator | Palvan stumbles upon a refrigerator, and refuses to let anyone else come near it. However, after realizing the door is stuck, he enlists the help of Stain and Rings to get the fridge open. |
| Vol. 03 | Portrait | Stain falls madly in love with a painting of a beautiful Japanese woman. When he starts refusing eat or even sleep, in favor of continuing to admire the portrait, Palvan takes extreme measures to snap Stain out of his trance. |
| Vol. 04 | Heavenly Bird | Stain finds an exotic bird, and prepares to eat it. But after the bird saves his life, they befriend each other instead, at least until the cold climate of the city begins to take a toll on the bird's health. |
| Vol. 05 | Magic Crayon | Stain attempts to draw a portrait of Palvan with a box of crayons, but he quickly realizes that the crayons have magical powers. Anything that is drawn with them becomes real. Stain and Palvan abuse the power of the crayons, and quickly learn the consequences of tampering with unknown forces. |
| Vol. 06 | Cassette Tape | Stain finds a cassette tape with a very catchy song on it, but he and Palvan begin to suspect that the tape may be sentient. Their suspicions are confirmed after they construct a body around the cassette player, and it comes to life. |
| Vol. 07 | Binoculars | Stain uses a pair of binoculars to spy on the alley's residents, but he accidentally discovers something shocking; Palvan is raising a kitten in secret. Stain is happy for his friend at first, until he notices a "MISSING" poster for the kitten, with a $50,000 reward for whoever finds it. |
| Vol. 08 | Toy Robot | Stain finds a remote controlled robot, and he plays around with it for a while. But once the controller breaks, the robot gains sentience. The robot then asks Stain to help him achieve his one and only dream; to be able to fly. |
| Vol. 09 | Woolen Yarn | A young girl named Stefany chases a kitten into the alley, and soon realizes that she's completely lost. With every creature she encounters, she becomes more and more frightened. A sentient glove tries to comfort her, and help her find her way home. |
| Vol. 10 | Seed | Stain finds a flower pot and decides to water it, but the flower comes alive and would later seduce Stain in his dreams just as a spaceship comes to attack Junk Alley. |
| Vol. 11 | Clay | Stain finds some clay and shapes it into his head but the clay then takes over Palvan's body and turns into a clay version of Stain. |
| Vol. 12 | Fishing Rod | While Stain and Palvan were eating, Stain sees a little fish named Tiny and decides to take care of it by feeding it donuts, but the fish grew too much and swallows both Stain and Rings whole. |
| Vol. 13 | Human | Stain finds an abandoned baby and runs out to steal some milk from a store, leading to the policeman to go after him. |
| Vol. 14 | Harmonica | While Stain was playing his harmonica, he hears some beautiful piano sounds coming from an apartment. Stain then falls in love with a woman named Lifa. He then tries to send a love letter to her and fails. He then creates a handsome version of himself but gets replaced later on. |
Trivia[]
- Palvan made his first appearance in the Popee the Performer Manga.
- There is an unaired version of the episode Egg, where everything's the same except that Eaten was replaced by a blue walrus. There were also broadcast cuts of this show, but it has yet to resurface.
- Usui Takayasu, who voiced Prosciutto and Secco in the Golden Wind PS2 game one year prior, voices Stain and Palvan, alongside Faceless Palvan, Clay Stain and Handsome Stain.
- Natsuo Yamashita, who voiced Lilo in the Japanese dub for Lilo and Stitch, voices Stefany.
- Erika Kawasaki voices Lomeria. She voiced a character in the 2003 movie Tokyo Godfathers.
- Tomoko Kaneda voices Lifa, Baby and Smiley Bird. She voiced Chiyo-Chan from Azumanga Daioh: The Animation and Akubi-chan in Akubi Girl (2006). In the 13th episode, Baby had no voice actor.
- The character modeler and CG director, Daisuke Suzuki, would later direct Onsen Komachi Doki in the TV drama Onsen Tamago ~Yukemuri Kidan~ and the Rooster Fighter movie.
- Menya Co., which composed the music for Mr. Stain, and A Day On The Planet around the same year. They would later compose the music for Funny Pets 3 years later.
- Mr. Stain had a manga for Magazine Z but it was discontinued. It later then gained a picture book in 2007.
- Mr. Stain makes a cameo at the end of the Funny Pets picture book.
- Shunsuke Koga produced Mr. Stain and A Day On The Planet in the same year. He would later produce Funny Pets and Charady's Daily Joke.
- The episode title cards use the same font and style as Popee the Performer, which is Matisse ITC.