"Appare Ranman": A Male Pippi Longstocking and His Boyfriend in a Steampunk Auto Race

While sifting through the dozens of anime that suddenly popped up on Hulu, looking for one that doesn't feature a boy and a girl in love, I am drawn to Appare-Ranman ("Innocent Appare"), for reasons that will become clear in a moment...

Scene 1:  Los Angeles, a steampunk late 19th century.  The Panama Canal has already been completed, and motorcars are advanced enough for the Trans-America Wild Race.  The first day is just a pre-race, with a $10,000 prize.  Weird Wacky-Races-style cars line up, with drivers including a spoiled rich dude, a little girl, and a road warrior.  Young Samurai Kosame (voiced by Seiichiro Yamashita) criticizes Appare (Natsuki Hanae) for not having their car finished.

Wait -- Kosame refers to Appare with he/him pronouns.  He is voiced by men, Natsuki Hanae (top photo) in Japanese and Lee George in English.  But he definitely presents as a girl: long red hair jutting out from his head, like Pippi Longstocking; lipstick; a pink smock with a huge peppermint bow in back.  

Their team includes Hototo, a Native American boy with long green hair and a bare midriff.  He also seems to be presenting as a girl.   What's with all the gender-bending?  Is anyone going to comment on it?

The repairs are finished.  Appare jumps into the driver's seat, yells "Hitch up your loincloth, Kosame!" and they're off!   If you hitched up your loincloth, your penis would be visible.  Is that a sexual reference?

They race through the streets of Los Angeles, which have not been cleared of pedestrians or streetcars.  Several near-collisions. 

Scene 2:  A year earlier, Fukushita Prefecture.  Samurai Kosame is teaching a martial-arts class at the dojo when his sister arrives with an urgent message: Lord Kuroda has summoned him!  It seems that Appare, the "second son" of the Sorano Family, is causing a ruckus with his wild steampunk experiments.  Since they are about the same age (19), and Appare has studied at the dojo, Lord Kuroda makes Kosame his overseer.  "No! No!  He's crazy!"  "I have spoken."

"But he's been arrested for vandalism," Lord Kuroda continues, "And accidently put into the cell with the hardened criminals.  If he is killed, the problem is solved." 

Cut to Appare in a jail cell,  planning an experiment while the other prisoners growl at him.  He's not socially adept; "I don't say hello.  Waste of time."  They start to attack, but he casually picks the lock and goes home. His father yells at him for being disrespectful and not doing any work.

Scene 3: Kosame reports back to Lord Kuroda that Appare broke out of jail.  "Sputter, sputter!  That's a serious offense! Track him down!"  The guards rush off.   But if he's arrested again, he'll be executed!

Kosame grabs his katana and rushes to Appare's family home.  Yep, he's in his storehouse out back: a huge space full of plans, diagrams, and various inventions, like an exploding robot drone.  "There are guards coming to execute you.  If you go back to jail and apologize, maybe Lord Kuroda will let you live!"  "Naw -- jail is no fun."  How nonchalant can you get?  

Ok, how about this tactic: "I am your overseer.  I will be executed, too, and I have an unmarried sister and elderly father to take care of.  And my father has arranged a marriage for me.  My future wife will be a widow!"

Scene 4: Appare still won't turn himself in, but he leads Kosame through a trap door to a cave, where his newly-designed steampunk steamship is docked.  "You built all of this?  Why not devote your energy to helping your brother and father?"  I can relate.  I spent my childhood and teen years being pushed into a heterosexist "job-house-wife-kids" trajectory.

Appare: "I thought you were different, but you're just like the others. I'm leaving.  Go away." 

Just then the guards storm in.  Kosame tries to appease them: "I think I can convince him to turn himself in."  But Appare is already off!  Kosame jumps into the steamship to try to convince him to return.  They struggle; the ship hits a rock, and flounders!

Scene 5:  Stuck in a floundered ship in the middle of the ocean!  "If you were planning to leave, why didn't you pack food and water?"  "I packed everything I needed -- charts, plans, technical manuals."  Not very practical, are you, kid?

Appare explains: "Everything is connected.  This ocean is connected to other places, to the stars, to the moon. I'm going to be the first person to see the far side of the moon."  Mystical, but it doesn't solve the food and water problem.

After several days, they're awaiting their deaths, when they are rescued by an American steamship.   Kosame has to mop for his passage, while Appare designs a more efficient engine.  Finally they arrive in Los Angeles, where steampunk marvels are everywhere.  Appare is delighted. The end.

Beefcake: None.

Gay Characters: Appare doesn't display any heterosexual interest in this episode.  I understand that he and Kosame are shipped in fandom.  Two young women among the racers could be a couple.  

Gender-Bending: Not explained.  

My Grade:  Auto-races across the 19th century American desert sound boring, but the back story was interesting.  Appare is certainly a unique character.  But if he meets the Girl of His Dreams, I'm leaving.

Update: Several episodes have gay subtexts that move very close to text, especially the last, where the two decide to stay together after the adventure ends.