Ichiban no Tempura



This series used the then-revolutionary technique of stop-motion photography to tell the story of two tempura nuggets who escaped being served for dinner and went on to try to save the world from the dastardly Wok of Evil.

Produced before the advent of the Internet and canceled after only three episodes which aired on Tokyo's public-broadcasting network late at night, Ichiban no Tempura has passed into legend as being the most difficult series for collectors to obtain. Rumors of an underground tape-exchange network persist to this day, but these rumors have never been confirmed.

The urban legend about the horrible deaths of people who have tried to transfer these rumored off-air tapes from Beta to VHS are, of course, completely unfounded.

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This series provides examples of:

 * Serious Business
 * Urban Legends
 * Keep Circulating the Tapes at your own risk!
 * Gainax Ending Where the hell did that tanuki find a spatula anyway?