Oruchuban Ebichu is an anime produced by Gainax (the company
responsible for Neon Genesis Evangelion) and directed by Hideaki
Anno, and is based on the manga by Risa Ito that was published by
Futabasha Publishers. It first aired as six eight minutes episodes
in 1999 as one third of the show Modern Love's Silliness.
Ebichu is very adult in nature, and its explicit violence,
innuendo, and sexual scenes could only be shown on DirecTV Japan.
The uncut version of the series is only found on DVD. The show is
done in a simplistic art style, and its sexual content is played
for laughs rather than for fanservice.
Most episodes follow Ebichu, a talking hamster devoted to her
oft-indifferent owner, who is only identified as OL ("Office
Lady"), a single 25 year old (this is the age Japanese women are
considered nearing the end of the ideal marrying age) who doles out
cynical commentary and the occasional beating on the rodent. Ebichu
tends to take this in stride with endless praise and compliments.
However, such abuse is usually caused by Ebichu's almost disturbing
lack of tact or propriety, often embarassing her master in front of
other people.
Ebichu often attempts to correct OL's bad decisions, such as her
berating of OL's obnoxious and untrustworthy boyfriend Ebichu
nicknamed Kaishounachi (literally, Useless).
Ebichu is sometimes joked by fans to be the complete polar opposite
of Hamtaro, a popular children's anime featuring a hamster in more
wholesome adventures.
The origin of the anime came about during voice recording sessions
for Neon Genesis Evangelion. Kotono Mitsuishi, the seiyuu for the
character of Misato Katsuragi would read the Ebichu manga in
between takes and laugh at the humor. She would show others what
she was reading and eventually it was decided that the series was
worth animating. As a result, Mitsuishi Kotono was selected to
voice the title character of housekeeping hamster Ebichu.
An Ebichu plush toy was available in UFO Catchers and can be found
on eBay
taken from here
Just watched this anime not quite long ago...super funny
Every episode never failed to make me laugh in
some ways
Some (actually most) of the jokes are quite dirty tho, some of the
images are as well, so dun say i never warn those who are underage
And each episode is very short, only around 8 minutes, including
the opening song and closing credits...
Can find the anime
here
Enjoy~
