Crayon Shin-chan: Blitzkrieg! Pig's Hoof's Secret Mission

A toy in Shinnosuke's hands turns out to be a secret device an espionage organisation is chasing, and the family suddenly finds itself in the middle of an international pursuit. The villains are an outfit called Pig's Hoof, and the hero is a five-year-old. The film is not interested in a spy story. It is interested in imitating the genre: secret bases, agent gadgets and a large explosion at the end are all rebuilt with the logic of a small child. The joke comes from seriousness collapsing. The form is the series' usual: a fast gag rate, action sequences in rotation, and the contrast between the ordinariness of the family and the scale of the plot. Keiichi Hara directed. He would later make far more serious films in the same series; this one belongs to the more playful period before that, released in 1998 as the sixth cinema film in the franchise. Akiko Yajima voices Shinnosuke. Who it is for: viewers of Crayon Shin-chan and anyone who likes action parody. Who it is not for: newcomers to the series. The film starts without introducing anyone, and some of the humour is crude and rooted in Japanese television comedy.