PoPoTan
This View is a Triptych. Parts 2 and 3 will be posted with DVD releases.
Cozy: 6/10
Whacked: 9/10
Business: 4/10
Stabby: 1/10
Giggly: 8/10
Mucked: 2/10
Vanilla: 1/10
Rating System
Alarms: Cheesecake Nudity
Byte: "PoPoTan is exceptionally whacked out."
In Triplicate: Series' like Love Hina, FLCL, and Excel Saga have all managed to bring new meaning to the term "whacked". PoPoTan continues this fine escapade with a bouncy, exaggerated storyline following the adventures of three travelling girls: Ai, Mai, and Mii - Oh, and their stuck up lolita robot maid: Mea. All four live in a travelling house and are searching for Tanpopo - dandelions. The series gets its name from these flowers, for as the girls explain in the first episode, they like calling them "Popotan". The way in which the house teleports is not explicitly explained, but apparently all four residents travel via from area to area of Japan, helping people and searching for dandelions. It makes keeping friends difficult, and that alone tends to add a sombre element to what would otherwise be a total candy fest.
The series has a ton of cheesecake, especially whenever Ai decides to partake in a bath scene. In fact, the first five minutes of the series manages to show off Ai's exceptionally disproportionate top half in the buff as she collapses on a poor youngster, breasts first. However, the nudity is harmless, and there's no real sexual content to speak of. It's more done for comedy's sake, and unless you're paranoid about kids seeing breasts (y'know, other than their mom's), there's not much to worry about.
Aside from the cheesecake, the humour whacks out into areas like Mii becoming a magical girl (memories of Pretty Sammy), Ai and Mai talking to dandelions (and other flowers), and the ever so callous Mea, who has a habit of making children upset with her cold, dispassionate attitude. But there's also a sense of seriousness to the series. Mii helps a terminally sick girl get a second lease on life, Mai learns to deal with having to move all the time, and while the series is never, even for a moment, preachy, it does give the viewer the presence of real values.
The first four episodes are arranged as such:
Episode 1: A boy searches for ghosts to photograph and discovers the girls. Themes include values about belief in things you can't see or touch, how breasts solve your problems, and why floating robot lolita maids make good ghosts.
Episode 2: Mai has to go to a new school, but doesn't want to make new friends because she knows she'll just have to leave again. Themes include why friendship can exist even across great distances, why you shouldn't keep old school uniforms, and how to magically replace a person with a dandelion.
Episode 3: Mii turns into a Magical Girl and helps another child her age, Miyuki, deal with a serious illness. Themes include giving a person hope, why Magical Girl outfits are not good if you don't like panty shots, and how to heal people using the battle cry "Picohan Magic Parallel Magic!".
Episode 4: Mea encounters a strange girl who asks her if she's also alone. Then Ai, Mai, and Mii all go missing. Themes include loneliness and selfishness, how to rate breasts on "puffiness", and what happens when lots of wind rips off all your clothing.
Structure: Intro; First Half; Eyecatch Out; Eyecatch In; Second Half; Outtro; What's Next
Cozy: 6/10
Whacked: 9/10
Business: 4/10
Stabby: 1/10
Giggly: 8/10
Mucked: 2/10
Vanilla: 1/10
Rating System
Alarms: Cheesecake Nudity
Byte: "PoPoTan is exceptionally whacked out."
In Triplicate: Series' like Love Hina, FLCL, and Excel Saga have all managed to bring new meaning to the term "whacked". PoPoTan continues this fine escapade with a bouncy, exaggerated storyline following the adventures of three travelling girls: Ai, Mai, and Mii - Oh, and their stuck up lolita robot maid: Mea. All four live in a travelling house and are searching for Tanpopo - dandelions. The series gets its name from these flowers, for as the girls explain in the first episode, they like calling them "Popotan". The way in which the house teleports is not explicitly explained, but apparently all four residents travel via from area to area of Japan, helping people and searching for dandelions. It makes keeping friends difficult, and that alone tends to add a sombre element to what would otherwise be a total candy fest.
The series has a ton of cheesecake, especially whenever Ai decides to partake in a bath scene. In fact, the first five minutes of the series manages to show off Ai's exceptionally disproportionate top half in the buff as she collapses on a poor youngster, breasts first. However, the nudity is harmless, and there's no real sexual content to speak of. It's more done for comedy's sake, and unless you're paranoid about kids seeing breasts (y'know, other than their mom's), there's not much to worry about.
Aside from the cheesecake, the humour whacks out into areas like Mii becoming a magical girl (memories of Pretty Sammy), Ai and Mai talking to dandelions (and other flowers), and the ever so callous Mea, who has a habit of making children upset with her cold, dispassionate attitude. But there's also a sense of seriousness to the series. Mii helps a terminally sick girl get a second lease on life, Mai learns to deal with having to move all the time, and while the series is never, even for a moment, preachy, it does give the viewer the presence of real values.
The first four episodes are arranged as such:
Episode 1: A boy searches for ghosts to photograph and discovers the girls. Themes include values about belief in things you can't see or touch, how breasts solve your problems, and why floating robot lolita maids make good ghosts.
Episode 2: Mai has to go to a new school, but doesn't want to make new friends because she knows she'll just have to leave again. Themes include why friendship can exist even across great distances, why you shouldn't keep old school uniforms, and how to magically replace a person with a dandelion.
Episode 3: Mii turns into a Magical Girl and helps another child her age, Miyuki, deal with a serious illness. Themes include giving a person hope, why Magical Girl outfits are not good if you don't like panty shots, and how to heal people using the battle cry "Picohan Magic Parallel Magic!".
Episode 4: Mea encounters a strange girl who asks her if she's also alone. Then Ai, Mai, and Mii all go missing. Themes include loneliness and selfishness, how to rate breasts on "puffiness", and what happens when lots of wind rips off all your clothing.
Structure: Intro; First Half; Eyecatch Out; Eyecatch In; Second Half; Outtro; What's Next
1 Comments:
Awesome. ^^
If it's got the same kinda whacked-out humor as FLCL, Excel Saga, etc, then I'll definetely need to check into it.
By Furanku-san!, at 6:28 PM
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