Posts in Popotan Category
February 6, 2005Published by: Geneon
Episodes 1-4
Extras: Clean Opening
I sat down and watched the first Popotan DVD a few hours ago, and if there was one thing I thought of it was this: "...this is actually kinda tame for the most part". I never would've thought I'd say that, but after watching GIRLS Bravo and other fanservice-laden shows I guess I've gotten that much used to it ;) But anyways, these 4 episodes were as good as I remember them being and I enjoyed watching them over again. Enjoyed not quite being exactly the correct term here as there's serious things about Mai in episode 2 and the idea of loneliness is brought up so much... And the OP/ED are as addictive as ever ;)
Speaking of the release itself, Geneon has given the R1 release a reversable cover with your choice of either Ai with no fanservice or Konami with fanservice ;)
An insert provides illustrations and short descriptions of the characters Ai, Mai, and Mii meet during these four episodes. The only extra to speak of is the inclusion of a clean opening sequence. I had no issues with video quality or quality of the translation for the most part. Well, except they translate メアー as "Mea", I prefer "Mare" as in the fansubs, but that's nothing big. "Mea" kinda makes you pronounce it with a southern accent, lol ;) Overall, good job Geneon.
For thoughts/screencaps on the episodes covered on this DVD see my Popotan entries
The blog celebrates its first anniversary in a few days so I'll be highlighting some of the shows I enjoyed blogging in the past year over the next week. Hope y'all enjoy it!
"Right when the jiggle in Yumeria goes down I have to watch a show where the jiggle is up there (getting started in the first 3 minutes of the episode!). However, the other parts of the show kinda overcome all of that and make it pretty fun to watch so far."
Matthew, on Popotan episodes 1-5, March 1, 2004
And that's pretty much the story behind Popotan -- much jiggle but some fun parts and a suprisingly serious story in latter episodes to balance it for the most part, though it could have sufficed without having a bath scene every episode and Mii's "puni-puni check" ;) This is the show that pretty much desensitized me to fanservice (which is why Girls Bravo & UG don't really bother me that much, lol) Unfortunately, some right now have already judged Popotan to be nothing but jiggle (y'all know who I'm talking about)...
Anyways, getting to how I wound up watching this show. I wouldn't have normally watched something like Popotan on first sight since it does rather look like nothing but boobs and such, but after reading Jeff's entries on it I decided to give it a try. I also noticed that Kabitzin of the Sea Slugs! had started to blog it so I decided to follow suit. Over the course of the next week and some both of us turned out to be almost doing synchronized blogging on Popotan. It was rather fun ;)
"It's a first, at least for me.. a show with lots of fanservice that actually manages to have a story that works well ;)
Matthew, on Popotan 12, March 10th, 2004
Getting back to the show, once again I'd like to emphasize that despite what you might have read, Popotan does have a plot that picks up later on -- a story of three sisters -- Ai, Mai, and Mii -- who constantly move from place to place without being able to settle down, always searching for something, really, a story of loneliness. That especially goes for Mai, who is the best developed character of the bunch and has to go through some awful things. You really do have to feel sorry for her after watching her suffer that much... The other two sisters don't get quite that much, but they do still have character -- appearances of "Magical Girl Mii-tan" were pretty entertaining for me, being a fan of mahou shoujo ;)
As for the technical aspects of the show, it's presented in very pretty 16:9 format with a very bright, colorful pallette that suits it well. Music used in the show is very catchy, and the opening theme is especially apt to be stuck in your head for a long time after you hear it ;) Overall, I'd say that if you can handle the abundance of service you should give Popotan a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised by what it delivers.
The first DVD should be here in a few days so I'll write up a bit about it when it gets here. I actually haven't watched the show over again since blogging it so it should be fun :)
Well, this is it :) Short summary this time since it's the last episode.
The dour mood which we left the last episode with continues in this one and even gets a bit more blue. The sisters have gone to the place they wanted, but... they're still not very happy at all. We do get a happy resolution in the end, though. Watch to find out what happens :)
Time for a wrap-up! Honestly, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from Popotan given its H-game roots, but much like Da Capo it managed to surprise me. It's a first, at least for me.. a show with lots of fanservice that actually manages to have a story that works well ;) It started off episodic, but later on picked up a larger, pretty serious story arc, which is always a good thing to me. The characters themselves -- Ai, Mai, and Mii -- were pretty interesting, though maybe a bit stereotypical in ways. I would say that Mai comes out as the best done character since she's given a lot of time to develop character and explain how she sees things.
As for the other things.. animation quality was mostly good, except for a few places in a couple of episodes. Popotan is filled with bright colors that come out well, and the very popular nowadays 16x9 format worked well, too. Music was all pretty well done and all fit the places where it was used. The opening and ending songs were both pretty catchy, too.
Overall, for an H-game-turned-anime Popotan came out pretty well. Despite the overuse of fanservice (most I've seen in any show I've watched), it exceeded my expectations in story so I enjoyed it a lot. With that, Popotan is very much deserving of a solid B from me. Good job :)
Final Rating: B
More Information:
Original Work: Petit Ferret
Animation: Shaft
Episodes: 12
Official Website: http://www.popotan.com/
Fansub Information:
Subbed by: The Triad
Fansub Grade: A. No big issues with translation or video quality here. The extra credits sequence added on to the last episode was well done, too. A couple of the jobs listed were quite funny. Great job! :)
Available at: http://a.scarywater.net/triad/. 2 1GB batch torrents of 6 episodes each.
Useless Info:
Began watching: March 1st 2004
Finished watching: March 10th 2004
Number of episodes with extended bath scenes: 11
Number of episodes with fanservice: 12
Favorite Episodes: On the light side of things, episode 3 where we're introduced to mahou shoujo Mii-tan! on the more serious side, episode 9.
Number of times Mii does "puni-puni" checks on things: Too many times, IMO ;)
Questions:
Why does Ai sleep in that?
What are Mii's standards for passing the "puni-puni" check?
Why didn't they hire someone else to do the next episode previews since Unagi-chan keeps on forgetting to do it?
Why does there have to be a bath scene in almost every episode?
Did the fanboys (who bought the game for 8800 yen or so) really requestthis much service?
How popular was the Popotan game? Must've been pretty popular to be made into an anime, I think...
That is all :) Be sure to check out Sea Slugs! review of Popotan, too! Seems like we arrived at much the same conclusion about it, ne? ;)
The penultimate (don't you love that word?) episode of Popotan lives up to its title of "Farewell". That's basically what this one is about. Ai, Mai, and Mii finally meet the girl they've been searching for all this time, Shizuku, in a place that's a stop for weary time travellers to make an important decision -- continue with their journey.. or bring it to an end and go to the place they want. After hearing that, the girls discuss what they'll do during a long bath scene (of course) then decide by themselves whether they want to continue on or stop. First Mai... then Mii.. then finally Ai... It's pretty sad to see them separated..
Unagi-chan, what are we gonna do with you? You can't fall asleep and forget to do the next episode previews! Ai, Mai, and Mii fill for Unagi this time. And I thought she was gonna do a good job since this was the last preview ;)
Anyways... I'll have the last episode and a wrap-up of Popotan for y'all in a bit :)
Current Rating: B
The mystery of the popotan gets a bit deeper this time. We get some answers to some things, but there's still a lot left to be explained.. Mai is still down from what happened, and even goes so far as to burn some of the stuff she's gotten from all of her friends in various times and places.. But the real focus this time is on Mare. When she goes out shopping she runs into that bishie guy that's been following them around, Keith. Seems he's the "guide" and Mare is the "guard" for the girls. Keith is going to take them to see that girl that the sisters have been searching for.. but Mare doesn't want that to happen, not yet. Seems Mare was in another mansion before this one, with a couple of brothers who finally met that girl, but it doesn't look like it turned out well... Mare doesn't want that to happen again, so she ends up fighting Keith. Keith ends up getting the best of her (Mare does kick some butt, though) and the mansion jumps, leaving Mare behind... I was a bit surprised that there was no bath scene involving Mii in this episode. Good for them to concentrate on the story a bit more :)
Unagi did her job this time in the next episode preview :) The next episode is owakare ("Farewell"). I wonder how things will turn out when they meet that girl? Who the heck is she, anyways?...
Current Rating: A B with two episodes left to watch.
After the filler in 8, we're back to the story. Definitely the best episode so far in Popotan, this one is in some ways a replay of an earlier episode. The mansion has moved once again in place (and time), this time to the same place where Mai met Konami in episode 2... but 40 years later. Mai sees Konami's daugher, Mai. Yes, that's her name. Konami named her after Mai since she was her best friend. But Mai (Konami's daughter) hates the name because Mai (the popotan Mai) broke her promise to Konami and didn't come back... the bishie guy shows up again and tries to explain to Mai what she's done (kinda something like the Prime Directive from Star Trek. That's the first thing that came to mind) but she doesn't fully understand until the heartbreak at the end of the episode. Man, things have gotten serious. Wonder if they'll stay that way?
And in case you were wondering.. plenty of bath scenes for y'all in this episode, of course. Mii doesn't do her little "check" thing like she did last time, though (I know some of y'all are disappointed, ne?). But believe you me, after reading Mii's character profile for the Popotan game on the website that's nothin' at all. Anyways, going to a different note... Unagi, you can't slack off for the next episode previews! She was washing her tail and forgot about it. The episode preview is important, you know! Maybe she'll do a better job next time ;)
Sea Slugs! is up to episode 8 now. They've blogged the 2 episodes I didn't do since I slacked off (6 & 7) if you want to read more about those.
Current Rating: B
Time for some more Popotan! Quickie summary of the previous two episodes I didn't blog... In episode 6, we learned a bit more about the mansion that Ai, Mai, and Mii live in. Seems it doesn't only travel from place to place. Mai and Mare, who were left behind at the end of 5, eventually do get back together with Ai and Mii, but not after some stuff happens... In episode 7, we see Daichi from the 1st epsiode again... but he's changed a bit.. A mysterious guy who somehow has a connection with the popotan also shows up... The overall story developed a bit more in these two episodes so I can't really say much more. Just watch it :) Oh... yes, the streak of bath scenes continues in case you were wondering.
Onto the current episode... We take a break from the overall story development for something of a side story and also the Christmas episode. Nono lives with her grandfather at a shrine. She's in some kind of training when the mansion shows up right next to the shrine. Her grandfather isn't too pleased, but Nono is excited since she's always wanted to have Christmas, and this disagreement eventually leads to them separating for a bit. Mii takes Nono into the mansion and offers to let her stay there. She shows Nono around each of the girls' rooms, having her try on a couple of outfits (Mii's mahou shoujo outfit and also Mare's maid outfit). And here comes the obligitory bath scene... With Mii doing Tina's (from Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~) favorite thing... Then the Christmas party begins, with Mii and the rest giving Nono a present. It's a cake to take back to her grandfather so they could have Christmas together. They also leave her some other presents outside the door, then the mansion disappears, off to another place.
A nice episode, I guess, but I hope we get back to the overall story development next episode. It was getting rather interesting, you know..
Current Rating: No change from the previous B. Sea Slugs! is up to episode 5 now. I agree with ya Kabitzin, "less bath scenes, more story" would be nice :)
Well, this is an onsen (hot springs) episode, so of course the streak of having a bath scene in every Popotan episode continues. This time, the sisters (and Mare) have ended up in a hot springs village, looking for popotan to talk to. Ai finds one particular popotan that says that it knows something, so she brings it along and the girls go out to the town and follow the popotan's directions. Including... participating in a beauty pageant. Getting in lots of hot springs... playing an awesome game of Matrix ping-pong (see screencaps)... more hot springs (with certain enhancing properties)... and finally to a popotan field. When Ai talks to the popotan, she and the others see a vision of this girl. Wonder if she's who Ai is looking for? We really don't know. But then.. there's some trouble as Mare and Mai don't make it back to the mansion in time before it disappears!
Oh, a cliffhanger episode! Wonder what's going to happen next? This show is getting better now. Looks like we might have an actual plot. That's always a good thing :)
Btw, the summaries from now on out will be a bit shorter due to the plot moving forward. I don't want to spoil things for y'all too much ;)
Current Rating: Up to a solid B now.
Yup, you guessed it. The bath scene streak continues. Onto the episode now.. A little girl comes to Mare to have her fix her broken doll (even though Mare runs a Christmas shop, not a toy shop). She says that she lives in a village nearby, but Ai and the rest went to that village and no one was there. The girl lives all by herself because the rest of the villagers moved out long ago. But... the next morning Mii disappears! Ai and the rest go to the village to investigate, but Ai and Mai both end up missing, leaving Mare to look for them.
A pretty nice episode. The episodic nature of the show is working pretty well so far. Next time: onsen! ("hot springs")
Current Rating: B-
Did a bit of browsing around the net, looking for stuff on Popotan, and guess what? It is another of those H-games turned anime that seem to be so popular now. That would account for the high level of fanservice in the show... greater than anything that was in Da Capo or anything that's been in Yumeria, btw.. gotta please those fanboys out there that ponied up the 8800 yen for the DVD version of the PC game (ouch!), I guess... Anyways, must go to sleep now, got an early class in the morning. Oyasumi!
