9/26/2023 0 Comments Eisai haramasukoiPop Team Epic's crowning moment of glory isn't even animated in the traditional sense, as AC-bu's Shunsuke Itakura and Toru Adachi tell the story of legendary guitarist "Hellshake Yano" through kamishibai-style interactive storyboards. It feels like each respective team was told to simply do whatever they want, and had an absolute blast doing so. As well as traditional 2D segments there's 3D character model skits, stop motion musical numbers and of course "Bob Team Epic" - a rather unique interpretation by animation team AC-bu where there's no such thing as consistent character models. This doesn't just apply to what it can pull out of the pop culture bin each week, but also the various animation styles for each of the segments. However the real charm of Pop Team Epic is the sheer variety it has. Just another sign that there's a very obvious method to Pop Team Epic's supposed madness. Episode one is a particularly special case for the show, as the pairing of Masashi Ebara and Hōchū Ōtsuka was actually pitched in the manga years before the show became a reality. For example, episode three reunites Ryūsei Nakao and Norio Wakamoto who provided the voices of Freiza and Cell in Dragon Ball Z, while episode four features Yōko Hikasa and Satomi Satō (aka K-On!'s Mio and Ritsu). As well as providing a rather fun game of "guess the voice actor" each week, some of the pairings are truly inspired. One half will feature male voice actors, the other female - resulting in a total of 12 different voices for each of the girls across the whole season. This decision is slightly more than just a troll-worthy attempt to fill the running time though, as each version features slightly different variants on certain jokes/skits as well as pairing together a number of different veteran seiyuu to voice the girls. Which is just as well, because each episode actually only runs for 12 minutes and actually immediately repeat themselves to make up the full 20-minute time slot. Some sketches will definitely require multiple viewings to pick up on everything. The pair are an absolute joy whatever situation they're in, and there's definitely a pleasure to be taken away from these two seemingly innocent schoolgirls shouting, swearing, smoking and being about as uncouth as they could possibly be. The only real constant is their personalities - Pipimi is calm and stoic but also quietly sadistic, while Popuko loud and angry but also extremely loving of her sidekick. Even the girls themselves can go from seemingly average schoolgirls to ghostly apparitions or race-winning cyborgs the next. One minute the show could be offering a biting and somewhat apocalyptic criticism of the idol industry, and the next just messing around with the concept of the pair going to France and not getting along with the food. Pop Team Epic has earned its reputation as "the shitpost anime" for a reason - it takes no qualms launching into a barrage of skits that range from the mundane to the extremely bizarre, throwing joke after joke out there in an attempt to see what sticks. There's no structure, no narrative and very rarely any internal logic to what the hell is going on. While other anime based on four-panel manga strips may weave their episodes into a coherent story, that certainly isn't the case here. The first thing you need to do if you want to have a good time with Pop Team Epic is to throw all expectation out of the window.
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