Genre: Comedy
Parental Guidance Recommended
2001 J.C. Staff / Victor Entertainment. Shinichi Watanabe (director).
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Puni Puni Poemi is a 2-episode OAV spinoff series from Excel Saga's director Watanabe Shinichi. It features Nabeshin (Watanabe's anime alter ego) and Kumi Kumi from ES getting married and having a daughter named Poemi. Poemi, meanwhile, dreams of becoming a voice actress and keeps calling herself Kobayashi (which is the name of her voice actress, go figure). For some reason, Poemi becomes a magical girl with her talking fish advisor. She pines after a guy in school who is secretly an alien prince and is stalked by her best friend who, shall we say, harbors "special feelings" for her. Add to this mix a giant robot (that looks like it just woke up) attacking, a team of Earth protectors, the Asahi sisters, with completely useless super powers, social commentary on otaku culture, and dialogue spoken at breakneck speeds and you've got a really weird anime.
(2 episodes)
Excel Saga's (Crazy, Beautiful) Little Sister... >>> by MarkPoa Puni Puni Poemi is a 2-episode OAV spinoff series from Excel Saga's director Watanabe Shinichi. It features Nabeshin (Watanabe's anime alter ego) and Kumi Kumi from ES getting married and having a daughter named Poemi. Poemi, meanwhile, dreams of becoming a voice actress and keeps calling herself Kobayashi (which is the name of her voice actress, go figure). For some reason, Poemi becomes a magical girl with her talking fish advisor. She pines after a guy in school who is secretly an alien prince and is stalked by her best friend who, shall we say, harbors "special feelings" for her. Add to this mix a giant robot (that looks like it just woke up) attacking, a team of Earth protectors, the Asahi sisters, with completely useless super powers, social commentary on otaku culture, and dialogue spoken at breakneck speeds and you've got a really weird anime.
With its OAV budget, the character designs benefit by getting a smooth glossy look. The Asahi sisters, in particular, look like a set of bishoujo characters in a hentai computer game. There's one for every fetish type. I'd say the character designs were topnotch if it weren't for two particular characters. Let me put it in three words: low-hanging testicle aliens. Ewwww...
Puni Puni Poemi , like its predecessor Excel Saga, features fast and furious humor chock-full of parodies of popular anime. Given its OAV nature, the show also features jokes that are more risque and gross... so you might want to keep kids away from this one, unless you want to explain to them why two girls who look like they're the same age as the characters in Card Captor Sakura are rolling around a futon buck-naked.
However, there were two things where Puni Puni Poemi went wrong: sounds and length.
The opening sequence is chockful of nonsense, which fits the mood of the series, I guess. However, people who have seen Excel Saga might experience a sense of deja vu at the familiar BGM and sound effects during the show. Not that I'm complaining, but couldn't the producers get another soundtrack?
Okay, so I am complaining. The reuse of BGM and sound effects from Excel Saga is a black mark for this anime. With the sleek animation, I'd have expected some effort in the sounds department.
On the bright side, you're not going to be tempted to buy a soundtrack album if you've already got the Excel Saga soundtrack.
With only two OAV episodes, the shortness of the series does not really give you enough time to appreciate the characters and their idiosyncrasies. You couldn't really get into the character's quirks as much as you'd want, unlike when you watch relatively longer series like Excel Saga and Ranma 1/2. The jokes therefore tend to be random unexpected surprises, and not built up naturally from the characters. You also don't get as attached to the supporting characters (where most jokes originate from, anyway) as much as you would, unlike in longer series where they get enough airtime (Pedro and Nabeshin, anyone?).
With its more outrageous, risque, and out-of-the-corner-blindsiding-you unexpected jokes and weird storyline, Puni Puni Poemi is still worth a look-and-see as a fast-paced action comedy parody. I'd still prefer Excel Saga over this, though.
And remember, if you're an alien visiting earth, don't show your...er, balls to earthlings. We hate that. Ewwww...
Individual Rating: Art/Animation 8; Story 7; Characters 7; Sounds 6
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