PUNI PUNI POEMI
Unclean... So unclean...
Review by: Craig “Psychologically Damaged” Norris
Length: 2 episode OAV
Genre: Comedy, satire, ecchi
Watched: All, subbed
Try to imagine what would happen if you took all the humor of Excel Saga, Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai, Dragon Half, and FLCL, and crammed it into one hour. Well, the good new is you don’t have to imagine; that’s exactly what the pace is like for Puni Puni Poemi. However, the bad news is that the volume of humor can’t compensate for the rudeness and offensiveness of this anime. Methinks Shinichi Watanabe’s afro is finally squishing his brain.
Plot synopsis: Billed as a spinoff of Excel Saga, this OAV takes place after Nabeshin marries Kumi Kumi (you remember, the girl from the mountains who tried to give Nabeshin soup). Their love child is ten year-old Poemi, who aspires to be a voice actress, despite being stupid and having a horrible voice. However, her dreams are derailed when her parents are slain by aliens. Luckily for Poemi, she obtains a magical talking dead fish with which she can transform into the magical girl Puni Puni Poemi. With the help of the Aasu sisters, Poemi must... Ah, who cares? This anime is too crazy to get wrapped up in the plot.
Artwork: The animation is pretty much the same quality as Excel Saga, which was above average for a purely comedic anime. The main character designs are a bit more grounded in sensibility that some of the characters found in its parent series (with the exception of Shii Aase, who rivals the dimensions of Mii from Jungle de Ikou). However, there are several deviations from this rule amongst the secondary characters, usually in the form of aliens. I won’t attempt to explain them here; they really must be seen to be believed.
Music: The music is pretty much the same eclectic style as Excel Saga. In fact, some of the tracks are recycled. The opening theme is a frantically belted ballad from Poemi’s voice actress, the linguistically nimble Yumiko Kobayashi, where she just sings about random stuff. In a way, it sets the pace for the rest of the anime. Other than setting the table for the unabashed craziness, the soundtrack doesn’t do anything that special.
Characters: In keeping with the highly successful formula of Excel Saga, Shinichi Watanabe decided not to make the characters terribly deep, instead focusing the bulk of his attention on the laugh quotient. Not a bad idea, as there’s already too much crammed into this anime to worry about stuff like character development. Poemi is like a concentrated version of Excel, in both size and speed. In a breaching of the fourth wall, she often refers to herself as Kobayashi (her voice actress’s name) and aspires to be a voice actress herself. She already has a fan in her best friend Futaba, whose infatuation with Poemi has evolved into full-blown lesbian desires. Futaba and the other Aasu sisters are largely unremarkable on their own, but when placed together the dynamic between them creates some very snappy dialog, along with some rather uncomfortable ecchi moments. Each Aasu sister has a special (albeit useless) ability that they use to defend the earth, with little success in the case of the marauding aliens. Then, of course, there is the almighty Nabeshin, who is still the same unflappable all-knowing and all-doing king of anime (despite being thoroughly bitch-slapped within the first ten minutes). He alone should be reason enough to watch any anime. The characters overall are highly entertaining, albeit simple, and work well with the genre and breakneck speed with which it is presented.
Plot: The plot about aliens invading is really just a setup for a bunch of parodies and gags, which are the real focal point of this anime. However, where Excel Saga relied on clever and on-the-ball satire, Puni Puni Poemi too often degenerates into cheap (and sometimes highly offensive) physical and sexual humor. To be honest, it’s probably the most sexually offensive anime this side of Eiken, and that is not a good thing. The humor ranges from spastic and random to making me feel like I need to shower immediately, so expect to laugh and possibly throw up in rapid alternating succession.
CHICKS!: As sexually charged as this OAV is, the chicks are nothing to get really excited about. The older Aasu sisters are fairly decent, depending on one’s taste in fetishes. For example, one of them works at an S&M parlor, and another has boobs so huge they join Pluto in the great “what constitutes a planet” debate. Unfortunately, since the main characters are ten year-old girls, the majority of the sexual situations seem ill-placed, and really underscore the offensiveness of the OAV.
Overall: If the last episode of Excel Saga pushed the boundaries of decency, then this anime bludgeoned them, urinated on them, and then raped their mothers while they watched and cried. If you are entertained by tasteless sexual humor involving minors, this anime is a must-watch. Also, seek help. The rest of us may be able to see past all that to the several instances of clever comedy, but it is awfully difficult to do so.
In a Nutshell
+ Nabeshin. Need I say more?
+ Some really zany humor
- Some really raunchy humor
- Can’t measure up to Excel Saga
Rating: 6/10
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