Anime Reviews (2010-2019): Pop Team Epic – Season 1 (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Anime on Blu-ray review)

“Pop Team Epic” is an anime series that should appeal to those who like short, crazy, absurd storylines and want to try something different.  While the anime adaptation is not as vulgar as its manga counterpart, there is still enough craziness to keep Poptepipic fans entertained!

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TITLE: Pop Team Epic – Season 1

ANIME RELEASE DATE IN JAPAN: 2018

DURATION: Episodes 1-12 (300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 4×3, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Funimation

RATED: TV MA

Release Date: October 2, 2018

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Originally Created by Bkub Okawa

Directed by Aoi Umeki, Jun Aoki

Series Composition: Jun Aoki

Music by Gin

Producer: Kotaro Sudo

Conceptual Design: Aoi Umeki

Anime Production: Kamikaze Douga

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Crude, rude, and a little…cute? Get ready for the larger-than-life attitude of Popuko and Pipimi, the small and tall stars of Pop Team Epic. Based off the popular four-panel webcomic comes a bizarre comedy filled with plenty of absurdity!

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In Japan, s “Pop Team Epic” is a web comic and digital manga series which caught the attention of manga fans since August 2014.

The manga follows the misadventures of two 14-year-old girls, Popuko and Pipimi and both are involved in wild and crazy situations.

The anime series adaptation of “Pop Team Epic” was broadcast in January through March 2018.  And now the series will be released on Blu-ray/DVD courtesy of Funimation.

I happen to discover “Pop Team Epic” prior to the Japanese broadcast, as there were numerous promotions for the anime series at the Atre Building in Akihabara.

I read the manga prior to watching the anime series and for one and with the manga, some may have seen it vulgar but that was part of what people loved about the manga series was the use of vulgarity but also the references to anime, video games, Japanese celebrities, technology and unusual situations.

I was curious to see how the anime series would adapt this series and for the most part, the staff of the anime adaptation did a good job in bringing the world of “Pop Team Epic” in animated form, but also incorporating a lot more that’s not in the manga series, or did things you wouldn’t expect.

For example, the anime series tends to take certain anime situations and make you think you are watching some other anime series, until you see the two characters show up out of nowhere.

Another thing that was surprising is to see how many voice talent the Japanese would use for Popuko and Pipimi which changes often (male to female) and the English dub also did the same by utilizing many different voice talent to voice the two characters.

If there is one primary difference, the manga is more vulgar and not to say the anime series adaptation doesn’t show any rudeness or violence, because it does.  But the level of intensity of the vulgarness, is tempered down a bit.

I was curious because with the manga, I tend to get burned out with four-panel manga, so I tend to do things at my own pace and not read too much at one go.  The anime adaptation manages to fit many different segments with a minute or a few minutes. So, you get a lot of short segments in one episode alone.

With the anime series, I felt certain segments in each episode were better than others.

In some ways, I see the manga and anime adaptation as two different things that I enjoy.  For one, I felt the manga was much easier for me to take in and enjoy (with that being said, I am a person who tends to read the manga before watching the anime adaptation).

While the anime adaptation is able to incorporate more and put their own spin towards the anime series and utilize a lot of experimentation, may it be with voices, to using CG and even felt version of the characters, and more.   But I liked how there were situations not featured in the manga series such as the anime-style of storylines.  And the Japanese and the English dub voice talent did a great job with the various versions of Popuko and Pipimi.

One thing that I was concerned is that with anime series that allow a bit of freedom, especially for comedy’s sake, I have seen Funimation go crazy and use a lot of pop culture references of that time period, which some people may not catch onto if you watch the anime several years later (a big example of this is “Crayon Shin Chan”).

As for the animation, Kamikaze Douga was respectful to the original style of Bkub Okawa’s work. Lossless audio for both soundtracks are also well-done, with the English dub having an edge in terms of audio thanks to its 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack as opposed to the Japanese 2.0 DTS-HD MA soundtrack.

As for special features, you get two unaired scenes, two unaired felt animation clips plus the usual textless opening and ending songs.  And for extras, you also get a Funimation Digital Code.

Overall, “Pop Team Epic” is an anime series that should appeal to those who like short, crazy, absurd storylines and want to try something different.  While the anime adaptation is not as vulgar as its manga counterpart, there is still enough craziness to keep Poptepipic fans entertained!

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