Not a current series but I’ve only just finished watching it (subs by Oyasumi up to 18 and by gg up to 24 out of 26 episodes so far). Decided for an episode by episode posting format because there are quite a few disparate elements within it that I enjoyed. Primary character referents include Himeko’s one-sided affection for Rebecca Miyamoto (Becky), the oneesama-ness of Rei Tachibana, Suzune Shiratori x Otome Akiyama. A recurring in this series that got me hooked was also how cruel the cast could be to each other; primary victims being Becky, Mesousa and Kurumi Momose.
Miyako’s character design is dominated by her enormous and highly reflective forehead which other classmates use a mirror or which she uses a weapon in various episodes. Her personality is that of a mugger toad (Singlish trs. study bug) and is pretty unlikeable, quite surprising, given that her seiyuu is Yui Horie.
Kurumi has no distinguishing chara-design features - she often breaks the fourth wall, bemoaning her fate as a plain, mediocre character though I think she’s plenty attractive. I also enjoy how her seiyuu, Kana Ueda, conveys her odd mix of personal pride and low self-esteem - both of which are characteristics of Yumi in MariMite whom she also voices. Late in the series, she also displays a very specific lesbian tendency - a strong attraction to bokukkos (tomboyish girls who use the “boku” pronoun) but only for one episode.
Rei is second most formidable girl in the group - my personal favourite in this series. Chara-design foci are her glasses and the sexiest figure of the group. Has a strong bossy streak and in the first episode, we already see her asserting her tyranny over Miyako, Jijii-sensei and Becky. Her seiyuu Satsuki Yukino does a very good “threatening” voice - not surprisingly as she voices the Sonozaki twins in Higurashi and Kaname in FMP! On the positive side, she’s probably the most important person in the group when it comes to Becky’s personal growth - she is often cruel to be kind, not allowing Becky to use her cuteness or position to get her own way and strenuously exerts discipline over her bratty teacher. But this is also nicely extended to and balanced by a sadistic streak whereby she sometimes gratituously bullies others simply because she can and because she enjoys it. What a gal!
Good girl with a big ribbon. That is all I have to say.
Himeko is the class idiot, more along the lines of Tomo (but much less irritating) than Osaka. I found it particularly interesting how her seiyuu, Fumiko Orikasa, also voiced Miu Matsuoka in Ichigo Mashimaro. In an inversion, Himeko sortof crushes on the cute, younger Becky while Miu has a clear yuri crush on older Nobue.
The class representative. Imagine a non-useless Osaka with super human powers.
Rebecca Miyamoto (Becky). 11 year old genius who has transferred to school. Unlike Chiyo, this one is the teacher. (Unlike Excel Saga?) Becky is a brat and Chiwa Saito does an excellent job of conveying her youth and brattiness. The linchpin that holds the group together.
BTW I’ve read the random comment about how it doesn’t make sense that Becky has the surname “Miyamoto” as her father is American and her mother is Japanese. I’m not entirely sure what Francis Fukuyama or Eric Shinseki or a whole lot of other Japanese Americans would say about that. Then again, Becky is blonde so one of her parents is probably Caucasian and is described as a “half” so I’m guessing that her (Caucasian American?) father is a muko i.e. a son-in-law who marries into the wife’s family and takes her family’s surname. Or that the Japanese mom is a naturalised blonde Westerner like Marutei Tsurunen. Or that I am taking all of this too seriously - it’s only an animated high school comedy FGS! LOL
Mesousa. Pathetic. Normally I hate pathetic characters but this fingerless rabbit is just great as no one pities him, everyone treats him like shyte and he mostly accepts his lot in life. LOL I particularly enjoy how he’s constantly terrorised by the cat god in the vending machine. Taiyon desu nyaaa~~
Rei in action. We see her take on Becky for her inappropriate behaviour, playing nice to soothe her teacher out of her adorable “hau hau” mode and then playing a devastating prank on Becky as a “token of her affection” - an appropriate retort by Miayko: “You’re a demon.”
Basically an introductory episode around the theme of the arrival of the new teacher and her terrible first day. Initially I was rather put off by the reptuation of this series as one for otaku - most of the references are really really old skool (making me feel dumb and unelite), there are lots of disparate elements (like the aliens, the film sets, the giant robots etc.) and some of the parody felt heavyhanded (e.g. the mannequins for the rest of the class) but by ep 2 I was pretty much hooked on the character interaction and development.
It may come as a surprise, but Kurumi is my favourite, out of the main cast. To put it one way…
When everybody else is abnormal, being the normal one makes you the freak. :P I find her plain jane character ironically unique in the mad, mad world that is “Pani Poni Dash!”.
The aliens crack me up too, especially the sarcastic second-in-command. Due to this, Ep16 and Ep18 are my favourite so far. Speaking of episodes, I have only watched up to Ep18 because I am following Oyasumi. Is gg good in their reference-pointing?
Cheers.
I find Kurumi interesting because she raises conflicting reactions in me - I feel sorry for her but I can’t help laughing at her when she’s doing the rararu.
It’s quite appropriate that the sarcastic alien 2IC is voiced by the same voice actor as Kyon. I think Tomokazu Sugita has really cornered the market for the sarcastic straight man role.
gg puts most of the background references (esp on the blackboard) into an accompanying PDF file (complete with screenshots and links). I think this is a good approach as it avoids crowding the screen with subs but there are the odd misses when the references might have enhanced the visual gag. Nonetheless I really appreciated the efforts of both groups when watching the last two eps raw - while I could still get the gist, my standard of Japanese language and otakudom isn’t good enough to enjoy the full richness which the subs convey so well. Another good example of fansubs that will outshine the official subs - if PPD! is ever licensed.
Skane: Kurumi being your favourite isn’t so surprising (for what it’s worth, she’s also my favourite of them). In one of the popularity polls that the Japanese love to run, Kurumi was ranked second favourite. I’d like to use this as a decent source, but I find myself disagreeing with it far too much otherwise, as (among other things) the eternally pointless Rokugou chimed in at number one.
From what I’ve heard, gg are supposedly on par if not better than Oyasumi, but as an Oyasumi follower from the start I’ve yet to have the guts to jump ships myself (as pointless as such loyalty actually is).
But yes, much love for Kurumi.
OH YES SOMEONE IS BLOGGING PANI PONI.
This is easily my third favourite comedy anime, after Azumanga and Fumoffu. Becky is just too cute. My favourite character is actually Maho, but only because she makes me laugh the most. After that probably Miyako… I don’t know why but I think she’s awesome. Ichijo is plain out weird…
Personally I think Oyasumi’s subs are much better than gg’s. I want the last two episodes! There hasn’t been a new PPD! release for 2 months now… =(
That’s all on Ichijo?!
I don’t see the parallel between her and Osaka. Osaka’s missing a hemisphere (and we love here for it). Ichijo’s just zen.
Lupus, glad to hear from a fellow PPD! fan. I didn’t like Miyako very much but she’s pretty cool and awesome in Ep 24 which is an Edo period piece, fear her deadly forehead!
waista, Ichijou is a bit like a deus ex machina to me so while she’s entertaining to watch, I’m more interested in blogging about other characters as noted in my first para. And yes, the Osaka comparison doesn’t work at all levels as Ichijou is clearly way smarter than Ayumu Kasuga but I think both play the role of the highly unconventional person that often renders the rest of the cast speechless.