Pop Team Epic [First Impressions/Episode 1 and 2 Review]

Released earlier on in this season, Pop Team Epic is the animated adaptation of the 4 panel comic strip written by Bkub Okawa. You've seen these characters everywhere online getting into crazy hi jinks and funny situations in their comic strip but to be honest, unless you are a huge fan of the comic series it might be wise to either skim this one over or completely skip over it.

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Popuko, left and Pipimi Right

Show Structure:

One of the few things I am grateful about when it comes to this show is that the runtime is only 12 minutes. Initially, I thought the runtime of the show was a full 23 minutes but it turns out there is two versions of the show, one with male voice actors and one with female voice actors on the lead roles (bonus points for that!) Originally I was shocked to see that the runtime on my streaming site was 23 minutes, as you can't fill out twelve full length episodes worth of content from just a 4-panel comic strip. The amount of content would be a barrage for viewers and it would turn them away from the show. This is one of the problems with the show though, similar to American shows like Robot Chicken, it relies on witty pop culture reference and vulgar slapstick comedy to push a joke. Some of these sketches are great hits, and others fall flat.

The magical content disappearing act!

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Animation:

Surprisingly, the attention to detail that the studio puts into this show is incredible. The opening sequence in the second episode (and I hope onward) is incredibly well animated with a great song to go along with it. I'm a little disappointed that this is one of the better opening sequences for anime of 2018, but the song is super catchy and the the animation is super clean.

Pop Team Epic Opening

Additionally the content is accurate entirely to it's source, while doing multiple experimental art syles in the process keeping the animation interesting. It's hit or miss, as sometimes it comes off extremely crude and unwatchable on purpose, and other times it is super accurate to the point where the viewfinder on the camera in one of the scenes captures all the detail on the screen.

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General Thoughts:

For now, on an entertainment purpose the show gets the job done. It's entertaining enough for me to keep watching the content as I do enjoy the comic, and I enjoy the few fake-out executions that Okawa is known for in some of his other works. The comedy can get a bit repetitive at times, but I found enough justification to keep watching just to see how much more extreme it can get compared to the comics. I'll be posting another update to this once I'm a little further in the show to get a better opinion, but for now the show sits at a 5/10 for me. It's entertaining enough to keep me busy for ten minutes, but not enough to have me go and call home specifically to tell others watch it.