Pop Team Epic S2

Looks like it is too epic for a certain anime just to have only a single season and stay that way. That’s right. Like as though we need more garbage nonsense in our life (yes we do in this case!), herald Pop Team Epic S2 AKA Poputepipikku S2 for those who have been waiting for this legend to push out another season to cement itself of being the most legendary of the legendary. Uh huh. We must not take life too seriously because sometimes real life can be a pain despite being a big joke and nonsense. That is why this series is a timely reminder to put your brains and logic at the doorstep and enjoy the nonsense and laugh through all the absurdity. Blow away all the blues and depression, escape from the real world without having to use drugs! People, this is your answer, so what are you waiting for?!

Episode 1
* Don’t be fooled with this live action beginning with an equally dramatic-like sentai opener. So who the f*ck wants to mess with Shouta Aoi? Well… It’s his own evil self!
* Popuko tries to show off to Pipimi how she can slide her tooth. Well, Pipimi can do it! In that case, Popuko shows off she can warp her tooth from top to bottom. Hate to break it to you but Pipimi can also do it! Not to mention this hair whirl thingy! Popuko feels so sad that she is not needed anymore but Pipimi stomps her feet and tells her to find something that she can only do. And yes, the start of a musical! With rainbows! And finally what can Popuko do that others can’t? Wink with both eyes! Yay! She did it!
* The duo have a press conference to thank people for this second season. And what do they have to say? Well, Popuko showing her gratefulness by calling all of us sh*t!
* A radio show asking how can a sh*tty show like this get a sequel. Well, that’s because the characters here are so cute that you should just die!
* Pop Team Epic B-side: How do you like our duo looking like hot cool handsome guys?!
* Popuko asking for some new ideas and all the enthusiastic bunnies have got it. When one makes a positive suggestion, she shoots him in the head! Any others? Oh sh*t…

Episode 2
* A woman sends her dog to the vet for a trim. Only, Popuko shaves everything off! Oops. When the owner returns, what is Popuko’s reply? Her dog is dead!
* Popuko wants Pipimi to pat her head harder. She does that until her head explodes! Then Pipimi tries to feed Popuko but looks like she deliberately misses by hitting her lips and gums.
* Some dude wants to debate Popuko. However she finds this method barbaric and wants to settle it peacefully via violence! With this bat with nails! He calls her out with this oxymoron but she beats him up anyway. Settled, I take it.
* A meteor is going to crash! And Pipimi is going to kick it away with her kick?! Oh yeah. Maybe this perfect angle will do the trick! Only, the meteor smashes into her face! But yeah, the angle was perfect…
* The duo try to market this mosquito repellent. The boss thinks this crap won’t sell. When they put the product in front of him, he suddenly squirms and dies! Yup, a mosquito in disguise!
* Some epic space battle between the mecha bots. Not sure who Pipimi is fighting against and it sounds like some recording industry thingy. She loses as she falls back into the atmosphere, remembering a promise she made with Popuko if she ever makes it back alive, they should get obari. WTF is obari?! Baddie thinks he has won and will do more subcontracting but that is when Pipimi combines with Popuko into an ultimate mecha to fight back. Biggus McHugeGuy Combination for the Great Bari Bari Team Epic! They suck his profits and sh*tty budget energy into their Sh*tty Manga Drive so as to blast him away with their Great Sh*t Cannon and Full Burst! BOOM! Once again, world peace is preserved thanks to Pop Team Epic!

Episode 3
* Wow. Pop Team Epic being an educational programme?! We see the duo at a farm going to a milk a cow for milk so they can make delicious cake with it. So where to milk come from? That’s right, kids. From a cow. The farmer cheekily says if they want to milk his milk. So they tie him up and prepare to saw off his balls! Now we return to the milking. Popuko finds it so hard that she gives up! F*ck this sh*t! The lesson is not to put your expectations on others! So let’s all apologize to a sulking Popuko, okay? Well, she’s not responding. Time to bring out the bag. What do we give her? Money! And just like that she is back to normal! They use the money to buy meat and beer. As they enjoy their BBQ, the farmer returns, asking if they like to try his wiener! Back to the sawmill!
* The duo going to torture somebody in the park. A mother tells them off there are kids here! Okay, so how do we turn this kid friendly? Well, now they’re torturing a teddy bear instead!
* WTF this Nanachi Ranking? They let this rabbit girl eat some sushi as we see her orgasm from its taste! If this is how she reacts for the fifth placed food, imagine how she will for those ranked above!
* Popuko tries to surprise Pipimi in her sleep. But as she opens the door, Pipimi is already awake. And waiting!
* Popuko running so cutely like as though she is glitching like a computer game. And then she glitches like all those typical and glitches in modern video games! We’re falling through the texture!

Episode 4
* A bored Popuko takes a train to Kyoto. When she asks permission from the person sitting behind her (Pipimi) if she could lower her seat, she refuses. Considering this a challenge, hence initiating a train battle! Everybody to your stations! We see Popuko and Pipimi take on each other in the coach like throwing hand creams at each other. Finally both seem down for the count. But Popuko stands up and is declared the winner. Pipimi hands her an ashtray as she tells about those days where such indicated economic growth in Japan. Yeah, everybody just fought over it. That’s how the train battle started. Popuko vows to train to become the best train battler in Japan but too bad there won’t be a continuation!
* Popuko throws away stuffs that she doesn’t want or broken into the bin. So what about this dark matter thingy? Throw it away too! The whole world explodes!
* Pipimi wonders if Popuko can look both left and right at the same time. Popuko uses all her powers to split herself open as a smaller version of herself pops out!
* Fancy our girls writing haiku? Well, if only Popuko doesn’t write her lines as STFU!
* Popuko is accused for being a serial killer and is interrogated by Pipimi. She is adamant to accuse her all the way. Then both of them turn the tables on the inspector and accuse him endlessly! And that’s the end of the serial murder case.

Episode 5
* English lesson time! Pipimi will say an English word as Popuko repeats after her. Chaos reigning upon us. The evil awakens. The evil awakens… Oh sh*t… Soon, this turns into some English song with lyrics as we see Pipimi the hero going on a journey in this epic fantasy tale to slay the dragon! All hail the Shining Shoulder!
* Popuko is looking weird. She claims her mind to body ratio is 9,999:1. Pipimi injects her with a serum that turns her super buff! Now her ratio is 9,999:9,999! It’s over 9,000!
* Popuko invites the kids to try her cooking. When they rush towards her, she flings the fillings of her spoon at them! Is this a shoot ‘em up game?!
* Popuko trying to warn that Earth is in danger but Pipimi doesn’t believe. Well, everyone is free to believe what they wish. Then this alien says he doesn’t believe it either!
* In this game, Popuko breaks down everything! Zero points for artistry. However she soon runs away as she can’t eat this cute Pipimi food. 9,999,999 artistry points!
* Pop Team Epic B-side segment is going to be cancelled?! Well, Popuko just threw a bomb at the HQ!

Episode 6
* Popuko interviewing Earth on her show. Then she realizes, if this is Earth, then what are they standing on! Pipimi claims everything is a sham!
* Fancy a visual novel dating game! Welcome to Pop Memories To You! We see the main protagonist in a typical dating sim as he meets and interacts with various Popuko and Pipimi characters. Yeah, all in their cute and hot anime version. Until he meets the cartoonish duo, they don’t like who he is and punches him in the face! Game over! Gamer dude mad at this sh*t game! In the later half, a similar version but the girls now switched to hot handsome guys! However the game suddenly ends because it is incomplete and gamer girl is mad at this sh*tty release!
* Popuko tries to do auto tracking but keeps running into obstacles no matter how small. Yeah, dumb AI. Pipimi keeps falling into a chasm but respawns. And when she doesn’t, this worries Popuko. She gets a jump scare when she pops up behind her, causing her to fall into the chasm. Then both respawn at the same point. Now they’re combined! Horror or error?
* Popuko is at the cinema. The girl next to her keep answering her phone. She has had it and sprays black paint all over her. And all over the cinema too!
* Pipimi shows Popuko this huge chunk of brown sugar. Popuko salivates and goes into orgasm mode that she is glitching!

Episode 7
Remember that superbly epic sketchbook cut-out story?! Yes! Hellshake Yano is back! OMFG! This time they have even surpass themselves with even much more cooler and creative storytelling! This is the most epic thing I have seen in this entire series! They even go so far as to do this thingy for the opening and ending credits! How hats off to them and a million rounds of standing ovation and applauses for this perfection! The story? This rocker guy coming out of retirement to enter some guitar competition. His pick broke so he has to go find some legendary pick. He does so all in the nick of time and wins the whole damn thing! Yeah! Even if I don’t really understand what is going on, the presentation is so damn f*cking awesome and creative! And to think they rerun this segment again, I think they’re just replaying the same thing. Because if they actually did it twice, oh man, I have nothing but absolute respect for these people.

Episode 8
* Looks like this series is also on the battle royale bandwagon. Yeah, we’re playing Fortnite, baby! Everybody is dropped on the island. But of course, the intense rivalry is between Popuko and Pipimi. They own everybody else while trying to outdo the other. In the final stages, they suddenly realize they are playing with a cheater. They have to team up to beat him or he wins. Pipimi sacrifices herself and this leaves Popuko mad. She is gunning for revenge but its’ a bridge too far. Just when she thought is going to get kill and telling off the cheater that he will never truly win the game and that he not only cheated the game but himself, suddenly he freezes. What gives? And just like that Popuko wins! How? Because Pipimi in real life tracked down this cheater and shoots him in the head! People, do not ever cheat!
* Popuko and Pipimi decorate Earth in such a cute way that the aliens find it so ugly that they don’t want to invade it anymore!
* Popuko is now a harp as she begs Pipimi to play her. However Pipimi says she prefers to play with the real Popuko. Sad Popuko realizes her heart is being played.
* Because Popuko wants to hear some hot guy doing ASMR, Pipimi kidnaps one and makes him do it. In the end, a satisfied Popuko orders him to be killed!
* When Popuko is about to give grandma Pipimi a shoulder massage, she glitches out. Pipimi tells us youngsters don’t know how such happens in old video games. To solve it, she blows into the cartridge. Yeah, more glitches.

Episode 9
* Cthuo enters high school and becomes a delinquent with Popuko and Pipimi. Yeah, high school days never been so fun. One day, this gangster dude approaches Cthuo and tells him to bring Popuko and Pipimi to the warehouse so his gang could teach them a lesson. Cthuo won’t sell out his friends but the dude threatens his mom. At school, Cthuo is in a dilemma to tell this to them or not. Later in the day, Cthuo shows up at the warehouse alone. He couldn’t sell his buddies out. Baddie has his bald goon clones beat him up. Soon, Popuko and Pipimi arrive. They know what is happening due to Cthuo acting strangely. Well, you call for room service? It’s time for payback. Yeah, see their ripped arms as they easily rip apart those goons. Including their clothes! Boss tries to escape but too late. He gets a taste of his own medicine! The trio walking home happy with their friendship still intact.
* Kids want their father to take them somewhere. Dad doesn’t have a clue so herald Popuko and Pipimi to introduce and advertise this Brazilian theme park for them to have fun. Washuzan Highlands! Should be better than Disney theme park…
* Popuko and Pipimi see an alien UFO. They are excited it is going to draw a mysterious crop circle. But when done, it looks like sh*t! They get so disappointed and scold the alien for underestimating street art! Poor alien, his feelings got hurt!

Episode 10
* So how much sugar was used for this cake?! THIS MUCH! Yeah, so small that even the molecules might look bigger!
* Popuko shakes hands with an otter but it crushes her hand! Then as she tries to lure a mouse out of its hole, the mouse pops out and shoots her head with a gun!
* A judge telling Popuko how to move. Left! Right! Back! Forward! Box step! Box step! Court adjourned!
* In some African reserve park, because of the lack of carnivores, herbivores are now flourishing. Hence the answer is to introduce these wild dogs to remind these herbivores the fear of being preyed upon. All this turns out to be some pop quiz show in which Popuko the contestant is just simply answering. Of course she also says humans are the most selfish because they destroy the things that they want to preserve now. Hence our presence is a hindrance. This makes her win the quiz show.
* A mother and son witness a meteor going to crash and plunge Earth back into the Ice Age. MIBs Popuko and Pipimi initiate those park pigeons that turn into some cannon to blast away the meteor! Yes, people. Those pigeons protected the parks where children played!
* Pipimi giving a hell load of refills to Popuko. Yeah, a refilling party. Her response? Can she have another? Why, of course! Then she forces another to have a refill…
* We’re going on some grand RPG fantasy adventure. But the duo end up playing mahjong with some dark knight. Ron!

Episode 11
* Popuko is now a veteran and famous comedian. As she enters her room, she realizes she will be sharing it with her old partner, Pipimi. She is upset that despite being popular, she still didn’t get her own room. She fears them in the same room will be awkward. Popuko tries to strike up a conversation but Pipimi isn’t much of a talker. Then a bunch of amateur comedian newbies enter the room to introduce themselves. They look up to the duo and tell their brand of jokes. They leave their lunch for them before taking their leave. Popuko looks at the lunch and it looks familiar. Flashback 35 years ago when the duo were new comedians on the scene, the crowd booed them. Safe to say, they weren’t likeable. Pipimi shared her lunch as apologies for bringing Popuko into this strange world. But Popuko doesn’t mind since she was poorer before this. Now they need to come up with new jokes. And so this nostalgic taste brings back those memories for Popuko. Yeah, the taste never changed. Because of that, the duo are acting like old partners once more.
* Pipimi tickles Popuko to death!
* Popuko thought it was Pipimi but it is actually a missile! She throws it back to the ocean, literally killing Poseidon!
* Popuko is supposed to be some pro gamer but she is pulling off a lot of cool dance moves, sending Pipimi into ecstasy.
* Popuko tries to correct Pipimi’s irregular visual perspective. Too bad she messes about so much until she looks freaking weird!

Episode 12
* I bet we’ve forgotten about the Shouta Aoi live action segment, eh? It’s all here! In this alternate universe time bending thingy, Shouta saves this Japanese Princess Leia as she gives him a timepiece to save the world. Soon, agents sent by Nishikawa pop up to hunt them down. Shouta and one of the agents, Nakamura fight off the rest to protect her. However her time is up so she apologizes and explodes! She hopes they can save everyone. When Nakamura returns, he wants Nishikawa to explain what’s going on. Apparently there are so many timelines and he blames this woman who created them all. Shouta is also supposed to be some space-time criminal. Nakamura doesn’t think so because Shouta protected her. Nishikawa beats him up to tell him the facts how these criminals threaten their original timeline. The more timelines created, the weaker theirs become. Hence it is their mission to destroy other timelines. Nakamura doesn’t agree to this and escapes before Nishikawa’s men can capture him. Soon his agents go to other timelines to, uhm, disappear other people? Nakamura appears in some timeline and meets his other version. Then he sees Shouta sulking because of his failure to save the girl. If that’s the case, he’ll do it himself. A boy sees Shouta down so he lends him his timepiece. This has Shouta remember his purpose and regains his faith.
* Ad break time. Popuko and Pipimi singing a song on how to break your spinal cord! Pop ‘em out, people! Yeah, turns out to be a pop-up candy. Buy ‘em now!
* We return to our live action series. Nishikawa and his men have appeared in this time line as Nakamura tries to stop them but fails. Shouta returns in time to transform and help the fight. It is revealed that his dark version was friends with Nishikawa who was the one who gave him this scar when things soured. With Shouta winning, Nishikawa transforms to his dark self to power up. But advantage to Shouta because all different versions of Popuko and Pipimi pop up to aid! Pop Team Epic multiverse?! In this certified eco-friendly anime, we see how the stiff cut-out animations of these girls beat up the baddies. Finally Shouta defeats Nishikawa. The latter admits defeat and leaves it all to him to create a new timeline. The day is saved. So peaceful now that Shouta does an exercise song with all the versions of Popuko and Pipimi. Including a samurai version we have never seen before. Where did they come from? The future!

Poppin’ Party Epic PoPiPaPic!
Well guys, that’s a wrap. But who knows? They vaguely hint that there might be a possible sequel and when these people insinuate so, don’t brush it off lightly or take it with a pinch of salt because there is a high chance it might come true. Don’t know how long it will take, but hell yeah, we’ll be waiting for it when it comes out, right? After all, we need to see all the possible different versions of Popuko and Pipimi and to have them converge in one big crossover that would put Marvel and DC’s multiverse combined to shame! Yeah!

But seriously, although this season is still great and as funny as hell, something inside me personally feels that it lacks that oomph that would have made it even funnier or crazier than the first season. One main reason is because I have seen anime series that are so bad that are largely huge, this one if I should say fell to the wayside. When I have watched ‘epic’ shows like Pugyuru, Condom Battler Gorou and even the very recent Kenda Master Ken, all of which are very nonsensical animes to begin with. Pop Team Epic was already meant and supposed to be an anime that is crazy in everything. Hence there is that sort of expectation. Unlike those aforementioned animes, I did not have any initial expectations of what it would be and because it was so bad that it turned out so good, that is why I personally love them more compared to this season of Pop Team Epic. Don’t get me wrong. This season is still as outrageous but it is all within that expectations. In other words, no surprise element. After all, some skits are so fast (lasting only seconds, blink or you’ll miss) and I didn’t really get the joke. Probably it was gunning for the WTF reaction from viewers but mine is more like, “HUH?! What the f*ck going on?! Don’t get it…”. Yeah. That.

Which brings me to the next factor: Nothing actually ground breaking or different than the first. Yes, the jokes are still short and bizarre in its own way, making anyone who loved the first season feel a lot like home. But therein lies that problem. It feels like nothing different and more like an extension of the first season. Sure, sure. You want to tell me of not fixing things that are not broken and very true, this formula still works like a charm for this series. But like I’ve said, although it is still good, it does not give anything new that would make it fly even higher or even more epic that it already is. So based on this context, this is why I felt this sequel is good but nothing exceptional that would make me want to crave for more. After all, in every episode (save for the final), there would be one ‘main’ skit which lasts longer while the rest are short quick ones like as though they needed to fill in the remaining time left.

This means, this season’s format stays largely the same as the previous. The show itself is only like 12 minutes long. The second half repeats itself but with different voice actors. But this time I noticed that the first half is usually reserved for female seiyuus and then the second half, the male counterparts will do their lines. I have to admit that although I did not fully sit and watch the second half because I knew it would be much the same, I did see many of it but this time did not find anything that is different from the first half. You see, in last season the second half usually have slight changes in animation or visuals. However this time I have not picked up any except for that dating sim skit. All largely remain the same. Only difference is the voice acting in which the lines are just said in a slightly different manner instead of following blindly word for word. That’s all.

Though, I am not sure if the next episode preview is adlibbed or if they’re following a script. Some though, feel like they’re improvising their lines but some feel like they’re reading as per the script so I can’t really tell. But mostly here, the animations remain the same (WTF are you trying to save some budget?!) and mostly the seiyuus are giving their thoughts on whether they would buy BDs and Blu-rays of season 2! Mostly I hear they’re not! Yeah, we viewers better do so in hopes they’ll make a third season! Haters gonna hate! Speaking of seiyuus, like I’ve said, every episode has a different seiyuu casted but this time around I didn’t find anyone recognizable. Maybe I did, one or two (Shiori Izawa as Nanachi) but mostly I am not very bothered this time anyway.

Of course if I have to point out, the only skit which I am totally impressed and absorbed is the Hellshake Yano one. Oh man. That one is still the most impressive and creative of it all. It still blows my mind to think of all the effort and coordination they have put in. From its conception to even practising like hell until they get it perfect all in one single take! Even if the presentation feels low quality and subpar, but the creative and entertainment level is skyrocketing high! This one is truly amazing and perhaps the best of all the other nonsense of Popuko and Pipimi had to offer! True! It feels like it can never be replicated ever again! You can’t beat this one! This is really true dedication and extremely entertainment. Kudos and hats off to all those behind this once more.

Which reminds me, that Hoshiiro Girl Drop did not make any appearance this season! You do remember them, right?! Oh well, I guess not. I thought it was interesting if it had its own spinoff series but I suppose nothing must be more epic than Popuko and Pipimi themselves! Yeah, not even this Shouta Aoi live action version thingy. Uh huh. Sentai-like show feels pretty generic, cliché and low budget but I guess it’s the much needed variation for this season. So much for Hoshiiro Girl Drop and their second season they dropped hints of from the last season! Yeah. Already a forgotten and forgone conclusion. Sad. Oh well. Have more Popuko and Pipimi then.

What else can I say about this season? Oh well, maybe the art style and animation. In addition to your usual cartoonish versions of Popuko and Pipimi, some skits have totally different art styles and it is nice to see our characters in many different versions of themselves. So whether it is your classic 2D Japanese anime style or some surreal claymation or even CGI, it’s quite cool to see different art and animation styles all under one season. Variety is the spice of life, they say. Couldn’t agree more. This season’s opening themes are sung by Shouta Aoi. Psycho:logy is the main one but I didn’t really like this hard rock piece. Sounds very noisy. Yeah, the opening credits animation is creepy with Popuko and Pipimi cloning themselves like as though it is some glitch or something. Though, Endless Love, the opener for the sentai-like theme fares better with its typical sentai-like rock music. The ending theme is Nakayoshi Peace. Though, there are many versions of this song in addition to your ‘normal one’ by Popuko and Pipimi. From rock versions to children’s lullaby, if this song won’t drive you crazy, then the ending credits animation will. Because each one is different and showcases a different animation style. Yeah, what a way to make you not skip this part!

Overall, this sequel is the much needed relief and welcome after a certain pandemic virus wreak havoc across the world. Yes, the first season was released before all this pandemic crap back in 2018! The strange and uncanny gags might be a turn off to some since many are relying on crude and uncouth approach to tell their jokes. To some, it comes off more as WTF since those funny moments are so fast that it could be a hit or miss. Also, some feel that this series is just a show to showcase some voice acting chops of the veterans and scout potential new and unknown ones. Until the next crazy anime like this or one that is so bad that is so good, we’ll return to our mundane and crazier reality. Series like this reminds us that we all perhaps live for such crazy outburst moments. Life has to be that way. Or we’ll grow mad from all the plain and insipidness! Thank Pop Team Epic for showing us the path! We need a little madness in our lives. Maybe a bit more in today’s world…

Pop Team Epic

At first I was going to give this the skip. Although the main characters are drawn in a chibi way, but somehow I was slightly freaked out they look a bit scary despite knowing this series is going to be pure comedy and epic nonsense. But after reading the synopsis so many times to psycho myself as well as seeing the main characters giving a double mosaic middle finger to us, I knew I had to give Poputepipikku a try. If that sounds hard to pronounce, Pop Team Epic lives up to its name with all the parodies and references of pop culture. It has everything you want from and it is not even shy to tell us its main goal is to become a real anime. Wait. Isn’t this already a real anime? Maybe not real anime epic enough for their standards.

Episode 1
* Popuko pumps into Pipimi while on her way out. The latter lost her pendant. It is in the former’s hands. She asks to return it. She doesn’t want to. Instant obliteration!
* Totoro parody: Popuko trying to snatch an umbrella at the bus stop. Pipimi the Totoro warns her. They both get banged by the bus.
* Pokemon parody: Popuko is tasked to select her starter Pokemon pack but they are all with Pipimi’s face.
* Aliens invade Earth. Popuko shoots her own comrades so Pipimi the alien have to stop her from doing that.
* Badass Pipimi barges in and saves Popuko from some alien experiment. Shady characters let them have their way as they break the fourth wall as they say there is no way a 4-panel manga can become anime. Their goal is for supremacy and they might have gotten it via… Fidget spinners?!
* Some dumb hippo bugs the girls for food but they for feed him bugs.
* The girls are going to France and with Pipimi as a mine, she thinks French people like gestures (heck, they’re even speaking in French). So when she does those mime gestures, she got a double middle finger back.
* Popuko abuses Pipimi but the latter isn’t even mad. So Popuko tortures her like hell and turns her into some biscuit shipped for distribution and she’s still not mad at all.

Episode 2
* A party of RPG warriors summon twin dragons to defeat the demon king. Too bad they summon Popuko and Pipimi. Because of that, the duo have a field day teasing everyone like how this episode is only in sketches, getting paid to do some easy job and doing weird impersonations. We break even more fourth wall because the real seiyuus then complain to the producer how most of their lines are going to be adlib. Do a better job please! Yeah, they even break down, going crazy!
* The duo are at the zoo and it seems Pipimi is testing if the animals they have seen are new (wow so cute!) or a repeat (meh, seen it before). Popuko got tricked when a Tasmanian devil is not seen yet but yet she says it is so. Then they all laugh it off.
* A stop motion animation of the girls singing the theme song.
* Pipimi swiftly takes a picture of all their ridiculous fortunes.
* Popuko dies each time she sees a jagged speech balloon. Of course this shocks Pipimi and the cycle repeats all over again.

Episode 3
* Popuko is going to leave but her blanket won’t let her and covers her. Now she’s sleeping soundly.
* A documentary parody: Pipimi is the producer of an idol group, Tame Monkey in which Popuko is an uncouth member. Others try to tell her off but Pipimi makes them inferior and a slave to Popuko. Popuko gains more popularity although she is lazy. Pipimi tries to find suitable idol partners from humans to animals but none were suitable. She then decided the best was to mass clone her. It soon becomes a dystopia with Popuko clones taking over the world and subjugating all humans. When asked if this is the ideal world Pipimi envisioned, yes it is.
* Pipimi likes this new red car. Because red covers the blood she is going to spill! How about its hybrid specs? It means it is quiet. Oh, she can kill without making a sound!
* The girls are in France and are infatuated with baguettes. The bought a bunch home and Popuko loves them so much that she uses them as her ski.
* Popuko wants to hug that cute red panda. But the closer she gets, it turns into a big scary monster! But far away it looks so cute and docile…

Episode 4
* Popuko enters a bobsled race. Is that Dastardly?! Yeah, he blew himself up after trying to cheat. As for the other teams that zoom past Popuko, they crash into the crossing penguin and her family! Poor penguins. When a speeding sports car leaves Popuko in the dust, she combines with Pipimi the airplane! So fast that it leaves the sports car in the dust! Popuko finally wins gold but she is disqualified because she is a robot! Now that the secret is out, what do they do? Fly away!
* Popuko and Pipimi singing a spoof of Earth, Wind & Fire’s Let’s Groove. Not bad actually!
* An alien tries to act like a cat. Yeah… Is your hair standing on ends? However Popuko is not convinced and tells it to leave. Time to go back to your own spaceship.

Episode 5
* Iyo Sakuragi is a normal high school girl who is in love with the popular football club captain, Hojou. One day her dad, Pipimi marries another woman, Popuko. That woman is Hojou’s mom! To her dismay, now they are siblings. Yeah, she would have wanted to become his girlfriend. But they live a tormenting life every day since the parents do not work and gamble the money away. It is made worse when they always do stupid stuffs to interrupt their studies or sleep. Even worse, Iyo is bullied by Hojou’s fan girls every day. One day Iyo cannot take this anymore so she tries to stab them but Hojou gets in the way. He will not let her stain her hands for his sake. Although this reinforces their love, their parents continue to gamble away. 5 years later, they are happily married with twins. Popuko and Pipimi?! Why do I have a feeling the devils have been reincarnated?
* Popuko couldn’t stop hiccupping. Pipimi says she will die once she reaches 100. However she stops at 99 and self-destructs. This is worse than an atomic bomb!
* Popuko doing a lame impression of Mickey. Yeah, that Disney mouse. Does Mickey snort when he laughs?
* Popuko chases a cute bunny like forever on Route 66. Seems normal but made epic because the background music of Steppenwolf’s Born To Be Wild is being played! Easy Runner?

Episode 6
* Shogi parody. Popuko with Pipimi as her Heian spiritual guide, faces off with an opponent. However he finds her aura too intimidating and gives up! Holy cow! Popuko wins with the game not even started and no moves were made! Super record! Next is some cabaret slut queen and after 73 moves, Popuko wins while she disintegrates into sand. Next is a discount version of Tekken’s Heihachi. After Popuko makes the first move of her pawn, this machine dude explodes! Must be the way she put her pawn so epic, huh? Her final opponent is the real Pipimi who is supposed to be the pinnacle of shogi AI. The battle is so epic that it looks more like a fighting game than playing shogi. Did they both do hadoken in the end? Yeah, so epic that the entire place explodes. All that is left is Pipimi’s ribbon.
* Popuko is running late for school but her blanket, pillow, mat, curtain and alarm clock won’t let her go and let her sleep in. Ah, such warm comfy peace.
* Popuko thanks everyone and hopes all will subscribe to her channel. For those who don’t, she is going to get you…

Episode 7
* A guy is feeling depressed so Popuko recommends reading Pop Team Epic’s manga. He finds it boring and is instantly labelled a hater!
* I’m sure Hellshake Yano is about some rocker guy trying to rock the crowd with his electrifying guitar. However what makes it interesting is how the story is told using a combination of 2 sketchbooks, the cut-outs and other effects solely from just using the sketchbook. Even though I don’t really get the overall story, but the visuals of this art is sure a hell lot creative! Very creative! Kudos and hats off!
* Today’s cooking show brings you… A compressed manatee! I hope no manatees were hurt in the use of this cooking show.
* Popuko and Pipimi take a selfie of a beautiful French scenery. Turns out to be just a billboard poster.

Episode 8
* A bacon watches itself cook a bacon to eat… Oh sh*t…
* Popuko is a violent criminal in prison. But Pipimi sees an interesting side of her and has her sworn into her brotherhood of yakuza by licking the same lemon. Sour… Once Popuko is out on parole, the duo go on a notoriety spree of criminal activities. Popuko becomes Pipimi’s personal assassin by taking down all her rivals or those who stand in her way. Some YouTubing fiasco has Pipimi suspect her father is the one behind this and is bending his backs to the police instead of following their yakuza code. Pipimi quits the gang. But soon, Popuko gets assassinated. At her funeral (double middle finger as her death photo?), Pipimi brings a guy who seems to be criticising Popuko from the manga. Mad Popuko wakes up and pops some lead in his head. Pipimi blows the entire place up as the duo escape.
* The duo cut their bangs. Those who do not cut their bangs will not pass!
* Popuko shows Pipimi a music video she made. WTF is this trippy drug fuelled fantasy?! Pipimi immediately orders her to burn the tape!
* Popuko throws seeds to a tree for it to bloom. However it is just ordinary flour. The mad tree chases her. The interesting about this is how the art is done using sand art style.

Episode 9
* OMG. A short story decently narrated in decent English! (Though, the second half is in Japanese) It’s about this New Yorker boy who feels lost in life. Till Popuko and Pipimi randomly appear in his life (as Ghostbusters busting punks!). He decides to follow them and tell them all his problems. He thinks they are listening quietly to his problems but I bet they’re just ignoring him and think he doesn’t even exist! Hey, is that Robocop and Terminator Pipimi arm wrestled and easily beat!!! He cherished following the girls everywhere and believes they are showing him the other side of life. Though, I’m pretty sure they’re just randomly going places. One night when they are about to cut the tuna, he gets scared. That is when he realized he was too scared to do anything and ran away from everything instead of facing it. Hence he goes back to his ordinary life and promises to work hard. Now he is the mayor of New York as he makes his speech and pays tribute to the girls who has changed his life. OMG! So this is the back story of Street Of Rage’s Mike Haggar! Now I’ve seen it all!
* The rabbit is late for a secret tea party but stupid Popuko keeps blocking its way.
* Pipimi lets Popuko press a button. She gets a hug. But when she repeatedly presses it like mad, she gets smacked!
* Pipimi throws a deep question to Popuko. What if 1000 out of 10 people hate her? Wait. What?! She starts crying. But Pipimi says what if she is the only one by her side? Popuko is happy she is the centre of the universe.
* The duo are ordering French cuisine for the first time. I’m sure they are impressed with the fancy names and order away. They didn’t know the food they order has strong odour. Yeah, it stinks. So they go order something familiar: Ramen. Ah, nothing beats good ol’ ramen.

Episode 10
* God wants to let Popuko take over His role. Guess what? Popuko thinks it is a bother and gives Him the middle finger, blowing Him away!!!
* The duo play football but they pass and shoot using their hadoken!
* Popuko experiences bad customer service so she sets all the traps and then presses the button to call for service. Since the waiter didn’t come, Popuko falls into her own traps. Still got bad service…
* Detective Conan parody: Popuko and Pipimi are relaxing at a hotspring but a murder occurs. The detective suspects everyone there but the duo take the liberty to play detective. They keep accusing this suspicious guy with a mask and try to get him to confess with their hostess abilities. Eventually they are kicked out so they go do their own investigations. Is it me but isn’t the evidence so clear because the murder victim wrote with his blood the culprit as the hostess inn? So when Pipimi figures out the culprit, she calls everyone but starts off narrating her hostess life. Thanks to her hard work, they give her a hotspring trip to relax and sends Popuko who is the top new hostess with her. Thanks to this, they blame their trip is spoiled by the murder. Yeah, the inn hostess breaks down thinking they are putting her at fault. This has her explaining about the victim killing her dad 15 years ago. She wants to kill herself but Pipimi slaps her and gives her a second chance to come to her hostess bar. Case closed.

Episode 11
* Horror time! 4 friends are having their own party at an isolated cabin. When Aya goes to the ladies, she thought she saw shadows of 2 girls standing at the hallway. She freaks out and this alerts her friends. They take her back with them to rest. Reina accuses Aya to drop the cute act because she wants to get close with Shogo. Hayato tries to diffuse the situation so Reina also tells him to shut it and knows he has a crush on Aya. Soon the girls start trying to outdo each other they have done things with Shogo. So he is two-timing them? Hayato goes crazy and slashes Shogo with an axe! Reina runs away into her car. After starting up, she is spooked by the 2 girls in front. Panic, she crashes down the ravine. Meanwhile Aya shoots Hayato before he axes her. Next morning, all the dead friends are now in the photo with Popuko and Pipimi. They have their eyes…
* Pipimi becomes a tree. Popuko doesn’t want to be left alone and hugs her. She too becomes a tree. And that is how the legend of why the tree is protruding and has a shape of a girl.
* Popuko wonders how Pipimi became so big. Science, baby. Science.
* Pipimi reads a comment from a viewer complaining there isn’t enough keyframes. Popuko dances like hell to make more keyframes.
* Popuko talks like as though she knows all about wine. Yeah, she sounds like an expert until Pipimi tells her to just finish her grape juice!

Episode 12
* Those shady characters are disgusted at the cuteness of Popuko and Pipimi since they have ruined their whatever legend they have planned or created. With lots of terms that I don’t even understand, finally they think their next greatness will be in the form of hegemony. They send henchmen to kill off the duo but our girls get even more violent, destroying their surroundings and killing everybody. Brutal…
* Popuko can’t find her glasses. She searches until the moon. She tussles with a couple of aliens for it until they get sucked into the black hole.
* The duo are singing a graduation-like song. Until the lyrics became about killing and destruction!
* The duo crash into the HQ of the baddies and defeat all small fries and interrogate them for the mastermind. It leads them to the HQ of our shady characters who then turn into their true monster form. The duo combine and transform into their golden form and easily defeat them. In the end, this costs Pipimi’s life. But not to worry, a hot guy who is a time traveller takes them back to the past! In an alternate version, the duo survived and that’s the end!

Pop Goes The Epic
Thankfully I didn’t lose any brain cells from watching this nonsense. That’s because some of the jokes are so short and I didn’t really get them. Even though this series is garbage, it is not the bad kind of garbage. I mean, it is meant to be over the top nonsense and parodies anything it could get its hands on. In this sense it is the kind of trash we are talking about. The kind of trash we would love to have more. Can we have another second season? I’m sure if Popuko and Pipimi would have their way, they would have blackmailed and threatened the producers at gunpoint until they give in to their demands. Yeah, that’s the kind of anime this series is supposed to be. It has everything that you could ever want to in your anime!

Initially I was baffled that the series’ running time is the usual and standard 24 minutes but it is only half that time. What do I mean? You see, this show is only 12 minutes long and the second half is actually repeated! Is this a kind of trolling? However for those who keep watching the second half, you would notice there are some minor changes in some of the skits. The most obvious being the seiyuus voicing each half are different. Heck, in every episode, Popuko and Pipimi’s seiyuu are different. So it doesn’t matter if they are female or male, because either way, the character sounds funny. Even funnier if it is voiced by a male with a low voice. Just hilarious.

Hence with the seiyuus list running longer than your tax file, it was hard for me to pinpoint or pick out any seiyuu that I could recognize. I don’t think I remember if I did since the skits were so short that I couldn’t pick them out. Heck, I was trying to understand the joke too! Too much for me. What do you mean Mamiko Noto voiced one of the Pipimi characters here???!!! WHERE???!!! Must go back and find out… So the host of seiyuus that I know lending their talents as Pipimi include Ayana Taketatsu, Satomi Satou, Yuu Kobayashi, Tomokazu Sugita, Yuuki Kaji, Jouji Nakata, Shigeru Chiba and Norio Wakamoto, Whereas Popuko has Aoi Yuuki, Mikako Komatsu, Nana Mizuki, Youko Hikasa, Tomoko Kaneda, Hiro Shimono, Rikiya Koyama, Sho Hayami, Showtaro Morikubo and Yuuichi Nakamura. Yeah, this is just part of those whom I should recognize and there are lots more others helming both characters. But for other cameo characters, the list is even longer since a seiyuu is used for an extra minor despite staying the same in both halves. Sometimes I feel the seiyuus are having fun voicing their characters. You can sometimes here they aren’t serious in their role and just doing it because it is fun. Not bad actually. After all, what else do you expect from this kind of anime? The input equals the output.

Other changes in the second half include certain skits having slightly different visuals or a different presentation. Like that Mike Haggar story in which the first half was narrated in English and the next half was in Japanese. Or that horror-cum-murder story in which some sort of commentary was provided instead for the second half. There is also a recurring segment (albeit not in all episodes) called Japan Mignon. We have this young French dude who is supposedly the animator of this series talking in French. Unless you know French, you’re not going to understand what he says because the next animation scene featuring Popuko and Pipimi is supposed to be the punch line. So if you stayed around for the second half, there would be a proper translation to understand what the so called joke was. So sometimes I keep thinking that this second half with slight difference is just one big spot the difference game.

The art and animation might use the standard chibi version for Popuko and Pipimi but there are also certain skits that have their art style slightly different. I believe that some skits are produced by different people as you can see their name appearing in the eye-catch scene before the skit. I also want to note that the ‘most horrible’ art style goes to this segment called Bob Team Epic (New Series). Not only our main duo sound like guys doing their worst falsetto impression, the drawing of the girls is just horrendous and distorted like hell! I know it is done on purpose and to make the girls look funny. I think my 5 year old nephew could even draw better and if submitted, could be passed off as that segment’s animation style! Hilarious and ugly at the same time. Other visual styles include the use of live-action, stop motion, CGI (although this is kept to the minimum), 8bit retro video game style as well as real hand sewn dolls.

Can’t comment much about the characters and storyline because everything is so random and nonsensical that it doesn’t make sense trying to do so. Pop culture references are a ton aplenty and veterans would have a field day spotting them. I’m not so I wasn’t really that excited. Popuko and Pipimi are like everything. They are your best friends, your enemies, your saviour, your worst nightmare, even playing both God and Satan themselves! The world revolves around them! And other characters don’t matter because what for? If you think that yellow blob Wooser was bad enough, looks like this duo are going to give him a run for his money. Popuko and Pipimi do not have much character development between them and it is so minimal but it makes us want to care a lot about their dynamic friendship. They are indeed the dynamic duo. Pure comedy gold!

This brings me to another interesting segment. Supposedly the next episode preview but not for this series but for ‘another anime series’. Based on the ‘next episode preview’ of Hoshiiro Girl Drop, this looks quite an interesting anime! Despite it looks like a romantic comedy kind of anime, that penultimate preview makes it look even more interesting because of its tragic twist (although generally it might not be that of a shocker or original one). Heck, the art and drawing are standard bishoujo style! Also, mainly narrated by Yui Ogura in her trademark cute voice who is supposedly the main character of this series (Sosogu Hoshifuri). Also, they got a seemingly decent opening theme for this series already, Twinkling Star by Drop Stars. I want to see this anime! THEY SHOULD MAKE THIS ANIME INTO A REALITY AND SCREW OVER THIS ONE!!! Oh, wait a minute. If Hoshiiro Girl Drop announced it is ‘second season’ at the end, could this be a deeper meaning that this series is getting one?! Yeah, this series loves trolling us in so many ways. But I really hope Hoshiiro Girl Drop gets adapted.

The opening theme for the series is as the same name of its series sung by Sumire Uesaka. Can’t give an even more epic name for an epic title, can you? But I am not really attracted to this song since it uses a lot of synthesizers and I think it makes the singer’s voice sound like she is using Auto-Tune. I seem to prefer the ending theme, Poppy Pappy Day. Although there are many versions of it, depending who the seiyuus are voicing the main duo, I prefer the male voices covering it. It has that sleepy and calming effect to it. Really. Of course the one that really takes the cake is Let’s Pop Together, that Let’s Groove spoof. Care to dance and groove to this tune? Let’s pop together, all night! All right!

Overall, this strange and bizarre series might have won the hearts of many because of its epic nonsense and parodies of everything, but it is not likely to become any sort of masterpiece. In short, not Oscar worthy material. Though, it is already a masterpiece for those who absolutely love it. Therefore crap shows like this are good because they make you forget about reality and make you laugh at all the ironies and silliness. It doesn’t have to make sense or be logical. It could very well be a meme of its own. But if you think that there is all to offer to this great epic series, be warned that this isn’t the last that you will hear of them yet. They’ll be back to give us more epic memes, parodies and laughs when you least expected it. OMG. Pop Team Epic saved anime?! Just the kind of epic story-cum-meme we all need.