Puni Puni Poemi

Puni Puni Poemi is a 2 part OAV set that takes place in an alternate version of the world found in Excel Saga both of which are created by Shinichi Watanabe a.k.a. Nabeshin. While the stories take place in the same universe they are not really related.

    Poemi Watanabe is an energetic and optimistic grade school student who dashes her dreams of being a voice actress to become a magical girl after her ‘parents’ are killed by a mysterious alien invader. She is taken in by her classmates’ family and with their help she finds the strength to move beyond her tragic loses to defend the world from the aliens’ malicious plot.

    This is single handedly the most insane anime ever created and it is unlikely that there will ever be one to top it. The entire thing moves at an astounding clip, like a chipmunk hopped up on meth. The pace is initiated by the hyperactive Poemi and her lighting quick dialogue. Poemi also provides much of the commentary and narration of the story. The cast of characters are just as bizarre and frantic as the heroine. Her classmate and secret admirer, Futaba, convinces Poemi to stay with her large, all female, family who are also magical girls. Her father is/was Nabeshin, the films director and she refers to him as director instead of father. The aliens…well let’s just say they don’t wear pants. There is an incredibly amount of sexuality in the show, although not hentai it can be very suggestive. The entire purpose of the show is deep satire against the magical girl genre, otaku and the industry as a whole.

    This OAV set is funny, one of the funniest anime I have ever seen. It is brain warpingly insane. The pace, plot and random changes in logic are breath taking to say the least. After the first time watching it my head hurt and I questioned my own sanity. While it is entertaining it isn’t any great work of literary or artistic merit. The animation is low quality and childish and the story makes no sense at times. All that just adds to the charm of the show. It takes a special kind of person to enjoy this one and if you like Excel Saga you will love this can of oddity. The best way to explain it to someone who has seen Excel Saga is to take all of the really insane moments of the entire series and cram it into 50 or so minutes of animated chaos. This show is not for the faint of heart or the young, as some of the subject matter is sexually mature and the rapid fire delivery has to be damaging to delicate and still developing psyches. Thankfully the series was brought over to America and is readily available on DVD. I never watched the dub so I don’t know how that turned out but I can only guess at its poor quality.