Overview
“Pop Team Epic” is a Japanese TV anime series based on Bkub Okawa’s four-panel manga “Pop Team Epic” (the Japanese title is “Poputepipikku”).
12 episodes were aired on Tokyo MX and others in 2018. 2 TV specials were aired in 2019.
Series directors are Jun Aoki and Aoi Umeki. Animation produced by Kamikaze Dōga.
Commentary
The original manga has been serialized in Takeshobo’s webcomic distribution site “Manga Life Win” since 2014. It is a surreal comedy manga featuring two 14-year-old girls named Popuko and Pipimi, who play nonsensical games, and perform parodies of pop culture, such as manga, anime, video game, movie and TV show.
The TV anime version is an experimental work that lots of young art creators participated. It includes a variety of expression styles, such as CG, 2D anime, strangely collapsed character drawings, pixel art, stop motion animation with felt puppets, and live-action materials.
Each episode has a format like a TV variety show, which consists of several short parts. Two near-identical 15-minute animes with different voice actors and other subtle differences were aired in a row within each 30-minute episode in the name of “rebroadcasting”.
