Review of Pop Team Epic
Out of 100 Nobles watching... 80 were impressed! 10 were not Japanese enough to get some references 5 did not like all the CG 5 didn't like the use of their 30 minute time block Pop Team Epic is a unique oddity in the world of anime. It rates so well for me only because I am reviewing it for what it is, a comedy. A comedy isn't necessarily held to the same standards as other shows which is likely why a comedy show will always have a place in anime's best shows of their respective seasons. There is really no plot in Pop Team Epic. The show is anadaptation of a 4 panel comic that uses reference to Traditional Japanese culture, Pop culture, and strange non-sequitur to make it's jokes. The show fills around a 12-13 minute block with a bunch of shorts (many based on the comics source material) rolls credits and then takes an extremely odd and unique turn by airing the exact same episode AGAIN with different voice actors and sometimes minor changes to the scenes.
From an artistic point of view the show has been harshly criticized. My critique would be of the portions of the show where cg models are implemented as it just feels lazy to me. Many portions of the show are drawn, live actions, or made out of stop motion which is visually unique enough to earn a lot of respect from me. Taking risks and making something that's interesting is very different from making something that looks bad. On that note the Bob Team Epic skits that take on an absurd Japanese Street Pop art style the likes of which one would expect to see from the Garo Sengan music video or Katamari Damacy are an absolute delight to be subjected to.
Sound wise the anime's OP is amazing and was a strong competitor with Yuru Camp's [Shiny Days] as a favorite for the season. The ED was also very fun as the many changing voice actors that were used episode to episode often do the vocals.
Overall Pop Team Epic should appeal to anyone who likes Japanese comedy like Gaki no Tsukai. The show itself should also appeal to anyone with a reasonable amount of knowledge about animation or the anime industry. The many guest voice actors used episode to episode and the strange breaks of the 4th wall add to an experience that could have been a rather bland adaptation. Instead, the studio took the nature of the property they were working with and ran with it to make it something extremely faithful to it's source material by stretching the very limits of the medium they were presenting it in.