Popotan is an early 2000s anime which exists, it’s a strong contender for the most “literally made for me” anime I’ve ever seen, it’s a clusterfuck of early 2000s camp/aesthetics with a story about 3 girls finding a place in the world they live in at its core. I should acknowledge first that it’s an adaptation of a Visual Novel, although it heavily deviates from the source, essentially becoming its own original story, I have not touched the VN myself and doing so is not a top priority. For 9 episodes, this series follows an episodic narrative and each one feels like a different self containedcampy early 2000s anime. The production isn’t anything glamorous in the slightest, but I still really adore the type of aesthetic it’s going for, the show is set in a bright, colourful, surreal early 2000s video game world and as an enthusiast of the Denpa music genre, the OP and ED songs are among my personal favourites within the medium, each one being from a favourite artist of mine respectively. Popotan contains a lot of nudity, every girl gets naked at some point (even the underage ones) which can be off-putting for a lot of people, the way I see it is that it’s establishing a laid back, unsophisticated atmosphere, presenting its 3 main characters as very carefree people, I’d argue that it isn’t trying to be particularly arousing either, the ecchi scenes mainly existing for comedic purposes.

Popotan doesn’t have a clear goal to begin with and its characters don’t have a clear purpose they’re working towards, it follows an episodic formula in which its characters travel to a different location every episode, living their lives in each setting in a carefree manner at first, but gradually realizing how the world around them functions and the drawbacks that come with them living the way they do, the episodes vary between simple juvenile campy stories and more melodramatic ones (this may come across as a critical remark, but actually, I eat this shit up if its executed to my preferences), some of these episodic stories contribute more notably towards the central themes than others, the last stretch focuses on them facing reality and coming to a decision based on what they have learned. Popotan is ultimately about being confronted by reality, the series does have a fairly optimistic approach to this theme, the world it's set in is fun, happy, colourful and full of opportunities, the main challenge its characters have to face is the fact that chasing after one opportunity means missing out on another.

My interpretation of the series is that it contextualizes what it feels like to follow a path in life that is comfortable for yourself, but gradually be faced with the fact that you’re missing out on other opportunities by doing so, Popotan’s world is also presented in such an abstract manner that when its characters come to a conclusion, the show doesn’t feel like it's making any direct statement about which path in life is the correct one, it’s up to the audience to decide which path in this world looks more inviting and/or beneficial with the context they’ve been given.