PaniPoni Dash : My Review

My Rating

To even start watching PaniPoni Dash you have to toss out the whole concept of “serious” anime. A worthy followup for anyone who liked Azumanga Daioh, Paniponi is so far off the reality scale that you have to just accept an eleven year old MIT graduate teaching a Japanese High school class. Once you get past the absurdity of the whole concept then you can get into the absurdity of the actual show. Rebecca “Becky” Miyamoto is the new teacher for class 1-C of Momotsuki Academy. Her character aims to be the ultimate in book smarts, whilst remaining completely ignorant to any actual life experience. Over the years a number of series have put together a child and a position of authority as a comedic backdrop. Where most have failed Pani Poni Dash pulls it off. Probably because unlike its rivals Negima for example Pani Poni doesn’t actually try to convince you its realistic. The teacher Becky is more of a punching bag than a figure of authority, and is treated like just another gag in the show.

Packed with replay value, Pani Poni has hidden puns and jokes bursting at every seam. While the plots are completely different I would compare PaniPoni Dash to Excel Saga in the speed and style to which the comedy is delivered. You have no choice but to go back and watch it a second time or even a third just so you can catch all the goodness you missed the first time around.

Of particular interest is the mysterious class president Ichijo. She is one of those characters that simply cannot be explained. To make things worse Paniponi dash doesn’t bother trying. At one point in the show she seems to be a robot with cybernetic attachments. At another she is some kind of alien goddess who somehow hides her little sister inside a vortex hidden under her shirt. Ichijo is the freaky kid who sits behind you in class you really just wish wasn’t there. She’s in the background of almost every scene that she isn’t a part of doing something counterproductive and just plain freaky. One example that sticks in my mind is her dressed in a shinto priestess outfit preying for rain in the background whilst the class prepares for a camping trip. Normally this would be just anti-establishment raffle, but Ichijo is just creepy enough that the rain gods actually obey her. (along with aliens, giant ogre’s and anything else supernatural)

PaniPoni Dash does have its drawbacks. High school comedies are pretty much common in anime nowdays, so the subject in general isn’t unique. The show does seem to have a pretty predictable set of steriotype characters you can find in other High school comedy anime. The teacher who isn’t as smart as their students, the sporty student, the bad student who is overflowing with charisma, the twins, the computer geek, you get the idea. Some of these charactars are particularly well done though. Either with a lolita effect that is just over the top or personality quirks that really define the character. Even amongst the crowd of similar titles Paniponi’s characters stand out. At least most of them do.

Just because high school comedy is common amongs anime, that doesn’t mean there isn’t quite a bit of unique content in Pani Poni Dash. The seemingly suicidal stuffed pet rabbit Mesousa is an original character whom falls upon tragedy throuought. There’s a freaky cat that claims to be god and does things to the drinks in the vending machine that just aint right. (ick)

The opening sequence for PaniPoni is different in different episodes or at least it changes from disc to disc. They even take the time to tease the viewer a bit by changing it up in ways you wouldn’t expect. Graphically it is entertaining and the song’s used have a pretty good beat.

Often If I can’t really remember the music from an anime I dismiss it as bieng only average. Without great background music an anime simply cannot be great. Bits of random music from different styles litter through paniponi dash, most of it random enough to not be memorable. It wasn’t particularly bad though. They did take the time to come up with really catch tunes for the opening sequence and I can remember at least one of them now, some months after having watched the show. It won’t have me running out to buy a soundtrack, but it was memorable enough not to shuffle pani poni into the mundane category.

The DVD’s to paniponi dash came packed with extra features, and there is no doubt they will see quite a bit of replay in my household. The plot wasn’t overbearing, or even coherent. For most stlyes of Anime that would be a bad thing, but given its nature as a spontaneous comedy PaniPoni Dash does well not to be influenced heavily by a dramatic plot.

If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m giving PaniPoni Dash a firm buy it rating. There’s plenty of replay potential. Its loaded with extra features. The characters are fun to watch, and its got catchy tunes. I’m sure most anyone who picks up this title is going to watch it more than once. You don’t need to wast your time with a rental here, its good enough for the buy.