Category: Popolocrois 2003

I love it when the creators decide to go creative on character animation in action scenes. It really gives an extra edge towards awesomeness. This episode really turned out great because of this. More anime should realize this. ^^

The action scenes really were awesome, and not to mention that we managed to see Gamigami back again. Still, it’s too bad that he lost some of his brilliance. Inside the action scenes, he still is the same genius as always, though his temper has cooled down a bit now that he has children. I never saw him as the type to openly act nice towards people. He either ignores them, yells at them, or goes obsessive over them. ^^

Still, the fact that Punpun and Kotoro’s real father and mother died, after which Gamigami took them in, remains touching. I can’t complain about this. It’s more the fact that he now actually cooks lunches and sings lullabies. In any case, it seems that he, Punpun and Kotaro won’t exactly be playing the role of evil villain in this series, like Gamigami did at the 1998-version. That really became clear now that Punpun’s becoming more and more attached to Pietoro. Almost literally.

Overall, I’m glad that Gamigami’s returned, though it’s a pity that he tuned down a bit. Still, I love the action scenes in Popolocrois 2003 so far. They really are something awesome. I also was very amused when the defu-robots appeared again, and we saw the return of a “certain” tatami-room. (The same in which Hyuu was locked up previously) ^^

Memorable Moments: Gamigami shooting himself out of his own mecha. And weeping afterwards. ^^;

Before I continue, I have some announcements to make. This will probably be the last post I’ll make, as tomorrow, I’ll be entering a short hiatus. I’ll be off to Britain, in order to enjoy some vacation. I’m not planning to make use of internet, so I’ll be gone for the next week. I should be back at July 24. By then, I’ll probably face a huge ordeal in trying to catch up with the week of anime that I lost. Ah well, back to the episode, and it was a great one. 🙂

Another character gets introduced: the Fire Seirei. Pinon, Luna and Marco head back to Popolocrois Castle. Marco tagged along, as he’d like to see some royal sweets. In any case, things are incredibly hot, which probably means that the fire-seirei has been captured. Then, they notice a shop on fire. Pinon messes up, and has to be saved by others, while Luna and Marco save the shopkeeper, who was trapped inside with the fire.

This really keeps gnawing in Pietoro. He really can’t see the great things that he’s done, as he keeps focusing on his own failures. This episode, was mainly meant for Pinon to realize that he’s got friends who can help him. It’s interesting that the episode wasn’t focused at Marco at all, while he did get his own Seirei. The Fire Seirei, by the way, is just too cute. It’s a strange combination between a chicken and a red pengiun, who can breathe fire. It seems that he took a liking in Marco.

I still don’t know what’s up with Papu. It seems that all of the Seirei are scared of him, though he quickly tells them not to be. In any case the episode itself featured events which succeeded each other in high pace. Especialy Marco was great. (*note to self: when writing an entry, write it right after seeing the episode, do not take a break. Ohterwise, you get garbage posts like this one*)

Memorable Moment: Pietoro mistaking a headless mannequin for the real shopkeeper.

Yup, the third and final main character gets introduced this episode: Marco. He’s a pretty interesting and funny guy. His voice-acting also works really well. His mother (Leona) also seems to be a good friend of Pietoro, and he could be the son of Shirokishi as well, though that’s not sure yet. Still, I like the way that he’s got no sense of direction at all. ^^

Anyway, a lot of interesting things happened. The most important one was Pinon, who still struggles with the fact that everyone sees him as Pietoro’s son, and always expects things of him. Marco really helps him see this, as Pinon is in his eyes just a weak little wimp. After all, at their first meeting, Pinon hides behind Luna. While this is extremely cute, it does show that Pinon lacks any form of confidence. He even gets to the point at whishing he never made friends with Luna, as making friends is just the same as fighting with each other. This really shows that Pinon is horribly shy and locked up. I like these sorts of main characters. They’re so much better than the impulsive little brats.

Punpun and Kotoro also were quite interesting. While they didn’t contribute to the main story at all, I just couldn’t help but love the situations they get thrown in. While they aren’t as awesome as their father, these situations did make them very enjoyable. The mushroom also was awesome. Even though their inventions lack a visual trademark, it still was hilarious to see a huge mushroom in the middle of a forest like that. I also liked the running gag of the dried fish which was included. Marco was on an errand to bring his mother some dried fish. He loses them, and they drop in the river, near Punpun and Kotaro. While Kotaro’s fishing, he gets extremely surprised when he catches a bunch of dried fish, of all things. Later, it seems that the creators haven’t forgotten this fish, as Kotaro actually attempts to roast the fish. The fish eventually end up as the lunch for a hungry griffin. (^^) It was interesting to see Kotaro running around with these dried fish on a stick.

Overall, this was a very nice episode. I’m beginning to like this anime more and more. I’ve still got two issues: Pinon’s voice-actor and the three little kids that keep bugging Pinon. Though the latter do make Pinon depressed, so I guess they’re okay. I’m also wondering what happened to Ulala. We haven’t seen a clue from her ever since the first episode. In any case, I’m liking Pietoro and Luna. The two of them look really cute together. ^^

Memorable Moment: Seeing Punpun and Kotoro emerge from the giant mushroom.

The episode already began with removing one of the major annoyances in this anime: Papu who talked! Thank goodness he can do more than just “Papu Papu Papu”. In any case, this episode improved my overall opinion of the anime yet again. You can really see that it’s been building up perfectly.

We start out with Pietoro getting extremely worried about Pinon. Narcia tries to comfort him. Meanwhile, Papu explains that the three of Pinon, Luna and Papu have ended up in Phantonesia, or the world of the Seirei. Pinon’s quite startled when he hears Papu talking. What follows is both Papu and Luna trying to hide their secrets. It’s as obvious as a hammer near a pile of balloons, though Pinon decides not to question them. Or he’s just too busy with other things to notice. ^^

Papu also explains that the golden key, otherwise known as the key Narcia used to transform to Kai, has also the power to transfer to Phantonesia and back. It also seems that the Seirei of the wind has been captured. This causes wind in Phantonesia to stop, and the winds in Popolocrois to go out of control. Luna comes with the impulsive idea to save the Seirei. Pinon, of course, hesitates. He’s very different in this when you compare him to his father. Pietoro would’ve gone in, no matter what, and no matter how weak he was. Pinon keeps clinging to his father. It’s interesting, as he suggests for them to go back to the castle, in order to make Pietoro save the day. When you realize that Pietoro hates it when he’s compared with his father, you get some interesting results. Then again, he’s only just a child.

In any case, as there’s no alternative, Pietoro decides to go. Meanwhile, we switch to the bad guy, who appears to be the one who captured the wind-Seirei. He seems pretty confident in this, and his ultimate plan is to wrap the world in darkness. I hope that this part gets fleshed out soon, though he looks evil enough. Pietoro, meanwhile, is extremely worried about Pinon. Something his father would’ve done differently.

Pinon, meanwhile, stays gloomy. Then the threesome reaches a point at which they have to advance on bouncing rocks (think 2-D platform games). I liked that scene. Pinon’s very scared to jump. After all, if he fell, he would’ve fallen a loooooong way. Still, Luna managed to give him courage, and the two of them jump together. Luna also reveals that she’s been longing to be Pinon’s friend for a long time. This means that she’s heard about him before. Still, her background remains a total mystery.

Then, Pinon, Papu and Luna reach a small tornado, which keeps staying on one place. The Wind-Seirei seems to be sealed in here. Pinon plans to jump into the eye of the tornado from above, in order to not get bothered by the huge winds. In order to do that, he is helped by Punpun and Kogoto. Pinon manages to trick the two of them into dropping him off above the tornado, parachute included. While this scene may have been interesting in order to flesh out Punpun and Kogoto, it also was annoyingly long. The two of them are far from as awesome as their father.

Anyway, inside the tornado, we finally get to see a Seirei out of its little sparkly form. It’s indeed been captured, inside a barrier, which is preventing everyone from entering or exiting it. Except Pinon, for some reason. The creators’d better have a good reason for this. In any case, Pinon saves the Seirei (who looks too cute, by the way) and the Seirei seems to know Pinon. The Seirei gets all giddy, though she soon loses energy when it seems that her powers are stored in the bottom of the tornado. Papu seems to know the little creature, as the Seirei seems quite scared when she sees him. Papu, however, quickly shuts him up.

When they head down towards the bottom of the tornado in a dark-looking cave, Pinon gives Luna and Papu the two herbs he bought in the previous episode. When they reach the bottom of the tornado, a wind-beast shows up. It was interesting to finally see a wind-monster use wind in its attacks, instead of the usual blades which form out of nowhere. An interesting touch. Luna and Papu offer to act as decoy, so that Pinon can get Punpun and Kotoro to help. Still, Pinon uses his dragon powers to save the two of them. While a bit cheesy, the animation looked awesome. It really made up for this flaw.

In any case, the monster seemed to guard the Seirei’s power. With it gone, everything seems to be fine and the Seirei shows up in a third form: a large version of the second form, minus the chibi-speech. The Seirei then sends Pinon, Luna, Papu, Punpun and Kotoro back to Popolocrois. Pietoro’s too glad when he finds that his son is safe, though the interesting part comes from Narcia when she sees Luna. She, of all people should be able to recognize the golden key, though she decides not to mention it near Pietoro. I wonder when she’ll confront Luna about it. We’ve already seen her personality, so she’ll definitely wait. But for how long?

In any case, it seems that Luna’s been travelling, and that she’s been sleeping under rocks, etc. Pinon therefore offers Luna to sleep in his bed. (*big grin* ^^;) Luna’s a bit startled at first, though she doesn’t mind in the end. Then the Wind-Seirei shows up in yet another form. It’s also the one we keep seeing in the OP and ED. The Seirei transforms to its fourth form after Pinon gives it a name. He first considers “Hyuu”, which just shows the similarities between Pinon and his father. In the end, the name gets to be Hirarin.

And just when you thought that the episode couldn’t get happier, more laid-back, more peaceful. The bad guy appears, attempting to kill of Pinon. Pietoro then rushes in and defeats the guy. Both parties end up heavily wounded. Seriously, I would never have expected such a heavy scene after what just happened! In one turn, the anime turns darker than ever. It also displays Pietoro’s concerns and love for his son more than ever.

I also have to say that the ED greatly helped to accompany this. It’s one of the better ones I’ve seen. We also have to remember that there are some characters who look major, but haven’t appeared at all. The little guy with the painted face, for example. His mother as well. Not to mention his and Luna’s Seirei. It seems that Luna’s got something to do with the water, while the former has affinity with fire.

The music also is a major plus in this series. 1998 already featured an amazing soundtrack, and this was only strengthened with 2003. I’ve also noticed that the ED is one of the few which actually tells a small story. We first see Luna create light with her own powers (say, doesn’t her wand look suspiciously much like Narcia’s?). The little guy with the painted face looks astonished when he sees this. In the next screen, he uses fire in order to impress the others (and cook some fish). The next screen features the three of them playing with their Seirei, while Papu, of all creatures, looks agitated, wanting them not to linger. In later screens, Pinon directs the way, while Luna’s happy to follow him, and the little guy with the painted face has a weird expression on his face, I wonder what he thinks at that moment… On the last screen, Luna is carrying the other two along with her water powers. It looks pretty awesome. I may be wrong, but I guess that the next episode will introduce the little guy with the painted face. That, or Luna will meet her Seirei.

Overall, my respect for this series continues to grow with each episode passing. The ending was just perfectly executed. (After all, most of the times when protagonists mess up the plans of antagonists, we switch to them, while they find out about it. The antagonist screams a bit, and swears to get back at the protagonist. This time, these scenes are just skipped and the antagonist comes to kill the protagonist immediately). On a side-note: why did the creators decide to dye Pietoro’s hair brown?

Memorable Moment: Pietoro at the ending. Definitely a scene to remember.

You’ve got to admit one thing about this anime: the music rocks. Every tune seems to fit, and the ED really is breathtaking. Still, it’s got a long way before it can reach the awesomeness of the 1998-series.

For one, it’s got annoying characters. Pinon and Papu aren’t exactly the best characters ever. Their voice acting is a bit off, especially when they kept calling for each other, it really got on my nerves. Still, Pinon’s got some good points, mostly his struggles to get away from his father’s shadow, though I haven’t seen any good points about Papu.

Basically, in this episode, Papu gets lost and ends up in a lone island offshore. It’s basically meant to show how much Pinon’s willing to do for his new friend. It’s interesting that he’s able to make friends with Papu so easily, while he has troubles with ordinary humans. I guess it’s because Papu was the first who didn’t see him as Pietoro’s son. (Star Ocean Ex, anyone?)

Three new characters are introduced this episode, and we get some signs that Gamigami’s still alive! Woo! We get to meet his children during this episode. This, of course, brings up a very interesting issue: who is the mother? Who would be crazy enough to give a guy such as Gamigami two children? In any case, they do have some antics, though they haven’t reached the brilliance of their father yet. Gamigami was just 100% chaos, while the two of them try to be like him.

The final character to be introduced is Luna. She somehow reminds me of Hyuu in a way. She’s an extremely good swimmer, and the ED seems to suggest that she indeed has affinity with water. It seems that she’s really surprised when she finds out the lengths Pinon’s willing to go through in order to save his friends. The episdoe ends with her, Pinon, Papu and Gamigami’s children being sucked into some kind of portal. Star Ocean Ex all the way.

Still, 2003 did make me see one thing. 1998 doesn’t have any animals or monsters at all! It’s just a character study of each of the different characters, nothing more. The RPG-elements are almost nearly gone. This is totally different in 2003. Last episode, we ran into Papu, a walking skeleton and a big huge monster, and this episode we get treated by some angry horned penguins. I guess the creators were trying to create a better RPG-feel out of it.

Overall, I’m still waiting for the awesomeness. But then again, 1998 also started out slow, so I’m suspecting that this one’s also building up perfectly. After all, we still have a huge amount of characters left to be introduced. And did Shirokishi ever find his Great Knight Sword?

Memorable moment: Punpun and Kogoto waiting for hours for Pinon to return from the cave. ^^

While waiting for the rest of Popolocrois Story 1998 to come in, I couldn’t resist to check out its 2003 version. A lot has changed. Pietoro has now grown up, and has taken the throne, along with Narcia as his wife. Hyuu seems to have been buggered off, and the two now have a son: Pinon. All of the adults from the 1998 series also have vanished into thin air, as there doesn’t seem to be a sign of Paolo, Hilda, Shirokishi and unfortunately, Gamigami.

The art also has changed a bit. It still bears the unique art of Popolocrois, but the overall color scheme looks a bit less bright. The character’s faces also are more blocked instead of curved and the eyes and mouth of each of the characters look a bit more evil. The music, however, is as good as ever. The CG, however, doesn’t seem to be living up to the 1998-version, which is strange, as you would expect a newer series to come with better graphics. Though the beam of light shown in the first episode of 1998 certainly was able to beat the beam of light in the first episode of 2003.

The great thing about such a sequel is that you really can compare the two of them. Pietoro has grown very different from his father, Paolo. Both of them are strong leaders, but they both do it in their own way. Paolo was very laid back. He had a huge amount of self-confidence and because of this, he was able to rule with a very laid-back attitude. Pietoro, however, wants to rule as good as possible, and he wants to do this as good as possible. He therefore actively concerns himself with things going on in Popolocrois and he’s also very strict on Pinon.

Because of this, Pinon was raised in a totally different way than Pietoro. Pietoro was son of Pablo, the great leader. Pinon is son of Pietoro, the great hero. This anime manages to show the huge difference between these two. Pietoro is great for what he has done. Pablo is great for what he’s doing. Both of them have their good points and bad points, and these are reflected in their children. As Pablo and Sania were rather carefree, Pietoro also grew up to be carefree. When Pietoro grows up, and gets to be strict to Pinon, Pinon grows to be a bit more rebellious.

Okay, maybe rebellious isn’t the right word. Both Pietoro as Pinon run around the castle. Though Pietoro does this because he wants to play. Pinon does this because he wants to run away. It was also interesting to see that Pinon didn’t consider Ulala as a friend. He’s been locking himself inside so much that he doesn’t even care to see the things in front of him. Still, he does have a kind heart, as he always stands up for others, willing to take their blame.

Ston and Sanda also seemed to have their roles as cute familiars (maybe “cute” isn’t the right word for them, but whatever) to Papu, a weird flying ferret. I liked Ston and Sanda’s designs more, for some reason. The OP and ED also seem to suggest that three more animals like Papu will appear. I so hope that their roles won’t be just “cute and mysterious”. After all, Ston and Sanda were great because of totally different reasons.

2003 also seems to be a lot darker. While 1998 had the wind-kind and Gamigami as the major enemies, 2003 seems to suggest for something actually evil to threaten Pinon. The robots from Gamigami also seem to have been replaced by actual monsters. Pinon, just like Pietoro beats them using his dragon powers. I hope that these also get lost somehow.

Overall, I liked the first episode of Popolocrois 1998 more. 2003 just doesn’t seem to have any awesome or memorable characters yet. There are actually annoying characters (the little boys, for example, they may have a good effect on Pietoro, they remain annoying as hell). Still, you can really see that just as 1998, 2003 is building up very carefully. After all, there are lots of characters appearing in the OP and ED who didn’t appear at all in the first episode, and Ulala, on her turn, doesn’t showu up in the OP and ED at all. There’s got to be some reason for that. And after all, 1998 was quite good when it actually came with a solid storyline, so I’ll keep my hopes up.