Yes, you’ve read that rating right. I didn’t expect this series to be this good when I started watching it, nearly two years ago now, but Power Puff Girls Z has been a large source of laughs for me whenever it appeared. There’s a good reason why the original length was increased from 39 to 52 episodes, because this series that basically awaited scepsis from nearly everyone turned out to be quite addictive.
If you’ve seen the original Power Puff Girls, then there are a few things you should know: Power Puff Girls Z completely went with its own style. This is a good thing, as in this way it fixed a lot of the mistakes that the original series made. On the bad side, because of these changes it’ll be really easy to see this as a series that only little kids can enjoy.
One of the biggest problems with this series is that it takes a really long time to get used to the bizarre sense of humour that this series has. If there’s any point in the series where you find yourself thinking: “oh god, they can’t go for something that stupid”, it will. This leads to an angry sushi-monster that assaults people who don’t eat the sushi he likes, and monsters in the form of a pen and an eraser who have trouble to understand each other’s feelings.
Fear not, though. Those were just some of the worst examples, and this series especially starts shining once it hits its second half. You just have to love the disco-fever-episode, or the manga-artist one. This series is so incredibly silly at times, but that’s what makes it so much fun. It really doesn’t care about being liked by everyone, and because of that it’s able to come up with these extreme cases.
That, however, isn’t the only reason why I’ve been looking forward for every new episode for the past year. In the original Power Puff Girls, we never really knew where the monsters that were terrorizing Townsville came from and why they wanted to destroy that particular town in the first place, or in what kind of trouble that town must have been before Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup arrived. But Power Puff Girls Z is different. Everything is really explained here. It may seem a bit far-fetched at times, especially at the beginning, but because the first episodes put so much effort into a conclusion, this series actually managed to close off with a pretty good finale, whereas most other comedies are just way too lazy to try and come up with a good ending.
This is also one series that knows how to deliver a good fight. The minor ones aren’t that special, but especially the fights against the big enemies are really fun to watch. You’d think that whenever you’d stand against a very strong enemy, the drama may take over a bit too much, but especially the fights against Him (the major bad guy of this series) are epic, yet hilarious to watch.
I used to watch the original Power Puff Girls a lot, but looking back, it made the mistake of taking itself way too seriously at times. An angry Buttercup or an angsty Blossom can only remain interesting for a very short while, and the original series went way too far in that. Power Puff Girls Z therefore was really refreshing in its light-hearted nature (do not miss the few times at which this series gets to poke fun at its predecessor). It may be a bit childish at times (okay, make that REALLY childish at times), but when it shines, this series really shines like no other comedy. Added to that comes what’s probably the best cheesy J-Pop soundtrack I’ve heard in an anime, the fact that this really is a series that didn’t play all its trumps in the beginning, and you’ve got a very enjoyable comedy-series.
Death Note gets 84 and this 88 -_-
Well Death Note butchered the Near arc they should’ve just stopped with L anywho series like mahou shoujoutai turned out amazing even though it was aimed at a young audience so maybe i’ll give this a chance as well
Your reviews almost never fail to make me laugh. Honestly, it’s why I keep comming back. 88/100………hilarious
@Hei the near arc wasnt as bad as you say even psgels said he didn’t know why people thought it was so bad, I agree that there were a couple not so great DN eps (yotsuba arc comes to mind). But for Power Puff Girls Z to get 88 and Death Note 84 doesnt really make sense but in the end its hes opinion and to each hes own alot of the anime he highly rates are ones that only a select few will enjoy as much.
I liked this silly one far more than a lot of other “serious series” real or presumed to be, but with no story, no finale, no spine whatsoever :/
PPGZ easily won over Monster princess, El Cazador and Zero no Tsukaima to mention a few
haha, oh wow. You have possibly the strangest taste ever.
Well, there’s bound to be some awesome episodes in a 52-episode anime.
psgels, can you recommend the best episodes?
That’s easy to explain, Denizen. Powerpuff director knows exactly what are the limits of the show and he was able to create a good and entertaining show inside its boundaries. This show never wants to be more than what it is: a nice child show. There’s a simple story, nice carachters and a clear ending. The music was nice as well. Of course this isn’t a masterpice, and, thank god, it also didn’t aim at that ^^”
Other series try to shock you with beautiful graphics and wonderfuil chars, like El Cazador, but the story won’t proceed, cause it doesn’t exist…
Other series let you imagine a great story where it isn’t any, like Monster Princess. It seems that there’s a great plot against the heroine Hime, it seems somethin is always going to happen and there will be who-knows-what big confrontation, but never happens…
The latter kind of series, like Zero is, try to sell you girl’s boobs and asses in the form of endless and meaningless fanservice to cover the emptiness they show.
88% B+? for this? Wow.
Seriously, don’t give good grades just because it was enjoyable (and better then the Cartoon Network version) – just the design (and concept) makes this series fail. 48/100 for me.
Actually, its a simple matter of genre here. If you think in different genres make sense, don’t?
So DN is a suspense while PPGZ is a child comedy, isn’t the case that PPGZ is better than DN, but considering others child comedies, PPGZ was rated as 88 and this rate has nothing to do with DN at all. Simple. =)
Well……there’s really no point in comparing Death Note with Power Puff Girls Z. PPGZ getting an 88/100 when compared with ALL other shows is utter fail. Getting an 88/100 out of all COMEDIES well….there were not many good comedies last year….hell….almost nothing made me laugh out loud like in the old days (Azumanga & Fumoffu)
So what if DN got 84 and got a lower score than PPGZ. We’ve all been hearing from Psgels himself that this was of his most favorite action anime in recent times (mentioned in his Blassreiter first impression entry). I actually thought this show would get a 90 from him. Why has this review got ANYTHING to do with DN in the first place? x_x
“In the original Power Puff Girls, we never really knew where the monsters that were terrorizing Townsville came from and why they wanted to destroy that particular town in the first place”
Actually, there’s an episode that explained that all those monsters actually come from “Monster Isle”, they go to Townsville in order to fight the PowerPuff Girls and return to Monster Isle alive… Returning alive after fighting the PowerPuff Girls is a symbol of honor to the monsters…
No, I will not explain WHY I have knowledge of this >,>…
And let’s not forget the Powerpuff Girls Movie, which went into detail about the girls’ origins and what Townsville was like before they were created.
I got into this series after reading one of the short reviews you did on an episodes so thanks for introducing me into this cute show. I haven’t watched all the episodes myself and just skip around but my favorite episodes have really been the ones with the Rowdy Ruff Boys, those are pretty hilarious, and although the style is weird at times, its what makes the series so great.
It’s basically the same with series as Master of Epic and Otogi Juushi Akazukin (which got an even higher rating than this one). They all set out to deliver a light-hearted series that’s fun to watch (in Otogi Juushi Akazukin’s case with fairy-tales, in Master of Epic’s case with MMORPG-parodies and in Power Puff Z’s case with Mahou-Shoujo) and succeeded. Death Note set out to be epic, but it got hammered down by a lot of small details like annoying characters and disappointing arcs that rather ruined a rather significant amount of episodes.
asdf: Of course, if this series was just “enjoyable” it would have gotten a lower score, but I admit that during the best episodes of this series, I laughed harder than I do with Gintama and Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei. And I happened to like series with a different style than usual. 😉
Denizen: my favourite episodes were episode 37 and 51, although you probably do need some background in order to fully enjoy episode 51.
And yes, my taste is strange at times. 🙂
Deathnote was great for the most part. The ending, I mean the very ending itself was just epic fail and a real letdown. Even in the manga. For me it’s great for the first 99% but the last 1% just didn’t pull through. 😛
I did’t like the first few episodes of this that I watched, but I’ll give it another go when I have free time.
i have nothing with psg’s review on this anime since it is his personal opinion and i bet many other anime fans have anime that are not as loved as other people but they still like it
but i don’t agree with some people that say that if a anime does not aim high and does what it is suppose to do,just entertain the fan without any major impact then being rewarded with a high rating is ok and then there is no difference between a anime that aims for perfection and manages to do so and the anime that also got a high rating without doing anything special
Oh god, one idiot tries to compare a show about Three magical girls fighting monsters , to a show about a Death-dueling ambitious teenager.
NOT THE SAME.
Thanks for the recommendations, psgels, they’ll be good for a casual watch.
>I don’t agree with some people that say that if a anime does not aim high and does what it is suppose to do … cut …
Well Archer, that’s not actually that:
If the series just developed according to your expectations wouldn’t you be satisfied with it and give a good mark?
If the serie was proven better or even a masterpiece, wouldn’t you rank it a lot more?
But what if the serie created expectations that were never fullfilled, or had major flaws? These may be loss in te plot, bad charas, bad direction and so on. These series would be naturally rated low.
So, said that, if a serie was meant to be epic but miserably failed wouldn’t you hammer it a bit? But, on the other hand if such a show was executed flawlessly, how much would you rate it? The MAX, or more! It’ d go directly in your personal list of the best ever made shows 😉
Now we can speak about “expectations” and valuation methods that is, of course, a subjective impression.
Psgels, on his side, searches indeed for “some substance” in an anime, and is rather insensible to appearence of the showcase. I have a similar valuation methods so i may understand such a rating. As a matter of fact i’m just a little more sensitive to the appearence.
So i’d rate PPGZ some points less, but having this anime few flaws and a reasonable good appearence, really a 48/100 like somenone suggested is far too low, IMHO.
Here’s my rating of PPGZ on another site if you’re interested: http://animeclick.lycos.it/anime.php?scelta=2&titolo=Power%20Puff%20Girls%20Z&CodAnime=979
And… notice that nobody spoke about comparisons with other shows, Death Note above all.
Solaris:when it comes to the things we enjoy it is even harder to be objective
so i never mentioned PPGZ in my post since i did not watch it and i only referred to an idea but there is nothing wrong with your last post,your arguments are correct,there were series that i had no expectation from them and in the end i loved them,there were series i expected to amaze me but left me disappointed so of course i rated them low there were series that are considered great ones but i did not find anything special about them so even if many consider them to be excellent series i did not,also i am not interested in the style of a anime,for me first comes the story and then other things so i don’t find psg’s taste that strange he looks for more unique,innovative shows and some people just don’t understand how a series they don’t like or find childish can get a high rating but as i said before i did not post to complain about the rating on this anime
btw if you want to know my favorite anime they are in a comment here,in psg’s top 10 just search Archer(if u want the ratings i gave i will give u my MAL list,my account name is that of a character that psg kinda hates and has appeared again this season … xd easy guess)
Haha, what? So if you find an anime enjoyable, you can’t rate it high? Give the guy a freakin’ break.
Scoring anime isn’t like scoring tests here. Don’t get all bunched up.
I covered just about the entire series and not even I would give it such a high score 😛
But seriously, this show had potential to be as good as its American counterpart. The cast, the soundtrack, everything was there. “Good concept, bad execution” is how I would summarize it. Still it did introduce me to a particular character that I still like today, (Princess)…
Surely, as a ravenous Powerpuff Girls fan, you have heard or even watched the show’s anime version, Powerpuff Girls Z. The art is very good and relieves the PPG fans of having to see their favorite heroines in boring and icky plain dresses with a simple black line running across it, and also the fact that they may have trouble putting on their wedding rings because of the fact they have no fingers -_-.
Before the anime came out in my country, I fell in love with the anime through the anime Brick/Blossom videos. I spent weeks learning how to draw the Puffs and the Ruffs perfectly, and I succeeded. But when it came out, I nearly screamed and couldn’t believe I actually spent so hard on drawing them. Not because of the fact that they got their names changed (it was hard for me to get over), not because Ms. Bellum went blond, not ’cause the mayor is no longer short, but because of BLOSSOM/MOMOKO’S OOCNESS.
WHY IS IT that they got both Buttercup/Kaoru and Bubbles/Miyaho okay, BUT NOT THE FAVORITE CHARACTER OF MANY: BLOSSOM?! Kaoru is still as tough and strong-minded as the American Buttercup, and Miyaho is still as girly and cute as the sweet Bubbles we all know, but MOMOKO… a complete INSULT!
THE BLOSSOM WE LOVE HAS BECOME A CLUMSY AND ARROGANT AIRHEAD, WHO IS OBSESSED, YES ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH FOOD! SHE’S ABSENT-MINDED, AND LOVES BOYS! SHE’S ALSO THE FANTASY TYPE OF GIRL, NOT THE REALISTIC, WISE ONE WE LOVE!
(Puff, puff) We all okay now? I have to say, there are so many things I love about this new version (one scene where the Ruffs flip up their skirts and pee off a building XD), but this Momoko made the anime go to ruins.
And that is all. Thanks for reading.
Those who are comparing death note to this anime are a wee bit stupid because:
1)The GENRES are COMPLETELY different.
2)Psgels’ way of rating is by GENRE NOT by storytelling…or the complexity of it.
3)It IS hella funny xD…and addicting…I also adore the Bubbles in this series.
So..stop comparing..it’ll make you guys just look STUPIDER.
Those who are comparing death note to this anime are a wee bit stupid because:
1)The GENRES are COMPLETELY different.
2)Psgels’ way of rating is by GENRE NOT by storytelling…or the complexity of it.
3)It IS hella funny xD…and addicting…I also adore the Bubbles in this series.
So..stop comparing..it’ll make you guys just look STUPIDER.
lol wut?
The monsters coming to Townsville wasn’t explained?
In the Superhero episode where the girls made alter-egos of themselves to become better heroes, it’s explained by a monster they failed to battle for two days–
There’s an island, “monster island”, and if a monster battles the girls, and comes back alive, he’s considered a hero.
This was mentioned and the island was seen on more that one occasion.
And you neglected to mention this was SUPPOSED to basically be an anime version of the PPGs,
Not a losely-based adaption, if I am remembering right.
The animation is a little shaky, and “Kare”‘s design/anatomy isn’t consistent at all….
And comparing it to the original PPG?
Over all, 4o/1oo.
Eat it.
Everything is really explained here? o-o
Huh? There is no storystructure at all.
I mean c’mon that whole thing about the iceberg, the chemical z, the mutations…there is no good explanation out there! It makes no sense, like most of the stuff that’s going on in the show.
It seems very childish but then again it trys to be (pre)mature. It’s just kind of really confusing.
Also the annoying tranformations….
11/100
Loved it to bits, never would’ve given it a chance if not for this review. Thanks a lot, psgels.