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.
I just started to watch this anime yesterday, and I already love it. Pinon and Luna are just too cute. And I can’t belive Pietro and Narcia got married,aand had a son! Yay!