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“A picture says more than a thousand words” is the only description that works for Potemayo (ぽてまよ), a new comedy airing Fridays at 25:30 JST. Yes, I’m telling you to look at the screenshots.
Originally a four-panel strip by Ogataya Haruka, it’s now getting that spiffy animu treatment by director Ikehata Takashi, who’s a bit of a hero since his work on the magnificent Genshiken. Maybe the producers were afraid he’d make it too amazing, because Ohata Kiyotaka seems to have been assigned to assist, and while I haven’t watched it myself, I have heard rumours that his Eiken is something to fear. Every episode consists of two shorter stories, to make it more digestible.
This is a slice-of-life school comedy starring Potemayo, a little … female … creature … thing with cat ears whose entire vocabulary consists of the word “nya”, which carries the meaning of everything from “I’m hungry” to “I like your shoes”. She’s found in the dimensional gate (fridge) one morning by 14-year-old Moriyama Sunao, who decides to name her Potemayo after his breakfast bun with potatoes and mayonnaise. For some reason he brings her to school, where her cuteness makes her supremely popular, except perhaps with Mikan, a girl who’d like nothing better than to smooch Sunao, leading to furious attacks by Potemayo. Then there’s the pooping bird, and the strange aqua-haired girl, and the additional female midget thing with a scythe, and lots of food. I don’t know.
The animation is remarkably good, with lots of frames for certain scenes, even if the show doesn’t really need that much to work, so J.C. Staff are doing a fine job. Gradient hair and lots of colors make for very happy and bright artwork that fits the setting. I feel ashamed to list the cast, since I failed to recognize them, but Potemayo herself is voiced by Hanazawa Kana (Ryoko Kaminagi in Zegapain), Sunao’s done by Kitamura Eri (Saya in Blood+), and even Kugimiya Rie went below my radar as the muttering girl with aqua hair. Just shoot me already. At least I spotted Inoue Kikuko as the narrator, a role she performed last year with Binchou-tan. Oh, and Kawasumi Ayako (Saber in Fate/Stay Night) as Mikan is impossible to miss. It also has that vampire Karin chick.
Bizarrer than bizarre, this thing is actually quite entertaining. It’s funny and weird and cute and you’ll just have to see for yourself. Don’t expect an exciting plot about saving the world, though. At least not yet. In the end, I must say I’m a bit worried about possible future h-doujin of this retarded midget catgirl in diapers.
Reminds me of: Pita-ten, maybe?
Note: I was hoping to watch Happy Happy Clover, but it’s so amazingly popular that all the cappers have run out of copies.
I was actually more entertained by this than I thought I’d be, and I liked the OP and ED too. Overall, it was very refreshing and cute.
I have yet to watch it, but it is in my ‘to watch’ pile tonight. J.C. Staff can pull off some crazy things if they wanted to. Maybe this anime could be the dark horse of this summer season.
Your description is more than amusing–I’m definitely going to be taking a look at this one, just to see what it’s like. I only hope I enjoy it as much as (if not more than) the rest of y’all.
Rawr
LOL
Man, comedies these days have to rely on weirdness to be funny? What ever happened to golden funny stories like the ones from Fumoffu? Oh i forgot, no previous character development.
I hope they find a new way to make funny – funny. Cause more bizarre =/= more funny. I will give this one a go though, all funny shows previously mentioned like lucky star and Seto no Hanayome have managed to bring enjoyable moments.
THE RETURN OF DIGI CHARAT
Fumoffu? i could have sworn i remember a guy… wearing a big suit, of course that’s not weird at all…
nya~!! xD
being the sucker for cute things, i ll add this to my weekly list…hehe
Here are links for the OP & ED
OP: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BB477H35
ED: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H8P7V3U0
I may end up posting this twice by accident cuz the first time i posted it the spam filter got it….
WHAT THE F@CK IS THAT THING!?
I tend to shy away from “cute” anime, but for some reason, i can’t stay away from this one. Hope you guys blog this series.
Rofl, that was so dumb…
I liked it
https://randomc.net/image/Snapshots/potemayo-01c_thumb.jpg
owh so cutes X_X
Really, that’s a boy. Then why is he wearing the same shirt as the girl in school (sailor fuku?)?
Great spot E_I.
……….Yeah I haven’t watched it either.
@E_I
As I can see, they all wear the same design of shirt, just that boys wear shorts and girls wear skirts.
As for why boys wear sailor shirt? Well, it’s *sailor* shirt after all.
kawaiiiiiii should i watch this ??!!
“I was hoping to watch Happy Happy Clover, but it’s so amazingly popular that all the cappers have run out of copies.”
Haven’t seen it anywhere on niconico. I’ve seen “fightention school” (which appeared in new anime lists) today though and regret it thoroughly XD. ah, all my favourite saturday morning anime is gone XD
LOL E_I, that’s a very good observation. I also would like to know why he’s wearing a sailor fuku.
Also, how can a RAW capper run out of copies? O_o
-Karasuhebi
Watched.
Nearly died.
Showed to 54 year old family member.
They nearly died.
Will continue to watch, fansubbed or not.
Yes, return of Di Gi Charat sounds like a good description… or Di Gi Charat meets Pugyuru?
The Guchuko Beams do remind me of Di Gi Charat, and the colors and character designs bring to mind Mahoraba – Heartful Days and Little Snow Fairy Sugar (both also from J.C.Staff). I sold my soul to J.C.Staff after watching Mahoraba, so I’m not complaining. Also Sunao seems to have good trap potential, like Shiratori.
Wow that first episode was amazing. The animation is smooth and the art is pure sugar. Brain-meltingly cute and funny, and most of the jokes are purely visual so anyone can appreciate it even without fansubs. I couldn’t stop laughing at the sticky tape.