First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

OP Sequence

OP: 「pupa」 by 木戸衣吹、山崎エリイ (Kido Ibuki & Yamazaki Erii)

So one of my more anticipated series this season… ends up being a 5-min short. Not even worth a higher budget for a 10-min short… but it’s a whole four minutes of actual feature presentation. I’m more than a little disappointed because I thought the series warranted a lot more than that. It’s got a ton of hype too! Whoever gave this series a budget, clearly didn’t give it much of a chance. I hate to say it, but I it’s pretty much like a self-fulfilling prophecy at this rate. Low budget leads to a poorly executed show, which leads to lack of sales and audience. I guess we’ll how to see how well it performs as a short, but somehow I can’t see myself very enticed to keep going…

Despite the short run though, I think pupa has pretty much nailed all the important aspects of the show. The show is about an older brother, Hasegawa Utsutsu (Shimazaki Nobunaga) and his younger sister, Hasegawa Yume (Kido Ibuki). One day after school, Yume unfortunately stumbles onto some “red butterflies” that causes her to transform into (for lack of a better word) a flesh-eating monster. The rest of the story isn’t told yet – but in case you’re wondering, Utsutsu offers himself to his sister to “feed” her while trying to find a way to save her. Oh yes.. it’s quite grotesque. I don’t believe this is a spoiler (because I think it’s implied in some of the scenes) that Yume and Utsutsu get abused by her father at home; that’s why Utsutsu looks like he has a massive scar down his eye.

That pretty much sums up pupa (which is the name of the disease/virus that Yume contracted). The intentions of this anime are to be horrific and psychologically damaging… but I just can’t get that sense within this short 4 minute preview. The songs definitely add to the mood, even the cuts and silent moments are fine… but that’s all shot down the drain as soon as the episode ends. It’s too rushed, it’s too short, and there just isn’t enough time to build up any sort of anticipation or urgency for the show. It’s a shame because I thought the premise was quite unique and if not, at least psychologically scarring (great for a horror anime, even though I’m not a horror fan). I don’t want to say that it’d be a waste of time to watch the anime (because god forbid, it’s only going to be collectively 48 mins), but I think the manga gives a much better depiction of what the author intended for it. It gives me the shivers just thinking about reading it.

TL;DR – @RCCherrie: Barely 4 mins long… #pupa needs to be longer! >_< I feel like it could've been really well done with a longer run. #horrorNOT

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「誰より好きなのに」 (Dare yori Suki na no ni) by くすまさんしまい (Kusuma San Shimai)

42 Comments

  1. Yeah, I would stick to the manga for this one. Though the low budget it most likely because of the gore and stuff in it. But its kind of hypocritical because even gorier things have had full series/oav’s (like Corpse Party Tortured Souls…one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen. But it still managed to get…3 or 4 full oav’s out) so I don’t see why this couldn’t have gotten a full time frame, hell, they could have just shown the full episodes online…though I guess they didn’t want to spend a lot of money on this one (So why did they even bother in the first place?) BTW for you new people who’re interested in pupa…read the manga, because literally they turn your viewpoint upsidedown as the story goes on, on who’s the actual bad guys there.

    SDFGS
    Reply

    1. and then I realized something…they really did cut out a lot. I mean when Utsutsu’s father get’s first introduced while he’s walking home heShow Spoiler ▼

      which shows how messed up his dad is.

      SDFGS
      Reply

      2. Its actually harder to tell which had better art…just because the anime had a low budget so the character designs weren’t the greatest in the world. In the manga its better except with the fact that the author uses A LOT of scribbles and lines whenever gory stuff happens so you kind of have to stop and try to think what exactly is happening in the page.
        well I’m not going to go right out and give direct spoilers but I will say this (don’t click on it unless you have no intention of reading the manga because I sure as hell know the anime won’t get this far into it) Show Spoiler ▼

        SDFGS
        Reply

  3. Ya know, despite only having 4 minutes, out of the other shorts this season (I’ve watched Tonari no Seki-kun and Onee-chan ga Kita), I’m really liking Pupa. It’s probably the only short this season to have a plot to build up. And even though each episode (it seems) won’t have an intro/conclusions (as we just left Yume in the street with this one), it’ll be easier to build by picking up where the last episode left off, rather than having to introduce everything again and again.

    So it’ll be a bit rushed, I expect, but the studio will try and do their best job with it. That’s the best we can ask, in all honesty, with the budget they had.

    Cloudy
    Reply

  4. On a brighter note this may be a ploy to test the water with this series. If there’s enough demand/views on the website then they might think about making it into a full series, IDK, that’s just something I thought of.

    SDFGS
    Reply

    1. Because of how niche the content is for this I’m not sure. Very few horror shows (including animes) ever get the big budget treatment unless they have something else going for them. Looks like they wanted to go that route here, but the producers must have thought it wouldn’t sell well enough to warrant a 23 minute episode series.

      I hope it’s the case though, this is one of the first horror story concepts that has caught my interest in a long time and 5 minutes a week is a big let down.

      Pancakes
      Reply

    2. You mean like Yama no Susume? I doubt it.

      The manga has already finished, so there would be very little incentive for Earth Star Entertainment (the guys who foot the bill, as well as the manga publisher) to make the anime longer, especially since it’s unsure how well this show will do (and I don’t think it will become a best-seller anytime soon, given the subject matter and the fact that it’s so short).

      Lord of Fire
      Reply

  8. I’m not usually a fan of serious short stories/episodes/movies. If I do watch a serious short it is usually connected to a broader story that I’m already know about. I enjoy Tonari no Seki-kun because its so light and straightforward. You don’t need to invest anything in the world or the characters, you can just sit back and be amused for 10 minutes. For this type of material I think you guys are right, I’ll try the manga.

    Also was anyone else waiting for Clare to swoop in decapitate Yume after she transformed,she looked just like a Yoma.

    Absaroka
    Reply

  9. I only read the summary in the Season Preview when I first saw it and I was hyped. There not being a release date until I checked the website to see a 2014 only made me want to see it more.

    But then as I’m about to watch, I highlight to see how long it is, only to see 3 minutes and 30 seconds…

    It’s time to call this season the Troll Season. Almost every anime I was looking forward to doesn’t even reach 10 minutes long, WTF?!!?!

    The ONLY anime that will get a pass from me is Tonari no Seki-kun because just like Muromi-san it is a comedy and it is satisfyingly funny.

    All these other short 4 minutes bullshit anime is nothing but the shovelware of animation. Just like how there are shovelware videogames, anime has shovelware too.

    Thank god there is a manga for Pupa, I don’t care if it turns out to be a 4 Koma manga, anything would be better than these shovelware anime. Also, if the manga is a 4 Koma, that is no excuse for making a short ass anime because even WORKING!!! has full anime episodes!

    Magoiichi
    Reply

  15. I’ve never read the manga and know nothing of the story. I just read a synopsis and though it sounded cool. So, when I finally actually see, I am simply confused beyond belief. Not only does nothing make sense, but they are going through events you get the feeling should take longer and they’re streaming through them a breakneck speed, basically only giving you the cliffnotes and hoping you figure out the rest.

    I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to drop this. If I watch shorts, they usually only episodic comedy ones, not ones that have an ongoing narrative and plot. It takes a lot of talent to pull something like that off, and I’m doubting Pupa has that ability.

    Irenesharda
    Reply

  18. I agree, the premise would’ve been promising for a 20min show. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. I was surprised and very disappointed when I found out it was 5min per ep >_< I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS!!!

    Kyosuke
    Reply

  19. I read first chapter of the Pupa Manga after watching the Pupa Anime, which leaves me sad with the Anime.

    I haven’t been so dispointed in a Anime since, Samurai Deeper Kyo and would most like drop the Pupa Anime, if it wasn’t for the fact that I only have to suffer for 4 minutes.

    So my recommendation is… READ THE MANGA insted

    Artemisthemp
    Reply

  21. This season is full of mediocre to bad shows that do get the 25-minute treatment, but this one gets shafted? That’s kind of depressing. Horror-shows are pretty rare in anime, after all. Maybe this one would’ve been better off being adapted in some OVA’s instead of a short that has no time for build-up or setting the mood whatsoever. I’m going to keep watching a few eps, I guess, but I’m not expecting much of it.

    Dvalinn
    Reply

  24. I agree with you, Cherrie.
    if you ask me, it’s better to marathon Pupa as a whole. even 12 episode are less than 1 hour in total. and it’s more likely that by marathoning it, one can achieve the effect we so wanted pupa to be, and to realize pupa’s full-potential.

    thedarktower
    Reply

  25. Seriously Studio DEEN!! You take a show like this one with so much promise and make it 5 minutes to divert all your budget into a show with a bunch of nancy boys wearing glasses………..

    Good decisions, you does not has it.

    Thundershock81
    Reply

    1. DEEN only does the animation; the decision for Pupa to be a short is of Earth Star Entertainment, the guys who publish the manga. They hired Studio DEEN to make the manga into a 4-minute short, so they’re the ones you should aim your anger at.

      The studio tries its best to work with what they have, but I think even DEEN realizes that you can’t tell a good story in 4 minutes (3 if you don’t count the OP and ED).

      If the format was twice as long (10 minutes), I think it would already be a lot better.

      Lord of Fire
      Reply

  29. I was surprised when they announced it to begin with since the manga, while being well written, is extremely blood and gore filled.
    I really would like to see something done with Mahou Shoujo of the End.

    Fuu
    Reply

  31. For those all disappoint with pupa, go watch the pilot for SyFy’s new show Helix. Not as gory, but there’s nothing like a little viral outbreak to make things somewhat better 🙂

    Pancakes
    Reply

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