Customer Reviews

Popotan: Complete Collection

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Popotan anime seems to be one of those series where the makers assumes that the viewer has played the game as well as read the novels or manga. That's not to say that the basic storyline of the anime isn't clear, but I couldn't help but feel like there was something I was missing out on. (The original games were sexually oriented & while you can sort of tell that from the oodles of fanservice, that's really not what the "something missing" seems to be in this anime.)

Popotan follows the adventures of three sisters & their maid as they travel through time in their mansion to various places in Japan in the hopes of finding a mysterious person. In each location they meet new friends as well as new problems to help solve. However, they never seem to be any closer to finding that special person...

The series is very cute & the animation is fairly decent. The animation does seem to occasionally lack in certain areas, most notably when it surrounds a character that isn't a cute or handsome. The three sisters & their maid are the most detailed of any, which is to be expected- after all, they're who the viewer is wanting to see. There's a lot of filler here, with the real meat of the story taking up only a fifth of this twelve episode series.

Something I do have to warn potential viewers on is that there's LOTS of fanservice in here, with all four of the main characters appearing naked. It can be a little overwhelming on occasion, what with some of the fanservice seeming a little over the top. Plus I also have to warn you that some of it is loli fanservice- I know some people don't like watching it, so I thought I should mention it. However, none of it is really all that sexual in nature & most of it is pretty innocently done. It's just that once in a while I was just confused as to why it was necessary- at one point in the later episodes a character stands up & drops trou for no apparent reason other than to be naked. Rather than being erotic,sensual or even cute, it just seemed a little ridiculous & I longed for fanservice with more style. I emphasise all of this because the type of fanservice given in this series just seems to be at odds with how the series was trying to portray itself as. It just didn't match up & felt a little out of place.

It's just that in the end this seemed to just be a little lackluster. The original games & novels supposedly included a love interest & I can't help but feel like the series would have been strengthened if that love interest had been kept with the anime or if more of the backstory from the games had been included. (An adult romance game shouldn't remove the love interest when adapting it to other formats.) This anime isn't terrible, but like some of the other animes I've reviewed it is more of a rental title than something I'd really recommend purchasing straight off.

My husband and I loved this set. It's a short collection, we wished there had been more seasons. It's odd, but isn't that something you can say about most anime? We both got the theme song stuck in our heads, and we even bought a Unagi toy from Japan.

Hello Everyone,

Highly recommended. Wonderful story, sentimental.

At first the nudity seems gratuitous, but after a while the way this family of young women holds important conferences in the large bath becomes part of their story as an extremely close-knit, emotional relationship between sisters.

Near the end of the series, when the overall plot becomes forefront, the nudity in these scenes actually becomes irrelevant. The discussions in which they try to decide their individual futures are cases in point.

I suppose you could call this a harem anime with an actual plot. Not only does the plot elevate it far above the usual harem story - there's no middle-school male idiot anywhere in sight. With the exception of the requisite bad guy, the men and boys in this series, even if they start out a little on the smarmy side, eventually develop into thoughtful, mature individuals. They're certainly a lot less smarmy than that last sentence, anyway.

There's been a little confusion about the language options in this release by Sentai. At least one Amazon reviewer has reported that it's Japanese audio with English subtitles only, no English dubbing.

I just received a copy of Popotan from Sentai's store at Rightstuf.com The back of the case is the same as the image shown in this Amazon product description. For languages it says: "Audio: Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English". There's no indication that it's been dubbed in English.

However, when I played the first disc, there was a "Languages" menu item with the following options: "Japanese with English Subtitles" and "English". English was selected by default, and the characters were all speaking English. I also noticed English subtitles for Japanese labels and signs, such as mailboxes and storefronts.

So it IS dubbed in spoken English, with English subtitles for Japanese text (nice touch), even though the DVD case doesn't indicate it. For those who still prefer spoken Japanese with English subtitles, that option is available too. You can have it both ways.

Here's the pertinent data:

Popotan: Complete Collection
Amazon ASIN: B002K2KMGI
Distributer: Sentai Filmworks, LLC 2009
Sentai Catalog No. SF-POP100
Barcode: 814131011008
Languages: Japanese with English Subtitles, English (dubbed)
Censored: NO

I can also verify that this is the same version being shown on Netflix Unlimited Streaming.

Hope this info helps resolve the languages issue,

UpRight Ape

This review is mainly to counter the fake 1 star review. If you check that person's other reviews, she seem to randomly pick anime releases and complain about a lack of dub, even when there is one. In this case, just like her "review" of Kurokami, there is a dub. In fact, it's a fairly competent one. It's not one of the best I've heard, but far from the worse.

As for the show, it's a lot of mindless fun. Don't go in expecting a deep plot and significant character development and you should enjoy it. The show is simply fun and that's about it. It's also got quite a bit of fan service, if you're into that.

Its a pretty good series but not my favorite its basically about 3 sister and an android who travel through time and speak with dandelions but they call them popotan. The reason they do this is because they are trying to find someone which they want to ask why they are on their journey. They end up meeting alot of different people along the way and reunite with some old friends.

I'm American and expect anime offered in the States to generally contain an English dub as well as the original Japanese language. I got careless and forgot to check, and when this arrived, I quickly knew I'd wasted my money. Why even bother to offer a Japanese-only U.S. version? This series was once dubbed--where is that version? IF I ever purchase this title again, it will be only to finally get the properly dubbed episodes. Be careful to look before you buy U.S.-released anime these days!