Puni Puni Poemy
The mad maestros behind ADV’s 1999 hit comedy Excel Saga return to wreak yet more havoc in the realm of unadulterated, schizophrenic humour they helped to pioneer. Those of you out there who have seen Excel and (to a lesser extent) cult oddity, Dragon Half could be forgiven for expecting more of the same, prepare to be surprised. Watanabe and his team at J.C Staff have pulled out all the stops, and cranked the insanity factor all the way up to eleven; this is wacky, mad and very, very bad.
When wicked aliens lay waste to her home and kill her parents, Poemi
Watanabe vows to take vengeance. With nowhere else to go she takes up residence with the seven unhinged Asau sisters. Poemi dreams of becoming a voice actress but along the way she will have to contend with talking fish, fetishists, giant robots and the burden of being a super hero.
Puni Puni Poemy is like a short, sharp, shock to the system, an unrelenting barrage of inane slapstick and mind-boggling skits that will leave you either, rolling around on the floor with a look of manic glee on your mug or with a deep seated feeling of utter repulsion. The actual laughs are few and far between, this is an anime that sets out to shock, pummelling you over and over with scandalous visuals and hyper-dynamic gags until your brain slowly submits and you just have to embrace the madness of it all.
If you suffer from a weak constitution you would do well to avoid Puni Puni Poemy, in fact a lot of the time I was just staring at the screen trying to fathom just how they managed to get away with it all. I wouldn’t be too hasty to deem it offensive, but I imagine to a lot of people it will be. Personally I have no problem with controversial shows but Puni plays it so close to the bone, that at times even I was a little shocked by the events playing out on screen.
Video
Released way back in 2001, ADV have provided another extremely competent transfer. Colours are bold and vibrant, with barely a hint of grain or saturation, image quality is crystal clear and the detail has been reproduced with stunning clarity.
Audio
For my viewing of Puni I opted for the Japanese 2.0 mix, dialogue is nice and clear which is nigh on essential to get the most out of those manic vocal performances, there’s plenty of directionality across the front soundstage as well as plenty of positional effects from the rear speakers.
In Summary
If you’re already a fan of Excel Saga you don’t need me to tell you to buy this, as for everyone else, if you approach this series unprepared you’ll more than likely end up scratching your head and wondering what all the fuss is about. But for the initiated amongst us rarely do comedies come as unashamedly zany, vulgar and morally reprehensible as this. Whilst it lacks the charm and refinement that characterised Excel Saga this is destined to enter the annals of cult curiosity and fated to go down as one of the most ‘infamous’ titles in anime history.
