Pop Team Epic

Episodes 8-9

Welcome to another writeup of Pop Team Epic! I had to take last week off to recover from a bout of aNiMe MaDnEsS, but I'm glad to say that I've roused myself back into top form today. For the sake of my health, my doctors have advised me to keep things simple for a while.

Let's start with episode 8. This was an alright episode of Pop Team Epic, neither the worst nor the best. It's to the show's credit that every single episode has at least one incredible gag – the main difference between episodes is just the density of them. This week's PTE shone brightest during its “story” segment (for lack of a better term), but first, let's talk about that introductory bit with the bacon. Chomp Chomp Bacon was gross and I hated him, but I'm not sure what else to expect out of Bob Epic Team at this point. Somehow their work always makes me feel like I'm looking at a closeup of another person's tonsils.

But I digress. This episode's longest and perhaps most beloved segment was an extended riff on the classic film, Battles Without Honor or Humanity. I haven't seen it, but I'm told that the whole thing is based on scenes from the film. Even without context, however, I enjoyed such gags as the bamboo-headed “bamboo”-zle gang, the girls murdering everyone, and Popuko's face when she licked that lemon. I didn't really get the joke about bangs, however, I was tickled by the edgelord magical artifact – mostly because I bought a similar object in 7th grade. (It was that pendant worn by Squall from Final Fantasy 8, and when I tried to wear it to school, my mom got mad and threw it away. I must admit she was correct.)

Anyway, more Bob Epic Team – they were equally right to burn that tape for being profoundly Cursed, even by the standards of this show. The most impressive bit on a technical level was definitely the sand art, which was apparently done by Miyo Sato, the same lady who did the Mob Psycho 100 ED a few years ago. She does a lot of work with backlit glass and unusual mediums (at least for animation), and it was neat to see more by her. (If you'd like to know more, this is a good article.)

Also, it's worth noting that PTE episode eight was aired eight times in a row. This was an extended gag on The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya's second season, which infamously contains eight episodes that are just reanimated versions of pretty much the same content.

Read Part Two of this review here!

Episode 8 Grade: F

Episode 9 Grade: G

Pop Team Epic is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and HIDIVE.

Gabriella Ekens knows that Youtubing is against the yakuza code, but times are tough, and you've got to do what you got to do to survive. Support her new initiative on Twitter.