English Dub Review: Pop Team Epic “POPUTAN”

There’s one thing I’ve neglected to talk about during my first couple of reviews for Pop Team Epic. This opening is god damn trippy. I love how the intro is just simple cuts and copies of the duo, then just evolves into full blown chaos where there are copies just everywhere. I’ve never seen such chaotic nonsense actually work this well.

The opening skit got me all sorts of fucked up. The episode starts with a “Poputan” skit, which is educational anime. They’re going to the farm, where “Poputan” and “Pipitan” to get milk from the cow. What threw me for a loop was Mr. Sexual Harassment asking for them to milk him. Luckily in the next scene, he’s about to meet the business end of a log splitter. What even is this? This has been the most entertaining skit by far, and on paper, it had no business being that. 10/10, I would definitely recommend.

This is, by far, the longest sketch so far this season. We get to see “Poputan” try to milk our friendly cow, but cave due to crippling pressure. After getting a wad of cash to feel better, the duo get everything they need for a barbeque, where Mr. Sexual Harassment comes back again, just go back to the log splitter. I am fucking dying this week. I may have been a little too harsh the last couple of weeks. Whatever it is, this week is firing on all cylinders.

That sketch ends, and we get another “Pop Team Epic: B-Side.” Popuko wants a robot, and Pipimi needs to cut cost. What has to go? is it the animation budget? What about a writer or two? Nope, it’s one of Popuko’s pigtails.

“Pop Team Cooking” is next, and it seems that Popuko has the same irrational hated of bell peppers as I do. Come on…bell peppers do nothing to enhance a dish. It has no heat, and the seeds get stuck everywhere. At least go with a jalapeño. “Nanachi Ranking” is new to me, and ranking foods Nanachi should eat is definitely different. Watching a catgirl get orgasmic over food is slightly disturbing. The next skit is about torture. I can get behind this, well, until a Karen parent decides to complain.

There was a nothing skit about camel drool, followed by another skit where Popuko tries to surprise Pipimi, but she was standing at the door. The next skit was enjoyable. Popuko was running like she was a glitched out video game, complete with falling through the map, just like World of Warcraft. I got some really bad PTSD from seeing the characters under the map.

The newest “Square Enix” skit was next, and I am all about this. Again, I am a sucker for anything Square Enix related. And chocobo sketches fall right into this. I may not understand a single god damn thing that either chocobo is saying, but I will watch it for hours just because it’s chocobos.

The final credits had real life Popuko and Pikimi costumes, like the ones you’d see for Mickey Mouse at Disney World. I have to hand it to whoever made those costumes. They looked amazing.

Most of the skits with the voice gender swap was status quo. There were some added dialog but nothing really added to the sketch. However, the opening “Poputan” sketch was fucking hilarious. There was added dialogue during the log splitting scenes, which made it even more sadistic. A close second was the sketch that Popuko tried to sneak into Pikimi’s room. Give me all of that. Also, Is Christopher Sabat the voice of Pikimi in some sketches? It sure as hell sounds like it.