Pani Poni

Pani Poni
File:Paniponieyecatch.jpg The eyecatch from episode 5, showing Becky dressed as "The Bride" from Kill Bill
Created by	Hekiru Hikawa
Starring	Ai Nonaka, Chiwa Saitō, Fumiko Orikasa, Satsuki Yukino
Country of origin	Japan
No. of episodes	Unknown
Production
Running time	23 minutes per episode
Original release
Network	TV Tokyo (Japan)
Release	July 3, 2005 – Not yet ended

Pani Poni Dash! (ぱにぽにだっしゅ!) is an TV anime series released in Japan, currently unlicensed in the USA. It is based on the manga series Pani Poni by Hekiru Hikawa.

File:Paniponidashparody.jpg

Parody plays a important role in the humour of Pani Poni Dash! here we see a parody of Planet of the Apes

Much of Pani Poni Dash!'s humour relies on a lot of parody and references. Everything from The Exorcist, to Gundam to Super Mario Bros, much of which you need to freeze-frame to catch them. There's also a lot of references and jokes about Japanese culture and language, the series can be quite unfriendly to foreign viewers. Japanese internet culture, such as on the infamous Japanese message board 2channel is another pillar of Pani Poni Dash!'s humour, with many references to Japanese emoticons. At stages in the series a character's facial feature will be replaced by these emoticons.

File:Paniponicharacters.jpg

The characters of Pani Poni Dash!

Characters

Rebecca Miyamoto An 11-year-old genius who recently graduated from M.I.T and the current teacher of class 1-C. Don't be fooled by her child-like appearance, Becky (as nicknamed by her students) is smart, cold, crude and easily angered. But like most kids, she's easily frightened by scary things and loves lollipops.

Himeko Katagiri A wastefully energetic girl who often shouts "maho" (a meaning-less word) while speaking. She frequently annoys the other students in her class with her antics and inability to carry a straight train of thought. Her "ahoge" (the lock of hair on her head) contains a mysterious power that gives Himeko her limitless-energy.

Rei Tachibana A girl with a heart as cold as ice, Rei is the mature one of the girls. Threatening bodily harm is Rei's way of enforcing order in the classroom, Himeko being her usual target. She's the one to put Becky in her place when she gets out of hand and also the one to lure Becky out from behind the curtain with candy after she's put the fear of God into her.

Ichijo-san The mysterious class representative, who's frequently shown drinking green tea. Pretty much all she does is stand up, sit down and announce that she's "The class representative, Ichijo".

Miyako Uehara Known as a "study-bug" (a name she hates), Miyako is nearly always studying. For some reason she also has a really shiny forehead which gets more extreme with each episode. It starts off with a simple sheen in the first episode, in the 2nd episode it's become a blinding flash and by the 3rd episode other characters can style their hair in the reflection of her forehead (to which she responds with "How about dying for once?!").

Mesousa A parody of the "cute mascot" type characters you often see in anime, with one huge difference. Mesousa has a severe case of depression. You would be too if your lack of fingers made everyday tasks impossible. Practically useless in every way, Mesousa serves as the slapstick of the series, being blown up in one episode and having his legs broken in another, all without complaint.

Kurumi Momose A plain-looking girl who's easily upset by this fact. If there's a hint that someone's called her plain, she goes off to sulk.

External links

• Summary of Pani Poni Dash! by Anime News Network
• Official website
• Official website (TV Tokyo)
• Official website (Square-Enix)
• Official site of original writer (comics)
• Paniponi Wiki - Summary site of animation and original comic written by fan. (used Wiki system)