Pop Team Epic
Pop Team Epic is a Japanese four-panel surreal comedy webcomic and digital manga series written and illustrated by Bkub Okawa, which started serialization on Takeshobo's Manga Life Win website in August 2014. Takeshobo has released seven volumes in Japan. The manga is licensed in North America by Vertical.
The manga chronicles the misadventures of two 14-year-old girls named Popuko and Pipimi, who encounter a variety of both mundane and bizarre situations and respond to them in equally bizarre and exaggerated ways. The manga is noted for its frequent parodies of pop culture and its combination of surrealism, absurdity, and non-sequitur, all of which have contributed to it developing a cult following among both Japanese and Western audiences. An anime television series adaptation animated by Kamikaze Douga and produced by King Records aired on Tokyo MX and other channels from January 7, 2018, to December 18, 2022, for two seasons. The first season concluded on March 25, 2018, and two special episodes aired on April 1, 2019. The second season was co-produced by Space Neko Company and premiered on October 2, 2022.
Characters
;Popuko- Bob Epic Team segments:
- Japon Mignon segments: Fanny Bloc
- Bob Epic Team segments:
- Japon Mignon segments: Christine Bellier, Kaycie Chase
Media
Manga
Pop Team Epic is written and illustrated by Bkub Okawa, previously known for his Touhou Project ''dōjinshi. The series was serialized in Takeshobo's Manga Life Win website between August 29, 2014 and November 7, 2015. The first tankōbon volume was released in print on December 7, 2015. Okawa released the "second season" on the Manga Life Win website between February 18, 2016, and April 30, 2017. The second volume was released on June 7, 2017. A "third season" began on the Manga Life Win website on October 10, 2017. The manga is licensed in North America by Vertical, who began releasing the series in October 2018. A comic anthology based on the fictional Hoshiiro Girldrop'' manga featured in the series was released on January 9, 2018.Anime
An anime adaptation of the series was announced on April 2, 2017. It was initially teased as an adaptation of Hoshiiro Girldrop on April Fool's Day 2017. The anime features animation by Kamikaze Douga and production by King Records, and is directed by Jun Aoki and Aoi Umeki. The first season aired on BS11, Tokyo MX and other networks for 12 episodes from January 7 to March 25, 2018, following a delay from October 2017 due to an "error by King Records". A television special aired on April 1, 2019, which consists of episodes 13 and 14.Taking after its source manga, the anime takes the form of an animated parody show, featuring numerous, typically disjointed skits of varying lengths; while some of these shorts are adapted from the original comic strips, the majority of them are original creations. The various shorts collectively showcase a variety of animation styles, most often CGI, professional-looking 2D animation, and idiosyncratic animation from AC-bu. Each half-hour episode features two near-identical 15-minute segments, each containing different voice actors and other subtle differences.
The opening theme for episodes 2-10 is "Pop Team Epic" by Sumire Uesaka, while the ending theme for the first 9 episodes and episodes 11 and 12 is "Poppy Pappy Day" " and Episode 7 as "Poppy Pappy Day is sung by Popuko, Hiromi Igarashi/Toshiki Masuda ) and Pipimi, Rei Matsuzaki/Wataru Hatano ), with Shouta Aoi performing the theme for the male part of episode 12. The ending theme for episode 10 is "Jinsei" also by the Igarashi/Matsuzaki and Masuda/Hatano duos as Popuko and Pipimi, respectively. The opening theme for Episode 1, which opened with a Hoshiiro Girldrop segment, is the first season's opening theme, "Twinkling Star" by Drop Stars, Shizuku Tsukino, and Korona Yuhi ). Episode 12 used the classical music pieces Night on Bald Mountain and Dies Irae in its storyline. The opening theme for episode 13 is "last sparkle" by Uesaka, while episode 14 uses the opening theme for the second season of Hoshiiro Girldrop, "Pretty candle star" by Drop Stars, Tsukino, and Yuhi ) in the first half and parodied by AC-bu and Tōru Adachi ) in the second half. The insert song and ending theme for episode 13 are "Popuko ni Sauce" and "Fūsen Hikō", respectively; both are sung by Popuko and Pipimi. The insert song for episode 14 is "Bansaku neender", sung by the Ozaki/Uchida and Ito/Kijima duos and the Mendez/Tindle and Lee/Seitz duos as Popuko and Pipimi in both Japanese and English, respectively with Aoi singing his version of the ending theme "Fūsen Hikō" for episode 14a, as well as his own ending theme, "AOI Traveler" for episode 14b.
The series was renewed for a second season on December 26, 2021, following the finale of Pop Team Epic Repeat. Jun Aoki returned as director and scriptwriter, while Space Neko Company is animating the season alongside Kamikaze Douga, and aired from October 2 to December 18, 2022. The opening theme for episodes 16-25 is "Psycho:logy" by Aoi and the ending theme for episodes 15-25 is "Nakayo Peace" ", Episode 5 as "Nakayo Peace ", Episode 8 as "Nakayo Peace ", Episode 10 as "Nakayo Peace " and Episode 11 as ""Nakayo Peace ) by Popuko and Pipimi. The opening theme of episodes 15 and 26 is "Endless Love" by Aoi, while the ending theme for the episode 26 is "Shota Aoi Gymnastics" by Aoi.
Sentai Filmworks simulcast the series on Hidive. Crunchyroll simulcast the series worldwide outside of Asia. Funimation simulcast the English-dubbed version in English-speaking territories as it aired; Funimation also acquired the rights to release the anime on home video in North America. Funimation also arranged the series to air on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block starting on July 1, 2018. In Australia and New Zealand, the series simulcast on AnimeLab. Aniplus Asia simulcast the series in Southeast Asia. The series became available on Netflix in February 2020 in what was originally 11-minute episodes. It was replaced by the original half-hour format due to complaints from users. A remixed rerun titled Pop Team Epic Repeat, which mixes up the voice actors from the original run, began airing from October 9, 2021, and is being simulcast by Crunchyroll. It also features re-recorded versions of the Team AC segments and Japanese dubs of the Japon Mignon segments. There are also visual differences in the Repeat version.