Popotan

ANIME REVIEW

Popotan

Genre Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

Plot

Popotan takes place sometime in the distant future,though the exact time and location is unclear because enough time has passed to transform the area. A giant dandelion structure which acts as a spire pierced the city atop a hill some time ago destroying much of city, though it has recovered by time the game starts. The main location of the game is a European-styled mansion which is seen as completely out-of-place in the city. While it is the central storyline location, much of the daytime is spent outside the mansion wandering around town attempting to meet characters to trigger event sequences.

As indicated by the title, flowers, specifically dandelions, as well as vegetation in general, is a major theme in the game. Various sculptures and buildings were drawn with a flower motif in mind. Every outdoor and some indoor scenes have vegetation of some type in it. In addition, those that do not have any vegetation have something representing it in them.

Characters

Chris

Chris (クリス, Kurisu^?) is the protagonist of the story whom the player controls. He is a high-school dropout and slacker who gave up on the world. He wanders from city to city playing his guitar to make just enough money to cover his living expenses.^[3] He moves in with the three sisters because they charge cheap rent and he likes staying in a house full of girls; however, he quickly learns he must change his slacker ways. As the game progresses, Chris has the possibility of developing a romantic relationship with one of the girls; at first this is limited to the three sisters: Ai, Mai and Mii, but after completing at least one of their routes, five other girls will be accessible. Since the game revolves around him, given the nature of the visual novels, the only time his character is seen is during event sequences.

He only Appears in the game and visual novel

Sisters

In the visual novel their roles are as principal romancable characters for the protagonist while in the anime they, along with their maid, Mea, take on the roles of the protagonist. The three sisters, Ai, Mai and Mii, are all have supernatural powers that differ based loosely on their personality type. All three live together under the same roof of a Western-style mansion with a maid helping take care of their needs.

Ai

Ai (あい^?), the oldest sister and the only major character with large breasts, often wears a Santa Claus-style hat over her green hair. She is near-sighted and needs glasses to see clearly; additionally, she has a very bad sense of direction. Ai is a motherly figure and constantly tries to help people. She does most of the chores their maid does not do, and, despite being an incompetent cook, she loves to cook. Her caring nature often leads her to fail things because she cannot muster the resolve to criticize others. This is why she allows Chris to stay with them when she finds out he has nowhere else to go. Ai also loves to take baths, more than once a day if possible. She also seems to be the de-facto caretaker of the sisters' pet ferret, Unagi. Ai has the ability to speak to plants, specifically dandelions, which she and her sisters refer to as "popotan".

In the anime, Ai becomes accustomed to the time traveling and non-aging and is mostly unaffected by it until she meets Daichi as an adult. She uses her ability help them find Shizaku, whom the sisters are searching for. Ai is voiced by Mayu Fujisaki in the visual novel, by Sayaka Ohara in the Japanese anime, and by Nicole Oliver in the English anime.

Mai

Mai (まい^?), the middle sister, has pink hair and usually wears sporty clothes. Mai is constantly reminded of her small breast size by her younger sister Mii, which causes her to lose her temper. Mai goes to school with Mii and has a friend there, Konami, who knows Chris from the past. Although she is the middle sister, Mai governs household affairs such as the budget. She longs to leave the mansion but does not want to burden Ai whom she knows does not have the willpower to deal with such responsibilities. Mai has a tomboyish personality and is very short-tempered, especially when it comes to Chris, the moreso when she thinks she'll lose face. She is the only character who vehemently opposes Chris's staying at the mansion, despite the fact that he pays rent.

Mai's role is more prominent in the anime. Early in the season she had problems with constantly moving; because she thought everyone hated her after making friends and then abandoning them, she became so depressed that she refused to go to school. She understood the impact of their journeys on others, but unlike Ai, did not have the maturity to cope with it. Early on in the series she makes friends with a classmate of hers, Konami. When it was time for Mai to leave, Konami helped convince Mai that she was wrong and in consolation Konami left a sketch portrait of Mai she made for a class assignment as a departing gift stating that they will remain friends forever, even if they never see each other again. While waiting for Mai's return, Konami passes away two years before the mansion is in a location where the two could meet again. Later in the series, Mai meets Konami's daughter; she initially mistakes her for Konami but quickly learns her name is Mai and that she was named by Konami in memory of her friend. Mai discovers that Konami's daughter has more in common with her than a name: she, like her namesake, feels that everyone hates her. As a result, Mai feels it her duty to both Konami and her daughter to show her that way of thinking was wrong, just as Konami did for her. Mai ultimately gave up and failed at the time when she Konami had still been waiting for her even as she lay dying. This, compounded with Keith's words about the pain the girls bring to others, reawakening her depression in a much deeper manner. When she returns to visit Konami later and leaves, as a departing request, asks Konami to explain to her daughter what she felt so that she would not follow the same path as the younger sister Mai. Along with Mea, the maid, Mai is left at one point when the mansion disappears into the future without them. It is during this time that Mai realizes that she cannot age and Ai explains the connection to the mansion and aging process. Mai is voiced by Mio Oukawa in the visual novel,by Masumi Asano in the Japanese anime, and by Nicole Bouma in the English anime.

Mii

Mii (みい^?), the youngest sister, has light purple hair that is often tied in a double-bun on her head, except when she cosplays as "Magical Girl Mii"; she then wears it in twin pony-tails. Mii goes to the same school as Mai. Mii is the most energetic, perverted and naive of the three. She goes around asking Chris to play with her almost anytime she sees him and loves to cosplay as a magical girl, "Magical Girl Mii", trying to help others out around town, though the results often vary. The game has more sexual scenes involving her than any other character. She tries to have sex with Chris early on and has sex with Mea, the maid, a few times.

Mii is not as lascivious in the anime, though she has an obsession with defining plushy things, especially Ai's breasts. She also loves to compare breast sizes of various females. Also, though she passes through time like the rest of the girls, her very naivete and energy allow her to overcome most of the jumps with ease.

"Magical Girl Mii" was used in the anime, though its origins were changed. In the anime it was a specialized cosplay costume she had created to mimic a magical girl television show which cost a lot of money, but Ai seemed easily able to pay for it. That episode she met a chronically ill girl named Miyuki and attempted to cheer up. After this, she wears it around and pretends to help stop evil and believes she has superpowers. Later during the episode, Miyuki collapsed from overexertion playing with Mii. Mii tried to use powers she thought she had to heal her. The attempt was successful, and Ai revealed to the viewers that Mii's special power was healing. However, Mii remains unaware of this for a good portion of the season, and continues to believe that she has other powers as well. After the episode, Mii continues to cosplay in the outfit with the same type of antics. Mii is voiced by Toromi in the visual novel, by Momoi Haruko in the Japanese anime, and by Jocelyne Loewen in the English anime.

Mea

Mea (メアー, Meā^?), the sisters' maid who is sometimes referred to as "Mare" in the visual novel, is actually a life-like android that has existed for a long time. Her scarlet hair is tied down into two long pigtails that reach her elbows. She appears completely unemotional, especially at the beginning of the game, but she has her own desires and becomes friendlier with Chris as the story progresses to varying degrees depending upon whether it's her scenario or not.

In the anime, Mii constantly points out Mea's small breast size, though she does not lose her temper like Mai. She also has a voracious appetite despite her diminutive figure. She starts out more robotic-like, but becomes less so as the story progresses, such as in Episode 4 when she becomes concerned and fixes the doll of a malevolent-but-lonely child's spirit and seems to make some emotional connection to it. These scenes though are largely seen only by the audience and not by any of the major characters. Mea is left behind with Mai when the house vanishes after visiting the hot springs. She and Mai later rejoin the group, when the mansion returns five years later to the same spot. While waiting for the mansion to return, she works as a rental maid in the area to keep things up with Mai. It is later revealed that Mea is a "guard" sent to help the girls along their journey and that Mea is working with Shizuku under Keith.

It is unclear in the anime whether Mea is an android or not. She is not a human as during episode four she remarks about humans being selfish and having desires. Furthermore in that episode when the spirit tries to entrance her in a dream spell, all that is shown where a visualization of her dreams should have been was static. However, nowhere in the anime is there a given reference, beyond her personality, that she is an android. Mea is voiced by Asumi Noda in the visual novel, by Mai Kadowaki in the Japanese anime, and by Anna Cummer in the English anime.

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