Pop Team Epic Season 2

Episode 9

Editor's Note:After days of attempting to contact James Beckett about his late review for Pop Team Epic, we received a package in the mail. It had no return address, and the only contents of the oversized envelope was one copy of a seemingly hand-printed and stapled anime fanzine, the likes that haven't been seen outside of convention collectors' booths for decades. The paper was yellowed and faded with time, and beyond the title page that declared it to be the 37th issue of “Anime News Nation”, written and edited by someone named “Jimmy Podsworth”. It contained only a jumbled mass of incoherent, hand-written rambling, along with one properly printed article. Seeing as we have nothing from James Beckett to publish this week, we've decided to publish the only intelligible contents of this dubious fanzine instead…

Alright, my fellow Crusaders, are you ready to Bump some more Boos!? I know I sure as hell am. At the very least, I'm glad that I was finally able to spring for my brand-spankin' new Hitachi 13” Color TV. It may have taken weeks of working part-time at the mall to scrounge up enough dough—$500!!—but it was totally worth it. This thing is bad to the bone, I'm telling you, and it's like I've been writing in this 'zine for months now: If we're going to be spending forty bucks a pop on these import tapes and Laserdiscs, then we at least need to watch them with all of the beautiful 4:3, full-color clarity that God intended. Besides, ol' H.W. made sure to get Congress to raise the minimum wage here to $3.75 an hour this year. Isn't that the most wicked bitchin' thing you've heard all day!?

Anyways, I know all of you Japanimation nerds—or “otakus”, as the Japanese themselves would say—aren't here to read about all of the latest and greatest from these here United States of Assmerica, Land of the Jocks and the Bimbos, where the Yuppies reign supreme and the cartoons are strictly kiddie fare. No, I'm fully aware that all of you fine fellows subscribe to the Anime News Nation fanzine to get all of the freshest news on the radical adult animation coming to us courtesy of the mystic masters in the Land of the Rising Sun. We had to take a break from our usual on-air updates due to some shipping delays last month, but I'm happy to report that my ultra-secret source that operates from right in the heart of Tokyo has come through once again and delivered the latest batch of episodes for our new favorite show, Bump-Boo Crusaders!.

Now, I realize that we're only seven episodes in, and I have unfortunately not been able to get my hands on any of the source material for this particular show, but I'm feeling pretty confident in proclaiming Bump-Boo Crusaders to be the best Japanimation I've ever seen. At the very least, it's a close tie with Gunbuster, and it's definitely better than that overrated Gundam Z show that some of my friendly competitors keep raving about (and yes, Jeff from Robo World Monthly, I know you're reading this, because you're mad jealous of my dozens of active subscribers, and I'm happy to let you have those goofy Gundams over there in your kiddie korner. I'm telling you, dude, that franchise is never going to take off!).

Point is, Bump-Boo Crusaders is the very definition of “wicked cool”, featuring some of the most gnarly action scenes and heart-warming character-development this side of Tomorrow's Joe! It helps that we have such a great main character in C̴̨̧̢̡̲̙̯̙̫̼̦̼̞̩̋̌̀͠t̸̡̠͍͎͖̭̖̤̦̹̻̽͑́̔ḩ̵̢͕̲̤͕͐̃̆̒̋u̷̧̼̖̤͉͇̅̈́͂͐̌̉̾̾̾̊̏̾̈́̆̐͜o̴̢̫͕̜͖̙͆̓̌̚, who continues to fight alongside his new friends to survive the harsh realities of Japanese High-School (Japan Fun Fact #476: Did you know that, in Japan, all students are required by law to train to mastery levels in the deadly katana arts of kendo? Think about that the next time some ditzy Jane or Jill tries to make fun of you for skipping football tryouts to join the AV Club! While those grody a-holes are shoving each other dick first into the dirt, we're mastering the art of the blade!).

Speaking of C̴̨̧̢̡̲̙̯̙̫̼̦̼̞̩̋̌̀͠t̸̡̠͍͎͖̭̖̤̦̹̻̽͑́̔ḩ̵̢͕̲̤͕͐̃̆̒̋u̷̧̼̖̤͉͇̅̈́͂͐̌̉̾̾̾̊̏̾̈́̆̐͜o̴̢̫͕̜͖̙͆̓̌̚'s new friends, we have to commend our brothers from the East for continuing to rep mega fine babes in their art. Here, it's nothing but barf-bag baby crap like My Little Pony or whatever. In Japan? You get hardcore chicks like Popuko and Pipimi, who can throw down like my man Swayze in Road House! Like, you totally knew that C̴̨̧̢̡̲̙̯̙̫̼̦̼̞̩̋̌̀͠t̸̡̠͍͎͖̭̖̤̦̹̻̽͑́̔ḩ̵̢͕̲̤͕͐̃̆̒̋u̷̧̼̖̤͉͇̅̈́͂͐̌̉̾̾̾̊̏̾̈́̆̐͜o̴̢̫͕̜͖̙͆̓̌̚ wasn't going to betray his crew when he waltzed into the Iidabashi Alliance's base (it would be totally out of character, since he just spent the last four episodes overcoming his crippling shyness and proving his loyalty to Popuko and Pipimi), but I still couldn't help but pumping my fists when his homegirls came to the rescue and kicked Koroshitani right in the nards. I'd like to see My Little Pony pull off girl power like that!

(Japanese Fun Fact #782.1: Did you know that, in Japan, Western dudes like yours truly are seen as “exotically appealing” by all of the local babes? Also, it's not just acceptable to spend all of your free time and expendable income watching cartoons and publishing fanzines about them in your grandpa's workshed, it's practically the Japanese equivalent of living like Gordon Gecko from Wall Street!)

Anyways, that about sums up my thoughts on the new Bump-Boo Crusaders episode. Hopefully, my source in Japan will be able to get another episode to me before next month, but if not, never fear, because I have some old Dragon Ball tapes to catch-up on as a backup! Until then, stay strong, Crusaders, and hold out hope that we might someday be able to get an official VHS (or even Laserdisc!) release of these culturally significant landmarks of modern animation. In Popuko and Pipimi we trust!

Rating:

Letters to the Editor

• I wanted to make sure and address some of the reader mail I've been getting, specifically “Greg from Minnesota”, who wrote in last month with this interesting query:

“Dear Anime News Nation,

Anyways, I wanted to share a dream of mine with you: I'd love to become one of the professional voice actors that plays the Americanized version of Japanimation characters, so more people can get turned on to the righteousness that is Japanese culture! As such, I'd love it if you gave kudos to some of the guys and gals from Japan that did the voice work in shows like Dragon Ball and Bump-Boo Crusaders, so we can all learn more about the hard-working actors who make these shows possible!”

Well, Gregg, that's a great idea! Not the “working on English dubs” part; I'm sorry to say that, as any real Japanimation otaku would know, the only way to properly enjoy any cultured work of art is to do so in its completely unaltered original language, with helpful subtitles that translate that language as literally as possible. Any attempt to make the language make sense or be comprehensible for artless American “locals” would simply besmirch the artistic intent of the work.

However, I'm happy to give shout-outs to the original actors! In this episode of Bump-Boo Crusaders, we get to enjoy the vocal talents of Megumi Ogata, Yūko Miyamura, Tachiki Fumihiko, and an actor whose only name is “Mugihito” (he's going the “Prince” route, which I totally respect). I'm honestly not familiar with any of these performers, but that just means that they have the opportunity to prove their stuff in future productions! Heck, now that Anno-sensei is finished working on his masterpiece, Gunbuster, maybe he can make use of these new talents in whatever his next projects will be! I'm sure they won't have anywhere near the cultural impact of Gunbuster, but you never know…

Pop Team Epic Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Jimmy Podsworth is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about Japanimation, which he publishes in a monthly fanzine read by dozens of like-minded fanboys across the Midwestern United States. When he isn't producing the kind of hard-hitting journalism that Japanimation fans deserve, you can probably finding him slingin' fresh 'za at the Southridge Mall Sbarros. All letters and inquiries should be forwarded to Alan Podsworth, Sr., at [Ed Note:Address Illegible]