Pop Team Epic Season 2

Episodes 1-4

I've never done anything like this before, but I've had the absolute weirdest experience just recently, and I'm pretty damned sure it's because I got assigned to review this brand-new season of Pop Team Epic. It's strange enough that I felt like I couldn't not share it with you all, and I honestly don't know if I'd be able to do it justice with writing alone, so I went ahead and included my photographic evidence.

The package arrived on my doorstep in the middle of the night, claiming to be addressed to me from this very site, though the labeling was…unconventional, to say the least.

After getting all of the tape and plastic off, I discovered what I can only describe as the most sketch-as-hell box that I've ever seen in my life, though the "P" and the "E" reminded me of a certain show I needed to begin covering this very weekend...

I'm going to level with you. I have no freaking clue what the hell is going on, here. The cursed-ass doll. The...whatever-the-hell-it-is made out of clay, in the bottom corner. I almost decided to toss this thing in the trash, for very obvious reasons, until I took a closer look at all of the tapes inside...

PTE? Biggus McHugeGuy? Kiddy Friendly Torture? It all started to make...well, I don't know if I'd call it "sense", but I at least latched on to the Pop Team Epic connections. Though I do not understand the inclusion of a single used copy of the 1994 Jim Carrey film, The Mask.

So…yeah. I don't really get it, and I'm honestly at a loss for what to do with such a bizarre press package, but…thanks, I guess, to Anime News Network and, I don't know, Crunchyroll? I had to watch all these new Pop Team Epic episodes using streaming services like every other normal person in the year 2022, but I guess I appreciate the novel ideas of whatever weirdos are working with the PTE marketing team. At least I understand some of those tape labels now that I've caught up on the show…

(Also, seriously, what hell is the deal with that creepy doll, and that…other thing? I figured there must be a spooky Halloween sketch in one of these episodes that it would tie into, but nope! So now I'm stuck with these weird “collectibles” that I don't even know that I can get rid of. My wife didn't want anything to do with them, understandably, and there's hardly any storage space left in the house, so now they're just…sitting here. In my office. Sitting, and staring at me. Watching me write.)

Anyways, I guess I should probably review these Pop Team Epic episodes now, huh? Honestly, I'm kind of glad I had the opportunity to share this whole “meta marketing” thing with you all, because I'd been racking my brain for a while trying to figure out just how I was going to cover this dang show. My predecessor, Gabriella, did such a bang-up job with her funny and creative takes, and living up to that standard won't be an easy task. Then again, Pop Team Epic is essentially a collection of some of animation's most needlessly lavish and elaborate shit posts, so I don't even know how I could “review” the show in any traditional sense. Most of the jokes are stupid, pointless, and unfunny on purpose, and there's no way for me to quantify or qualify what makes the funny jokes work without going on a ridiculously long and boring detour about the precise mechanics of comic timing and storyboar—

…

I'm sorry, I kind of lost my train of thought. Those damned dolls and that pile of creepy VHS tapes are really distracting. Plus, I got a brand-new PC recently, and it's a pretty decent rig if I do say so myself, so the fan can get kind of loud sometimes. Hell, it's gotten to the point that—get this—it almost sounds like whispering.

Man, I hope this thing isn't already breaking on me. Wouldn't that just be my luck? A busted fan, or short-circuiting motherboard, after only a few months! I mean, why else it would suddenly start making jittery, choking “mworf sounds like this? At least…I think it's the fan. It would have to be, right? I'm home alone right now as I'm writing this, so there isn't anyone else who could possibly—

Jesus, those things are just wrong. Though, now that I've had some time to sit with them, I have to admit, I guess they possess certain compelling quality, a kind of presence...

What was I saying?

Oh, right! Pop Team Epic. Yeah. You know, one thing I can definitely say is that the skits this season are a lot more ambitious. One of the most recognizably “funny” bits that a show like this can do is put way too much time and effort into producing a genuinely great-looking parody of other media and then play it (mostly) straight. The “Biggus McHugeGuy” and “Train Battle” sketches are some of the best of the season so far, simply because they're legitimately fun to watch, which helps the utter lunacy of the dialogue and visual gags go down much more smoothly. Almost every one of the super-short one-off gags is going to be so hit-or-miss that there's not a lot I can do to review them, but you can bet your ass that I can find stuff to say about Gundam-esque spoofs and...um...

Alright, what the hell? I just heard a voice right now, and it definitely wasn't my computer. It was saying words. Something about…“peace?” Or maybe, “peas?”

…

I heard it again! As clear as fucking day, I heard it, like there were people standing right next to me in this goddamned room, singing: “We're just two peas, we're just two peas, peas, in a pod!” Nope. Nuh-uh. I'm officially not cool with this shit. I've scoured every inch of this house, and I cannot figure out where is that sound coming from, dammit!

Wait.

Now just wait one freaking minute. I get it. “Peas in a pod.” Just like the cute little ending theme of Pop Team Epic Season 2! Har de har har. Very funny, Crunchyroll, or King Records, or Space Neko Company, or whoever the hell came up with this “hilarious” marketing ploy. You almost had me! I'm not a superstitious guy, but when you can get even me to start looking sideways at the goofy little dolls you packed together with some novelty VHS screeners, then I guess I have to hand it to you. Nice job on the creepy singing, too. I haven't been able to find the tiny speakers or whatever that you used to pull off the prank, but that's some creative engineering, I'll tell you what.

I still don't know what the hell any of it has to do with your show, but isn't that just perfectly in keeping with the whole Pop Team Epic shtick? “Whooooooo, we're so random! We just do the weirdest and dumbest shit, but on purpose, and we already comment on how dumb and bad it is, so you can't even criticize us when our corny advertising stunts don't make a lick of sense, and maybe even make critics feel uncomfortable! Chocobo reference! Shit! Lololol!”

Well, you know what? I'm no stick-in-the-mud, artsy-fartsy critic that can't go along with the bit. If this is what reviewing Pop Team Epic is going to be like, then count me in. I'm down to clown, assholes, just you wait. This is nothing. I'm sure that…that…

Okay, I do have one request for my lovely editors here at ANN. Can we please let the social-media reps at Sony or wherever know that not every single bizarro idea that they have for advertising their shows needs to be so…off-putting? Not to mention the reliance on completely outdated analog tech. I'll hang on to this merch for now; I've kind of taken a liking to the creepy little things, for some reason. If I can get my hands on a VCR and an old-ass TV with the proper inputs, maybe I'll do some kind of reaction video to see if there's some sort of punchline to this joke. But for real: At least give a guy a heads-up next time. This is a lot of work to go through just to review a silly anime like Pop Team Epic.

Editor's Note: Anime News Network would like to make it abundantly clear that we are in no way responsible for the alleged “press kit” that James documented in this review. Having conducted our own investigation, we have also concluded the package delivered to James was not authorized or shipped by Crunchyroll, King Records, or any of the other affiliated companies responsible for the creation of Pop Team Epic Season 2. Despite multiple attempts to reach out and clarify this misunderstanding, we have been unable to contact James in the days since he submitted this article.

Rating:

Pop Team Epic Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer who can usually be found wasting his life on Twitter, failing to understand that, whether he knows it or not, he's just another pea in the pod, in the end. He'll learn, though. He'll learn very, very soon.