Pani Poni Dash!
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| Pani Poni Dash! | |
|---|---|
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| ぱにぽにだっしゅ! (Pani Poni Dash!) |
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| Genre | Comedy, Parody, School life |
| Manga: Pani Poni | |
| Authored by | Hekiru Hikawa |
| Publisher |  Square-Enix |
| Serialized in | G Fantasy |
| Original run | November 2000 – |
| No. of volumes | 9 |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Akiyuki Shinbo |
| Studio | Ganges, Shaft ADV Films |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| Original run | July 3, 2005 – December 25, 2005 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
Pani Poni Dash! (ぱにぽにだっしゅ! Pani Poni Dasshu!?) is a Japanese series based around the concept of parody, for it frequently references Japanese culture in a wide array of ways. It centers several first year students and their teachers in a school in Japan, though the main focus is on class 1-C.
Pani Poni Dash!, though with the original name simply as Pani Poni, first began as a manga series by Japanese mangaka Hekiru Hikawa which was first serialized in the Japanese manga magazine G Fantasy, published by Square Enix, in November 2000. Currently, there have been nine seperate volumes released. Later, the series was adapted into a television anime series which aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between July 3, 2005 and December 25, 2005. The anime has since been licensed in the United States by ADV Films though the manga remains unlicensed. There have also been several drama CDs created based on the series.
Much of this series' humour relies on numerous parodies and references to other manga, films, or TV shows, including The Exorcist, Gundam, Super Mario Bros., and Chuck Norris, a good deal of which needs to be freeze-framed to catch. The series also contains many jokes and references about the Japanese culture and language, making the series possibly quite unfriendly to foreign viewers. Japanese internet culture, such as on the infamous Japanese message board 2ch, is another pillar of Pani Poni Dash!'s humour, with many references to Japanese emoticons. At some stages in the series a character's facial features will be replaced by these emoticons.
Each episode is almost entirely standalone and only very loosely connected to the central plot which is hardly mentioned at all. Most of the jokes in the series rely on established character behaviour, Japanese internet and anime culture, or non-sequitur comments or actions (especially by Ichijo). Another characteristic of Pani Poni Dash! is that the name of each episode is based on an adage or proverb that applies to the episode in some way. Unlike other 26 episode anime, Pani Poni Dash! features three entirely different opening sequences, with both new art and new music each time. The opening songs, of which there are several versions, are sung by the seiyū of the different characters in the anime.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Pani Poni Dash!'s central storyline revolves around Rebecca Miyamoto, class 1-C's child prodigy homeroom teacher, and the antics of class 1-C. The characters attend a high school called the Peach Moon Academy (桃月学院 Momotsuki Gakuin?), though the story never strays from the focus of the four first year classes labeled 1-A through 1-D. The mishaps that occur in other classes, in the teacher's lounge, and on school trips also become sources of material for topical allusions regarding anime, internet, gaming, and popular culture.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main characters (Class 1-C)
- Rebecca Miyamoto (レベッカ 宮本 Rebekka Miyamoto?)
- Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō (Japanese), Hilary Haag (English)
- Rebecca, also referred to as "Becky" by her class, is the homeroom teacher of class 1-C and a mathematics teacher. She was born to an American father and a Japanese mother though she keeps her mother's last name. Rebecca enrolled at MIT at the age of nine and graduated at ten with a triple major. She then entered Peach Moon Academy at age eleven as a teacher. Normally lethargic and halfhearted, she dons a cool face to keep her genius reputation. However, when confronted with a frightening or uncomfortable situation, she immediately reverts to her childish state, weeping uncontrollably (called the "hau hau" by the students in episode 21) and often hides behind a curtain. She is extremely popular and a confidant to the students.
- After she gets permission to create a personal research lab in the school, she finds much to her surprise that students start coming to her with their problems looking of counseling. Even after discovering what began this turn of events - a sign posted on the door saying to the effect Becky was offering couseling - and taking off the sign, students still come back several times in the series for help. Her room is also used as a somewhat "home base" for class 1-C beside their own classroom.
- In each episode, she dons a different outfit which would seem too "cute" for a teacher which usually fits the style of clothing for a girl her age. Often she is displayed as especially childish, such as wearing pajamas designed to make the wearer look like a cat.
- Himeko Katagiri (片桐 姫子 Katagiri Himeko?)
- Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)
- Himeko is a wastefully energetic girl who often shouts "maho" ("マホ"? a meaningless 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 and is capable of movement on its own accord. After the mushroom incident of episode 20, her ahoge shrinks and in order to appear as if nothing has changed, wears a wig to mask it. Whenever this wig is pulled off, she again loses her energy, though it is returned once the wig is returned to her head.
- Himeko's catchphrase is saying that a particular thing is "Omega", (for example, "Omega kawaii!" (オメガかわいい！? meaning "Omega cute!")). Himeko possesses the ability to eat as much as she pleases without ever becoming fat, and is particularly fond of crabs. Out of all of the girls, Himeko is by far Becky's biggest fan, much to Becky's chagrin.
- Rei Tachibana (橘 玲 Tachibana Rei?)
- Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese), Carlee Gabrisch (English)
- Rei is a girl with a heart as cold as ice. Of the girls in class 1-C, Rei is the most mature one. 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. Rei has the second highest GPA in the entire school and works four days per week at a Chinese restaurant. Despite her apparent coldness, Rei is often the one to teach Becky important moral lessons.
- She has also shown herself to have a greedy streak as when during the school festival she purposely made it so their classroom was the most popular so that she could reap the profits afterwards, something she was unable to do since all profits when to charity afterwards.
- Ichijo is class 1-C's mysterious class representative, frequently shown drinking green tea. Her activities, at least near the beginning of the series, are normally limited to standing up, sitting down, and announcing that she's, "the class representative, Ichijo". She is always calm about everything, but is prone to erratic, questionable behavior. In later episodes, she often does the seemingly impossible without ever saying more than a word or two about it, even twice doing a rain prair which indeed made it rain. She has a younger sister who is just as mysterious and relies on drawing on a sketchpad to communicate as she is too young to converse. Aside from Ichijo and her sister, no one else is aware of the aliens keeping watch over Becky.
- While her first name is never explicitly stated, it is implied in episode 16 that her given name is Honey.
- Miyako Uehara (上原 都 Uehara Miyako?)
- Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese), Natalie Nassar (English)
- Miyako is known as a "study-bug", a name which she earned through her perpetual studying and which she detests, though her score is almost average. She will often get mad is she is unable to study due to the crazy antics that she often gets put into, which are also often against her will. Miyako was even handcuffed to Sayaka Suzuki in episode 16 to get her to track down Ichijo.
- She also has a very large and very shiny forehead which gets more extreme with each episode. It starts off with a simple sheen in the first episode; in the second episode, it becomes a blinding flash; by the third episode, others are actually able to style their hair in the reflection on her forehead. In a later episode, her forehead becomes so bright that the other characters are forced to don welding masks to be able to look at her. Also, she apparently possesses ESP. In some of the more strenuous events in the series, she always tries to keep a level head, though is not always able to accomplish this with sheer will power alone.
- She is not always seen wearing glasses as she does have contact lenses as well. She explained in episode 4 of the anime that after long hours of studying, it's much easier on her eyes to wear glasses than contacts.
- Kurumi Momose (桃瀬 くるみ Momose Kurumi?)
- Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese), Melissa Davis (English)
- Kurumi is girl who is above average in appearance, athletics, and academics, but who nonetheless suffers from being called plain all the time. If there's even a hint that somebody has called her plain, she goes off to sulk alone, often in the rabbit cage with Mesousa. She has been known to fade almost completely out of existence altogether when she gets called plain or ignored too much. Kurumi is a very fast sprinter, and also played varsity basketball. She is the sister of Shu Momose of class 1-A who is known for his cooking skills, something that she herself does not possess. Unlike in most anime and manga where the younger sister will call her brother Onii-chan (兄ちゃん?), Kurumi refers to her brother as Aniki (兄貴? which is a much more masculine was of addressing an older brother). It might be due to this that, due to her reactions as seen in episode 20, she has a fascination with how some girls in Japan are now using the pronoun boku (僕?), meaning "I", which is usually only said by Japanese males. It is never explained why she enjoyed this so much. From episode 11 on in the anime, she is shown with her hair grown longer. Additionally, from episode 19 on, she ties her hair in twin braids.
- In later episodes, after experiencing much of the unrealistic events in the first half of the series, she starts to see reality in a whole new light and starts little by little to accept giant fighting robots and small talking animals to be normal occurances in everyday life. Despite this new outlook at how crazy her life really is, the others always seem to overlook her estranged claims. When not in school, she also has a part time job at a moe café though due to her not being considered moe, business is not as good as the owner would want it to be.
- Sayaka Suzuki (鈴木 さやか Suzuki Sayaka?)
- Voiced by: Kayo Sakata (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)
- Sayaka, also known as "Rokugō" (6号? meaning "#6"), is a good girl who often gets taken advantage of because of her kindness, though doesn't mind due to her being so nice. Miyuki Igarashi of class 1-A gave her the nickname Rokugō because she was the sixth girl in the school to bear the name Suzuki, though this is never explicitly explained in the anime version. Sayaka's catchphrase is saying that something is "-of the year", (for example, "teacher of the year"). In certain episodes, Becky refers to Rokugō as "oversized" or "big ribbon" due to her hairstyle.
- Out of all the female characters, as far as the anime goes, she is the one by far who is put in the most situations that involve hints of lesbianism with the other characters.
- Mesōsa (メソウサ?)
- Voiced by: Vanilla Yamazaki (Japanese), Christine Auten (English)
- Mesōsa is a parody of the "cute mascot" type characters often seen in anime, with one huge difference: Mesōsa has a severe case of depression. His lack of fingers makes everyday tasks almost impossible, further deepening his depression. Practically useless in every way, Mesōsa serves as the slapstick of the series, being blown up in one episode and having his legs broken in another, all without complaint. His "tastiness" stat is a reference to the mascot character Menchi from the parody anime Excel Saga. Mesōsa is not Becky's pet, but, rather, her companion who tries to help her in class such as getting and holding the footstool for her while she stands on it to write on the blackboard. His name derives from from the combination of "meso meso," a Japanese psychomime for whimpering, and "usagi" (兎? which is Japanese for rabbit).
[edit] Supporting characters (Class 1-A)
- Miyuki Igarashi (五十嵐 美由紀 Igarashi Miyuki?)
- Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese), Shelley Calene-Black (English)
- Miyuki is the homeroom teacher of class 1-A, and has a reputation for being a hard drinker. She is frequently tardy or daydreaming in class, either because she is suffering from a hangover or because she is simply bored with teaching. Miyuki is known by her students to never dress up, nor wear makeup and to almost always reak of alcohol. She frequently stares out the window of her classroom and says that she wishes she was a cloud; a wish that often is only heard by Shu. She owns an imported MG Midget in British Racing Green of which she is quite protective. After Jijii did her the favor of asking the headmaster to allow her to park it on campus, she lets him drive it whenever he likes. Despite him being a reckless driver, however, he always brings it back without a scratch on it.
- Often, the empty seats in her class are replaced with Japanese-style scarecrows.
- Shu Momose (桃瀬 修 Momose Shū?)
- Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Brandon Hearnsberger (English)
- Shu is the older brother of Kurumi Momose, however, even he cannot resist calling Kurumi "plain" from time to time. Shu is a laid-back character and a skilled cook. He helps his often drunk and irresponsible homeroom teacher, Miyuki Igarashi, take care of class 1-A. Also, he can be easily persuaded into doing things, like when asked to prepare Becky's lunch for her everyday or when during that time be persuaded to take a day off. This can make him seem like a guy that also succumbs to pressure, especially that of a group, as in episode 4 when he was told to prepare a bath for all of the girls and didn't even complain about it.
- Yūma Kashiwagi (柏木 優麻 Kashiwagi Yūma?)
- Voiced by: Sawa Ishige (Japanese), Serena Varghese (English)
- Yūma and Yūna Kashiwagi are identical twins, but Yūma has the more outgoing personality. When the twins are called together, she is almost always the one to speak up first that they are indeed seperate people and should be called on differently. Despite this, Miyuki and Rei don't see why they should try to tell them apart which further angers Yūma. She and her twin are interested in fashion and dressing up, but when her twin auditions or performs for anything, Yūma enjoys secretly using her pen to write large and clearly visible characters on Yūna's forehead for good luck. Often Yūna is disqualified from whatever she was auditioning for because of this. Yūma defends that this is not done in spite but in love though it takes some persuading of Yūna to make her believe it. Whatever her intentions may be, it is never clearly explained, at least in the anime, which it is. Yūma always ties her hair on the left side of her head with a blue ribbon and wears knee socks of the same color.
- Both she and her sister are in the Drama Club and are in charge of making most of the costumes, some of which they wear to class in some episodes.
- Yūna Kashiwagi (柏木 優奈 Kashiwagi Yūna?)
- Voiced by: Sawa Ishige (Japanese), Serena Varghese (English)
- Yūna is the second Kashiwagi twin and, in sharp contrast to her sister, is very introverted and soft-spoken. She is often the victim of Yūma's pranks and usually goes along with all of her plans. However, due to her personality and penchant to easily get embarrassed, she doesn't always do what Yūma requests of her, like in one episode where she was to model some new clothes along with Yūma but wouldn't, saying it was too embarrassing. They both get annoyed when Miyuki calls on either of them as "Kashiwagi twins" as if they are one person, though it is usually her sister that speaks up on their behalf. Yūna ties her hair tied on the right side of her head with a red ribbon and wears similarly colored stockings.
- Yuzuko Kurusu (来栖 柚子 Kurusu Yuzuko?)
- Voiced by: Asuka Nakase (Japanese), Kim-Ly Nguyen (English)
- Yuzuko was initially seen donning costumes left and right, most notably the rooster costume that made frequent brief appearances in the earlier episodes, and is a member of the Intelligence Club, the president of which is a black cat. The English explanation and statistics say that she is number 002, although her costume and Japanese explanation clearly say that she is number 003. This confusing contradition is never cleared up because Hibiki always calls upon Akira and Yuzuko together. Only in episode 16 are the two of them referenced separately; Hibiki cradles Yuzuko and calls her "003". From this, it is clear that the English explanation was in error.
- Along with the two other members of the Intelligence Club, Hibiki and Akira, she randomly follows other students. The only person who uses the club's talents seems to be Rebecca. In later episodes, Yuzuko is best known for her membership in the Movie Club and for her frequent encounters with Akane Serizawa of the Drama Club. When they are dressed up in costumes from their respective clubs, and don't know who they are, they fight since the Movie Club and the Drama Club are apparently natural enemies. However, when not in costume, they are very good friends and like to hang out together, both unaware of the clubs each is in.
[edit] Supporting characters (Class 1-B)
- Saotome (早乙女 Saotome?)
- Voiced by: Eiji Hanawa (Japanese), John Gremillion (English)
- Saotome is the homeroom teacher for class 1-B and is also the physical education teacher. He is often highly energetic and enthusiastic, but due to this he also often makes a scene in front of his students. He is almost never seen without his jersey. Rebecca once teased him about the fact that "it must be great to be a PE teacher and see high school girls in their gym uniforms all the time" trying to imply some other side of Saotome's personality, though this is never confirmed.
- Suzune Shiratori (白鳥 鈴音 Shiratori Suzune?)
- Voiced by: Ryo Hirohashi (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)
- Suzune is a tall, athletic girl and the best friend of Otome Akiyama. Suzune's favorite hobby is to put Otome in a hold and press on a spot on her head, saying that this will keep Otome, who is very sensitive about her short stature, from growing taller, though instead of hitting the pressure point to stunt her growth, always hits the pressure point to induce diarrhea. When she is angry or annoyed her hand mysteriously becomes larger and she lets loose a devastating "chop" on an unsuspecting character who is always left incapacitated afterwards. This furthers the fact that she is a very strong girl even though it doesn't look it at first.
- Later in the anime series she shows a talent for making hand puppets depicting chibi forms of some of the character, herself included.
- Otome Akiyama (秋山 乙女 Akiyama Otome?)
- Voiced by: Tsugumi Higasayama (Japanese), Cynthia Martinez (English)
- Otome is very athletic, especially known for her track and field abilities. Her short height becomes a running joke in the series but Suzune is the one that teases her about it most of the time. In fact, she hasn't grown an inch since she was in junior high school, which when she makes this comment, would have been about nine months. She even comes to Becky late in the series asking for help in this field, but Becky can't help her. Also, she has a very foul mouth and is often disrespectful to her superiors, especially Saotome, refusing to refer to him as "sensei" (先生? meaning "teacher").
- Hibiki Watanuki (綿貫 響 Watanuki Hibiki?)
- Voiced by: Chieko Higuchi
- Hibiki is the manager of the school council Intelligence Club and is constantly assuming undercover activities. She always carries a camcorder to record school events with her two subbordinates Akira and Yuzuko, especially those concerning Becky. When doing this, she will often change her mind about what to report on, always wanting to find a better "scoop". She considers Rei to be her rival.
- Yankee (ヤンキー Yankī?)
- Voiced by: Eiji Hanawa (Japanese), Andrew Love (English)
- Yankee usually makes very brief appearances, portrayed as a nerdy, fat character. He hates physical education class and frequently skips that class. He also frequently adds "dot com" to everything he says (for example, "He's totally lost it, dot com.") "Yankee" means "two-bit gangster" in Japanese. In a few times in the anime, he is shown with a strange purple snake coming out of his mouth which even speaks in one episode.
- According to the "Official Guidebook" sold in Japan, Zoola is a girl, though she looks like a macho black guy. Because she is from some foreign country, her Japanese is not so fluent. She sometimes appears with a curious costume inspired from the classic manga of Yasuzi Tanioka, saying "Asa nanoyo" (朝ナノヨ!? literally meaning, "Morning comes!").
- Itō (伊藤?)
- Not much is known or revealed about this character in the animated series. She wears the standard Peach Moon uniform and her face is drawn differently than the other characters in that she has a bulbous nose, fat lips and pitch black eyes. Multiple Itō's are often used to represent crowds of people or the other members of class 1-B.
- It is shown in one scene in the anime where she possibly died and was reborn after several cats started to feast on her corpse, not unlike that of Catwoman.
[edit] Supporting characters (Class 1-D)
- Jijii (ジジイ Jijī?)
- Voiced by: Hiroshi Otake (Japanese), Andy McAvin (English)
- Jijii is the homeroom teacher of class 1-D. He always has an armband on his left arm that has different text every time it's shown, the text being anything from the title of the episode to an adage. He is surprisingly lively for his old age and is seen as strange by his students, but the feeling is actually mutual. "Jijii" (爺?) is used to address a grandfather or an old man in Japanese. He is known for using different "scare tactics" in order to keep his class in order, the first of which was his promise to stand by his students' beds if they were to skip class.
- Misao Nanjo (南条 操 Nanjō Misao?)
- Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese), Sasha Paysinger (English)
- Misao is an animal-loving, energetic girl who frequently loses her exotic pets. Her pet collection is extensive and contains strange animals such as snakes and alligators. Her idiosyncrasy is giving her pets bland names, frequently simple wordplays on the pet's natural name. She frequently enlists Tsurugi Inugami's help in finding her pets when she loses any of them. Additionally, her pets are used to fill in all the other empty seats in class 1-D, so in effect, this classroom takes on the feel more like a zoo than a classroom, something that is noted later in the anime series.
- Tsurugi Inugami (犬神 つるぎ Inugami Tsurugi?)
- Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)
- Tsurugi often helps Misao find her lost pets. He has a serious, conservative demeanor and gets top grades in his class. His "caring for lost children" stat in the image refers to episode seven, in which he returns Ichijo's missing little sister. He has a German grandfather and bears a striking resemblence to Satoshi Hiwatari from D.N.Angel. Tsurugi often criticizes Misao for her odd like in animals though ends up helping her nonetheless.
- Akane Serizawa (芹沢 茜 Serizawa Akane?)
- Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)
- Akane is an enthused student who likes to over-dramatize things. She is a member of the drama club and enjoys donning costumes and tricking her more slow-witted schoolmates, such as Himeko. The sharper characters, usually Rei or Miyako, see through her schemes easily but usually allow her to continue for a while for entertainment. She is notable for her nekomimi (cat ear) hair (she has a normal set of ears hidden under her hair) and her vicious humour — she frequently imitates Jason Voorhees and wears a hand puppet of him to scare the others. The costume of hers that reoccurs the most in the anime is a robot named Roboko, literally meaning "Robot girl".
- One notable episode shows her in a dramatic fight against Yuzuko Kurusu of the Movie Club as Godzilla VS. Robot. Akane and Yuzuko are a canon "yuri" pair in the manga, and the anime gives a small indication of their developing relationship. Serizawa is also considered a pseudo-main character; she has so much interaction with the main cast from class 1-C that she often appears with them or being included in the production of official merchandise such as figurines that don't include the other main characters.
- Miyuki Sawashiro, her Japanese voice actress, also plays another blue-haired, four-eared, costume-loving girl with a wicked sense of humour in the Galaxy Angel series as Mint Blancmanche.
- Akira Miyata (宮田 晶 Miyata Akira?)
- Voiced by: Ryoko Shintani (Japanese), Jessica Boone (English)
- Akira has a reputation for being clumsy because she frequently trips and falls. She is very sensitive about her clumsiness, but she is, ironically, also a member of the Intelligence Club. Her only redeeming characteristic is her razor buzz haircut. Her English explanation and statistics state that she is number 003, and her costume and Japanese explanation state that she is 002. This confusing contradition is never cleared up because Akira and Yuzuko are always called upon by Hibiki together. Only in episode 16 do we hear Hibiki refer to Akira as "002" when speaking to her alone on the phone. From this, it is clear that the English explanation was in error. Due to her clumsiness, Akira is frequently referred to by Inugami as "Dojiko", which usually translates to a stereotypical clumsy girl. Akira is also seen and talks about her membership in the Falling Club, an obvious joke about her clumsiness.
- Behoimi (ベホイミ?)
- Voiced by: Mai Kadowaki (Japanese), Rozie Curtis (English)
- Behoimi describes herself as a "healing type magical girl" and wears an eye-grabbing pink costume to prove it. Her character is a reference to Dragon Quest, but she never actually shows any magic powers. She claims that she can only use her powers when no one is watching, because if she was observed using them, she would have to return to the land of magic. During the time she is dressed like this she has a energetic personality akin to the magical girl stereotype found in anime and manga and is only seen down in spirits in episode 8. After coming to terms that she cannot continue this way of life any longer, she completely changes her appearance by donning glasses, dying her hair black, tying it in pigtails, and dressing normally. However, she makes another small apperance in her magical girl attire in episodes 15 and 25. Behoimi has an extensive knowledge of medicine, toxicology, and explosives.
- After the change to normalcy, her personality is much more reserved and serious, a stark contrast to what was seen of her prior to the change. She still holds a penchant to help people out, but knows that a normal girl such as her cannot make much of a different most of the time.
- Media (メディア?)
- Voiced by: Miyu Matsuki
- Media, who enrolls in class 1-D after her first appearance in episode nine as an archaeologist's assistant, is sent to Peach Moon to keep an eye on Becky. She possesses superhuman strength and is always cheerful. She resembles Ichijo in that she does the seemingly impossible, but she does this much less frequently than Ichijo. She and Behoimi have a past together that they vaguely allude to but never explain fully. Media is nearly always smiling and never "opens" her eyes, except for one instance in episode nine. Also, she is almost never seen without wearing her trademark maid outfit.
- In later episodes, she attempts to persuade Behoimi to take on her role as the "healing magical girl" once more, even in one episode putting a smaller version of her magic wand in her hand, trying to invoke a response, but Behoimi does not fall victim to her suggestions.
[edit] Other supporting characters
- Kami-sama (神様? literally "God")
- Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (Japanese), Tommy Drake (English)
- Kami-sama is a cat-like creature that often stays inside a vending machine to warm the drinks to "body temperature"; he often uses mysterious powers to play tricks on Mesousa, such as dropping him into a hole appearing out of nowhere. As his catchphrase, he almost always ends his sentences with the phrase "-desu nya" and additionally, "nya" is Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound a cat makes; the Western equivalent of "meow". In each episode he is shown with his fur a different color and in the final episode there is a scene where he is constantly changing colors. When he is unable to watch the vending machines, he often will ask others to step in for him until his return; Mesousa did this in one episode in the anime. Kami-sama has a younger brother that looks nearly identical to him who appears once late in the anime.
- The Aliens
- Voiced by: Mugihito (Japanese), Rob Mungle (English) (Captain)
- Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese), Mike MacRae (English) (Subordinate)
- The Aliens are a group of aliens who observe Becky from orbit of the Earth. They are often involved in numerous silly antics and occasionally break the 4th wall, but seem to be adhere to a code of non-interference with the humans. Ichijo and her sister are the only ones who know about them. Their ship looks almost exactly like an upside down Musai from Mobile Suit Gundam, and the characters randomly transform into (or have their reflections in the ship turn into) characters from Star Trek, including the alien captain as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. This is a reference to the fact that Mugihito voiced Picard in the Japanese dub of Star Trek.
- At points, the bridge of their ship is an exact replica of the Enterprise-D's. For a time, Ichijo was involved romantically with the captain, but eventually their code of non-interference forced them to end their relationship. The aliens seem to be modeled slightly after Zeon's mobile suits, a trait that is further shown by the command antenna on the captain's head.
- Raccoon Dog (タヌキ Tanuki?)
- Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino
- Raccoon Dog sometimes transforms[1] into students of Peach Moon academy, sometimes amusing them or annoying them. She appeared in episode 14 for the first time, as a potential meal caught by Ichijo. Later, she became a member of the Intelligence Club as "004" and managed to complete their mission of finding Mesousa. When she transforms, she is not able to do this completely, which leaves all but her face looking like what she intended to tranform into. However, there was one instance in the anime where she made a complete transformation of Behoimi, though it is never explained why she was the only one this could happen to.
- Giant Salamander (オオサンショウウオ Ōsanshō'uo?)
- Japanese seiyū: Sayaka Ohara, Asuka Nakase, Ai Nonaka, Sawa Ishige, Ryoko Shintani, Chieko Higuchi and Chiwa Saitō
- Giant Salamander first appeared in episode 5, caught from a river by Ichijo to fill a spot as another camp member. He ends his sentences with "kero". Sometimes he is eaten by someone, and his seiyū and body color changes every time after that.
- Michael (ミカエル Mikaeru?)
- Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai
- Michael is a fat man in armor resembling "Sub-zero" from The Running Man. He calls himself an archangel and lives in Himeko's dream as a guard. He attacked Peach Moon students wandering in Himeko's dream in episode 12. He also appeared in episode 25 as a messenger from "Ichijo-Matsuri".
[edit] Media
This series first began as a manga which was later spawned several drama CDs and was also adapted into an anime.
[edit] Manga
The manga version of the series, simply titled Pani Poni was first serialized in the manga magazine G Fantasy published by Square Enix, in November 2000. Currently, nine volumes have been released in Japan.
[edit] Drama CDs
Pani Poni has also created ten drama CDs based on the series, the first of which was released in Japan on February 27, 2004. While the first seven came before the anime, and thus were based on the manga version, the last three released have been based on the anime adaptation.
[edit] Anime
The Pani Poni Dash! anime aired in Japan between July 3, 2005 and December 25, 2005 and contained 26 episodes in total. The anime has since been licensed by United States based company ADV Films.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Official website
- (Japanese) Official website (TV Tokyo)
- (Japanese) Official website (Square-Enix)
- (Japanese) Official site of original writer (comics)
- Official ADV Films website
- Pani Poni Dash! (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- PANIPONI Wiki – Summary site of animation and original comic written by fans.
- PPD Wiki – English wiki with explanations of the references and puns in Pani Poni Dash
