Powerpuff Girls Z

Powerpuff Girls Z (Japanese: 出ましたっ!パワパフガールズZ, Hepburn: Demashita! Pawapafu Gāruzu Zetto, lit. They're Here! Powerpuff Girls Z), known in some other countries as PPGZ for short, is a Japanese magical girl anime series directed by Megumu Ishiguro, based on the American animated television series The Powerpuff Girls. The anime is co-produced by Cartoon Network Japan and Aniplex and was animated and produced by Toei Animation, featuring character design by Miho Shimogasa (Cutie Honey Flash, Ultra Maniac). As production occurred in Japan, Craig McCracken, the original creator of The Powerpuff Girls, was not directly involved with the project.

The 52-episode series aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007. It also aired on AT-X^[1] and on Cartoon Network in Japan.^[2] An English-dubbed version produced by The Ocean Group aired by Cartoon Network Philippines on their Boomerang channel in 2008. A manga of the same name by Shiho Komiyuno ran in Shueisha's Ribon magazine between July 2006 and June 2007.

Plot

The series takes place in New Townsville (Tokyo City in the original Japanese version). In order to stop an ecological disaster, Professor Utonium's son, Ken Kitzawa Utonium, uses Chemical Z, a new form of the Professor's original substance, Chemical X, to destroy a giant glacier. However, the impact of Chemical Z causes several black and white rays of light to appear in the skies above New Townsville. Three ordinary girls, Momoko, Miyako, and Kaoru, are engulfed in white lights and become Hyper Blossom, Rolling Bubbles, and Powered Buttercup, respectively. However, the numerous black lights cause others to turn to the side of evil, so the Powerpuff Girls Z must use their super powers to protect New Townsville from villains such as Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins and Him. Much to their surprise, Mojo Jojo somehow creates 3 boys to destroy the Powerpuff Girls Z. Soon to be called the Rowdyruff Boys, Brick, Boomer and Butch threaten them as Mojo Jojo created them.

Characters

The Powerpuff Girls Z

Blossom is the self-proclaimed leader of The Powerpuff Girls Z. She was the first to be hit with the white light and the leader of the trio. Her main weapon is a Yo-Yo. She is very ditzy and is obsessed with boys and sweets. She is known as a "hero maniac" and is obsessed with helping others. Despite her ditsy nature, she can be quite clever and can come up with plans when the time comes. The reason why she is called "Hyper" Blossom is because she is totally sweet addicted and loves boys.

Bubbles is part of The Powerpuff Girls Z. Her weapon is a giant bubble wand. She is too quite ditsy and often seems to not completely understand her powers. She is known for being the sweet-heart of the school whom is always receiving love-notes from boys. She is more mature and calm than the other girls, but like her original counterpart, can be angered when provoked. She is extremely polite and loves shopping. She still has her stuffed Octi (her American counterpart has the same stuffed doll with the same name). She is very innocent, kind, gentle, and has a deep love for animals. She can also communicate with animals just like her original counterpart. The reason why she is called "Rolling" Bubbles is because she is easy to go with, like she has a rolling personality.

Buttercup is part of The Powerpuff Girls Z and is the third member. She is much like her original counterpart in personality. She likes to skateboard and hates wearing skirts (and she even got a cold from wearing her PPGZ uniform.) She was the last to be hit by the white light. She loves sports and is very athletic at school. She initially dislikes her teammates because they are very "girly" and only joins due to the power she has achieved. Unlike Bubbles, she does not use honorifics (which in New Townsville is very rude.) She makes the occasional reference to the original series by saying "We save the day BEFORE bedtime! "The reason why she is called "Powered" Buttercup is because she is very boy like and strong through the television show.

Other Protagonists Present in Both Adaptions

Professor Utonium (ユートニウム博士, Yūtoniumu-Hakase) is very similar to his counterpart in the original series. Outside of his family name Kitazawa, his real name is never revealed. He appears to work for the Mayor. He creates various inventions, including Chemical X which was adapted by his son Ken. He is a gentle father to his son and treats the PPGZ like daughters (which is similar to the original series whereas the original Powerpuff Girls are his American counterpart's daughters in the original series).

The Mayor of New Townsville (or just Mr. Mayor) is not as dumb as his counterpart original version but is still shown to be quite dim-witted. He is a lot more normal looking being of normal height and having no monocle or top hat. He is not very childish like his counterpart.

Miss Bellum (ミス・ベラム, Misu Beramu) has blonde hair in the anime adaption. Her hair does not cover her face, rather she'll usually hold a tablet computer with red lips on it in front of her face. She still does the majority of the Mayor's work and is the brains of the operation. It is noted several times in the series that she is very attractive, including Fuzzy Lumpkins developing a crush on her.

Miss Keane (キーン先生, Kīn-sensei) is very pretty and is loved by her male students, although the female students don't like her as much, especially Princess Morbucks/ Himeko Shirogane. Miss Keane, like the original, is kind and incredibly patient. Mojo Jojo gets a crush on her and tries very much to win her attention. When the girls' every attempt gets thwarted by Miss Keane not letting them go to the nurse so they don't miss class time, they try telling Miss Keane that they are the PPGZ, but she does not believe them, telling them to go to the nurse because there's something wrong with their heads.

PPGZ Exclusive Protagonists

Ken Utonium (北沢ケン, Kitazawa Ken) is the Professor's son and he is a young genius. He invented Chemical Z. He is home schooled by his father and is much more educated than the girls, although he is only 8. He sees the girls as older sisters. The girls once tried to act as his mother, due to him not having a loving female figure in his life.

Poochi/ Peach (ピーチ, Pīchi) is Ken's pet robotic dog. After being hit by the white light, he gained the ability to talk and gained intelligence. His cry prompts the girls' transformation and can regenerate their powers when drained. He can also sniff out those affected by Chemical Z and Him's black particles. However, the scent can be masked by cosmetics (as with Sedusa's makeup). It is possible that Poochi was partially inspired by the Talking Dog from the American version of "Powerpuff Girls." And it is a role of Powerpuff Girls Z's "Hotline."

Kasey/Kuriko Akatsutsumi (赤堤 くりこ Akatsutsumi Kuriko) is Blossom's eight-year-old sister, Kasey is just as hyper and addicted to the sentai/hero genre as her older sister if not more. She is very independent and likes to pretend she is a heroine. She admires the Powerpuff Girls Z and wishes to be a heroine just like them (she tried to defeat Mojo Jojo's robot with a broom as an act to be Kasey/Kuriko Cyber Pink). She likes Bubbles and Buttercup, but she does not really like Blossom (who is actually her sister). She is also always looking for new ways to annoy her sister. She appears to be quite interested in Ken, especially when she realizes that he knows her sister. Similarly, Ken seems interested in her because of her resemblance to Blossom. She also has a resemblance to Bullet the Squirrel.

Ooedo Chakichaki Girls (Momo,Omiya,Okou), known as the Goodenough Girls X in the English dub, are three girls who protected 18th Century Townsville from Him, as revealed in episode 30 (Townsville eventually became New Townsville).

Villains

Mojo Jojo has different origins in the anime. He was not the Professor's lab assistant, rather he was an ordinary zoo monkey hit with the black light ray. He was often made fun of by humans and decided to seek revenge on humanity once hit with the light. He is physically more powerful than the original version of the character, able to fly and lay a dozen punches at one time. This version of Mojo frequently displays an immature attitude and makes the most childish flaws throughout his plans. While the original Mojo was portrayed as one of the most competent and genuinely threatening villains in the series, the anime version is more of a rather inept comic relief and is seen by the Powerpuff Girls as more of an annoying nuisance than a dangerous enemy. The anime Mojo also does not repeat himself redundantly as the original Mojo does, instead in the Japanese version, ending most sentences with saying Mojo. He never became a part of the beat-alls (Mojo, Fuzzy, Princess, HIM)

Fuzzy Lumpkins is very similar in both personality and appearance to his American counterpart. He is obsessed with his property and claims other things that don't belong to him as his own. He is very strong. Fuzzy has a huge crush on Miss Bellum. He can be nice to those showing him praise (such as those listening to him playing his banjo.)

Him is the most powerful enemy of the series, and it is safe to say that he is the main antagonist. Him is an evil being saved, nothing more and nothing less than chaos itself. His biggest weakness is the cold. In ancient times, Him was dedicated to bring about the destruction of a small town, however, was defeated by Goodenough Girls X (Ooedo Chakichaki Girls) who took advantage of Him's weakness (cold) to lock him up and take part of their evil and save the mountains. But when Ken ended up destroying that mountain (below) Z-rays were scattered all around New Townsville, and consequently, over producing and giving birth to the many villains in the city. A black Z lightning struck Him and woke him. It is also known that he released a strange dust that was responsible for producing some villains. the Powerpuff Girls Z have finally turned HIM into a tiny Doll and his molecules was aged into dust into the outer space by white light ray. Unlike his American counterpart, Him dresses like a jester instead of an effeminate devil. Also, his voice isn't an echoing falsetto.

Himeko Shirogane is Princess Morebucks's counterpart, but in the English Version, she is known as Princess Morbucks herself. She does not necessarily want to be a Powerpuff Girl, but she wishes to show them up due to them stealing her spot-light. Her cat's scream when she is envious can trigger her transformation. Her transformation includes her usual pigtails being ripped off, rubber boots, and her star eyes become somewhat like hypnosis screens. When she is returned to normal, she cannot remember what happened while she was evil. Her desires to be noticed comes from her lack of attention at home. Her parents pay more attention to her older sister, Miko (Duchess in English), who is better than her at everything.

The Gangreen Gang are remotely similar to the ones in the American version, with the exception of Weevil (Lil' Arturo's counterpart) and Ivy (Snake) being girls, and how Ace lost his New York accent entirely. Unlike Lil' Arturo, Weevil does not have a Mexican accent. Also, everyone has different names: Bobby Green (Ace), Ivy (Snake), Weevil (Lil' Arturo), Lunk (Grubber) and Big Boy (Big Billy.)

The Amoeba Boys are also very much like the American ones with the exception of one of them being a girl. They are smaller in size and don't act like mobsters.

Sedusa was originally a sweet, shy girl named Annie/Sakurako. She has a crush on a boy that frequents her shop, but felt like she wasn't as pretty as Miss Bellum (whom she thought he liked.) While leaving to give Miss Bellum the lipstick she dropped, the black light hit her, turning her into the alter ego, Sedusa. Sedusa stole items such as make-up, jewelry and clothes that she thought would make her more attractive. Sedusa can take the form of anyone using cosmetics. She can also use her hair like tentacles like her American counterpart. Annie transforms into Sedusa when anxious and wearing lipstick. Annie has no memory of Sedusa's actions.

The Rowdyruff Boys Z were created by Mojo to destroy the PPGZ. They were made by the girls' and Mojo's DNA. Unlike their American counterparts, they weren't resurrected by Him. They almost defeated the PPGZ by being extremely gross and disrespectful. Their actions include throwing gross objects (boogers, ear-wax and smelly socks) at the girls, peeing on the city, mooning the girls and lifting their skirts. They are very rude to Mojo, much to his dismay because he considers them his sons. When they want to suck up to him, then they act like loving sons. The Rowdyruff Boys Z are also defeated with kisses.

PPGZ Exclusives

Duchess Morebucks is the older sister of Princess. She designed a dress which had all the capabilities of the weapons of Powerpuff Girls Z, and plans to outshine them. Her talent and praise amongst her family is often a source of jealousy for Himeko, often being the cause for her transformations. Her uniform was based on Bunny from the original cartoon.

Takaaki (Cody) (タカアキ, Takaaki) is a young boy who has spent most of his life in a hospital with an illness and was Bubbles' first crush, having met when they were kids. When he is hit by the dark light, he transforms into a werewolf-like monster and escapes, though does not attempt to harm others. Eventually he is found by Bubbles and returned to his normal form.

Sapphire is Princess' pet cat. Her screams can trigger the transformation, mostly because Princess kept on squeezing her tail. She pretended to take interest in Poochi/Peach to gather information about the Powerpuff Girls Z when they left him alone to take Princess home and to present one of the Professor's inventions (no dogs allowed) to an institute.

Media

Anime

The anime series, produced by Aniplex and Cartoon Network Japan and animated by Toei Animation, aired on TV Tokyo between August 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007. An English-language version produced by Ocean Productions was later broadcast in the Philippines on Boomerang, though has yet to be aired in the United States or the United Kingdom.

Music

The series uses four pieces of theme music, two opening themes and four ending themes. In the English dub, an original song is used for the opening theme whilst the end credits used shortened versions of the Japanese opening and ending themes. The official soundtrack was released in Japan on June 27, 2007. The soundtrack consists of TV size versions of most of the series theme songs, the series score by composers Taichi Master and Hiroshi Nakamura presented in the form of a party mix, and character songs performed by Emiri Katō, Nami Miyahara and Machiko Kawana. The album's booklet features concept art for all the characters.

Opening themes

1. "Kibō no Kakera" (希望のカケラ, Pieces of Hope) by Nana Kitade (eps 1-26)
2. "Jig THE Upper" (ジグTHEアッパー, Jigu THE Appā) by Hoi Festa (eps 27-52)

Ending themes

1. "Mayonaka no Doa" (真夜中のドア, Door of Midnight) by Liu Yi Fei (eps 1-13)
2. "LOOK" by HALCALI (eps 14-26)
3. "Tōri Ame" (通り雨, Rain that Passes by) by Wiz-US (eps 27-39)
4. "Himawari" (ひまわり, Sunflower) by Hearts Grow (eps 40-52)

Manga

A manga adaptation, illustrated by Shiho Komiyuno, was published in Shueisha's Ribon magazine between July 2006 and June 2007.

Video game

A video game entitled Game de Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z (ゲームで出ましたっ！ パワパフ ガールズ Z, Gēmu de Demashita! Pawāpafu Gāruzu Zetto) was developed by Infinity and published by Bandai for the Nintendo DS on June 12, 2007.^[3] It has board-game style gameplay similar to Mario Party and features Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup competing with Mojo Jojo to get to the center of the board, competing in minigames along the way.

See also

• The Powerpuff Girls

References

External links

• Powerpuff Girls Z Cartoon Network (Philippines)
• Powerpuff Girls Z Cartoon Network (Canada)
• Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z at TV Tokyo
• Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z at Toei Animation
• Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z at Aniplex
• Soundtrack release information at Aniplex
• Taichi Master official website
• Game de Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z at Bandai
• Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia