Summer Raws
Every now and then I watch anime raw, to avoid incidents like when I go to karaoke bars and sing Japanese songs only to find myself trip over the many chinese characters(damn Japs, always stealing stuff from others–will rant later) wondering what the hell I’ve been doing for the last 6 months in the classroom other than eating sushi and trying to catch flies with chopsticks.
And so my hunt for unsubtitled anime led me to two "gems" in the rough: Moetan and Potemayo.
Moetan
Moetan is interesting. And by interesting, I mean that anyone who can correctly guess the age and grade in school of the main character should henceforth be prohibited from locations within 2000ft of parks, playgrounds, schools, and any other areas where self-respecting children gather. (The gathering places of the non self-respecting children are AOK, though. Go enjoy yourself there. Say hi to little Amy for me.)
Our Heroin(e), Nijihara Inku
Nijihara Inku (Ink?) is a crybaby and rather clumsy girl who is always being mistaken for an elementary school student when in reality she’s in her final year in high school preparing for college exams. Oh yes, that’s right: COLLEGE.
Her hobbies include falling down for no apparent reason, getting the best grades in her class, and drooling over her crush, Tezuka Nao, while fantasizing about the two of them getting into the same college and doing god-knows-what after. The only problem is, Nao really sucks at English, making it unlikely that with his bad English grades that he’ll actually get into college at all, let alone a college of Ink’s standards.
After hearing about Nao’s bad English skills, Ink goes to a nearby temple on her way home to pray for him, only to look up to see a duck falling from the sky. The duck later reveals himself to be a sorceror from the magical world named Axsheldart Elbias? (who knows…) claiming that she should become a magical girl to save those in trouble. Ink, thinking of Nao’s bad English grades, agrees to transform into a magical girl, where under a disguise she’ll be able to tutor Nao to help get his grades up. Elbias then gives her a cellphone that helps her transform.
And so, Ink’s magical alter ego "Magical Teacher Pastel Ink" is born, aiding those who need help boosting their English with the help of her perverted "once human, now duck" magician, Ah-chan (His new nickname, replacing Axsheldart Elbias which is much too hard to say ).
Potemayo
The overarching question after watching the first 2 eps : What exactly IS Potemayo?
Moriyama Sunao wakes up one morning to see a strange half-cat, half human, chibi sort of creature inside his fridge. For the tiny creature, it’s love at first sight.
He closes the door in its face.
While eating breakfast, he looks down at the potato and mayonnaise bread he’s eating and comes up with a hybrid name for it–Potemayo. He takes Potemayo to school with him, arousing the attention of his teacher and his classmates. Potemayo, just like a baby, can’t talk, but makes sounds. Just what IS Potemayo?
While Sunao is just your average guy who loves bread and looks good in skirts, he is also loved by, and is completely oblivious to the affections of Mikan, his classmate. Potemayo becomes jealous, ready to lay the smackdown on Mikan, who has yet to realize Potemayo’s malicious intent. The love triangle begins.
More questions of Potemayo’s origins rise again with the appearance of another Potemayo-like organism. It too comes out of Sunao’s fridge, but this one carries a scythe and is very violent to the point where it doesn’t hesitate to shoot anyone that comes across it’s path with laserbeams.
It then takes a liking to Mikan’s friend, Kyo, or more specifically, a liking to Kyo’s homemade chocolate balls. It likes them so much it leaves a present on Kyo’s desk the next day:
A dead pig.
Kyo then decides to name it Guchuko, after the chocolate balls it likes so much.
Impressions:
The irony of all of this is that while I like Potemayo more, I understand Moetan better. Potemayo, as an anime, is so random and hilarious, and the scene where Potemayo jumps on Mikan’s face to keep her away from Sunao had me rolling.
MANGA