Dai Mahou Touge

Dai Mahou Touge or Magical Witch Punie-chan reminded me right off the bat of another series, Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. That wasn’t a good sign considering how much I hated that show. However Punie is something Dokuro-chan wasn’t, a truly funny and entertaining dark comedy/parody.

The premise of Punie-chan is pretty basic. Punie is a princess from another world sent to earth for a year by her mother for "training". It is unclear what this training is beyond defending herself against an onslaught of characters out to kill her, including her own siblings. The series is episodic in nature and have very little to do with each ... other from a story standpoint. While the plot is really nonexistent what this show does so well is the humor. It is crude, violent, and decidedly dark but very funny. Fans of black comedy and people who like seeing the role reversal of cute moe characters behaving out of their norms will love this series.

Characters in this show are the strongest point. Punie shines as the sweet and adorable moe princess with a dark evil side a mile wide. She’s not particularly likable but I couldn’t help but find her amusing. She doesn’t treat anyone very well, such as using her friends to spring traps meant for her, stealing tests, and ruining love lives. Still she manages to be a very funny character. The supporting cast is very strong as well. Punie has a number of hilarious rivals who she must defeat. The end result for them is a lot of pain and broken bones. Everyone is sure to have a favorite or two from this group.

The art and animation are very good. The color palette is vibrant and character models I think are very fitting for their personalities. I found the mix of styles, from the super cutesy looking yet dark magical world to Anego and her gang of tough girls. This anime shows you can have violent and bloody humor without the excessive and disturbing amount of gore. The cast is wonderfully acted and all the bones are broken with disturbingly real sounding effects. The OP/EN songs are excellent and fit the tone of the show perfectly.

Overall I really enjoyed this show and found it to be one of the best dark comedies I have seen. Those who loved the aforementioned Dokuro-chan will like this, but I think those of us who were turned off by its gore and cruelty but still like this kind of humor will find Punie-chan much easier to stomach.

Dark, twisted, tainted and through'n-through madness. If you are not a fan of dark humour and twisted jokes you will not enjoy this series.

But, if you do enjoy stories and gags which are just completely wrong, in every little way, then you will love this show, because it delivers encore upon encore of wretched, bizarre and just plain evil jokes and enjoyment. There is no overall plot really, the story revolves around the heroine, Punie Tanako, who is sent to the human world from her home-world of "Magic Land", to study and grow stronger so that she can eventually inherit the title of Queen. And ... that's about it, the rest of the show is just glimpses of how the little girl deals with everyday life in the human world. So if you're hoping for an epic plot, you won't find it here.

What you will find however is great, great and once more, great characters. Punie is just the epitome of awesome in every possible way. Not only is she adorable and cute, but she's also so gruesomely dark and sinister, sadistic and cruel and just blatantly evil that you'll fall in love with her at first notice. This is aided when her murderous mascot (who very much would like to cut her throat) appears and adds even another layer of comedic madness to the show. You'll get to see Punie abuse her friends, mercilessly insult them without a second thought or concern for their feelings and of course, get to see her trademark wrestling/submission moves as she breaks joints and limbs recurringly.

The opening-theme and animation is also simply wonderful. The cheery tune and peppy beat makes for a nice contrast as we get to see the little hellraiser dance around while the background is set on fire, while smiling ever so innocently, almost laughing I would imagine.

The sound is clear and the voice-acting is fits in perfectly. You'll even find a certain audio-based gag in the episode where Anego (one of Punie's "friends") go on a date with a boy, if you listen close enough that is. The voices fit the characters very well, and as usual the seiyus have put emotion and effort into their characters, making them very enjoyable to listen to.

In conclusion, faint of heart should not watch this, and people who value their childhood dreams about fairy tales and magical kingdoms should also probably stay away. But everyone else, who likes to laugh, should definetely, without a doubt, watch this as soon as they can.

Dai Mahou Touge is an hilarious, parodic series from the original manga adaptation. To start things off, it has no actual plot other than what is being stated in the synopsis, it features some hilarious parodic moments from a few famous movies and series and its generally a short series consisting of 8 episodes in total. (2 episodes of 12mins each in one).

Considering the series is somewhat plotless, I'm gonna talk a bit about Tanaka Punie. Well to start it off, she really is the queen wannabe from her magical land considering she has a candy stick as a magical weapon and her well ... known, all famous 'submission' move where it either kills the person and the person comes back to life the next day or paralyzes the person in which making us think they are dead. But really, none of us can hate her considering she brings us serious laughter and joyful entertainment, weather she is in a happy or in a cold-blooded killing mood.

Each episode are just merely daily school life activities where she gets accustomed to the living on Earth. While it may seem the events look ordinary, the parody events plays a major role. A few examples of these parody events includes famous cut scenes from the Initial D series and the Alien and Deer Hunter movies. If you still think this is an original comedy, well you are in for a treat.

In conclusion it's for all comedy lovers or for anyone in general.

"Lyrical Tokarev, Kill Them ALL!"

I've decided that I like magical girl series. Nah, not the cutesy, childish stuff. The super-saccharine, gleeful murderous type. Split personalities, bloody messes, broken bones, and ultraviolence; now that's what I want to see!

Well, it turns out there's basically a whole genre devoted to this dark, twisted inversion of magical girls, and Punie is top of the stack.

Punie Tanaka is a girl sent by her mother, the queen of Magical Land, to study on Earth for a year in order to... hone her "queenly" skills. These apparently consist of: Cheating, ruining lives, destruction, sending your entire school to the ... hospital multiple times, and foiling near constant attempts on your life as the next-in-line to the throne by your pet, classmates, bitter rivals, unhinged monsters, and even your cute little moe blob twin sisters. Punie don't take no crap from nobody, and if anyone gives her any lip, she puts them in a submission hold and breaks their legs in seven places!

I think she went to the Ice T school of the streets: TALK SH!T, GET SHOT!!

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Anyways, Punie is a very short (eight 13m episodes combined into four OVAs), rough and tough romp through the mean streets, and is it ever fun. If you enjoy dark humor, movie and tv parodies, and bone cracking destruction- this will drop a bomb on the mark.

Punie has some great movie references, including a whole segment ripping off Apocalypse Now's famous helicopter scene, complete with Flight of the Valkyries! Punie, rather than allowing the class to learn that she's too stupid to do 8th grade math, calls in a nuclear strike on the school that will eliminate everything in a 100 million mile radius... only to be assisted by Paya and an Air Force pilot flying an Apache helicopter, who attack and destroy the classroom, including killing most of the students! This gives Punie just enough time to erase her dying friend Tetsuko's name off her paper, write hers in, and pass!

Some other quickies:
Paya, in bouts with his PTSD and subsequent split personalities, has flashbacks to Vietnam with a pair of Full Metal Jacket and Platoon references.

Another episode features an extended Initial D parody starring Anego, which is just plain hilarious.

It's moments like these that every episode has that keep the laughs rolling, whether Punie is breaking every bone in her opponent's body, or keeping up her false, bubbly personality while meting out sweet vengeance on her attackers. It's all very episodic, and sometimes characters even die, but they're sure to come back (probably a cruel spell cast by Punie to bring them back to life and prevent the easy way out through death.)


I have to say that the English dub is easily twice as funny as the Japanese, as well, with Veronica Taylor as Punie and Dan Green as Paya. Ms. Taylor absolutely nails the cutesy facade Punie puts up and at the same time sounds absolutely murderous when she gets serious. The additions to the script include more pop culture references, for added hilarity.

Overall, a very funny, if too brief series. Definitely an underrated gem.

Story: 5 (Mediocre)
The story is simple. Punie (the main character) is sent to Earth by her parents (more willingly by her mother) for one year before she is eligible to become the next queen of Magical Land. To use her time on Earth wisely, she gets enrolled in a school. While there, she meets a few enemies with whom she encounters in battle over the course of the show. Note that this anime is a parody, so the story is supposed to be terrible.


Art: 6 (Fair)
Colours are nice, Character designs are decent, and the animation isn't bad, but sometimes the frames go by a tad ... fast in a lot of scenes, making it a little awkward to watch.


Sound: 4 (Decent)
What can I say? It's average.
The OP and ED are both nothing to call home about, and the ambient tracks played throughout the show are really average, though they do fit their respective scenes.


Characters: 3 (Poor)
Unfortunately, the only good character design is Punie herself, but at least she has some sort of depth to her (and by depth I mean a split personality on opposite poles).
Although a few side characters get some backstory, so that's something.


Enjoyment: 8 (Very Good)
The majority of enjoyment comes from the comedic aspects of the show (though the fight scenes are surprisingly well done). This is where the show shines the brightest; from silly jokes to crazy situations to random characters with even more unexpected behaviours, Dai Mahou Touge is one funny anime!

Overall: 6 (Fair)
If you are looking for a short and hilarious anime and nothing more, then I urge you to watch this. It'll make you laugh for sure :)
Any other reason and it's not really worth it.

There's kind of a weird juxtaposition needed to fully enjoy the series of 8 12 minute segments arranged in four episodes. To find it really funny you have to be pretty familiar with magical girl anime but, at the same time, you have to really dislike magical girl anime. If, as I do, you fit this category, you're really gonna like this one. Or, if you're a fan of Hayate no Gotoku you'll probably get a kick out of this one, also.

Well, "Magical Witch Punie-chan" isn't a typical comedy/parody anime.
Or not completly typical, at least. The setting is, as usual, a run-off-the-mill high school the only distinction of which is Punie-chan, a witch sent from the Magical Kingdom to Earth to allow her to inherit the throne. Punie isn't really discreet about her unearthly abilities, which include not only magic, but also knowledge of martial arts (and stuff).
The whole humour of the anime revolves around violence and fighting. They're different from the ones seen in "Dokuro-chan" series, though, since Punie deals with her opponents in a completly different way. What's the whole point in this anime ... is watching some generic characters actually fight each other hand to hand. Additionaly there's a slight amount of more typical anime humour, like, ehm, boobie jokes, for instance.
The characters are, as you may've guessed, archetypical. Some try, however, to break the mould and by them I mean Punie's sisters and Paya, who have a dark side to their cute appearance, but only for comedic purpouse. Character development is non-existent, on the other hand, the numer of episodes doesn't allow much time for it.
To sum up, "Magical witch Punie-chan" would be quite an average anime but for it's humour, which really made it worth to watch. If you disagree, well, it's only about 80 minutes and I'm sure there are longer series you'd despise much more.

Okay I originally decided to watch this series because I thought it would be funny because it's a magic, shounen, comedy. I thought it might be something like beat you up angel except without all of the violence...I was wrong. At times it was funny but most of the time I spent anticipating something funny which is not what you should be doing when your watching a comedy. I congratulate the creators they did find a way to make violence funny. So let's beat through the skull and get to the brain of this review.
Story- Well it was kind of lacking in story realistically. Basically ... we have our magical girl who is to become the new ruler of magic land but before she can do that she must for some reason go to the real world to learn how to be a proper ruler. The real twist is that everybody is trying to assassinate her including her own twin sisters and faithful mascot but because the key to being a great ruler is "submission" she always comes out on top and defeats who stands in her way.
Art- Well the art wasn't that bad actually I mean yeah there was still some improvement to be done but it was enough to get me through the series.
Sound- I thought the sound was good if not a little...you might just want to watch the series to understand; voice acting was good though
Character- Okay this is the one part where this series excelled characters were kind of unique and each one brought a clever aspect of humor with their appearance. Although nobody ever truly did some development as a character its okay because this is a comedy series and there isn't much relevance in character development in a comedy series.
Enjoyment- I enjoyed this series but mostly because I really was just trying to get a few cheap laughs. My favorite episode of course is when she meets and obtains her mascot.
Overall- This anime lacks much of what you would need if your a dead on comedy anime fan but if your okay with a few guaranteed cheap laughs and some genuine comedy every once in a while tied in with some generic plots this is your choice of anime.

I've reviewed quite a few magical girl parody series before. Usually pretty bad like Bokusatsu Tenshi or Puni Puni Poemii. Now, I'm delving into that field again with Dai Mahou Tenge, a four episode OVA from Diomedea. That's right, the studio behind Ika Musume & Akuma no Riddle. The OVA started getting released in early 2006 and didn't finish until late 2008. Which seems excessive, but isn't that unusual for an OVA. Let's take a look. 

Story:

We open with a young girl being told that she must spend a year on Earth. Much to her father's distress. He's worried that our environment won't be hospitable for humans ... that long even though we easily have twenty years yet. Actually, he's just an over-protective dad. But with that put aside, Punie travels to Earth for the year and starts attending an ordinary high school. All while dealing with a bunch of zany, magic-related incidents. 

The biggest issue with the series is that some of the elements feel under-utilised. One example is Paya, Punie's mascot character. We find out shortly after he's introduced that he wants her dead but it never really comes up again in the OVA. He pretty much sides with her whenever something goes down. There's also Elise, a rival magic girl. She fights Punie once and pretty much fucks off to the background after that. Maybe these elements get more use in the manga this is based off of, but they feel pretty pointless here. 

I will give the series credit in that the basis of its comedy is pretty damn strong. Basically, they take a common magical girl or slice of life trope and they ask "what would happen if you combined this with this bad-natured magical girl?" Which leads to some pretty funny moments. The series is also good at subverting expectations, even with its own reoccurring gags. And, unlike a trashy series like Dokuro-chan, this series knows how to use physical humour. It makes it violent enough to have impact but not so violent as to be unpleasant. And the violence isn't based around our heroine being abusive to a significant other, it's more about her responding to threats and attacks from others in a comedic fashion. 

Characters:

The characters are, very much, a comedic cast. They all have quirks and fairly basic personalities designed more for comedic possibilities than for complexity. And that's fine. I've always maintained that a comedy doesn't need deep or complex characters. It just needs a cast that's funny. Which this cast is. The only real issue is with characters like Elise who are allowed to be funny once and with characters like Tetsuko who are just kind of there. 

Art:

The anime looks pretty good. The character designs are well thought out. The animation is smooth. There are some great visual gags. And the physical humour hits that perfect blend of controlled brutality.

Sound:

The cast is really good. Satou Rina does a stellar job of switching from cutesy to deadly serious. With Paya they gave him two actors since his transition involves a switch from a very high-pitched feminine voice to a very deep masculine one, but both Saito Chiwa & Nakata Jouji do very well. I also give a lot of credit to Kawasumi Ayako & Shitaya Noriko for their performances. Takagi Ryuuji's music is great. Which isn't surprising since he also worked on Dokuro-chan, where the only strong element was the music & on Muteki Kanban Musume, which was good in every respect. 

Ho-yay:

About the extent of it is Punie commenting positively on the appearances of a few other girls. She never really shows any interest in dating one of them though. 

Areas of Improvement:

I'd have more content with Elise of leave her out. Having her do one thing and then stay to the background feels like you're getting build up but no pay off. 
More attempts on Punie's life by Paya. Honestly, I'd have this little mascot character taking advantage of situations, like the whole exam thing, to try and end Punie only to have them fail without her even noticing. I think you could get some really funny moments out of it. 
Let Tetsuko do something. She's mostly there to have shit happen to her and occasionally she reacts to a situation. But in that regard Anego does a lot more of both than her. It would help if her "friendship" with Punie was played up a little more or she got some unique role within the series.

Final Thoughts:

Most short magical girl parody series I've seen have been rubbish. This one is definitely an exception. It may have some aspects that could be better explored or could have more done with them,  and may very well in the manga, but it's still an enjoyable series with some strong gags. Overall, I give it a 7/10. 

I came into possession of this DVD after purchasing a grab bag at an anime convention (LPT: the vast majority of the content in con grab bags are inventory they need to get rid of because nobody wants it). It had been sitting on my DVD shelf for three years before I'd even touched it.

Fast forward to this past Saturday, when my WiFi went out, unable to be fixed until Tuesday morning. What better way to catch up on the DVDs that I'd acquired but never watched?

My expectations were super low going in-- I mean it was a grab bag DVD! But, I was pleasantly ... surprised. I haven't seen many parodies of magical girl shows, so I don't have much to go off of, but I like the dichotomy of Punie's cutesy stereotypical mahou shoujo image and her hard-shelled badass alter ego.

There's no English dub of this, so there's a lot of high-pitched (read: annoying) Japanese seiyuu trying their damnedest to sound so vewwy pwecious desu OwO, but I think a lot of this is part of the parody. Hell, even Punie and Paya's voices change drastically when they're in battle mode, with Paya transforming from a perky, bubbly mascot stereotype to a gruff baritone.

Very little fanservice as well, which is a plus in my book.

Not a masterpiece, but a cute little hidden gem of a palate cleanser for perhaps a heavier show.

No more. No more soothing, healing, friendship, love, kindness and compassion. No more oh-so-cute girls and their perfect parents, no more pink and fluffy familiars, utopian magical kingdoms and noble rivals. All these things won't provide you with power to reign.

Be rational. The most efficient way to overcome an obstacle and to make sure that it will not bother you again is to destroy it. Crush your enemies, for the sound of their bones breaking is so sweet and pleasant. Abuse your friends, for they are simple pawns and weaklings. Make your allies do the impossible, and when they fail, just dispassionately watch them commit ... suicide. A king is not strong enough to rule the land? Dethrone this worthless loser. Siblings are trying to overthrow you? Make them regret that decision. Nobody should even think of crossing your path. Ordnung, YOUR Ordnung über alles. The ends justify the means. And if people for some reason try to compete with you fair and square, just thin out their ranks Takeda-style and then finish them off Nobunaga-style. Use might or magic to make everybody submit, and, to spice things up a little, mention "Tokarev" during your transformation, which was the name of the pistol favored by NKVD commissars, who have had a lot of experience dealing with cowards and traitors.

This is the way of the strong, this is the way of the victor, this is the way of the princess.

An unbelievably underrated series is what I'd say about this anime. It's dark,funny,twisted,bloody and ridiculous yet it's good. I think it'd be much nicer if this series receives more recognition but then when people watch they might be turned off with the contents as it's not suitable for anyone or they end up comparing this series with another one which I don't need to mention because it's obvious.

Story: 9 - Tanaka Punie is going to be the next queen of magical land but for that to happen she has to spend time on earth for a year while living a 'normal' girl's life. But a ... lot of people are attempting to take her life for various reasons. What prevents this anime from turning into a shoujo,romance,adventure story would be one major reason and that is that our heroine may look all sweet and vulnerable towards danger but... in reality if something displeases her then her unhesitant,cruel and sadistic nature is revealed and she makes a bloody mess while smiling. This story could have turned into just another shoujo but the way how this anime prevents that from happening is what i'm pleased with despite it having no consistant or major story.

Art: 8 - Though the art style wasn't that good due to the anime being made during 2006 but the action scenes,traps and Punie's transformation make up for that so it's still satisfactory. And the character designs were done well as they suited the character's personalities.

Sound: 7 - There was nothing particularly memorable about the soundtrack but it wasn't bad or anything so it's fine.

Character: 9 - The characters were one of the major points about his story which changed it's flow from a typical story to a unique mess. Tanaka Punie would be one of the best characters i've seen as despite her having a double nature she still won't come into the category of a Tsundere girl which is one thing I like about her as she has no regrets. Tanaka's mascot Paya would be another memorable character as he was really funny while trying to kill Tanaka. The rest of the characters were portrayed well but I think Anego became somewhat of a sidekick rather than a main character but its still fine because it was still funny.

Enjoment: 9 - I enjoyed this series a lot due to it's different nature regarding magical girls but this series isn't for everyone.

People who liked: ( or didn't like ) Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-Chan,Excel Saga,Detroit Metal City,Binbougami Ga!,Murder Princess,Gintama,Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica ( I mentioned this one despite it having the total opposite contents because they both show a different attitude towards magical girls where a normal magical girl anime are cutesy and typical, the difference is that Dai Mahou Shoujo is a parody and nonsensical anime whereas Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica is a dead serious anime which is why i'm recommending this anime ) will like this anime.

Overall: 9 - Dai Mahou Shoujo is one of the most enjoyable and surprisingly pleasing anime I have watched but I won't recommend it to those who don't like twisted humour or gore.