The last part of a story or a joke that explains the meaning of what happened previously which intends to provoke laughter or thought.
A pun on “panchira” that literally means panty shot in Japanese which the show wears on its sleeve.
Or both?
There are anime that follow the bait and switch formula, and this is one of them.
[Story]
- “That sounds like something from a video game.”
With a tagline so ridiculous that says “If he sees underwear, humanity will be destroyed!?” this must be the one of those typical ecchi harems, right? There’s much more to Punchline than by solely judging it from the divisive premise.
...
(Hint: The protagonist isn’t the cause why the world is destroyed when he sees panties, he fails to save it if he sees too much).
Original story by MAGES, distilled into a 12 episode anime by Kotaro Uchikoshi (Ever17, Zero Escape). While there are many anime that model after MMORPGs, Punchline’s structure is pulled out from adventure games.
We follow the odyssey of a boy named Yuta Iridatsu. On December 21st, he is taken hostage on a hijacked bus by a terrorist group. He catches a glimpse of panties which gives him a power up, and tackles the bad guy. But sees panties again, and passes out. After that, he is zapped by a yellow light in the sky. He wakes up in his apartment, confused, and finds out that he’s separated from his own body. The only help he receives is from a crazy ghost cat, named Chiranosuke, that explains his situation and abilities. Yuta uses his newfound powers to protect his house mates from danger.
Unfortunately, because of Yuta’s idiosyncratic condition, he must avoid seeing panties twice, or else he loses consciousness, and as a spirit, time jumps to a point when an impending giant asteroid destroys Earth. What is going on exactly? For now, I’ll just quote the crazy talking cat, “You don’t have to over think it.”
I won’t say more and make sense of what Punchline is, because it will involve spoilers. The story really is about the daily lives of the Korai House residents in a span of 10 days, and how they fight fate. It doesn’t make much sense in the convoluted first half of the series, still it bids full attention as it won’t really spoonfeed the details later. How the scattered puzzle pieces form together is a satisfying experience, the way it executes its story resembles Baccano! or Durarara!!
[Visuals]
- “Huh? I’m in my apartment!?”
MAPPA delivers in aesthetics. As an anime that is damn casual with it’s panty shots, they even have a legit good Lingerie Designer, Uemura Hiromi for that. The panties shown all over the show are pretty, and you can easily tell which girl it is based on the type they wear. Punchline can easily be mistaken as an anime from Gainax or Trigger because of the art style, it’s not surprising because the staff really are from Gainax. It’s the second time for Uemura Yutaka as a director. I like how Punchline is visually pleasing with its use of color pallete and expressive faces, but I’ll complain about the weak direction of two setup episodes because it felt like watching filler even if they weren’t. The colorful 3d CG interior of the Korai House designed by Mai Yoneyama is gorgeous, each room subtly shows a lot about the character who lives in it without outright telling us. Shota Iwasaki (Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill) is one skilled character designer. Every character is iconic and varied in appearance, no sameface, different sizes, skin types, cute outfits, and no boring school uniforms. My favorite is Yuta’s androgynous design, who knew?
[Sound]
- “The song earlier was a sign that there’s an emergency!”
The sound effects are cool and full of impact, like the sound when a character activates Uber and the punchy sounds that give every hit in fights more intense. The OP composed by Hyadain (Nichijou, Baka to Test) is catchy, that pumps you up when the show starts, and the ED is very cute. The voice cast are all talents (except the Engrish parts, the thick Japanese accent was too obvious), every single character’s voice stands out, and sounded like they had fun with their roles with all the swapping shenanigans. Marina Inoue’s performance as Yuta is brilliant. Tetsuya Komuro did a good job with the OST, tracks I particularly like are [Strange Juice Action] when the heroine kicks ass, [Destruction] pulls my heart strings, and [Pressure] when shit starts to go down.
[Character]
- “I can’t believe Narugino is Strange Juice.”
Punchline has an interesting cast of characters. Will only introduce the tenants here and avoid spoiler characters.
Yuta, a boy that has a panty fetish. He’s one of the most unusual protagonists I ever met (you know what I mean). A big fan of Seas May. His life is turned upside-down after someone stole his body. Yuta cares deeply for people close to him, has an altruistic outlook, but tends to make rash actions. He starts of clueless, and a passive observer (he’s a spirit!) as he tries to figure out what’s happened to him. He gets more active later on when he gets used to his powers after the midpoint shift of the series, and eventually leads to form a secret organization called “Justice Punch,” that strives to save the world from destruction.
The ally of justice, Mikatan. She is a country bumpkin from Tsugaru but hides it so she can be member of the idol group Seas May. Despite her a dark past, she’s the most cheerful and just wants everyone to get along, though a bit of a ditz. Mikatan may be sweet and nice, but she’s not soft. Harm the weak or her friends and you’ll get a beatdown. Mikatan is actually the famous superhero called “Strange Juice” but keeps that a secret. Has a crush on Yuta. Does not like turtles.
Meika, a genius at anything mechanical, but bad at athletic things like handstands. The landlady of the Korai House, which she inherited from her grandpa. She’s protective of the apartment and doesn’t allow anyone who damages the property. Meika likes to troll the tenants for giggles. She possesses vast intelligence on certain topics. She names her fancy inventions with -maker at the end. Meika is actually Strange Juice’s assistant, called “Pumpkin Chair”.
A hikkikomori and otaku, Ito. Ito is actually the legendary mech-FPS-gamer called “Torahachiro.” She’s enrolled in an elite private all-girls school but became a NEET because of a traumatic event. Ito’s dad is an education board member and disowned her once once she stopped going to school. She’s blunt, and can get aggressive. Ito prefers to spend most of her time playing online games. She loves to keep animals.
Rabura, a single 29 year old woman who’s desperate to find a lover. She’s from a family of skilled exorcists and works as a spirit medium, but ironically thinks she’s no good at it, and doesn’t believe in the supernatural herself. Owns a pet turtle. She ships Mikatan and Yuta. She’s also Ito’s big cousin and is not happy of her not going to school. Rabura gets pissed whenever Meika comments about her search for men.
The pet sidekick, Chiranosuke. It enjoys cracking jokes, drinking alcohol and not being helpful to Yuta. The talking cat’s origins remain a mystery.
The characters are a dynamic bunch. However, 12 episodes just weren’t enough to give them equal development.
[Overall]
- “To a supremely happy and peaceful future.”
The humor of show is more subjective than usual due to several puns that are lost in translation. Personally, the juvenile silliness leaves me a smile often. The panty nonsense doesn’t bother me because it’s presented in an exaggerated tongue-in-cheek way, like it’s not intended to titillate, and it’s mostly plot relevant too. The anime knows when it needs to be quirky and funny, it also knows when it needs to be dead serious. The show is also rewatchable, there’s a lot of detail that might not be noticed the first time, or a second or third time.
If you need to avoid panties like our hero Yuta for some reason or allergic to constant mood whiplashes, then stay away at all costs. If you don’t mind a fun screwy sci-fi mystery, then this anime is surely not to miss. I recommend a marathon watch. Maybe you can figure out the punchline.
Jun 30, 2015
Punch Line
(Anime)
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The last part of a story or a joke that explains the meaning of what happened previously which intends to provoke laughter or thought.
A pun on “panchira” that literally means panty shot in Japanese which the show wears on its sleeve. Or both? There are anime that follow the bait and switch formula, and this is one of them. [Story] - “That sounds like something from a video game.” With a tagline so ridiculous that says “If he sees underwear, humanity will be destroyed!?” this must be the one of those typical ecchi harems, right? There’s much more to Punchline than by solely judging it from the divisive premise. ... |
