Pupa's story is a bizarre and gruesome one, both in content and execution. It chronicles the twisted, cannibalistic relationship between Utsutsu and his younger sister Yume, who is turning into a monster. See, Yume was infected with the mysterious Pupa virus, which periodically transforms her into a horrific monstrosity that will eat any living thing she comes across. To appease the beast, Utsutsu offers up his own flesh to Yume, only to find out he is also infected with the Pupa virus, which gives him regeneration; allowing him to offer up his body for Yume to devour time and time again.
Grotesque as the story might be, there is a lot of potential here. For Utsutsu to continuously allow himself to suffer such physical pain for Yume's sake indicates an uncomfortably strong attachment to his sister, even an unhealthy one. This is in line with the fetishistic brother-sister relationships which have become prominent in anime, but with a more sinister edge given the show's content. The premise almost acts as a subversion of the sister-fetish trend, with the relationship being physically self-destructive for Utsutsu, and likely mentally damaging for both of them. This is a corrosive relationship that sees sibling love go to dark and thoroughly unhealthy extremes yet a horrifyingly necessary one for Yume. Flashbacks reveal that Utsutsu's obsessive over-protectiveness of his sister stems from a troubled family life and parental abuse, adding more unsavory implications to the equation.
It is a shame, then, that the show is only able to gloss over these issues rather than fully fleshing them out. This is very much because of the 4-minute running time of the episodes. This small amount of time forces us, the viewers, to see the situation through a keyhole rather than allow us to see the whole picture. Episode 6 most clearly exemplifies the show's potential to subvert the sister-fetish trope, with Yume eating Utsutsu portrayed in a way that is discomfortingly sexual. This scene, however, takes up the entire 4-minutes of the episode; four agonizingly slow and uncomfortable minutes. There isn't any room in an episode to be contextualize the themes of the show, so it becomes simply gratuitous. This is incredibly damaging to the show; without effective development of the themes of parental abuse and a damaging borderline incestuous sibling relationship, all that remains is shallow shock factor with questionable value. That the final episode is completely unnecessary, not to mention completely tone dissident from the rest of the show, is a testament to this.
The restricting time constraints also rob the show's plot of coherence. There are dozens of unanswered questions and hanging plot threads. The titular Pupa virus never gets a definitive explanation, it is never made clear how the virus functions outside of what is required by the premise, or even how it came into existence. A mysterious woman called Maria, who knows more about the Pupa virus than the two protagonists, gets almost no screen-time in comparison. A secret organization(?) is introduced late in the series with no clear motivation besides apparently trying to destroy the Pupa virus, somehow. Events in the plot have no clear flow, and unfold with little cohesion or connection to one another. The story overall is a clustered mess of various plot points that gets entangled in itself, and ultimately loses sight of where it is going.
Director Tomomi Mochizuki's (Ocean Waves, House of Five Leaves) visual direction and sound design are actually a saving grace for the show, despite the obviously low production values. Sure, the character designs aren't strikingly unique, and the rampant censorship does hurt the series. However, the washed-out watercolor of the world these characters inhabit gives the visuals a haunting quality. Mochizuki direction is sometimes like a hazy fever dream, scenes of horror unfold like waking nightmares. The use of teddy bears to enact horrific events is also surprisingly effective. The orchestral and piano driven score is filled with dissidence, and even the few tracks that aren't heavily dissident are quite melancholy. This works well to create a haunting atmosphere. The munching noises Yume makes while feasting on her brother are also appropriately nasty. Still, production values as low as the ones for this show are a hindrance not even the best of direction can hide, and Mochizuki's direction is only just competent. There are some images that fail to look the least bit frightening, and perhaps even comical, because of the dismal budget behind them. Most notably, a scene where Yume is transforming into her monster form in order to unleash her wrath on soldiers that are torturing her brother and holding the siblings captive; her glowing eyes and inhuman appendages just look silly. An abundance of stills are used, and tracks of music are revisited over and over again.
I don't think Pupa is quite the unwatchable failure that its detractors claim it to be. However, that isn't to say the show is good or even successful, it is not. It does have an intriguing premise, some haunting imagery, and a decent grasp on atmosphere. Unfortunately, those are the extents of Pupa's accomplishments, because nearly every other aspect is a mess. This really is a disaster of production, courtesy of the infamous Studio Deen, which won't be getting any boosts in reputation from this somewhat ambitious but very much failed project. Which is just a shame, because Pupa could have very well been a delightfully nasty tale of the macabre.
