Now, kiddies, don’t make the same mistake as me. Trust MAL. People know what they’re talking about. Let’s face it, most anime have a score above five, so seeing one at four has got to mean something.
The story itself isn’t so bad, it’s actually relatively good, but that’s all thanks to the original manga. The people making this anime had no sense of story whatsoever. First, 4 minutes per episode is pure trollops. Even RWBY episodes are longer than that. Secondly, there are so many holes that I was left feeling quite lost. Concepts are pulled out of their arses just to vanish into thin air, forgotten.
This anime fulfils it’s role of ‘psychological’ and ‘horror’ to a tee. Normally, I like psychological, horror I guess I can cope with, I mean I didn’t find Another that bad, but this was just horrible. After a few episodes I was left feeling quite distraught and questioned whether I should keep watching.
Thanks to the terrible episode layout, which I shall talk about later, the storyline went kablooey and all over the place. To finish it off, it was also superbly rushed.
I just have to give story a 3. It’s really a shame.
The art of characters wasn’t so terrible, but the art in general was. The scenery was some kind of uneventful watercolour background which may as well have been absent. Some of the shots just plain looked like stills. Basically, they put some - SOME - effort into the characters, and none into anything else. I also think they concentrated a little too much on the gory scenes. Let’s face it - Pupa is graphic, no doubt in my mind, and absolutely not for those of the faint of heart. Maybe not even for me.
Art gets a 4.
Sound was pretty terrible. Whilst the actual quality of it wasn’t so bad, the choices were. Let’s start with the opening/ending themes. The opening theme, even though I still stand by my point of view that it was useless music wasting 30 seconds, it was fitting of the anime. Yet, towards to the end of it, it speeds up dramatically in a way that never ceases to surprise me. It seems as if they cut a four minute song which gradually sped up. The ending theme is so unfitting, and it feels like it was once more a longer song. This time, they don’t even bother to end it properly - it simply fades out, once again catching me by surprise every time.
There are also numerous short violin pieces within the episode itself. I think they’re supposed to be suspenseful but are more like failures. Sometimes, they are unfitting, and other times, they are cut short, much like the other themes of the anime.
Aside from music, the sounds of cries of pain which are predominant in much of the episodes are so well done that I feel sick to the stomach upon hearing them. So much that I actually decided to watch the anime without sound.
I just have to give sound a 2.5.
I’m pretty much in shock about the characters. I can’t even begin to describe them. Sadly, I mean this in a negative way. I don’t know what exactly to say about the older brother - can’t even remember his name. He is sweet in the sense that he’s protective of his younger sister to the point of letting her eat him alive, but sometimes this character trait is so emphasised that it seems to be his only trait, not to mention way overboard. The sister is super weird - she eats her brother, causing him immense pain, as she keeps thinking "Onii-chan, onii-chan…” which is practically a contradiction. I swear sometimes it’s the only word she knows, and I just want to smack her sometimes and yell at her to shut up and perhaps even turn her brain off.
Characters also gets a 2.5, just because I would like to be nice.
I did not enjoy watching this anime at all. Firstly, the episodes are too short, and yet about a minute out of each of them is wasted on the super strange opening and ending. The plot goes wishy washy all over the place, and concepts are introduced only to be forgotten in the next moment. The episodes are so badly planned out as well - most of them spend a whole three minutes showing the sister eating the brother as he cries out in pain. There is a lot of the sister eating people.
I understand that this is supposed to be horror and psychological. That’s why I wanted to watch it. It honestly sounded interesting and I honestly started watching it without prejudice, thinking that surely it mustn’t be all that bad. I’m so sorry to say that I was wrong. It is psychological to the point that it is deeply disturbing, and I find myself shaking. That is just a no.
I would give enjoyment a 1. The thing is that, I did watch the first few episodes in a row. I found it intriguing. That would deserve at least a 2. But once it passed the ninth episode, I honestly questioned whether I should watch any more. I didn’t want to, to be honest, but since I had already come so far, I thought that I might as well finish it. (Note: As of yet, I haven't actually finished it)
I honestly didn’t want to give this such a bad score. I honestly didn’t. But, all I’ve got to say is that if you’re going to make an anime, might as well put in some effort. This was dreadful.
Story: 3/10
Art: 4/10
Sound: 2.5/10
Character: 2.5/10
Enjoyment: 1/10
Overall: 2.6/10 (rounded to a 3)
If you look at my anime list, you’ll see that I tend to give anime good scores. I want to. Sure, I won’t dish out 10s easily (in fact, I don’t believe I ever will) but I’m not harsh either. I’m willing to accept imperfections.
This is truly a new low, which is really a pity. So, take my advice: the cover art for this anime is better than the anime itself. Don’t watch it, save yourself the pain.
