Story (1)
The story begins with a brother Utsutsu and his sister Yume coming home from school. Yume is infected with the Pupa virus that turns her into a monster that can only survive by eating human flesh. Her brother also has the virus that allows him to instantly heal.
A woman named Maria captures the siblings for research. She persuades Utsutsu to forever act as food for Yume so she won't have to kill. This leads to gory scenes of watching Yume eat her brother. Also there are a few scenes of Utsutsu being tortured. While he can quickly heal, it does nothing to rid him of the pain. I personally found both of these instances uncomfortable to watch.
There is no real plot. The story itself is confusing. Later in the anime it is told through the mother that Yume has always eaten raw animals. It's never revealed if this actually happened, or a part of her hallucinations. There are lots of subplots that never go anywhere, such as Maria randomly being pregnant that is never mentioned again. The reason for the virus is never explained, nor why Maria is so interested in researching these kids.
Then the last episode is in no way relevant to the rest of the story.
Mostly I feel that this is just gory and disturbing just to be gory and disturbing. What more there is no message in this anime.
While the episodes are extremely short, I finished watching the series confused as to what actually happened.
Characters (1)
All of the characters in this anime are unlikable and have no development.
I think Utsutsu was meant to be portrayed as literally self-sacrificing. He endures all this suffering without ever fighting back, or searching for another alternative. Other than caring for his sister, nothing is known about the guy. He has no personality, a very bland character.
Yume is unlikable as possible. She greedily feasts on her brother and never once thanks him or shows remorse for hurting him or killing the other characters in this story.
Every other character in Pupa has no personality and pretty much nothing is known about them. It is hard to relate to a character when the audience is given no information on them.
Art (4)
The art is not bad.
I like the use of the color red here. It's interesting how the backgrounds and clothing are neutral which better displays the red butterflies, the blood, and what I assume is Utsutsu's birthmark.
Something I feel is clever is the use of the teddy bears. Several times violent scenes are shown through the teddy bears that represent a particular character. For instance, the Yume teddy is shown eating stuffing from the Utsutsu teddy. Had all the gruesome moments been shown with the stuffed animals, I feel it would have been much more effective.
Sound (4)
The sound is decent. I don't have any complaints or compliments here.
Enjoyment (1)
This anime was uncomfortable to watch. It's disturbing and had it not been so short, I would not have been able to finish it. It was a horrible experience and I will never watch this anime again.
Conclusion (1)
The story is confusing. There is no plot. It's gruesome, disturbing, and uncomfortable to watch. The characters are unlikable and have no development. The art is okay, but not enough to make up for everything else.
I would not recommend this to anyone.
1/10
