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Pupipo! is a surprising find, as I don’t think I’ve found a show this short that has such a robust and fully-realized narrative structure as this one. It only takes about an hour to finish, and yet it has all the qualities which shows three or four times its length can boast of. There’s solid worldbuilding, compelling characterization, and a story which gracefully arcs through every necessary moment and point, culminating in a shocking yet satisfying ending. Having said this, I must explicitly reiterate how great the story is here. A good story is the foundation of any anime, and I believe it had the potential to just keep going. Indeed, while its brevity made it a convenient watch, it could easily have gone for much longer, and I wish it did, which is this show’s only serious drawback. It could have played on a monster-of-the-week scenario by encountering different ghosts and having the main trio (yes I’m counting Pupipo) overcome different challenges and grow closer as a result. Then the courting phase of the romance could have had its own whole arc, maybe add Yuuki as another member of the gang for season 2, really letting these relationships simmer and build up to the ending we already got here. Regardless of its length, it manages to excel and meet every expectation perfectly, and I honestly don’t know how they did it. There are huge, multi-season epics with endings that aren’t half as satisfying and poetic as the ending to this little anime from 2013.
The art meets all standards of quality, with a fun art direction that really expresses itself in the general character design, as well as the visual language of the spirit world. Though, the static illustrations in the ED look like absolute garbage, and I have no clue why they look so bad. Of course, they’re only on screen for maybe 15 or 20 seconds an episode, so it’s not that much of a problem.
The sound was satisfactory, with fun and engaging voice work throughout.
The characters rise to the occasion of the world they’re in, and every one of them manages to occupy comedic and dramatic moments in equal measure, my favorites being Azuma and Himeji. Overall, Pupipo! is an anime with shocking depth, construction, and emotional intelligence. I was expecting this to be baseline at best, but instead I was met with a strong, high-quality show that I can enthusiastically recommend.
