Pupa - Reviews

Pupa is up there with Mars of Destruction for anime that are so bad they're hilarious. This will be a short review because there's not much to say, and it's all too easy to describe just why this anime is so terrible.

Plot. What plot? A girl turns into a monster due to some sort of virus, but she has some sort of conscience left and is guilty about all the murder's she is committing. Not an original idea, but with a really great execution it could be a bearable show. Thing is, nothing happens in this show that could be considered close to good execution. That's not an exaggeration: some sort of idea about a Pupa virus is brought up, but the entire story turns out to be a slideshow of people being tortured, eaten, and killed.

Oh, and "~<3 Onii-Chan ~<3"  "~<3 Oh! Onii-Chan! Oh! ~<3". 

Animation is not the worst I've seen, but pretty bad most of the time. Music is hilariously out of place, having, at some points, some sort of carnival theme going as the sister eats her brother. The sounds of her eating flesh and organs was the one thing that made me a little grossed out, but that's it: all the endless blood and gore was (I will keep repeating it), laughably bad.

No ideas in this anime are developed - every line and action by the characters is predictable, cliched,  and amusingly bad (especially the family backstory). There is so much gore that the anime seems to be riding on shock value alone to have any sort of impact. And the characters themselves are no better. The single motivation for brother and sister is: "I must help sister, I must protect her." "I must help brother, I must protect him." This becomes some sort of violent incest fetish when the sister is eating her brother's flesh, and is up there with SAO as one the worst representations of the issue of incest. And, uh, I guess there are some other characters, too, but they somehow have even less motivation to do anything than the brother and sister!

Near the end there is actually dialogue saying something along the lines of: "One person alone is helpless. But two people can support each other and work together!" They really threw this elementary school moral into their "gory and mature anime" to finish it? I may have let out an audible giggle at that point.

...I don't even want to talk about the last episode. If the series hadn't already sealed itself a 0.5 star rating, that last pile of vomit did the trick.

Watch it. Like Mars of Destruction, like (real life film) Plan 9, watch it to see just how bad anime can be.

I wouldn't recommend this anime to anyone at all. Inmy opinion it's really bad delivered with no development in the plot. The good thing is that each episode lasts around 5 minutes so you can watch a few on your own and decide if you like it or not.

Story

There is a reason why most short-length episode anime are either slice of life and/or comedies.  It's because slice of life and comedy are fairly easy to pull off in shorter episodes.  However, more serious, darker, and more complicated stories are much harder to pull off in such a short time span.  Pupa is a prime example as to why darker, more complicated stories shouldn't be adapted into short-length episode series.

Pupa's story is fairly interesting, but it suffers from many major flaws.  The biggest flaw is that the pacing is all over the place.  Some episodes are major info dumps that cram as much information as they can in 4 minutes.  Other episodes consist mostly (or in one case, entirely) of the sister eating the brother.  It also doesn't help that the narrative jumps around (especially if you are not watching the entire series in one session).  There are also a few plot holes that are not adressed and several plot threads that are unresolved.  Finally, there is the last episode that has a completly diffrent tone compared to the rest of the series, suddenly introduces characters that weren't in the other episodes, and basically leaves the series without a satisfying conclusion (or really any conclusion, since the last episode seems to take place before the rest of the series).

Animation 

If there is one good thing about Pupa, it's that the animation is pretty good (especially for a short length series).  That said, I do suggest that if you watch this show that you watch the uncensored version.  Why?  Because, the censorship in the censored version is way over the top (and not very consistant either).

Sound

I personally like the opening song and find it catchy, but it may not appeal to everyone's tastes.  I also like the ending song.  The backgroud music, on the other hand, ranged from okay to forgettable.  Then, there was the ill-fitting music that played during the aforementioned "sister eating the brother" episode.

Characters

Some of the characters do have potential, but unfortunately the short episode lengths prevent them from getting the amount of character development that they need.  Also, the little sister can come across as a little annoying at times.  The borderline incestuous undertones in the relationship between the brother and sister can also be a turn off for some people (though it personally didn't bother me much if at all).

Overall

This series had potential, but sadly failed to live up to it's potential.  I think this series could've been better if it was a full-length episode series instead of a short-length episode series.  Or if the manga didn't have enough material for a full-length series, then they should've made it into a OVA series (with 3 to 6 episodes) or into a movie (or two).  The short episode format simply doesn't suit Pupa.   

While I was watching it ... I get sick ... not because it's ugly/bad but it's show you in a good way how cannibalism looks like XD (neither tokyo ghoul made it to this level ... I saw up to S2 ep 7 TG) anyway my vote it's low only cause it was too much ... crude/piping (almost for me) and yeah to be a 4 min per episode you can see them kinda fast and ... the story it's not a pearl

The fuck is- I mean story: The fuck is this shit? This is like some... incestual, cannibal, gore bonerpalooza if you enjoy that kind of shit. Otherwise, it's actually kinda all that and then it gets fucked up and shit. It's packed full of gore or some ungodly unholy abomination against the very concept and notion of nature itself if one watches the censored version, if I am correct. Basically, I think the sister is a monster and the brother gets eaten but is then uneaten because he has some magical powers? Seriously, I give very little shits about this.

I am actually rewatching it for the review and it gets FUCKED UP AS FUCK MAAAAAAN SOME REALLY FUCKED UP SHIT THAT IS FUCKING INSANO AND SHIT BECAUSE THE FUCK AM I WATCHING HOLY FUCK MAN THIS SHIT IS FUCKING HARDFUCKCORE

But I- I digress, shit man. This is some fucked up shit. Shit man. Shit.

Shit, what the fuck man. Fuck this was a terrible idea to rewatch and review at the same time. What the fuck is the point of this show?

Seriously girl, just drink his blood and lick it off his bod instead of- what the fuck man.

The fuck man, she is just eating his flesh and letting all the blood spill and mess up the floor and everything. Shit man, are we cannibalistic people or savages? Hannibal Lector has more manners than this fucking barbarian. Her lack of manners sickens me. And that bed? Those stains are NEVER coming out.

What the fuck. WHAT THE FUCK. FUCK MAN SHIT GETS MORE FUCKED UP AS IT GOES ON MAN. I WANT TO TELL YOU BUT IT ISN'T IN THE SYNOPSIS SO IT WOULD SPOIL.

OK, I think I'm sane again. Shit does get kinda goofy but holy shit she is a messy eater. I cannot let that go man. Causes a mess wherever she goes.

And I'm sure Yamamoto is dead bro. Don't worry, this spoils nothing.

Its goofiness is easily surpassed by it's fucked upness. And gore. And blood.

Last episode is some great shit man. ....holy shit this final episode was the best shit about it. I mean, holy shit I was fucking entranced by it. Holy shit that final episode kicked ass.

Animation: Uh... erg... it's... actually nice. It's not complete utter shit from a rhino ass. You would think a short 3-minute 12 episode series would have shit animation, which is a right way to think but it had style, artistic flair and some real... awkward... boners? I mean, there is tits but... a catch considering it's a show like this. Awkward boners aside, the animation is still nice. And the stuff with the bears is a nice touch. Puts some whimsy in all it's crimes against humanity schtick.

Sound: I was actually finished with this review and slapping numbers down like dominos until I realized that I didn't talk about sound. Evil douche dad sounds like what an evil douche dad would sound like in Japanese, other voices are good, music is piano which is nice and OP was good. Eating sounds are what I assume eating flesh right off the bone sounds like and this whimsical cannibal music is just great! That's my shit right there!

And some authentic basketball sounds. Quality stuff.

Characters: Basically, the characters are generally shit or I just don't care. But in particular the parents: The abusive douche father who can go choke on an elephant schlong, the mother who is rightfully (?) paranoid and then things happen... then it gets fucked up. Again.

And something else, a black-haired girl who lacks morality and shit who is stylish as fuck, with some marking

Assistant has taste for wanting to grab some. Btorhter and sister are sympathetic to a fault for having shitfuck lives and pretty much anybody with a speaking role apart from Assistant and questionably Hot Girl is a fucking sack of fucking shitfuck. Emphasized for their fuckshitliness because holy shit they can fucking eat a sack of dicks.

Overall: When it's all said and done: