So moe he’s already dead

A little late in joining the summer first impressions is Potemayo, a series of almost zero substance that still manages to deliver superior entertainment.

All pleasantries things aside, Potemayo is about moeblobs. The story thus far has been disjoint and while minor relationships are being created here and there, the series as a whole has no direction or overlying plot. However, Potemayo being devoid of plot is what makes it so enjoyable.

The subjects of attention in Potemayo are these tiny, not exactly animal but far from human moeblobs. No explanation is given as to what they are or what purpose they serve, but they have been appearing more and more frequently, sometimes attached to human masters and sometimes wandering in solitude. Potemayo, pictured above, is one of these creatures and has attached itself to a high school student Morimiya Sunao.

If I were in charge of creating a dictionary entry for “moeblob”, I would put a picture Potemayo beside the it. It serves literally no purpose other than standing there and looking cute, and what’s more, it does so without even needing to speak!

The other Potemayo-like creature that has been introduced in the series so far is Guchiko, who wields a scythe and two laser cannon Kakuna hairclips. While it doesn’t have a master, per se, it spends a lot of its time following Takamimori Kyo, one of Morimiya’s classmates, most of the time in the pursuit of food.

I find Guchiko hilarious because of how blatantly tsundere it comes off, without having a word of dialog. It has an obvious animosity for humans, or for that matter, all living things, often blasting them with her lasers. But takes a liking to Kyo and her splatterballs, offering freshly killed livestock as a sign of thanks.

Despite the main attraction being the moeblobs, the main characters are a great source of lulz too. Morimiya takes the meaning of stoic to a new level, almost nothing phases this guy. A strange creature suddenly appearing in his fridge, Potemayo pissing all over his head, having to wear a cheerleader uniform, seeing his friends get blasted by laser beams, Morimiya faces everything with a deadpan expression and a calm attitude.

And of course the reason why I picked up Potemayo in the first place. Seiyuu casting rarely sways my choice of anime, but seeing a character voiced by Kugimiya Rie, Kasugano Nene is my favorite among the human cast and what convinced me to pick up the series.

Nene serves as a voice of reason in Potemayo, pointing out the fallacies in other character’s speeches, or just making fun of them for their general stupidity.

It’s nice to see Kugimiya voicing a character that isn’t a Shana-esque tsundere loli. Admittedly, her voice in Potemayo can get EXTREMELY annoying, but it’s grown on me, and once you accept the fact that she’s doing it on purpose, it’s pretty funny.

The technical aspects of Potemayo aren’t exactly spectacular, but they get the job done well enough. The animation is choppy and undetailed, but for a series that uses gags and slapstick humor as its main source of entertainment, it’s more than sufficient. The characters designs are, again, simple but effective. The seifuku design caught me off guard though, I thought the guys were wearing the girls’ uniform for the longest time, but then noticed that the only difference between the two is skirts vs shorts. The character designs also follow the growing trend of gradient hairstyles, which I first noticed in Manabi Straight and has been becoming more and more common these days.

Music, as always, isn’t much of a concern to me. I don’t like the ED, but the OP has been stuck in my head for hours now, which may or may not be a good thing.

A lot of people seem to have passed on this anime, dismissing it for its childish appearance and lack of substance. And while they’re right on both accounts, Potemayo still manages to be oddly entertaining. Not many anime can get the cute and humorous combination working right, but Potemayo comes damn close. It may not be the laugh out loud comedy of the season, but every time I see Guchiko blast something into ash, I can’t help but smile.

IMMA CHARGIN’ MY LAZER

~ Shirukii ~