Ah, yes, Pui Pui Molcar. The anime that took Japan by storm in 2021 and is arguably the biggest anime sensation since isekai boom of 2012. A true work of creative vision and attitude, one which the creator put all of his heart into over the course of 18 months, and with the benevolence of Shin-Ei Animation (Doraemon, Ninja Hattori-kun, Warau Salesman, Oishinbo) has gifted us with a series of shorts that truly anyone of all ages can enjoy.
In the context of Western (particularly English-speaking) otakus, those who praise this series are considered trolls as part of a movement which occurred on popular rating websites, like MyAnimeList, AniList and AniDB. So, naturally this raises the question if I am one of them. I will leave this for you to decide.
Pui Pui Molcar is the sponsored work by Tomoki Misato (Misato Tomoki in Japanese form) and simply put, Pui Pui Molcar is the adventures of a strange and miraculous evolution of guinea pigs, turning them into a form of transportation, known as a Molcar. The adventures are humorous and entirely episodic (this cannot entirely be said for the second season, Pui Pui Molcar: Driving School). The production itself mainly relies on stop motion animation, but it also incorporates, three-dimensional comupter generated (3-D CG) animation, traditional two-dimensional animation, pixilation and time-lapse photgraphy. All of this is incorporated quite seamlessly into the final product. As I had stated before the entire production of this series (with 12 episodes, averaging three minutes each) took place over the span of 18 months. This is significantly longer than a standard anime, which usually can produce an episode every one or two weeks, depending on the size of the staff and reusage of footage involved. I believe that this is clearly indicative of the forethought that went into producing the series.
I am usually known for giving a detailed breakdown of the plot, however, I honestly think it would be easier and faster to take a couple of minutes of time to watch the first episode to see what the series is like for yourself. The plot is not going to be like Cowboy Bebop, Space Battleship Yamato or The Big O by any means, but it makes extremely good usage of the three minute runtime.
To close, I would like to quote MyAnimeList user CodeBlazeFate on his review of Pui Pui Molcar:
"Pui Pui Molcar is one of the best anime of recent years, and you are missing out on it. Some of the ratings and reviews might be at least partially steeped in irony due to the weird memetic following works like this, Bananya, and the 2017 CGI Pingu reboot received. However, Molcar is sincerely one of the most charming, creative, and downright surreal anime of recent years. ... So, what makes Molcar so fun? Simple: it’s a surreal, adorable comedy. Each episode is only 2 & ½ minutes, so the show relies on rapid fire joke after rapid fire joke to paint a strange and fun bite-sized story."
This sums up my thoughts prefectly and I will recommend this series to anyone and everyone regardless of age or taste. It is truly one of the best anime of the past year (2021).
A special thank you to CodeBlazeFate on MyAnimeList for granting me permission for using part of his review. You were a real big help.
