Papuwa Volume 1: Wild Things - TheOtaku.Com
- TheOtaku.Com
- Gail Shimura-Brightbill
- 07/24/06
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"...if you are looking for something off the beaten path you need to put Papuwa on your viewing list."
Welcome to Papuwa Island. Check your sanity at the door! Led by a mysterious voice, Kotaro awakens from a long slumber and comes to Papuwa Island, a tropical paradise hidden away from the world of man. However, as soon as he arrives, a traumatic experience causes causes him to lose his memories and forget the horrifying secret that binds him to the strange island. Now, under the questionable care of the young Papuwa and his maid, Liquid, Kotaro begins his new life of bizarre adventures in a world of transvestite fish, fruity pink dinosaurs and hallucination-inducing poisonous mushrooms. Plagued by the island's wacky inhabitants and an army of assassins aimed at kidnapping him, Kotaro struggles to keep both his life and his sanity intact. Get ready for fun, sun and hermaphroditic snails in the first, hilarious volume of Papuwa!
Overview: In the past there was a great battle between two rival clans. The red clan that possessed a magical red stone which controlled the light of hope versus the blue clan with their blue stone that controlled the power of desire. When the red clan finally obtained both stones the blue clan leader was left in a deep coma like sleep as the red clan assended high into the sky. After 4 years the slumbering leader of the blue clan, Kotaro, awakes at the Ganma Military Base after hearing a mysterious voice calling to him. Breaking free from the troops at Ganma, Kotaro follows the mysterious voice to the island of Papuwa so he can fulfill his destiny.
Upon reaching Papuwa, Kotaro finds himself in a bizarre world of talking creatures including Tanno a thigh-high fishnet stocking transvestite fish with hairy legs, Ito a hermaphrodite snail who gives birth to babies that the other creatures enjoy eating and Liquid the male housemaid along with his "employer" the super strong Papuwa. During a weird turn of evens Kotaro loses his memories of the battle for the stones much to the happiness of Liquid who needs to remind the other creatures of the horrors that could happen again the war to restart. To make sure Kotaro doesn't remember his past Liquid changes his name to Rotaro. As Kotaro/Rotaro does his best to escape the bizarre residents of Papuwa Island, fate seems to keep him from escaping.
As each day passes Kotaro meets more of the strange residents of Papuwa Island including a poisonous mushroom that wants everyone to eat him. Spreading his spores that cause hallucinations, those who are unfortunate enough to breathe them in, suffer from vivid visions. As life as they know it continues uninterrupted on Papuwa the forces back at Ganma begin plans to regain Kotaro. Using a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide which of their special forces soliders would go after Kotaro. Papuwa: Wild Things is filled with completely bizarre characters with even more bizarre eating habits.
Overall the first disk of Papuwa is simply put, bizarre. Fans of series like Excel Saga or Bobobo will enjoy the strange humor, off-the-wall characters and wacky situations. Underlying this eclectic blend of characters is the story line of Kotaro's forgotten link to the island of Papuwa. Confusing gender roles and, in the case of the hermaphroditic snail's gender itself, Papuwa has counter-culture images and subject matter that some may find disturbing. But if you are looking for something off the beaten path you need to put Papuwa on your viewing list.
Verdict: My initial reaction when watching the first of the episodes was: "Those fish have legs and they're wearing fish net thigh-high stockings. What the...??!!" I rather enjoy anime that is a bit on the fringe and Papuwa is right there. There is just this level of absurd silliness that you have to just go with it. Papuwa is definitely not a heavy introspective "meaning of life" anime series. The only lesson you will learn is to not partake in poisonous hallucination causing mushrooms since you might die. Which is good advice but not really what the anime series is trying to convey. In fact, the only thing Papuwa is probably trying to get across to the viewers is an insane brand of humor based on counter-culture lifestyles. "
Posted on Monday, July 24, 2006 (Archive on Thursday, August 24, 2006)