Pani
Poni Dash! (PaniPoni Dash)Pani
Poni Dash! (PaniPoni Dash)
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“Becky” (as her students call her) tries to put on a cool face but is still a child on the inside and resorts to childish behavior whenever she panics. On her first day of class, she becomes embarrassed and hides from her students behind a curtain. Only by offering her candy did the students manage to coax her back out. Becky’s companion is a white rabbit named Mesousa, but he suffers from severe depression and is almost useless because he lacks fingers.
Becky’s class is full of weirdos. They adore Becky, but they’re weirdos nonetheless. Some of these characters include: Himeko Katagiri, an overly energetic girl who is not too bright but has an ahoge which grants her infinite energy; Ichijo, a very odd girl who doesn’t say much but is capable of performing impossible tasks before anybody even notices; Miyako Uehara, a girl who is always studying but can’t seem to get high marks. She also has a super reflective forehead which can be used as a mirror; Kurumi Momose, a girl who is so self-conscience that she literally fades away in depression if someone called her plain; Rei Tachibana, a cold and mature girl who is sometimes the voice of reason in the class; Sayaka Suzuki, a kind-hearted girl who often gets taken advantage of. When you have these many oddballs together in pone class, strange things are bound to happen.
PaniPoni Dash has no real plot; episodes generally follow the wild events which happen at Becky’s school or on their various field trips. The comedy is generally fast and spontaneous, and is always well delivered. Pani Poni Dash relies heavily on parodies and reference to other anime, TV shows and celebrities. Quite a few of these are purely Japanese references, so international viewers may be left in the dark if they don’t understand the background behind the jokes. The studio which made Pani Poni Dash also uses a unique technique where they’ll slip in irrelevant graphics or text into a scene. Most of these jokes pan by so fast that you’d need to freeze frame them to actually comprehend.
PaniPoni Dash has some of the best openings and endings of any anime series. It’s hard to describe just how creative these are, you’d have to see them for yourselves to understand. PaniPoni Dash is, in my opinion, one of the best anime comedy series to come out for 2005. Some of the references might make it hard to understand for less ‘experienced’ anime fans, but I think everybody would get a good laugh out of this anime.
