Popotan: Difference between revisions

[[File:250px-Popotan_group.jpg|frame|The ''Popotan'' sisters.]]

 

 

 

Although the show is mostly a comedy, the overall tone varies from [[Tear Jerker|tearjerking]] to [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|heartwarming]]. Of course, that doesn't stop the show from including [[Panty Shot|panty]] and boob shots wherever it can. Add in the [[Lolicon|loli-appeal]] provided by Mii and the sometimes heart-wrenching effects the relentless transpositions have on Mai and it can make for a bit of a [[Mood Dissonance]] at times.

While Popotan is essentially the Japanese name for dandelion (Tanpopo) said backwards, the English equivalent ("liondandy") is never actually used in the dub, perhaps because it would conflict with the already well-known series title.

 

* [[A Day in the Limelight]] -- Roughly speaking, episodes 1 and 7 focus mostly on Ai, while episodes 2 and 9, 3 and 8 and 4 and 10 do the same for Mai, Mii and Mea respectively. Other episodes are about their journey as a whole.

* [[Affectionate Gesture to the Head]] -- Given to Mii by Mai once.

* [[Airplane Arms]] -- Mii in the last episode.

* [[All of the Other Reindeer]] -- Subverted. This is assumed to be the case with the younger Mai and her class from episode 9, but it is later shown that the only reason some of her classmates avoided talking to her was because she wouldn't let them.

* [[An Aesop]] -- See [[Deconstruction]]/[[Reconstruction]].

* [[And the Adventure Continues...]] -- {{spoiler|How the series ends: the sisters continue their time travel with Mea and Unagi, preferring to stay together rather than living normally}}.

* [[Ascended Fridge Horror]] -- Yes, the creators of ''Popotan'' were well aware of the effects the sisters' journey could have on the friends they leave behind. {{spoiler|This is revealed in episode 9}}.

* [[Aside Glance]] -- How Mai reacts to Ai and Mii's follies in episode 3.

* [[Badass Boast]] -- Keith reminds Mea that {{spoiler|he defeated her rather soundly in episode 7 before they fight again}}.

* [[Bathtub Bonding]] -- Mai and Konami's daughter. This being ''Popotan'', it leads to...

* [[Flower Motifs]] -- Take a wild guess at what flower is often seen in this series. The most striking example is the enormous one seen over the house just before it travels through time.

* [[For Want of a Nail]] -- {{spoiler|By explaining her situation to Konami, Mai manages to change future Konami's opinion of her, and by proxy Konami's daughter's}}.

* [[Friendship Moment]] -- Several between Mai and Konami, Mai and Konami's daughter Mai as well as the sisters themselves.

* [[Full-Body Disguise]] -- When escaping from a police officer in episode 6, Ai and Mii dress up in what appears to be mascot costumes in order to fool him.

'''Unagi:''' ''(Dejectedly)'' Una... }}

* [[Immortal Immaturity]] -- {{spoiler|Since Mai hasn't aged neither physically nor psychologically during her time away from the mansion, her behaviour is less refined than expected from the university student she currently is}}.

* [[In Name Only]] -- The title and most of the characters are pretty much the only things that stay the same between the visual novel and the anime. Even the characters' [[Limited Wardrobe|outfits]] differ slightly (Mai's shirt has no sleeves in the game while it has long sleeves in the show, for example).

* [[Infant Immortality]] -- [[Averted Trope|Averted]]: {{spoiler|the little girl from episode 4 is a ghost who died at the age of six years}}.

* [[It's All Junk]] -- Mai tries to burn the Konami's painting of her after learning of {{spoiler|her death}}, since she can't stand the memories.

* [[It's the Journey That Counts]]/[[The Un-Reveal]] -- The purpose and object of the journey are never revealed to the audience or the characters, even after {{spoiler|the sisters meet Shizuku}}.

** Ai refers to both of her younger sisters with the suffix "-chan".

** Mai calls Ai "Ai-nee", but Mii is simply called by her name.

* [[Leave Your Quest Test]]/[[Secret Test of Character]] -- {{spoiler|Shizuku gives the sisters a chance to end their journey and go back to the time period they liked the best. The fact that she's still watching over them after this hints at these tropes}}.

* [[Let's Get Dangerous]] -- Mai and, to a lesser extent, Mea {{spoiler|fighting Keith. It's never been stated that either of them can't fight, but they're certainly better at it than one could tell from how the series has played out previously}}.

* [[Lonely Piano Piece]] -- Present in many of the anime's musical pieces.

* [[Lost in Translation]] -- As previously mentioned, a more "correct" translation of ''Popotan'' would be "liondandy", making the current title make less sense for viewers who don't know that the Japanese word for "dandelion" is ''tanpopo''.

* [[Never Split the Party]] -- {{spoiler|Doing so will make the sisters unable to age}}. They're of course also related and only one of them is above high school age, but this seems to be the primary reason.

* [[Never Trust a Trailer]] -- It's more meta than the average example, but it still counts in that the trailer is somewhat misleading. It consists partly of the sisters bathing and lying naked in a dandelion field, and of the female secondary characters in very little clothing. Now, no one is denying that ''Popotan'' ups the [[Fan Service]] factor more than most shows of its kind, but the actual series does it in a rather different way. While the trailer refrains from showing any of the characters' nipples, it does present the partial nudity in a clearly erotic fashion; the anime is, as noted above, more explicit, but the nudity is mostly presented as innocent or neutral rather than perverted (keyword being "mostly", of course). The trailer gives the impression that the series is a lot more perverse than it actually is.

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] -- {{spoiler|The fact that Mai never came back to see Konami again depressed her greatly until her death, according to her daughter}}. Mai holds herself responsible for this as well when she hears of it.

* [[Nipple-and-Dimed]] -- A notable aversion, given the nature of the series.

** In the former case, starting from episode 6, Ai, Mai and Mea are shown doing the "butt wiggle dance" as well instead of just Mii.

** In the latter case, they are there from the start, along with Konami, Nono and {{spoiler|Shizuku}}. Daichi got screwed over, apparently.

* [[Punched Across the Room|Punched Out of the Room and Landing Several Meters Away From the House]] -- {{spoiler|How Keith deals with Daichi}}.

* [[Puni Plush]]

* [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship]] -- Mai and Konami seem awfully close to each other. In the last episode, Konami even laments the fact that Mai is acting more girly and talks about when she hugged her "like a boy". The fact that their friendship is very strong is kind of the point, but still.

* [[Rule of Cute]]/[[Rule of Cool]] -- How to best explain Mii's transformation/magic scenes, including having her hammer appear out of thin air. Most of it is probably her own imagination.

* [[Running Gag]] -- Mii pointing out Mai's lack of a chest or attractiveness, and Mai promptly (and often physically) reacting.

* [[Sadistic Choice]] -- Downplayed, but still not very nice: {{spoiler|the sisters get to choose between continuing their travels, with all the sacrifices that entails, or stay in one specific time period of their choosing, away from each other. They go for the former, but manage to work it out}}.

* [[Slapstick Knows No Gender]] -- Mostly because there are only so many males to begin with. Notably, both Daichi and Mii are slammed into the wall by Mai opening the front door in the first episode.

* [[Slice of Life]] -- To begin with, anyway. Later episodes are far more connected.

* [[The Slow Path]] -- Mai and Mea get stuck doing this for five years when the house departs without them. Mai actually enjoyed the time, making this parting [[Tear Jerker|worse than most]].

* [[Spelling Song]] -- "S-U-K-I" by Funta, the ending theme.

* [[Talking in Your Sleep]] -- Both Ai and Mii do this once:

{{quote|'''Ai:''' [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|No... not that button...]]}}

{{quote|'''Mii:''' [[Non Sequitur|Penguins are birds...]]}}

* [[Tan Lines]] -- Mai, after spending most of the day selling ice cream on the beach. [[Furo Scene|It should be obvious by now how the audience finds this out]].

* [[Time Travel Romance]]

** Between Keith and Ai. Subverted in that Keith turns out to not only be that friendly, but also {{spoiler|works with Shizuku, and gets to see her again under vastly different circumstances}}.

* [[Title Drop]] -- The intertitle has two (sometimes two sets) of characters speaking the title.

* [[This Is Unforgivable!]]/[[What the Hell, Hero?]] -- Mai towards {{spoiler|herself, in light of Konami's demise}}.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Popotan]]