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.

 

* [[Age-Inappropriate Dress]] -- When Mii partakes in the below mentioned [[Beauty Contest]], she wears what can only be described as a sexed-up version of her [[Magical Girl]] costume.

* [[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]].

* [[Angrish]] -- What Mai is reduced to uttering when the dandelion from episode 5 wants her to play ping-pong with Mea. That is to say, after having competed in a [[Beauty Contest]] (and lost to all other members of the household), visited far more [[Hot Springs Episode|hot springs]] than healthy, and already played and won a game against Ai, all in order to receive some more information about a journey she wants to end as soon as possible.

* [[The Anime of the Game]]

* [[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...

* [[Bland-Name Product]] -- Daichi's camera is a "Mikon".

* [[Bleached Underpants]] -- While the anime is fairly explicit (nudity and panty shots), it doesn't contain any sex scenes like in the visual novel. It also includes a serious plot unlike the game.

* [[Book Ends]] -- Episode 2 ends the same way it begins, with Mai waking up her sisters and Mea being annoyed at their loudness.

* [[Break the Cutie]] -- Mai goes through a lot. The final straw for her is {{spoiler|Konami's death}}. For Mii, it's {{spoiler|Mai leaving her and Ai in episode 11}}.

** [[The Bus Came Back]] -- {{spoiler|Konami. Yes, from the dead}}. Other characters include Daichi, Nono and Keith.

* [[Butt Biter]] -- When Mii thinks that Mai is being harassed (see [[Imagine Spot]]), her method of attack is to bite one of the girl's behind.

* [[Call Back]] -- Mai trying to become friends with the other Mai mirrors Konami doing the same to her in an earlier episode. The first time they walk home together, they're even in the same positions.

* [[Calling Your Attacks]] -- Mai uses a ping-pong move in episode 5 that she shouts the name of beforehand. She has to use it again later, so she subsequently adds "once more!" to its name.

** In episode 4, {{spoiler|the girl who asks Mea to repair her doll is later revealed to be a ghost}}.

** In episode 9, {{spoiler|Mai learns that Konami died long before she could come back to see her again}}.

* [[Deconstruction]]/[[Reconstruction]] -- Of moving away from one's friends. An already tough part of life is presented in more detail than most people go through; however, the overall message of the series is that while it's a part of life one can't run away from without further hardships, it doesn't have to be as difficult as one makes it out to be.

* [[Demoted to Extra|Demoted to Non-Existant]] -- Chris, Claude and Kokoa (the [[Player Character]], the main antagonist and one of the romance options respectively) appear only in the visual novel. Even the police officer from the game had at least a cameo.

* [[Empathic Environment]] -- {{spoiler|When Mai is told that Konami has died in episode 9 and when she leaves the others in episode 11}}, it conveniently starts to rain.

* [[Enfant Terrible]] -- {{spoiler|The little girl from episode 4}}, see [[Lotus Eater Machine]].

* [[Ensemble Cast]]

* [[Establishing Series Moment]] -- Mai and Konami arguing and later reuniting near the end of episode 2 gives a somewhat clear picture of how the anime will play out thematically. {{spoiler|What it doesn't show is that things are soon to become much more tragic}}.

* [[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.

* [[I Have No Son|I Have No Granddaughter]] -- Nono's grandfather explicitly tells her that she's not welcome back to the shrine after she has helped decorate it with Christmas ornaments. He is later seen checking on her, meaning he obviously regrets it.

* [["I Know What We Can Do!" Cut]] -- When waiting for Mii's costume to get made, Mai wonders what they should do to spend the time, since there aren't any Popotan around. Ai gets an idea. Cue cut to:

* [[I Let Gwen Stacy Die]]/[[It's All My Fault]] -- {{spoiler|Mai blames herself for not coming back to Konami before her death. As such, the tropes are not entirely played straight in that she does not hold herself directly responsible for Konami's death, but rather for what might have lead to it}}.

* [[I Will Wait for You]] -- Konami and Mai promise each other to meet again. {{spoiler|Mai isn't able to keep her end of the bargain}}.

* [[Image Song]] -- Each sister is given one: Ai has "Ai no Sekai" ("Ai's World"), Mai has "Endless Trip", and Mii has "Mahou Shoujo Mii-tan Sanjou!!" ("Magical Girl Mii Appears!!").

* [[Imagine Spot]] -- When following Mai and her new friends in episode 6, Mii wonders what has made Mai decide to disregard their journey and stay in this time period. She then imagines the two other girls making her stay by force for a really petty reason.

'''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''.

* [[Naked First Impression]] -- How Daichi meets Ai. She's rather calm about it.

* [[Neck Lift]] -- Due to his [[Super Strength]], Keith is able to do this to {{spoiler|adult Daichi}}.

* [[Never Got to Say Goodbye]] -- Sort of. More like {{spoiler|Never Got To Meet Again At All}}.

* [[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.

* [[Nonchalant Dodge]] -- {{spoiler|Keith performs a number of these when fighting Mea}}.

* [[Not Growing Up Sucks]] -- {{spoiler|Mai learns this the hard way when she and Mea are left behind for five years when they fail to reach the mansion in time. During this time, she manages to finally have meaningful relationships for more than a few days, but she doesn't age at all, making her seem immature to her friends}}.

* [[Oh Crap]] -- Mai's reaction to Mii attempting to take a bath with Daichi.

* [["On the Next..."]] -- Unagi presents most of these. She's occasionally too distracted to do them properly.

* [[One-Gender School]] -- Not one boy is seen at either of the schools Mai goes to in the series. Averted with Daichi's class, where we see children of both sexes.

* [[One Steve Limit]] -- [[Averted Trope|Averted]]: there are two characters in the series named Mai, one being the inspiration for the other.

** [[Missing Mom]] -- {{spoiler|Konami}}, however, is explicitly said to have died by her daughter. Miyuki's mother has also passed away, as explained by her father.

* [[Pettanko]] -- Mai and Mea.

* [[Plot-Relevant Age-Up]] -- Subverted. Mai seems to have grown up between episodes 5 and 6 due to not travelling with the rest of her household, {{spoiler|but it's later revealed that none of the sisters can age if they're not travelling}}.

* [[Portmanteau]] -- ''Dai''chi and A''suk''a's second child is named Daisuke.

** 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.

* [[Suggestive Collision]] -- A few seconds into their first meeting, Ai trips over her towel and lands on Daichi. [[Naked People Are Funny|Naked]]. [[Marshmallow Hell|And his head gets stuck]].

* [[Switching POV]] -- The first episode is told from Daichi's perspective. All the others focus solely on the sisters and Mea.

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

* [[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]].

* [[Team Shot]] -- The final shot of the opening animation, as well as the final shot of the series itself (both counting and not counting the ending song).

* [[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}}.

* [[Too Good to Last]] -- In-universe. Mii's favorite show, ''Magical Girl Lilo'', only lasted one season according to a nerd on the beach.

* [[Tranquil Fury]] -- How Ai reacts to Keith's {{spoiler|attacks on her friends and family as well as his admittance to not being honest about how much he knew about her}}. She does slap him, but that's as far as she goes.

* [[Wham! Line]] -- {{spoiler|"My mom got sick a while ago"}}, said by Mai (Konami's daughter).

* [[What Have I Done]] -- Mai, when she discovers {{spoiler|Konami spent her life mourning their separation and died young}}.

* [[What Year Is This?]] -- Ai and Mii consult a newspaper after being separated from Mai and Mea.

* [[Where Are They Now? Epilogue]] -- {{spoiler|In their preferred time periods, but not for long}}.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Popotan]]