Reviews for Onipan!

Onipan is by far, in my opinion at least, one of the best and most enjoyable examples of what shorter anime are capable of. Just a little background on the show before I get into the main portion of the review. The show is broadcast in smaller 2-3 minute segments in Japan and then once the show has aired all of these segments throughout the weekdays, the episodes are condensed into longer episodes, usually lasting between 13-16 minutes. So whether you're looking for a bite-sized or more traditional, albeit slightly shorter, anime viewing experience, Onipan has both bases covered. Where to begin? The show itself is areally fun and light hearted story about Oni girls who embark on a quest to better the image and relations between the Oni and Humans, which sounds kind of grandiose now that I think about it but you only have to watch the first few minutes of the first episode to gain a true sense of just how pure and wholesome it is.

The girls, Tsutsuji (Red Oni), Tsuyukusa (Blue Oni) and Himawari (Yellow Oni), are all adorable and have a unique, yet familiar, dynamic that ends up never leaving a dull moment between the three of them, and that's not even mentioning the varying array of side characters that appear throughout the episodes.

It's also worth noting that the voice actors for the girls are three brand new young voice actors, and whilst it's fairly easy to tell that these young girls have yet to accumulate the years of experience you would see from just about any other VA in the anime industry, they soon feel right at home in their respective roles and it lends a level of authenticity to the Oni girls that you wouldn't otherwise see from a slice-of-life show like this.

The animation is spearheaded by none other than Wit Studio, (Attack on Titan S1-3, Ousama Ranking, Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song, etc.) allow me to preface this quickly by saying this isn't their most flashy piece of work compared to the aforementioned, but it doesn't skimp on animation when it counts, and has it's memorable moments of animation that would make any fan who knows their anime studios stop and think "Yep, this is Wit Studio alright."

The OP and ED... er well, just the ED I guess, is a super fun, catchy and upbeat song with stylish visuals that conveys all you can expect from the show and cast, which only leaves you craving more of their Oni antics every time you watch it.

There's really not much else to say about the show if I'm being honest, and that's not intended in a harsh way, quite the opposite in fact, it's fun, cute, funny and wholesome, just about everything you could want from a story like this.

It goes without saying, but of course this is just my opinion, it's definitely not for everyone, but I wholeheartedly encourage anyone to give the first episode a go, and who knows? you may just end up falling up with these loveable Oni girls just like I have. :D

Onipan! is a show about 3 oni girls joining the human world to improve the general opinion of how onis are viewed. The main gimmick of the show is that when they need help, their sidekick, Kuma, will give them the Oni tiger-striped pantsu (hence the name OniPan!) and they will transform magical girl style into the outfit needed. If 60 episodes seems too daunting to pick up, allow me to explain that each "episode" is very short. Each episode aired at different time over a week and were compiled into a full 12-13 minute episode later. With 5 mini-episode in each full episode, that makesthe show clock in at only a little over 2 hours.

Another thing to make mention of, this show is a very Japan-styled comedic show. You need to understand the basics of what oni are in Japanese folklore, like the story of Momotaro. This show also does a lot of references to other media which include: Dragon Quest, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Food Wars, The Phantom Menace(?), Sailor Moon, and other things I may have missed. The comedy will be a hit or miss depending on whether you can enjoy the subtlety of the humor and the fact that the show doesn't take itself seriously.

My honest opinion is just let your brain relax and enjoy the goofy antics and 4th wall breaks. This show does a really good job of what it set out to do and the shorter episodes help keep the simple plots from going on too long.

All in all, it gets an 8. It's not a masterpiece, but it's good enough to binge in an afternoon and relax on the couch watching.

Inconsequential is all I can say I like the fact that this anime acts as a platform for new Up and coming VAs to show off their skills, this is the first role ever for most of these seiyuus and they did a really good job! But as an anime, there is not much here..... In a nutshell, this show is mostly moe Mascot girl stuff probably made to sell merch, or aimed at kids to watch during intervals. The characters don't have enough time on screen to stand or be relevant, there isn't much story ether, the art and animation feel ok to borderline overkillsometimes xD as expected of wit studio.

Characters (5/10)

They are moe? I guess.

Story (5/10)

Will be good enough to educate kids maybe, but I am sure there are better ways than risking Anime addiction amirite?

Art and animation (7/10)

Wit, Maybe stop wasting budget on this yeah?

music (6/10)

Standard Moe noises, VAs may turn out to be future talent But certainly, you can make out that they are newbies.OP and ED are short and forgettable.

Well, If you're curious, fair enough, but if not, it's better if you start looking at the other things this behemoth of a season has to offer.

I can't believe it's not Doga Kobo! (TM) I've always been a fan of director Ohta and his crew. They make some of the best comedies out there from Mitsudomoe to the legendary Sabagebu. But the team is most well known for their work on Doga Kobo's comedies such as Yuru Yuri and Uzamaid. While recently we haven't seen much output from them apart from the dreadful Abilities Average show, imagine my surprise when they're doing a kids show (like an actual kids show with the time shown on the top left and such) with stunt cast idols as the MCs. So how does this farecompared to the team's other works?

First off, the MCs don't sound particularly well. As it usually goes for characters not voiced by regular seiyuu, everyone sounds off. This is especially jarring since they are surrounded by a plethora of professional seiyuu, making their amateur performances all the more glaring and noticeable. But, I have to admit, after several episodes of being with them, you get used to them and actually start to like them well enough. Yellow's is still off after all is said and done though.

Secondly, since this is a kids show, a lot of the raunchy humor or more crude stuff has been totally sand down. What you get is a very sanitized Ohta show. This does have the side effect of erasing some of the humor, but good direction and writing still sees the show having some good laughs here and there. Plus its 12 minute run time ensures nothing gets dragged on for too long.

Even animation-wise this show is more reminiscent of Doga Kobo's comedies than Wit Studio. Very bright vivid colors (but not too bright) and relatively simple, but appropriate and pleasant to look at. Seems to be a recurring theme this season, shows by different studios resembling shows from other studios. And the EDs are just amazing, quite possibly some of my favorites this whole season.

All in all, the show is pretty funny for the most part and does not become too repetitive with its jokes. Some segments do feel like its trying too hard to be funny to kids, and the show often references material kids won't even know, but it's still a very enjoyable show throughout, even if it isn't as strong of Ohta's previous works.

7/10