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INTEREST: Even Pop Team Epic Anime's Series Director Struggles to Understand It

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Pop Team Epic. The humour is extremely subversive, and without a solid grasp of meme theorem most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer’s head. There’s also Popuko’s nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into her characterisation- her personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realise that they’re not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE.

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Pop Team Epic. The humour is extremely subversive, and without a solid grasp of meme theorem most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer’s head. There’s also Popuko’s nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into her characterisation- her personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realise that they’re not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE.

Is the style really that strange to people? I mean it's just Robot Chicken as anime. I think it's perfect for this particular manga.

Honestly, this anime is so deep and meaningful that you could put a random iconic Shakespeare quote, and you could interpret it to seem related to the anime.

“We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.” (The Tempest)

“By all the vows that ever men have broke,
In number more than ever women spoke” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)

“Love all, trust a few,
Do wrong to none: be able for thine enemy
Rather in power than use, and keep thy friend
Under thy own life’s key: be cheque’d for silence,
But never tax’d for speech.” (All’s Well That Ends Well)

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.”(Julius Caesar)

Jokes aside though, it definitely was an interesting experience. I can't wait for next week.

I think that most of people trying too much to... get this show. I love it, as well as Gintama, Cromatie High School, Hare Guu, Excel Saga, FLCL.

dark_bozu wrote:

I think that most of people trying too much to... get this show. I love it, as well as Gintama, Cromatie High School, Hare Guu, Excel Saga, FLCL.

It's fun to derive meaning from meaninglessness. Humans instinctively think there is a reason for one thing or another, even if the reason that they happen to come up with is supernatural or outright nonsensical. This part of human nature is older than the scientific method, hence the many human myths throughout history and various cultures.

Just because the curtains are blue doesn't mean that we can't have fun turning it into an allegory for the human condition. That said, I won't seriously recommend it on the grounds of being "deep". I'll focus on the fun and wacky factor if I ever explain it.

Kudos. I have rarely read such a pitch perfect parody of pretentiousness.