Pop Team Epic Second Season

Alternate Title

ポプテピピック TVアニメ―ション作品第二シリーズ

Synopsis

Popuko and Pipimi are just two average schoolgirls, or so they seem at first glance, but in reality they’re both wildly offbeat and bizarre, constantly finding themselves in the midst of misadventures and surreal situations in which they respond in equally surreal and bizarre ways. Get ready for more absurdity with these rude and crude cuties!

Background

Pop Team Epic began as a four-panel webcomic and digital manga series written and illustrated by Bkub Okawa (aka Bukubu Okawa) which began serialization on Takeshobo’s Manga Life Win website in 2014. The manga gained a cult following in Japan and abroad for its pop culture references and combination of comedy styles including surrealism, absurdity, and non-sequiturs. No stranger to trolling his fans, Okawa announced the end of Pop Team Epic and the start of his new manga Hoshiiro Girldrop in 2016 only to later announce that his new series was just an elaborate ruse and that the manga would be returning for a “second season.”
As of December 2021, six “seasons” of the manga have been published in collected tankobon volumes. The manga is licensed for English release in North America by Vertical, who published the third volume in December 2018.

An anime adaptation of the series was announced on April Fool’s Day 2017, being initially teased as an adaptation of Hoshiiro Girldrop similarly to the “second season” of the manga. The anime was directed by Jun Aoki (On Air Dekinai!, Oshiruko - The Summertime Mischief, Zannen na Ikimono Jiten) and Aoi Umeki (City Hunter: Ryou no Propose) who also handled series composition and conceptual design, respectively. It featured animation by Kamikaze Douga and music by King Records. The anime was originally scheduled to premiere in October 2017 but was delayed until January 2018. Each episode takes the form of an animated skit show with two 15-minute segments that are nearly identical save for different voice actors and other subtle differences. The anime makes use of a wide variety of animation styles including CGI and 2D. It ran for 12 episodes.

A second season of the TV anime was announced in December 2021. It is once again being animated by Kamikaze Douga (Batman Ninja, *Mirai Koshi Harima SACLA *, Star Wars: Visions) along with Space Neko Company (Gal & Dino, On Air Dekinai!, Ore, Tsushima) and features returning director Jun Aoki, who is also handling series composition. Additional staff include Toru Kanegae (The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated!, The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious, When Will Ayumu Make His Move?) as sound director and Gin (Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, This Art Club Has a Problem!, Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher!?) as music composer. The anime will premiere in Japan on Oct. 1, 2022 on Tokyo MX and BS11.

Characters

Popuko
A quick-tempered, short school girl with short orange hair styled into high pigtails who is friends with Pipimi.

Pipimi
Popuko’s friend who is taller and calmer than her, Pipimi has long blue hair which she styles with a red ribbon on top.

• Anime Site (Japanese)
• Twitter (Japanese)

• Original Creator: Bkub Okawa
• Planning/Production: King Records
• Series Director/Series Composition: Jun Aoki (Space Neko Company)
• Sound Director: Toru Kanegae
• Sound Effects: Yasumasa Koyama
• Sound Production: Sound Production: Glovision
• Music: Gin (BUSTED ROSE)
• Music Production: King Records
• Animation Production: Kamikaze Douga, Space Neko Company