Hi-Hi Puffy AmiYumi
Publisher
Cartoon Network
Director
Darrell Van Citters
Production
Cartoon Network, Renegade Animation
Country of origin
US
Format
Series
Running time
39 episodes
Year
2004
Hi-Hi Puffy AmiYumi
By Aki
25th Jun 06 Hi-Hi PuffyAmiYumi follows the fabricated, animated adventures of the extremely popular Japanese singing duo, PuffyAmiYumi. We are introduced to the cartoon versions of Ami and Yumi, two best friends who tour the country giving rock concerts. Along for the ride is their manager, Caz, who drives the bus, books their gigs, and otherwise gets himself and the girls into minor mischief. Ami and Yumi are portrayed with completely opposite personalities that are somewhat stereotypical. We have hard-core, bad-girl, almost-gothic Yumi versus the sweet, caring, innocent and optimistic Ami. As far as Caz goes, the only way to describe him is as a funny little old man. The animation on the show is done in a style similar to Samurai Jack. Lines that define the characters are thick, and everything has a very flat, two-dimensional look. Backgrounds are blocky and simplistic. The English dubbing is actually quite good. All three main characters have excellent voices, and most of the guest/supporting characters have fitting voices as well. Another nice thing about the dubbing is that Japanese words are included in the dialogue sometimes. Aside from the common (and obvious) konnichiwa and sayonara, characters have said kawaii, sugoi, and even spouted entire phrases in Japanese when they become angry or excited. I find it to be very cool, especially since it’s not something you normally see in dubbed anime, and certainly not from a show that’s on Cartoon Network. Episodes are short; I’m not sure if they’re fifteen minutes each or if there are also some that are only ten minutes each. (I keep thinking that I saw three episodes in one of the half-hour showings once.) There’s no large-scale, continue-through-the-series plot (aside from the touring), and no major bad guys. It’s more like small misadventures that the characters get themselves into as they go different places and meet different people. Of course the underlying theme to everything is music, and each episode will feature at least one song from PuffyAmiYumi. Aside from background music for chase scenes, the girls have used their songs to make a farm fertile again, stop vampires from attacking, and of course, bring a happy ending to the episode. There have also been typical instances in which Ami and Yumi get their personalities switched around (Yumi hypnotized into being an opera singer; Ami possessed by demon drumsticks) or they lose their popularity as a band and have to get it back. The funniest episode I’ve seen, though, was simply Ami and Yumi’s cats terrorizing Caz for a day. There’s definitely no real point to the show. It’s all meant to be just random and semi-cute while further promoting the two J-pop stars and their songs. But as far as random shows with no plot lines go, this is probably one of the better ones. It’s got decent characters, excellent dubbing, and basically enough going on to keep you interested and amused for a short period of time.
-- Aki 25th Jun 06
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