Pupa (ピューパ) Anime Series Review from Studio Deen!
Pupa (ピューパ) is an anime that has quite the reputation. Well, a reputation for being two different things. That is, the anime is widely considered to be one of the most disturbing ever made. Secondly, the anime is regarded as one of the worst of the 21st century. The show’s reputation kept me from trying it for a very long time, but after years of knowing about its existence I finally garnered the courage, or stupidity, to watch it. This, unfortunately, proved to be a mistake on my part.
Originally aired in 2014, Pupa is based off Sayaki Mogi’s infamous manga of the same name. From 2011 to 2013 the original Pupa manga ran in Comic Earth Star magazine and exposed readers to unheard of levels of depravity. Cannibalism, incest, graphic violence, and more splattered every page of the manga which is now widely considered to be one of the most disturbing of all time. Soon after the completion of the series, Studio Deen produced the anime adaptation. Written and directed by Tomomi Mochizuki, the series ran for 12 episodes with each episode running for four minutes exactly. While the premise of the manga and its reputation should have led to a satisfying anime, the series is an example of just how poorly adaptations can be.
Before I get into why the series is a flaming pile of garbage, we must discuss the story itself. Pupa follows the lives of two siblings, Utsutsu and Yume Hasegawa, as they deal with the effects of a mysterious virus simply referred to as ‘Pupa’. The two were infected with the Pupa virus after following a group of shining red butterflies into the forest. They eventually fully succumb to the effects of Pupa but are affected in vastly different ways. You see, Utsutsu gains regenerative powers and can recover from any injury extremely quickly, a la Mai-Chan’s Daily Life (read review here). Yume on the other hand is turned into a hideous monster with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Utsutsu, being the nice young man he is, decides that he will use his newfound regenerative abilities to feed his sister out of love. Or at least that’s what I think this series was about.
You see, Pupa has more plot holes than any other piece of media I’ve ever consumed. It’s almost admirable in a way. Plot points are brought up and immediately forgotten. The series jumps from scene to scene like some sort of deranged circus animal trying to entertain itself as viewers look on in horror, with each four-minute episode having multiple new plot points introduced and quickly forgotten. There is an entire subplot in the series about a witch who plans on birthing the child of the brother and sister by combining Utsutsu’s sperm and Yume’s egg in herself. The result of which will be a new species according to the character. This never comes to fruition. It genuinely appears that the Mochizuki forgot about this storyline over the course of the show. I am well accustomed to non-linear storytelling and surreal and artistic filmmaking, but Pupa seems to be the work of someone with short term memory loss. Some of the episodes would work fine as standalone stories, but any attempt to connect them is futile. The series feels like a 20-hour plus show that was cut down to a run time of under 48-minutes. Nonsensical is an understatement. The ending of the show might just be its most baffling moment, however. You see, the plot, or what exists of it, of the entire series is seemingly abandoned altogether and we are instead given an entire episode of Utsutsu and Yume as children where Utsutsu tries to win a teddy bear for his sister at the fair. As I watched in amazement, I thought to myself, “surely they’ll tie this in with the main plot, it’s the ending…” As you can guess, I was incorrect once again. The story ends with seemingly no resolution and left me with a sour taste in my mouth. But enough complaining. Most people that begin the series are here for the shock value. Does Pupa at least deliver in this department? To that question, the answer is yes.
Across the course of the series the viewer is bombarded by disgusting imagery. While the gore and violence is nothing too out of the ordinary for adult oriented anime, one thing is: eroticized incestuous cannibalism. Yes, you read that correctly. There are a handful of scenes in the series that have Utsutsu being chowed down upon by Yume that are shown much like sex scenes in a hentai anime. For the first time in a long time, I was truly shocked watching these scenes. Fleshed being stripped away is accompanied by God help me, sexual grunts, and moaning. I’m sure this is meant to be erotic, but the scenes feel about as sexy as getting an erection at a funeral. Still, if the goal was to shock the viewer Pupa at least succeeds in this department.
Animation and music wise, the quality of Pupa is nothing to write home about but is passable. The style of animation and soundtrack are ultimately forgettable but get the job done. However, even if the animation and soundtrack were top-notch this would still be one of the worst anime series I have ever seen. Viewers that want simply shock value will still want to steer clear of this one, as there are anime out there that deliver both a quality story and shock value. Fans of the manga are sure to be disappointed, and this certainly won’t win any naysayers over. Pupa is an anime mystery that should have gone unresolved, and upon its completion I simply felt drained. In the words of the boys from the Sick on Cinema Podcast, watching this anime felt like if God farted in his hand and threw it in my face. ‘Nuff said.
AKA: ピューパ, Pyūpa, Куколка
Directed by: Tomomi Mochizuki
Written by: Tomomi Mochizuki, Sayaki Mogi
Editing by: Tsubasa Honda
Cast: Kappei Yamaguchi, Nana Kato Aoki, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Kôji Yusa, Kyôko Narumi, Ibuki Kido
Year: 2014
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese (English Subtitles)
Colour: Colour
Episodes: 12
Runtime: 48min
Studio: Studio Deen Co. Ltd.
