Punch Line (Season One)

Yuta, who’s spirit was separated from his body, can gain immense power from seeing girls’ panties, however, if he sees two pairs of panties in quick succession, the world is destroyed by a meteorite!

What did you watch?

It’s time for another series from my A to Z Anime Challenge. This time, it’s the letter P and once more, I selected a series completely at random. It was mostly the tagline that caught my attention, but it is far more than just a guy seeing panties. I’d argue that after the first episode that almost becomes an afterthought. What you can expect, however, is a strange blend between slice of life, time travel, and astral projections. There is definitely some comedy, some darker moments, and a little fan service, but of course. Hopefully, that has piqued your interest so let’s look at the series. There will be spoilers, so it’s up to you whether you continue.

---

What happened?

Yuta was on a bus with Rabura, one of the girls that live in the same building as him when a masked man hijacked it. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the superhero, Strange Juice burst onto the bus and started to fight the highjacker. Rabura tries to help Strange Juice but is knocked unconscious. Yuta accidentally sees her panties and receives an astronomical powerup, enabling him to tackle the highjacker, throwing them both off a bridge. Yuta wakes up on the side of the river with Strange Juice kneeling beside him. He sees Strange Juice’s panties and blacks out once more.

When Yuta awakens, he is in an unfamiliar room in his apartment building and he’s a spirit. A cat spirit called Chiranosuke explains that another spirit is inhabiting his body and that to get his body back he has to find a mysterious book called Nandala Gandala. As he searches his apartment, he learns more about the girls living there and also that if he sees girls panties twice in close succession, the world will be destroyed by a meteorite. When this happens, Yuta can travel back in time because he’s a spirit and try things again.

---

What did you think?

This series was completely bonkers, but I loved it. The anime style is vibrant and in your face, but it fits with the bizarre nature of the show. Make no mistakes, this is a very intricate mystery and it weaves a fascinating story. There are rules that govern everything and once you finally understand, it all comes together in one glorious moment. Admittedly, it took me a couple of episodes to really get into it, but it was well worth it. This is not the series, you think it’ll be from the tagline and the animation style.

---

What was your favourite moment?

It has to be the final battle… hang on… there’s a final battle? You better believe it and it has a giant mecha, superheroes, an evil organisation, and much more. The battle itself is pretty epic, but it’s the conclusion that blew me away. After quite a bit of speculation, it is revealed that… all right, there’s a massive spoiler coming so if you don’t want to know, leave now. If you’re planning on watching this, I would recommend avoiding this for now…

So, it’s revealed that Yuta, Guriko, and Mikatan are all in the wrong bodies and have been for several years. They were the results of experimentation in the uberfying and when they get overpowered, their soul separates from their body and jumps to the nearest one. So, after an incident when they escaped, they all ended up switching bodies and then lost each other. Guriko, the leader of QMay is in Yuta’s body, Yuta is in Mikatan’s body, and Mikatan is in Guriko’s body.

In the battle, Mikatan is seriously injured and about to die. Guriko wants to swap back which would mean she would die in Mikatan’s place, but Yuta refuses to let her, switching with Mikitan himself. Yuta ends up dying in Guriko’s body, Mikitan is back in her own body, and Guriko is forced to make amends for all the trouble she caused in Yuta’s body. Basically, it’s massively complicated and you should totally watch this show.

---

What was your least favourite moment?

It’s not that big of a thing, but they made out that the world would be destroyed by Yuta seeing panties and for the first episode that was pretty much all that happened, but then it was almost forgotten. I think it ended up being really cool, but I’m not sure why they made such a big thing about it, to begin with. I bet it put off some people who would have loved this story.

• 

• 

• 

---

Who was your favourite character?

This is a really hard one as all of the characters are really interesting and I loved the way they all interacted with one another, not to mention that there was spirit Yuta and regular Yuta wondering around. If I have to pick one, I would go with Lovera. She’s the medium that doesn’t believe in spirits. She was awesome most of the time and even better when Yuta would possess her to fight against the villains. Then, there was also the bizarre pigeon head dance which is probably one of the most bizarre images ever and one that will probably never leave my head.

---

Who was your least favourite character?

There wasn’t a huge cast and all of them were well used, however, if I am forced to pick it would be Chiranosuke the cat spirit. It was interesting but it did the really annoying thing of not telling Yuta everything and waiting for him to screw up before giving him the next lesson. I know a lot of this has to be learnt, but I hate it when someone in the know deliberately keeps information that is vital to the protagonist to themselves for no other reason than to drag out the story.

---

Would you like some more?

I actually think that this series wrapped things up pretty nicely and was great as a self-contained story. So, that would be a no and not because I didn’t like it. Quite the opposite. I loved it and would like it to stay as it is. There’s no need to add a second season when the story has finished. Would I like more shows like this? Absolutely. I love time travel and quirky shows. There was a definite Dirk Gently vibe about it and I’m a huge Douglas Adams fan.

---

What have you learnt?

I think this is going to relate to the mystery aspects and how to handle the reveals. There’s definitely a skill to it and I like to think that it revolves around the timing. It’s not just about when you reveal things though, it’s how often. This series has so many mysteries and questions that it is able to slowly reveal parts as it goes. Doing it this way allows the viewer to get a little bit more information that will keep them going until the next reveal. You can always look at Lost as an example of where they may have got this a little wrong. I loved the first two seasons and then found that it was just raising more and more questions without the payoffs, which made it harder to watch. This is just twelve episodes so there’s little danger of that, but I still think it did a great job in this aspect.

---

Other Posts in the Series

• A to Z Anime Challenge
  • Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero
  • Blood-C / Blood-C: The Last Dark
  • Cat Planet Cuties
  • Dragonar Academy
  • El Cazador de la Bruja
  • Freezing / Freezing Vibrations
  • Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions
  • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens
  • Is It Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?
  • Jormungand / Jormungand: Perfect Order
  • Knight’s & Magic
  • Lord Marksman and Vanadis
  • My First Girlfriend is a Gal
  • No Game No Life
  • Outbreak Company
  • Punch Line
  • Qualidea Code
  • Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
  • Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign
  • The Testament of Sister New Devil
  • Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle

---