Paniponi Dash Volume One: Lethal Lesson

Paniponi Dash Volume One: Lethal Lesson

Hawkeye

Becky is a 11 year old prodigy, being the youngest student ever to graduate from MIT. With a mixed heritage, Japanese and American, she’s equipped with the language skills to become a teacher in Japan. With her new position secured, she starts her new life as a 10th grade teacher with a class full of misfits.

A 10th grade class with an 11 year old teacher is sure to be full of hilarious antics and fun right? Wrong. The story was tedious at best, the side stories stupid, such as aliens watching Becky and god being a cat that warms sodas in vending machines. Don’t ask me, I have no idea what that means either. My short summary is about as much plot or sense as you’re going to get out of this one.

The voice acting went beyond bad stereotypes. With a cast full of one-dimensional characters, no wonder they had the voice actors use one-dimensional acting. The nerd had a nasally voice, the little kid was annoyingly high pitched, and the energetic student shouted so loud and often that I got a headache. It was just terrible. Even the music wasn’t that great.

The animation was also mediocre at best. Perhaps it was the story itself that detracted from it. it’s hard to say if it really wasn’t great or if my seething hatred of this show as it progressed was the real problem. Who knows? All that matters is that I don’t remember going “ooo and ahhh” over any of the scenes, or being impressed at any time while watching it.

I didn’t even glance at the extras, I didn’t care enough. But apparently there’s something called “2 TV Spots” as well as a Chalkboard Champions Contest. Odds are the extras are better then the anime. I mean really, how could they be any worse?

I almost had to get a power drill and put a small hole in my head to let my brains leak out. That’s how bad this anime was. I’m all for the fun, silly, wacky animes. I liked Excel Saga, I liked FLCL, I even liked the almost too cute Azumanga Diaoh. But this anime was just too much for me, too over the top. I had trouble making it through the entire disc. Never before have I struggled to choke down five measly episodes. Call me fickle, but I like some depth in the characters, and some sense of purpose in the overall episode. There are animes that over the top, and then there are animes that just take it too far. But hey if you like that type of thing, be my guest and go grab yourself a copy of Paniponi Dash.

Entertainment: 1
Shoot me in the head.

Technical: 3
They offered extras. That gets them some pity points.

Overall: 3

DVD Features: Episodes 1-5

DVD Extras: Ad vidnotes, 2 TV Spots, Special Opening: Yellow Vacation, Chalkboard Champions Contest, Reversible Cover, Clean Close