Pani Poni


Pani Poni, also known by the title of its anime adaptation, Pani Poni Dash!, is a Japanese manga series by Hekiru Hikawa that uses parody, frequently referencing Japanese and American pop-culture in many ways. It features several first year students and their teachers in a school in Japan, though the main focus is on class 1-C. The manga was serialized in Square Enix's G Fantasy between the November 2000 and October 2011 issues, and the chapters are collected in 17 tankōbon volumes.
A 26-episode anime television series adaptation aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between July 3 and December 25, 2005 with its title renamed as Pani Poni Dash!. The anime is licensed by Funimation in North America. There have also been several drama CDs created based on the TV series and manga. A special OVA was released with a DVD box set containing the anime series on April 15, 2009 in Japan.

Plot

Pani Poni Dash!'s central storyline revolves around Rebecca Miyamoto, a child prodigy homeroom teacher, and the antics of her class 1-C. The characters attend a high school called the Peach Moon Academy where Rebecca has taken up a job as one of the teachers after being the youngest graduate at M.I.T. and is being watched by space aliens who screw up the story every now and then. Though the story hardly strays from the focus of the four first-year classes labeled 1-A through 1-D, the mishaps that occur in them, the teacher's lounge, and on school trips also become sources of material for topical allusions regarding satire, anime, Internet, gaming, and popular culture.

Media

Manga

Pani Poni was serialized in the manga magazine G Fantasy published by Square Enix between the November 2000 and October 2011 issues. Seventeen volumes were released in Japan. The translated versions of the manga are also released in Taiwan and South Korea, from Chingwin Publishing Group in Taipei and Haksan Culture Company in Seoul.
There are four spin-offs of original Pani Poni manga. Most of them features yonkoma style. TG Angel Gyaiko-chan is currently serialized in Tech Gian from July 2001, and focuses on Hikaru Nikaido as a heroine. Maro-Mayu was serialized in Dengeki Moeoh between March 2002 and June 2008. It featured Kurumi Momose as a heroine and illustrated her part-time job on a cafe. Rei Tachibana also took part in some episodes as Rei from the Chinese Restaurant. Momo-Gumi!! was serialized in Ace Momogumi from June 2003 to December 2004, when the company discontinued the magazine. It described the fictional Japanese idol group named Momo-gumi!! that Yuna Kashiwagi belongs to. The Alternative Cure Magical Girl Behoimi-chan is alternately serialized in G Fantasy with Pani Poni from August 2006. It shows how Behoimi became a "real" magical girl, and fights against the invaders from other planets.

Drama CDs

Pani Poni has also created ten drama CDs based on the series, the first of which was released in Japan on February 27, 2004. While the first seven preceded the anime, and thus were based on the manga version, the last three released have been based on the anime adaptation.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation titled Pani Poni Dash! aired in Japan between July 3 and December 25, 2005, and contained 26 episodes. King Records subsidiary Starchild has the video and music rights for the anime. A special OVA was released with a DVD box set containing the anime series, on April 15, 2009. A Blu-ray box set of the series including the OVA was released in Japan on April 26, 2017. The anime was licensed Funimation in North America, ADV Films in the United Kingdom, Mighty Media in Taiwan, and TVee.co.kr in South Korea. Funimation released a complete DVD box set on March 10, 2009.
The episode names are based on adages and proverbs. Each episode is only loosely connected to the central plot. Many of the jokes in the series rely on satire, established character behavior, Japanese Internet and anime culture such as emoticons, or non sequitur comments and actions. The series also contains numerous parodies and references to popular culture, which include Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, The Exorcist, Gundam, Devilman, Super Mario Bros., Little Black Sambo,, Usagi Yojimbo, Doctor Who and the Cthulhu Mythos.

Music

;Opening themes
  1. "Yellow Vacation" by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-C
  2. "Roulette☆Roulette " by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-C
  3. "Shōjo Q" by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-C
;Ending themes
  1. "Girlppi" by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-A&B
  2. "Healing-type Magical Girl Behoimi" by Behoimi
  3. "Faraway Dream" by Rebecca Miyamoto
  4. "Moonlight Love" by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-D
  5. "Snow, Moon, and Flower" by Rebecca Miyamoto
  6. "Yellow Vacation" by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-C

    Internet radio shows

Pani Poni Dash has two internet radio shows titled The Alternative Curing Labo of Magical Girl Behoimi and Pani Radi Dash!. The first one was aired from November 2005 to February 2006, while the latter one was aired from December 2005 to September 2006, both on Animate TV. The shows were hosted by Mai Kadowaki and Chiwa Saito who played Behoimi and Rebecca "Becky" Miyamoto in the anime respectively.
While the latter one was remixed as "DJCD"s, the former has never been officially released.