No one knows why or how she appeared, but one day the small life form who came to be called ‘Potemayo’ just showed up from the depths of Sunao Moriyama’s fridge. And just as Sunao and his friends got used to incorporating this cute yet mysterious creature into their lives, along came another one- the tiny tsundere Guchuko. Still, life must go on, and so in short order Potemayo and Guchuko just become another part of the everyday experiences of those around them.

Anyone who’s left food in the fridge for longer than recommended has probably worried about new life forms evolving in there, but until Potemayo came along, we probably never thought about tiny humanoids showing up. Nonetheless, that’s just what happens here, and don’t ever expect to find out just how or why such a thing occurred, for the series has no intention of addressing it.

Instead, just like so many other 4koma based series, Potemayo isn’t really about anything much at all, instead just following the everyday lives of Sunao and his friends- with the added weirdness of interacting with two small chibi blobs. It’s hardly ground-breaking or original stuff, but if you like the light and easy pace of slice-of-life, then you’ll enjoy kicking back and relaxing with an episode or three of this.

Obviously, this lack of any real story or development won’t sit well with everyone, and on a similar note, neither will the series’ peculiar sense of humour. With an odd penchant for having male characters cross-dress, slightly unhealthy levels of unrequited lust and a bizarre need to have Potemayo wet herself or throw up, the humour is perhaps a little too crude and odd to appeal to anyone, but even though it can get disturbing at points, it shouldn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the series too much.

When it comes to the cast, most of the human characters are the typical one-joke personalities of 4koma-based series; the key being not so much in their development as in their interaction. Naturally, there is the usual range of likable, inoffensive and slightly annoying characters, but the true stars of the show are Potemayo and Guchuko, at least one of whom should capture your heart with their antics.

Visually, Potemayo opts for a low-key look, with watercolour style backgrounds, cute character designs and a heavy reliance on gradient-coloured hair. The overall style is both simple and attractive, as befits such a laid-back series. Background music is largely forgettable, although the OP will become catchy if you let it.

Final Thoughts

An amusing series about nothing much at all, Potemayo offers a blend of mild comedy and light slice-of-life that will entertain in spite of its sometimes bizarre sense of humour. You won’t find anything of great import here, but if you need something cute and charming to help you unwind, Potemayo will do the trick.

Tier: Bronze+

Reviewed this week: Chi’s Sweet Home 29-32, Himitsu 4, Itazura na Kiss 8, Kaiba 5, Kurenai 8, Persona Trinity Soul 10, Real Drive 5, Shion no Ou 20, Toshokan Sensou 7

…and in manga: Minami-ke 23-8, Nodame Cantabile 114-9, Potemayo 1-8, Tennai 32-3, Tsubasa Chronicle 190

ANIME

CURRENT SERIES RANKINGS

1. Chi’s Sweet Home (1)- Chi scratches
2. Kurenai (2) – 7-5-3
3. Kaiba (3) – Patch and Quilt
4. Nabari no Ou (4) – ninjas are cool again
5. xxxHOLiC Kei (5) – Kohane-chan
6. Wagaya no Oinari-sama (6) – fox trap
7. Real Drive (7) – sunglasses
8. Soul Eater (8) – Bones does shounen
9. Persona Trinity Soul (9) – catch-up, start!
10. Toshokan Sensou (11) – library wars
11. Kyouran Kazoku Nikki (12) – disillusioned
12. Himitsu (10) – you’ll get a room when grandpa dies
13. Itazura na Kiss (13) – everything at or below this line is generic
14. Amatsuki (14) – the new Shounen Onmyouji
15. Allison and Lillia (15) – yawn

SLOW RANKINGS

1. Shion no Ou (1) – final match
2. Tetsuko no Tabi (2)- is this ever going to be subbed?
3. Love GetChu! (3)- light entertainment
4. Himawari!! (4) – needs less plot
5. Gunslinger Girl- Il teatrino (5)- licensed
6. Shounen Onmyouji (6)- I’ll watch the last two episodes soon

Chi’s Sweet Home 29-32: When having to stay at home to watch Chi all the time becomes a little inconvenient, the Yamadas decide to try going out and leaving her to house-sit- albeit after a stressful few hours of running around trying to make sure the place is safe. Although I was a little surprised that Mother was okay with leaving Youhei at home on his own at one point, on the whole this was another entertaining slice of feline life, although I’m waiting for the black cat from the manga to make his appearance.

Himitsu 4: “Oh dear” is all I can say about this latest episode of Himitsu, as our heroes become even more bland and stupid than they were previously, just in time to solve a case about a man who gets rid of troublesome grandpas for families who don’t want them anymore. “Highlights” of the episode include Aoki’s father going into hospital “Hmm, my dad’s just collapsed, oh well, back to that report”, the main villain wearing a Robin Hood hat and singing “If you’re happy and you know it…[kill your grandpa]” and an exchange in which a mother tells her son he will get his own room when grandpa dies, so to pray for him to hurry up and pass on. In the meantime, the soundtrack has become particularly lazy, and indeed would sound more at home in a 16 bit game.

Itazura na Kiss 8: Kotoko and Irie’s university days have started, but in typical fashion Irie is being as much of a bastard as ever, brushing off Kotoko in favour of spending time with a ‘perfect’ witch queen from his own department. Much as I would like Kotoko to give up the fight to land this cold-hearted piece of human scum, she just won’t, leading to another episode of meaningless struggle for the heart of a man who quite frankly, just isn’t worth it.

Kaiba 5: There’s a quality of vivid nightmare in this instalment of Kaiba, in which our eponymous hero manages to lose the hippo body (I never liked that form anyway) and ends up meeting Patch, a mad inventor who designs new bodies. Patch’s mind is so crammed with memories that he just can’t form any new ones, causing him to get stuck in an endless cycle of creating useless bodies to mock the people who buy them to follow the latest fashion. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in this episode, including Patch’s dog, which he unwittingly made from the memories of the woman who loved him despite never being noticed. It’s disturbing and thought-provoking stuff at the same time.

Kurenai 8: The Kuhouins may have found out Murasaki’s location, but for now we still have time for some peaceful antics, as Shinkurou gets permission to take Murasaki to a minor shrine for her Shichi-Go-San (a celebration for children aged 3, 5 and 7). Whilst the bulk of the episode highlights how much I’ve come to like all the characters of the series, in the background giant wheels are beginning to turn, with Evil Young Man of the Kuhouin family deciding to take action and Ginko discovering that Murasaki isn’t even listed as a member of the Kuhouins. What does it all mean? How will it all turn out? Can Shinkurou really stand up to such a powerful adversary, even with Benika’s aid?

Persona Trinity Soul 10: I was slightly confused upon starting this episode to be greeted with a scene from the beginning of episode nine, but after a few indecisive minutes of not knowing what was going, I realised that this was meant to be what was happening to everything else whilst Shin was out for the day. Whilst Megumi tries to teach Takurou how to use his Persona, Yamazaki brings lunch over to the Kanzato house, only to end up staying to eat with them before taking in a movie. There’s a bit more to it than that, but the series is staying consistently average for now.

Real Drive 5: If last episode was all about orgasms, then this time around the focus switches to sunglasses, as Minamo tries to track down a rare brand known as Sous-Marin (or at least an equally rare and better quality knock-off), only to end up in the path of “Iron Schwartz” the combat android as he goes on a rampage. Aside from the inevitable pain of seeing two sets of sunglasses get ruined in the course of the episode, this is a reasonably good outing that entertains whilst adding nothing to the series- and I have to admit some of the background music and the fuss over glasses reminded me of Dennou Coil.

Shion no Ou 20: It’s time for the final match between the increasingly evil Hani Makoto and our heroine Shion, but even as everyone runs around behind the scenes trying to prove that the Meijin is the murderer, what will happen on the shogi board? I’m slightly amused as to how the Meijin is now being portrayed as a “gwakaka, I killed them for fun” villain, but of course I’m looking forward to Shion trouncing him in the game.

Toshokan Sensou 7: I found myself largely unable to pay attention to this episode of Toshokan Sensou, so uninspiring was it. Whilst Shibasaki discusses book-burning and a Library Committee cover up, Tezuka’s evil older brother decides to put some kind of villainous plan in motion, culminating in a cliff-hanger that sees Kasahara taken off for interrogation. Within the space of an episode, the library authorities have become some kind of faceless evil, but it all feels too extreme a shift for a series that had our heroine worrying about a visit from her parents just two episodes ago.

MANGA

Minami-ke 23-8: It’s time to recall the simple fun of Minami-ke with this batch of chapters, which includes Christmas, New Year and Valentine’s Day, as seen in the first season of the anime. It’s always refreshing to have some Minami-ke to read, but it leaves me with the desire for more.

Nodame Cantabile 114-9: When Nodame needs to practise her Beethoven, Chiaki decides to focus on helping her- a major step forward in their relationship that even includes a kiss. Then it’s back to work for Chiaki when Nodame decides she must go the last stretch alone- but jealousy rears its ugly head when she realises that means he’ll be spending time with Rui. Everyone’s come so far since the beginning, but there’s still a lot of potential for the series to stretch ahead into the future.

*CATCH-UP* Potemayo 1-8: Since the Potemayo manga is practically identical to the anime, there isn’t much to say about these eight short chapters- the content is identical, but the 4Koma format and lack of colour and movement mean that for once I prefer the anime. Nonetheless, I need to get to the point where it picks up where the anime left off.

Tenshi Nanka Janai 32-3: It took a couple of weeks to psych myself up for it (I don’t know why, but I find early Yazawa a little headache inducing to read), but I’ve finally made it through two more chapters of Tennai, in which Akira discovers that Masashi is his half brother before finally returning home to Midori’s arms. It actually feels like the series could end here, but there’s more to come.

Tsubasa Chronicle 190: It’s time for a leisurely flashback in this episode, as we see how Syaoran Jr met Sakura-hime and realised that incest is okay if the girl is from another world. That’s all, really.

As we all know, during the summer we are expected to be outside enjoying the sunshine and the like, and so the selection of anime offered to us is rather limited compared to the lush bounty of the spring and autumn seasons. Good summer series tend to be few and far between, and even ones that are mildly entertaining can be hard to find. Can this year break the trend, or is it going to be more of the same?

I’m not bothering with movies this time, I never seem to actually watch them.

• Buzzer Beater 2007: I hardly ever watch sports series, and I certainly haven’t bothered to touch the 2005 Buzzer Beater anime (why is it getting a remake so soon?). These futuristic basketball adventures will be left well alone.
• Kodomo no Jikan: I think we’ve all heard of this series by now thanks to the Great Manga Cancellation Incident of 2007, and to be honest, a precocious third-grader going after her 23 year old teacher never appealed to me. I might check out the manga thanks to all the controversy about it, but the anime won’t be tried unless I like the original.
• Soukou Kihei Votoms Pailsen Files: I don’t much about this series other than the existence of secret documents in the postwar era, but a quick glance at the character art reveals some depressing MANLY and generic designs. It also seems to be related to Armoured Trooper Votoms, a series almost as old as I am that looks to be typical retro eighties MANLINESS.
• Nanatsuiro Drops: A middle school boy gets turned into a plush sheep and needs help from a magical girl to collect the star droplets needed to turn back. As with most eroge adaptations, the artwork and prospect of light entertainment appeals to me, but then I remember the animation and story quality of Yoake and now Polyphonica, and I become reluctant to make the same mistake yet again.
• Zombie-Loan: If Rozen Maiden is Peach-Pit’s attempt at X, and DearS their rip-off of Chobits, then Zombie Loan may be Tokyo Babylon and xxxHOLiC, featuring a trio of people hunting down zombies. After the whole getting disillusioned with Rozen Maiden debacle, I’m somewhat reluctant to get too optimistic about this, but I’ll probably give it a try.
• School Days: Somehow I once ended up watching a couple of clips from the raw OVA on “you toube”, and it was awful in an “I can’t believe it could be this bad” sense, with a still shot of one girl watching a couple have sex off screen “Makoto…no…”, and then some violence. I guess a TV series has a chance to do the story in more depth, but is that really going to help?
• Doujin Work: I included this in the spring preview because I thought this was coming out ages ago, and in the meantime the reputation of 4koma-based anime has been smashed by Lucky Star. Even so, it just might have some Genshiken-esque potential, if I can ever be bothered to risk it.
• Code-E: Its title might be an unpleasant reminder of Code Geass, but can Code-E’s tale of a girl who can disrupt electronics when she gets nervous turn out to be more Dennou Coil than mere throwaway entertainment? I’m sceptical, but you never know.
• Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho: Sasa already said this, but the artwork is reminiscent of YKK, even if the story is nothing like it- instead, this is the tale of a boy who joins a swimming club filled with weirdoes, including that one girl who might just be someone he met in his past. It doesn’t sound like it will be top quality, but it could be fun.
• Mushi-Uta: The title may make it sound like some sort of Mushishi/Utawarerumono crossover, but in fact Mushi-Uta is a light novel adaptation about a breed of mushi that eats dreams. If only in memory of its similarly named second cousin, I must watch it.
• Sky Girls: A follow-up to last year’s OVA, this series sees lolis in mecha fighting giant worms. It sounds a bit generic and Simoun-like for its own good, and it may well only appeal to rabid mecha musume fans.
• Happy Happy Clover: Looks like a cutesy kids show- if only it actually had adult humour and was going to be the next Damekko Doubutsu.
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai: I got highly disillusioned with Higurashi by the end, so even though I once longed for the next two arcs to be animated, I’m not too enthused about this. Even so, I will probably end up at least starting it.
• Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei: So, Hopeless Sensei gets his own anime series…or not. A comedy series about a pessimistic teacher and an optimistic student, SHAFT’s involvement means this could be the next Pani Poni Dash, which I enjoyed, or Negima!?…which I didn’t.
• Moetan: Whose idea was it to turn an English vocabulary guide into an anime? I mean seriously, what the hell is this going to be about? I guess it may be amusing, but it could also get old quickly.
• Zero no Tsukaima 2nd Series: Based on the fact that I could only bear two episodes of the first series before getting tired of the paper thin plot and characters, I won’t be watching this.
• Potemayo: The story of a girl who lives in the fridge, Potemayo is another 4-koma based series which just might be as enchanting as Binchou-tan, but which will probably be as throwaway as Adventures of Mini-Goddess.
• Mononoke: Based on the medicine seller from the third and best arc of Ayakashi, Mononoke loses points for being related to that boring series, but then gains them back for the distinctive art style, period setting and possibility similarity to Requiem from the Darkness.
• Shigurui: The historical setting tempts me, but the ultra-violence makes me wary that it will be a gorefest reminiscent of some of the more forgettable eighties and early nineties material. I may give it a try, but it’s far from a must-see.
• Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou Tou Kenbu Hen: Another second season, and this time I didn’t even touch the first, so I’m hardly going to be watching this.
• Baccano: I need my historical series fix in every season, and it looks like this time around we’ll be heading to Prohibition-era America (ah, the memories of GCSE History are just flooding back). I already have hopes that this is not only going to be enjoyable, but will also offer solid parody material, just as Chevalier and Iroha did before it.

Extra: Last Season’s “Results”, aka, are previews meaningless after all?

Shows classified as blue: 14- 5 still watching, 4 dropped, 5 unwatched

Shows classified as black: 16- 3 still watching, 1 dropped, 12 unwatched

Shows classified as red: 21- 2 still watching, 2 dropped, 1 unaired, 16 unwatched.