Synopsis
Welcome to Papuwa Island. Check your sanity at the door. Led by a mysterious vice, pretty boy brat Kotaro awakens from a long slumber and comes to Papuwa Island, a tropical paradise hidden away from the world of man. However, as soon as he arrives, a traumatic experience causes him to lose his memories and forget the horrifying secret that binds him to the strange island. Now, under the questionable are of the young Papuwa and his maid, Liquid, Kotaro begins his new life of bizarre adventures in a world of transvestite fish, fruity pink dinosaurs and hallucination-inducing poisonous mushrooms. Plagued by the island’s wacky inhabitants and an army of assassins aimed at kidnapping him, Kotaro struggles o keep both his life and his sanity intact. Get ready for fun, sun and hermaphroditic snails in the first, hilarious volume of Papuwa!

Review
I am still trying to pick my jaw up after watching Papuwa. The difference between this jaw dropping and the others that had happened to me in the past was that this one was not necessarily a good thing. From the beginning to the end, the show was exactly what the volume’s title hinted; Wild Things. From human sized fish wearing fishnets to pink dinosaurs and talking animals, this show has all that it needs to be considered crazy. And to me, that is all Papuwa is; something that just tries to pull all sorts of ridiculous stunts in an effort to get some laughter out of the viewer. While there were times that it was successful in getting me to laugh, it never got to the point where I was dying from it though. To me, it is a shame, because Papuwa has a lot of potential to be a great comedy. And while a story obviously exists in the world of Papuwa, it really does not play much of a role at all. Sure, most of the actions were a reaction of retrieving Kotaro back to Gamma, but the majority of the time ‘Rotaro,’ Papuwa and the others just go on wacky adventures to satisfy their hunger and to prevent Kotaro from recovering from his amnesia or else they would be in some deep waters :).

At a first glance, Papuwa felt like it was a semi-serious anime with some fun, but what I received in return for my expectations were like planets colliding… or the past coming together with the future. When I saw how Papuwa looked compared to the other characters around him, it was like it did not belong… but then again, a poisonous human looking mushroom who encourage people to take a bite out of him do not mix either. Okay, maybe that was not funny. But I tried and Papuwa has scenes that are quick hitting and it comes down to a ‘get it or not’ scenario. Most likely the jokes here are pretty simple and comprehendible. They are some you would see or hear in real life actually.

The Breakdown
Papuwa is aimed towards the fan who liked a show like Excel Saga. A show where the plot is not focused, but the laughter is. While most, if not all, of the jokes have been seen or heard in other anime shows one way or another, Papuwa throws it together all in one small show.