, also known by the title of its anime adaptation, , is a Japanese
manga
are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
parody
A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
, frequently referencing Japanese and American pop-culture in many ways. It mainly follows
child prodigy
A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...
Rebecca Miyamoto, an
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
graduate newly hired as a homeroom teacher at Peach Moon Academy, where she deals with the antics of the Class 1-C students during everyday school life. The manga was serialized in
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...
's '' G Fantasy'' between the November 2000 and October 2011 issues, and the chapters are collected in 17 ''
tankōbon
A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...
'' volumes.
A 26-episode
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series adaptation aired in Japan on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Funimation
Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...
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
A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...
homeroom teacher, and the antics of her class 1-C. The characters attend a high school called the where Rebecca has taken up a job as one of the teachers after being the youngest graduate at
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
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 topicalallusions 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
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
.
There are four spin-offs of original ''Pani Poni'' manga. Most of them features
yonkoma
is a comic strip format that generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom. They also sometimes run right-to-left horizontally or use a hybrid 2×2 style, depending on the layout requiremen ...
style. is currently serialized in ''Tech Gian'' (
Enterbrain
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing founded on January 30, 1987, as . Magazines published by Enterbrain are generally focused on video games and computer entertainment as well as video game and strate ...
) from July 2001, and focuses on Hikaru Nikaido (class 1-A) as a heroine. was serialized in '' Dengeki Moeoh'' between March 2002 and June 2008. It featured Kurumi Momose (1-C) as a heroine and illustrated her part-time job on a cafe. Rei Tachibana (1-C) also took part in some episodes as . was serialized in ''Ace Momogumi'' ( Kadokawa Shoten) from June 2003 to December 2004, when the company discontinued the magazine. It described the fictional
Japanese idol
An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese popular culture, Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in other performance skills such as acting, dancing, and modeling. Idol ...
group named ''Momo-gumi!!'' that Yuna Kashiwagi (1-A) belongs to. is alternately serialized in ''G Fantasy'' with ''Pani Poni'' from August 2006. It shows how Behoimi (1-D) became a "real"
magical girl
is a Genre#Subgenre, subgenre of primarily Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered on young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into wh ...
, 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
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series adaptation titled ''Pani Poni Dash!'' aired in Japan between July 4 and December 26, 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
Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...
in North America (it was once licensed by ADV Films for $138,666 effective on June 30, 2006, but through a fallout of ADV's license partner Sojitz/ARM Corporation, ''Pani Poni'' was transferred to Funimation), ADV Films in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, 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
adage
A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...
s and
proverb
A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...
s. 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 (at some points in the series, a character's face is replaced by an emoticon), or non sequitur comments and actions (especially by Ichijo). The series also contains numerous parodies and references to popular culture, which include '' Planet of the Apes'', ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
'', ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...
'', ''
Gundam
is a Japanese military science fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ...
Usagi Yojimbo
is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai. It is set primarily at the beginning of the Edo period of Japanese history and features anthropomorphic animals replacing humans. The main character is a rabbit '' rōnin'', Miyamoto Usagi, whom ...
'', ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' and the ''
Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, t ...
''.
Music
;Opening themes
# by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-C (feat. Himeko in TV episodes 2–9, 14, DVD episodes 1–8, 25 and OVA; feat. Rei in TV episodes 11, 13, 16; feat. Kurumi in TV episode 17 and DVD episode 15; feat. Rokugō in TV episodes 19, 22)
# by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-C (feat. Ichijo in TV episodes 10, 12, 15, 18 and DVD episodes 9-14, 16)
# by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-C (feat. Miyako in TV episodes 20–21, 23 and DVD episodes 17–23; feat. Rokugō in TV episode 24 and DVD episode 24)
;Ending themes
# by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-A&B (in TV and DVD episodes 1–7, 9-12)
# by Behoimi (in TV and DVD episodes 8)
# by Rebecca Miyamoto (in TV and DVD episodes 13, 25)
# by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-D (in TV and DVD episodes 14-23 and OVA)
# by Rebecca Miyamoto (in TV and DVD episode 24)
# by Peach Moon Academy Class 1-C (feat. Himeko in TV and DVD episode 26)
Internet radio shows
''Pani Poni Dash'' has two
internet radio
Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...
shows titled and . 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 (1-D) and Rebecca "Becky" Miyamoto in the anime respectively.
While the latter one was remixed as "DJCD"s, the former has never been officially released.
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.''Pani Poni Dash!'' anime at
Funimation
Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...