I would like to ask you a geunine question: Do you still or even remember that Pop Team Epic was a thing back then? For context, anime back then was unlike anime today, served by the beatitudes of its long-standing genres which have come to almost define any seasonal list and stacking heaps upon heaps of mediocrity with some stand-out titles we've come to know in the new decade of the 2020s. Well, back in Winter 2018, there was a series like it, and based off of mangaka Bkub Okawa's 4-koma manga, that would truly define the term "avant-garde". As a sidenote, shows like Madhouse's Sora yori mo Tooi Basho a.k.a A Place Further Than The Universe broke the underwhelming season for its CGDCT-like adventure drama which to this day, is still one of the best masterpiece shows that I've watched in my entire life, period. Of course, there were other notable shows that only got the attention from the audience that they serve, but if there's one unique show that I constantly would remember being that wacky outcast, it would be Pop Team Epic.
Just a recap, Bkub Okawa's gag parody manga that got translated into the anime, the manga is very rough on the heels, but the anime that was produced by Kamikaze Douga under the helm of its director Jun Aoki (which he would later go on to form his very own studio Space Neko Company), it was unlike ANYTHING that I've seen before with its metaverse of parodies and gag humor, and would easily define as a masterpiece show, just because it's a kuso a.k.a shit-posting anime. Not to mention that Sumire Uesaka's OP was a straight BANGER in the absurd midst of thinking that HOW would a show like this get a song that is pure master-lyrical fire. The ED was also realy nice though. And that was Season 1 in a wrap back in early 2018.
And here we are again, with Season 2 greenlit right at the tail-end of 2021 after the TV re-broadcast of Season 1 a.k.a Pop Team Epic Repeat, adding in Jun Aoki's Space Neko Company to put more shame to both Takeshobo (the manga company that the source material is published in) and King Records (the anime producer). So, how does Season 2 fare against its almost 5-year old prequel season? I would say it's good, but sadly (and obviously) not at the heights of what Season 1 managed to accomplish of its surrealism, absurdity, and non-sequitur natures.
If you've watched Pop Team Epic back in the day, it was truly absurd and a super freak of even having a brain's IQ worth to assess the anime, even in minute detail, because it is the definition of "fool me once, shame on me". Also, because of its gag humor and parody, you didn't know quite what to expect being the first run-through of a show that is evidently self-aware of itself, and it doesn't care. Which is why it makes a perfect deal on it being a kuso anime. With Season 2 around, almost the entirety of Season 1 makes a return, sadly omitting the interesting Japan Mignon A-B sided French-Japanese segment with Thibault Tresca in full replacement for the Ikemen-focused B-side, which was underwhelming to say the least. Even Bob Team Epic and Hellshake Yano makes a return, which as a newcomer to the seasonal anime rut back in the day, I was in for pleasure, and got more than expected out of it. Shouta Aoi also makes a return for the Season 2's OP, and I can't say that I quite love it, but I don't hate it either. The ED is also really kinda weak, or is it maybe that because of Season 1 that I've placed too much expectation that the sequel should deliver the same as it should have been. But what matters is that the A-B sided female-to-male VA portion continues and provides fresh breath of air and different interpretations, and the art is not lost here, which I am relieved to say the least.
Pop Team Epic will always and forever be the experimentalism anime that does not care for anything or anyone in that regard, and that's why I love the series as a whole, now with Season 2 reigniting the flame from 5 years ago. It's a good follow-up, but Season 1 is still miles better IMO. Still recommended for the minority really wanting something very unique that you will not see anything like it in the history of forever.
Hellshake, Hellshake, Hellshake~~~ Yano~~~!!!!!