The successful US cartoon the Powerpuff Girls was in equal parts a homage and parody of anime and Japan’s obsession with cuteness. Japan’s Toei Animation, seemingly missing this point, has reversed engineered the cartoon for a domestic audience.
They were supercute but now…it is kind of sexy. Before: their legs were lumpy psuedopods. After: shapely young woman’s legs. This is exciting! This is disturbing! Disturbing and exciting? No! It is DEMASHITAA! POWERPUFF GIRLS Z, the latest incarnation of the Powerpuff Girls…now in 3-D anime and on Japanese TV. There is Mojo Jojo…but he looks like real monkey.
While Grady of the Kaiju Shakedown is disturbed by the girl’s new shapely legs, AsiaPundit is even more by bothered the decision to give Ms Sara Bellum more realistic proportions.:
AsiaPundit can assure readers that the character of Sara Bellum was intended as an inspiration for young girls who watched the program and was not a Jessica Rabbit-style attempt to garner male viewers through titillation. Note that the character’s name is a pun on ‘cerebellum.’
For those interested in further useless Powerpuff trivia, Ms Bellum’s address in Townsville was given as 69 Yodelinda Valley Lane.
Technorati Tags: asia, east asia, japan, northeast asia, powerpuff
July 12th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
[…] Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z! A Japanese animation studio has given the girls a makeover for a new show to be aired in Japan. Now the girls look totally original, no more of that boring generic animation stuff, am I right? Watch trailer 1 here, trailer 2 here, and another preview here. [Story found on Asia Pundit] Help Japanprobe Grow by sharing this post:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
July 12th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
[…] As seen on Asia Pundit, what happens if a Japanese anime company gets a hold of The Powerpuff Girls franchise? Powerpuff Girls Z. […]
July 14th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
about the ‘disturbing’ sexualising about the new Japanese powerpuff girl’s image: Japanese’s idea of attractive females are based on the lolita type: cute,pure,young-looking,and with a slightly child-like quality.
that would explain why japanese female pop-stars are marketed with the kawaii look,to appeal to this lolita beauty ideal.
japanese powerpuff girls: images of paedophilic sexuality disguised as harmless cartoons???
July 15th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
… or maybe it’s an exteremly polite form of reverse-parody?