REVIEW: Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi

"Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi Show

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi Show

Anything is possible

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!"

That song will never leave my head. In fact, this is the Cartoon Network show that made me fall in love with the famous J-Rock duo Puffy AmiYumi. So, I decided to review this one.

For those who don't know who the heck is Puffy AmiYumi, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is a show created by Sam Register, former Cartoon Network vice-president and current Warner Bros. Animation president who's a huge fan of the real-life band and created the cartoon to share its fame with the entire world. The band has been very famous in Japan ever since it was formed in 1996, released several English-language albums and became very famous worldwide for singing the theme song to the classic Teen Titans cartoon. Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi premiered in 2004 with the episodes "Dis-Harmony/Collect All 5/Ninjcompoop" and became one of Cartoon Network's well-known franchises, ending in 2006 with "Manga Madness (Part 2)/Julie AmiYumi/It's Alive!" which sadly never aired in America.

I'm starting off saying that I used to love this show as a kid. It was amazing. After looking back on it, it wasn't as great but it wasn't Rocket Power neither. It wasn't anything on the levels of Codename: Kids Next Door, Steven Universe, Samurai Jack or Courage the Cowardly Dog, but it still leaves me a good taste. Why is this show still making me smile? Let's just ROCK!!!

One of this show's awesome gimmicks is the titular animated versions of the duo. Ami and Yumi are two buddies who travel around the world performing rock concerts, being famous and always running away from the toxic unhealthy papparazzi.

Ami Onuki: She's the most optimistic and adorable one of the duo. She has some interesting quirks such as loving everything she sees as cute. She's also a badass defender of the environment and a formidable percussionist. She's one of the best Cartoon Network female protagonists because of her hilarious dialogue and how insanely quriky she can be. And she's voiced by Janice Kawaye who is also the voice of Numbuh 83/Sonya from Codename: Kids Next Door and Jenny 'XJ-9' Wakeman from My Life as a Teenage Robot, so you'll notice how much effort she poured into her voice role.

Yumi Yoshimura: She's the cool metal head of the duo who loves electric guitars. Her sarcastic wits and deadpan delivery give this character a lot more of personality. As Ami's foil, she's a tomboy but also genuinely caring for Ami. Her voice actress Grey Griffin is also the voice of Mandy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Sam Manson from Danny Phantom. So, I see Yumi as the seamless blend of both. She's also the archetype of Luna Loud from The Loud House and Maggie Pesky from The Buzz on Maggie, a show that coincidentally aired at the peak of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi's popularity.

Kaz Harada: This guy may come off as an asshole most of the time, but he also has his funny moments. While his greed seems to be money, he also enjoys experimenting visual vanity. His voice actor Keone Young who also voices Numbuh 3/Kuki Sanban's dad from Codename: Kids Next Door gives this character a genuine Asian accent.

Jang Keng and Tekirai: Ami and Yumi's pet kitties are very hilarious, mainly whenever they interact with Kaz, resulting in comedic mayhem. While anthropomorphic, they still talk like real-life cats.

The rest of the cast also has the talent-sucking vampires Vlad, Nicolai and Mitch who are funny in their own way, the hyper fangirl Dis-Harmony who constantly stalks the duo and their manager and is hilariously obnoxious, the corrupt businessman Eldwin Blair who genuinely makes Kaz look less greedy and more caring with his quick buck-making schemes, the aspiring superhero Atchan who has a downright hilarious obssession for Yumi and, finally, we have Julie, the former member of the duo who's so psychopathic that she makes Ren Höek look more sane in comparison. She's the animated version of Emi who sang "True Asia" with the real-life Ami and Yumi. Her humor comes from calling Ami incorrectly "Arthur". Sadly, due to the show ending production, she was prematurely phased out, much to my and everyone else's dismay. We would like to see more episodes with her.

And let's move to the show's other aspects.

First one is the writing. The stories play very much like Looney Tunes and the Warner Bros. cartoons from the 90s like Animaniacs and Freakazoid!, the earlier Hanna-Barbera shows like Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound and some Cartoon Network stuff like Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog and I.M. Weasel as they focus on Ami, Yumi and Kaz landing on different scenarios and always saving the day either with the power of music, with wits and disguises or with sheer luck. In conclusion, the plots are very simple, but they keep a relative sense of humor and a relative pace since the episodes are each composed of three 7-minute stories which is enough to satisfy those who enjoy fun cartoony storylines.

Second is the setting. The Puffy AmiYumi tour bus has a very inviting and expansive interior, functioning as a home trailer. It makes me wish I could live in a home trailer.

The last one is the animation. Despite being made in Flash, it's very neat. It uses a stylistic form of motion similar to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The character animation, while not perfect, is done very well, mimicking the Japanese anime and the 1950s Hanna-Barbera cartoons. The transitions and the flowing movement of visuals add some more charm to it.

So this is Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi for you. This show may not be Steven Universe or Samurai Jack, but it's just the good old Looney Tunes with female Japanese rockstars and stylistic Hanna-Barbera animation from the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some things don't hold up very well, but the characters are the fun factor and the songs are very upbeat and catchy. This is not your average celebrity cartoon. It's an enjoyable feast.