Animegirl95, I know what you mean. I’ve read the Anime News Network synopsis and almost all of the Wikipedia entry on Popotan and I still can’t figure out any more than they are wandering through time and space looking for someone or something. As far as why they don’t age outside of the house, I would guess that there is something magical that ties them to the house.
I want to make sure I understand you, however. You say you like Mea. Mea is the maid. Mii is the youngest daughter. She has the unusual cap(s) on her head. Is she the one you’re referring to? If so, I can’t answer your question-I can’t figure out what they are, or why she wears them.
So, I’m watching this and frankly, it’s not really winning me over. It’s just…meh, in my book anyway. I’m only on episode 3 so maybe someone can reassure me that it’s gonna get better…someone?
I agree with Yoka. Much of the plot is still a mystery, but since I like a bit of mystery, I like this show. I’m enjoying trying to figure out what is really going on. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but to me it’s a fun show.
Episode 7 -
spoiler
The girls sure do have interesting ways of selling ice cream! Props to Mea for original use of a ferret!
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It was nice to see Daichi again, although he’s all grown up with a family of his own now.
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A mysterious stranger named Keith appears and saves Ai from answering Daichi’s questions by kissing her. He’s a bit on the strange side. He doesn’t even question the fact that Ai talks to popotan. It looks as if Keith may be falling for Ai and she for him.
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But things turn a little dark, when Daichi turns up again to confirm his suspicions and Keith catches him. Keith tries to kill him! It turns out that Keith knows all about the girls and their quest. Keith tells them that Daichi must die because his interference will leave evidence that will cause problems later on.
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Ai steps in to protect Daichi and it’s evident that she doesn’t like Keith too much anymore, which is a shame, considering what they just did. With a final warning, Keith steps into a field of popotan and disappears! Another mystery!! I hope these mysteries get solved soon. I wonder if Keith is connected to the dancing girl?
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But it was nice of Daichi to promise to keep their secret, even erasing the photo he took. I wonder what “evidence” Keith was referring to? The picture of his daughter with the house in the background or the pictures he took when he was younger? Or something else entirely?
The house appears on the grounds of a Shinto shrine, much to the surprise of the priest and his granddaughter, Nono. I thought that it was really funny that they didn’t even ask for any kind of explanation. Nono is a priestess in training and her grandfather is very strict and wants her to stay away from the house.
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Nono likes the Christmas store and Christmas in general. She has a favorite book about a family sharing Christmas and she’d like to celebrate it, but being Shinto, they don’t have Christmas. Mii would like to make her wish come true and has everyone decorate the grounds. When the priest comes home, he is so angry that he throws Nono out.
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Mii brings Nono to the house to live with her in her room. She makes her put on the magical girl dress. She shows her around the house and they go to Mea’s room. Her room looks just like her – very efficient. In Mea’s room, Mii makes Nono try on one of Mea’s uniforms. Poor Nono, she was so embarrassed! They move on to Ai’s room. I thought it was decorated perfectly for Ai’s personality. Mii tries to get Nono try on one of Ai’s bras and then one of Mai’s. Of course one is too big and the other is too small to try on and I think Nono was very relieved.
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During dinner, Nono misses her grandfather and the scene of the grandfather eating alone was very sad. It was obvious that he missed Nono as well. But the bath scene had me smiling again. I had to laugh at the look on Nono’s face when Mii declared it was time for a puffy-puffy check.
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There was a nice flashback of a past Christmas season with a much younger Nono admiring a teddy bear in a toy store window with her grandfather. Much later, her grandfather tries to give her a wrapped gift, but Nono says that she won’t think of Christmas while she is in training and her grandfather puts the gift in a closet. He is supposed to be so strict, but it is so obvious that he is just an old softie that loves his granddaughter very much.
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Back at the house, they are having Christmas; Nono gets to help decorate and her grandfather is spying through the window. At the Christmas party, Nono sees the family together and thinks of her book. The girls see that her heart isn’t in the celebrating and they send her back to her grandfather with a cake, because Christmas is a time of family. The grandfather accepts the cake and finally gives Nono the gift, which turns out to be the teddy bear that she had admired as a child. Aww!
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I did notice something odd about the cake. When the girls first give it to Nono, it says “Merry X-mas” on it, but when Nono and her grandfather are eating it, it says “Joyeux Noel”; not sure if it was intentional or not, but I did find it a little amusing. I also thought it was sweet that the girls left gifts for Nono and Mii left her the magical girl outfit. Once again, they have touched someone’s life and made it a little better. But I was a bit disappointed that more of the main story wasn’t revealed this time when there aren’t very many episodes left!
This was an extremely sad episode. The house returns to a familiar place and Mai sees a girl that she thinks is her artist friend Konami, but it turns out to be her daughter, also named Mai. Mea tells them that it is forty years later. The episode becomes very similar to the one with Konami, but this time it’s Mai being the determined one to make friends with Konami’s daughter. However, she thinks she has a very good reason not to want friends and turns her back.
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Keith shows up to ask Mai if she realizes the pain that she causes to those she leaves behind all the time. But Mai is still determined to help Konami’s daughter. When her sketchbook is taken, she runs away from school and right into Mii the Magical Girl, knocking her down. This allows Mai to catch up to her and she slaps her face for running away instead of standing up to the girls that took her sketchbook. Konami’s daughter finally realizes that Mai is her friend.
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Mai is back at the school, searching through the garbage for the sketchbook, when Konami’s daughter comes to apologize. Some other classmates show up with the sketchbook and there are more apologies all around. Konami’s daughter sees that she has more friends than she realized. I loved the scene of Magical Girl Mii beating up the two mean girls that had originally taken the sketchbook. :laugh:
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Konami’s daughter takes Mai back to her house to get cleaned up and tells her about her mother. Her mother once had a friend that disappeared and never called or wrote. The friend had promised to come back and Konami always believed that she would, right up to her death two years prior. It finally hits Mai and she remembers what Keith had said to her.
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Later, Mai has disappeared and as Konami’s daughter looks for her around the house, she comes upon the portrait her mother painted of Mai. She then checks some old pictures and realizes who Mai is. At the same moment she gets a tearful phone call from Mai, trying to explain and apologize at the same time. Konami’s daughter runs to find her, not wanting her to leave, but the house is gone. It was the saddest thing to see her standing in the pouring rain with her phone saying that the number was not in service.
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I wonder if the experience will make her like her mother, always believing that Mai will return, or will she once again become the bitter, closed off person that she was in the beginning of the episode. I also wonder what damage has been done to Mai. Since it was her that never wanted to make friends only to leave them behind, I wonder how it will be for her now that she’s seen things from the other side.
You know, I really never expected this show to take the dramatic and emotional turns it has. It’s leaving me much more impressed than I thought I would be.
Cody - I totally agree with you. It has been quite a rollercoaster ride!
Episode 10 -
spoiler
Just as I feared, Mai took Keith’s words to heart and this episode starts out with Mai burning her possessions. Mea stops her before she can burn the sketch and Mai breaks down, saying that she can’t look at it anymore and it is all “just garbage”. Back in her room and a little calmer, Mai tells everyone that they shouldn’t get attached because they create relationships, only to abandon them when they leave. She admits that she saw Keith and talks about what he said, coming to the conclusion that he is right. Mai asks about the point of their lives and says it is just too hard to continue. Ai thinks that maybe the girl they saw in the vision will have answers for them.
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Mea returns to her room and puts the sketch on a shelf, next to a small wooden carving of herself. The carving triggers her memory of two boys in the same situation, looking for the same girl.
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The next morning, Mai won’t leave her room and Mii volunteers to stay home with her while Ai looks for popotan and Mea goes to the store. I notice Mea likes Pocky! As she leaves the store, someone follows her. She is aware of this and as she turns a corner, she drops her bags and attacks her follower. It’s Keith and he easily overpowers her. He wants to talk to her and mentions that they both work for the same employer.
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They go to a café and he reminds her that he guides and she guards those on journeys. He also reminds her that “guide” is a rank higher than hers and tells her that the sisters are almost at the end of their journey. Keith says that she especially has to guard them after the next jump and that he is going along because they can’t go where they need to without him. As his last duty, he will take them to a “special” place. Mea says that the girls aren’t ready yet and it is too dangerous to bring the journey to an end right now. Keith says that their fate has already been determined but when Mea objects again, he says that they have to abide by “her will”. He tells her that her opinion doesn’t matter and she should just do her job.
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As Mea walks down the street, she again remembers the two boys, and the younger one giving her the gift of the carving. When she reaches home, the excited girls meet her and tell her that Ai received a message from the popotan that the girl of the vision wants to meet them – that the “time has come to finally understand the purpose of their journey”.
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Mea again thinks of the boys and how one of them said that “she had no answers”. She thinks how Mai’s words are the same as the little boy’s, with the little boy saying that he didn’t want to continue the quest. She remembers standing in front of their burning house, clutching the carving to her chest.
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The sisters have a celebration dinner, but Mea is very quiet, remembering the past. She wonders if she could have done something if she had known what would happen. She stands up and almost says something, but changes her mind. Mii gives her a gift – a popotan wreath – made just for her to thank her for everything she’s done for them. Back in her room, Mea stares at the carving and places the wreath next to it.
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Later, she takes a shower and reveals a secret compartment in her bed. She gets dressed for action and I was reminded very much of Mahoro! Late at night, she meets Keith outside and asks him one last time to leave the sisters alone. He remembers the brothers she worked for and asks her about repeating her last mistake and if she wants to save the girls from that same despair. Keith tells her that the decisions are made by “her” and that Mea has no choice in the matter.
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Mea concludes that if the guide isn’t with them, they can’t jump to where “she” is. Keith reminds her that she is no match for him, but she attacks him anyway. It looks like he may win, but Mea gets the upper hand and is able to knock him out. The house is about to jump and the girls wake up and gather at the window to see Mea returning. They question what is going on, but before Mea can reach them, Mai calls out a warning too late as Keith comes up behind Mea. He immobilizes her and joins the girls. As the house disappears, the girls call to Mea, who is getting left behind. The house goes and Mea is left. It begins to rain and as the water runs down Mea’s face, it looks as if she’s crying. With only two episodes to go, I’m not sure how this is going to end and I have a feeling I might not like it.
Another very sad, emotional episode. The three girls wake up in a field of popotan without their house. Keith is there and Mai wants to know what happened to Mea, but Keith says that he was just following orders from “her”. Up on a hill, in the light of the full moon, they see the girl from their vision. Keith kneels before her and calls her “Miss Shizuku” – finally, a name! She bids the girls a good evening and thinks they are as lovely as she imagined.
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It’s daylight now and they are talking over tea. Shizuku says that she helps travelers like them begin new journeys. She says that they have traveled across time and space with “a constant repetition of meeting and parting” and the girls think about all the people they’ve met. Then Shizuku says that even though they met new people, they had to leave them behind because they understood that they had to continue their journey, as their fate dictated. This was their destiny. Mai asks why it had to be them and why they had to suffer; without the journey, they would have been spared all the loneliness.
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Shizuku asks if they’d like to stop and says that this is the reason she brought them to her. The girls seem to perk up at this. She says that weary travelers come there to decide whether or not they want to continue their journeys and that she can send them to any time and place they like if they chose to end their journey. Shizuku tells them to relax and think about it and the girls disappear. Shizuku tells Keith that “this is the first fork in the road for them” and they may choose their own way.
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The girls wake up near their own house and know they must think carefully about their future. In the bath, Mii asks what they should do. Mai says that she wants to stop the journey and return to the time where Konami is. Ai says that she once loved a little boy as a brother and would like to see Daichi again. Mii says that she’d like to go back to Nono, but would rather continue the journey and make new friends. Mai says that Mii is outvoted, but Mii says that if they stop traveling, they’ll be separated forever and it finally dawns on them that she may be right. Mii says that she doesn’t want to be apart from them and how awful it would be if they never saw each other again. Ai agrees with her and says that if they end the journey, they will be going in different directions and there is no way around it. Mii says that it’s sad to leave new friends, but it’s better than leaving each other. Then Mai tells them what Keith told her about how other people feel and says that she can’t create suffering on purpose, it just isn’t fair to the people they meet. She goes on to tell Mii that if she continues the journey, she won’t be able to make friends or leave behind any memories of herself in others or it will invite tragedy. Ai says that perhaps they should all think on their own about it for a time.
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In her room later, Ai remembers what she told Keith – “you have no right to deny anyone of the right to live their life.” I wonder if she is thinking this because of her sisters or because of Shizuku and the journey so far. Mii is in her room and wonders why things have to be so complicated and unfair. She wishes she could use her magic to fix everything. Mai is in her own room, thinking of Konami and decides that her mind is made up.
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The next morning, Ai made breakfast. I think this was the only funny part of the episode. There are eggs with pink yolks, blue bread, and something lavender – not sure if it was soup or hot cereal. Mii falls down the stairs in a bathing suit and a back pack, saying that she’s late for school until Ai reminds her of where they are. Mii looks at the table and asks why Ai had to cook. She goes to wake Mai up so she won’t have to suffer through breakfast alone and Mai’s room is empty. All of her things are gone and there is a note for her sisters. The note says that she’s sorry she left without telling them, but she has gone back to Konami’s time and that she loves them. Mii takes it really hard and runs from the house.
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Later, Mii and Ai are in the bath again and Mii asks her if she is going to leave her too. Ai says she isn’t and will always be with her. Mii calls her a liar because she knows Ai really wants to see Daichi again and will abandon her. Ai tells Mii that she is the most important person to her and has chosen to stay with her and continue their journey. Mii tells her that there is a problem with that because she is not being honest with herself. She says that Ai is only staying with her because she worries about her and that if she stays she will always be sad and will make her sad too. Then Mii runs from the bath.
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That night Ai knocks on Mii’s door to apologize and talk. There is no answer and Ai gets a bad feeling. She opens the door to find Mii and all of her things gone and she falls to the floor. Mii left her a video message that says Ai deserves to be happy, so she went to Nono and Ai should go to Daichi. Mii says that she will miss her and wishes her a good life. Ai just cries.
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Ai has packed and calls the ferret to her. She says that the house is too big for just them and she visits each of her sister’s rooms one last time. In her own room, she sees a happy moment from the past, with Mii, Mai, and Mea. She thanks them and closes the door. Keith is waiting for her in the foyer and asks if she’s made up her mind. Ai says that she has and wants to tell him some things. Keith says that he’d like to hear them, but she continues talking as if she hasn’t heard him and says that she won’t say anything, since it has no bearing on the future anyway. Keith chuckles and Ai takes one last look around before walking out the door. Shizuku is waiting for her outside and Ai asks about Mai and Mii. Shizuku tells her that they are where they want to be and Ai says that’s good. She walks past Shizuku and bids her farewell. Shizuku wishes her a good trip and Ai disappears. Shizuku then tells Keith that it was their decision and they will now begin a new adventure in their chosen destinies; their quest continues.
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I am so sad about how this is ending. I still have so many questions and I doubt they will be answered in the next episode. Again, I have to say how much this story has turned. So emotional! I wasn’t expecting this at all and I’m really hoping some things get resolved in the next episode for a decent ending. I don’t think I could take any more heartbreak with this anime!
