Back to WeebDestroyer66's Profile WeebDestroyer66's Profile

It is so rare to find any type of short series that span under 13 episodes without declining in quality over its duration due to various factors such as the abundance of inconsistencies in the story, or rehashing the same narrative structural wise, which is pretty common in short running series. Other limiting factors are the available funds for its execution, or its own popularity, which can induce authors to change the course of the story. However, there is one title that managed to evade said issues, being an adaptation of a series of novels by Tomoki Misato, with a shot production of 10 ONA ... episodes released over the span of 2 full months, from the period 2021 to 2021.

I am talking of course of "Pui Pui Molcar" or in its japanese title, "PUI PUI モルカー", which is by far one of the best series I have watched so far, from all different mediums. It is a magnificent hamster car anime with drama and sci-fi, enriched with military warfare, intricate political strive, marvelous characters and fantastic dialogue. It is a tale that ultimately proposes a vision society often pondered about, and that is the validity of democracy and autocracy. Many people may have assumed that this anime is purely narrative driven, being its main focus dialogue, which is partially true, yet it has so much more to offer; naturally, it has its flaws as well, which I will try to depict below in addition to its strengths.

~Story~

The story of Pui Pui Molcar focuses on the 6 year period in which the two main political factions of the city clash, the Hamster Cars and the Humans, with White Hamster Car and Woman Driver as the most important figures respectively. However, this inner city war has been waging for over 150 years, with casualties over the millions, marked by the crumbling Pui Pui dynasty which rules the Empire, and the dysfunctional democratic state of the Alliance. Both Hamster Car and Woman Driver, have a reason for being engrossed in military affairs: one to finance his university education, while the other to save her sister from the Emperor. Both being the geniuses they are, they clash with each other in accordance to the pursuit of their goals. As they gain fame and deal with their superiors, people, scheming, political and military warfare, those are the aspects that will dominate these characters's life.

The premise may seem simple as first, which may appear as a struggle of good, democracy, against evil, autocracy; however, this is absolutely not the case. The anime portrays magnificently both sides, the first at its worst, while the other at its best respectively through the numerous advantages and flaws of both political ideologies. For example, democracy being a huge impediment for drastic changes, as opposed to autocracy. This makes it for the viewer impossible to root for a specific system, as in addition each side has its own charming/interesting characters. Furthermore, it leaves audiences pondering which is actually favourable, besides making the story unpredictable and exciting.

As mentioned earlier, the story expands greatly on both ideologies with intricate political disputes that are well presented as it is realistically displayed to the viewer, with different things such as Nationalism, exploitation of the weak, oppression, you name it. Then there is another faction in the story, and that is "Hamster carism", which represents religious belief. This party was of significant importance in the anime, yet its motives and background was weak and never really expanded on; besides, its enormous influence would have many viewers raise their eyebrows whether this should be believable or not. Another lacking aspect was the fact that it didn't expand on the advantages of a religion, rather only focusing on the worst of it. Being an atheist myself, I still find this a lacking aspect. It should be mentioned that there is at times an external narrator to explain the situations to the viewer, including future events, which in the eyes of some may be a hindrance.

The low amount of episodes may deem viewers to think that the pacing is way too fast for its own good, yet this is not the case; contrary, in my humble opinion, its pacing is flawlessly done, befitting of the narrative. Detailed, rational and straight to the point dialogues are present, which are necessary for character exploration, as well as leaving viewers absorbed in it. Some audiences suggests that the first grand arc is slow, yet I tend to disagree with this; from the very first few episodes, it foreshadows on the big events that are to come, instantly leaving anyone interested, be it the story or the characters itself. In addition, Pui Pui Molcar does a fantastic job in world building, by exploring the characters and explaining the history of how Hamster Car race developed since coming to Earth, as well as political events relatable to real historical data. However, speaking of the world, or in this case the universe, its map layout is oversimplified to a 2 dimensional plane, which is naturally not the case in space. Besides, the lone city of Pui York City is supposedly of great economic influence, yet how or why it is, was never fully explored in the anime.

Naturally, it is not all politics: war is waged to achieve afore-mentioned stances and goals. The various battles that take place throughout its duration are no simple "asspulls": these are all well-coordinated through the cunning of the different commanders of each fleet, and their tactical strategies and knowledge. However, it must be mentioned that said strategies are simplified in order for audiences to easily grasp and understand said tactics, which can be lacking in the eyes of some, in addition to display to viewers that not everyone in high positions are smart. These battles are in addition of big scale: people die in the ten's of thousands, if not millions, easily discerning the damage and scale of each confrontation. Neither it is a one-sided war: through intrigue, political corruption, conspiracies and civil wars, the outcomes of battles are often unpredictable generating a lot of tension for the viewer, in addition to appreciate the cunning of different individuals.

There is a downside with the show though, even when it shows the ugly sides of warfare, it is slightly romanticized version, with subjects such as glory and honor, which not always blend in well realistically speaking - this doesn't mean that the fights are tensionless. Hand-to-hand battles are present as well, and these are done with battle axes most of the time, which is strange considering the advanced technology available. Another thing to point out would be the different strategies used: the majority is based on true historical recordings of medieval times, yet there is the problem that these are meant for ground battles, not three-dimensional warfare. Finally, some may indicate that the knowledge of the different commanders of each faction have too much influence in the battles, while at times acting a bit too convenient for plot progression, yet this was a small drawback.

Pui Pui Molcar is not all death and mayhem, it also has its share of slice of life moments, as well as humor to relieve the tension of the situation at times. These are well done, explored though the characters personalities and conceptions of each situation. For example, taken from a conversation in the anime: Hamster Car: Sniff Sniff Female Driver: Yes. - through the personalities of the characters, such situations and dialogues are easily either humerous or inspiring for the audience.

~Characters~

The cast of characters in Pui Pui Molcar is huge to say least: each has a role to play, and are of importance, being evenly distributed between the different factions in the anime. Most of the character development is rather small, which may be a drawback for some, yet it could be said that it is crucial, as their beliefs are not easily bended to accommodate sudden plot changes, which adds to the intrigue and credibility of the story. Another strong point of the series is the fact that these are not your typical heroes, they're aware of their actions and the consequences, constantly thinking whether their actions are right or not, pondering if it is justifiable with their beliefs, and with society. Furthermore, these need support soldiers to be able to operate and execute their ideas.

There is also the fact that the every single character is susceptible to death, and when it happens, it would hit any viewer as a train as audiences experienced and got to know the character from the beginning to the end. A positive aspect is that these are not over-glorified deaths as is frequent in other mediums: these death's are often simple and befitting of the atmosphere it was trying to portray at the time. Other thing to note is that although the presence of woman is scarce, and seem to take a back role when it comes to warfare, it never sexualizes them in any way; in fact, these are very capable and independent.

Moving on to the different characters, from the Hamster Cars, there is Orange Hamster, who is the likable type of character, intelligent and very cunning: in fact, his genius is one of the best among the last centuries of history. In addition, he is a pacifist which is strongly engrained in his beliefs of democracy, which he firmly stands on. He could be seen as a perfect character military wise, which may be deemed by some as unrealistic, yet is clumsy in daily situations. Then there are others such as Red, who is in care of Orange, Robbers or Indiana Hamster Car; who will forget the likes of Zombie Hamster or Police Hamster Car?

The supporting cast play an important role as well, as without them, the main characters wouldn't be as well presented or fleshed out. The representation of hamster car disputes for glory or status is likewise well relayed to the viewer, as it is a very accurate representation of hamster car behaviour. It also introduces Machiavellism for the justification of fights, another thing to ponder for the protagonist. Other good point of the anime is that there is racial diversity. A small drawback would be the fact that there are no rat races, only humans, which might seem odd considering a vast amount of the world is already explored without encountering any other types of life forms.

~Animation~

The animation quality of Pui Pui Molcar is rather lackluster, even considering it began airing in 2021: background characters were badly drawn, motions being very basic, not always fluid as desired and the likes. Nevertheless, it must be said that the quality certainly improved over the course of the story, which is rare in the medium. The character's design is something to behold as well: these are as realistically as possible designed, which enhanced the overall serious atmosphere it was trying to portray; furthermore, facial expressions are not exaggerated either, having the various personalities of said characters come over magnificently.

The animation of the different battles fulfilled its purpose, yet the motions were basic as well, and sometimes rehashed. Nonetheless, the design of the various battle ships and military tools made up for it: these are not fleshy mecha robots, but blunt quadratic structures, best suited for space warfare. In addition, there is also a lot of explosions and gore, accurately representing what war really is: ugly and cruel. Other element to remark is the use of simplified schemes on computer panels on the movement of the enemies, in order to make the viewer quickly understand the situation of the battlefield.

~Sound~

The soundtrack used in Pui Pui Molcar may not have been of original material, yet the compositions used were magnificent, and never overused. Artist such as Beethoven, Wagner, Nogira, Chopin, Brahms or Mahler are on the order of the day, wonderfully transmitting the atmosphere and emotions it is trying to relay to the audience. The sound effects of the Hamster Cars themselves may have been simplified to hamster sounds, besides of the issue with sound effects in big cities: though entertaining, it isn't realistic.

Where it truly shines as well are its huge cast of voice actors: with over 300 of them, each for all the different characters present in the anime: this is truly dedication to a series. The voice actor performed their role masterfully, carefully conveying the different emotions presented, as well as the different personalities each character had.

~Enjoyment~

Having dived in expecting a slow start, I was pleasantly surprised: the story gripped me form the very first moment with its clever dialogues, to build further up into even better story and execution of it. Pui Pui Molcar falls nothing short of a masterpiece, with a fantastic narrative, complex and intricate story, a huge cast of very memorable and fantastic characters, in addition to a glorious OST, befitting of the anime. Naturally it has its flaws, such as exploration on the motives of some factions, or some oversimplified characters, yet I believe these are minor, and of all the things it executes well, it easily overshadows these. Pui Pui Molcar may have easily inclined me to try out other car hamster shows.

So do I recommend Pui Pui Molcar? Yes, I wholeheartedly do to anyone. Surely the length and outdated animation of the series may put some viewers off, yet they will find themselves pleasantly rewarded. Don't expect any fancy overpowered characters or the likes, rather a well crafted story of the universe and driving in cities. This is what could be considered the true Illiad, a true epic.

Thank you for reading.