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Pucca: Ninjas Love Noodles
R0 - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: James Teitelbaum (15th June 2008). |
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The Show
 "Pucca" is an cartoon written and acted by Americans, created by a Korean production company, and featuring a cast of cutesy little Japanese characters (with occasional Korean and Chinese elements in tossed in too). The closest frame of reference that I have for the style of the character design is "Hello Kitty". in contrast to the non-adventures of the iconic pussy, "Pucca" is about two little boys who want to be ninjas, and their devoted girlfriends. Well, if nothing else, the girls think of themselves as the girlfriends of the young ninjas; I am not so sure that the boys reciprocate. Girls are still yucky to these little ass-kickers. Garu (Brain Drummond) is a quiet little tyke who seems to be a pretty serious ninja. His silent demeanor belies some pretty solid skills. Pucca (Tabitha St. Germain) loves him from afar and will do anything for his attention. Every time that Garu's arch-enemy seems to have him on the ropes, Pucca is hiding in the shadows, springing some subtle trap to bail Garu out of trouble without anyone realizing that she has been there. Garu is competent enough, but behind every great pint-sized ninja, there must be a giggling little ninjette. Pucca's tricks include blowing a single snowflake off of her fingertip, which rolls down a hill until it becomes a vast snowball, engulfing Garu's nemesis, or perhaps twirling a noodle on a beach to create a chaotic sandstorm for sweeping up the troublemakers. At the end of it all, Pucca, with little hearts popping out of her countenance, smooches the reluctant hero Garu. Joining them are Ching (Chantal Strand), another ninja boy who looks suspiciously like Bruce Lee, and his girl Abyo (Lee Tockar). Ching is also a good fighter, but is just as loud and abrasive as Garu is silent. Abyo's undying affection for him is just as solid as Pucca's is for Garu. Pucca's three uncles, Garu's evil enemy, and - inexplicably - frequent appearances by Santa Claus (French Tickner) keep things lively. Perhaps the best supporting characters are a pair of offensive and abrasive Texan tourists who industrialize uncle's restaurant and turn their huge American recreational vehicle into a robotic Transformer. There are definitely some moments in "Pucca" that will appeal to adults, but the show was clearly made for children. It is always nice when kids shows are made with a little bit of sophistication, rather than playing down to younger audiences. "Pucca" is interesting in that the production design, characterizations, and stories are all skillful blends of classic American animation and Japanese pop culture. A few gags are clearly inspired by classic Warner Brothers cartoons (a scene in which Garu and his enemy fight with musical instruments is pure "Looney Tunes" shtick, and done very well), but the characters are definitely Asian in demeanor. Streaking lines representing action, and sweat beads popping out of foreheads are borrowed directly from Anime. Taiko drums and bamboo are juxtaposed with rock guitar and a cook with a Brooklyn accent. It would be interesting play this show for both Japanese and American kids and see which group identified with it more. The consensus might be pretty close to even. There are 13 episodes included on this disc, they are: - "Noodle Round the World" - "Misplaced Face" - "Noodle to the Stars" - "And the Band Played Rong" - "The Shirtless Avenger" - "Four Alarm Fire" - "Sooga Size Me" - "Ninjitsu for Dummies" - "Tobe's Nighttime Troubles" - "Chef Slump" - "Ninja License" - "Woolen Warrior" - "Feud Fight"
Video
"Pucca" is presented in their original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (4:3). The disc has thirteen episodes of about 7 minutes 30 seconds in length. The animation on "Pucca" is simple but effective, getting the point of the gags across with economy. The images are colorful and vibrant. The transfer to DVD is fine, there are no obvious anomalies present at all, save for an occasional slight jaggie effect on round shapes.
Audio
"Pucca" is presented in either English or Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. No subtitles are provided. The character voices come across strongly, but plentiful cartoon sound effects and a musical score that is fun and effective without calling attention to itself are also fairly high in the mix (particularly whenever Garu's rockin' theme song kicks in). Too bad this one isn't in 5.1, it might be interesting in that format.
Extras
The only extras at all on the disc are a series of five bumpers and they are: - "Moon Spin" which runs for 15 seconds. - "Swords" which runs for 15 seconds. - "Ice Skating" which runs for 15 seconds. - "Crop Circles" which runs for 15 seconds. - "Chefs" which runs for 15 seconds. Plus there's a cardboard ninja license inserted into the case. The disc also contains bonus trailers which are only accessible when you pop the DVD into the player (the trailers cannot be accessed from the main menu), they are for: - "Oban" which runs for 1 minute 5 seconds. - "Medabots" which runs for 1 minute 2 seconds.
Overall
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