Punch Punch Forever
Entry updated 6 January 2025. Tagged: TV.
Irish/Japanese online animated series (2023-current). Created, directed and written by Speedoru. Voice cast includes Chihaya Hanai, KL, Hinako Mori, Emi Miyajima and Akari Una. Two episodes to date, 8-12 minutes. Colour.
Earth's northern hemisphere is now red and seemingly molten, whilst the southern is blue, likely ocean; an orbital ring circles the equator, but has fragmented along one stretch. This is due to our planet's collision 200 years ago with the Akumugai realm (this is presumably the ring: as yet, background details are sketchy) whose demons have claimed Earth as their own (see Invasion). For the past 50 years the Infinite Tournament, a "brutal death game between man and demon" (see Games and Sports), has taken place on Death Island. The Lord of the Akumugai realm, Emperor Koro (Hanai) ("greetings, pitiful humans"), promises to grant the wish of any human who wins the tournament; as this requires defeating a series of demons, none have succeeded, much to Koro's amusement.
But cute, bespectacled 11-year-old Gogo Matsumoto (Mori), accompanied by her mother, Mama (Una), and half-demon sister, Nono (KL) (whose father is clearly Koro), plans to break that run. There is also Gogo's pet frog, Coolfrog, who spends much of its time perched on her head. The first opponent is a demon baseball team; though a little gormless in the initial exchanges, Gogo eventually defeats them – despite appearances she is very tough. In episode two she is victorious over the endearing chibi serial killer demon, Geiko (Miyajima): "My papa taught me everything I know, from slashing people to bits to playing with their guts"; she wears the obligatory slasher hockey mask and is armed with a pink toy chainsaw plus a very real knife. In the past her father – a loving parent – has suffered fates mirroring Jason's in the Friday the 13th franchise (see Horror).
Punch Punch Forever is a very affectionate Parody of 1990s Shōnen television shows (Shōnen being those aimed at adolescent boys, usually with plenty of fight scenes) but also of the culture surrounding their fansubbed circulation on VHS tapes in the West: we see fragments from Japanese advertisements, Anime and other Shōnen shows, as if watching something taped from Japanese television. There is gore, though very cartoony, and – befitting the genre – mild Fan Service. This is a funny (see Humour) and likeable independent series whose first episode had over 6.5 million views during the first 18 months of its Youtube launch. [SP]
links
previous versions of this entry