Five Reasons Why The Pupa Manga Outshines The Anime

Pupa - the anime - is terrible. My thoughts on this are no secret. It has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, despite the studio behind it trying to save what was left of it after the powers that be decided the show would be cut from full-length episodes to under five minutes per week. On such breadcrumbs, better series would have a tough time. So Pupa, a lesser series, absolutely fell apart.

Naturally, in the face of massive backlash, folks will bring out their own revisionist fan excitement over it. People ask if Pupa is really all that bad and suddenly, defenders spring out of the woodwork for a show that doesn't deserve it. And this is from someone who watched NakaImo front to back as well as the Fairy Dance arc of Sword Art Online. Pupa does not deserve your love.

Sayaka Mogi's Pupa, however, is deserving of your love. The original manga upon which the maligned anime series is based is all the things people wanted from the show but didn't get. I've only read up to the third chapter and already it has more worthwhile story content and character development than the front six episodes of the TV anime.

Final Thoughts: Pupa

Pupa/ピューパ: The "life-and-death sibling" story follows Utsutsu and Yume Hasegawa, a boy and his little sister who find themselves all alone. One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister. (Source: ANN)

Spoiler warning: So many spoilers, so little time. If you haven't finished the Pupa anime, turn away until you have!

Content warning: Pupa the anime is very NSFW. Do not watch the attached episodes in mixed company.

It will take you less than an hour to watch all twelve episodes of Pupa. It will take you less than the length of one episode to realize that this series just doesn't work. Nothing makes sense and the only thing holding it together is the fact that the manga just has to be better than this mess. It started as one of the most anticipated titles of its season. It ended as possibly one of the most despised titles in recent memory.

Just look at the synopsis from Anime News Network! The show goes against its own basic premise. It claims that Yume turns into a monster because of the red butterfly, or maybe it's the strange virus 'Pupa', but then the series goes on to describe Yume's birth and how her own mother tried to kill her. So obviously Yume was a monster long before meeting the butterflies and mad scientist Maria with the big hat. Right? I don't know! They never explain it!

Initial Thoughts: Pupa, Muromi-san

Pupa/ピューパ: Having seen the first two episodes of Pupa, I couldn't begin to tell you what's going on. A young girl on her way home from school is visited by a mysterious witch who tells her to go home before she sees the red butterflies. Naturally, she sees the red butterflies and bad stuff starts happening. Much to her brother's dismay, this young girl is transformed into something horrible that still carries her consciousness. And then more chaos and vague words of wisdom from the witch.

Aside from a flashback sequence that showed that the siblings come from a house of spousal and child abuse, there has been no real effort to bring any further depth to these characters. The story itself is non-existent at this point beyond "what is going on?". This was a highly hyped series so what's the deal? Why isn't this series better and more coherent?