First Impression – Tesagure! Bukatsumono Spin-off Purupurun Sharumu to Asobou

A lot of talking and a big cast making it up as they go along

Bonus FI coverage, and probably not one that anyone was looking forward to, but I’ve been kind of a closet fan of this series for a while, even if I haven’t watched it all. So let’s see if I can get anyone else interested in Tesagure! Bukatsumono Spin-off Purupurun Sharumu to Asobou.

Making the Jump

The whole cast (minus the mob)

Tesagure! Bukatsumono started off in the fall season of 2013, back when we were watching shows like White Album 2 and Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio. And like Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Tesagure! was all CG. But that’s where the similarities end (and that’s good for Arpeggio). Tesagure! is CG because it’s Cheap. Yes, that’s Cheap with a capital C. But most people hardly heard of Tesagure!, because it was a short series (11 minute episodes) and because it got almost zero support from fansubbers. Somewhat surprisingly, the series got an immediate sequel in Winter 2014, but if anything was less well-known. But now, with a jump to full length episodes and, more importantly, also to streaming on Crunchyroll, which means that the biggest hurdle the show faced before – lack of subtitles – is cleared, the series is back with longer episodes and a bigger cast.

The original girls: From left – Hiina, Aoi, Koharu, and Yua

The original concept of Tesagure! Bukatsumono was of a club that was formed just to make a club. Starting with the recruitment of Koharu, a first-year student in high school who is recruited to join the club solely because she doesn’t overlap with any of the traits of the other members Yua, Aoi, and Hiina, except for looking like a silly person. The Tesaguri-bu (yes, the Groping Club) doesn’t have normal club activities. They try to figure out new (“atarashii!”) twists on standard clubs, some of which work, some of which do not. In addition to the cheap CG look, the other thing that really sets Tesagure apart is the ad-libbed part of the show. Yes, they really have the seiyuu sit around and talk like they’re in the club and just go with the flow of the conversation when they’re trying to figure out new (“atarashii!”) kinds of Tennis club. It makes for a very talkative show, but lends quite a bit of charm if you can deal with it. And you hear “atarashii!” a lot.

Spin-off

The apprentice goddesses – Hina, Rin, Kanon, Yui and Tomomi (again from left)

So why go with a full-length series now? Well, they’ve added the cast of another ‘show’, Apprentice Goddess Purupurun Charm, to be a collaboration, and are passing the whole thing off as a dream (since Aoi switched places with Koharu). This lets them do two ad-lib parts, and a whole lot of meta stuff. The show was already one of the most meta shows around, breaking the fourth wall constantly. Just check the words from the first series OP (which is only slightly modified for this spinoff series).

They also, because it’s ad-libbed, make mistakes and sometimes refer to themselves or compare the seiyuu to the character (Hiina’s boobs are a somewhat regular topic in this vein). It gives the show a nice feeling of spontaneity, although sometimes maybe it gets a little bogged down when everyone runs out of things to say. But this season has actually been pretty good as far as the things they’ve been doing, such as a highlight of the previous series in musical style (a very bad musical). One thing they cut out from the previous series is the part where they’d act out their ‘new club activities’ with a bunch of stand in characters that all looked the same (called Moboku Sonota). But that’s probably for the best, as that was easily the weakest part of the previous show. They’ve kept the mob tho, for little vignettes or as extras when needed.

So what’s the point? Not much. It’s a show to watch for some clever wordplay, and some funny back and forth. I’ll admit it’s not for everyone (it totally gave skylion a headache in less than 10 minutes), but I find it a fun thing to watch. You just have to get over the CG. I’d recommend giving it a try, you never know, it might be something you like.

About Highway

Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!