Anime: Panda-Z #1
The world of Robonimal is under constant threat from the terrible Warunimal Empire. When Warunimal decided to invade, a new hero emerged to stop them: Pan-Taron, a brave young panda who boards Panda-Z, a giant robot designed by his grandfather.
If I was forced to compare Panda-Z to another anime show it would have to be Super Milk Chan, due to similarities in the art style and pacing. Panda-Z’s tiny episodes are quite unlike anything else I’ve seen though, and while it does make the series quite unique the five-minute installments are also one of this release’s biggest drawbacks.
The problem is that each episode has the full opening and closing credit sequences. While I quite enjoyed the songs, hearing them repeat every five minutes did start to grate after five or six of the shorts. It’s probably not advisable to watch the entire disc in one sitting as a result, unless you want to hit fast-forward every three minutes.
Most of the episodes will raise at least a smile though, thankfully without resorting to juvenile humour. There’s even some continuity between some of the episodes, which was quite unexpected. The artwork is very cute, and adds a degree of innocence to the characters, even when they’re being mean or angry. The animation isn’t very complex, but it works well for the short episodes, and the variety of plotlines means that there’s little to no rehashed animation between installments.
Verdict: 17/20
It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s very quirky and gets a solid recommendation. If you like offbeat humour and don’t want to worry about plot continuity, you can’t go wrong with Panda-Z.
Episodes 1-15 (75 mins approx). Rated PG. Released by Beez.