I’m sure plenty of you net-savvy so-and-sos have heard of the webtoon “Pucca” before now. It’s about a super smooth ninja named Geru and his creepy unstoppable stalker, Pucca. Well, the webtoon has been picked up by Toon Disney and is currently being aired during the network’s Jetix block of action cartoons in the evening. I finally got a chance to check it out a few days ago.
To my surprise, it’s more than just the webtoons just being shown on television (like the Happy Tree Friends TV series). Each episode contains 3 brand new shorts with the plots being just as silly as their webtoon counterparts. The animation is still Flash-based, but the higher television budget is easy to see. The action and movements are mesmerizing in their cuteness and exhilarating in how action-packed they are. It’s quite amazing the things they can accomplish with Flash-animation.
While Pucca and Geru remain silent (personified only through grunts and giggles) the remaining cast of supporting characters and villains are given voices. At first I wasn’t sure I liked this, as the original Pucca webtoons are all silent, but I quickly realized the necessity for it as a means to establish the plots of each short. Most of the voices are pretty good, but not anything too memorable. I am grateful that the two leads, Pucca and Geru, still don’t talk, though.
The plots are zany and creative and fit with the overall silly tone of the series perfectly. Most of the conflict revolves around a troop of evil ninjas that are always trying to defeat Geru and his friends. In one episode they try to steal the chicken from one of his pals because it lays magic eggs that can turn small creatures into Godzilla, another time they try to sneak into Geru’s ninja-house to uncover his secrets but are clobbered by a barrage of bizarre booby traps (my favorite being when the porch transforms unto a pair of nunchakus).
The show is cute in a “Powerpuff Girls” sort of way, and at times, very very weird. I’d recommend checking it out. You can get a taste of show at the webtoon’s official website, here: PuccaClub.com