HHPAY Pilot episode

You thought I was done with reviewing Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi? Think again! There is another piece of media from this series I want to review. That is the original pilot episode for the series that premiered in 2003.

0. Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi.
Storyboard by: Scott O'Brien and Mike Giaimo.
Aired: 22 April 2003.
Released online: 5 April 2018.

Puffy AmiYumi move out from Japan to unintentionally discover the weirdness of America.

As the synopsis implies, Ami and Yumi are going to America to sightsee.

Strange that Yumi would find America boring.

As it turns out, Ami and Yumi do speak perfect Japanese.

This here is a parody of King Kong, yet Ami and Yumi call him a monkey.

As it turns out, the gorilla is a fan of the 2 girls.

So this is where the idea of Ami being a cheerleader came from. She wanted to be one.

And this explains why Yumi's so good at fighting. What she's doing to these football players.

So much American food.

But the girls decided to go to Speedy Buy to make their wraps.

Now they're going to have some Slurpees.

But the problem is, the Slurpees are ultra cold. Brainfreeze!

As it turns out, the clerk who runs the Speedy Buy is a fan of these 2 girls, and he's invited them to their high school prom. And they're going through weird prom outfits.

Yumi is no High School Queen!

But everywhere else the girls go, there is an angry mob chasing them every time.

Lucky they went to Florida, because now the police car is stuck in the Everglades.

Well, it was a fun adventure in America, but now it's time to go back to Japan.


What you may notice about this pilot is that Ami wasn't voiced by Janice Kawaye, and Yumi wasn't voiced by Grey Delisle, but rather Japanese voice actresses, explaining their perfect Japanese accents.

As it turns out, this show was originally going to be about Ami and Yumi moving out of Japan to see how weird the USA can be.

And you may notice that in some scenes, Ami's hair is in the style she had as a kid, explaining why it looked that way.

If you look at the animation, you can see it was hand drawn, but they used Flash animation for the final show because of how expensive it is to do hand drawn.

And also, the girls were wearing outfits resembling Japanese Fruits outfits, but they changed that in the final show due to how expensive that was.

If you're interested in watching this pilot, it's been uploaded to Vimeo by Lincar Rox, with permission by Darrell Van Critters. Go here if you want to watch it. 

But to sum up my thoughts about this pilot, I thought it was.....good. Weird in a way, even weirder than the final show. I liked the gorilla being a fan of the girls, and the clerk at Speedy Buy being a fan of them. And Ami being a cheerleader actually.....did fit her style.

My rating: 8.5/10.

My Top 5 least favourite Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi characters

While Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi had some great characters, it also had some not-so-great characters. This is why I'm counting down my Top 5 least favourite Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi characters. Why Top 5? Because I'm a simple-minded guy. No, I'm not. There's not that many characters that I came to dislike, not even close, so I decided to make this a Top 5 list.

So, get ready to throw me out of the band! Here are my Top 5 least favourite characters from Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. 

5. Timmy.

I put Timmy on this list because of how much of a spoilt brat he was in Brat Attack. He's always trying to get what he wants, and even going as far as to play roughly with them, especially when he played roughly with Ami and Yumi. However, Ami and Yumi taught him how to play with friends, causing him to reform. This is the reason Timmy is so low on the list. 

4. Pierre.

Don't know why, but Pierre kind of bugged me. His name meaning he would be like Hercules, but instead, he's more of a creepy nerd kid, rejecting Ami's desire to be his girlfriend and going for Yumi instead. This is why Pierre is in 4th place in my least favourite character list.

3. Steve.

This hunk of fungus sure is too demanding for his own good. Even Ami knew when to give up on him. Just goes to show how tough it is to train a pet. Good thing Ami gave Steve a good talking too at the end of Fungus. Even Steve was too hyperactive and greedy, even going as far as to eating Yumi's junk food and funny how he didn't even want to eat Kaz. 

2. P.A.L.

P.A.L. was too malfunctioning for his own good. He even went as far as to neutralising Yumi, even though she owned him. He even went as far as to making a toilet try neutralising Yumi. Good thing Yumi killed P.A.L. by downloading a virus from Ami's computer onto P.A.L. 

And my Numbuh 1 least favourite Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi character is.....

1. Nurse.

Yep, this nurse is my least favourite character from Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. She's too strict for my liking. She's always throwing Ami and Yumi out of a hospital where they tried to visit Kaz, only revealed later that Kaz went to a pet hospital for the girls' cats. And Nurse was even stricter when Ami and Yumi became old and weren't allowed to have fun, the reason Oldie AmiYumi is my least favourite episode. Don't dislike it, it was just....somewhat weak. 

If you have any thoughts you'd like to share on any of my choices, feel free to do so. 

My Top 11 favourite Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi characters

I've been requested to do this a couple of times over the last half year. Now, the one person who asked me to do this will be pleased since I'm going to be doing it. This time, I'm going to count down my Top 11 favourite characters from the short-lived Cartoon Network series, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. Why Top 11? Because I'm taking inspiration from the Nostalgia Critic. No, I'm not. There's just one character I decided to add, so this is a Top 11 list.

So, get ready to join the band! Here are my Top 11 favourite characters from Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi.

11. Ami's grandmother

There is no way I could make this list without adding Ami's grandmother. She's a funny old lady, especially when she would hit Kaz with her umbrella, and it turns out her hair is actually a wig. She is very strong for her age, considering how worried Ami would've been if she found out Ami was a rockstar. 

10. Kaz Harada.

Kaz may come off as a jerk most of the time, but he sure is funny whenever the time is right. He's a greedy manager who just wants money. I say Kaz's best moment was in Were Kaz where he was fed up with being bald, and ends up turning into a werewolf with the Bald-B-Gone. 

9. Jang Keng and Tekirai.

These 2 felines are downright hilarious, especially when they interact with Kaz in a sort of a Tom and Jerry fashion, being the very reason Kaz loathes them. They are even more anthropomorphic than they seem, although they still talk like real cats. 

8. Atchan.

Atchoo--Oh, I mean Atchan, is one of those wannabe superheroes who is both action-packed and funny at the same time, especially when he tried to steal Yumi's cake slice, causing her to punch him. Something tells me Atchan has a crush on Yumi considering she saved him from a camp bully, being the possible reason they get shipped together. Funny thing about Atchan is, as a kid, he looked a lot like Mac from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. 

7. Sunekura.

This was one devious snake who was just evil and dimwitted at the same time. Atchan was right to warn everyone about this serpent. The funny thing about Sunekura was that after Atchan, Ami, Yumi and Kaz escaped, Sunekura hit the cave ceiling and died. Silly snake. 

6. Vlad, Nicolai and Mitch.

These 3 vampires are no ordinary vampires. They don't suck blood, but talent. Nicolai is a funny idiot, or as Vlad likes to call him, Eediot, similar to how Ren from Ren and Stimpy calls Stimpy an "eediot". Mitch just grunts. These vampires are funny in their own way. The reason they suck talent is because their concerts are terrible instantly.

5. Julie.

This former member of Puffy is without a doubt insane. She always hurts Ami, even if it seems unintentional, and she's always calling her "Andy", "Annie" or "Arthur". This inspired me to, in my headcanons, have Ami call Julie "Juniper", not just for a tease, but as a reference to Lara Jill Miller, who voiced Julie, and the fact she also voiced Juniper Lee from The Life and Times of Juniper Lee. Sadly, due to this show's cancellation, we never got to see what Julie had planned for her revenge.

4. Harmony.

There is no way I could make this list without adding the psycho Numbuh One villager who is annoying in a good way. She's always saying "I'm your Numbuh One fan!" or "I'm your Numbuh One villager!". Her antics in Junior Tapeworm were silly and hilarious, making it unfair for the other Junior Tapeworms. I did like the way she screamed upon Jill interrupting her. She sounded a lot like Pinkie from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic when you think about it. 

3. Yumi Yoshimura.

You all saw this coming. Can't make this list without including Yumi. She looks cool, and though she's Gothic, she's caring, especially for her closest friend Ami. Her misadventures are funny, especially the time she thought of herself as Ami in Ami Ami, and the time she tried to get a Pink Palace Cheeseburger in Hungry Yumi. I wouldn't be surprised if Yumi was the inspiration for Luna from The Loud House, whom I always like to say was inspired by The Buzz on Maggie, a show that, strangely, premiered over half a year after Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi and ended a month before Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. 

2. Koi Fish.

Fish Face is not only a fortune teller and acting like a Magic 8 Ball, only a fish who answers truthfully, but he's hilarious too because of that. He's also hilarious because of his voice. I especially loved the way he said "THROWING FISH IS BAD!", and "Not on your life!" and "Cheese and pickle!" What's also good about him is he's invincible, shown when Ami tried to destroy him. 

And my Numbuh 1 favourite Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi character is......

You all saw this one coming, and I'll reveal it immediately. 

1. Ami Onuki.

That's right. Ami's my favourite from Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. I can describe 5 good things about her. She's cute, she's an animal lover, she's kind, she's talented, and she only reveals the truth whenever she feels the need to. She's very good at defending the environment, probably even better than Captain Planet has ever been. Ironically, The person who voiced Ami also voiced Wand--oh, I mean Gi from Captain Planet. Speaking of which, Ami's voice is also a reason Sonia is my favourite female character from Codename Kids Next Door. Ami's design is also a reason Lola Mbola is my favourite from Robotboy. 

Ami also had some great episodes focused on her, like Collect All Five, Fungus, Granny, Number Please, etc.

If you have any thoughts you want to share on any of my choices, feel free to do so.

HHPAY Comic 1

Thought I was done with reviewing Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi? Think again! I have found some comics based on the series, and I am going to review them all.

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi Comic #1

Released: April 2006.

Today, I am going to review the first of a mini series of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi comic books. Let's see if they stack up the same way the main cartoon series did.

1. Puffy Magic Guitar.

Written by: Janet Harvey.

Illustrated by: Phil Moy.



Yumi arrives back on the tour bus with a new electric guitar. She is so thrilled with it, she plays it endlessly. Eventually, Ami gets fed up with the noise and once she says "I wish you'd be quiet!", Yumi ends up being quiet, meaning that the guitar is magic and grants 3 wishes. This also spells disaster since they have a gig that night. Kaz has a little fun with the guitar, wishing for a gigantic load of money, as Ami tries to tug it from him, ending up breaking the guitar. The gig does poorly later due to Yumi being as quiet as a mouse. Ami has an idea and she and Yumi put the guitar back together, wishing for everything to be back the way they were before Yumi went quiet.

I must say, this comic story was quiet hilarious! It also further proves how greedy Kaz is, wanting all the money in the world! This story also proves that you should be careful what you wish for because if you do wish for something and the wish comes true, it may not end up the way you expected it to happen. Oh well, Kaz did get his comeuppance in the end, losing all the money he wished for!

My rating: 10/10.

2. The Verse That Could Happen.

Written by: Sean Carolan and Jennifer Moore.

Illustrated by: Phil Moy.

Yumi is looking for Ami and eventually finds her, only to discover that she's writing a song and has found on the tip of her tongue, a rhyme for orange. Once Ami forgets it, Kaz and Yumi spend their time helping her find the rhyme. Eventually, Ami gets annoyed by a squeaky door hinge, only to figure out that that was a perfect rhyme for orange. However, once Ami gets to the word silver, she realised there was no rhyme for silver.

Well, this sure was a wacky misadventure, looking for a rhyme with orange. If you have an accent where R's are always pronounced, even at the end of words, then "Door hinge" does rhyme with "Orange", but in accents where R's aren't always pronounced, Door Hinge and Orange don't rhyme. I'm pretty sure Ami could've looked for other words that rhyme with orange. I can think of some: Hinge, Binge, Singe, Tinge, Storage, Forage, Porridge. And the ending is true! There is no rhyme for silver.....except maybe Quiksilver, or maybe Wilder. But still, crazy and funny.

My rating: 9.5/10.



3. Ready...Set...Go!

Written by: Sean Carolan and Jennifer Moore.

Illustrated by: Phil Moy.

After a failed gig, all thanks to the sticky taped old set on stage, Kaz has no choice but to buy a new set. With nobody agreeing on what the set should be of, (Ami wants unicorns, Yumi wants stonehenges, Kaz wants a disco ball) they choose all 3 of their decisions. Because of Kaz' disco ball, some of the audience goes blind and they all run out of the gig. Due to the failure of the gig, Ami, Yumi and Kaz decide to draw on T-shirts to sell.

This was yet another crazy misadventure. Boy was Kaz eager to spend some money in this! Unlike him. I'll bet this gig wouldn't failed if Kaz didn't interfere with his disco ball! Too bad he did. Kaz and his silly tricks. Would've been better if it was just Ami's decision, making Yumi further disapprove since Ami's the girly-girl and Yumi's the tomboy. I'd say not having Kaz' decisions, only Ami's and Yumi's.

My rating: 9/10.

Comic observations:

Ami's reference to the possibility of the magic guitar in Puffy Magic Guitar having 3 wishes references genies in Arabian folklore having the ability to grant 3 wishes. Remember, don't believe everything you read or watch, especially this comic.

Some of the audience going blind in Ready...Set...Go! is similar to The Simpsons episodes The Otto Show and Homer the Vigilante where in the former, one member of the fictional Spinal Tap gets blinded by a laser whereas in the latter, Jasper is hit by a laser, restoring his vision and later, hit by another laser, killing his vision again.

And at the end of The Verse That Could Happen and Ready...Steady...Go!, there's a chart that teaches readers how to speak some Japanese words and what those words mean in English.

Final thoughts:

This comic was a nice one overall! A nice start to this very short series of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi comic books. Showing Ami and Kaz messing around with a magic guitar, Ami looking for a perfect rhyme with "Orange", and then, Ami, Yumi and Kaz mess up a gig by not deciding what the final set of their gig should be.

Comic rating: 9.5/10.

HHPAY Comic stories so far:
1. Puffy Magic Guitar: 10/10.

2. The Verse That Could Happen: 9.5/10.

3. Ready...Set...Go!: 9/10.

Series so far: 9.5/10.





HHPAY S3E13: Manga Madness II, Julie AmiYumi & It's Alive! + Season 3 overall + Series overall!

Now's the time to wrap up my reviews on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi once and for all by reviewing the final episode! Did they choose to end with the right episode? Let's find out!

115. Manga Madness, Part II.

Written by: Guy Toubes.

Kaz gets sent into a manga where he is captured by Mr. Maestro. Ami and Yumi try to rescue their manager with the aid of two heroes, a pencil, and an eraser.

Now Kaz is in a manga book again! Ami and Yumi have to save him!



Elephant!

Awesome arms on Noble Knight!

Nice legs, Decibel Destroyer!

Kaz is a funny donkey!

Kaz looks funny as a nose!

Kaz looks funny without a face!

Now the book's closed!

This episode sure was funny and awesome! We get a sequel to Manga Madness, and the girls help out with a pencil and an eraser! Such a funny and awesome sequel, and that Mr. Master sure is devious as 'eck!

My rating: 9/10.

116. Julie AmiYumi.

Written by: David Shayne.

Julie, a former member of Puffy AmiYumi, tries to destroy Ami and Yumi's band.

The girls now are rocking!

Julie sure did make mistakes!

 Julie's back!

Julie just called Ami "Arthur"!

Ooh, Julie is evil!

Ami's a waiter now!

It's Ami, you nitwit!

Ooh! Julie wants revenge now!

This sure was one epic episode! We get a former PUFFY member, Julie, and might I say, she is one bad girl, wanting revenge on Puffy ArthurYumi, oh sorry, Puffy AmiYumi, for kicking her out! Definitely a wondrous episode!

My rating: 10/10.

117. It's Alive!

Written by: Adam Beechen.

In a Frankenstein-esque style, Ami, with the help of Yumi, creates a band manager to be in a rock band, but trouble rises when her creation escapes.

Ooh! A Renegade Picture! Much like the original Universal Pictures logo!

Ha! Yumi is Igor!

Ami's a cute scientist!

Oh boy! Harmony is their Numbuh 1 villager!

Ha! A horse trailer!

Oh, so Kaz couldn't see!

Kaz now has a beautiful woman!

This episode sure was awesome! An awesome parody of Frankenstein with Kaz being Frankenstein, and it was very clever of Yumi to get glasses out of her hump back! Harmony sure is a crazy Numbuh 1 villager! Very awesome parody, and a great end to Season 3!

My rating: 9/10.

Final thoughts:

Well, did Season 3 end on a high note? Without a doubt, yes! We got a sequel to Manga Madness, Julie returned and now wants revenge! And Ami and Yumi, in black and white, bring Frankenstein named Kaz to life! A very awesome episode!

Episode rating: 9.5/10.

Season 3 final thoughts:

Season 3 sure was a very good season. Sure, it had some weak episodes, but it did have some cool parodies and contributions like Decibel Destroyer, Big Waldo, Noble Knight, Julie and the like! What kind of revenge does Julie have in store? Join me next time when I review Season 4!

Season 3 episodes from least favourite to favourite:

6/10.

38. Oldie AmiYumi.

6.5/10.

37. A Grave Mistake.

7/10.

36. Tooth Decay.

7.5/10.

35. Motor Psycho Mamas.

8/10.

34. Movie Madness.

8.5/10.

33. B.C. Road Trip.

32. Spree.

31. Disco Caper.

9/10.

30. Puffy BC.

29. Evil AmiYumi.

28. Stop the Presses.

27. Under the Hood.

26. Gridiron Maidens.

25. Manga Madness Part II

24. Sumo Kaz.

23. It's Alive.

9.5/10.

22. Granny.

21. The Legend of Mei Pie.

20. Agent Y.

19. Hired Help

18. Sitcomi Yumi.

17. Butterscotch.

16. Kazalot.

15. The Golden Fleas.

14. Junior Tapeworm.

13. House Unkeeping.

12. Jungle Prom.

10/10.

11. Trouble with Mimes.

10. Sound Off.

9. Puffynauts.

8. Manga Madness.

7. Secret Origin.

6. Small Stuff.

5. Julie AmiYumi.

4. Truth or Dare.

3. Big Waldo.

2. Dupli-Cats.

1. Number, Please.

Average Season 3 score: 9/10.

Final score: 9.4/10.

So you all thought I was going to review Season 4, did you? Well, too bad! I will never review this show's 4th season! Why you may ask? It never got its 4th season! I am going to show you what happened to this show before Season 3 could even finish! On the 2 October 2006.

That's right! Cartoon Network decided to cancel Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi! Here are the problems with this show's cancellation:

• Cartoon Network USA didn't air the last 5 episodes.
• It had an unsolved cliffhanger.
• Cartoon Network renewed it for a 4th season.
• Cartoon Network like to pretend it never existed.
• The big problem. They never explained why they cancelled it.

Some people out there, especially those who hated this show, like to believe low ratings were the reason for this show's cancellation! Alright, I am going to make something clear here! I've looked up the ratings this show got from November 2004 to June 2006, and for the most part, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi was Cartoon Network's 2nd most watched show with onle Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends beating it. The ratings averaged in 2s and 2.5s. That might not seem like much to you, but for Cartoon Network's standards back then, that is a lot! When you take into account not many kids were watching Cartoon Network when this show was on. 

You can't really tell why the show got cancelled. Even I don't know why it was cancelled!  I used to think that Andre 3000 was responsible for Puffy's cancellation, wanting to cancel it for Class of 3000. However, I learned that that show was going to premiere even if Puffy wasn't cancelled.

Some like to believe the following was the reason this show was cancelled. In 2006 when its 3rd season was airing, Cartoon Network switched it around in the scheduling department. It was on at either 8:30 pm or 9pm. It only aired on Fridays when a new episode would premiere. To make matters worse, not many kids who liked this show knew what time it was on or when to watch it. Bad promoting on Cartoon Network's behalf! This caused ratings to go down for a while, but that gave Cartoon Network a good enough excuse to take it off the air, like they wanted it to get cancelled! So, to those of you who think low ratings were the reason for this show's cancellation, blame Cartoon Network's idiotic scheduling! And what did they do with this show when they felt it was getting bad ratings? They didn't put it in a timeslot where the ratings would improve, they put it on in between the 3am and 5am timeslot! Newsflash Cartoon Network! Nobody is going to wake up that early! I just don't know what Cartoon Network had against this show! The worst thing about all this? Season 4 was in the works!

Another possible reason this show was cancelled could be because some new guy at Cartoon Network at the time didn't like this show or any show that resembled anime for that matter, so they wanted it cancelled.

I say the most likely reason this show was cancelled was because Sam Register, the show's creator and Warner Bros. Animation's current president, left Cartoon Network in 2006. He also came up with the idea for Cartoon Orbit, which was shut down around the same time.

Now, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi was definitely a great show, but did it choose the right episode to end? Frankly, no. It had unanswered questions! Did Yumi become Atchan's girlfriend? Did Julie get her revenge? Did Ami think of herself as Yumi? Does Kaz get the fortune he's always dreamed of?

But there is only one good thing about the fact this show was cancelled. Had it continued beyond Season 3, There is a chance it would have gone through seasonal rot. In other words, there is a chance Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi would have reached the edge of becoming a stupid show.

Now, as much as we would have liked to see Julie try getting her revenge, Ami think she's Yumi, Kaz earn his dream fortune, and Atchan end up with Yumi, we should accept quality over quantity.

Also, I will never tire of Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, and I will always remember what this show has taught me.

"Anything is Possible."

Alright, let Puffy AmiYumi end it out for me!

"Bye Bye, Boo!"

That's it from me! I hope you all enjoyed reading my views on these!  Also, Happy 20th PUFFY, and Bye Bye Puffy AmiYumi! I'll never forget you!