Popotan stars three parentless sisters named Ai, Mai, and Mii, and their maid Mea. The three live in a house that travels through endless dimensions and locations, for reasons unknown. They have the ability to talk to flowers, popotan (dandelions) in particular. And boy are the popotan glad Ai takes the time to chat, nobody ever really listens to them. Essentially, you could say elements of the series have the feel of Sliders meets Alice and Wonderland.
The series has an experienced creative team behind it. Writer Jukki Hanada and animation producers Studio SHAFT are noted for their work on Mahoromatic, and director Shinichiro Kimura's credits include Sugar and Hand Maid May.
My personal favourite episodes was "Magic". Mii is so virulently obsessed with TV character Magical Girl Lilo. She'd be told that she could become anything, if she put her mind to it, and extends this beyond its limits, deciding she wants to become a magical girl. Not one to break hearts, Ai encourages Mii's craze for the character.
Once they get a cosplay costume custom-made for Mii, she bursts off into the streets, trying to help those in trouble. Needless to say, she doesn't have much luck, until she find a worried father. He's estatic to see Mii, and asks her to talk to his daughter, Miyuki. Hospitalised at an early age, she has just lost her mother. They quickly connect, and some amusing events come to pass.
Many times when watching the series, I was amazed at just how honest and sincere the program was. It was an uncommon mix of realism and comedy, that rarely seemed forced or stiff, especially in comparison to other anime I've seen.
Otherwise a curiously watchable series, Popotan throws it all out the window, when it takes it all off.
In all other matters, Popotan is simply a "Maho Shojo"- a Magical Girl series targeted at young girls. If it were a lolicon hentai (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/hentai), I'd fully expect nudity. But this isn't hentai. It's just unjustified nudity in a children's show.
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