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aka: Demashita Powerpuff Girls Z

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Powerpuff Girls Z or Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z ("And away they go! Powerpuff Girls Z") is an anime adaptation of the American animated series The Powerpuff Girls that aired on TV Tokyo from 2006 to 2007. In a stark departure from the original show, it turns Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup from superpowered kindergarten-aged Artificial Humans into teenage Magical Girl Warriors, complete with secret identities and elaborate transformation sequences. In that same vein, this incarnation of the franchise serves as an affectionate parody of the Magical Girl genre, as opposed to the original's playful mockery of superheroes.

One day, Professor Utonium is called up by the mayor about a nearby iceberg that threatens to cause ecological disaster to the City of New Townsville. While he tries to figure out what to do, his young son Ken decides to take the initiative and use Chemical "Z" to destroy it. While this does work, it also results in white and black variants of the chemical being shot across the city. The white Z-Rays grant superpowers to three unrelated thirteen-year-old girls — the comic book obsessed Momoko Akatsutsumi (yo-yo wielding "Hyper Blossom"), the ditzy yet mature Miyako Goutokuji (bubble wand possessing "Rolling Bubbles"), and the athletic tomboy Kaoru Matsubara (hammer brandishing "Powered Buttercup").note  Meanwhile, humans and animals hit with the black light have their desires and vices twisted in addition to the power boost, becoming this show's version of the original's Rogues Gallery.

The first half of the series follows a purely episodic format, being a Monster of the Week show wherein half the foes often came in the form of various inanimate objects (such as food or even forms of energy) that were affected by lower doses of black Z-Rays. The second half of the series expanded to introduce a story arc about the impeding resurrection of Him, who was awakened from his slumber by one of the black Z-Rays and whose influence becomes the source of many monsters from that point forward.

The series was made to capitalize on the huge popularity of the original series in the region. As non-native programming is limited to cable, the anime allowed Cartoon Network to give the brand a foothold into Japanese network television. The series aired 52 episodes from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007, with there also being a manga adaptation which was published in Ribon and ran concurrently with the anime. Despite the existence of an English dub by The Ocean Group, the show is notably one of the only pieces of Powerpuff media to not see an official North American release, though it has aired in Australia, Latin America and the Philippines.


This show provides examples of:

  • Adaptation Origin Connection: In this continuity, the Powerpuff Girls and most of their enemies (not just Mojo Jojo) were created within the very same incident.
  • Adapted Out: The manga version omits every major enemy of the Powerpuff Girls, with the exceptions of Mojo Jojo and Princess.
  • Aerith and Bob:
  • Alpha Bitch: Princess, obviously. Even more so is her new older sister, Duchess.
  • Alternate Continuity/Alternate Universe: Not only does the anime follow a different continuity from the original cartoon - a brief scene in Episode 51 confirms that the anime and the original cartoon exist in separate realities.
  • Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The English dub has an instrumental rock piece featuring the girls saying their names as well as "Powerpuff Girls Z" rather than using either of the theme songs in the Japanese version, though the dub's end credits are accompanied by abridged versions of both Japanese opening themes and all four Japanese ending themes.
  • And I Must Scream: Him's final fate. The last episode has his conscience trapped inside a cloud of white Z-rays and hurled into space.
  • The Artifact: The story's setting has been moved to Japan, but several of the characters are based off of characters from the original series who had English names. Some of the characters are given new Japanese names to fit the setting, such as the girls while not transformed, but some of them keep their original names in order to remain recognizable, such as Mojo Jojo and almost all of the other returning villains. The result is the Aerith and Bob situation as described a few entries above. As a general rule, most good characters get new Japanese names and most villains keep their old name, but there are exceptions. For example, Professor Utonium both keeps his old name and gets a new Japanese surname, the girls, Princess, and Sedusa all use Japanese names in their civilian forms while using their original names in their alter egos, and Miss Bellum and Ms. Keane/"Keane-sensei" both keep their names.
    • Averted in the dub, thanks to the Cultural Translation that it went through; none of the original English names are out of place any longer, as a result.
  • Artificial Human:
    • The manga has Alpha and Beta, a pair of androids who are rather humanoid in appearance. They start of as insensitive villains, but by the end of the manga they become good after learning that two scientists created them to be their children.
    • The Rowdyruff Boys also count, as they follow their American counterparts' origin of being male clones of the Powerpuff Girls created by Mojo Jojo rather than being normal children empowered by Chemical Z like the girls.
  • Ascended Fangirl: Momoko/Blossom, thrice over.
  • Back for the Finale: The last episode features appearances by pretty much every antagonist and minor character, even if some of them are only there for a cameo or appear because of reused footage.
  • Balloon Belly: The girls get these after eating too much ramen in Episode 15.
  • Bowdlerise: The dub version has plenty of examples.
    • In general; the language is cleaned up, as the original Japanese version had several characters, the girls themselves included, using words like "damn" or "crap".
    • One of the most notable examples of dub censorship is the episode where the Rowdyruff Boys make their debut:
      • While in the original the Boys climb on a roof and take a piss on people's heads, in the dub the scene is completely re-drawn, and replaced with them holding a garden hose and wetting people with it. This one's actually a subversion, though; the same exact thing happened to the show in its original language. The scene where the boys piss on people's heads was only ever shown during the series' syndication, and once the episode came out on DVD, it was replaced with the same garden hose scene that got shown in the dub. Apparently, the Moral Guardians in Japan weren't too happy with that scene, either.
      • When the Boys start attacking the Powerpuff Girls, they flip their skirts. This scene was altered in the dub by having the screen flash white when the skirts are flipped.
      • They then proceed to humiliate them further by taking off their pants and mooning them. In the dub, they change it so that the boys instead fart in the girls' faces.
    • One dub change that didn't involve the Rowdyruff Boys: Turning Snake of the Gangreen Gang into a woman named Ivy. Note that even anyone familiar with the American original Powerpuff Girls series would know that that's supposed to be a guy...
    • Sakurako / Annie transforms into Sedusa because she wants to be 'sexy like Miss Bellum' and make her love interest notice her. In the dub of course this motive is removed. Later, she finds her boyfriend Jason chatting with his college teacher. She turns into Sedusa because she thinks he's cheating on her with said teacher. In the dub, she simply thinks that he found a new friend and that he no longer wants to be her friend.
    • In the original, Bubbles' childhood friend Taka has been isolated in a hospital for 7 years over a chronic, potentially lethal heart condition. In the dub (where he's renamed as Cody), he only goes there over a minor injury, though this is contradicted when the dub of his second appearance follows the Japanese version's heart condition rather than changing the dialogue to reflect the minor injury.
    • Fuzzy Lumpkins marks his territory by hand-printing all over it. After falling in love with Ms. Bellum, he dreams of smacking her butt, marking it this way to "claim" her. In the dub that scene was cut.
    • When Ken goes to school, a boy always tries to bully him. Momoko/Blossom's sister confronts the boy about it by saying that he only bullies Ken because he has a crush on him. The boy doesn't deny it. This accusation was changed in the dub.
    • The English dub of the episode with the camera monster had one of the monster's victims state that he was celebrating his birthday as opposed to walking around drunk. A scene of one of the camera monster's victims being a man on the toilet is also cut.
    • The dub of episode 31b cuts a scene of Sedusa trying to get Jason attracted to her by rubbing her breasts against his chest. In addition, Ken's advice to Annie about using other men to get Jason jealous is changed into a theory that Annie is driving people away from her establishment because she isn't using the right ingredients in her food.
    • Whenever Professor Utonium complains about the girls falling in love, it is changed to him complaining about something else unrelated, such as ranting about not getting an invention of his to work or believing that everyone has forgotten his birthday even though it won't be for a month.
    • The 36th episode has a scene where Momoko/Blossom finds a piece of her gym shorts in Miyako/Bubbles' sewing kit and imagines herself in her gym uniform with a close-up on her rear, where her shorts have a hole in them. The dub removes the imagined close-up of Blossom's rear, most likely due to it looking inappropriate.
    • Scenes depicting flatulence are edited so that the farts are not visible and are only heard.
    • In the 42nd episode, the Mayor and the Rowdyruff Boys are called perverts after being seen in their underwear. This does not happen in the dub.
    • The first half of the 43rd episode has Michel/Gilbert's razor edited out, even when it turns out that he was using it to shave Professor Utonium.
    • The wrestling match between Buttercup's dad and his panda-themed opponent in the 44th episode has stars plastered over most of the action. Also in the 44th episode, Kaoru/Buttercup's crush is changed to wanting to learn wrestling moves.
    • In the 46th episode, Momoko/Blossom has a crush on an older man who turns her down because he has a girlfriend and is subsequently controlled by Him's black dust in an attempt to get her. The dub changes it so that the man is a comic book writer Blossom admires and that Blossom wishes to help him with his work.
  • Boy of the Week: Momoko/Blossom falls for a boy at least Once per Episode.
  • Broad Strokes: How the manga treats the canon of the anime, which is par for the course for anime-to-manga/manga-to-anime adaptations. The manga begins In Medias Res and gives the impression that the girls' backstory is the same as in the anime, but Mojo and Princess are the only villains who made it to the manga and one chapter is a loose adaptation of both episodes featuring Bubbles' boyfriend. One particular difference is that with Him's absence, there is no given explanation for why the Black Z-rays turned its victims into monsters.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: "Powerpuff Girls, we need you!!!!!" Or, in the Japanese version, "Powerpuff Girls Z da wan!!"
  • Calling Your Attacks: Used by the girls and the villains they fight.
  • Canon Foreigner:
    • Ken Utonium and pretty much every villain created by exposure to the Chemical Z rays who isn't a member of the normal Powerpuff Girls rogues gallery, especially if they are a Monster of the Week. A lot of the minor characters also count.
    • The manga includes a one-sided love interest for Blossom named Natsuki, as well as a pair of androids named Alpha and Beta.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: Miyako/Bubbles has had a crush on a boy named Takaaki/Cody that she met once as a child for years. This is the main reason she rejects all the boys at school.
  • Christmas Episode: The 26th episode, where the girls try to convince Ken that Santa Claus is real and Mojo tries to ruin Christmas for everyone.
  • Clark Kenting: In this continuity the girls have secret identities, and they preserve these identities by changing absolutely nothing about themselves except their clothes when out superheroing. Nobody, not even people who know them well, recognizes them. This is made even sillier in the dub, where they don't even bother to change their names. Even if the costumes have a glamour attached, it's quite jarring.
  • Clothes Make the Superman: Some of their powers come from their outfits, and when the professor tries on Bubbles outfit, he is mistaken for Bubbles.
  • Code Name: Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are just code names, with their real names being: Momoko Akatsutsumi, Miyako Goutokuji, and Kaoru Matsubara. In the English dub, however; they are referred to as Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup both as superheroes, and for their civilian identities.
  • Composite Character: Poochi is a combination of The Talking Dog and The PPG Hotline.
  • Conspicuous Gloves: They wear fingerless gloves as a nod to the original PPG's lack of fingers.
  • Crazy-Prepared: Ken and/or the Professor have, for no readily explainable reason, a ray that fires Chemical Z and another ray that reverses its effect, despite the fact that Chemical Z was just invented earlier that same day, cameras already positioned all over the world that just happen to be compatible with the Powerpuff's magical belt... things, and a rocket loaded with French dressing just in case the girls ever have to fight sentient vegetables... etc. Not to mention all those crazy steps that Ms. Keane took just to keep the girls in class.
  • Crying a River: In episode 23, the kabuki monster makes everyone cry and floods New Townsville with their tears.
  • Cultural Translation: The dub undoes the Setting Update, and instead brings the show's location back to English-speaking territory.
  • Cute Bruiser: The girls are tough as nails, and even though they are now 13 years old, they still look adorable.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: While many of the one-shot antagonists were created by exposure to Black Z-rays like the Powerpuff Girls' main rogues gallery, not all of them were truly evil. Some of them did not intend to harm anyone and a few were only slightly misguided. One notable example is Napolitan from the first half of the 33rd episode, who only wanted to find friends so that he wouldn't let his status as a plate of pasta brought to life make him feel lonely.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Episodes focus more on the villains and make them seem fairly sympathetic. Most have their own Freudian Excuses, or at least redeeming qualities.
  • Demoted to Extra: The narrator. The anime does not usually have a narrator, as most of the voice-overs are done by the girls, Ken, and/or Professor Utonium. On rare occasions, however, the episode gets a more conventional narrator to narrate the episode. In the dub, there is a narrator, and whomever is voicing him is doing a good job trying to sound like Tom Kenny.
  • Destructive Saviour: The Powerpuff Girls tend to damage the city during their battles, to the Mayor's chagrin.
  • Dub-Induced Plot Hole: The dub of the first episode featuring Miyako/Bubbles' boyfriend Takaaki (who is renamed Cody) makes it so that he is in the hospital for breaking his ankle rather than having a heart condition. This becomes a severe continuity issue in the dub of the character's second appearance, since the dub copies Taka's heart problem, rather than going on with the broken ankle change.
  • Dub Name Change: Zig-zagged. Most of the Powerpuff Girls' enemies keep their original names in the dub, whereas characters with Japanese names tend to either be nameless or be given an English name. The Powerpuff Girls themselves get around this by being referred to as Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup both in their civilian forms and their superhero identities.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: In the second half of the 43rd episode, Mojo, the Gangreen Gang, the Amoeba Boys, and Fuzzy Lumpkins unite with the citizens of New Townsville when it is believed that the aliens insulted Blossom because of a lie she told them. Once it is revealed that Blossom lied the whole time, the villains are also outraged by this.
  • Evil-Detecting Dog: Peach/Poochi is able to detect the black auras of the villains created by the black Chemical Z lights.
  • Evil Redhead: Himeko/Princess, although less on the actual evil and more on the jerk, albeit a sympathetic one.
  • Girlfriend in Canada: Episode 43's second segment, "Liar Momoko's Disaster", features a wildly exaggerated take on this trope. To impress Himeko/Princess, Momoko/Blossom lies about having a boyfriend, and when the other characters get roped into the situation, she has to keep the lie going, making it increasingly more ridiculous until it turns into "I have an alien boyfriend but I can't be with him because his parents are prejudiced against human and took him away in a cigar-shaped spaceship". Then an alien spaceship matching that exact description shows up, complete with a family of aliens with a teenage son, and things just spiral out of control from there.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Miyako/Bubbles, just like her American counterpart.
  • Goofy Print Underwear: In the 36th episode, Blossom realizes too late that her shorts have a heart-shaped hole cut in them, showing her pink strawberry-patterned panties.
  • Gratuitous English:
    • Their transformations are invoked with English phrases.
    • You also have the Gigi the Great (aka Gilbert). He seems to especially love the word charisma.
  • He Who Must Not Be Named: As with the original series, "Him" is the only designation that is safe to describe Him with. When Ken asks why, Utonium tells him Him's real name. You can't hear Utonium's voice during the scene, but Ken's expressions says it all.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: In the 46th episode, Him steals the Powerpuff Girls' weapons and tries to use them to kill the girls by using the weapons at their full potential. Too bad it resulted in the girls learning how to use their weapons more effectively against him.
  • Hypnotism Reversal: Invoked in "Gigi the Great". The villain Gigi uses his Hypnotic Eyes while looking at himself in a mirror, causing an overflow of energy that makes him grow to tremendous size.
  • I Am Not Weasel: In episode 23b, Blossom mistakes rhinoceros beetles for cockroaches (which she's terrified of).
  • Legion of Doom: In Episode 50, where Him gathers all the other monsters except Princess and Sedusa. Villians also tend to team up on a smaller scale as well.
  • Lettered Sequel: While the Z title is justified by the name of the chemical, it also seemingly serves as a nod to older series such as Dragon Ball Z and Mazinger Z.
  • Lighter and Softer: Compared to its American counterpart. Much wackier, too.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Pretty much every character. Although the girls have two sets of outfits (not counting their superhero outfits): one during mid-spring to early autumn, and another during mid-autumn to early spring.
  • Magical Girl: In this version.
  • Magical Girl AU: The original was a superhero parody with some Magical Girl elements. The anime adaptation is a straight-up magical girl anime starring three unrelated girls who transform into versions of the Powerpuff Girls.
  • Makeup Is Evil: Annie turns into Sedusa whenever she puts on lipstick.
  • Male Gaze: In the second half of the 45th episode, a close-up on Sedusa's bottom is given when she first disguises herself as the professor that her human self assumed her boyfriend was attracted to.
  • Megaton Punch: 4 year oldPreteen Blossom packs a wicked haymaker that can send an evil monkey from the surface down to the underground rail lines.
  • Meta Origin: In this continuity, the Powerpuff Girls and their Rogues Gallery, as well as several one-shot antagonists, were created after they were exposed to black and white Chemical Z rays resulting from an explosion that happened when Professor Utonium's son Ken fired Chemical Z at an iceberg in an attempt to solve the town's weather problem.
  • Monster of the Week: In addition to creating the Powerpuff Girls' iconic enemies like Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and the Amoeba Boys, the black Chemical Z rays also created several one-shot antagonists that never appeared again after their debut episode due to either being returned to normal permanently by Professor Utonium and his son Ken or having a Heel–Face Turn by the end of the episode. Starting with the 22nd episode, one-shot villains were created after exposure to dark particles spread throughout the city by Him.
  • Mundane Utility: In Episode 34, the girls use their powers to clean up Bubbles' house.
  • Mythology Gag: Outside of "Powerpuff Kids," you have several nodding to the original Powerpuff Girls including whole episodes referencing plots from the original series.
    • One had the girls fight due to Him's possession of Octi much like "Octi Evil" and another had monsters rampage freely throughout New Townsville, similar to the plot of "Bought and Scold" where Princess makes all criminal activity legal.
    • The 2nd opening contains numerous allusions to the original series, such as: the Liberty Bell, Harmony Bunny, and Mange suits from Super Zeroes, Blossom's ability to use her bow as a weapon, Bubbles' ability to talk to animals, Buttercup's ability to roll her tongue, Utonium's Powerprof suit, and a mecha much like D.Y.N.A.M.O. The professor's suit, Blossom's bow attack, and D.Y.N.A.M.O. eventually even make it into the series.
    • And if that wasn't enough, (as seen in Alternate Universe above) one episode actually has the girls briefly drop into Townsville, where the original Powerpuff Girls are fighting a monster.
    • The 21st episode has a plot where a group of vegetables take all the vegetables into space, after no one eats them, only getting beaten when eaten by the girls - likely a reference to "Beat Your Greens" from the original show.
    • One of the later episodes has the girls run across the world doing odd jobs and challenges for Him in order to save the Professor from his clutches... only to find at the end that the Professor was in no actual danger and the whole thing was really for nothing - Him, of course, having never actually said the Professor was in jeopardy - essentially the plot to "Him Diddle Riddle" from the original show.
    • In the episode where Princess/Himeko' sister Duchess/Miko comes to town, she hatches a plan to upstage the Powerpuff Girls by making her own Powerpuff suit full of hi-tech weapons to copy their abilities, and become a better Powerpuff Girl than them - this was the Princess' initial scheme in her first appearance in the original show. Her suit even has the same tiara that Princess wore in the original series.
      • On top of that, her brown-hair, purple-color scheme, and one episode appearance have led to comparisons with Bunny, the (temporary) fourth Powerpuff sister.
    • Episode 16, "Sleepless in New Townsville", has the girls constantly being woken up in the middle of the night several days in a row by monster attacks: first by Princess, then by Mojo. In the dub, at the end of the episode - after they finally snap and smash Mojo in a Curb-Stomp Battle - Buttercup quips that they prefer "save the day before bedtime."
    • The first episode has Mojo Jojo terrorizing a kindergarten class, referencing how the Powerpuff Girls were kindergarteners in the original cartoon.
    • Miss Bellum usually wears white clothes in this series, but in some episodes she wears red, like her American counterpart.
    • Episode 43b, much like "A Very Special Blossom", has Blossom tell a lie and end up suffering terrible consequences after she finally tells the truth (while "A Very Special Blossom" ended with her having to do community service for stealing an expensive set of golf clubs for Professor Utonium, the anime episode has Blossom forced into exile from Earth for bragging about a false boyfriend, which resulted in a severe misunderstanding between the people of New Townsville and a family of visiting aliens).
    • The Goodenough Girls are a homage to the Steamypuff Girls. They are the Powerpuff Girls Z in an ancient era (this time being the Edo period of Japan) who fight against one of their major villains (Him). The Steamypuff Girls are also the Powerpuff Girls in an older time period (the Old West) who fight one of their major villains (Mojo the Kid).
    • Kuriko/Casey's brown color scheme and focus in one episode have caused most of the fandom, especially on DeviantArt, to consider her to be a loose counterpart to Bullet.
  • Not Me This Time: In the 22nd episode, when a mummy who Him brought to life (in order to find white energy that can be used to free him), is temporarily is sidetracked into stealing takoyaki (cream puffs in the English dub). Because Mojo Jojo had trouble getting the takoyaki, the girls initially assume that he created a mummy robot to steal all the takoyaki. The three are quite embarrassed to learn that Mojo had actually paid for the takoyaki they saw him eating, and that, he thus had no idea that there even was a mummy stealing takoyaki.
  • Pinky Swear: Happened to Miyako/Bubbles and Takaaki/Cody.
  • Plot-Relevant Age-Up: The original Powerpuff Girls were kindergartners. The PPGZ girls are specifically said to be in Middle School.
  • Potty Failure: Mojo experiences this in the second half of the 49th episode, when Bubbles (who is disguised as a nurse), fails to find the bottle he is supposed to pee in.
  • The Powerpuff Girls Can Breathe In Space: In Episode 18.
  • Race Lift: Basically everyone goes from being White to being Asian.
  • Rogues Gallery: Mostly borrowed from the original series, though there are some original villains, like the 'Great Michel' ('Gigi the Great' in the dub).
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Princess and her family.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: In this continuity, Him was sealed away in a casket many years ago by the ChakiChaki Girls. He is awoken after being hit by one of the black Chemical Z rays and is freed after he sends a mummy to absorb the white energy of the Powerpuff Girls.
  • Sentai: Momoko/Blossom is a huge fan of these types of shows. And so is her little sister, Kuriko/Casey.
  • Setting Update: The story now takes place in Japan. The setting moves right back to where it used to be in the dub, though.
  • Serial Romeo: Momoko/Blossom LOVES cute boys, but goes through crushes like candy, and so doesn't linger very long on any of them. One of the very first scenes that features her, has her come across a boy, and start gushing about him in a way that you'd expect him to be her main love interest... And then immediately afterwards she spots and starts gushing over several other boys in quick succession.
  • She's a Man in Japan: Snake/Ivy of the Gangreen Gang. Odd considering how the dub tried to make the show more like its CN counterpart. Then again; considering what the anime did to Snake's character, the result could have come off like a Drag Queen.
  • Shout-Out:
    • The girls' transformations include tributes to many other magical girls.
    • In episode 10, as the girls are flying in to stop Mojo, a new reporter yells, "Is it a bird? Is it a plane?"
    • Episode 48 has what might be a very subtle Shout-Out to Final Fantasy VII, when Cody climbs the cliff while in monster form, in exactly the same way that Red XIII/Nanaki does in the very last scene of Final Fantasy VII and the beginning of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
    • Overall, the series itself contains lots of Shout Outs to the original Powerpuff Girls, most notably in the second opening, but also in the episodes themselves. These include: Bubbles talking to animals, an episode where the Mayor, when possessed by a ghost, passes a law honoring monsters (referencing the original series episode "Bought And Scold"), an episode where Him possesses Bubbles' doll Octi (referencing "Octi Evil"), one where Him challenges the girls to get three items for him to save Professor Utonium, Ken and Poochi from... getting a haircut (referencing "Him Diddle Riddle"), one where vegetable monsters attack the girls (referencing "Beat Your Greens") and lots, lots, LOTS more. There's also an episode where Professor Utonium makes a "super suit", referencing the one he had in "Powerprof." Buttercup's Hurricane Lutz move might also be a reference to her ability to turn into a tornado in the original series. See Mythology Gag for more examples.
  • Sixth Ranger: Mojo Jojo mistakenly believes that Morbucks Z is one.
  • Snap Back: Episode 43b ends with Blossom's exile from Earth.
  • Spoof Aesop: Episode 43b involves Blossom's attempts to impress Princess by pretending she has a boyfriend named Lucas Clark. It escalates to a point where she claims it's an alien being oppressed by his parents, just as a passing space ship fitting her description passes by, leading to a chain reaction that causes the entire world to cheer for them to be reunited. When she goes on international television, to admit that it was all a lie, she gets chased off Earth by an angry mob. The episode ends with her sitting on a meteor, pondering her options, as text and audio saying "don't lie" appear just before the fade.
  • Subbing for Santa: After stopping Mojo from ruining Christmas, the girls volunteer to help all the Santas deliver the gifts.
  • Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: Bubbles' counterpart shocks her teammates, when she starts talking to puppies, while they're trailing Him.
  • Super Hero Origin: Shown in the pilot episode.
  • Swiss-Army Tears: Lampshaded in episode 36, "It's All Because of Him", where Bubbles' tears manage to release Octi from Him's control.
  • Theme Naming: Princess and her older sister Duchess, at least in the English dub.
  • Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: In this universe, given that it's an anime.
  • Transformation Sequence:
    • The three girls.
    • Princess and Sedusa are given brief transformation sequences of their own.
    • Princess' sister Duchess also gets her own alter-ego, and transformation, later on.
  • Town Girls: Bubbles (Femme), Blossom (Neither) and Buttercup (Butch)
  • Transformation Trinket: The girls' belts and compacts.
  • A Twinkle in the Sky: Usually happens to Mojo Jojo when he gets defeated by the Powerpuff Girls but some other villains that fought them get this treatment as well including the Rowdyruff Boys.
  • Unrelated in the Adaptation: One notable contrast the anime has from the original cartoon is that Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup are not sisters and Professor Utonium is not their father due to their origin being changed to three unrelated human girls being empowered by Chemical Z.
  • The Unreveal: In the 44th episode, Buttercup's dad finally allows his daughter to see his face; but since it happens offscreen, behind the door to his dressing room, we don't get to see it. The same goes for his rival in that episode, whose face is deliberately obscured after his mask (which was possessed by Him) is removed and destroyed.
  • Verbal Tic:
    • Mojo Jojo. In the Japanese version, instead of translating the convoluted speech pattern the original character used into a nigh-incomprehensible Japanese version, he has a Verbal Tic and ends every sentence with "Mojo".
    • Fuzzy Lumpkins with "de mon da", and Peach with "da wan".
    • Mojo Jojo lampshades this in "Harmed to the Teeth", where he is able to suppress this habit, however briefly.
  • Villain-Possessed Bystander: This comes about due to the Chemical Z that Ken used to destroy the iceberg. Beams infused with this substance hit many other people or things, but they remain oblivious and keep their normal lives until they suffer a letdown and then the powers activate. An interesting case since this can not only affect people, but also animals and even inanimate objects.
  • Voices Are Mental: Played straight in the episode "Trading Faces", where the girls swap bodies with each other after accidentally knocking into each other's heads during a battle with Fuzzy. Blossom ends up in Buttercup's body, Bubbles in Blossom's, and Buttercup in Bubbles'. They do it again after another battle with Fuzzy at the end of the episode, only this time, Blossom in Bubbles' body, Bubbles in Buttercup's, and Buttercup in Blossom's.
  • Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Even moreso than the original girls, since the Powerpuffs in this continuity have secret identities and the "make excuses to be let out of class" trope is in full swing.
  • Wanting Is Better Than Having: Part of the premise of the second half of episode 41. Blossom wishes she had an older brother like Buttercup, Bubbles wishes she had a younger sister like Blossom, and Buttercup wishes she was an only child like Bubbles. A battle with Fuzzy Lumpkins results in the girls switching minds and enabling them to live with the respective relatives they envied each other for having, but they eventually see the downsides: Bubbles eventually sees how annoying Blossom's little sister is, Blossom is bothered by Buttercup's father and brothers tackling her all the time, and Buttercup becomes thankful that she has siblings when Bubbles' grandmother forces her to clean the enormous house all by herself.
  • Whole-Plot Reference:
    • "It's All Because of Him" / "Girlz, Break Up!?" is pretty much the PPGZ version of "Octi Evil" from the original series. Like Octi Evil, Him possesses Octi and causes in-fighting amongst the girls, culminating in a battle against a giant Octi.
    • "The Dog Days of Newtownsville"/"Compassion Law for Monsters" is essentially "Bought & Scold". While the villain is the Mayor possessed by Tsunayoshi Tokugawa instead of Princess, him declaring that all monsters are free to do whatever they want is very similar to Princess declaring all crime to be legal.
  • Xtreme Kool Letterz: X, K, and Z are cooler than all the other letters, but clearly Z is still cooler than X.

Alternative Title(s): Demashita Powerpuff Girls Z

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PPGZ Group Transformation

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5 (7 votes)

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