Follow TV Tropes

Following

Anime / Potemayo

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/potemayo_cast1.jpg
Bow to my cuteness

Premise: I have no idea. It's... it's... I don't know what it is.

Potemayo is a 12-Episode Anime, based on a Yonkoma manga, that takes a quirky approach to the ISO-standard anime high school love triangle: Girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, boy doesn't notice girl, boy finds titular moe-blob in fridge, boy names moe-blob after foodstuff (a potato-and-mayonnaise croquette), moe-blob loves boy at first sight, boy treats it as pet and adopts it, moe-blob's antics give girl an 'in' with boy, girl has to build on this and contend with jealous moe-blob for boy's affections - boy doesn't notice. Then the first half of the first episode ends.

The second half introduces a B-plot in the form of a second moe-blob, Guchuko. A shy, tsundere moe-blob which cuts its way out of the fridge with a scythe and Beam Spams anything she doesn't like the look of from snakes on the sides of her head. She leaves presents of scorched, bleeding animal carcasses for the girl who feeds her snacks.

The second episode is about how one of those two guys wants to know what Potemayo feels like. He and the protagonist end up in cheerleader outfits as a result of his efforts. The third episode has Potemayo puking over one of the girls in class... getting the idea?

All this is woven into the framework for a gently humorous Slice of Life series. Most of the humour ensues from the interactions between the 'normal' characters and the childlike moe-blobs. The rest, well... let's just say that you can expect to say, "...what the f***?" at least Once an Episode, besides the toilet humour.


This series provides examples of:

  • Anime Hair: Looks like they used Photoshop gradient to colour their hair.
  • Apathy Killed the Cat: Lampshaded when Those Two Guys wonder how a creature like Potemayo could even exist. Their questions, and those of the class, are then forgotten in the face of her sheer cuteness.
    • Although discussion about what sort of creature she is does happen a few times. Sunao is wondering about it in the second episode, and his dad suggests in one episode that it's mating season for her, leading to Sunao thinking she's a teenage girl.
  • Badass Adorable: You don't want to mess with Guchuko, even if she does look like a stuffed toy.
  • Beam Spam: For the sake of all that is good and holy, do NOT anger Guchuko. Or confine her. Or stand too close to her. You know what, just stay the heck away from her.
  • Big Fancy House: Nene's, complete with a hot spring large enough for the entire class.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Mikan's crush is such that even Sunao's hand on hers can make her faint. Poor Mikan.
  • Chocolate of Romance: A girl gives chocolate to Nene's friend Kyo on Valentine's Day.
  • Cicadian Rhythm: Guchuko finds her own way of dealing with the anime classic.
  • Cute Mute: "Honi, honi, honi, honi...". This, interestingly, can make her very frustrated; when she's actively trying to communicate, people either think she's just making cute noises or completely misinterpret her.
  • The Ditz: Mikan. Comes close to Love Freak a couple of times.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: Kyou crossdresses as a butler in the festival cafe and two girls nervously ask if they can take a picture.
  • Eye Catch: Every time someone is added to the cast, the screen fills a little more.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Mudou attempts to practice giving chocolate to Potemayo on Valentines and is immediately spoiled by Nene, who is right in front of him despite Mudou thinking that it's a safe place to practice in private.
  • Hammerspace: Guchuko's pouch/pocket/whateverthehellitis can hold a lot of stuff.
  • Head Pet: Potemayo, who also has a little bird on her head, making it a recursive head pet.
  • Here We Go Again!: The anime proper ends with Sunao and Potemayo "evaluating" a new, rabbity moeblob, which came out of the trash can from Potemayo's seed.
  • Honorifics: Sunao gets called -temee by Yasumi.
  • Huge Schoolgirl: Kyou, who's also more 'developed' than the other girls.
  • I Do Not Speak Nonverbal: Mikan, who can't sense hostility from Potemayo until it's too late.
    • The final episode has Kyou and her parents trying to figure out what Guchiko's trying to 'say'.
  • Idiot Hair: Potemayo has one on her head. It matches her when things happen to her. When she is either sick or other bad happenings, her Ahoge looks a bit messed up.
  • It Came from the Fridge: Potemayo's and Guchuko's origin; "I found her in my fridge" is all the explanation we and the cast are given. That boy really needs to clean out his refrigerator.
  • Jerkass: Nene isn't just a turquoise-haired, squeaky-voiced jerkass, she's THE turquoise-haired, squeaky-voiced jerkass.
  • Line-of-Sight Name: Potato + Mayonnaise (in the same vein as all those Portmanteau Series Nicknames out there), the prime flavorings in what Sunao happened to be eating at one time, lends Potemayo her name.
  • Love Bubbles: Mikan is extremely prone to these in her daydreams.
  • Love Triangle: How often have we seen the ol' "boy / girl / blob" trifecta, eh? Becomes a Love Dodecahedron as the series progresses.
  • Potty Failure: Potemayo's prone to wetting herself. It happens in pretty much every episode.
  • Subverted Kids' Show: Looks like it should be subtitled, "The Charming Adventures of Pote-chan and Friends"; there's even a children's television-style narrator. Then you notice the frequency of the toilet humour/Ho Yay gags...
  • The Stoic: Sunao must be the most chilled anime protagonist yet.
  • Theme Naming: A "mikan" is a type of orange and Mikan has orange hair of the exact same shade.
  • Three Shorts: "Two shorts" format, actually.
  • Toilet Humor: At one point in the first episode, a bird poops on Potemayo's head, and yes, there is a loud farting noise as this happens.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: episode 7. Three words: Hairy Festival Cheerleaders.
    • A later episode introduces what appears to be a very young boy (Seki Tomari, who had previously befriended Potemayo during an incident involving chasing Guchuko around) wearing a skirt after they'd been seen wearing trousers. The characters react with alarm...
    • And Sunao nonchalantly wears a cheerleader's outfit whilst his uniform is drying in one episode.
    • Don't forget the magnificent 6th DVD special. The class decides to do a cafe for the school festival. The first half is your average class cafe with the girls serving everyone, but when afternoon rolls around it switches to the boys crossdressing. Cue Sunao waltzing in and making everyone feel much less uncomfortable. The girls were technically crossdressing as well.

Top