Pucca is an animated series about a girl with super strength who loves a ninja with super speed. Sounds pretty basic, doesn’t it? But add a group of renegade ninjas who will stop nothing to destroy Pucca’s One True Love and you get an action-packed, beautifully designed series. These two DVDs are great fun for all ages.
To quote from the DVD cover, “In the mystical and strange Sooga Village, there lives a girl with stupendous strength and a loving heart. Pucca [pronounced Pooka] where she is looked after by her three uncles, who are the chefs at Go-Rong Restaurant.
Garu is a quiet boy who has dedicated his life to becoming a Ninja. All he wants is to be left in peace to pursue his Ninja path.
And all Pucca wants is Garu.”
With its stylized characters [think Powerpuff Girls but even more so] and its exquisite backgrounds and sets, Pucca is a series that combines the action and adventure of Ninjas with the comical ways in which Pucca and Garu interact [or not…]. Call it a romantic Ninja kung fu comedy.
Each adventure’s plot is fairly simple – take Noodle Round the World, for example. Pucca’s uncles learn of an Italian claim to have made the longest noodle in the world. In response, they cook a noodle that is so long that it will circle the globe – and they get Garu to take one end around the world to prove it.
There’s not much there – until an evil Ninja and his four companions try to stop Garu with sneaky/nasty traps. Then it’s up to Pucca to intervene without letting Garu know that she’s helping.
Then, in And The Band Played Rong, Pucca’s uncles hold a contest to see who can come up with the best jingle for an ad for the Go Rong Restaurant. The word cacophony comes to mind…
Many of Pucca’s adventures are made more surreal by the manner in which mythological creatures and Asian traditions are mixed with modern characters and pop culture – even Santa Claus has a recurring role!
Though the series uses a lot of slapstick, there are also episodes where there are more sophisticated things going on, as with The Shirtless Avenger. Here, Abyo gets a Kung Fu Superhero Kit and goes on a crime fighting rampage that puts the entire town in jail – including his father, Policeman Bruce!
It’s a subtle way to teach kids that with absolute power comes absolute corruption, but it’s funny and doesn’t actually put its moral into words – the show’s creators clearly figure their audience is intelligent to figure these things out for themselves.
Between them, these two DVD contain twenty-six adventures – all of which are up to the same high standard. Ninjas Love Noodles also features Pucca Bumpers and comes with a Ninja License. Kung fu Kisses features a link to a Pucca Video Game and comes with a Pucca Sticker.
Grade: King Fu Kisses & Ninjas Love Noodles – B+
Grade: Features – C
Final Grade: B