Pucca: Ninjas Love Noodles (Shout! Factory, 2008) Pucca: Kung Fu Kisses (Shout! Factory, 2008)
Pucca is a cute Korean animation series aimed at younger kids. The two main protagonists are Pucca, a 10 year old girl, and the object of her affection, 12 year old ninja Garu. Pucca has three uncles who run a local noodle shop and she delivers for them when she's not pursuing Garu. Her best friend, Ching, is in love with Garu's best buddy, Abyo (who's like a pint-sized Bruce Lee, forever bursting out of his tiny shirt to do kung fu moves). They all live in a small mountain village, Sooga Village, set presumably in an Asian country, though where isn't specified. Other supporting characters -- on these DVDs, at least -- include diva Ring Ring, would-be rival to Pucca, if Pucca cared at all; Tobe, another ninja, who'd like nothing more than to defeat Garu; and . . . Santa. Yes, Santa. He's frequently around, in his jolly red hat and suit, doing Christmas-y things, no matter the time of year. Why? Not explained in these episodes, if anywhere. Despite having no martial arts training, Pucca is physically skilled. She's super fast and has a head seemingly made of granite. She's also very, very clever and so tends to outwit anyone opposing her, whether it's a jealous Ring Ring, Tobe trying to hurt Garu, or even Garu in his attempts to avoid kisses. Garu, alas, doesn't have much of a personality, but Abyo more than makes up for him with all his brash silliness. Ching is cute as a button, and skilled at kung fu herself. Ring Ring is annoying, but then, it seems she's supposed to be. And Tobe . . . that poor guy needs a new hobby, or a better cast of supporting ninja! Each episode runs just 5 minutes long, so there's a lot of episodes on each DVD. Plots tend to be simple, but entertaining. In one episode, Abyo gets a superhero costume in the mail and proceeds to imprison the whole town for imaginary wrong-doing, including his own dad, the chief of police. Pucca, as her alter-ego Noodle Girl, must save the day! In another, Pucca's uncles decide they want to hold the world's record for the longest noodle. So they cook it, tie it to Garu and send him on a quest to run around the world. He does so, dogged at every step by Tobe, and aided covertly by Pucca. Or there's the time Pucca's uncles hold a talent contest to find a theme song for their restaurant -- a contest won by a three piece unit of Pucca and Ching on instruments and singer Abyo in drag (which doesn't prevent him from ripping his shirt off nonetheless). All very silly, but loads of fun to watch. The art is similarly simple, though cute. The kids are all pint-sized and have distinctive features -- Pucca's perpetually closed eyes and pony tails, Ching's pet chicken (which sits on her head) and heart-shaped mouth, Ring Ring's opera makeup and prehensile hair (when she's angry), Tobe's ninja scar. It's interesting to note that aside from giggles -- all from Pucca -- and exclamations, Pucca and Garu never actually talk, though everyone else does. The North American releases are dubbed in English, with mixed results (male characters fare better than female ones). Pucca should be suitable for younger animation fans; there's plenty of cartoony violence -- and a lot of silly smooching when Pucca catches Garu -- but nothing beyond that. These releases are fairly plain, having the episodes and maybe an online game link, but worth picking up for younger fans of animation. You can see some of the original flash animation the TV show evovled from on the Pucca Club Web site. Disney's Pucca page is here.
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