Having unlikable characters honestly having even one unlikable character can be a death sentence for an otherwise promising series. People typically dont want to consume media that centers around characters they loathe and when talking about a slice of life show that relies on cast chemistry that only becomes more true. Heck I remember a few years back I was talking to someone about a different show I was fond of and they kept circling back around to how they felt the humor was too mean spirited. They didnt really have any other critiques because that in and of itself was a dealbreaker for them. If I had to guess Id say that person probably is not a big fan of Mayonaka Punch or MayoPan for short. With the borderlineabusive NewTuber Masaki as the lead and a zany supporting cast of vampire girls there isnt a lot of wholesome sitting around a campfire and bonding going on. At the same time the coarse character dynamics of MayoPan really worked for me and between the comedy and the lovely visuals I came away pleasantly surprised that yet again another P.A. Works original had charmed its way into my heart. The series opens with Masaki as an abouttobeex member of a fairly successfully NewTube channel. After tensions rose during a livestream and her fist went flying into another persons face enough was enough and the other members of the channel decided to drop her. She subsequently proceeds to do herself zero favors and continues to dig her hole deeper complete with the classic apology video. After everything is said and done Masaki is left alone and bitter doing little more than spiral into selfloathing and doubt while trying to cope with some alcohol. 440https://i.ur.com/BaBuCmQ.jpeg Thats just a juice box right? Right??? A quick cut and the audience is introduced to Live a vampire who immediately manages to set herself on fire by rolling into the sunlight. This drags her out of her 20 yearlong slumber and her friend/subordinate Ichiko comes to catch her up on what she missed. While showing her NewTube Live sees a thumbnail with Masaki in it becomes obsessed with her and starts trying to track her down. The two end up meeting mostly coincidentally at an abandoned hospital and after the initial confusion around Live being a vampire is resolved they strike a deal. Live will star in videos for Masakis new channel and in return will be allowed to make a meal out of her once they hit the goal of one million subscribers. Thus the eponymously named Mayonaka Punch NewTube channel is born reinforced by two more vampires Fu and Tokage as well as Ichiko. As the channel grows and grows the girls continue to overcome each hurdle they are presented with. However for the vast majority of the show the only character with experience in front of the camera is left behind it. 440https://i.ur.com/NDm1jEg.jpeg Masakis very own Vietnam flashback For many Masaki will make or break MayoPan. Even putting aside her violent tendencies for a little bit she is extremely selfinterested generally controlling and overall comes across as someone with a terrible personality. So then why does Masaki work? What makes her a good character? The answer is multifaceted. The biggest thing is that Masaki works well as a comedic catalyst. While a lot of what she does isnt directly funny her selfish actions and the terrible choices she makes or has made previously cause funny things to happen. Her visit home in episode nine is a phenomenal example of this over the course of the episode the MayoPan members step in and pretend to be Masaki for a home visit including pretending that her little sister is in fact their sister. What makes this repeated bit work for an entire episode is partially seeing the weird things the MayoPan members do but also seeing Masakis little sister continually listing off the ways in which Masaki was/still is a terrible sister for the camera. All of the stories are funny on their own especially with the stellar deadpan delivery but its really the reactions to those stories that sell the scenes and make the episode so funny. 440https://i.ur.com/aIFuyuw.jpeg Its also just easy to empathize with Masaki. Throughout the story elements that make the audience understand her are sprinkled in making sure that the scales never tip too far towards the contemptuous side of things. In episode one its shown rather viscerally how online hate gets to her and makes her spiral as well as how much fun she had when she started making videos with her friends and how she cherished those relationships. While showing the relationships gives fuel for the viewers to imagine how Masaki could have gotten to this point the online hate getting to Masaki is what becomes a recurring theme throughout the narrative even though she is suffering because of her own actions the way the trolling is presented helps the audience understand what shes feeling in the moment. An even better example of balancing Masaki between sympathetic and contemptuous could be episode four when she massively oversteps in pursuit of a video opportunity and subsequently gets called out for only caring about the video production. Despite it being true she was too focused on the content creation and neglected her friends feelings Masakis overstepping led to a genuinely touching moment and some amazing development for Fu with the whole ordeal also showing Masaki is capable of introspection and learning. Moments like this scattered throughout MayoPan help show that she isnt an Eric Cartman knockoff but that there is something a little more complex brewing beneath the surface. 440https://i.ur.com/tjCPWe7.jpeg On the topic of surfaces MayoPans is absolutely gorgeous. The palette is primarily pastel colors which are not only somewhat unique and immediately eyecatching but serve to make the show feel livelier while simultaneously working in both welllit interior and darker exterior shots. The characters are not only incredibly expressive with faces really being used to sell the comedy but the character designs are also phenomenal with the eyes tying everything together. They stand out against the more muted palette and are always bringing the attention back to the faces. The background art is solid the weight of impacts is portrayed quite well important in a show where there is a surprising amount of highspeed movement and crashing into things and the way NewTube comments and livestream chats are seamlessly integrated with the rest of whats happening couldnt be done better. Some of those things are less about the visual design and more about the direction but either way MayoPan is an absolute treat to watch. 440https://i.ur.com/lrs7b2U.jpeg The sound design and voice acting are also solid. Generally speaking the sound effects are spot on which is important given how much variety in settings there is in the show. With that being said the voice acting really stands out which is sorely needed because the comedy relies so heavily on the delivery. Hina Youmiya as Fu also has one of the best character songs in recent memory and on a more personal note I thought it was hilarious that Ikumi Hasegawa voiced Masaki my brain hearing Kita from Bocchi the Rock when Masaki was getting drunk really made me laugh. With that being said the OST did leave something to be desired. Both the OP and ED were great tonally perfect and fun with really great animated sequences to boot. However the actual soundtrack of the show was at times dull. There are several times where the audience is shown a montage of the girls filming various shots however those sequences feel boring because the cut has the most generic beat bordering on elevator music playing over it. 440https://i.ur.com/fpugVgX.jpeg Kita??? What happened??? Before wrapping up its worth it to very quickly compare MayoPan to one other show Yoru no Kurage wa Oyogenai Jellyfish Cant Swim in the Night. At a glance these are somewhat similar: 2024 anime originals about creatives making something with a lot of care put on making catchy eyepopping visuals. Both shows also have leading characters who were kicked out of groups for violence and both characters have to deal with the aftermath of their actions. However while MayoPan manages to stick the landing Jellyfish struggles and feels like it left a lot of potential to be great on the table. So why is that? In a word vision. Jellyfish wavered between drama romance and idol show never really finding its identity and leaving shaky pacing and messy characters in its wake. Too many voices too many ideas too many things going on that it could never hope to wrap up neatly in 12 episodes. MayoPan however never really wavered from comedy/slice of life knew where the characters were going to end up knew what they wanted to leave the audience with and then worked to get there. At the end of the day MayoPans consistency in so many ways in terms of narrative characterization and even visuals is the reason for the success of such a goofy silly show. 440https://i.ur.com/VzVxHly.jpeg In spite of that overall success MayoPan isnt perfect. There are issues I had with some things even besides the OST and despite the ending of the show being everything it needed to be and then some I think an episode 13 could have been useful to help flesh out one more member of the supporting cast. So even though I loved MayoPan I do still want to know what that person I talked to about meanspirited humor would say about the show. I think I have an idea as to how theyd feel and what theyd say and I doubt theyd be alone in having those opinions. After all who would watch content centered around someone they loathe? And how could people be okay with being a terrible person in the pursuit of content? While MayoPan does actually answer both of those questions my answer is to the second one is a little simpler: sometimes you just gotta do it for the vine. 440https://i.ur.com/XWK09lJ.jpeg Why be nice when you can be this pretty?