Punch Line

Punch Line (Japanese: panchirain, Hepburn: Panchi Rain) is a Japanese anime television series directed by Yutaka Uemura and produced by MAPPA with scripts by Kotaro Uchikoshi, music by Tetsuya Komuro, and character designs by Shota Iwasaki. The series aired on Fuji TV's Noitamina block between April 10, 2015, and June 26, 2015, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll.^{[note 1][2][3]} The series is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks.

A video game adaptation developed by 5pb. was released on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2016 in Japan, and was released in May 2019 in North America and Europe. A manga, titled Punch Line Max, taking place after the anime series, was published by Kadokawa Corporation in Dengeki G's Comic from September 30, 2015, to December 29, 2016, and compiled in two volumes. It was illustrated by Ginichi, and based on an original idea by Uchikoshi.^[4]

The title "Punch Line" is primarily intended as an oblique reference to the "punch line" of what happens if protagonist Yuta sees too many panties; humanity dies. As well as this, the title is read in Japanese akin to "panty line" and "panchira", which ties into the series' central focus on panties. The title was also picked to reference the anime's more comical and off-the-wall nature, compared to Uchikoshi's prior work.^[5][6]

Yuta Iridatsu lives at the Korai House apartment complex with four girls: Mikatan Narugino, Ito Hikiotani, Meika Daihatsu, and Lovera Chichibu. One day, following a busjacking incident, Yuta finds himself ejected from his own body and becoming a spirit. Guided by the cat spirit Chiranosuke, Yuta must learn to master his spirit powers in order to protect his housemates from the various circumstances they find themselves in. However, if Yuta sees a girl's panties twice in a row within a short amount of time, Earth will be destroyed by a meteor.

Yuta Iridatsu (Yi Li Da You Tai , Iridatsu Yuta)

Voiced by: Marina Inoue

The main protagonist. Yuta's soul was separated from his body following the bus hijacking incident. Yuta must search for Sacred Tome of Koraikan in order to return to his physical body. Whenever he sees a girl's panties, he gains a burst of strength known as Uber-fy powers, but upon seeing panties twice in succession, Yuta gains too much stimulation and loses consciousness, which somehow results in a meteor destroying Earth, though he can go back in time to prevent that. He has a small amount of spiritual abilities, which increases upon 'levelling up', but can also perform more advanced abilities, such as possession, when there is cinnamon in the vicinity. In episode 7, it is revealed that Yuta was originally a boy named Pine (pain, Pain) who ended up switching bodies with a girl named Chiyoko. As such, Yuta is biologically female, with his legal name being Yu Iridatsu (Yi Li Da You , Iridatsu Yu). "Yuta Iridatsu" is a pun on the phrase "astral projection" (You Ti Li Tuo , yutai ridatsu).^[5]

Mikatan Narugino (Cheng Mu Ye mikatan, Narugino Mikatan)

Voiced by: Sora Amamiya

A member of the idol group "Seas May", who secretly fights crime as the magical girl Strange Juice. Whenever she is flustered or alone, she ends up speaking in the Tsugaru dialect which she picked up in her early childhood. Similar to Yuta, she possesses Uber-fy powers for her crimefighting, but these have a strong side-effect on her body which requires constant medication. It is later revealed that she is Chiyoko (chiyoZi ), whose soul went out of the body Yuta possesses and into the body of Guriko.^[7] When the characters in her name are read differently, her name is a pun on the phrase "ally of justice" (Zheng Yi noWei Fang , seigi no mikata).^[5]

Ito Hikiotani (Yi Wei Gu Ai , Hikiotani Ito)

Voiced by: Minako Kotobuki

A NEET who spends most of her time playing online games and taking care of her pet Muhi, a bear cub. Her name is a pun on the term "HikiOtaNEET" (hikiotani-to), a portmanteau of hikikomori, otaku, and NEET.

Meika Daihatsu (Tai Chu Ming Xiang , Daihatsu Meika)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya

A robot who happens to be the landlady of the apartment all the characters are living in. She is also a genius inventor, and has unrivalled hacking skills. However, she has very poor physical reflexes. She speaks in the Kansai dialect. Her name is a pun on the phrase "great inventor" (Da Fa Ming Jia , Daihatsumei-ka).^[7] It also sounds akin to the English word "maker". She is Pumpkin Chair.

Rabura Chichibu (Zhi Fu rabura, Chichibu Rabura)

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu

A 30-year-old who works as an exorcist. Despite her profession, she does not believe in the existence of spirits. She has never had a boyfriend and is rumoured to still be a virgin. She can be temporarily possessed by Yuta when there is cinnamon in the vicinity. Her name is a pun on "chichi burabura " (Ru burabura; lit. "breasts dangling").^[7] She embodies elements of a gyaru.

Chiranosuke (chiraZhi Zhu , Chiranosuke)

Voiced by: Yu-ri Yoshida

A talking cat spirit who informs Yuta about spirit powers and serves as a guide to get him to save the world. In episode 12, it is revealed that Chiranosuke is a cat that Ito Hikiotani's friend from technical school gave to her. He/she is a chinchilla, which is a type of Persian Cat.

Ryuto Teraoka (Si Gang Long Du , Teraoka Ryuto)

Voiced by: Kenji Akabane

The leader of the QMay terrorist organisation. He is later revealed to be Guriko (guriZi ), whose soul currently possesses Yuta's original body.

Chihaya Tomoda (You Tian Qian Zao , Tomoda Chihaya)

Voiced by: Jun Oosuka

Ito's homeroom teacher, who has a deranged admiration for Ito. Merging with Q-May's spirit, Tomoda becomes a masked soldier, referred to the residents as "Turtle Man" (Gui Nan , Kame Otoko), and is able to use Uber-fy powers.

Kenji Miyazawa (Gong Ze Xian Zhi , Miyazawa Kenji)

Voiced by: Marina Inoue

A costumed vigilante who shows up out of nowhere and possesses the same Uber-fy powers as Yuta. It is later revealed that this is another version of Yuta, who goes back in time from a previous time loop and possesses his present day body whenever the plan to save the world fails, eventually becoming an identity the present Yuta assumes when he goes back in time.

Akina Iridatsu (Yi Li Da Qiu Nai , Iridatsu Akina)

Voiced by: Mariko Honda

Yuta's foster sister, who found him after he had switched into Chiyoko's body. She is the one who sends Yuta the Kenji Miyazawa costume.

Punch Line was first announced on November 24, 2014.^[8] The series is directed by Yutaka Uemura at MAPPA and written by Kotaro Uchikoshi with character design by Shota Iwasaki and music composed by Tetsuya Komuro. The series aired on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block between April 10, 2015, and June 26, 2015, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Punch Line!" by Shokotan and Denpagumi while the ending theme is "Honey Honey Honey" (Mi Mi Mi ) by AyumiKurikaMaki. The series is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks.

The story was originally conceived under the plot idea of "a ghost who cannot see panties to avoid killing humanity". Uchikoshi explains, "Humanity dies" is like the satirical answer a girl might give you if you asked what'd happen if a boy saw their panties. The concept for the story [of Punch Line] essentially started out as a means to set up that whole joke." This central theme was inspired, and centered around, the anime trope of sexual arousal being expressed by nosebleeds: "Nosebleeds in anime is used to comically indicate that blood is rushing to the head, that you're so excited it's hurting you. In Punch Line the joke is that this is taken to the extreme, as the protagonist's excitement doesn't just cause a nosebleed, it causes the apocalypse". While writing the story, Uchikoshi incorporated elements familiar to him in his prior works, particularly Zero Escape. Uchikoshi wanted the title of the series to reference both its comical nature, and the central meaning behind its conception. Uchikoshi and Uemura eventually settled on the name "Punch Line", due its similarity to the term "panchira".^[6][5]

A Punch Line video game was developed and published by 5pb. for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2016 in Japan,^[9][10] and was published by PQube in 2018 in North America and Europe.^[11] The game plays as a visual novel adventure game and expands on the story of the anime, adding new alternative endings.^[11][12] Uchikoshi and Komuro reprised their roles from the anime as writer and composer, respectively, along with the series' voice cast.^[12]

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• Punch Line (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

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