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I get this should be in the "anime & manga" section, but this is an anime based on a cartoon, so it gets pretty muddled.
In any case, weirdly this aside from being based on the classic ppg show, it had a few quirks in it's production:
From the character designer that i think worked in other majo shojo, i don't remember it were sailor moon or card captor Sakura.
That much like the 2016 show, McCracken didn't have any involvement whatsoever.
Despite the show only lasting a year, it had the usual production of anime from that era, meaning that the show in actually less than a year got a 52 episode run, something unheard off these days, no matter how successful your property is, at most you get 20 a year, which also means no incarnation of the ppg was such a failure to get less than 52 episodes, the original had 78 and the 2016 one had a little over 60, meaning that yes, not only did the girls beat the Ed's, but also almost beat ben 10, and i guess the first anime of the elric brothers aswell.
None of the cast from the classic tv series returns in the english dub, unlike some frome the 2016 show, instead the show was dubbed in studio ocean dub, so not only you don't get your tom kenny's and Tara's strongs, but in the Japanese version some characters sound weird, like mojo jojo, who speaks in a way that he repeats his name over and over again, kind of reminding me of killer bee from naruto, and bubbles in Japanese (aside from the girls all having proper names in the Japanese version) has this weirdly relaxed and mature voice that doesn't remotely resemble what the character's personality is associated with, meaning the latin american dub was one of the most faithful in terms of the cast for the classic series, for the most part, they changed buttercup voice for the one for yajirobe in the first dragon ball z kai.
And all in to celebrate Toei Animation 50th Anniversary, meaning that yes, you could say the first dragon ball anime fits that criteria for their 30th anniversary, GT for it's 40th, and out of nowhere PPGZ is the one to get that credit, don't know about their 60th but we are going back to dragon ball this year for their 70th anniversary.
All of this for well...diet sailor moon, because let's be frank, this show was nothing special aside from its wonderful opening and endings, it was a lesser majo shojo that wasn't even very liked back then and not that much the following decades, at least it didn't got the infamy that lilo & stitch anime without lilo got.
And it's sad because if you pay attention to the direction of at least the first 4 seasons of the classic show. You would notice it has more of an anime feel to it than ppgz, despite being a cartoon, same with dexter's lab, not so much samurai jack since that show was it's own beast, but going back to ppg, you see the use of color, how action scenes are composed, the use of violence, and even things like the comedy had this quirky vibe that some anime at the time had, all this is lacking in ppgz, to the point where the cartoon feels more like an anime, making ppgz just another anime of the bunch, so much so that to this day if you want to watch the show, you just get tvrips because the show wasn't released on dvd or blu ray.
Even then, i wouldn't call this version of the girls "bad" or "offensive to the source material", heck not even the 2016 one like the vast majority say, the original already showed it's cracks in it's last 2 seasons and when you think about it, most of the reboots based on beloved properties that often get heavily criticized aren't even that bad, weirdly the most well received is also the worst one: animaniacs 2020.
I say this so, since ppg, ppgz and ppg 2016, heck, the 2013 special, all have a place in my heart, i watched them all when i was a kid, and unlike other properties that get rebooted for the sake of it so they can keep the rights (scooby-doo, tom and jerry, looney tunes), ppg by being rebooted so sporadically, it never felt like it's overstood it's welcome, it kind of has (despite not being even 3 decades old) this multigenerational appeal.
your mom could watch classic ppg, then her with your brother or sister, then you who are the youngest could start watching, then you put the new youngsters in the family to watch it, then you and your kids, and so on and so forth, kind of like other beloved cartoon cartoons like johnny bravo, and other animated wb stuff from that era like the dcau or classic animaniacs, it just has this timeless feel which always puts you in a good mood.
and it may sound weird but it's a franchise that has this appeal of being beloved no matter your age or if you watched it as a kid or as an adult, which makes it sadder that after the original show ended, the property didn't seem to reach the height of the first 4 seasons or even the best of seasons 5 and 6.
and i'm not the only one in my family who has ppg in their hearts, my sister and mother were huge fans, my sister alongside my mom went to see the actual ppg movie in theaters back in 2002, she even had some toys and whatnot, but i wouldn't be surprised if she never liked ppgz, no matter if she liked anime or not, she already disliked the 2016 one anyway.
In any case, despite being a generic majo shojo, despite not being as good as the classic series or other anime from the time, despite being made by one of the worst anime companies in terms of policy, employee treatment and home releases (not to mention fair use) and despite the fact it will never be as fondly remembered as the classic series due to it's lower, more generic quality...
In any way, thanks ppgz for being part of my childhood, happy 20th Anniversary!
In any case, weirdly this aside from being based on the classic ppg show, it had a few quirks in it's production:
From the character designer that i think worked in other majo shojo, i don't remember it were sailor moon or card captor Sakura.
That much like the 2016 show, McCracken didn't have any involvement whatsoever.
Despite the show only lasting a year, it had the usual production of anime from that era, meaning that the show in actually less than a year got a 52 episode run, something unheard off these days, no matter how successful your property is, at most you get 20 a year, which also means no incarnation of the ppg was such a failure to get less than 52 episodes, the original had 78 and the 2016 one had a little over 60, meaning that yes, not only did the girls beat the Ed's, but also almost beat ben 10, and i guess the first anime of the elric brothers aswell.
None of the cast from the classic tv series returns in the english dub, unlike some frome the 2016 show, instead the show was dubbed in studio ocean dub, so not only you don't get your tom kenny's and Tara's strongs, but in the Japanese version some characters sound weird, like mojo jojo, who speaks in a way that he repeats his name over and over again, kind of reminding me of killer bee from naruto, and bubbles in Japanese (aside from the girls all having proper names in the Japanese version) has this weirdly relaxed and mature voice that doesn't remotely resemble what the character's personality is associated with, meaning the latin american dub was one of the most faithful in terms of the cast for the classic series, for the most part, they changed buttercup voice for the one for yajirobe in the first dragon ball z kai.
And all in to celebrate Toei Animation 50th Anniversary, meaning that yes, you could say the first dragon ball anime fits that criteria for their 30th anniversary, GT for it's 40th, and out of nowhere PPGZ is the one to get that credit, don't know about their 60th but we are going back to dragon ball this year for their 70th anniversary.
All of this for well...diet sailor moon, because let's be frank, this show was nothing special aside from its wonderful opening and endings, it was a lesser majo shojo that wasn't even very liked back then and not that much the following decades, at least it didn't got the infamy that lilo & stitch anime without lilo got.
And it's sad because if you pay attention to the direction of at least the first 4 seasons of the classic show. You would notice it has more of an anime feel to it than ppgz, despite being a cartoon, same with dexter's lab, not so much samurai jack since that show was it's own beast, but going back to ppg, you see the use of color, how action scenes are composed, the use of violence, and even things like the comedy had this quirky vibe that some anime at the time had, all this is lacking in ppgz, to the point where the cartoon feels more like an anime, making ppgz just another anime of the bunch, so much so that to this day if you want to watch the show, you just get tvrips because the show wasn't released on dvd or blu ray.
Even then, i wouldn't call this version of the girls "bad" or "offensive to the source material", heck not even the 2016 one like the vast majority say, the original already showed it's cracks in it's last 2 seasons and when you think about it, most of the reboots based on beloved properties that often get heavily criticized aren't even that bad, weirdly the most well received is also the worst one: animaniacs 2020.
I say this so, since ppg, ppgz and ppg 2016, heck, the 2013 special, all have a place in my heart, i watched them all when i was a kid, and unlike other properties that get rebooted for the sake of it so they can keep the rights (scooby-doo, tom and jerry, looney tunes), ppg by being rebooted so sporadically, it never felt like it's overstood it's welcome, it kind of has (despite not being even 3 decades old) this multigenerational appeal.
your mom could watch classic ppg, then her with your brother or sister, then you who are the youngest could start watching, then you put the new youngsters in the family to watch it, then you and your kids, and so on and so forth, kind of like other beloved cartoon cartoons like johnny bravo, and other animated wb stuff from that era like the dcau or classic animaniacs, it just has this timeless feel which always puts you in a good mood.
and it may sound weird but it's a franchise that has this appeal of being beloved no matter your age or if you watched it as a kid or as an adult, which makes it sadder that after the original show ended, the property didn't seem to reach the height of the first 4 seasons or even the best of seasons 5 and 6.
and i'm not the only one in my family who has ppg in their hearts, my sister and mother were huge fans, my sister alongside my mom went to see the actual ppg movie in theaters back in 2002, she even had some toys and whatnot, but i wouldn't be surprised if she never liked ppgz, no matter if she liked anime or not, she already disliked the 2016 one anyway.
In any case, despite being a generic majo shojo, despite not being as good as the classic series or other anime from the time, despite being made by one of the worst anime companies in terms of policy, employee treatment and home releases (not to mention fair use) and despite the fact it will never be as fondly remembered as the classic series due to it's lower, more generic quality...
In any way, thanks ppgz for being part of my childhood, happy 20th Anniversary!
