SoraRabbit Short Hop 006: The Revenge of the Banana Cats!
After my recent mind-numbing voyage through all 65 episodes of Chargeman Ken, I was in desperate need of a palate cleanser. Thankfully, I had just the thing... the second series of Bananya!
As previously stated, I have to assume a group of Bananyas is a “bunch”. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
If you have not read my first Short Hop about Bananya, you may want to do that. (I may be slightly biased, but I believe it’s entirely fantastic.) You can find it here. Bananya is an adorable and short anime aimed at children. I came across it randomly as I wandered Crunchyroll's app looking for things to watch. I was instantly mesmerized by it. In a nutshell, (or banana peel?) it's the timeless tale of a cute cat/banana hybrid having adventures with his friends, who are also cute cat/banana hybrids.
Upon completion of the series, I was very pleased to find there was a second series of thirteen episodes. Just like the first series, the episodes were just under three minutes. My son and I binged the entire second series in one afternoon and I have returned to regale you with the further adventures of Bananya! (Of course, spoilers follow, so if you want to experience all the cuteness firsthand for yourself, go do that and come back later!)
Awww. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
Bananya and the Curious Bunch, at first glance, doesn't appear to be a sequel or continuation, but more a reboot. (These first impressions turned out to be somewhat wrong, but more on that later.)
Episode one gives us a shock… these bananyas are not on Earth, but on another planet very close to Earth. Bananya and his friends no longer live in some nameless human family's kitchen. Now they live on a cat-shaped planet at the base of a cat-shaped mountain in a field of banana trees. That right... these bananyas are feral!
That looks painful. Poor kitty mountain. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
The titular Bananya is the only returning character at the series start. That, along with the new setting, and the revelation that these bananyas are aliens lends a different feeling to series two. Another change is in the narrator. In the first series, the narrator spoke throughout the episodes, and referred to himself as a bananya expert. This series has a new narrator who rarely talks.
The major recurring plot point is that occasionally the Cat Mountain will erupt and a star-shaped object will fall to the Cat Planet. These are called “meowteors” and they’re gifts from Earth. Bananya becomes increasingly fascinated with the Earth artifacts found in these meowteors and develops a longing to explore Earth.
They’re so happy! (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
Bananya himself is the same character as before. He’s just as adventurous, curious, and treat-obsessed as always. Many of his fellow generic bananyas don’t get names, but there are many new characters that are introduced as the series goes on, each with their own theme. For instance, the first new characters we meet are Elder Bananya and his maid. The Elder has a crown, sleeps a lot, and his peel is old and withered. It’s indicated that he’s very wise and somewhat of a ruler to the other bananyas, but usually he’s just napping.
Fruit Kitty love. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
The next major character we meet is in “Episode 3- Bananya and the Droopy-eared Bananya, Nya”. (Every episode title ends with nya. In anime and manga, “nya” is used to represent the sound of a cat meowing.) A meowteor crashes to Cat Planet and Bananya runs off to find it. It knocks a little banana off a tree and we are introduced to Droopy-eared Bananya.
Droopy-eared Bananya immediately becomes Bananya’s sidekick and joins him on all his remaining adventures. (Except the final one. More on that soon.) She is depicted as having an unnatural level of cuteness that makes every other Bananya become entranced by her. A fact that at least once became way too much for her to deal with…
My cat gets like this. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
As you can see above, there are other bananyas in the jungle. Police Bananya and Sheriff Bananya (pictured above) are just two of them.
A mob of Banana Cats. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
We also meet Ninja Bananya, Pirate Bananya, Flower Bananya, and more. Emo Bananya, Metal Bananya, and Vampire Bananya are in a band together. In “Episode 5- Bananya and the Mysterious Mansion, Nya”, Bananya and Droopy-eared Bananya meet Scientist Bananya and his creepy Zombie Bananyas.
Pictured here: Scientist Bananya and Zombie Bananyas. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
There’s clearly something sketchy going on here. Are the Bananyas genetically engineered? Most definitely. (This would explain a lot actually.)
The cuteness level is off the charts. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
Bananya and Droopy-eared Bananya have many adventures, usually centered around gifts found in the meowteors. They become ninjas, explore a haunted mansion, go to a music festival and a Meowteor Festival. The Meowteor Festival is just what it sounds like— a kind of carnival that displays the meowteor gifts.
The bananyas cherish the gifts from the meowteors, but really don’t question them. It’s never explained how these things are sent to Cat Planet or why. Some of the gifts are a ninja manga, a robot dog, a voice translator, snacks, and a globe.
In my Series One post I mentioned all the lingering questions I had about the universe of the bananyas. This series really didn’t answer any of those questions, and actually it created many new ones. Is the Cat Planet a moon? Why is the Cat Mountain alive and why does it freak out when meowteors arrive? Was getting hit by a meowteor the source of Droopy-eared Bananya’s near-mystical cuteness? We’ll likely never get these answers, but that’s okay.
Bananya dreams big. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
Bananya is fascinated by “the round thing in the sky” and dreams of visiting Earth. And this is where the next surprise comes in. The last four episodes of the series are an ongoing story! Usually the episodes are unconnected vignettes, but episodes 10 through 13 are an actual story arc. As Bananya’s interest in Earth grows, he discovers a magic wand. Elder Bananya reveals that it belongs to the legendary Rainbow Bananya.
MAGIC! (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
Bananya and his adorable sidekick go on a quest to return the wand to its owner. Once there, they meet Rainbow Bananya and Night Rainbow Bananya, the magical cat-fruit twin sisters. The duo are grateful to have the wand back.
Ooo, sparkly. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
In their gratitude, they grant Bananya his deepest wish, which is to visit Earth. This is exciting for him, but sad for Droopy-eared Bananya, who’s left behind. Bananya quickly goes about exploring the big city. None of the humans notice him for some reason. We get to see the stray cat from Series One. Around this time I started to figure out what was actually going on here.
On his journey through the city, Bananya sees a chocolate covered banana, and a fetish is born! (If you haven’t read the previous post yet, you’re probably very confused. That’s natural.) After that, Bananya hops in a woman’s purse and rides a train. Meanwhile, back on the Cat Planet, Droopy-eared Bananya won’t stop crying, so she’s launched off in a rocket. I make it sound meaner than it is… she’s actually setting off to look for her friend and Scientist Bananya helped her.
Back on Earth, Bananya’s purse trip is over. The woman has arrived home. Bananya hops out and finds himself in a familiar kitchen. Other Bananyas emerge and look at him curiously.
That’s right. This was a prequel all along! Everything in Series One happens after Episode 13 of Series Two. Bananya is actually an alien living among the Earth bananyas. As the series draws to a close, Bananya settles in with his new friends and Droopy-eared Bananya’s rocket arrives on Earth. Will there be a Series Three? Will the two be reunited? Will they find the source of the meowteors and find their way back home? We’ll have to wait for those answers, unfortunately.
Do they know he’s an alien? (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
And that’s Bananya and the Curious Bunch. I enjoyed it just as much as the first series, even though it was a little jarring at first to see Bananya on a Cat Planet with all new friends. I really liked the surprise prequel aspect to it. I really didn’t expect that twist. It makes me hope for a third series continuing the adventures and reuniting Bananya and Droopy-eared Bananya. This series raised more questions than it answered, but it was still very enjoyable. It was more quirky and fantastic than Series One, and the serialization of the last four episodes raised the bar for the story.
Bananya and the Curious Bunch is pure undistilled adorableness. It’s fun and colorful, lighthearted and sweet. And very brief. The entire thing can be binged in a little over a half an hour. So, if any of this sounds like it’s up your alley, give it a try.
Thank you for reading this Short Hop. I’ll be back soon with more. In the meantime, keep looking for the hidden treasure chests!
When snacks go wrong. (Credit: Kyō Yatate, Akiyo Nagano. Studio: Gathering)
