Popuko and Pipimi from Pop Team Epic giving middle fingers under the Japanese logo

Pop Team Epic

2014manga / anime seriesclassic

Published September 23, 2026

Pop Team Epic, also known as Poptepipic, is a 4-koma absurdist comedy manga by Japanese doujin artist bkub that debuted in 2014, following the chaotic exploits of teens Popuko and Pipimi. English fan translations turned it into a Tumblr favorite before its 2018 anime adaptation set Japanese Twitter on fire with meta gags and constant pop culture references.

anime manga absurdist humor memes japanese internet memes otaku culture memes webcomic memes

Overview

Pop Team Epic is built on short 4-panel strips where the punchlines rarely follow from the setups. The two leads, the pint-sized angry Popuko and the taller, deadpan Pipimi, break the fourth wall constantly, insult the reader, or veer into non-sequiturs that read like the manga industry making fun of itself1. bkub packs each page with meta commentary on manga and anime tropes, plus a stream of pop culture callouts.

The 2018 TV anime pushed the format further, with each episode airing the same content twice with different voice actors, swapping animation styles mid-scene, and stuffing in nods to Kimi no Na wa, Berserk and Skyrim among many others1. The result is a show that reads more like a chaotic clip channel than a normal anime, which is exactly why it took off with online audiences who screencapped and clipped it endlessly2.

Origin & Background

Platform
Manga Life Win / Tumblr (viral spread)
Creator
Ookawa bkub
Date
2014

Doujin artist Ookawa bkub, already known online for his Touhou Project comics and his takes on the character Chen, debuted Pop Team Epic on August 29th, 2014 on the online magazine Manga Life Win, published by Takeshobo1. The strips follow the bizarre daily adventures of 14-year-old high schoolers Popuko and Pipimi and lean hard on meta jokes about the manga and anime business.

English-speaking readers first encountered the series through Tumblr user sirlorence, who uploaded a translated strip on November 1st, 2014 and kept posting translations on Tumblr and Danbooru afterward1.

How It Spread

Pop Team Epic built its Western following gag by gag on Tumblr. On August 13th, 2015, sirlorence posted the now-famous strip where Popuko orders a hamburger and, after being corrected on her pronunciation, snaps back with 'You are mother fucker,' which racked up over 104,000 notes in the following year1. Other translators kept the pipeline flowing, including a strip by user Yaku-Zai on March 16th, 2016 that pulled in more than 11,900 notes1.

On April 1st, 2017, after months of teaser strips, an anime adaptation was announced, originally aimed at an October 2017 premiere before being pushed to January 20181. When the first episode finally aired on January 6th, 2018, the reception was strong, driven by the show's absurdist rhythm and its wall-to-wall references to properties like Kimi no Na wa, Berserk and Skyrim1. The first episode streamed for free on the Freedom Weekly YouTube channel and pulled in over 70,000 views, while YouTuber Tokyosaurus posted a review and explainer that day that gained over 59,000 views2.

The same day, Reddit user woonie kicked off an r/anime discussion thread that pulled in over 1,770 points and 650 comments inside two days, and the hashtag #ポプテピピック became a trending topic on Japanese Twitter1.

Timeline

2014-08-29

Bkub debuts Pop Team Epic on Manga Life Win, an online magazine by Takeshobo.

2014-11-01

Tumblr user sirlorence posts the first English fan translation and begins archiving strips.

2015-08-13

The 'You are mother fucker' hamburger strip goes viral on Tumblr, hitting over 104,000 notes.

2016-03-16

Tumblr user Yaku-Zai posts a car showroom strip translation that gains more than 11,900 notes.

2017-04-01

The Pop Team Epic anime adaptation is officially announced.

2017-08-10

The premiere is pushed back from October 2017 to January 2018.

2018-01-06

Episode 1 airs, the r/anime discussion thread by woonie takes off, and #ポプテピピック trends on Japanese Twitter.

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