NOTICE: the following names that are listed below are fake stuff made up by the editor:
- Nathalie DeJong note
- IRIS note
- Wungsoo Animation
- Minimus
- Hiroshi Kazumi
Pneuma is an anime created by Nathalie DeJong (the same person behind My Guardian Providence and Dealing with Hell's Hate), starring the main protagonists from another work (from a different studio, but licensed nonetheless), Ghost Stories — it is essentially what happens if you add some elements from its Gag Dub, and make it get away with scary things despite it being a kids' show (being focused on finding out about every mystery)... while fighting against the censors and Executive Meddling, that is.
Siblings Satsuki and Keiichiro Miyanoshita, alongside their cat Kaya, move into Hikage Village, which is advertised to be a popular, colorful city — where newcomers can be at home... right? It's not. There's very little humans, as supernatural beings have taken residence.
With her friends from school (Hajime Aoyama, Momoko Kaigokubo and Leo Kakinoki), it turns out they don't need to survive (since several are not out to kill, anyway)... they just have to be aware of their surroundings and what the individuals they meet desire. Using a Monster of the Week formula and an overarching story, it truly can be a... surreal experience.
Debuting in June 2, 2016, it is produced by independent Japanese studio IRIS, with some co-production done by Wungsoo Animation, Minimus and Studio Pierrot. English licensing was later announced, and the dub (as well as American broadcasting on HyperSonic) became released in August 2, 2017. Although, unlike the last anime about kids battling against ghosts, it's not a Gag Dub — like any fans of it would expect.
There it is, the... tropes:
- Approval of God: Nathalie De Jong has stated the following on her Twitter once, that she doesn't mind abridged series:"I don't care if any of you dub Pneuma and put it on a video sharing website, where everything just changes its genre to just comedy - and you make it silly in any sort of way. In fact, I encourage you to do it!"
- What Could Have Been: The anime's pitch bible reveals several things during development...
- The series was originally pitched under the title "Sugarsweet". At one point, it would also look like your typical cutesy kids' cartoon... at least, until you watch the show. It was scrapped since the crew found no point of a twist, it would be fairly rude to anyone who's a hardcore fan of cuteness, and "Sugarsweet" doesn't roll off their tongues well.
- Also during that time, the color keys only composed of grayscale palettes. It had to be modified to be considered "too limited", as well as trying too hard to enforce the gloomy atmosphere. The art style was also similar to that of Tim Burton's.
- While the main protagonists of Ghost Stories were used as placeholders, they were going to be replaced by a family consisting of — and as described in the picture — a depressed child, their protective mother, her smart husband and the kid's rebellious friend. Feeling as if those pre-existing characters have more potential than original ones, DeJong scrapped the family in favor of attemptively fleshing the kids out.
- It was going to be proposed as a manga. However, IRIS members thought it would be more effective in animation, which DeJong agreed with.
- The tone would have some comedy as its second genre, but felt as if making the show seem more down-to-earth worked.
- Two characters had to be redesigned — Cutie Pie, before the pilot's development, and 4.0.4. - a TV head, who would've originally debuted as the featured character of the first episode. They later were fused into one character entirely, because character designer Hiroshi Kazumi thought it'd be funny.
- The art style of the humans were originally reminiscient of Edward Gorey's illustrations. Then it was decided, what if everyone was detailed and intentionally ugly instead? They resorted to a simpler and slightly more down-to-earth style.
- A dub was supposed to air on Nickelodeon, then Discovery Family, but were afraid the show would be rejected for being "too scary".
- What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: To the point where despite being rated TV-Y7, when it came time for it to air was on 11:00 PM. Then again, that's done on purpose under the impression only certain children could handle this.
