FIF#234-Bananya

Meet Bananya.  He’s a Cat who lives in a Banana.  He’s curious, optimistic and prone to getting into trouble.  And he’s not alone.  There are others just like Bananya with different personalities and looks. Together, they explore the world around them, cause some mischief and maybe, just maybe inch ever closer to their own dreams…like Bananya wishing to become a chocolate covered Banana.

 
If Hamtaro taught us anything when he suddenly popped up on Toonami, it’s that we need something adorable and nonsensical to break up the many hours of shouting, punching and perversion we watch daily with Anime.  Bananya looks very much like a successor to Hamtaro in that regard.  It’s clearly aimed at kids but the extreme cuteness of the character overshadows the bizarness of a Cat living in a Banana. 
 
I didn’t realize while I was watching it at Katsucon but Bananya seems to be as bite sized as its tiny namesake with episodes clocking in at about 3 minutes (maybe 2 if you don’t count the catch end credits song).  And you know what, I can get behind that.  Unlike Hamtaro I don’t know how you’d mine 13 25 minute episodes out of Bananya’s premise, even if there are a bunch of other Bananya variants we see introduced.  These are meant to be quick watches, shorts youd see running in between mainline features and the like.  It’s just enough to make you constantly go “awwww” without going overboard.
 
The couple of episodes I did check out include Bananya’s “origin” (or birth? Idk he just appears) and Bananya being exposed to TV.  I really liked the TV one.  Seeing Bananya react to all the images on screen was great, including trying to comfort a crying woman and getting freaked out when a Kaiju suddenly appeared making Godzilla roars.  It’s simple but fun entertainment that somehow works for all ages.  Same goes for the animation. There isnt anything super flashy about Bananya’s presentation with minimal extraneous movements and just a Kitty in a Banana hopping from Point A to Point B.  Like I said, simple but effective.
 
To my knowledge there aren’t that many of these shorts so you could probably marathon Bananya in full in under an hour.  Personally, these bite sized minisodes don’t need to be binged so quickly.  I think I’ll save them for breaks in between binging more standard action Anime fair or after a super sad episode.  Cause we could all use a little Bananya to cheer us all up, right?  I mean ITS AN ADORABLE CAT IN A BANANA!!! WHAT MORE EXPLANATION DO YOU NEED???!!!!