Netflix’s Major Edits to Pop Team Epic Are Stirring Debate Online

Netflix is slowly but surely taking up space in the anime industry. The international streaming service is not only taking on live-action anime adaptations but the original medium itself. Over the years, several original anime projects have aired on Netflix, and many more have been licensed. But as fans will tell you, they are none to happy about the site’s changes to a rather wacky show known as Pop Team Epic.

Recently, Netflix did confirm it has added the cult comedy to its catalog. Pop Team Epic‘s crude humor and outlandish stories have made it a favorite with fans. As you can expect, many were happy to know Netflix would be streaming the show, but Netflix has shortened each episode by nearly 11 minutes.

Which if you do the math, that’s half the episode. Now do you get the outrage?

The edit was first noticed by fans online, and users like Snivy_Ian hit up Reddit to share their frustration. When you look at Netflix’s catalog, each episode of Pop Team Epic is no longer than 12 minutes. However, the original episode runtimes often went to 23 minutes upon their original broadcast. This is because the episodes second halves retell the same story but with different voice actors or jokes. This may be why Netflix felt the full episodes were not worth it, but episodes like the finale actually contain plot content in their latter half.

For now, Pop Team Epic fans can only reach out to Netflix for an update on this cut. If they are lucky, the episodes will be restored in full or released a special second season. And if there is no change, well – you can check out all of Pop Team Epic on Crunchyroll now.

What do you think about this surprising edit? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

For those unfamiliar with Pop Team Epic, it’s taken the Internet by storm over the last few years. Originally created by Bkub Okawa for Takeshobo’s Manga Life Win website, this webcomic has made waves for pairing its central 14 year old girls in completely wild circumstances. Profanity, pop culture references, and parodies abound in this series that’s both become a popular meme and an even more popular anime series.