40. The visual novel featured a dance in its opening that became an Internet phenomenon. The dance features Mai and Mii swinging their hips sideways while holding their hands near the sides of their heads and flapping them, as if making a "goodbye" motion representing cat ears Internet users set the dance to a sped-up chorus of the song Caramelldansen by Caramell. The scene's popularity helped the Popotan franchise and Caramell attain a cult following. The dance is performed by individuals (especially in Japan) at anime conventions, and in advertising, video games and other unrelated anime. The popularity of Popotan in Japan brought Haruko Momoi and her band Under17 to prominence. Anime The first English Popotan DVD met mixed reviews in the United States. Anime Jump gave it 1½ stars, stating that beyond the pretty pictures, "it is created specifically to sell DVDs, tiny figurines, and other merchandise to introverted adult men." DVDtalk gave it a final rating of "recommended" and only criticized the bonus content. The reviewer remarked that the first disc "[...]was full of surprises for even a jaded old reviewer like myself." Anime News Network held mixed attitudes towards the second DVD, citing certain characters and the level of nudity. Its reviewers praised Popotans storyline, considering it especially complex for a video game-based anime. Popotan has proven notoriously difficult for English reviewers to categorize, leading several to praise its multi-genre style and appeal. Critics who reviewed only the first DVD gave the series more negative marks than those who reviewed it in full. Of the latter, Allmovie gave Popotan 4/5 stars and DVDtalk awarded it "recommended" status, citing the first two discs. Examining the Sentai Filmworks re-release, Theron Martin concurred that the anime improved towards the end despite rushed plot development. He gave the series low marks overall, feeling its quality varied wildly each episode. The level of nudity and its importance to the storyline have been widely debated. John Oppliger of Anime Nation feels explicit nudity ruined the Popotan anime, overshadowing its character depth and complex storyline. Anime News Network and Mania agreed that it was excessive; one reviewer from the former likened it to "kiddie porn" and another attributed its re-release to demand for nudity. DVDtalk's reviewers were mixed; one claimed the nude scenes were out-of-place, and another considered them appropriate. Both considered the overall use of nudity to be "minor". Critics have generally praised