Bananya Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Bananya Blu-ray Movie Review

Bananya (also known as Bananya – The kitty who lives in a banana) is an adorable and charming anime series. The animation is produced by Gathering (Bananya and the Curious Bunch, Tono to Issho). The series was originally broadcast on Japanese television on Sun TV and Television Saitama Co., Ltd.

Featuring a charming production aesthetic, Bananya is a family-oriented series streaming on Crunchyroll and Tubi TV. Licensed and distributed on home media by Discotek Media, Bananya is produced by the chief creative director Kyō Yatate. The theme music is performed by Yuuki Kaji.

Bananya (Yuuki Kaji) isn’t just an ordinary banana peel – that’s right, Bananya is actually a cute-as-a-button adorable- sweet-fun kitty-cat cutie! The kitty-cat is dressed in a sweet-as-pie banana peel, hopping around with glee and a giant smile! The little kitty loves meowing with their banana!

An adorably sweet kitty wearing a banana peel, the adventures of the cat are full of purr-fect fun and adventures. Bananya has big ambitions, too. Becoming a chocolate dipped banana sounds like some good choc-full fun. Bananya wants to purr it up and brings the meows to the party!

Bananya is joined by some other feline friends on a series of purr-fect adventures (bouncing all around). Ayumu Murase provides the charming voices of Baby Bananya, Bananya Bunch, Bananyako, Mackeral Bananya, and Tabby Bananya. Yuuki Kaji provides the meow-ific voices as Black Bananya, Calico Bananya, Daddy Bananya, and Long-haired Bananya.

The series has adorable and colorful animation. The series animation is overseen by animation director Jun Mita (Mobile Suit Gundam- san, Okoshiyasu, Chitose-chan). The animation is vibrant and the nice aesthetic provides a charming gateway to smiles for audiences of all ages. The series is beautifully animated and the team of animators involved on the production provided their A-game to the production. The series also features superb cinematography by Kōichi Yokojin.

Written, storyboarded, and directed by Kyō Yatate (Bananya, Bananya and the Curious Bunch), Bananya is a wonderful family-friendly anime with plenty of charming characters. The series is adorable in all respects and the production relies heavily on the “cute-factor” of the series. Director Kyō Yatate is talented at making a kitty-cat series with lots of cute animation and fans of kawaii series will find the production a worthwhile one.

Bananya Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray from Discotek Media, Bananya is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The series has an impressive high-definition presentation. The animation is bright and colorful on the release. The cinematography is well-reproduced. The aesthetic is sleek and modern looking. The encoding is excellent and is free from any egregious compression woes. A strong high-definition encode by distributor Discotek Media.

Bananya Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo and Japanese uncompressed PCM 2.0 (with English subtitles). The series features nice sound direction by Nobuyuki Abe and sound effects by Emi Takanashi. The encoding on the release is excellent. An impressive lossless encode that capably handles the score and sound effects. The Japanese audio presentation is my preferred version (as a purist and fan of the Japanese version of the series) but for those with families and who might wish to share the series with others, those viewers may prefer the English dub option.

Bananya Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release comes with a nicely designed o-card slipcover.

On disc:

Friends of Bananya Charity Gallery (HD, 1:40)

Bananya Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bananya – The kitty who lives in a banana is a cute a charming anime series. The series is full of bright and colorful animation. The series explores the fun cat-tastic adventures of Bananya and other feline friends. The journey of a kitty-cat in a banana is one that audiences will find full of charm. With nice animation and an enjoyable score, Bananya is a series well worth seeing. The Blu-ray release has an impressive video and audio presentation. The release comes with a nice o-card slipcover as well. Recommended.