Top 8 Favourite Papikas!

So like 2 weeks ago I said I had an idea that I genuinely believed I would be the first person in the world to do (and I still do) and it’s this.

In episode 7 of Flip Flappers, Cocona travels to a Pure Illusion in which she meets up with a variety of Papikas who all represent something, be it an aspect of the real Papika, or Cocona, or Papika and Cocona’s relationship, or something thematic or symbolic. They’re all pretty important and interesting in their own ways. So I decided to do this somewhat-analytical-but-mostly-just-me-telling-you-what-tropes-are-endearing-to-me post where I would rank them from my least favourite to my favourite. The real Papika is of course excluded for obvious reasons. Also, since I bought the Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray Set, I got the Memorial Booklet which namedrops all of these Papikas and dumps some random info about them in case you’re wondering where those are from. Also I don’t have a Scanner so all these pictures were gathered through illegal means if you were wondering. I think that’s all there is to say.

With that out of the way, letsago!

8. Papiya

Papiya’s described by Cocona as a “pretty boy” but according to the Memorial Booklet is actually female – thought I’d get that out of the way first. This Papika is a tomboyish, sporty Papika who, while confident and independent, appears a bit cockier than the other masculine Papikas and Cocona doesn’t seem all that fond of her, though she’s popular with both the boys and the girls in school says the Memorial Booklet. Cocona sounds pretty salty when she describes her as a pretty boy though, muttering it under her breath with a pretty angry look on her face, as if she’s annoyed that this Papika - who is also somewhat sexualised with a wet shirt and such – isn’t really like any of the others. Personally, I don’t much care for her, and it should also be noted that she has maybe the least screen time of all the Papikas anyway, so you know. Least favourite Papika.

7. Papito

Papito is an aloof schoolboy who, according to the Memorial Booklet, secretly has feelings for Cocona but is too afraid to bring them up, so just teases Cocona or gets her into trouble, alongside himself. He wants to truant and encourages Cocona to truant alongside him, even though she’s quite a studious girl usually. This is a cool way of showing that, despite how seriously Cocona appears to take school, she does value Papika more, even if this Papika isn’t her Papika. What’s interesting is that this is our first male Papika, and Cocona handles her meeting with this Papika way easier than some of the other Papikas, including the original Papika. There are a few implications this carries, perhaps Cocona’s fallen victim to societal expectations on relationships so sees a relationship with a male Papika as more “appropriate”, but maybe she isn’t flustered because he’s a boy so she may not be romantically attracted to him. Regardless of what you want to infer from this, he’s not the real Papika, so Cocona moves on from him. Personally, I don’t care much for this Papika given that I feel some of the other Papikas have more personality than him, but he’s still pretty good. Also, as will be a recurring theme down the list, this Papika is one of the more independent ones, and is not coincidentally one of the Papikas Cocona seems to like more.

6. Papia

Papia’s a WataMote reference, which I haven’t seen yet so I can’t comment much on. She seems dependant on Cocona to have fun, though, being unable to open a drawer in the FlipFlap office without Cocona opening it alongside her. I can’t really think of much to say on this Papika. She doesn’t seem to represent or symbolise any particular facet of Papika, Cocona, or their relationship, though perhaps her fondness for dark places as stated in the Memorial Booklet is foreshadowing of the various plot things she and Cocona are kept in the dark about? I don’t know, though I don’t really care much for this Papika, hence her position so low on this list.

5. Papiko

Papiko’s a bit of a weird one. Compared to the other Papikas, we spend barely any time with her at all, but she seems to need validation from Cocona, asking Cocona if she herself looks good in photos for example. She reminds Cocona of herself, and Cocona seems pretty uncomfortable around her. She also makes an ahegao face. The Memorial Booklet describes her as having something of a yandere side and wanting to be called “cute” several times a day, which isn’t quite so Cocona like. She’s not a bad Papika, though I’m more partial to some of the other, more endearing Papikas. 90% of the reason she’s this high is that her design is cute and also ahegao again.

4. Papino

Papino is an imouto version of Papika, and relies on Cocona for basically everything. Her complete inability to do basically anything without Cocona’s approval mirrors how helpless Cocona feels without Papika, and she also seems to embody Papika’s unconditional love for Cocona. Still, she’s an imouto, and the Memorial Booklet describes her as having somewhat of a yandere side, and I don’t particularly care for either of those tropes, so she’s pretty low on the list. I say “low” but it’s less that she’s low and more that I like the next few Papikas way more.

3. Papiyo

Papiyo’s a really cute and endearing Papika that, according to the Memorial Booklet, is also an intelligent rich girl and world class Karate student. Compared to the Papikas that appear before her, this one is much closer to the original Papika, engaging in bizarre indulgences such as building sand castles only to destroy them in a single punch, telling Cocona to do the same. Alas, she’s obviously not the original Papika in a visual sense, and her type of kooky craziness isn’t quite the same as the real Papika’s, so she’s turned down. Interestingly, she’s the first Papika of all these fakes to refer to Cocona by name, but she also adds the “-san” honorific. Not totally sure if that’s thematically important or anything but an interesting detail nonetheless. I like this Papika a lot though. Give her a couple more random traits and you could easily shove her into a CGDCT show where she’d maybe be best girl depending on the rest of the cast idk.

2. Papio

Papio is a JoJo’s reference delinquent version of Papika who greatly treasures friends and family and never loses in fights, says the Memorial Booklet. He seems to get along with Cocona better than the Papikas before him, and spends more time with her than the others as well, likely symbolising Cocona’s increasing acceptance of Papika for who she is, quirks and flaws included. He even gets Cocona in a swimsuit, what a hentai baka. He’s perhaps the most independent of the Papikas, and is the one Cocona appears to enjoy being with the most. Almost as if Cocona has so much admiration for him because he’s the closest to the real Papika who Cocona herself wishes she was more like because she doesn’t like how dependant she herself is. He’s good fun, and clearly embodies Papika’s recklessness and desire to just have fun and play around with Cocona, pushing her to do things she otherwise wouldn’t have done. I always enjoy the delinquent aesthetic and delinquent characters, and his goofy pompadour is super fun too, hence this Papika’s high position on this list.

1. Papina

Predictably, the most physically attractive of the Papikas we encounter in this world is at the top of this list. However, to suggest that all there is to her is an attractive figure would be completely braindead of me, since she’s the Papika who most embodies the ideas of this episode and lays most of the themes bare for us to interpret through her interactions with Cocona. First of all, it’s extremely important that this Papika is the most sexualised of the bunch, and is also obviously a girl. Because while the other sexualised Papika is also a girl, you’d only know that if you read the Memorial Booklet since both the episode itself and even Cocona seem to think she was a boy. Anyway, this Papika being a sexy girl Papika is a not-so-subtle way of telling us “hey Cocona’s a lesbian” and she even directly confronts, almost challenges Cocona about the status of their relationship. “I’ll always love you. Do you love me?” she asks. “I don’t know. Because you aren’t the Papika I know.” From everything else in this episode, we know Cocona is looking for the real Papika. All the Papikas we’ve met in this world can satisfy at least some of the needs Cocona has in a possible romantic relationship with Papika, but not all of them. It’s absolutely essential to Cocona that what she has is the real Papika. And to push the gay agenda even further, this Papika responds with “Why would you ask that?” when Cocona basically says “you love me as a friend, right?”. This Papika both showcases the real Papika’s complete, unashamed content with her own pretty apparent homosexuality and simultaneously contrasts it with Cocona struggling to accept her own pretty apparent homosexuality. It should also be noted that Cocona gets pretty uncomfortable and almost annoyed when tomboy Papika dowses herself in water (sexualises herself) meanwhile when she’s wearing lingerie in a bed with a Papika who’s caressing her shoulder and asking to do something fun, Cocona doesn’t seem to mind. Papina isn’t as close to the original Papika as some of the other Papikas on this list, but she’s still a Papika, and is thus able to help Cocona explore how she views herself, the real Papika, and their relationship with one another. Pure Illusion provides some pretty awesome story elements. Also, the Memorial Booklet describes her as a “celebrity on campus” and “mischievous and cunning” as well as “more interested in other girls than boys”, which makes sense. Good Papika. 10/10. She’s also the only other Papika on this list to refer to Cocona by name - albeit with no honorific - which is fitting for this far more intimate Papika.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah end post