These plushies rock! | Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi Rock Out Plushies Review

I barely have any childhood memories of Puffy AmiYumi, but the only thing I remember was the CN logo after the end credits (it will show up in Japanese then switch to the regular CN logo). I was in high school, and I was watching old Cartoon Network promos. And PAY was in the collection of promos. I was like, “do I remember this show?”. So, I watched the first episode. And immediately loved it. I searched for any merch out there and discovered the Rock Out Ami plush. 

I haven’t watched the rest of PAY, but I plan to start over and get a refresher on previous episodes I’ve seen since I haven’t watched it for years after high school. I’ll start watching it after I finish up Code Lyoko. If you don’t know this show, I’ll give you a brief summary: this cartoon series is based on a real Japanese duo called PUFFY. They sang the theme song to Teen Titans & TT GO. I guess the only thing I remember is that they go on crazy adventures with their band manager, Kaz on a tour bus. Despite only lasting 39 episodes, this series had merch, video games, the girls had walk-around mascot costumes (look it up! ^_^), and even appeared in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. HHPAY is a bit obscure, but there are people out there who remember the show. Yumi has appeared as a cameo in OK K.O. and I’m not sure if this will happen, but the duo (with their original voice roles returning) is supposed to appear in an upcoming Jellystone (haven’t seen the show much) special with all the CN characters of the past, if that’s true coming from someone on Twitter.

Anyways, I still remembered the Rock Out Ami plush years later… so I searched on eBay last week… and there she was along with Yumi. 

Wow. These 2 might be the best plushies I own. I sadly had to do an impulse buy before they were gone due to my anxiety! These are hard to find, and someone online said that these were never released in the US, but rather in the UK; the person brought these plushies at a con and they attracted some people.

Both Ami & Yumi play the HHPAY theme song, but they have differences: the second song that they play is different (Ami plays "Friends Forever" and Yumi plays "Planet Tokyo") and each of them have different phrases. I’m not sure if the songs (except the theme) appear in the show (UPDATE: After watching all of the episodes from 11/3-11/6, I can confirm that both Planet Tokyo and Friends Forever do appear in the show).

The quality of the plushies is really good! Well, about the material for the hair, the eBay seller that I got these plushies from said that the hair from Ami was breaking/coming loose due to age (these came out in 2005). Not a fan of that material, but I get why they used it as Ami & Yumi have shine in their hair, and I guess they’re trying to replicate it with that material. 

The plushies even have their original VAs. Hopefully, they’re not imitators (gosh, I’m thinking about the Twilight Sparkle toys that don’t even sound like Strong).

When you push the left hand up, it’s in concert/rock out mode. Sometimes, Ami/Yumi will screw up. That’s why you need to go to practice mode by pushing the hand down. After 4 tries or more, go back to concert mode and rock out!!!

(plushies in try-me mode!)

While Yumi works fine, Ami… has a bit of trouble (noticeable in try-me mode). While she moves her arm on the guitar backwards and bobs her head up and down fine, the part where she’s supposed to move her hand and bobs her head intensely like Yumi won’t move. It could be due to age of the motor or an electronic part getting fried (not a battery issue as I replaced the old batteries)… but it doesn’t bother me much. I don’t want to take her apart and repair her, as I don’t want to mess her up.

Yumi’s phrases had me laughing a bit: she’ll say baby in her sentences (she only says it in 2 phrases), when left idle, she’ll be like, “5, 6, 7, 8… (I forgot the rest!)”, when she screws up, she makes a comment about stepping on a cat, and my favorite, “…ENCORE! ENCORE!”. She has a lotta energy and I love it.

I want to show off the packaging because it’s awesome! If you get both Ami & Yumi, it’s supposed to make a picture when the boxes are put together (except the back). They do look cool in the box, but I’m not keeping it.

(an error: Yumi doesn’t say anything about a big show, only Ami does. Also, notice that they have decals on their guitars; probably a prototype or it was supposed to come with stickers originally?).

If you like HHPAY, good luck finding these because the duo will cost you a lot due to their rarity. Just note that their motors may/may not work! Hopefully I can try to fix Ami (she 98% works), but, I’ll still play with her. 

Also, be careful with using these on a desk because when I played with Yumi and she was moving, she almost fell on the corner of my desk. I had to hold her by her boots.

And as a bonus, I got their cool cats! The markers surprisingly still work, but I’m not using it. The info for these cats said they’re supposed to have lenticular eyes, but they don’t.

Anyways, I’m gonna rock outta here. See ya! 🎸🩷💙

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Instructions (for archival):

Rock Out Ami/Yumi:

Doodle Cats: