Five years ago, a tiny stop-motion anime about guinea pigs that were also cars pulled the internet into a collective squeal of joy. Now, PUI PUI Molcar is marking its 5th anniversary with an all-new special — and the news that fans have been waiting for: original creator and director Tomoki Misato (見里朝希) is returning to the director’s chair for the first time since Season 1 aired in early 2021.
Choco’s Birthday Kicks Off the Celebrations
The anniversary special was announced on August 10, 2026 — the in-universe birthday of Choco, the beloved chocolate-brown Molcar. The official teaser visual dropped on the same day, showing Choco peeking over a birthday cake adorned with the series logo and a sparkler — a neat meta-wink from the production team. No air date has been announced yet, but the teaser confirms that Shinei Animation is once again handling production.
Misato’s involvement is the headline. After Season 1’s viral moment — every episode clocking in at around five minutes, each one somehow more chaotic and adorable than the last — subsequent Molcar content expanded the universe but stepped away from Misato’s direct creative hand. The anniversary special brings that full-circle: the franchise’s most recognisable voice is back where it started.
What We Know So Far
Details are deliberately slim at this stage — the teaser is more of a mood piece than a plot reveal — but here’s what’s confirmed:
- Format: Anniversary special (episode count TBC)
- Director: Tomoki Misato, returning after Season 1 (2021)
- Studio: Shinei Animation
- Central character: Choco, whose canon birthday is August 10
- Air date: Not yet announced
Five Years of Pui Pui
PUI PUI Molcar first aired in January 2021 and immediately became one of those rare anime that transcends its target demographic. The show’s absurdist traffic-jam humour, Claymation-adjacent aesthetic, and genuinely expressive guinea-pig-car cast made it a staple of social media clip culture well beyond Japan. Singapore fans will likely remember the series landing on Netflix shortly after its Japanese broadcast, which is how many of us here first encountered the chaos of Shiromo, Potato, Choco, and the rest of the gang.
An air date and broadcast platform for the anniversary special haven’t been confirmed yet. We’ll update this post the moment official details land. In the meantime, the official YouTube channel is your best bet for teasers — and yes, it’s worth keeping notifications on.