Popee the Performer

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to get out of Popee the Performer before jumping into it. Looking at profile picture showing a clown with rabbit ears, wielding a machine gun and a chainsaw I knew this wasn’t going to be something ordinary. Overall I was both amused and disgusted, but mostly amused.

There isn’t any real overall story in Popee the Performer. The episodes are independent of one another other than the inclusion of certain characters that are introduced over the course of the series. Popee, Kedomono, and Papi perform various feats of magic, acrobatics, and mysticism. This ... usually results in mayhem and injury followed by bloody retribution. The humor is decidedly dark. If you are turned off by black comedy and comedic violence then you will not like this show.

As with any series that relies on collections of short comedy skits, the humor is hit and miss at times. Though I found the vast majority of the episodes to be extremely funny, some of them are pretty disturbing. While I am not really a big fan of this kind of humor, it just didn’t strike me as being downright cruel to a particular character. All of the characters are equally abused, dismembered, and blown up over the course of the story. I also found that like a fine wine, Popee should be enjoyed in small sips and I wouldn’t recommend anyone blitzing through a dozen or more episodes in one sitting.

Even though there isn’t any dialogue the characters and their thoughts come across loud and clear. Popee is fairly untalented as a performer as is frequently out done by practically everyone else in the cast. This leads to violent tantrums and jealousy. He's not likeable at all and he’s a real douchebag but that doesn’t mean he isn’t funny to watch. Kedamono is a bit more of an innocent and likeable character. His constantly changing masks that display his current emotions make him the most expressive character in the show. He is often the target of Popee's jealousy or harebrained performance ideas (which often go painfully wrong). Rounding out the cast is Papi, who shows up about halfway through the series. He is the one character I really hated. There is something disturbing about the way he looks and it got extra enjoyment at seeing him get hurt.

The art is done with CG animation and for the most part it’s good. It’s very basic looking and all the settings and backgrounds have very basic shapes. Even the characters are mostly nondescript and plain. The music is very simple as well but is fitting to the series. The major complaint would be that it is very repetitive as well. You are going to here the same 2 or 3 tracks over the course of the entire show. Another reason I recommend not watching too many episodes at one time.

I enjoyed my experience with Popee. I think. It has a number of laughs and its bizarre offbeat style really hits home. Other times it’s just so far out there I was left thinking drugs are bad. Still, I recommend it to anyone looking for something wickedly funny and don’t mind being splattered with a little blood.

This anime is an easy competitor for the most weirdest anime in the world. I'm sure that the logic of 90's CGI couldn't afford more than creepy animation models that should be worthy of a golden ham award and more entertainment than a slab of rye.
So the plot is simple, our protagonist is a rabbit clown that is a big jerk to his pet wolf. Then he goes on a psychotic rampage in order to kill him, and more nonsensical violence, bad sound effects and inside-out faces for some reason, it's like where playing a PS1 game that is literally out of control. But it ... can't be bad enough that the DVD of the series was turned intro a mass of alien shagging of course.

What the hell can I say about this show? It’s really weird! There is really no talking during the show and so hard to understand exactly what is going on in any of the episodes. All I gather is that Popee is a performer who ends up dieing or being tortured at the end of every episode and his dog laughs about it or ends up tortured as well. It makes me wonder just why it’s for little children.

The animation is rather rough. It looks slightly stiff and a couple times the movement doesn’t even have fluid movement. Many of the faces that are ... used look like they would be better in a horror show rather then a kids show. There are times they actually squash and stretch the CG animation to when the textures look really bad.

There are no voices, but there is a really odd music that sounds even creepier then the show. It has a bit of an Indonesian feel but you can’t really pick out the words very easy when it’s playing. (Well, I can say it is in Japanese so that might be part of it.)

In the end, I really didn’t like this show and just felt it boring with more what the fuck moments then I could care to sit through again.