Created in 2001 by cgi animation director, Ryuji Matsuda, and his wife Wakado Matsuda, Popee The Performer is a kids' anime consisting of 39 short episodes, that narrates the comedic adventures of the performers at Wolf Circus.
The main star of the show, Popee an apprentice clown, is not without flaws. He's short tempered and wouldn't think twice about throwing his assistant under the bus, Kedamono for his own benefit. Kedamono himself is a purple wolf and assistant to Popee. He uses masks to express his emotions and is the most caring of them all. Finally, we have Papi who pops up later in the series. He's the senior clown and father of Popee. He genuinely cares for both Popee and Kedamono, and wants them to both improve their clowning performances.
Popee, Kedamono and Papi
When people think of anime, what do they think of? Cute girls? Teenagers with attitude? Giant robots? Ninjas? Samurais? A certain visual aesthetic? Sorry to my fellow anime fans on Steemit, but you have barely scratched the surface of what anime is, and what it can be.
Popee the Performer may look like your average kids' anime at first glance. Technically, it is, considering it aired on Kids Station, a Japanese TV channel back in 2001. But I can assure you it is not. Maybe Japanese kids watched it and thought it was fine. Or possibly, they didn't quite understand what they were viewing, but the surprising amount of violence that our characters endure, ESPECIALLY Kedamono is most definitely not kid's material. It is the Japanese version of Itchy and Scratchy, the TV show for "kids" in the world of The Simpsons.
Even with all the violence, Popee the Performer never fails to make me laugh. On the contrary, the morbid humour that this show carries for its entire run is exactly the kind I crave. The episodes are cleverly written and never felt like they were being ironic on purpose, unlike some other cartoons today.
Despite its short run and small cast, this anime will take you places. It will make you re-think about life, death, tragedy, happiness, sadness, loneliness, anger, jealousy and a vast array of other human emotions. It is fair to say that not all episodes land, but when they do land, there's a immediate sense of satisfaction from getting the gist of the joke, no matter how morbid or just plain weird it can be.
The audio tracks while not much all serve the anime surprisingly well. Without the well timed soundtracks and the accompanying music, the show just wouldn't be what it is. And who can forget the catchy theme song that plays at the end of every episode?
It may seem that I'm recommending some series that no one heard of, but I'm not alone. Originally, the show was already a cult hit among the Japanese for years but it wasn't till YouTuber MrFalconPunch's video, who I'm also a fan of, that the show started gaining traction. Nowadays we are seeing new people getting into the series for the first time. It has its own wiki and constant fanarts which are signs of a healthy anime fanbase. In addition, there is also a manga by Wakado Matsuda which looks cute, although without English translations.
I've managed to say as little as I can about Popee, because I want people to discover this show on their own. Therefore, now is the time for you to try this series out for yourself. You may or may not like it, but all I can say is that it is definitely anime, and also one of my favourites.
