「KNIFE THROWER」(ナイフ投げ, Naifu nage) is the 4th episode overall, and the 4th episode of season 1.
Summary[]
After catching Kedamono sneaking around to practice knife throwing, Popee forces him to practice...as his target.
Characters[]
Plot[]
The episode begins with Popee walking through the Zirkus eating an apple. As he walks, he spots Kedamono with a bunch of knives. Popee sneaks behind a tent to watch Kedamono, who begins throwing the knives at a chalk drawing of a person. The knives surround the chalk figure on the board until the outside falls away, leaving a silhouette very similar to Popee's, complete with bunny ears. Popee looks disturbed at the sight. Kedamono, however, giggles and throws another knife, landing square in the chest of the figurine. Popee drops his apple in shock and it rolls over to where Kedamono stands, bumping the back of his leg. Kedamono picks up the apple and attempts to take a bite, but Popee snatches it out of his hand before he can get his mouth around it. Upon seeing Popee, Kedamono's mask falls away to one of utter panic. Popee wraps an arm around Kedamono and places the apple on his head.
The scene then cuts to Kedamono being restrained to a wall by his wrists, the apple still on top of his head, which he shakes in fear. Popee throws a knife into the air and catches it, then proceeds to throw it at another chalk figurine. The knife lands in the center of the face rather than the apple drawn over the figure's head. Popee repeatedly attempts to hit the drawn apple, but fails so many times that the head of the figure falls off of the drawing. Kedamono's disturbed mask falls away to a tearful one of absolute panic. Popee thinks for a moment, then draws a face onto the apple itself and scribbles out Kedamono's mask, hoping that this way, he'll hit the apple's "face" and not Kedamono's. Once again, Popee throws a knife into the air before tossing it confidently at Kedamono. It connects directly with the center of his (mask) face, killing him instantly. The apple rolls away and Popee watches on in disbelief, covering his head and hunching over.
Lights come down from the sky as Kedamono's soul exits his body, sprouting angel wings and a halo. He looks happy as he flies towards the heavens, waving down at an awestruck Popee. Popee watches on for a moment before pulling a chicken leg from his bag. Kedamono's soul flies back immediately with comic speed, predictably panting over the chicken leg. Popee uses this to his advantage and captures Kedamono's soul, laughing. He continues his knife practice, this time with Kedamono's soul, once again landing the knife in the center of his face. Popee appears greatly frustrated, pressing his palms to his ears and kicking at the ground, until the angel Kedamono's own soul begins to exit as well, leaving behind an ashy husk in Kedamono's shape. This begins a loop of Popee killing Keda, luring his soul back down with chicken, capturing it, and repeating.
Ashen Kedamono-shaped husks line the walls of Wolf Zirkus. Popee appears exhausted, having over practiced. His face is ashy and sunken in with exhaustion. Despite being clearly beyond the point of functioning, Popee looks determined, lining up his shot once more as his vision swims. He rubs his eyes and throws the knife, but it hits the truck Keda's soul is restrained to and bounces back at him, impaling his forehead. Popee's own soul then emerges. He grabs his halo and throws it to the ground in frustration, attempting to step on it but missing wildly. He presses his palms to his ears and shakes his head in aggravation before attempting to throw the knife once more, beginning a new loop of stabbing his own soul as the camera pans out and the episode concludes.
Trivia[]
- In the last few second of the episode, a sound effect is played of Popee's ghost throwing down his glass halo and stepping on it repeatedly. However, as the shot zooms out, you can see it is several feet away from him on the ground, and his feet aren't even touching it,
- As the screen zooms out at the end of the episode, one of the Kedamono angels has Kedamono's normal colors, despite still sporting the halo and wings.
- This episode was voted as the 2nd favorite by fans, and was shown as part of the Popee the Performer Countdown Special. It's featured on the POPEE the MANIAX boxset along with the other top 10 episodes.