Misplaced Face is the first segment of the twelfth episode of the television show Pucca. It first aired on December 18, 2006.
Synopsis[]
Showing off has caused Abyo to literally lose his face, forcing Ching and Pucca to track it down.
Plot[]
In Chang's Dojo, the young martial artists are going through the basics but Abyo becomes bored and wants to proceed to "showing off" which he demonstrates with several fancy maneuvers. Chang warns him that this will only lead to embarrassment and makes one "lose face" but Abyo pays no heed to this. Instead, he changes into a yellow jumpsuit and takes to the streets of Sooga, impressing a large crowd with his incredible capabilities.
However, this comes to an end when, in his egocentric bravado, he tries to do his usual shirt rip. Being in a one piece, he rips his clothes completely off, revealing his heart patterned underwear to everyone (or in the uncut version he is completely nude with a black bar to use as censorship). Laughter erupts and Abyo blushes with shame before his face literally peels off of his face by wind, to the horror of everyone but Ching and Pucca. Chang arrives, reminding them of his earlier words over “losing face". As Abyo’s body tries to locate his missing face, the Cat Clan pick it up and run off to the annoyance of Ching. She grabs the body and with Pucca along, takes off in pursuit.
Abyo’s face is not happy being used as a chew toy by the cats who become distracted by Yani and leave him on a bench. He then ends up under Santa who stops to feed the birds, hiding him from the ninja girls who call his name. He manages to scream loud enough to be heard from under Santa but this turns the birds against them both, lifting his face free and into the air. Ching spies them but first must save his body as it mindlessly falls into all kinds of trouble.
The birds lift Abyo’s face up to Master Soo's Palace where the maidens are relaxing. As the master offers them ice cream, the birds drop Abyo’s face onto one of the girls which horrifies Soo, leading him to magic it away just as Ching, Pucca, and Faceless Abyo arrive to get it back. Ching, frustrated and embarrassed by Abyo’s underdressed form, suggests them get him some clothes before continuing the hunt.
Back on earth, Garu is meditating in a field while Tobe watches, trying to devise a way to attack him in such an open setting. Abyo’s face falls upon him and, seeing it as a mask, Tobe puts it on and calls out to Garu. Abyo tries to warn him off but Tobe keeps him quiet and calls Garu over while pretending to be his missing friend. Nearby, the girls have clothed Abyo’s body and are trying to paint him a new face with no luck. They happen upon the scene of Tobe with Abyo’s face and Pucca, realizing he intends to harm Garu in disguise, rushes over to interfere. She knocks the face right off of Tobe and it returns to Abyo, much to his delight. Except for one issue: Abyo has his face but it’s upside down!
Ching is concerned but rather than being upset, she spins her own head around so that they can match. Pucca is still chasing the rescued Garu around in the background while the flip-side ninjas share a mutual kiss.
Characters[]
Protagonist Characters[]
Antagonist Characters[]
- Tobe
- Tobe's ninjas (background only)
Supporting Characters[]
Minor Characters[]
Background Characters[]
- Ssoso
- The Vagabond Ninja Clan
- People
- Goblins (Smiley People)
- Uncle Dumpling, Ho and Linguini
- Doga
- Cat Clan
- Yani
Quotes[]
Ching: (to faceless Abyo, who's about to walk into a rake) Abyo, look out! Don't step on the rake! (He walks over to some broken glass) Watch out for that pile of broken glass! (He walks over to some barbed wire) And the barbed wire! And the... (An elephant runs him over) elephant.
Trivia[]
- "To lose face" means "to be humiliated." In this segment, this idiom is used literally as Abyo literally lost his face after humiliating himself in front of a large crowd.
- In the episode, Abyo puts on a yellow and black jumpsuit. This is most likely a homage to the yellow and black jumpsuit Bruce Lee wore in Game of Death, coincidentally of whom Abyo shares a physical resemblance to.
Censorship[]
This episode has alternate versions due to a couple of explicit scenes of Abyo being naked:
- In the original airing, when Abyo rips his clothes off, the shine covers his privates for less than a second. In the next scene, when he lands, his butt is shown up close (the part where Abyo's butt upclose was cut from Disney Channel). Abyo sees himself naked, except his privates are covered with a censor bar. After that, when Pucca runs after Ching, who is carrying Abyo, the censor bar accidentally hits Pucca in the face. As she swats it off, she makes a grossed out face and says "Bleh!" in disgust.
- On Jetix, when Abyo rips his clothes off, he is wearing his pale blue underwear (with a single heart printed at the back), so the shine only covers part of his underwear. Also, when he lands, the back of his underwear is also shown upclose. Plus, when Ching runs off with Abyo, and Pucca runs after her, the sound the censor bar made when it hit Pucca in the face is heard, so right after Pucca runs, it quickly cuts to the next scene.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
