Archive for February 7th, 2008

Japanese Prank Shows

japanesepolicedoll

Ello there Peeps.

Growing up one of my favourite things to do was watch Leon Schuster doing his candid camera skits and generally making an absolute fool of perfect strangers. Of course candid camera and prank camera shows have been around for ages. Whether you live in the US or even Japan, we all have our own versions and candid celebs.
As always I’m obsessed with the whole Japan thing, probably because they do everything with an extra pinch of wtf and “hows-did-they-not-get-sued”.

NEVER get caught on a Japanese prank show…they show no mercy, no matter who you are or where you come from, unless you work for the yakuza or the government that is.
I’ve seen shows where unless you answer a series of questions correctly, your partner gets shot out into a canyon with firework rockets blasting from your feet, not to mention that in most cases the hapless flying fellow also loses his undiesquite a sight, and totally hilarious.
Another gag which I love is when they scare the living hell out of people by bursting suddenly out of TV screens,walls,floors…well,basically anything you can squeeze somebody into. The funny thing is it’s not just young fit-of-heart people that they scare but old people who can barely walk…ok a gag is a gag but the sheer terror in their eyes is just sometimes beyond belief.

In the video I’ve attached, there’s a priceless Japanese prank where they go to the mountains in winter and eject people into the snow with nothing but a miniature towel. The idea is to get them into what they think is a luxurious day spa with tea and comfy chairs and just when they get settled, blast them backwards through a fake wall into the freezing snowok that is bloody funny, but man, I think I’d kill them with my bare hands afterwards. If you watch the entire video, you see people getting blaster through the wall on their lazy boy chairs whilst leaving a trail of sparks and smoke…ok I’d pay good money to see that for real, but can you say HECTIC.

I hope you enjoy the clip.
Peace out…and beware :P

PS: The pic I used is actually a Japanese Police Doll…thought it was appropriate for demonstrating more of their insanity…lets scare kids.

Magic Potion Umbrella Man Design

tshirt5

Hi there G’s & G’s

Todays Tshirt of the Day is one cute lil customer. I associate this type of cartoon design with the good ol’ days of Disney and of course the “new foundmagic of the Japanese with its limitless imagination.
This shirt won’t appeal to the tough guys or people with no sense of humour…but hey it’s their loss and our gain. Check out the very spiffy Magic Potion design: Umbrella Man.

Umbrella Man tugs on all the old school memories from when we were kids, remember Beauty & the Beast? , remember all those little animated characters with their rich personalities and boundless energy?
This is exactly the kind of magic that Disney lost and what recent anime (and some not so recent) has managed to maintain.
A few years back, an absolutely beautiful story called Spirited Away was released from the uber anime group called
StudioGhibli (directed by Miyazaki…an absolute legend).
The movie has every element of making it a true animated classic and already it’s well on its way to becoming exactly that.
Animated
creatures are also a big part of this cartoon and our little Umbrella Man reminds me so much of a enchanted lamp post that helps lead our heroes through a dark swamp.

Children of course identify with these enchanted characters a bit better than most adults, but there are a few of us who still harbour all the wonder we used to enjoy in these cartoons.
I think it’s important for us to never lose these feelings as they keep us young and expand our imagination beyond the barriers of normality.

I’ve attached a Youtube clip of Spirited Away just in case some of you are interested.

Chowz for nowz.
Dunc.