Ryoko Yonekura returns as Doctor X for third season
Forget the stuff about wearing a mini-skirt under her lab coat. That special "after 5" contract means this show is about as realistic as Harry Potter, MD. It's nice to watch a TV series where characters can do fanciful things like that, as unthinkable in your own life as breathing underwater, casting spells, climbing Mt. Everest or living in a golden palace on the surface of the sun.
Showing posts with label Japanese television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese television. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Well, we like her at our house: Rola changing DNA of Japanese pop culture
Rola changing DNA of Japanese pop culture
Having married a Japanese woman, I get a big dose of Japanese TV almost daily. Japanese TV is largely crap. The culture snob in all of us might sniff, "Well, so is all of TV, no matter the country of origin. All mass culture is crap." But Japanese TV is REALLY crap, by just about any standard. Even my wife thinks so, although she enjoys the game shows where celebrities try to figure out the correct kanji before a giant computer graphic ape out of a video game throws bees at them or whatever the hell is happening.
We also both get a big charge out of Itte Q and another show staring Seiji, a big, affable galoot of a guy in loud clothes who drags his roller suitcase all over Africa looking for lone Japanese living in small towns and villages there. I have no quarrel with J-Dramas, either. Or anime. Or the show with the old guy in overalls walking his cute dog around town meeting ordinary people.
What I can't bear, however, are the endless shows about people going to restaurants, or the endless shows where people sit around on a brightly decorated stage and sample ordinary Japanese dishes. Or the shows where celebrities watch videos of other celebrities going to restaurants. Or the shows that just seem to be a group of celebrities shouting at each other while watching videos of other celebrities going to restaurants. Or shows about restaurants.
Many of these shows feature Rola. Rola has a nasal voice that sounds as if she could shatter glass, but just as that article I lined to points out, she has a "carefree" charm. We know to always bet against her in any guessing game, but there's just something appealing about her lack of pretentiousness. Which is the opposite of me, a creature composed largely of pretentions and mistaken assumptions. Granted, I know nothing of the real Rola, but if she has a talent beyond being approachably pretty, it's projecting an honest, open demeanor. Certainly, there's a cloying quality about her, too, but it's largely overshadowed by that apparent honesty. You feel with Rola you're getting a genuine person, beyond the trademark poses and pouts.
Which is to say, if you must air a show where celebrities watch video of other celebrities going to restaurants or talking about food (and if you're a Japanese broadcaster, you absolutely must or suffer the consequences), you could do a lot worse than to add Rola to your cast. And yes, she's pretty much everywhere these days, so you just have to get used to her and not worry so much about all-Rola, all the time. I'm pretty sure she's not losing any sleep over it, except for when she's working, which must be all the time. You know what I mean, though, right?
Having married a Japanese woman, I get a big dose of Japanese TV almost daily. Japanese TV is largely crap. The culture snob in all of us might sniff, "Well, so is all of TV, no matter the country of origin. All mass culture is crap." But Japanese TV is REALLY crap, by just about any standard. Even my wife thinks so, although she enjoys the game shows where celebrities try to figure out the correct kanji before a giant computer graphic ape out of a video game throws bees at them or whatever the hell is happening.
We also both get a big charge out of Itte Q and another show staring Seiji, a big, affable galoot of a guy in loud clothes who drags his roller suitcase all over Africa looking for lone Japanese living in small towns and villages there. I have no quarrel with J-Dramas, either. Or anime. Or the show with the old guy in overalls walking his cute dog around town meeting ordinary people.
What I can't bear, however, are the endless shows about people going to restaurants, or the endless shows where people sit around on a brightly decorated stage and sample ordinary Japanese dishes. Or the shows where celebrities watch videos of other celebrities going to restaurants. Or the shows that just seem to be a group of celebrities shouting at each other while watching videos of other celebrities going to restaurants. Or shows about restaurants.
Many of these shows feature Rola. Rola has a nasal voice that sounds as if she could shatter glass, but just as that article I lined to points out, she has a "carefree" charm. We know to always bet against her in any guessing game, but there's just something appealing about her lack of pretentiousness. Which is the opposite of me, a creature composed largely of pretentions and mistaken assumptions. Granted, I know nothing of the real Rola, but if she has a talent beyond being approachably pretty, it's projecting an honest, open demeanor. Certainly, there's a cloying quality about her, too, but it's largely overshadowed by that apparent honesty. You feel with Rola you're getting a genuine person, beyond the trademark poses and pouts.
Which is to say, if you must air a show where celebrities watch video of other celebrities going to restaurants or talking about food (and if you're a Japanese broadcaster, you absolutely must or suffer the consequences), you could do a lot worse than to add Rola to your cast. And yes, she's pretty much everywhere these days, so you just have to get used to her and not worry so much about all-Rola, all the time. I'm pretty sure she's not losing any sleep over it, except for when she's working, which must be all the time. You know what I mean, though, right?
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Animal Hunter Imoto meets Tarzan: my imperfect recollection of last night's show!
Last summer, I discovered Animal Hunter Imoto. A little late, I know. A person appearing to be a rather plain high school girl with thick eyebrows and bad teeth dared a cave full of bats and another packed with snakes (the latter none too well despite a hypno-therapy session to curb her fears), then dove into a river in South America to fish by hand. She also had an artist working in the medium of chewing gum produce her portrait. The best part was when she donned the garb of the Guardian Angels group and attempted to break up a fight outside a Los Angeles nightclub. One punch in the face later and she declared it too dangerous to continue. I found it hilarious even though I could only understand a fraction of what she was yelling.
Then I forgot about her for a while.
This past weekend, my wife and I had some rare time off and noticed a commercial for Sunday night's Animal Hunter Imoto segment. Ayako Imoto in Africa. Trying to ride a tiger. This proved irresistible to us both, so we tuned in at 8pm and gave it a watch. We were not disappointed. Let me try to recap Imoto's antics through the filter of my faltering memory.
First, she dressed like a rocket ship and launched herself off a mountain. She was attached by harness and pully to a rope which I believe they said was more than 2 kilometers long. The speeds she attained seemed tremendous, with Imoto becoming nothing more than a black streak through the sky. The announcer seemed concerned about a dangerous landing, but the show hilariously cheated with a jump cut to a perfectly safe, grounded Imoto cheerfully shouting something which I couldn't catch, much to the delight of the celebrities watching the segment in the TV studio.
After that, Imoto took a luxury train across the countryside. She enjoyed a very hot bath with the train's rocking motion spilling quite a bit of water all over the bathroom and then took a nap on what looked like a very comfortable bed. The people eating in the dining car gave her the stink eye as she entered and gave a running commentary all the way to her table. Then disaster struck as she shattered her front teeth on what looked like a chicken wing on a stick. Snaggletoothed, she complained for a bit, then the show cut to Imoto visiting a general store where she tried to buy glue to repair her teeth.
The store didn't have any, but by that time Imoto was entranced with trying to win a prize in one of those claw-arm games and had apparently forgotten all about her dental troubles.
Cut to a hilltop golf tee high above a beautiful valley containing a single green. You pay 50,000 yen and take your whack in the hopes of a 100,000,000 yen payoff for a hole-in-one. One of the golf pros demonstrated and put his ball in the rough just off the green, an easy chip shot to the hole. Another said he once got within 2 meters of the pin, but his shot went out of bounds, and Imoto loudly registered her dismay. They then told Imoto she had a 1-in-10,000 chance of making a hole in one on this hole and, after a few practice swings, she took a mighty stroke and sliced so badly they didn't even bother to show where her ball landed.
By now, Imoto's teeth were repaired and she was ready for a trip to a small jungle where she met a muscular young man who lives the Tarzan lifestyle. Imoto sussed out he does this 5 days a week, with 2 reserved for working as a house painter with his father. Even Tarzan has to make car payments, it seems. Imoto found this hilarious. Then she dressed like a female Tarzan and her new friend drove them both to a wild animal park where they talked her into trying to ride a full-grown tiger. It didn't go well, and the tiger quickly became irritated with the whole set-up. The keepers told Imoto usually the big cat was quite docile, but for some reason she really seemed to piss it off. Cut to Tarzan driving them both back to the jungle.
There, on what Imoto revealed to be Christmas Day, Tarzan showed her how to dig for insects. He caught a large black scorpion and chopped off its stinger, rendering it harmless enough to eat. Tarzan and Imoto put it in a white plastic bag, the kind you get at convenience stores here in Japan. She dug up a worm and declared it her "Christmas present." Then Tarzan attempted to show Imoto how to fish with a spear, but her teeth broke again. They spent the rest of the day on their knees with the film crew searching the pond-side for the missing teeth. The show rolled some video outtakes of a broken-tooth Imoto trying to introduce a segment but finding it impossible to enunciate sa, si, su, se, so. She cried.
Cut to a night scene with both Tarzan and Imoto by the fireside roasting their insects. Imoto had difficulty eating her crisp scorpion using just her molars and she wished Tarzan a glum, "Merry Christmas."
Then I forgot about her for a while.
This past weekend, my wife and I had some rare time off and noticed a commercial for Sunday night's Animal Hunter Imoto segment. Ayako Imoto in Africa. Trying to ride a tiger. This proved irresistible to us both, so we tuned in at 8pm and gave it a watch. We were not disappointed. Let me try to recap Imoto's antics through the filter of my faltering memory.
First, she dressed like a rocket ship and launched herself off a mountain. She was attached by harness and pully to a rope which I believe they said was more than 2 kilometers long. The speeds she attained seemed tremendous, with Imoto becoming nothing more than a black streak through the sky. The announcer seemed concerned about a dangerous landing, but the show hilariously cheated with a jump cut to a perfectly safe, grounded Imoto cheerfully shouting something which I couldn't catch, much to the delight of the celebrities watching the segment in the TV studio.
After that, Imoto took a luxury train across the countryside. She enjoyed a very hot bath with the train's rocking motion spilling quite a bit of water all over the bathroom and then took a nap on what looked like a very comfortable bed. The people eating in the dining car gave her the stink eye as she entered and gave a running commentary all the way to her table. Then disaster struck as she shattered her front teeth on what looked like a chicken wing on a stick. Snaggletoothed, she complained for a bit, then the show cut to Imoto visiting a general store where she tried to buy glue to repair her teeth.
The store didn't have any, but by that time Imoto was entranced with trying to win a prize in one of those claw-arm games and had apparently forgotten all about her dental troubles.
Cut to a hilltop golf tee high above a beautiful valley containing a single green. You pay 50,000 yen and take your whack in the hopes of a 100,000,000 yen payoff for a hole-in-one. One of the golf pros demonstrated and put his ball in the rough just off the green, an easy chip shot to the hole. Another said he once got within 2 meters of the pin, but his shot went out of bounds, and Imoto loudly registered her dismay. They then told Imoto she had a 1-in-10,000 chance of making a hole in one on this hole and, after a few practice swings, she took a mighty stroke and sliced so badly they didn't even bother to show where her ball landed.
By now, Imoto's teeth were repaired and she was ready for a trip to a small jungle where she met a muscular young man who lives the Tarzan lifestyle. Imoto sussed out he does this 5 days a week, with 2 reserved for working as a house painter with his father. Even Tarzan has to make car payments, it seems. Imoto found this hilarious. Then she dressed like a female Tarzan and her new friend drove them both to a wild animal park where they talked her into trying to ride a full-grown tiger. It didn't go well, and the tiger quickly became irritated with the whole set-up. The keepers told Imoto usually the big cat was quite docile, but for some reason she really seemed to piss it off. Cut to Tarzan driving them both back to the jungle.
There, on what Imoto revealed to be Christmas Day, Tarzan showed her how to dig for insects. He caught a large black scorpion and chopped off its stinger, rendering it harmless enough to eat. Tarzan and Imoto put it in a white plastic bag, the kind you get at convenience stores here in Japan. She dug up a worm and declared it her "Christmas present." Then Tarzan attempted to show Imoto how to fish with a spear, but her teeth broke again. They spent the rest of the day on their knees with the film crew searching the pond-side for the missing teeth. The show rolled some video outtakes of a broken-tooth Imoto trying to introduce a segment but finding it impossible to enunciate sa, si, su, se, so. She cried.
Cut to a night scene with both Tarzan and Imoto by the fireside roasting their insects. Imoto had difficulty eating her crisp scorpion using just her molars and she wished Tarzan a glum, "Merry Christmas."
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Food poisoning in Hamamatsu... and watching the news
We watch the news almost every night and Wednesday night as we watched, my wife said, "They found norovirus at those schools."
"Is that Hamamatsu?" I asked.
She said it was, and the news rolled on to the next story. Which may have been a lengthy piece on the fishing boat and the naval ship that collided, killing two fishermen. I was trying to read or eat dinner or some little everyday task as people often do in the early evening with the news on TV in the background.
But I was impressed with how detailed the coverage was. In the US, even the local news would probably spend less than a minute on the whole thing. It would probably be little more than a basic blurb with some video taken at the scene and maybe an eye-witness quote and back to the station for a commercial or the next segment. Did we need to know as much about the fishing boat accident as they told us? Well, if you're interested in the story, absolutely. If not, you can eat your meal or read your book until something you are interested in comes on.
Our local news in Albany, Georgia, is nothing more than a vehicle for ad space sales, and it shows with the way the stories are chopped up and doled out in tiny pieces wrapped with commercials or teased repeatedly, then placed strategically throughout a heavily-padded hour and a half broadcast in which you learn very little. It's great if you're an ad rep trying to meet your monthly budget and avoid getting fired, and wonderful for the station's bottom-line, but it's an excruciatingly shallow news experience. News for yahoos, very little real reporting of any kind.
A couple of weeks ago, on a morning news show, a reporter demonstrated how that Russian ship in Antarctica became ice-bound and trapped over Christmas. She used a tilted board with a magnetized model boat and white blocks representing ice floes. Sure, they could have broken out the computer graphics and modeled it that way, but I prefer practical effects wherever possible in both my movies and my newscasts. So I really appreciated their low-tech, hands-on approach. I respect their decision to devote a considerable chunk of time to this demonstration, too.
Think of how many south Georgia car dealers could have used that time to scream at you about LOW LOW LOW ZERO PERCENT FINANCIN'!
Well, people more fluent in Japanese may have their own complaints about news tendencies here, but I'm from a place that's almost completely illiterate and lacking in critical thought, so I'm enjoying looking at these long segments.
"Is that Hamamatsu?" I asked.
She said it was, and the news rolled on to the next story. Which may have been a lengthy piece on the fishing boat and the naval ship that collided, killing two fishermen. I was trying to read or eat dinner or some little everyday task as people often do in the early evening with the news on TV in the background.
But I was impressed with how detailed the coverage was. In the US, even the local news would probably spend less than a minute on the whole thing. It would probably be little more than a basic blurb with some video taken at the scene and maybe an eye-witness quote and back to the station for a commercial or the next segment. Did we need to know as much about the fishing boat accident as they told us? Well, if you're interested in the story, absolutely. If not, you can eat your meal or read your book until something you are interested in comes on.
Our local news in Albany, Georgia, is nothing more than a vehicle for ad space sales, and it shows with the way the stories are chopped up and doled out in tiny pieces wrapped with commercials or teased repeatedly, then placed strategically throughout a heavily-padded hour and a half broadcast in which you learn very little. It's great if you're an ad rep trying to meet your monthly budget and avoid getting fired, and wonderful for the station's bottom-line, but it's an excruciatingly shallow news experience. News for yahoos, very little real reporting of any kind.
A couple of weeks ago, on a morning news show, a reporter demonstrated how that Russian ship in Antarctica became ice-bound and trapped over Christmas. She used a tilted board with a magnetized model boat and white blocks representing ice floes. Sure, they could have broken out the computer graphics and modeled it that way, but I prefer practical effects wherever possible in both my movies and my newscasts. So I really appreciated their low-tech, hands-on approach. I respect their decision to devote a considerable chunk of time to this demonstration, too.
Think of how many south Georgia car dealers could have used that time to scream at you about LOW LOW LOW ZERO PERCENT FINANCIN'!
Well, people more fluent in Japanese may have their own complaints about news tendencies here, but I'm from a place that's almost completely illiterate and lacking in critical thought, so I'm enjoying looking at these long segments.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Prinprin Monogatari!
I'd been looking for this for months. When I lived in Japan, I'd occasionally find this airing in the mornings or early afternoons on Cartoon Network. It's a puppet/marionette show called Prinprin Monogatari (or Purinpurin Monogatari). It originally aired on NHK in the early 1980s and has a gentle Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood feel. All I know about it beyond that is the characters would sometimes ride around in a Jeep.
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