The Tale of a Japanese Cinderella and Her Cellphone
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 1, 2009 in Japanese TV
This 1997 advert stars Japanese actress Takako Tokiwa (常盤貴子) in the role of Cinderella! My favorite bit is the short bit of then cutting edge 3D animation of her magic horse drawn carriage. New Employment Opportunities for Rubber Suited Evildoers
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 27, 2008 in Japanese TV
Shown above is a series of adverts from 2006 for the Japanese magazine B-ing which is aimed at recruiting professionals. The villains shown are the shocker soldiers from the live action Rider series (仮面ライダーシリーズ) from the 70s: Read more… Amazing Animals: Humiliating Cats on Japanese TV
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 22, 2008 in Japanese TV
The above cute clip of costumed cats is from the Japanese TV program Amazing Animals (どうぶつ奇想天外！) which runs on TBS. The segment features cats from an upcoming calendar including the well known chubby kitty Pia-kun. Found via zaeega.com. Pop-up Gourd Island: Classic Japanese Puppet TVOver the years I’ve kept running into the same group of 3D retro-styled characters in Japanese printed advertising and that at first reminded me of Rankin-Bass style stop motion characters but have their own original look. I was guessing they might be stop motion since they were photographed rather than drawn or rendered.
On doing some research I figured out they came from a mid 1960s series Hyokkori Hyoutan-jima (ひょっこりひょうたん島) which translates to something like “Unexpected Gourd Island” and the characters were puppets rather than animated. They have to be Japan’s most famous puppet TV show though of course the Muppets are seen all over and “Saku Saku” was trendy for a while. Read more… Kikaider: “Dr. Komyoji Designed Me to Protect the Kids!”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 9, 2008 in Japanese TV
The 1972 Japanese TV show Artificial Humanoid Kikaider (人造人間キカイダ) was a tribute of sorts to Astro Boy. The humanoid robot was created by Shotaro Ishinomori who actually worked for Osamu Tezuka a few years earlier, who in turn was inspired by both Pinocchio and Frankenstein. In the show Kikaider is created by Dr. Komyoji to protect himself and his very cute kids (who you can see in the clip above) from the dark Android which was created by the nefarious Professor Gill (who must have been upset that he didn’t get his doctorate in android engineering). The live action show was so popular back in the day that it inspired a manga and years later an anime series. Read more… Hangry & Angry: Former Morning Musume Members Go Punk/Gothlolita
Posted by Guest Author on Dec 1, 2008 in Japanese TV, Music
What happens when you get two former Morning Musume (モーニング娘) members to go punk and gothlolita? I’d expect a merchandise bonanza for the boutique they represent.:
Robotto Paruta: Quirky Cardboard Robot Anime
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 29, 2008 in Animation, Japanese TV
I always love discovering anime that isn’t what you’d expect — there’s a real wealth of amazing kids cartoons that many fanboys just don’t know about: Robotto Paruta (ロボットパルタ) got started as a segment within the 1994 NHK show Cartoon Bubble Wrap. The series was directed by Katsushi Yasuda and in 2005 Pony Canyon released a four volume DVD set (which I couldn’t find, however you can buy quite a few DVDs from the series at Amazon.jp).
Kamen Rider versus Shocker
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 24, 2008 in Cult TV and Movies, Japanese TV
Kamen Rider was a TV show from the early 70s in Japan, but there were in fact three low budget films also made at the same time. This is a silly clip from Kamen Rider versus Shocker which revolves around a plot dealing with the secret plans for a gravity machine that becomes stolen during a birthday party for Professor Daidōji’s daughter. The best part of this 1972 film is clearly the evil rubber suited character running about with the daughter’s teddy bear while engaging in combat action with Kamen Rider. Read more… Mini Moni in Their Cute Astronaut Bunny Outfits
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 23, 2008 in Japanese TV, Music
This number is an oldie but a goldie: It’s the J-pop group Mini Moni (ミニモニ) performing their breakout song Minimoni Jankenpyon! (ミニモニ。ジャンケンぴょん!) from way back when in 2001. Mini Moni is a subgroup of the Morning Musume (モーニング娘) and was active until 2004 when the group disbanded. Language Lessons with Berryz Kobo
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2008 in Japanese TV
Berryz Kobo is a side project of the Hello! Project — this video is from a DVD magazine and features the members of the band saying “hello” in various languages. What makes the video for me the 60s game show music which nicely contrasts with the faux educational lesson, although it would have been just a tad cuter if each presenter had a matching outfit for each language. Will Japanese Gameshows Be the Next Anime?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 17, 2008 in Japanese TV
What’s great about Anime is that for the last 40 years it has introduced Japanese pop culture to a very wide global audience. Now while it’s true that J-pop has done very well in Asia, it’s never reached the critical mass that Anime has reaching everywhere from Russia to South Africa. While I wouldn’t expect Japanese gameshows to inspire the same depth of fandom, I think it could very well open the door to a different demographic that Anime might not include: Read more… Nintendo Game & Watch: Japanese & American Style
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 13, 2008 in Games, Japanese TV
Long before the Nintendo DS there was the Game & Watch (ゲーム＆ウオッチ Gēmu ando Wotchi) which were handheld games produced between 1980 and 1991. What’s funny looking at these commercials is that the Japanese ad above seems to be much more honest about what the product is, while the American ad below (which is from 1983) uses rather elaborate animation and shows the product in action for just a few seconds. Also notice how the Japanese ad is more aimed at young adults while the American ad is just for kids. Read more… |
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