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Post by spackle on Mar 15, 2010 15:03:40 GMT -5
mobbed by a cross-dressing navy ;D ;D ;D Nice image. Good point about the signature. Mine's pretty illegible.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Mar 15, 2010 17:38:50 GMT -5
Friendlychicken, maybe some of your friends could read it? " Gamera Godzilla is my boyfriend." The nuns tell me I have a problem, but Sarafina is the one with the problem. That Paul Anka doesn't love her, but Godzilla loves me... he loves me I tell you!!!!! You don't know my friends, do you? They'd probably think it was chicken scratch or something. Their parents would know. That's how I get my information. Godzilla/Gojira looks so happy in that picture. I guess because he's getting to play in a building. And I always thought he loved me. I agree with you, the actor in the suit is one of the best actors ever! In fact, the Japanese seem to excel at great rubber suit acting. That's what makes their Tokusatsu TV shows so much fun. It was like being a Beatle mobbed by a cross-dressing navy. I think that did happen once. Nothing like Japanese schoolgirl uniforms, huh? No wonder they have a fetish on them. I guess they like the cross-dressing navy look. Edit: My signature is awesome, great, clean...um...it's nice. PS: Ijon, you just sneaked one on me while I was typing! Man, I type slowly.
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Post by caucasoididiot on Mar 15, 2010 17:41:12 GMT -5
Heh heh, glad you liked the image. (^_^) Men in rubber suits and schoolgirls . . . one could take that in so many directions . . . Edit: Yeah, chicken, we keep playing leapfrog on these posts! Having introduced Amami Yuuki, I'd now like to introduce Isoya Yuki, generally just called Yuki-chan. She was the vocalist for a group called "Judy & Mary," not inaptly described as "Lisa Simpson fronting Van Halen." Yuki-chan was the only helium-voiced Japanese singer I ever paid much attention to. Most J-pop is really pretty akin to the old bubble-gum rock. At first I was mystified that all these girl singers used male personal pronouns in their songs, but a lot of the time the lyrics are written from the POV of shy boys who can't open up to girls. They can then get all moony listening to some teenage girl sing them, and the girls can kind of imagine that cute guy in their class secretly feels this way about them. Yuki-chan doesn't fit that mold. Here's the cover of her book: I always liked her "screwed up eyes and screwed down hairdo" style. And she's using feminine pronouns here, so is presumably speaking for herself in these lyrics. I don't know if the band did the video themselves. By the end I'm sort of thinking, "Hmm, someone really likes La Femme Nikita and City of Lost Children." Not that there's anything wrong with that. I also like her o-bake hair in this. (^_^) I had pondered leaving the English until the end and making it a game to spot the "Japlish" in the lyrics. This is really typical of J-Pop. Oh, the kanji on her arm mean "music." 「ミュージック ファイター」 " Myujikku Faitaa" "Music Fighter" ドュビドュビバッパ ドュビドュビバッパッパ Dyubidyubibappa dyubidyubibappappa(singing scat) ドュビドュビバッパ ドュビドュビバッパッパ イェーイ Dyubidyubibappa dyubidyubibappappa ye~i(singing scat) yay ドュビドュビバッパ ドュビドュビバッパッパ Dyubidyubibappa dyubidyubibappappa(more scat) ドュビドュビバッパ ドュビドュビバッパッパ イェーイ Dyubidyubibappa dyubidyubibappappa ye~i(more scat) yay 動物的スーパーグループ イッツ オー・ケー Doubutsuteki suupaa guruupu ittsu o~ ke~Animalistic super group it's OK あたしのモンスター 飛びだしておいで Atashi no monsutaa tobidash(i)teoideCome out and fly, my monster キャンヂィスピーカー 体につめこんで Kyandii supiikaa karada ni tsumekondeBody crammed with candy speakers and メタルジャケットよりも 強い声で Metaru jaketto yori mo tsuyoi koe deWith a voice stronger than a metal jacket(ed bullet) 歌いながら とびのれ Utai nagara tobinoreJump in and sing along アイ・アム・ミュージックファイター Ai amu myujikku faitaaI am music fighter アイ・アム・ミュージックファイター Ai amu myujikku faitaaI am music fighter オー・ケー オー・ケー O~ ke~ o~ ke~OK OK ドュビドュビバッパ ドュビドュビバッパッパ Dyubidyubibappa dyubidyubibappappa x3 (three more scats) ドュビドュビバッパ ドュビドュビバッパッパ オーイェーイ Dyubidyubibappa dyubidyubibappappa o~ye~i(more scat) oh yeah ドュビドュビバッパ ドュビドュビバッパッパドュビドュビバッパビドュ バービードュ Dyubidyubibappa dyubidyubibappappadyubidyubibappabidyu baabiidyuu(insert scatology joke here) ドュビドュビバッパ ドュビドュビバッパッパドュビドュビバッパビドュ イェーイ Dyubidyubibappa dyubidyubibappappadyubidyubibappabidyu ye~i(tons o' scat) yay 植物的サウンドフリーク イッツ ソーグッド Shokubutsuteki saundofuriiku ittsu so~guddoPlantlike soundfreak it's so good あたしのライフワーク 大地に響け Atashi no raifuwaaku daichi ni hibikeMy lifework resounding through the Earth 荒れ果てた世界に花を! 強い笑顔を! Arehateta sekai ni hana o! Tsuyoi egao o!To the ruined world a flower! A strongly smiling face! 傷だらけの胸に 自由を! Kizu darake no mune ni jiyuu o!Freedom to the breast so cruelly gashed 歌いながら とびのれ Utai nagara tobinoreJump in and sing along アイ・アム・ミュージックファイター Ai amu myujikku faitaaI am music fighter アイ・アム・ミュージックファイター Ai amu myujikku faitaaI am music fighter オー・ケー オー・ケー オー・ケー O~ ke~ o~ ke~ o~ ke~OK OK OK I guess the bouncing she does in the second verse sort of suggests that she just can't hold the song in, but I always chuckle and think, "Yuki-chan, do you need to leave the room a minute?" So in honor of that, and to prove that their reserve doesn't stop some Japanese from being pretty darned funny:
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Post by afriendlychicken on Mar 15, 2010 18:23:15 GMT -5
That was a combination! Yuki-chan reminds me of Bjork, when she was with The Sugarcubes. "Ahhhhhhhhh AH!"
I've always hated The Backstreet Boys. Now, I think I like that song. It was funnier then anything SNL has done for 10 years. The guy on the toilet had impeccable timing! Great door kick.
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Post by caucasoididiot on Mar 15, 2010 22:05:01 GMT -5
Indeed! That clip similarly changed my reaction to the song. Any time I happen to hear it now I picture the urinal chorus. (^_^)
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Post by caucasoididiot on Mar 16, 2010 14:09:05 GMT -5
Wow, it's amazing the things you stumble onto sometimes.
For a while Yuki-chan was recording with Kate Pierson (of the B-52s) under the group name "NiNa." Their biggest hit was a song called "Happy Tomorrow," which (as often happens with Japanese hits) was used as the theme for a TV drama. The drama was Kanojotachi no Jidai ("The Era of Girlfriends"). It was about three young women who become friends after meeting by chance at a night class. One is a waitress, one a junior exec at a company and the other is something else (it's been ten years). The exec is played by Miki Mizuno, the daughter of Kumi Mizuno of Godzilla vs the Sea Monster.
Anyway, here's the opening. As is typical of dramas it acts out quite a bit of the plot, once you learn a few of the cues.
Now I've only ever seen a single drama that was really interesting artistically, but this one was quite interesting thematically. It mostly dealt with the changing roles and perceptions of women. One really memorable scene involved the three friends in a little restaurant having a good time until a drunk older guy starts shouting at them to shut up, then launches into a diatribe about how in his day women knew their friggin' place. At first they react very typically, hanging their heads in shame, but then Miki's character splashes her big daijoki of beer in his face, resulting in his going ape and chasing them through the streets with a chair. They finally lose him in traffic and dissolve into hysterical laughter.
But I was amazed to find one of the drama's most memorable sequences on YouTube. In the opening above you see Miki's character looking up at a sarariman having an episode on the big outdoor screen. She meets this guy at a seminar and they kind of hit it off. She excitedly tells the others about it and asks if they think it's a big deal that he's married. One of them starts off by saying heck no, it's romantic! Then she catches on that it's her sister's husband and quickly tacks over into, "Still, you do have to think about the wife . . ."
The kernel of their bond is that each has a bad working environment. Miki's character is the only female executive in her company, and as such the men look down on her and the OLs resent her. The brother-in-law (played by Iwaki Masayoshi) is in a company that is trying to downsize. There was a period in the '90s where this was a big deal in corporate Japan. Most employee contracts dated back to the "iron rice bowl" lifetime employment days. They couldn't be fired without cause and didn't want to quit because someone who did so found it hard to get hired elsewhere. Such guys were seen as not having company loyalty and were sometimes even called "ronin." Management would thus hint to them that a resignation would be most appreciated; if they didn't take the hint pressure would be applied, largely through assignment of demeaning jobs. Iwaki's character is in that bind, and so the two of them have a unique understanding.
Here's the first scene showing his company taking it to the limit. It opens with his getting a new assignment: the ningen kaihatsush(i)tsu 「人間開発室」or "human development room." His supervisor tells him that it's in the basement and he'll get the details there. As Iwaki is leaving the supervisor makes a comment something like, "I hate this part of my job."
In the room he finds this notice:
就業心得 Shuugyou kokoroe Instructions for starting work
その1、就業時間は9時5時までとし、残業を禁ずる Sono 1, shuugyou jikan ha kuji kara made toshi, zangyou o kinjizuru Point 1: Working hours are from 9 to 5; overtime is forbidden.
その2、昼休み以外の外出を禁ずる Sono 2, hiruyasumi igai no gaishuu o kinjizuru Point 2: Excepting the lunch break leaving is forbidden.
その3、私物の持ち込みを禁ずる Sono 3, shibutsu no mochikomi o kinjizuru Point 3: Bringing in personal items is forbidden.
以上 Ijou That is all.
For maximum effect, I'd suggest watching the clip before proceeding further:
When he returns home his wife has prepared an extra special dinner in honor of his new assignment. But the crux of their relationship is that while they love each other their worlds have diverged and they simply don't communicate. Sadly, that's pretty plausible in a Japanese marriage. The husband's world is the company, the wife's is the home, and sometimes they become disconnected. Japanese divorce rates shoot up right after the husband's retirement, and a slang expression for a retired husband is sodai gomi ("bulk garbage").
The final conversation is between two guys who've come down to see the room. The one guy tells the other it's 100% effective: sooner or later they all take the hint.
I don't recollect how much story time had passed before the next sequence. Weeks?
I can't swear to every detail, but this pretty close to what the message says:
"To the person who comes to this room next: I've been here a month and I've reached my limit. I didn't think such concentrated inactivity was possible for a person. Anything would be better than this. If I could only escape this room, anything at all would be better. I'm not complaining. I chose to come here, but I didn't think the company would go so far to force my resignation. You too are holding out. But sitting here for a month I have wondered many things. Why am I here? Why am I forced to do nothing? Why does the company choose to do this to me? If I left, what would become of me? What would become of my family? What is the point of this? Why was I even born? What is the point of living at all? Is there any point to living at all? I've thought about this kind of thing but there are no answers. To the next person who chooses to come here, I just wanted to greet you if I can."
Unable to face going home, he melts down and turns to the only person who might understand.
One thing I think this illustrates well is how the Japanese react to stress. Westerners tend to let off steam pretty readily, but Japanese tend to hold it in and hold it in and hold it in . . . and then explode. Note how even when he embraces Miki's character she initially doesn't react. Unsure if she should pull away or embrace him, initially she's simply passive.
I missed quite a bit of this one, but if I remember correctly her character was able to approach his wife and -- after convincing her that she wasn't that kind of other woman (though she could have been) -- reconcile them.
The relationship both within the marriage and company also gets to the idea of so much of Japanese relationships being implicit. You're not supposed to state your feelings or ask others', rather the ideal is to develop social antenna such that that kind of embarrassing discussion isn't needed. It's one of those things that's great when it works but hard to fix when it breaks down. A corollary of that is just how much of the conformist pressure does take this kind of crypto-form.
I suppose as a Westerner I'm biased toward something that points out the problems with that, even though as a guest in Japan I tried to play by their rules as much as I could. Still . . . it can create big problems, and it's nice to see that the Japanese themselves appreciate that.
Heh heh . . . more Backstreet Boys.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Mar 16, 2010 19:19:34 GMT -5
That was pretty affective melodrama. See, it can be done right. What was nice about those was that you could figure out what was going on even without understanding Japanese. I think if they did that in America, the guy would probably just sit there for years saying, "If they want to pay me for doing nothing, then it's their problem." I would assume sensory deprivation would get to you sooner or later, though. The relationships did seem weird. We are so used to expressing passion that they all acted like what we would consider friends here. How do they feel about our ways concerning relationships? (Like I would know! Mr. Forever single.) I can see how both work and fail. Our style is too much like a meteor, shining brightly and then quickly fading. I wonder if we put to much into it too early, instead of pacing it? I'm getting a little worried about you and The Backstreet Boys.
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Post by spackle on Mar 16, 2010 20:08:55 GMT -5
^ At first it reminded me of Milton from Office Space ("we're going to have to move you down to storage... yyeeeaah") but then I definitely got a Brazil vibe from it. Only it wasn't supposed to be satire, right?
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Post by caucasoididiot on Mar 16, 2010 22:01:53 GMT -5
I'm getting a little worried about you and The Backstreet Boys. Heh heh . . . my wife is a very big fan. Yeah, Japanese TV drama is unashamedly melodramatic, but they often pull it off very well. There are couple over on asianrice.tv that seem to be complete, but the only one I tried so far was really slow loading. On relationships, that is an incredibly deep question. Traditionally marriages were arranged in Japan, and the ideal was a good fit rather than passion. In recent decades young Japanese to some degree rebelled against that and started picking their own partners. The divorce rate is up, and there are a lot of people (not only the right-wingers) who see a correlation there. I'm not sure of the stats, but marriage brokers still do business and I gather it's up recently. My first girlfriend once told me that all (Japanese) married men have affairs. There did kind of seem to be a tradition of that as something separate from one's marriage, with wives turning a blind eye to the occasional fling. And of course the old yoshiwara districts were an institution that sort of catered to that. I'm not really sure which ideal is the stronger. Like so many things, either is great when it works but awful when it fails. It does seem like a lot the Japanese husbands/fathers I've seen are a lot less invested in their families than in the States, for whatever reason. It's hard to describe; their "family values" are very strong but subtly different. ^ At first it reminded me of Milton from Office Space ("we're going to have to move you down to storage... yyeeeaah") but then I definitely got a Brazil vibe from it. Only it wasn't supposed to be satire, right? Hmm . . . satire may not be a bad word for it. I've never heard of anything so extreme as what they showed there, but in essence that was what a lot of companies were doing for a while. It seems like in the US we tend to lampoon social ills with humor, but the Japanese often do it melodramatically. I'll have to give that some more thought. Edit: A couple of other thoughts occurred to me. One other aspect of locking away Iwaki's character that way is the element of ostracism. Westerners, especially Americans I think, are OK with taking a "no skin off my nose" attitude to a lot of snubs. It's a cliché to talk about the Japanese being more group-oriented, and you sometimes see that over-simplified, but it's still quite true. There's also an interesting point on relationships that you see in a lot of things, especially drama. Japanese women seem to really crave romance, and it's something that Japanese men as a rule just can't do well. With Takarazuka fresh in mind I think that may be part of its appeal.
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Post by spackle on Mar 17, 2010 18:32:12 GMT -5
Godzilla/Gojira looks so happy in that picture. I guess because he's getting to play in a building. I have that picture sitting atop my DVD player. I used to see Gojira rampaging when I looked at it. Now I see a kid looking in a toybox with glee. Damn you!!!! ;D He does look awfully happy though.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Mar 18, 2010 5:28:31 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D ;D It was because of THIS video. Ijon contaminated my mind! I'm innocent I tell you! INNOCENT!! PS: That's an awesome picture of Godzilla. How did you get it? Edit:Note to self, check Spackle's post before asking questions.
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Post by caucasoididiot on Mar 18, 2010 7:45:47 GMT -5
Ijon contaminated my mind! I'm innocent I tell you! Heh heh heh . . . the form of my evil plan begins to surface. Just wait until I hit you with Sanrio Puroland. You will bow down before me! \(@_@)/
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Post by spackle on Mar 18, 2010 8:50:59 GMT -5
^^ That clip's very funny- G doesn't want to play if he can't knock down buildings. ;D
*googles Sanrio Puroland* Hello Kittyyyyy! Noooooo! Aieeeee!
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Post by afriendlychicken on Mar 18, 2010 17:57:43 GMT -5
^^^ Hey! You cheated! I won't do that Ijon...I promise. (I just realized you've probably heard that before, because of being a teacher and all that. A student looking for attention and sucking up to you. I didn't mean it that way....really.)
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Post by spackle on Mar 18, 2010 20:40:47 GMT -5
^^^ Hey! You cheated! I won't do that Ijon...I promise. (I just realized you've probably heard that before, because of being a teacher and all that. A student looking for attention and sucking up to you. I didn't mean it that way....really.) I was only trying to protect myself against Ijon's evil onslaught. Forewarned is forearmed.... or four-armed? Hah, see, I have Kali on my side! She made me do it.
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