Initially I didn't really like the look of anime (Japanese animated stories), but I actually found one that is pretty good. It's called Death Note (デスノート), and it's based on the manga (Japanese comic book) of the same name. The story is a supernatural action mystery by Tsugumi Ohba and it is about a Death God who drops a notebook entitled Death Note, because he was bored. Any person's name that is written in this book will die within 40 seconds.
Light Yagami, a Japanese teenager, happened to pick up this book, and therefore became the owner of it. Now he can see the death god Ryuk, who believes that human control of the book is 'fun'. Light starts writing down the names of all the criminals he can think of, and they start dropping like flies. He wishes to become a 'God' and bring justice to the world - and make it a better place. But this doesn't go unnoticed, and now everyone from the Japanese police to a secret detective called 'L' and the FBI are after him, and Light is doing is best to protect his identity. He is now known all across Japan as the Japanese pronunciation of 'Killer' - 'Kira'.
I'm on episode three - and I'm really enjoying it. I don't know if everyone would like it, but you could always try watching the first episode below!
Death Note - an unusual story
Categories: anime, Japan 0 comments
Ridiculous "Nōkabe" - Hole in the Wall
Categories: BBC, gameshow, Japan, reviews, weird 1 comments
A ridiculous Japanese gameshow component ((脳カベ Nōkabe from とんねるずのみなさんのおかげでした 'Tunnels' 'Thanks to everyone') has invaded the whole world - everywhere from Argentina to Indonesia! Named 'Hole in the Wall', it involves a wall with a shaped hole coming towards a player. The player has to get through the hole to get "CLEAR", but if they are unable to make it through the wall, they get "NOT CLEAR", and then fall into a big pool of water. It's also known as 'human tetris'.
It certainly is a very silly game, but the popularity in Japan (and on YouTube) was so high, it spread everywhere. I mean, you'd never expect the BBC to create a copy of a weird Japanese gameshow - but they have! Now, time for some wacky clips:
Original Japanese version:
And the wacky BBC version - Bring on the Wall!:
Oh ... whatever next? Anyway, it's kind of funny!
