Popular Japanese TV show about women sprinting up hills and panting will now include men

Originally published at: Popular Japanese TV show about women sprinting up hills and panting will now include men | Boing Boing

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There ought to be a name for a posting where any comment will likely get one in trouble (“Whyy we call that a Frauenfelder where we comes from”) [insert most winkiest of emojis]

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That wasn’t as Zen as I thought it would be.

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The Beatles Reaction GIF

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I always get a chuckle when the science writer Gretchen Vogel writes something involving birds.

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What Incredulous GIF by MOODMAN

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It’d be Epic if he tells Eiji when he reaches the top

Oh, Japan… You guys…

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There was an Israeli grapefuit ad that received criticism in the 80’s that featured women excitedly running while carrying grapefruits. One recommendation for parity was to have scantily clad men similarly bouncing about, while carrying eggs.

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The game Yakuza 5 which is normally a Serious Crime Drama (except when it isn’t) takes one of its trademark absurd swerves when it goes from Serious Men doing Serious Things to spending the next 10-20 hours of game time to become a full on idol simulator. (It all makes sense in context.)

To help your idol build up her fan base to make her big break, you have to do things like perform incredibly catchy songs, take part in dance battles, shake hands with fans and creepy otaku (who sniff their hands afterward), do commercials for local (and real-life) establishments, make TV appearances on quiz shows and chat shows. Then there’s perhaps the weirdest one of all – where a TV director only asks that she … run for the camera.

Compare this:

With this:

And it’s basically identical – from the commentary, to the camera angles, even down to the font choice.

I never got what the “Running Girl” (疾走少女) minigame reference was until now.

I’m not at all surprised. The Yakuza series in addition to its blatant product placement of real Japanese brands also makes many thinly veiled allusions to real Japanese movies, shows, and celebrities.

(In case it’s not obvious, I absolutely adore this game series.)

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When you ban traditional pornography, you get some weird side effects

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As I said to Japan just yesterday, “That’s enough internet for today, thank you very much!”

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The writeup and video do highlight my favorite thing about Japan:

so maybe some enjoy Zenryokuzaka as a showcase of picturesque backstreets.

Japan is a country filled with small, interesting side streets and other areas. Very little garbage, generally well kept, and interesting and beautiful even when old and weathered. Even graffiti is really well done and nice to look at, even if it doesn’t stay around that long.

It’s probably the best place I’ve been to just wander around aimlessly and look at stuff. Within reason, it’s a very safe place to wander around alone and explore.

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This man is about to die. In a few moments, now, he will be killed, for Arthur Jarrett is a convicted criminal who has been allowed to choose the manner of his own execution.

–Monty Python’s Meaning of Life

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It may be creepy to do that intentionally, but people do tend to sniff their hands after handshakes without thinking about it.

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Oh, this was very intentional.

image

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Anything on at 1:30 am in Japan is going to be some version of weird.

She is in pretty good shape. I would probably be puking all over the stairs if I attempted that run.

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Wonder if she beats Umi in “From Up On Poppy Hill”. There is a fair bit of running and cycling up a very similar hill, also in Yokohama…

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