More Wild Wrestling From Japan

So I got several positive responses to my last post about President Ramu, the little girl from the Japanese wrestling promotion 666 who beats all her opponents with her demon-possessed supernatural power. While discussing Ramu with Vanessa down at Chapel Hill Comics, I brought up another one of my favourite characters from one of Japan's wackier wrestling promotions, namely a fellow who goes by the name of Danshoku Dino. He wrestles for a promotion called DDT, the Dramatic Dream Team, which has more nutty gimmicks than any other wrestling group on the planet.

Dino is my fave though. He is flamboyantly gay, and seems quite obsessed with grabbing his opponents' nuts. He is the master of the testicular claw, and his finishing move is the Danshoku Driver, which involves stuffing his opponent's head in his oh-so-brief tights and then delivering a piledriver. Those of you who are familiar with Japanese wrestling may remember stories of how Bruiser Brody, the 6'8" 285 pound monster, would make his entrance by roaming through the crowd swinging his trademark chain and making everybody run for their life. Well, Dino makes his entrance by roaming through the crowd trying to kiss whatever men he can get his hands on, making them run for their life. Hilarious. And don't get me started on how funny a good Danshoku wristlock can be.

You can check out a match with Dino taking on Akira Tozawa here (part two is here.) He does basically the same bits when he visits the Dragon Gate promotion for a six-man tag match, but it's a fun match to watch when you realize that his opponents are Anthony W. Mori and BxB Hulk, who are basically a couple of boy-band-type pretty boys who are typically marketed towards young women, but that Dino just salivates over (they're joined by Super Shisa, the masked guy). To add to the amusement, Dino's own teammate is Magnum Tokyo, who is a sort of exotic dancer character famous for moves like "The Viagra Driver". They're joined by Naoki Tanisaki. Check out that match here: Part the one, Part the two.

Hilarity.

Besobaru

Japan rules. Even their baseball is better than America's.

Time Defeats All

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Japanese popular culture?

This clip features comedians trying to move from pedestal to pedestal whilst avoiding the styrofoam hands of a giant clock. Get hit, and get knocked into a pool of whipped cream. Who thinks of this stuff? Brilliant.

Japanese Pranksters

Still working on the ISIDTA strip for this week. Things are really, really crazy this week. I finally decided to forego responsibility last night and go to sleep at a decent hour; I really needed that.

Anyway, in the meantime, amuse yourself with this. It made me guffaw like an idiot. This Japanese prank show goes to great lengths to build a spa on top of a ski slope. There's a real steam room and everything in there. There's also these special coin-operated massage chairs.

Things get funny pretty quickly, but be sure and keep watching for "Mission 2", the second part of the prank. I almost screamed.

Live Video Game

This is a pretty amazing video. It's from a Japanese show called Sasuke, which is a physical challenge show that makes things like Fear Factor look like a school dance. (BTW, I think Fear Factor is a pretty dumb show, and only watched it when my friends were on it.) Sasuke, in true Japanese style, is bigger, wilder, and more dramatic than anything American tv can put out on its own. Sasuke features a multi-stage obstacle course which is like no other obstacle course you've ever seen. Only two people have ever been able to complete it, and this video shows one of them, Makoto Nagano.

Watching Nagano go through this course is like watching a live, 3D version of a videogame like Tomb Raider or Prince of Persia. The obstacles are contrived and impossible, and Nagano goes through them like someone is precisely controlling his movements with flicks of the joystick and presses of the buttons. It's truly amazing to watch.

Sasuke is no relation to The Great Sasuke, who is pretty damn cool on his own.

Animals Feel The Danger

Razor Ramon HG is one of the more hilarious and entertaining Japanese stars currently going through his fifteen minutes of fame. In a country of over-the-top media stars, Razor Ramon HG is the over-the-toppest. He's a standup comedian, that plays the part of a pro wrestler, that also does tv magazine segements wandering around Japanese cities acting like a lunatic. His trademark cry is "Hooooo!!!" which he screams aloud as he gyrates his leather-clad crotch at people. Oh, and the HG stands for "Hard Gay".

I just discovered a video I hadn't seen before, "Father's Day", which cracked me up. There's a lot more of his stuff on YouTube. If you haven't seen HG's "Trip to the Yahoo Offices", you must stop by and check it out. He shows up announced at the Yahoo Japan headquarters, claiming they stole his "Hooooo!!" catchphrase. It's always hilarious to see conservative people embarrassed by the very colourful Razor Ramon HG.

Only in Japan.

Mr. M*crophone

This is hilarious. A microphone with a little plastic window that "mosaics" you, like you were on Cops or something. Only in Japan!

Rolling Bomber Special

Many people probably know that I love Japanese popular culture, and particularly love the odd-sounding english names they come up with for attacks in pro wrestling and Godzilla-type movies. (Case in point, my fabulous wrestling move name generator, The Randominator.) Today I stumbled over this wonderful little short film from Japan that features some of that sort of fun. It's a parody of the Power Rangers, and hits that nail head on. Strangely enough, it also has a tinge of that Japanese sense of personal isolation that is so common in the culture. Anyway, if you know anything about the Power Ranger cliches, give it a try.

Rolling Bomber Special! Go!