But which are which? Let's look at two today:
Daily reader Brad from Pensacola, Florida writes;
"Mike! Hi. What the heck is going on over there? I saw this video and photo on a site from the UK called Obvious Winner and thought, "WTF!?" I wondered if the English translation was correct on the video or if someone is just trying to blow my mind. What about it? Are the vegetables really committing suicide and is this really a kid's cartoon? And that photo of the guy with his pants down, that can't be real, can it? That's Photoshopped, right?
Please let me know before I quit my job and move to Japan.
Love the blog..."
Thanks Brad... Well... I am sometimes surprised too at what goes on here and this is one of those times. I don't watch TV but this video definitely looks to be an authentic Japanese cartoon. The Japanese love curry (though Japanese curry is more like beef stew than Indian curry).
The part about killing themselves - though they only say something along the lines of sacrificing themselves for the good of the greater curry - is the part that makes me drop my jaw. Watch it
Pretty bizarre behavior for a bunch of vegetables... Cartoon or no cartoon! But, this is Japan, so let me explain... In old Samurai movies there was always someone who took the fall for the rest of the gang, so, actually this is not so much committing suicide for the curry... It is a parody of Samurai films.
Still, if you didn't have that knowledge, this would be pretty bizarre!
Now this next photo is definitely fake I'd say. This is more likely the figment of the imagination of some nerd living in a western country who has way too much time on their hands.
The girls walking in the background do not look surprised and they are not running away... So I'd have to say, "Photoshopped!"
Any Japan residents care to agree or disagree? Still, it's funny photo for a second or two.
Right or wrong, Americans should understand the concept of sacrifice for the greater good. The military personnel currently in the Middle East (not the asshole contract mercenaries but real American militia) are doing exactly that.
ReplyDeleteAn idealized version of this is exemplified at the end of Star Trek II (The Wrath of Khan) when Spock sacrifices as "the good of the many outweighs the good of the few or the one".
An extreme version of this is the way of Bushido where Samurai (which translates to serve) embodied the concept. The potato in the cartoon is enacting the ritual of "hara kiri" or "seppuku". Not shocking if you're Japanese.
This ain't about Japanese movies. It's about culture...
There are some far out comedy shows in Japan the picture could be a prank from one of them. That being said, I tend to agree with Mike.
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Lets be clear, the soldiers in the middle east are commendable for being willing to risk life and limb to defend their fellow citizens against attack. By being in the middle east, they are actually putting their fellow citizenry at risk due to blow back, such as what hapened on 9-11. There is zero, nothing, absolutely not one iota of good that they are doing by blindly following the orders of the ruling party bosses and murdering the innocent people in the middle east. Unless you define the greater good as being willing to murder innocent people in order to put money in the pockets of the well connected.
ReplyDeleteSelf-sacrifice is noble. Forced sacrifice is slavery.
ReplyDelete