Well lookie-loo. The dreaded "Gothloli Wars" from Episode 4 of Tokyo Eye, the NHK show I work on, have appeared on YouTube...Watch in horror as I shamble about in Harajuku, rummage through a Lolita's luggage case, and invade a Goth girl's bedroom on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Part One
Part Two
I just took a break from CNN and BBC's coverage of the mid-term elections--on the contrary, however, the opening line of this episode is "The world's attention is focussed on Harajuku fashion!" I think I'll switch back and forth as the evening progresses. I'm hoping news of the defeat of Rick Santorum will be juxtaposed with a NHK microphone being deep-throated by a yaoi fan.
Posted by: Carl Horn | November 07, 2006 at 06:28 PM
I think your best lines were "that deathly pale shade" and "as if she's just busted out of the crypt." Was there a momentary sense of sweet revenge as you, the gaijin, got to play the customs agent, pawing through the loli-girl's valise?
Posted by: Carl Horn | November 07, 2006 at 06:47 PM
New iMac G5 + Carl's suggestion on letting the video download - stupid frickin' dial-up = WIN!
Patrick, your segments need to be brought to US TV. They do, honest. NHK should cut a deal with Cartoon Network/Adult Swim and just go to town.
Posted by: Steve Harrison | November 08, 2006 at 12:32 AM
That was totally sweet. I've always wondered what those girls are up to when they're not posing on the bridge in Harajuku. Truly, you have acted as a proxy for us all by invading the room of one -- although she's 20, she doesn't have much longer before she's going to have to succumb to reality. Ganbare, Choko-nyan/Ayana!
Was there some reason you avoided saying the name of Marui One?
Posted by: pts | November 08, 2006 at 09:55 AM
Yeah, it takes a little while to let it download...maybe as much as 45 minutes. But, hey, I mean, come on...at the end of it, you get to watch a Japanese TV show that just aired! YouTube is cool...and it hit me. Do you know what YouTube is? It's the 21st century UHF.
Posted by: Carl Horn | November 08, 2006 at 10:44 AM
Bit longer for me to download, couple of hours on average. Trial from God, man.
I have to say, whoever the host is, he's hella cool.
The whole GothLoli thing scares the crap outta me. That goth type in the first clip was freakin' Robogoth.
I'm smiling all over, because this so much reminds me of the 'Beyond the Horizon' segments produced by TeleJapan back in the ;80s,only with more flair.
Well done, Patrick! Fight on, for love, justice and curry!
Posted by: Steve Harrison | November 08, 2006 at 07:11 PM
I too love the host guy who dresses up like a 70's porn star. Are you two trying to make each other laugh on purpose? Because some of the exchanges you have with each other are priceless. The subtle sarcasm you both display as you discuss dressing up as gothlolis in space (without even the slightest chuckle) had me rolling.
Posted by: Esteban De Anda | November 09, 2006 at 07:41 AM
Well, I meant, UHF, as in that dial of snowy wonders that used to lie beneath the main controls on your TV.
Posted by: Carl Horn | November 09, 2006 at 07:46 AM
I knew what you meant, Carl. A Lot of people just don't 'get' context...if not for the explosion of new UHF stations that started in the late '70s, and their hunger, their need for programming to fill all those hours (in the glory days before stinkin' informercials), we likely wouldn't have HAD all those important catalyst anime shows, like Star Blazers, Robotech and Voltron.
UHF stations and barter syndication deals are hallowed ghosts of our collective anime past.
and that host on the show rocks. His English is great, he's got that '70s JAC stuntman look down, and he's got that great 'movie trailer narrator' voice.
I'm serious, NHK should get Tokyo Eye placed somewhere here in the US before the current fad totally crashes. Adult Swim is the most likely web to hit, and it doesn't even need 'repurposing' like Takeshi's Castle...
Look, if a game show that's biggest promo is William Shatner dancing with a group of 'gameshow bunnies' (how very Sabido Gigante!), why can't we have Tokyo Eye in the US? WHY? ANSWER ME!!! *sob*
Posted by: Steve Harrison | November 09, 2006 at 12:28 PM
I liked Mr. Peppler's comparison of Harajuku tourism to people going to London of old to see the punks, not the least because one of the tomes for sale in the 1984 Books Nippan catalog (which I may not be the only person here to possess) was I WANT TO GO TO LONDON.
Posted by: Carl Horn | November 09, 2006 at 12:52 PM
I still think you should have dressed up. I mean, dude, torn jeans and a t-shirt that's seen better days...Patrick! That's SO not fabulous! Someone get "Goth Eye For The Gaijin Guy" on the case! And that lovely woman who's your co-panelist...she'd look awesome in Goth-Loli finery. Tell her Ms. Geek says "go for it."
Again...I want to see Tokyo Eye on US TV. So far so good. I'd even buy it on DVD if nobody picks it up otherwise. Does NHK do DVDs? They should.
Oh yeah, Choko-nyan/Ayane is my new hero. She has a way with a sewing machine. Those are NOT easy garments to sew. At all. And that's a pro-quality job. Rock on.
Posted by: Ms. Geek | November 09, 2006 at 10:32 PM
Riiiiight. Like I'm gonna take fashion advice from someone named "Ms. Geek."
Posted by: Patrick Macias | November 10, 2006 at 07:45 AM
The host always sounds like he can barely hold back the contempt in his voice. I expect him to one day break down on camera and just start crying. "I wanted to be a war correspondent! I wanted to expose government corruption!"
Posted by: Keith | November 10, 2006 at 01:31 PM
And I'm sorry, but that ridiculous pigeon-toed girl thing MUST BE STOPPED!!! Is it supposed to be cute? Childlike? You don't see Sue Shiomi standing around like that, man!
Posted by: Keith | November 10, 2006 at 01:36 PM
"you get to watch a Japanese TV show that just aired! YouTube is cool"
Speaking of which... Death Note 6 is out. Anyone a fan besides me?
Posted by: Marielle | November 10, 2006 at 04:31 PM
The pigeon-toed thing is a perfect example of circular events and self-fulfilling stuff.
The way I recall it, back in the day some super popular manga artist saw a schoolgirl doing that, only maybe a bit more towards 'shy toe scuffing' than anything, and incorporated it in a super popular (shojo?) manga. It got carried over into the animated version, and young girls started to imitate it..I want to say it was Candy, Candy but I'm sure I'm likely wrong.
So flash forward, manga artists who grew up reading and watching whatever it was copied the action, because of fond memories, and it starts to work into anime as a 'standard', and in the new Mass Comi age, *boom*, it's amplified to the Nth power, and overdone.
Yeah, it needs to stop. I vote for it to be replaced with 'Yas' style outstretched arm pointing, as seen to best effect in the Crusher Joe movie.
Posted by: Steve Harrison | November 10, 2006 at 05:13 PM
The host of Tokyo Eye looks (and sounds) like an evil villain
Posted by: Zer0 | November 11, 2006 at 10:17 AM
Ma chérie Marielle, you must remember that I'm not tech-oriented, and therefore easily impressed by the age we live in. When I first used Wi-Fi successfully, I went on about the achievement for a good six months or more.
Posted by: Carl Horn | November 11, 2006 at 01:30 PM
Cute girls squealing with glee and bouncing up and down when they meet each other...how can you get better entertainment than that?
Posted by: SurfPenguin | November 13, 2006 at 08:46 PM
These videos are great, I like everything Japanese, especially the girls (^_^)
Posted by: Dario Vazquez | November 14, 2006 at 09:33 AM
I love seeing reports on this. I keep saying I want to get into the whole Gothic Lolita style. Well, at least the male equivilent. (Is it Gothic Aristocrat?) I really like that it's gothic, but a good deal isn't real punkish like most American gothic style. I once even picked up that Kira magazine in a Japanese store in Boston because it looked interesting and Amy Lee of Evanescecne was on the cover.
Also, a female friend of a friend is really into the whole EGL scene at conventions around here. It really is slowly trickling into American culture.
Posted by: Xenos | December 20, 2006 at 12:24 AM