# Japanese and Korean TV: Where Anime Dares Not Tread



## BrodyCoyote (Sep 25, 2012)

*Holy crap weeaboo alert!*





Okay, so I'm probably not exactly the weirdo Asian TV lover you might expect. I used to be into anime and such, and then, I stumbled upon some random videos of comedians acting ridiculous, which I quickly learned to be a variety show starring two comedy groups: Downtown and  Cocorico (Or Coq 'au Rico, they vary on the name spelling when using roman translations of ã‚³ã‚³ãƒªã‚³) What began as a simple, accidental encounter with one weird and random show became, I hate to say obsession, but extreme interest. So of course I would have to create a thread to house this phenomenon! So without further ado, onwards, to inflict the shows upon you, the hapless audience! 
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Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arehende!!!
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The Japanese variety show to start it all for me. This show is two comedy groups just trying to out-crazy eachother, from the sadistic Hamada, the goofy and clumsy Tanaka, the man of big ideas Matsumoto, and the poor Yamazaki and Endo, youngest of the comedy groups. Episodes are generally several crazy skits, some of them scripted comedy, some of them Matsumoto's thoughts, and some... completely insane. More and more, the latter has become the focus, and a lot of these find their way online.

Batsu Game
Most infamous of all their skits is their New Years Batsu Games. Every year for the past few years, they've designed punishment games for eachother, originally based on bets on baseball games and physical competitions, but eventually the production team decided all of them would have to take part in this new years celebration. Originally stuff like a Haunted Hotel, where Matsumoto had to stay in a haunted hotel alone while all the other cast members and the production staff devised ways to terrify him, including a woman popping up from behind a one-way mirror, suddenly visible, and screaming at Matsumoto as he was using the urinal, terrifying him so badly he wound up peeing in a bottle. After a few years became the modern No Laughing Batsu Game, where laughter is punished, and the production staff devises ingenious ways to make the cast laugh.

For instance, my favorite skit in all of them is still Jimmy Onishi, a cast member from years back, returning to try to speak English and count during the High School Batsu Game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZjqucrnI9w

Absolutely Tasty!
Absolutely Tasty is one of my personal favorites. The cast members suggest ingredients to put in various dishes, to make them more unique and original. Afterwards they all try it to test how tasty it actually is, and rank it on a scoreboard, where the highest is 10, and the lowest is.. a constantly shifting number that started at 1, then 0, then skull and crossbones, then a full skeleton, and at one point became a demonic mask as they had to find worse and worse ways to score. As an instance, here is the first part of the Pizza episode to sink your teeth into.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDuUc7o8-ZY

Silent Library
Infamous enough to have made it overseas and become its own show on MTV, though it didn't catch the charm of the original. The cast members have to play punishment games set up by the production staff, and draw cards to see who has to be punished. On top of that, they must be quiet, and not interrupt the patrons of the library. Those are the only two rules. Simple concept, painful execution!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQQNS9Olso
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Running Man*
What is Running Man? Imagine Amazing Race, only the contestants are all trapped inside one place (like, for instance, a mall, or a museum) and have to go against eachother in physical and mental challenges. And sometimes, challenges that are just dumb luck, for instance, choosing a random number to find out the size of your spoon for your coffee. Choose a ladle? Well too bad, son, drink up, this is a race, whoever finishes first gets the advantage! If you like a variety show with an action theme, and an all-star cast of comedians, celebrities and musicians from South Korea and China, you might like Running Man. Myself, I'm a fan of Kwang-Soo, the poor underdog everyone always ignores, even when he has good ideas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS8zTEZeSuY

I'm sure there's more than these wacky shows, feel free to add more, or review these two!


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