Showing posts with label Slapstick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Slapstick. Show all posts
Sunday, January 30, 2011
A Feisty Food Challenge! (Toradora! SOS)
Completing the awesome Toradora! airing series experience, its follow-up OVA, Toradora! SOS fills in with more gut-busting comedy as the Toradora! bunch, this time with their crazy antics - Ryuuji, Taiga, Minori, and Ami pig out (despite the girls' self-proclaimed status as 'diet warriors') on challenges to find out the best on Jonny's (their friendly neighborhood famiresu) menu, and the three stalk Ami on her eating habits. And Kitamura? Well he's got a lot to say but so much for that. LOL
Ryuuji, Taiga and Ami, crash Jonny's as they test their taste buds on food, so good they never knew it existed as per Ryuuji's invitation. Each time, they find Minori inside, pigging out on food similar to Ryuuji's choice and usually ends up having a contest between them on whose recommendation tastes better.
Toradora! SOS features your regular Toradora! bunch in a different and crazier setting (well, not as much as Minori was in the series LOL) with loads of comic relief to go around, packed in four 5-minute short episodes. For the first three episodes, the bunch raids Jonny's as they see for themselves which of Ryuuji and Minori's pick of similar specialties on Jonny's menu are better. For the last one, Ryuuji, Taiga and Minori stalk Ami in order to find out her eating habits having them end up following her in a convenience store where she buys copious amounts of corned beef.
The usually modest, feminine and diet and figure-conscious Ami, who grumbled about the nonexistence of such a delicious Tarako Spaghetti lets out a waterfall of drool at the sight of one.
The ladies let loose their wild cravings as soon as the food is served and the contest begins. On the second episode, they try to see which one's better, Ryuuji's extravagant Custard Pudding or Minori's simple Puccini Purin.
After presenting her favored Jonny's Meat Spaghetti, Minori discusses in rapid fervor the great mystery which is the homophony of the word "meat" and "meet". How much more deeper and interesting can it get eh? Everytime Ryuuji or Minori presents a new food they discuss topics of "such relation" that Taiga and Ami stare at with puzzled and annoyed snarls painted on their faces.
Third episode really cracked me up. The wafting aroma of Jonny's Super Spicy Curry got Taiga's eyes watery and swollen red as a baboon's rear.
And much worse after everyone tasted it.
Minori, being the "diet warrior" she claims herself to be, examines the suspicious growth of flabs on Ami's waist. She, Taiga and Ryuuji then hatched a plan on an operation to stalk Ami and find out what caused such a catastrophe.
After getting caught red-handed after buying loads of canned corned beef, Ami blasts the three with her "uguu~" and "kawaii" powers as she tries to persuade them to try her...
...Corned Beef Tower. Piled raw corned beef dressed with what seems to be mayonnaise. Although her persuasion seemed more like coercive duress as the three huddled terrified as she offered her peculiar specialty.
Though, most viewers I believe would rate this short quite low for the lack of relation to the series' story (might have given some viewers who were expecting it to be a side-story arc a bit of disappointment) or a lack of a proper story in itself, I'd think otherwise. I think the OVA served its purpose of giving audiences a good laugh or enough breather to balance things out with the dramatic and touching series with the characters just fooling around. As for me, it was very satisfying, definitely a great follow-up extra to the awesome TV series.
Oh yes, Kitamura. well, his lengthy rhetoric was ignored most of the time in the series but he did catch my attention when he mentioned his confusion with corned beef as a mixture of corn and beef. I did ask myself that question before. Why is there no corn on corned beef? And what's with Ryuuji on this screenie? I assure you guys, its not what you think it is. LOL
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Slapstick at its Best (Azumanga Daioh)
Among all the comedy-slapstick themed anime I've watched so far, this one made it to my number one best comedy anime show of all time. (beating Doraemon for the title) Azumanga Daioh is an anime that portrays the everyday lives of certain high school girls and their teachers filled with hilarity and weird antics. The combination and clashing of each character's individuality (which I like the most of course), running gags, puns and weird and funny situations definitely completes the comedic experience of this anime series.
The crazy bunch of main characters in Azumanga Daioh.
The anime's story revolves around three years of high school and the events in between. From days of classes in school to vacations in Chiyo-chan's seaside rest house to trips around Japan to leisurely walks on weekends and even in the thoughts and New Year's dreams of each character. Each episode never failed to make me chuckle at the very least, but mostly, laugh my lungs out.
The series sometimes contains a bit of dirty humor, which in my opinion makes it more laughable. Tomo-chan apart from other girls, shows a lot of interest in and is really good with dirty jokes.
Now, on with the characters!
Mihama Chiyo, the cutest of the bunch is really popular in their campus for her size and intellectual prowess, being able to skip five grades to 10th grade. (first year high school). She really can't compare with other other girls when it comes to athletics though, and is very envious of Sakaki's height and skill in sports.
Osaka and Chiyo inside the infamous "Yukari-mobile" Seems they had fun having tasted Yukari-sensei's notorious driving skills, Chiyo especially, being scarred for life after this.
Tomo-chan is one of my favorite characters in this series. Being the resident 'wildcat' of their class, she loves action and challenges whether it be challenging Sakaki in sports or Chiyo in academics in which both cases she never wins. She also loves to make fun of others, particularly Yomi, whom she has been troubling since elementary and Chiyo whom she loves picking on.
Having a "green mind", Tomo annoys Yomi by repeating out loud the name of a biscuit that sounds like penis in Japanese.
Among the other girls, Tomo has the most interest in sexuality. This time she succeeds in getting her much desired "information" from a drunk Nyamo.
Yomi is Tomo's classmate since elementary. She has weight troubles which amuses Tomo and most of the time, is the point of her jokes thereby putting Tomo on the receiving end of her punches.
Sakaki is the tallest and most reticent of the group. Her being silent is usually misunderstood by her classmates as being cool or mysterious. Despite her height and busty physique (which is the cause of her shyness), she loves cute things and animals, cats in particular. She is also naturally athletic and is frequently challenged by Tomo and Kagura.
Despite of her love for cats, she always gets bitten whenever she tries to touch one. Kagura says, the cats seem to think she approaches them with murderous intent or maybe her hand just smells like fish.
Kaorin is a girl who has developed a strange infatuation with Sakaki. Sakaki though doesn't seem to mind or realize this but Kaorin always gets anxious and extremely jealous whenever the other girls get closer to the former.
Ayumu or Osaka (the name given to her by Tomo because she is from Osaka which has been her name for the rest of the series) is one of my favorite anime characters of all time. She has an extremely weird personality, slow, spacey and always gets lost in her intense imagination. Despite this she is amazed by the bizarre and has a morbid sense of humor.
Having a weird yet vivid imagination, she imagines Chiyo being able to detach her pigtails and replace them with new ones. She even dreamt of Chiyo being able to fly with flapping pigtails and her pigtails controlling her mind.
Osaka, groups the girls according to their bust sizes, categorizing them as different nationalities. Sakaki having the biggest, she called an american, Kaorin and Yomi as hawaiians and in this one, Tomo and herself as Japanese, being the smallest. Yomi though grouped them both as Chiyo's equals.
This part of the series really had me going. Osaka plans on waking Yukari up by banging a frying pan. Still drowsy, she went to the kitchen and took a butcher knife instead.
Kagura is a member of the swim team and has declared a one-sided athletic rivalry with Sakaki. She only became their classmate during the second year where she and Sakaki became friends but still sports rivals though the latter is only on her part. She always gets tricked by Osaka to showing her tan lines in class.
Though she excels in athletics, Kagura sucks at academics. Together with Osaka and and the dumb ass Tomo being the leader, they formed their study group "Bonklers" (as Yomi calls the three of them after failing an exam) in which they are proud of being one.
Kurosawa-sensei or "Nyamo", as Yukari calls her, is the girls' PE teacher. Both Nyamo and Yukari are alumnae of the same school they are teaching in and are very old friends. Whenever they fight it usually gets to the point of digging up old secretswhich they try to conceal from their students. Despite her modesty though, Nyamo can get wild and sleazy when drunk.
Yukari-sensei, the girls' homeroom teacher is very similar to Tomo being a crazy woman herself. She is very skilled and appears to be fluent in speaking English which she uses to show her superiority over Nyamo.
Yukari is also very notorious for her driving and her derelict car has earned the ill-fated nickname "Yukari-mobile". Though, the other girls who had ridden the Yukari-mobile experienced extreme shock and trauma Tomo seems to enjoy riding with her. No wonder they are very much alike.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Zatōichi (2003)
Although I admit to not being a huge fan of action movies, I do enjoy watching samurai and gangster movies among others. Critically-acclaimed actor, director and screenwriter "Beat" Takeshi Kitano (who is well known also as Takeshi from the original hit game show "Takeshi's Castle") directed this awesome film and played the part of the traditional legendary blind swordsman, Zatōichi.
Takeshi Kitano as the blind swordsman of legend: Zatoichi
The film follows the traditional plot of the blind swordsman masquerading as a regular masseur and gambling enthusiast among townsfolk. Upon learning of the troubles caused by the local Yakuza (imposing heavy taxes for "protection" among the towns residents and local gang wars), being cheated in a game of dice run by one of the local gangs and swearing to avenge the deaths of the family two orphaned geishas at the hands of the yakuza boss., Zatoichi springs into action, slashing every Yakuza stupid enough to challenge him.
Trying to strike a seemingly harmless blind old man eh? Big mistake.
Zatoichi's first encounter with the local yakuza's powerful hired ronin, Hattori Gennosuke.
Takeshi Kitano, known for being a comedian always includes some slapstick humor in his films. Here's Zatoichi pretending he's not blind.
The movie ends with an amazing tap dance number with performers wearing traditional Noh masks.
With a perfect dose of bloody action and the occasional signature slapstick comedy (as expected of the comedian Takeshi Kitano) This movie surely makes it to my list of best samurai movies of all time.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Suppin Bishoujo! (Hyakko TV Series)
One thing I'm fond of in movies or in TV is how the characters are given such unique individuality. Hyakko is a TV series based on a manga of the same name. A great mix of colorful "slice-of-life" and heaps of hilarity revolving around the school life of high-school students of a fictional Kamizono Academy in Kyūshū, Japan and the adventures/misadventures of the anime's four main heroines: Ayumi Nonomura, Torako Kageyama, Tatsuki Iizuka, and Suzume Saotome.
The gang of four (left to right): Suzume, Torako, Tatsuki and Ayumi
The story begins with Ayumi Nonomura, the extremely shy yet very popular among boys, freshman student. Being so timid and too absorbed on her troubles of making friends she got lost on her first day in what they would call "unnecessarily huge" school. The unfortunate incident though led to her meeting with the classy and intimidating Tatsuki who is also lost despite her being a student in Kamizono since elementary, Torako, the wild and energetic trouble-maker and the strong and silent Suzume. Troubles ensue as they try to find their way around school ending with Torako breaking windows and landing a powerful left on their homeroom teacher (whom she isn't aware of yet) knocking him out. Much trouble on the first day.
Torako, delivering a left to the body of their homeroom teacher. Uh-oh..
Like what I've mentioned earlier, I really love character development and individuality. Here's a glimpse on Hyakko's cast of weirdoes.
Ayumi Nonomura, the cute and girly type. Extremely shy and reserved yet very popular among guys because of her 90-56-85 measurements. Her photos sell a fortune.
The wild and energetic instigator, Torako. Despite her explosive and outgoing characteristics she has family troubles yet that doesn't stop her from chasing after life. :)
Torako playing tennis as Maria "Sharapoka", as she calls herself.
The classy "princess" type Tatsuki. Being the daughter of a very rich CEO it's no wonder yet despite her arrogance, she longs for friendship.
The strong and silent glutton of the pack: Suzume. Never underestimate her childish innocence. She can literally kill a player in a game of dodgeball.
Just by walking around the campus, she can accumulate this much free snacks from everyone. Really popular with her massive appetite.
The resident nerd: Chie. She is a member of the school's Robotics club and loves to design grotesque robots.
To avoid class, Torako and Suzume asked Chie to build a robot that's supposed to be like them. Turns out it's way too obvious.
The class representative of section 1-6, Nene Andou. She has a keen eye for beauty and a creative mind for.. uhm.. fantasies. :)
Nene takes a peek at Ayu's panties. As she puts it herself, she is a bisexual. It's really hilarious whenever she gets nosebleeds.
The misinterpreted delinquent, Ushio Makunouchi. Despite her "yankee" looks she isn't actually a real delinquent.
Torako gets surprised after seeing Ushio's face light up upon seeing her pet a cat. Apart from cats Ushio loves pudding and other sweet things.
Kazamatsuri Touma's characteristics of being a loner often pisses Torako much.
Touma loves silence, books and being alone and hates Torako, yet in truth Torako was her first friend in Kamizono.
In spite of her being very tall and busty, Ooba Minato often gets teary-eyed over the most trivial of things. She can also become very relentless and persistent when it comes to repaying kindness which Torako and Ushio had to experience.
Suzume and Minato being possessive of Torako.
This girl is my favorite. Despite her appearance which reminds me of Sadako from "The Ring" and Orochimaru from "Naruto" and her idiosyncratic creepiness, behind that long hair she can be very, very beautiful. I tell you.:)
Inori's nasty grin. She has difficulty of making friends because no matter hard she tries, the way she acts and talks always has an air of terror.
Kobayashi Koma, the class photography and business enthusiast. Though her subjects are usually attractive students whose pictures would sell well among other students.
Kageyama Kitsune, Torako's sadistic and prankster older brother. His favorite targets: Torako and Ayumi. He wears a safety pin for an earring. Weird.
Kitsune plays a nasty prank on Ayumi. C'mon he's just joking. Nyahaha. :)
Torako's elder sister, Oniyuri. Being different from her two siblings, she is a responsible model student and the Student Council Chairman of Kamizono High.
Kyouichiro Amagasa, section 1-6's homeroom adviser. I feel sorry for him having to handle the crazy bunch. His interactions with Torako are pretty interesting though.
Well, more troubles, action, and tomfoolery happens on the succeeding episodes and I can't deny the truth on a comment I found on the online community, BakaBT which goes: "This anime makes me fart really hard." With too much laughing on the show I guarantee viewers much unwanted flatulence. :)
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