Wow, I totally didn’t even know that this show existed until I was surfing channels tonight.
In fact, I was thisclose to not even seeing it. I was about to stick another anime DVD into the VCR um, duh, the DVD player when I saw that Family Feud was on NBC, and I always loved that show, so I had to watch. But when I was flipping during ads, I saw that ABC was advertising a show call “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” which was to air next so, of course, I had to check it out.
Now, my impression is that they’re taking part in a made-up Japanese game show called Majide (and someone can correct me if I’m wrong on this part) where contestants basically compete in the most famous (or infamous) competitions seen on Japanese game and variety shows.
I’m not really an expert on said shows, so I’m not sure if the competitions they partake in actually occur or are common on Japanese TV, but this should be interesting nevertheless, though I almost watched as much to see things in Japan (oh! There’s the Rainbow Bridge! I know that! Oh! And that’s the Tokyo Tower! Oh, and I’ve seen that building in an anime before too!) than to actually watch the reality show.
In any case, they can’t have a show set in Japan without hitting anime eventually, I would think. They at the very least have to go to Akihabara and run into a horde of otaku or something.
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My co-workers made me aware of this one night when a basketball game was being shown on the TV and an ad first came up for “Wipeout,” then” I Survived a Japanese Gameshow.” I’ve been a fan of Japanese game shows ever since I saw “Takeshi’s Castle” back in 1989 when I lived in Japan.
Anyway, I can say that Japanese game shows are this nutty and more so in some cases.
I can’t stand reality TV shows, but I’ll watch this because of the Japanese games and because I hope to see more of Japan.
I was kinda floored when I saw the promos for this thing – it made me think back to all the awful Chinese game shows I sat through in my Mandarin classes in high school
Is that show even a real one that shows in Japan? It looks like the people in Japan just made the show for this patricular reality show. Still, looks funny to me. ^_^
MXC on Spike TV is the real Japanese game show that only dub with English.
Personally, MXC is much much funnier and more wacky.
Wow, so you were very lucky to see the promo just minutes before it aired or what? I first heard about it while in the middle of Euro 2008’s Netherlands vs. Russia match where the broadcasters put a reminder to the viewers that this was going to premiere. Common or not, most Japanese would love to get a dose of laughter for these game shows. Now I know that Unbeatable Banzuke(the guy with the mike is the host of this too) and Ninja Warrior are very fierce, and it takes a lot of athleticism to participate in those, but shows like MXC are what you would look for for a “normal” game show.
Don’t get eliminated! As the dub says…
Hai, Majide!!! They have no idea he told the audience that they do whatever he tells them too, and he’s freaking awesome with engrish, lol
According to Japan Probe, this “Japanese” game show was created just for this reality series. They even got a Japanese-American to host it. There was quite a lot of animosity toward this show on Japan Probe (and rightly so, I think), but I’m curious as to whether or not the show’s producers have successfully translated the essence of Japanese game shows into something that caters to the North American audience.
Well, I’m not necessarily surprised that it was a show made for the series, as long as the things they do are basically what people on Japanese game shows do (which is why I was sort of asking about it).
One of the things that I’ll be looking at in this series is whether ABC just tries to do a “Japanese people are weird” thing (even when they’re out visiting the city or whatever) or whether they actually try to do some education about Japanese culture. It’s hard to know from just the first episode.
Generally, Japanese game shows are hosted by someone famous, but I’ve never seen the man who hosts “Majide.” I think the show was taped here in the United States. Scenes of Tokyo don’t have those contestants in them (Or do they? I’ve only watched parts of the first and the second episodes), and rooms they stay and the green room look way too Japanese for actually being in Japan.
The games look very Japanese, though.
I just saw an episode of this tonight (okay, technically last night, but you get my point). While I was watching, I started wondering whether Hai? Majide! was an actual game show in Japan, or whether it was just made specifically for the show, since I’d seen a few Japanese game shows myself, aside from Sasuke (Ninja Warrior), Unbeatable Banzuke, and MXC. I also recognized Kato Kei from Banzuke, so it just made me wonder.
I believe Majide is made up for the show (and yes, I’m pretty sure it’s in Japan), but it is supposed to use games which have appeared on other game shows (or are similar to those games).
I guess you could call it a Japanese Game Show in spirit.
You were going to put a DVD in the VCR?
Lol, well you know how it is…
Excellent write up, very interesting read!
when will they get shows like this?
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/hot-j-babes-melting-ice-at-the-beach-competition/
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