Making Light :: Anabuki Construction ad :: comments http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#comments Language, fraud, folly, truth, history, and knitting. Et cetera. en Fri, 28 Nov 2003 13:37:08 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.34-en Anabuki Construction ad This is one of the weirdest ads I've ever seen. It's for a new development built by Anabuki Construction. Keep... This is one of the weirdest ads I've ever seen. It's for a new development built by Anabuki Construction. Keep... http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #1 from Tom Whitmore comment from Tom Whitmore on 28.Nov.03 Hey, if you want to see a lot more about Tanuki and their magic balls, you need to see the Studio Ghibli animated film TAMPOPO, which is all about a bunch of tanuki trying to keep the humans from ruining their forest. You are unlikely to see it in a theater, as they do a lot of magic with their balls. It's an odd little film (not a Miyazaki film, though Ghibli is Miyazaki's studio) and worth seeking out.

Furries everywhere! The world keeps getting stranger.

Cheers,
Tom

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 1:37 PM by Tom Whitmore</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32891 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32891 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 13:37:08 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #2 from Avram comment from Avram on 28.Nov.03 Tom beat me to it! Except he means Pom Poko (or Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko), not 93Tampopo94.

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 1:55 PM by Avram</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32894 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32894 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 13:55:24 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #3 from Lenora Rose comment from Lenora Rose on 28.Nov.03 No, Tampopo is live action, and about the magical powers of ramen noodles. (well, not really, but it's a western about Ramen noodles, and that's surreal enough...)

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 2:13 PM by Lenora Rose</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32896 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32896 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 14:13:55 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #4 from Bill Humphries comment from Bill Humphries on 28.Nov.03 Good ramen does have mystical properties.

But that video is gloriously strange, and it's just promoting a builder of apartments... I bet my landlord could rent out that last unit if he ran ads with magical forest creatures... or kawaii spokeswomen...

Meanwhile, I've been afraid to click any of the extreme fandom links Xeni's been posting to Boing Boing this week.

Trying to find the chord changes to "Angel's Pledge" is extreme enough for me, thank you.

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 2:56 PM by Bill Humphries</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32898 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32898 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 14:56:48 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #5 from Tom Whitmore comment from Tom Whitmore on 28.Nov.03 Ah well, that's what comes of posting before I was really awake.... And the director is Isao Takahata, to make it easier for you to look up.

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 3:03 PM by Tom Whitmore</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32899 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32899 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 15:03:30 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #6 from Mary Kay comment from Mary Kay on 28.Nov.03 Believe it or not, I ran across tanuki and their magical, um, powers somewhere else very recently. I can't remember where or I'd give the link. But they're pretty unforgettable!

MKK

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 5:00 PM by Mary Kay</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32902 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32902 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 17:00:38 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #7 from Paula Helm Murray comment from Paula Helm Murray on 28.Nov.03 I love the Internet... here's a couple of links

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/tanuki.shtml

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/pompoko/

Enjoy. I want one! As a pet!

paula

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 7:41 PM by Paula Helm Murray</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32903 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32903 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 19:41:32 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #8 from James D. Macdonald comment from James D. Macdonald on 28.Nov.03 Talk about yer friggin' inscrutable!

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 8:31 PM by James D. Macdonald</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32904 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32904 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 20:31:42 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #9 from BSD comment from BSD on 28.Nov.03 Fear the Japanese mystical creatures.
Tanuki and Kitsune (similar, but less vulgar, less benevolent (generally...), and foxes) are pretty damn weird, but Tengu? And their local version of the Devouring/Sheltering Crone (See also: Baba Yaga): Yamamba?

Of course, my favorite are the Kappa, whow, while Kitsune and Tanuki have enjoyed a healthy popcultural life (mostly in anime and statuary), have apparently been relegated to cute little dolls in most popcult appearances.

Who can fail to love little malevolent water sprites with infinite strength as long as the water on top of their heads doesn't spill.

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 8:57 PM by BSD</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32905 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32905 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 20:57:53 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #10 from Tom Whitmore comment from Tom Whitmore on 28.Nov.03 And, BSD, who gave their name to cucumber sushi rolls (kappa-maki) -- I heard a rumor that this is because they love the rolls so much that they'll lean down to pick them up and ... oops, no more water!

Cheers,
Tom

]]> <p>Posted November 28, 2003 11:11 PM by Tom Whitmore</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32908 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32908 Fri, 28 Nov 2003 23:11:36 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #11 from BSD comment from BSD on 29.Nov.03 Sources vary as to whether you present cucumber/cucumber rolls to Kappa in order to:
1: Placate them
2: Get them to bend over, spilling out the water, or
3: When you give them the cucumber-product, they, being japanese malevolent spirits, of course bow to you. Bowing makes them spill, etc.

]]> <p>Posted November 29, 2003 1:25 PM by BSD</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32922 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32922 Sat, 29 Nov 2003 13:25:49 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #12 from Teresa Nielsen Hayden comment from Teresa Nielsen Hayden on 30.Nov.03 I've watched it again. Still weird.

]]> <p>Posted November 30, 2003 4:27 PM by Teresa Nielsen Hayden</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32973 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#32973 Sun, 30 Nov 2003 16:27:21 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #13 from Steve Taylor comment from Steve Taylor on 30.Nov.03 > 3: When you give them the
> cucumber-product, they, being japanese
> malevolent spirits, of course bow to you.
> Bowing makes them spill, etc.

Back in my game programming days we (though not me personally, unfortunately) did a licensed Usagi Yojimbo game for the Sinclair Spectrum and the Commodore-64 which featured politeness as well as mayhem, and artwork and animation were done for Kappas, which you could only defeat by bowing to them (so their bowl tipped) rather than by fighting them.

Sadly, the pokey 64k memory of the C64 couldn't accomodate all the artwork, so that bit never made it inot the final game.

]]> <p>Posted November 30, 2003 11:13 PM by Steve Taylor</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33012 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33012 Sun, 30 Nov 2003 23:13:08 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #14 from Skwid comment from Skwid on 1.Dec.03 An oldie, but a goodie; and I've never seen the translation before.

One of my friends was deeply disturbed by this, back in the day. We did all we could for him...but somehow, making it so that the song played everytime he logged into the group message board didn't help him overcome his aversion.

Go figure.

]]> <p>Posted December 1, 2003 12:26 PM by Skwid</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33055 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33055 Mon, 01 Dec 2003 12:26:29 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #15 from T.L. Hines comment from T.L. Hines on 1.Dec.03 All I can say is: it takes big cajones to pull off a commercial like this one.

Speaking of all things odd and Japanese, is anyone else a fan of "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" on Spike TV? I think it's the funniest thing on television today, even without the crude English voiceovers (and I'm certainly a fan of crude English voiceovers).

]]> <p>Posted December 1, 2003 3:22 PM by T.L. Hines</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33075 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33075 Mon, 01 Dec 2003 15:22:10 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #16 from Skwid comment from Skwid on 2.Dec.03 Ooo...if the Anabuki-chan ad is new, have you seen the Tokyo Breakfast short? Brilliant...

]]> <p>Posted December 2, 2003 3:31 PM by Skwid</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33191 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33191 Tue, 02 Dec 2003 15:31:20 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #17 from David Goldfarb comment from David Goldfarb on 2.Dec.03 One thing I just picked up on, that I really should have remembered before -- something not mentioned in the annotated translation link -- is the riff on "Little Red Riding Hood". The campaign girl is wearing a red hooded cloak, and when we first see her she's carrying a basket. And watashi no kioku ga tashika naraba (if memory serves me right) the Japanese version of "Little Red Riding Hood" is called "Akazukin-chan". ("Aka" here is "red" and I suppose that a hooded cloak is a "zuki" or "zukin".) "Anabukin-chan" seems like an obvious pun on "Akazukin-chan".

]]> <p>Posted December 2, 2003 8:18 PM by David Goldfarb</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33208 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33208 Tue, 02 Dec 2003 20:18:45 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #18 from Eva comment from Eva on 4.Dec.03 Passing strange. My mother's from Japan and used to tell me kappa/tanuki stories when I was growing up, but she never mentioned this.

This made my day.

]]> <p>Posted December 4, 2003 4:31 AM by Eva</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33358 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33358 Thu, 04 Dec 2003 04:31:51 -0500 Anabuki Construction ad -- comment #19 from Stefan Jones comment from Stefan Jones on 4.Dec.03 My uncle creates Japanese gardens. I should ask him if he has a souce of ceramic tanuki. They'd be fun housewarming gifts.

From a late season of "Mystery Science Theater 3000":

Tom Servo: "If she's a werewolf, why doesn't she have many rows of really small breasts?"

Mike: "That makes me uncomfortable in _so_ many ways?"

]]> <p>Posted December 4, 2003 12:49 PM by Stefan Jones</p> http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33384 http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004132.html#33384 Thu, 04 Dec 2003 12:49:25 -0500