Known for their outrageous antics, off-the-wall humor, slapstick comedy (that admittedly leaves some audiences wondering about the state of affairs in Japan), the Japanese are a force to be reckoned with. Often broken into comedy teams of twos (so as to be able to work off each other), they some times come in threes, which can lead to wackier antics. Then there are the comedy shows such as Mecha Mecha Iketeru, Groovy After School, and Warau Inu, which gather the current greatest comedy teams such as 99, Othello, Downtown, Utchan Nanchan, Neptune and a myriad of others, to serve up sketch comedy ala In Living Color or Saturday Night Live.
Warau Inu (short for Warau In No Bouken; currently in it's umpteenth generation complete with name change and varying cast members) has gathered constants such as Utchan Nanchan and Neptune and thrown in revolving cast members such as Othello (I absolutely adore Nakajima Tomoko; she is my comedy goddess), and Becky (an idol who is half-Japanese, half-British) to create a hour of unholy comedy that will leave you in tears, even if you don't understand Japanese. In fact, if you want to learn real Japanese and how the Japanese interact with each other (granted on a slightly skewed scale), comedy shows are the way to go. So much of my Japanese I picked up from shows like these.
With their affinity for karaoke, singing in general and comedy, I guess it's only natural to combine these "talents". I say that in quotes because far too often, the reason that comedy teams aren't musical bands, is well, far too obvious. They suck. I nearly had a stroke when my beloved London Boots put out an album. Thank god they knew when to stop. However, if you watch comedy shows like this long enough, the singing troupe is going to come along and usually it's easily ridden out the two or three episodes it appears without too much auditory damage.
However, I was pleasantly surprised and honestly shocked when I was offered to review this little gem of a music video. Produced by the Fuji TV Network on the Warau Inu television program it stars the three members of Neptune, Ut of Utchan Nanchan and in a song and dance combination that while is goofy, is nonetheless quite a catchy number. A well-executed song and dance number that started off with the "Titanic" parody sketch (also included on the DVD) on the show. It was such a hit in Japan they did a subsequent video and even took the show on the road to New York where they were well-received by several live television shows and parodied by crazed fans.
Six grown men, dressed in nothing but their underwear, leaves and mics to cover them, they throw together a quick mix of easily understood English and Japanese phrases to espouse the virtues of being alive no matter the situation, even if all they have is a single leaf to cover them. Three different music videos (stage version, multiangle version, titled version) and a comedy sketch starring Nambara (Nanchan) and Tomoko Nakajima as a married couple in a Titanic-like situation, they sing and dance into the hearts of everyone around them. Truly comedic. Fans of J-Pop, slapstick comedy and Japanese culture will surely enjoy this production.
To further mark this as a special treat, this DVD is a DVD Single, measuring only 8 cm or 3 inches across (yes, it will play just fine in regular DVD players and computers), is filmed in 4:3 format, is in the original Japanese language and is 23 minutes long. Comedy, rated for all viewers.
Now, aren't you happy to be alive?
