They Watch the Boondocks in Japan!

[Kage Kisaragi]

I mean, yeah sure some people over there might have satellite, might pick up some of our channels but I never suspected they actually would adopted the Boondocks and dub it in japanese.. Wow, talk about news..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JN1RumK06x8

theres more to, ... but wow. I watched the whole 3rd episode in Japanese, still just as funny.

Remember folks

Baishunpu = ho

[SAMAS]

Is it just me, or is it funny to hear Japanese people say the "n-word?"

[Inkthinker]

Not entirely "news"... they started doing it after the first season.

They also translate and publish Fred Gallagher's Megatokyo. Much more ironic (I think).

[Kage Kisaragi]

Not entirely "news"... they started doing it after the first season.

They also translate and publish Fred Gallagher's Megatokyo. Much more ironic (I think).

Isn't it though lol.

[Inkthinker]

I'm never good with the definition of irony... but it seems like an American webcomic about Japanese fandom becoming popular in Japan is at least more ironic than a black fly in your chardonnay.

:D

[The Xenos]

Which is a more molested and bastardized term? The definition of ironic in that Alanis Morrisette song or the defiition of manga by MegaTokyo and its fans? I usually bring up that song when talking about 'American manga' like MegaTokyo and here they're already both being talked about.

And on Boondocks, I have to wonder how this will warp the perception of African Americans in Japan. I was over there and saw some interesting things. A friend of mine who's black is living over there. Sometimes he sees things that as messed up. He showed another friend some J Drama where a Japanese girl goes to New York and gets mugged by some black guys. It was really messed up.

I was saving this photo for my blog, but I might as well post it here. This is a photo taken of a display my friends and I saw in a major department store chain in Japan.
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3536/japansambodscn1009lg2el9.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=japansambodscn1009lg2el9.jpg)

Wow.

[Laughing Mask]

they must think america is actually like that.

witch it is.

[maczero]

And on Boondocks, I have to wonder how this will warp the perception of African Americans in Japan. I was over there and saw some interesting things. A friend of mine who's black is living over there. Sometimes he sees things that as messed up. He showed another friend some J Drama where a Japanese girl goes to New York and gets mugged by some black guys. It was really messed up.

I was saving this photo for my blog, but I might as well post it here. This is a photo taken of a display my friends and I saw in a major department store chain in Japan.
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3536/japansambodscn1009lg2el9.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=japansambodscn1009lg2el9.jpg)

Wow.This forum is an interesting place to bring up this topic because I've seen several anime where blacks looked like sambo characters (bugged out eyes, big lips etc.). I know that's not always the case but I've always wondered why the Japanese would hang onto such negative (and frankly out of date) depictions of blacks. BTW, I was very close to using the term ironic in the first sentence.:D

[Black Atom]

I'm not confident the average Japanese person would really understand the themes that drive the ironic humor in something like Boondocks.

[SAMAS]

I'm not confident the average Japanese person would really understand the themes that drive the ironic humor in something like Boondocks.

Probably not...

*looks at the picture*

Then again, anything has gotta be an improvement!

[Kage Kisaragi]

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3536/japansambodscn1009lg2el9.th.jpg (http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=japansambodscn1009lg2el9.jpg)

Wow.

The real question is, do actually find those dolls cute enough to buy? If they find it cute (girls or boys) then im questioning how they actually preceive black people in general?

Obviously if you found something offensive or you didn't like something (even if its something as small as the color of their skin.) why would you make dolls out of them?

[SAMAS]

It's not quite a matter of discrimination, but of sheer ignorance. The average Japanese person has never so much as seen a black person, and most of those who do see us through music videos and the few Black anime/manga/videogame characters. Just check out the stuff the author/webmaster of "Gaijin Smash" (A black guy who's currently living in Japan after a teacher exchange program) had to put up with.

Now, keep in mind the fact that the classic "anime" look has large eyes primarily because of the old american cartoons of the 1930's.

Now go look up "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarves" on Wikipedia or YouTube. Not the best of impressions, is it?

This is why I say that The Boondocks can only be an improvement on that portrayal, even if they don't get the nuances of the series.

[Bakasama]

I'm never good with the definition of irony... but it seems like an American webcomic about Japanese fandom becoming popular in Japan is at least more ironic than a black fly in your chardonnay.

:D

Not really, I remember reading somewhere that the Japanese are in fact interested in how gaijins think/see the Japanese.

[maczero]

Obviously if you found something offensive or you didn't like something (even if its something as small as the color of their skin.) why would you make dolls out of them?These same type of dolls and figurines were very popular in the States when overt racism toward blacks was at its peak.

[Kage Kisaragi]

Then I guess it comes down to the purpose of the doll. What the heck are they doing with them? O_o

[Black Atom]

It's possible the Japanese just think they're cutesy depictions and are completely ignorant of how such dolls and images were once used to ridicule blacks in the US.

[Kage Kisaragi]

It's possible the Japanese just think they're cutesy depictions and are completely ignorant of how such dolls and images were once used to ridicule blacks in the US.

which is what i thought the case, however I guess the only way to be certain is to poll them.

[killfreely]

You all seem to be saying the same thing so let me argue for the other side. First of all, blacks have bigger lips and noses (and O.M.G. DARK SKIN), it's a fact, I would say you're all being unrealistic and radical by saying this is an evil depiction, its accurate damnit. I agree with Samas that pretty much all anime toons have big eyes but I disagree that Japanese people haven't seen black people / only see them on tv, that's completely wrong. Even if it were the case, it's not like they would depict every black toon as one of a couple blacks they have seen, although it would be hilarious if every black anime character looked and spoke like Lil Jon. Third point, the dialogue in the Boondocks is very active, Huey is always there to counter the misconceptions about blacks, but he makes very valid points about the state of affairs in black culture which he finds problematic, and this is very important dialogue, its not just hating on black people. And finally, you people don't give enough credit to the Japanese, they're very intelligent people and very open and not racist. Of course among the older generations there are bound to be some idealogical fools but it is nothing like most of the world. Go to Japan and I guarantee whether black or white you will be treated with incredible respect. Oh yeah one more thing to add to my rant, blacks and jews where I live usually exaggerate being victimized by racism. While it does happen, I find it very cowardly to hide behind your color or religion every time someone says things like they are, just so you can moan about how persecuted you are. I leave it up to you to guess my race :cool:

[Xero Kaiser]

First of all, blacks have bigger lips and noses (and O.M.G. DARK SKIN), it's a fact, I would say you're all being unrealistic and radical by saying this is an evil depiction, its accurate damnit.

If you think those dolls are at all accurate then I suggest going outside and seeing what actual people look like. Those dolls are a jacked up depiction and if you don't understand why, then you have no business discussing the matter.

[Holy Spirit]

Ya know, it's kinda amazing how many black people are on this forum..... I thought we were supposed to be a minority? :confused:

We're everywhere here! :biggrin:

[Xero Kaiser]

Ya know, it's kinda amazing how many black people are on this forum..... I thought we were supposed to be a minority? :confused:


That's just what we want them to think until we make our move.

But you gave it away

[Yun Lao]

Ya know, it's kinda amazing how many black people are on this forum..... I thought we were supposed to be a minority? :confused:

We're everywhere here! :biggrin:

...

...

...

Okay, I'm done laughing.

Seriously though, even in the South, which some Americans still seem to think is filled with white rednecks (there are some, I will admit,) there are large areas where white people are the extreme minority.

But that's from me derailing this topic. Considering how Japan redubs Power Rangers (which in turn, are dubs of Super Sentai,) it doesn't surprise me to see Boondocks being shown there.

[Kevin M.]

That's just what we want them to think until we make our move.

But you gave it away



What ever happened to your "Thrid Mario Brother" Avatar?

[Hazard]

Ya know, it's kinda amazing how many black people are on this forum..... I thought we were supposed to be a minority? :confused:

World-wide? Hardly

[Xero Kaiser]

What ever happened to your "Thrid Mario Brother" Avatar?

Man, I haven't had that one for years.

I might use it again, I liked it.

[Kevin M.]

Ya know, it's kinda amazing how many black people are on this forum..... I thought we were supposed to be a minority? :confused:

We're everywhere here! :biggrin:



Just a matter of time before world domination.

[Sean Whitmore]

I'm not confident the average Japanese person would really understand the themes that drive the ironic humor in something like Boondocks.

Hell, I gotta assume the average viewer would be scratching their head after the theme song, unless the Che Guevara/Scarface images are better-known over there than I think.


SEAN

[MartinRedmond]

They play Transformers Animated on Saturdays and there was Pirates of Dark Water many years ago, I think also...

[The Xenos]

Actually, I'd be very curious to see how Japanese fans would react to the opening of season 3 when Huey says he's not thrilled about Obama. "Meh." I know Obama's had quite a following and his usual rock star appeal in Japan. Though hopefully the viewers of the series over there are a bit more educated about the world than the average Japanese person.. or, ya know, American person. Sometimes I think The Boondocks goes over the head of many US views, or rather it would if a more mainstream audience watched it.

[Redem]

Well I like to think it was really funny that Boondock was culturally lost to most quebecer depiste living next to the united states

[Sound Silence]

You all seem to be saying the same thing so let me argue for the other side. First of all, blacks have bigger lips and noses (and O.M.G. DARK SKIN), it's a fact, I would say you're all being unrealistic and radical by saying this is an evil depiction, its accurate damnit.

There's a difference between making a realistic portrait utilizing the phenotypical features of an ethnicity, and making a caricature by exaggerating those characteristics in order to highlight and ridicule the differences between ethnic phenotypes, differences which are typically used by racists to dehumanize other ethnicities.

[hansendk]

Lol.

Why does every angry person on this earth feel mistreated,
whenever, whereever somebody makes a caricature?

Haven't it ever striked you as the oblivious thing to do?
Especially when you are all into comics/cartoons?

Who in their right mind would by a perfectly realistic face doll,
of a black/white/yellow man! Nobody goddamnit.

99% percent of all drawn stuff is made up by caricatures,
otherwise they simply just would't work visually.

And all of you people who trash talk the Japanese people, just
because you think they don't like you, well you yourself are doing
just exactly what you don't want them to be doing!

There's absolutely nothing wrong in drawing a black man with giant fat lips,
and eyes which are about to pop right out off his head, or a white man collered with #ffffff and giant blue eyes, and a huge thin nose, or an asian person with practically no eyes (maybe even a cross over the face instead) absolutely no nose and just a thin line to show that their lips nearly doesn't exist and no ears, and giant messed up hair. Oh wait, the Japanese actually characterize themselves at such in almost every anime, even though that it's absolutely evil to make a caricature!

America in a nuttshell...

[The Xenos]

More like AmeriKKKa, am I rite? America sucks. lololololol That sound better to you?

Funny. I doubt Japan would like to see Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips very much.

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/5590/bugsnips.jpg

And really, I don't blame them. It's not being colorblind to say that such ignorant racial sterotypes as that or the old Black sambo that Mr Popo looks like are wrong. Then again I always thought the idea of being colorblind to race / ethnicity was pretty stupid. Not that we should judge people on their ethnicity, but it's also a shame to ignore it.

To say that Sambo or even Mr Popo is perfectly fine is pretty out of touch. You simply cannot be ignorant of such sterotypical images. Now I don't want to sterotype that all Japanese are insesative or ignorant, but when in 2007 I see sambo dolls in a major department store next to Mickey Mouse and Totoro? Yeah, there's something odd going on in Japanese culture.

[Holy Spirit]

America in a nuttshell...
LOL :biggrin:

[SittingRabbit]

Like other people have said, I find it very odd that Boondocks is dubbed in Japan. they would be bored because they would not get the jokes, unless they just get kicks out of the bad language.

If they rewrote the jokes to tailor to a Japanese audience then that defeats the whole purpose of the show.

[Tracer Bullet]

Uh, considering how the majority of Black people are depicted on the show.... there might be cause for concern.

[hansendk]

Why is it that you insist on the Japanese people not being able to understand the humor in The Boondocks?

It's kinda universal since America isn't some rather unknown country u know?
We watch it over here in europe, nearly every country is able to watch it,
and we understand it perfectly, maybe even better than the americans since we can stay objective?

No i don't think that, but we understand it equally good,
and so does the Japanese people.

They to have acces to wikipedia, discovery channel, national geografic, bbc, etc. They aren't some inbreed village people living on a completely shutoff island.

[Hazard]

Why is it that you insist on the Japanese people not being able to understand the humor in The Boondocks?

It's kinda universal since America isn't some rather unknown country u know?
We watch it over here in europe, nearly every country is able to watch it,
and we understand it perfectly, maybe even better than the americans since we can stay objective?

I kind of agree with this. The only country that's going to totally 'get' the show is America.

I mean lets face it we watch a lot of shows targeted toward Japanese audiences which contain numerous cultural, historical, and other references, yet we still enjoy them and we understand them.

If we can get shows targeted toward Japanese audiences there is no reason Japanese won't get a show targeted toward American audiences.

[Tracer Bullet]

Why is it that you insist on the Japanese people not being able to understand the humor in The Boondocks?

It's kinda universal since America isn't some rather unknown country u know?
We watch it over here in europe, nearly every country is able to watch it,
and we understand it perfectly, maybe even better than the americans since we can stay objective?

No i don't think that, but we understand it equally good,
and so does the Japanese people.

They to have acces to wikipedia, discovery channel, national geografic, bbc, etc. They aren't some inbreed village people living on a completely shutoff island.

It's not just a matter of understanding what's being discussed, but also having context for that discussion. The show makes a lot of direct and indirect social commentary targeted primarily at a Black American audience. Was there not an Asian group that thought it was okay to perform in blackface? Things get misinterpreted alright.

[Sound Silence]

I kind of agree with this. The only country that's going to totally 'get' the show is America.

I mean lets face it we watch a lot of shows targeted toward Japanese audiences which contain numerous cultural, historical, and other references, yet we still enjoy them and we understand them.

If we can get shows targeted toward Japanese audiences there is no reason Japanese won't get a show targeted toward American audiences.

Yeah, if anything shows like this can be pretty educational on other cultures.

I can't recall specific examples, but watching certain shows that heavily refer to Japanese culture has led me to research the references.

[Xero Kaiser]

I kind of agree with this. The only country that's going to totally 'get' the show is America.

I mean lets face it we watch a lot of shows targeted toward Japanese audiences which contain numerous cultural, historical, and other references, yet we still enjoy them and we understand them.

If we can get shows targeted toward Japanese audiences there is no reason Japanese won't get a show targeted toward American audiences.

Cultural humor usually doesn't translate very well. I remember watching things like Excel Saga and they used to have pop-up boxes showing up every 2 seconds to explain what just happened on screen, what was being referenced or what pun was being made, etc.

Some stuff is universal, but even in the US, there's a lot of people who come away from the show without learning anything but, "nigga"

[Sean Whitmore]

They to have acces to wikipedia, discovery channel, national geografic, bbc, etc.

Oh yeah, that's what I love to do. Watch a comedy show and then go research the meaning behind the jokes.


SEAN

[SittingRabbit]

Why is it that you insist on the Japanese people not being able to understand the humor in The Boondocks?

It's kinda universal since America isn't some rather unknown country u know?
We watch it over here in europe, nearly every country is able to watch it,
and we understand it perfectly, maybe even better than the americans since we can stay objective?

No i don't think that, but we understand it equally good,
and so does the Japanese people.

They to have acces to wikipedia, discovery channel, national geografic, bbc, etc. They aren't some inbreed village people living on a completely shutoff island.

Go download a comedy anime like Lucky Star or something. You will not understand it until you do extensive research behind the meaning and customs they have in japan. That is why I don;t really like it compared to the legions of people that rave about it. the only thing i find funny about that show is the physical humour.

Japanese people will not understand the Boondocks unless they look up a lot of American politics. And the fact that there are virtually no black people in Japan makes it far worse. We as Americans can find the stereotypical humor funny because it is way over the top but true to some extent. We can laugh with the show. Japanese people will just assume that is how all black people are since they have no real life exp with them. They probably just end up laughing at the characters.

And as the guy above me said: Who would want to hop on wikipedia after every punchline? You said you live in Europe? No offense but I think if you take a pool of Americans and Europeans, the Americans will be able to identify and explain the jokes better, since they sneak in very small things into it.

Take Mr. Bean for example Popular everywhere, but you Europeans are crazy over him. Not as many Americans really appreciate his humor. Same thing with the English Office. I can;t stand that show, even if it is the original. American Office all the way for me and perhaps English Office all the way for you Europeans.

[Hazard]

Cultural humor usually doesn't translate very well. I remember watching things like Excel Saga and they used to have pop-up boxes showing up every 2 seconds to explain what just happened on screen, what was being referenced or what pun was being made, etc.

Some stuff is universal, but even in the US, there's a lot of people who come away from the show without learning anything but, "nigga"

By that logic the show would never go out of the United States since it is the only place that has chance of understanding the show's cultural humor.

Yeah, some people won't get it in Japan and just about every Non-USA country, but some will, and that's much better than the show never going there in the first place.

[The Xenos]

Hell, I'm a 'white' American viewer and I don't quite get all the references to 'black' culture. Then again, I'm sure there are plenty of white kids going around calling themselves 'bad n----s' and watch rap videos. And certainly not all black people think, gansta rap, is all that it's cracked up to be. So unless you've got a beat on the 'black' culture parodied in Boondocks, you might miss some of it.

Of course, there is a following for rap and gansta rap in Japan. There is Japanese hip hop and rap.

Or maybe I should call it... reggae music...

http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/2774/dscn8882copy2.th.jpg (http://img44.imageshack.us/i/dscn8882copy2.jpg/)

[DeadXMan]

Uh, considering how the majority of Black people are depicted on the show.... there might be cause for concern.

considering the comic strip was created by a black man to point out how black culture let itself slip to the lowest common denominator, they have only themselfs to blame. Like the Tiwns in Revenge of the Fallen

don't believe me
Here what the King said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU4z89d4QFU

[Tracer Bullet]

considering the comic strip was created by a black man to point out how black culture let itself slip to the lowest common denominator, they have only themselfs to blame. Like the Tiwns in Revenge of the Fallen

don't believe me
Here what the King said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU4z89d4QFU

I know that. My point is that other people will not pick up on the satirical aspects of the show. An informed viewer might be able to look at the show and the characters in the show and the issues it raises more critically than someone who isn't. Do they even get BET in Japan? The comic strip dealt with a bit more than Black American culture.

[Kevin M.]

considering the comic strip was created by a black man to point out how black culture let itself slip to the lowest common denominator, they have only themselfs to blame. Like the Tiwns in Revenge of the Fallen

don't believe me
Here what the King said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU4z89d4QFU



That is the best episode of the Boondocks to date.

[MartinRedmond]

I don't get the cultural jokes, but the few episodes I've watched were still pretty funny. I found it funnier than the comic strip. It was good situation comedy. Likewise, when I watch Japanese tv shows, there's lots of cultural jokes that go over my head but I can relate with most of the situations.