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.