Fox in Japan

Yesterday evening i was switching channels and what a surprise when i discovered that i actually have the Fox channel in my apartment. The same tv shows as in the us were broadcasted, something we don't even have in France. In France it is impossible to watch tv shows in the same time as in the us. You have first to buy the rights to broadcast it in french on your channel. We cannot even access the streaming video which a reserved for american audience only. So what a surprised when i could watch the new episode of Prison Break!

But what's funny about it is watching a very trash reality show subtitle in japanese. Indeed I watched Tempatation Island where girls have to seduce boys in order to make them cheat on their wife while the wife are watching the adventure by video and vice versa. The show seems soooo far away from the japanese culture and seing wet naked bodies dancing together and dumb people explaining the "dilemas they faces in the experience" was very paradoxal with the moral ideals the japanese seem to have.

The shows I yet watched were more like food contest or funny talk shows or kawai manga; I haven't see (yet) any sexy more occidental realty trash, but my job here is not done yet...

The young and the restless made in Japan

Today I watched Tv Asahi channel on channel 766. I bumped onto a japanese soap opera: Jikou Keisatsu... It made me think of the young and the restless (famous american soap opera) with the same intense glares and the untenable suspense... But it was punctuated by what seems to be killing funny jokes and cute songs. It was hilarious: the serious of the discussion and then one minute later the babyish dances and songs.

The show is (seems to be) about a man trying to solve mysterious cases which weren't resolve yet. It really seemed that they wanted to copy the american style but still wanted to add their own japanese touch.

Still the show was much more westerner that the other show i saw. It seemed more modern compared to some other manga series. Jikou Keisatsu seems to be a very popular show here in Japan. I will ask some japanese about it to know if it hip or not...

First Impressions

As soon as I got my apartment here in Tokyo my first move was to turn on the tv. Being a huge american tv shows fan, I naturally wanted to check out what was going on there.
When my teacher here in Temple University asked us to do a blog about whatever we wanted about Tokyo I had no hesitation and it was a delight actually HAVING to watch TV for a school task...
So... WOW. First thing: what's all about the drawings and the flashy writtings all over the screen? I assume of course that it is to emphasize some information in commercials and to keep the viewers focus on the talk show or any random broadcast. It looks really messy at the beginning, your eyes are lost in the shambles of the letters/signs and your brain is lost in translation... But step by step it helps understanding what's going on without having to guess.

Everything seems very lifeful, joyful; very animate talks shows or even crazy music shows. Everyone is laughing, shouting, being much more expressive than we can see on the streets. Even the news is kawaii with the sound effects and pink writtings! The big talk shows, very popular here, are about some really shallow subjects but everyone seems the enjoy it. As opposite as in France or in the US they don't try to sound serious, they just try to have fun. Somehow it reflect the youth of the city, walking in Harajuku is like watching a talk show: the colors, the sounds, the atmosphere.