Get the funky life!
This has got to be the weirdest series I’ve seen so far – and I'm watching Arakawa for f*ck’s sake. It is no surprise really – it is directed by Sabu so what the f*ck do you expect right? It took me about four episodes to get into it but it spirals so out of control that I just couldn’t help but become hooked.
Trouble man is the oddly overlapping stories of six people linked together by bizarre and unfortunate circumstances and in the center of it all is our favorite little hedgehog Kato Shigeaki of News. He plays our main character Tokuda, a man surrounded by relentless unbelievable trouble and misfortune.
These people are lashed together by their woes and eventually we get to see how all their stories link together. It gets progressively more complicated and twisted up but still all I can do is imagine Shigedgehog with a curly perm (it is suggested at one point and I just couldn’t let it go)
Cast:
Tokuda - Kato Shigeaki
Ozaki - Takezai Terunosuke
Makiko - Iwasa Mayuko
Kameda - Nakayama Yuichiro
Tagawa - Riju Go
Sasaki - Kino Hana
~
Asai Akira - Terajima Susumu
Kita Kenji - Kunimoto Shoken
Kagawa Ryo - Ogura Takeshi
There is a lovely little cameo of lead actor and main character from postman’s blues (Another sabu film) and really it just adds to the surreal feel of the series. It is already bonkers but by episode nine there is nowhere to run from the intelligently tangled storylines.
It wasn’t hard to get such decent screen shots, the whole thing is filmed so skillfully and looks so arty that you could stop an episode anywhere at random and it could be the makings of a movie poster.
There are lots of Shige-running-like-a-mad-man scenes, for which I’m eternally grateful, and all the characters get a chance to be fully explored so that there isn’t a week one in the bunch. There are some great arthouse-movie style shots in true Sabu form, and it is full of humour that is sometimes completely inappropriate to laugh along with but you just can’t help it – again, true to Sabu form.
Who the hell ever allowed Shigedehog to be in a Sabu production? I nearly died a million times from his nervous laughter and the shocked faces he pulled. If it wasn’t so funny I would say it could have been some noir-ish gangster movie, especially when we see our little Shigedgehog get pummelled half to death and then apologise for being alive…
But seriously, the constant *…eeeeehhhhh?!* resounding chorus from all and sundry, especially when coming from Shige’s exhausted confusion, was constantly squeal-worthy humour.
And there is a short scene where he is cooking in episode 10, ruku-chan I swear you will totally fan girl ureshii squee over that for no real comprehensible reason. And I noticed he has the straightest nose ever. And always slightly floofy hair. But anyway, enough ranting about Shigedgehog.
I think I lost the plot about the time Marcus the toy monkey started dancing for Tokuda in the paper stock room. It is nutty but a brilliantly paced series and I really had no idea where the hell it was heading at any point. And to top it all off you have that f*cking theme tune bursting in at the end of a really serious episode, News start happily squarking bollocks that sounds like get a f*cking life – im telling you it fully does and their cheesy ass “singing” jars against the savage events of the program. News make me laugh. And prey tell, what is this funky life and how does one obtain it? If News’ wardrobe and choreography is anything to go on then I believe it maybe related to some psychotropic drugs. Can’t help but love those lads.
Uwaa! I have the best idea! Sabu should direct one of News’ stage shows! Oh my f*cking god that would actually be one of the best things to ever happen in the universe. Can you imagine it?! I’m thinking it is the only way I’m gonna get roro in a big ass dai kaiju cockerel costume. That sh*t would work if Sabu did it.
So think 8uppers crossed with alice
Fa fa funky time!
Mune odoru ne
Nankai na jinsei mo isso tanoshime
Ba ba burning heart
Donna toki mo
Zenryoku zenkai ima koso
Get the funky life!
Yeah you f*cking know it.
Run Shigedgehog, run!
I totally did fangirl while watching Shige cook. Why? All he was doing was chopping up some peppers! Why was that so goddam awesome?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would give a limb to watch a NEWS/Sabu stage production. I'd give two and all my worldy posessions if said production had Ryo re-join NEWS for the con.