Okori Switch On
18 March 2008
I've learned my lesson. Never again shall I delay the write up of an update for so long. Don't want a repeat of last Saturday's frantic typing frenzy. Therefore, I'm getting an early start on this review. Luckily for me this episode was even better than last week's. The current trend seems to be having a themed outfit depending on the date of the episode. This time they're wearing kimono with hakama in celebration of graduation season (the school year finishes in March in Japan). I really like their outfits this week. They really remind me of the one Yuna from Final Fantasy X wears. I noticed that Michishige Sayumi's colour scheme was vastly different to the other members. I guess she just wanted to stand out /laugh. Before the first video they mentioned that Sayumi had graduated from high school, and Mitsui Aika and Kusumu Koharu from junior high, so congratulations to them!
Princess Wai Wai is back again with another illusion. This time the trick is to levitate an egg in some water using 'hand power'. First she drops the egg into the tank and demonstrates how normally it would sink to the bottom. Then she removes the egg and imbues the water with 'magic' before dropping the egg into it again. This time it drops gently down to the middle and then stops, just floating there, neither going up or down. Once again she finishes the illusion with the obligatory Y-balance at the end of the video. This trick looked more impressive than the last. I thought it was something to do with the egg but it turns out it was all about the water. Keen-eyed observers would have noticed a slight change in colour of the water between shots. The reason for this was because they added a layer of salt water to the bottom. As we all know, salt water is denser than normal water, that's why people can float so easily in the Dead Sea. The same principle applies to the egg in the salt water. Just a shame that the salt turns the water slightly cloudy thus giving away the trick. It was still fun to watch though. Can't wait to see more of these illusions.
There was an interesting guy who had a good internal clock. To demonstrate this he would say the word 'tomato' ten times in exactly ten seconds. He started the stopwatch and then proceeded to say 'tomato' in a high pitched, squeaky voice while doing some odd arm movements. At the last one he stopped the watch and it was bang on 10.00 seconds. I don't know how many takes this must have taken but it was still amazing. Back in the studio the narrator asked if anyone could imitate the feat and Kamei Eri confidently stepped up and accepted the challenge. She was allowed to use any word so she chose 'kame' from her name. Her style was to bob her head from side to side each time. She appeared to start off slowly and then speed up towards the end. It didn't help much and she ended up stopping the watch on 12.03 seconds. Not quite as impressive, but much funnier!
For the first time ever we have both Jun Jun and Lin Lin in the same Air-??? sketch. Lin Lin has got the lead in this one and she puts on an energetic performance. In the first instance she does lots of running and jumping before defeating a bouncing Jun Jun. Then after a little more running around Jun Jun gets her own back with a punch to the face. For some reason Reina is really good at guessing what they're trying to mime. Once again she correctly guessed the answer which turned out to be Air-Super Mario. Lin Lin was Mario and Jun Jun was one of those Kuribou (Goomba). Jun Jun mentioned that her role was difficult because there were no lines or facial expressions. All she had to do was hop around. I thought it was good performance considering. Nice to see the both of them in it.
It must be my lucky day because Tanaka Deka is back with a continuation of the Pikachu kidnapping story. It starts with her interviewing the suspect and trying to get him to confess to the crime. He denies having taken Pikachu so Tanaka has to use some special techniques to irritate him until he cracks. First off it's threatening to drop the guy's mobile phone into a goldfish bowl. I liked the little graphic on the side indicating his irritation level. I wasn't sure what the next thing one was all about. Something about dripping orange juice around a scrunched up straw wrapper. For the last thing they needed a Pop Up Pirate game. It was missing the pirate piece but she forced him to play any way. They took turns until the guy triggered the mechanism and lost the game. This made him crack and he finally confessed.
The whole thing was hilarious. From the stupidity of the irritation techniques involved to the brilliant reactions from the suspect (played by the guy who used to dress up in a cabbage costume). Reina had some menacing stares throughout the video which the narrator picked up on. She does a really good job of acting as the tough detective role. I still think she looks superb in that outfit. The whole thing is pure genius as far as I'm concerned. Reina is making a fight back for my favourite member of the group.
The last part of the programme is taken up with another memory test, this time with Lin Lin trying to recall fifteen historical people. Everyone from Natsume Souseki to Tokugawa Ieyasu was in the test. Apart from a slight hesitation with Sakamoto Ryouma she breezed through it with no problems. I reckon this was tougher than Jun Jun's test from last time. I think I'd have trouble with it because I'm pretty bad at remembering people's names.
A really good episode this week. If it gets better next Sunday then it might even rival Hello! Morning in entertainment factor. It doesn't look too promising from the preview (lots of animal ones) but you never know.
Posted byHocchan at 1:23 pm
Tanaka Deka's segment with the cabbage guy was definitely the highlight. XD
I have watched the JunJun/LinLin Super Mario bit and the Princess YY bit over and over this week. I thought they were really funny, as were the reactions when the guy playing pool stared at the camera. Decent episode, for a change!
@ines - I thought so too. It was my favourite part of the show, though Reina being in it might make slightly biased.
@chris - Ah yeah, forgot about the kid doing the trick shots. His expression was really funny. I hope this Sunday's episode is just as good.