Monster of the Day #3402

Updated on May 30, 2023 By Ken Begg 16 Comments

In many ways, Japan can be a bit strange.

By the way, the chipmonk mascot with the long student uniform coat and the pompadour? That was the (mostly comical) stereotype back in the day for a juvenile delinquent. You used to see a lot of characters like that in manga and anime way back in the day.

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Watch Party tonight! Enjoy our long holiday weekend, everyone. Watch something stupid.

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  • Don’t know about stupid, but definitely bizarre. Watched Just Imagine this weekend. Pre-Code science fiction romantic comedy musical about a man who dies in 1930 and is brought back in the cheerful dystopia of 1980. Mind you, I’m not sure whether the movie knows it’s a dystopia, but any society where men apply to marry through a government tribunal and the women have no say in the matter at all, isn’t one I want to live in. Also it’s still Prohibition, brrrrr….

    I’d love to see a decent print, just for the elaborate sets and miniatures that were stolen for all the SF serials of the 30s, but otherwise really just a curiosity piece without a lot of rewatch value. Not really entertaining, but fascinating nevertheless.

  • The Rev.

    Oh Japan, never change.

    Wonder if this happened when Sadako vs. Kayako movie came out?

  • Beckoning Chasm

    I saw that one years ago. I remember the hero had a Swedish accent, which I think was supposed to be comedy gold during that era.

  • Ken_Begg

    And man, that hat-swapping bit. GOLD.

  • Eric Hinkle

    any society where men apply to marry through a government tribunal and
    the women have no say in the matter at all, isn’t one I want to live in.

    If I remember right this was back when eugenics was still the Grand Idea that would Save Us All, and they looked forward to a future much like this. So they probably thought it was a scientific utopia.

  • Eric Hinkle

    That is so wonderfully bizarre. The closest I’ve ever seen from the USA is a weigh-in they did back when Freddy versus Jason was going to be released. Sadly, they weren’t able to get Don King to appear as Freddy’s manager.

  • Gamera977

    Wow, I’ve got to see this. This sounds insane. I just love attempts to predict the future like this.

  • Gamera977

    I’m not sure if Japan is wonderfully strange or strangely wonderful…

    But whichever Japan please don’t ever change, we love you for it…

  • Eric Hinkle

    Talking Japan and strangely wonderful/wonderfully strange, you might want to check out something called ‘Sucker for Love: A Date to Die For’. It’s an online dating game. Where you date Lovecraftian eldritch abominations. Seriously, they do cute/sexy anthropomorphized versions of Cthulhu and Shub-Niggurath. All done in an anime sort of style.

    It’s so very bizarre.

  • I don’t know about that, the woman in question was pretty pissed, at any rate. Although the answer is figuring out how to improve her fiancé’s social credit, rather than bucking the system.

  • He started as a German dialect comedian, but as that became way less popular during WWI, he switched his schtick to the “Synthetic Swede” instead. He was neither, of course.

  • I actually really liked that part. No accounting for taste. At least not for mine, which is dreadful.

  • It’s on YouTube and Internet Archive in varying quality prints, all bad, unfortunately.

  • The Rev.

    Oh, they made a sequel to First Love, eh? I never played it, but I watched some people try it out, and it was pretty funny. It had Cthulhu, Hastur, and (if I remember correctly) Nyarlathotep. There were some pretty gory moments, which just added to the fun for me.

  • Eric Hinkle

    Well, when I was much younger, I had relatives who’d been educated in eugenics as children who swore up and down that it was the only sane way to manage the human race. Because people were too short-sighted and selfish to choose the ‘best’ spouse.

    I’ve even heard that from people online who should have known better. They all seem to be guys who are convinced that if eugenics became the law of the land that due to their ‘natural genetic superiority’ they’d have dozens of hot gals to reproduce with, and a government willing to take the time to raise the kids so they don’t have to waste time on them.

  • Eric Hinkle

    I do love the dialogue they give Shub-Niggurath/Rhok’zan the Black Goat. Just how it goes from her attempting to be intimidating to annoyed when the protagonist reveals he’s not turned on by her. “What, a goddess of fertility isn’t good enough for you?”