Happy Monday and welcome to Headlinin’! Before I get to the news, I want to give a shoutout to the Kanto to Kansai 2015 alums. We decided to have a get together in Vegas this weekend, and it was a blast in so many ways (those buffets are no joke, friends).
SKATING!
We also watched the NHK Figure Skating Competition [Asahi Shimbun], where life truly imitated art when the Japan team duo of Ryuichi Kihara and Miu Suzaki performed their pair skate routine to music from the skating anime YURI!!! on ICE. As a fan of the show myself, I assume I was not the only one who was extremely excited by this development. And for the record, I did not squeal or make funny noises. Nope, not me. I’m a professional. If you want to watch the routine (before YouTube yanks it down), head here.
The Osaka event was missing the presence of recent Olympic medalist and Captain of the SS Dreamboat Yuzuru Hanyu, who was out after injuring his ankle in practice before the event. He’s currently undergoing rehabilitation for four weeks (or maybe longer), and hopefully he’ll make a full recovery with the PyeongChang games less than three months away. Without Hanyu, Japan did not take any medals in the Men’s, Women’s, or Pairs competitions. However, US Skater and fourth-place finisher Jason Brown shared the world’s most adorable get well message when the NHK cameras panned to him, which he later shared on twitter:
The competition wasn’t the same without Yuzuru tonight, but wishing him the most speedy recovery!! ゆずる選手がいない大会はいつもと雰囲気が違った。。。早く良くなりますようにお祈りしています。❤️✨ pic.twitter.com/44DI9ACvup
— Jason Brown (@jasonbskates) November 10, 2017
It was cool to see everyone so friendly at the competition despite the Olympics looming. As a bonus, here’s a pic of the selfie the three winners shared on the podium:
Their love is more precious than fine diamonds. <3
AINORI RETURNS
Speaking of love: last week, we discussed the impact of streaming services in Japan when we talked about Sony’s acquisition of US Anime distributor Funimation. A lot of TV Networks in Japan are cautious of the growth of Amazon Prime and Netflix in Japan, despite continued dominance of the market [eMarketer]; already, Amazon has already found success with its “Documental” series featuring Downtown member and Gaki no Tsukai legend Hitoshi Matsumoto. Not to be left behind, earlier this month, Netflix scored a small coup when it announced a buzzy re-launch of a program that was once a hot property for Fuji TV: the reality show Ainori.
The concept, for the uninitiated: Ainori was one of the few shows on Japanese TV that you could call “reality TV” in the early 2000s. Broadcast around 11PM on Mondays, the show featured usually seven or eight young Japanese people traveling the world in the “love wagon” (yes, it’s really called that) on a world-wide matchmaking trip. As they traveled, the strangers would get to know one another and, eventually, confess their affections to one another. If the confessed agreed to go out with the confessor, they would both go home to Japan to start dating/skip through fields of flowers/whatever cool couples do (this is Japan, so we’re assuming “marry and have kids”). The show was insanely popular, and even today fans chat online about what became of their favorite couples from the show on message boards and YouTube.
The new Netflix version of the show will feature the same format, but the first journey will feature just Asia. Popular tarento and Warau Inu alum Becky will host. Have a trailer:
One of the reasons I loved the original Ainori was its oddball format: Japanese kids traveling to parts of the world few Japanese people go while subjecting themselves to relationship norms that are very very… Japanese. People would never say out loud if they were interested in someone or tease each other on Ainori; emotions were very much kept in check until confession time. It actually took a foreigner to bring this irony to light; when the original Ainori went to the Philippines, they had a local girl join the “love wagon,” where she broke the ice and made things awkward right off the bat by poking fun at who liked who. Beyond that, the show actually had stakes; some cast members would get ill, while others would undergo all kinds of life changes. One even became a monk for part of the show; another girl confessed her feelings for the local “love wagon” driver in South Africa – and he said yes. Although the show’s primary interest was seeing who would date who, it ended up becoming one of the best windows into how Japanese youth view their world. If the Netflix reboot can do the same thing, I will no doubt be hermit-ing in my apartment to watch ALL OF IT with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s when it gets released.
Hey, you’ve done it too. Don’t judge me. #icecreamlife
AN UBER DEAL
Finally this week: Hey, who wants an Uber? Chances are if you’re in Japan, the answer is no; the service is mostly viewed as unnecessary in Japan, considering that taxis in Japan are everywhere, even in the most rural of areas. However, that hasn’t stopped SoftBank CEO and Guy With Cash To Burn Masayoshi Sun from making a very buzzy investment in the beleaguered ride share company [LA Times]. According to the LA Times, the investment could be worth as much as $10 Billion US Dollars and marks SoftBank’s most public attempt at becoming a recognized brand in the USA. You know, aside from that whole “owning Sprint” thing. Because of the investment, current Uber investor Benchmark has agreed to dismiss their lawsuit against former Uber CEO Travis “Sexual Harassment is Cool with me, folks” Kalanick. Whether it goes through or not is yet to be seen, but this could be the beginning of SoftBank becoming the next big Japanese firm to establish a toehold in the west. As for me, I’m going to keep using Lyft because that’s just how I roll.
That’s all for this week! If you need me, I’ll be reloading my Netflix queue and checking to see if Vons still carries Chunky Monkey in the freezer section. <3