Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Invaluable resource for fans of Japanese TV and Pop Culture, January 9, 2006
Wm. Penn's amusing and insightful "Couch Potato's Guide to Japan" is best appreciated by those who are already familiar with aspects of the Japanese television entertainment scene. Penn covers a wide variety of topics from "J-Dorama" (Japanese Drama) and "Wide Shows" to outrageous variety programs and everything inbetween including anime and CMs (Japanese Commercials). It's interesting reading about his impressions on "gaijin" (foreigners) TV personalities in Japan, the cultural differences that can be seen in the "Americanized" version of the "Sailor Moon" animation series and how the "Kouhaku Uta Gasen" (Red & White Song Festival) has evolved over the decades. I also enjoyed his observations concerning such shows as "Mito Koumon", "Crayon Shinchan", "Dempa Shounen" and trendy dramas such as "Long Vacation". Sometimes the book can be a bit disconcerting as Penn jumps from subject matter to subject matter in rapid-fire succession but his style of writing is engaging enough to keep one's interest. Penn's humor can seem a bit forced at times but his vast knowledge of Japanese TV shows is very impressive. The only negative thing I can say is that the book is all too short to cover everything indepth and I would have loved reading more. It is also interesting to note that Penn does not cover to a great degree such genres such as mystery drams (i.e. Suiyou Gekijou), crime-detective shows (i.e. G-Men '75, Taiyo Ni Hoerou), game shows (i.e. Ultra Quiz, TV Champion) or Tokusatsu shows (i.e. Ultraman, Kamen Rider). I definitely hope that Penn writes a followup to this book that expands on these topics and others which weren't covered.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AWESOME!!!!, July 14, 2005
There have been several books covering Japanese pop culture from films to Japanese dramas but I've found one book that literally I just didn't want to put down. "The Couch Potato's Guide to Japan" by Wm. Penn is the book that followers of Japanese entertainment have to read because it's full of information and tidbits of Japanese television which I didn't know about.
Many people know Wm. Penn's work from her "televiews" columns for the Daily Yomiuri and pretty much bought a television in 1982 in Japan and what do you know, started writing about what's on television since 1987. What I enjoyed about this book the most is the connection it makes to the Japanese entertainment fan. For those in the United States or outside of Japan who have followed Japanese dramas, the variety shows, comedy shows, news shows really will get into this book.
Those little things we think about when we watch Japanese television, Wm. Penn does a good job covering them. Plot devices such as food.
For example, in chapter 2 titled "Japanese TV Sociology 101", she talks about the importance of food in Japanese culture and how symbolic it is on television. She uses dramas as examples such as the 1996 series "Hakusen Nagashi" in a part of series when character, Sonoko is making obento for Wataru and his jealous ex-girlfriend confiscates the obento and destroys it. Another example is the drama "Campus Note" where Haruka (Uchida Yuki) attracted to a student who needs to pass a bar exam to become a lawyer decides not to bother him during his studies but her rival always visits him with a carefully wrapped obento. Who succeeds in getting the male student's attention?
The book is not entirely about Japanese dramas, Wm. Penn also covers variety shows featuring comedians that many of us know about and enjoyed watching. From learning about Tamori-san (who we watch on "Waratte Itomo" or on "Music Station"). How she felt about Ninety Nine's "Mecha Mecha Ikitteru". There is also a chapter on news shows, variety shows and explaining shows like "Denpa Shonen" when duo Saruganseki, Drones and others did that hitchiking segment and my all time favorite feature on Denpa Shonen featuring Nasubi.
Also, explaining who Monta Mino, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi and Hiroshi Sekiguchi are. Wm. Penn also goes into Johnny's Jimuosho and Hello! Project talent such as SMAP and Morning Musume. Also chapters on Wide shows, TV Tourism, cooking shows and so much more. Also articles on American shows that did or didn't do well in Japan and reality shows like "Survivor" which didn't do so well in Japan. The final chapter goes into Websites and magazines to check out if you are into Japanese television and this book offers so much more. For those who are expecting negatives, I think there are a people who may be bummed that there are no photos in this book (and she goes into explaining that) and to tell you the truth, it doesn't really detract from reading the book because the book is truly fun to read.
There is no book like it (in English) that goes into Japanese entertainment like Wm. Penn does. This book is all about Televiews and Wm. Penn's observations of Japanese television that many of us Japanese entertainment fans will definitely understand. I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend all Japanese entertainment fans to check this book out!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Nice overview of the Japanese television scene, January 5, 2007
I found this book to be very easily readable, it's a pleasure to read. Having lived in Japan for 11 of the last 18 years, I enjoy the brief background and explanations that Ms. "Penn" provides. As noted in a book review in Metropolis magazine, the book doesn't go into great detail, but provides enough information so that anyone interested in some particular area can research further on their own. It provided a lot of new information for me. As a basic consumer of Japanese entertainment, I'm not that interested in the details of who's popular and why. But this book provided enough to help fill in some holes in my knowledge base without getting dull or ponderous. Highly recommended for anyone interested in current Japanese entertainment and culture.
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