Gaki No Tsukai Episode #1081

Episode Number: 1081

Episode Title: 思い入れソング。ドライブー！！

Reminiscence Song Drive!!

Broadcast Date:

Sunday, November 20th 2011

Viewing Links:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzI0ODI1OTI4.html

Guests:

None

Important Vocabulary:

天候(てんこう）：Weather
不備（ふび）： Defect, inadequacy
ロケ: Location (of a film shoot)
隣（となり）：Neighboring, next door.
告白（こくはく）： Confession of love
結果（けっか）：Result, consequence
フラれる: To be given the cold shoulder. Jilted.
関与(かんよ): To participate in, be concerned with.
脱がす（ぬがす）： To help someone remove clothes
充満（じゅうまん）：To be filled with, teeming with.
雪洞（ぼんぼり）： Paper lantern.
無理矢理（むりやり）：Forced, against one's will.
優勝（ゆうしょう）：Championship.
喝上げ（かつあげ）：Extortion.
愈（いよいよ）：At the last minute, at the worst possible time.
トローン: Onomatopoeia for stupefaction (weak in the knees?)
披露（ひろう）：Announcement, display.

Episode Summary:

The second Reminiscence Song Drive! This episode opens, like many others, before the Nippon Terebi Tower in Shinbashi, Tokyo, at: +35° 39' 54.18", +139° 45' 35.47"
Before starting, however Matsumoto takes the time to confront one problem pointed out with the previous outing: the weather. Turns out Yamasaki said he wouldn't be able to do another in similar conditions. By the end of the episode, it's a little more clear why this is the case.

Then Matsumoto lays out the rules:
While driving, the five regulars will play CDs that have some emotional attachment to them, and recount the relevant episodes from their lives.
Matsumoto wants to go on-- but Yamasaki is insistent: "that's enough." And they're off!

As the Song Drive begins in earnest, I can see the regulars are driving south-west along Daiichi-Keinen, approximately here: +35° 39' 54.04", +139° 45' 33.37".

First Song: Tanaka

Title: 初恋 (First Love)
Artist: 村下孝蔵 （むらしたこうぞう）Murashita Kouzou
Year: 1983
Tanaka's Age: 11
Tanaka is first up, and recounts how this song reminds him of middle school, and how he grew to like a girl in the next class, and for the first time in his life confessed his love to her. The girl, however, gave him the cold shoulder.
Matsumoto: "What did she say?"
Tanaka: "The way Tanaka-kun walks is gross!"
This episode also concerned Endou (he and Tanaka being childhood friends), and after Tanaka told him about it, he cried and cried and cried-- and at that time this song was playing on the radio.

Second Song: Endou

Title: セーラー服を脱がさないで "Don't Strip Me of My Sailor Suit"
Artist: おニャン子クラブ (O-NyanKo Club)
Year: 1985
Endou's Age: 14
I'd never heard of Onyanko Club, but interestingly this song was fairly recently (2006) covered by AKB48. Similarly, the Onyanko Club was also a large group of Idols (with 53+ members).

Endou's story, strangely, also deals with Tanaka (who is having a rough day). At that time, within the space of one year, Tanaka had grown taller than him. His growth was quite precipitous. Evidently, the class next door said to Endou "Every day isn't Tanaka-Kun getting larger and larger?" Their conversation was filled with it!

Tanaka uses this embarrassing moment to mention Endou dated the girl who broke Tanaka's heart. The other regulars are (humorously) chiding of Endou. "Endou! That just isn't done!" says Matsumoto.

At this point, the regulars are traveling across a bridge, just south of Hanaeda airport-- along Metropolitan Expressway K1, about here: +35° 32' 32.63", +139° 44' 31.88".

Third Song: Hamada

Title: やさしい悪魔 (Sweet/Tender Devil)
Artist:　キャンディーズ　(The Candies)
Year: 1977
Hamada's Age: 13
The Candies were referenced in episode #1068, where Yamasaki played Ran-Chan saying she wanted to be "a normal girl again."
In reference to the song, both Hamada and Matsumoto make much of the black tights the Candies wore while performing this song. The tights themselves are visible in the link to the song above, or here, and the video seems to confirm Yamasaki's opinion that the tights looked like "Bonbori" or paper lanterns.

The regulars then enter the Haneda tunnel, which is approximately here: +35° 33' 50.03", +139° 45' 8.49". Note that this location is considerably north of their previous location, indicating some of this episode was filmed out-of-order, or it's an insert.

Fourth Song: Yamasaki

Title: TVの国からキラキラ (Sparkling TV Land?)
Artist: 松本伊代 （まつもといよ）Matsumoto Iyo
Year: 1985
Yamasaki's Age: 14

Fifth Song: Matsumoto

Title:燃えよドラゴンズ！！ (Blaze, Dragons!)
Artist: 坂東英二 （ばんどう えいじ）Bandou Eiji
Year: 1974
Matsumoto's Age: 9
This is the theme of the Chunichi Dragons. As Hamada explains, when they were growing up in Osaka, everyone wore a Hanshin (Osaka) Giants baseball cap-- EXCEPT THIS GUY (pointing to Matsumoto). He wore a Chunichi (Dragons) Hat. To which Matsumoto responds "for some reason, my Father had bought it for me!" Evidently, he hadn't even thought about it. Matsumoto's father just pointed at one of the hats on sale, and bought it. Thus Matsumoto explains he had become a fan of the Dragons "against my will" that year, the year they won the championship!

Yes, the song was sung by Bandou Eiji, who has appeared in several Batsu games! You might remember him best as the talkative patient in the Hospital batsu.

At this point, they're driving along the Metropolitan Expressway Bay Shore Route, approaching a bridge, about here: +35° 27' 54.77", +139° 40' 39.05".

Sixth Song: Tanaka

Title: James Bond Main Theme (007 Theme)
Artist: John Barry
Tanaka's Age: 11
To this song, Tanaka explains when we was in elementary school (5th grade) he would go to the movies in Umeda, Osaka wearing a pear of Levi's jeans bought for him by his sister. At this time he saw a 007 movie. If Tanaka was born in 1971, then it was most probably "For Your Eyes Only."
Going to Umeda, wearing jeans, seeing 007, he felt like such an adult! Except when leaving the theater, he was bullied for money by a High School student. He ran away. "And the way you ran was weird!" Matsumoto jokes.

Then Yamasaki and Matsumoto joke about the bad clothes they used to get from Akadama western clothing store.

Seventh Song: Hamada

Title: 大空と大地の中で(Between Earth and Sky)
Artist: 松山 千春（まつやま ちはる）Matsuyama Chiharu
Year: 1977
Hamada's Age: 14
"No matter how many times, everyone would always sing along to this song," says Hamada. "If everyone got together, they'd sing this song. No matter what kind of argument they'd had, or whatever incident, everyone would sing this song!"
Hamada then goes on to tell how he would call Matsumoto to bring him money, and they'd meet in 鶴橋駅（つるはしえき） TsuruHashi Station and play hooky. "You never saw such a pair of jerks eating Udon," says Matsumoto.

Eighth Song: Endou

Title: Missing
Artist: 久保田 利伸 (Kubota Toshinobu)
Year: 1986
Endou's Age: 15
Here Endou relates that this was the song he used to used to make the girls fall for him. He'd sing and they'd be insensible with love.

Ninth Song: Matsumoto

Title: のｵｯｻﾝの唄 "Kawachi no Ossan no Uta"
Artist: ミス花子 (Miss Hanako)
Year: 1976
Matsumoto's Age: 12
The first time Matsumoto heard this song, we was listening with an earphone, trying not to wake his father and brother-- but it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. So funny he couldn't sleep!

At this point, after more than a one hour drive, Yamasaki must go. We soon see the reason he demanded good weather for this drive, as he pulls alongside in a convertible. I take it the car is his own, although I can't make that out especially clearly.

10th Song: Yamasaki

Title: Cha-Cha-Cha
Artist: 石井 明美（いしい あけみ）Ishi Akemi

Episode Analysis:

The previous Song Drive was broadcast in episode #1057, June 5th, 2001. I didn't really take notice of it at the time, but I may go and watch it again. With its details of (more) Showa Era music, and the lives of the young Gaki regulars, I found this episode surprisingly enjoyable.
That is, despite large sections being above my linguistic ability. Through their simple stories, one comes to understand the true, life-long friendships of both Cocorico and Downtown. In that respect it's not surprising that Yamasaki leaves slightly early, as he is, in this respect, somewhat of an outsider (or more independent, depending upon your point of view).
The notion of a Drive (be it Trivia, Song, or Geinin Safari, or some other premise) is very common on the show-- perhaps because of the natural loquacity it seems to encourage among such old friends. Although this time, I must say, I had considerable difficulty tracing their route on a map.