Gaki No Tsukai Episdoe #1088

Episode Title:
特技披露会議　毎分をあげよう！　前編
Special Skills Demonstration; Let's Raise the Minute by Minute Ratings!(First Part)

"毎分" (Mai Hun or "every minute/per minute") appears to be short for 毎分視聴率(まいふんしちょうりつ) or minute-by-minute television ratings. This episode seems a joking attempt to game this (new?) ratings system.

Gaki No Tsukai #1088

Broadcast Date:

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

Viewing Links:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzQzMzA5NzI0.html

Guests:

雨上がり決死隊(AmeAgariKesshitai)

• 宮迫 博之(Miyasako Hiroyuki)
• 蛍原 徹(Touru Hotohara)

FUJIWARA

• 藤本敏史(Fujimoto Toshifumi)
• 原西孝幸(Haranishi Takayuki)

ほっしゃん(Hosshyan)
ライセンス (License)

• 藤原一裕 (Fujiwara Kazuhiro)
• 井本貴史 (Inomoto Takafumi)

Important Vocabulary:

特技(とくぎ): special skill
披露(ひろう):announcement; show; display; introduction
編(へん):Volume (of a text)
視聴率(しちょうりつ):ratings (of a television program)
ペアヌード: "Pair Nude" (a photograph of two nude models.)
企む(たくらむ):to scheme; to plan; to play a trick; to invent; to conspire; to frame up
毎分視聴率(まいふんしちょうりつ): Minute by minute television ratings.
成功(せいこう):success; hit
吹き矢(ふきや):blowgun; blowpipe; dart
ペットボトル:A 500ml Water plastic recyclable bottle
倒す(こかす):to knock down; to knock over
鐘(かね)bell (often a large hanging bell); chime
鳴らす(ならす):to ring; to sound; to chime; to beat; to snort (nose)
希望(きぼう):hope; wish; aspiration
行成(いきなり):abruptly; suddenly; all of a sudden; without warning
居合い(いあい)iai; art of drawing one's sword, cutting down one's opponent and sheathing the sword afterwards
斬る(きる):to kill (a human) using a blade (sword, machete, knife, etc.); to slice (off); to lop (off); to cut (off)

Episode Summary:

After explaining the nature of Minute-by-minute ratings, Matsumoto introduces the numerous guests for this episode. Indeed, it appears more like an episode of Lincoln than GnT.

Matsumoto notices that Fujimoto (from FUJIWARA) has a nasty look on his face. "He looks like he's scheming to make money!" "(my advice is...) Don't release the nude photos!" (presumably of Fujimoto and Nishihara). It's an excellent line, and shows how effortlessly Matsumoto (a world class comedian) can break the ice in any situation. Sometimes his mind and quick-wittedness is simply amazing.
Then the rules:

• The challenge is to demonstrate a special skill (the participant) has never done on television before.
• The aim of successfully demonstrating these skills is to raise the By Minute viewer ratings!

As usual Producer NakaMura serves as referee, and reveals each special skill (trick) in turn:

#1 玉乗り吹き矢　("Ball Riding Blowpipe")

This episode must give great satisfaction to Tanaka fans (personally I sometimes wonder why he's still on the show) as his demonstration of this hitherto unknown stunt is even more amazing than when he demonstrates his knowledge of animal trivial.

After his standing ovation, there is Tanaka-love all around, Endou and Matsumoto especially voicing their amazement. Endou himself says "I'm thinking I've certainly got an amazing partner. We've been together as a Combi for 20 years, and I really think it was good that I partnered with him." Praise indeed.

#2 爆風ペットボトル倒し("Knocking over a water bottle with one explosive breath")

Fujimoto from FUJIWARA demonstrates this little trick which he says he's done since his school days. After he departs for the "Challenge Room," Matsumoto and Miyazawa try it for themselves and the challenge involved soon becomes apparent.

He succeeds easily, although complaining (I think jokingly) of a little dizziness at the end. His trick obviously takes advantage of the curved bottle's surface and Bernoulli's principle to knock it over.

#3 フリーキックペットボトル倒し("Knocking over water bottles by free kick")

Inoumoto from License is next, and his claims to hit a water bottle with a soccer ball at a distance of 10 meters are perhaps justified, but his failure does dampen the mood of the episode somewhat. I think Miyasako is a bit cruel (but perhaps funny) when he says that Inoumoto "certainly stinks at Soccer." To prove he can do it, Inoumoto appears ("very sweaty" according to Yamasaki) to successfully kick three balls without fail into water bottles on a prerecorded video tape (VTR).

#4 カラオケ歌って１００点満点("A full 100 point score at Karaoke")

I'm quite an Endou fan-- so it was with great enjoyment when I saw him announce he could sing ”あの鐘を鳴らすのはあなた”("That Bell that Rings out You" by 和田アキ子*Wada Akiko) and get a full 100point score IN ONE ATTEMPT. Gnt Fans will be very familiar with Wada as she was featured in the March 20th, 2009 "500 Questions" episode of Gnt.

Tanaka is quick to point out that "Endou has been known to get 100 points on this song," but my own knowledge of Karaoke scoring is that it is random at best. Those incidents were probably just luck, and that outcome is borne out by Endou's (hilarous) middling score. Matsumoto is especially surprised. "89? Anyone older than 40 could get that score."

#5 パーフェクトヌンチャク("Perfect Nunchucks")

Surprisingly, it turns out that Miyasako has practiced nunchucks since he was given one as a birthday present by his father, and is (at least in his own estimation) quite good. He says he can hit anything thrown at him with his nunchucks.

I think the demonstration does bear out his talent somewhat, but there is at least one "do-over" since the superball did not approach him from the front.

The display isn't particularly impressive, prompting Matsumoto to observer the the ratings were "descending, minute by minute."

#6居合い斬り("Iai decapitation")

I guess we have to wait for next week to see Yamasaki's display of Samurai skill!

Episode Analysis:

I must say when this episode started I had high expectations. The setting and tone reminded me of one of the best episodes last year: Episdoe #1080. And I must say that Tanaka's performance briefly confirmed my high expectations.

However, it soon became clear that this episode was not to be entirely successful (like the stunts themselves). The honesty in showing the failed party tricks of the Gaki regulars and guests is admirable (and I'm sure Matsumoto would not have it otherwise) but when normal people try to attempt stunts that aren't their primary talent (comedy) some failures are to be expected. The honesty in filming these failure conflicts with the tone of high expectations, and I for one am not sure how to take the whole thing.

I think it would have been funnier if everyone attempted some ridiculous stunt, and they all failed. Then, at least, the joke would be more clear, but as it is, I can only hope that the second half of this opus will improve the first.