OK, after seeing Danny Choo’s latest dance performance I couldn’t resist blogging about this.

Not only is the song great, the dance moves are hilarious. It even comes complete with free background dancers!

Speaking of all the guys who jump in to dance along with Danny…many people have this mental image of Japanese as being quiet and reserved, trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves, but as this video clearly demonstrates, even they can’t resist the lure of going crazy in the front of the cameras.

It’s also ironic that he’s doing this in Shibuya, of all places, which is where all the “too-cool-for-school” yuppie teens and 20-somethings come to hang out. This kind of funky, off-the-wall behavior would fit right in in Harajuku, where people regularly parade up and down the streets in every fashion on Earth, as well as a few that I’m convinced originated on some other planet.

Shibuya, however, is a completely different story. The kids who hang out in Shibuya are often trying so hard to appear cool that they look like they’re in pain. Danny’s performance must have just blown their minds. It was such a departure from the normal image the Shibuya-kei (Shibuya style) guys try to put on, they probably just had no idea what to make of him.

In Shibuya your collective attire should have the roughly the same retail value as the downpayment on an automobile…so en vogue it’s almost embarassing. Whereas in Akihabara it’s almost expected to see some form of street performers; in fact you’d feel a little cheated if you crossed the street without seeing some kind of crazy cosplay or idol performance.

And you can think of Harajuku as the crazy art student cousin of the yuppie metropolitian professional known as Shibuya.

As a gaijin in Japan, fitting in is not an easy thing to do. Standing out, on the other hand, is both easy and fun! People are gonna stare anyway, might as well give ‘em a good show, right?

Props, Danny. It was megas funny.

Original at www.dannychoo.com

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In a season overflowing with sequels and generic “been there, done that” plots, Moyashimon’s unique premise and unusual, lighthearted style is a breath of fresh air.

Basically it’s Mushishi, but instead of mysterious and sometimes sinister creatures that live in your eyeballs, it’s full of cute and harmless bacteria who appear as chibi critters with big heads and giant smiles. I swear they look like something straight out of LocoRoco. Even the music in the little ending skit totally reminded me of the game.

Moyashimon’s OP, “Curriculum”, sung by Ifu Sarasa as her debut piece.

If watching this doesn’t make you smile, then there’s something terribly wrong with you.

As soon as I saw that little yellow oryzae guy with the dreadlocks come out and start boppin’ to the music, I knew this show was gonna be epic.

The ending skit, which took the spot that would
normally feature an episode preview.

LOL, the sign says “Beware of animals!” Not exactly your everyday university campus.

Nice daikon!

Gondola livestock coming through! Hah, that one sheep seems almost as weirded out by them as they are by it.

This whole sequence served very nicely to illustrate that this is not your typical university.

The bacteria are definitely the highlight of the show. Just look at the cute smiles on their faces as they blissfully biff right into his face.

Sawaki’s power certainly seems pretty helpful, but obviously they had to make it rather selective. If he really could see all mushi bacteria manifested like that, he’d hardly be able to move or see, since in real life they’re absolutely everywhere. Including in your mouth and other places about your person.

A wild moleman Itsuki-sensei appears!

Do you:

A. Stand frozen in shock and terror

B. Pass out

C. Eat some bird butt

In animation, they have complete freedom to make it look however they want…so why the heck do they always just throw in craploads of absolutely horrible looking lens flare all over the place??!

Only cheap lenses with a five bladed aperture would produce that awful pentagonal shape, and only a completely crap $100 K-Mart lens would produce such huge ugly looking flare. Do they not realize that lens flare is bad, and that professional photographers pay thousands of dollars to get lenses that remove that kind of effect???

I understand it’s supposed to make it look cool and dramatic somehow, but as a photographer I die a little inside every time I see them do this.

*sigh* /rant

Anyway, Itsuki-sensei is simultaneously amazing and horrifying.

He’s got a cool sounding deep voice, scary shiny glasses, and great presence.

But on the other hand, he looks like some kind of horror movie reject and he eats bird butts.

I absolutely flipped out at this part. o_0

By the way, if you’re interested in learning what the heck this scene was all about, as well as excellent explanations of the various bacteria that appear in the show, be sure to check out this article. (Warning: Highly informative! Not recommended if you’re ADHD or have a low tl;dr threshold.)

In addition to the specific stuff TJ outlines, there are a number of other common terms that are used frequently in the show which are handy to know, especially since there’s no one subbing it right now. Here’s a few of the more common ones:

kin (菌) – bacteria, germs, the generic term for the little floaty chibi dudes.

kabi (黴) – mold; for example, penicillin (the little greenish-blue guy) is called aokabi in Japanese, literally “blue mold”.

kouji (麹) – Yeast; can also refer specifically to the kind of mold used to make sake, as mentioned in the show. Sometimes they also call it koujikabi (kouji mold).

kamosu (醸す) – Brewing or fermentation. Wow, lots of “K” terms.

GAH! THERE IT IS AGAIN!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!!

The eyecatch is just win. I so want big versions of these for desktop wallpapers. n_n

Also, I just have to laugh at the one samurai lookin’ yogurt bacteria guy standing on the lower right near the logo. He just looks so serious business.

I also loved the way they smoothed out scene transitions and expositional sequences by cutting to a shot of the mushi bacteria just kind of chillin’.

Moyashimon’s poster boy, the oryzae, is definitely my favorite of the different bacteria we’ve seen. I really need to get a plushie of one of these guys. My Mokona needs a new friend.

And of course he’s able to tell the Japanese yogurt apart from the non-Japanese one because the bacteria are all “Japanese style”, bowing to each other and saying “~de gozaru.” Notice that they also have topknots instead of little dangly ahoge.

Once again, the little bacteria are really what carry the show and make the show so much fun, like in this scene where they stand around watching him draw, and then when they realize that it’s a picture of them they all jump up on the drawing pad and chatter excitedly.

Haha, even the bacteria are terrified of Hasegawa!

Hopefully in coming episodes we’ll get to learn all about all these different little guys!

“Hmm…I see the problem…you really need to change into something that makes you look more like a scientist and less like a hooker. Oh yeah, you should probably do something about that athlete’s foot, too.”

This little ending skit with all the oryzae and the penicillin was pretty entertaining, as well.

I honestly like this kind of thing much more than an episode preview, especially for a simple episodic show like this where it isn’t needed, since there really isn’t any big plot hook to show off.

Much like Mushishi, Moyashimon is a very different kind of a show, one that perhaps not everyone will appreciate. There’s no gun battles or moe fanservice here (unless cute bacteria is your thing, that is), and no grand overarching plot to draw you in. It’s just a nice simple story that features a great mix of humor, science, and surreal WTF moments.

In addition, production values in Moyashimon seem surprisingly high, and the overall animation quality is excellent. The soundtrack is also very appropriate for the show and lots of fun to listen to.

I think in the end, your overall opinion of Moyashimon will be based on your reaction to the mushi, sorry, bacteria themselves. If you really enjoy their cute appearances and silly antics, you’ll probably love the show. Likewise, if you watched the OP and were unimpressed (you soulless oni), there probably won’t be much to interest you in the rest of the anime, because it’s essentially just lots more of the same.

Of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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