A recent storyline in the often controversial, always hilarious animated series South Park focuses on the run-up to the Black Friday sales, and sees the fictional town’s inhabitants turning into murderous, bargain-hunting zombies prepared to gouge one another’s eyes out if it means getting a new TV for a fraction of the normal retail price.
At the same time, a war rages between the town’s kids over which console – Xbox One or PlayStation 4 – they should band together to nab in the sales, and results in Microsoft’s Bill Gates handing out weapons to young Xbox One fans (one per child, in the name of safety) to aid them in their struggle. Not wanting to be outdone, Sony strikes back by granting the leader of the competing faction – none other than parker-wearing mumbler Kenny – the power to become a real Japanese princess, transforming him into an doe-eyed anime beauty, complete with his own Japanese theme song.
Of course, it didn’t take long for clips from the show to make their way to Japan…
This being South Park, there are plenty of scenes that could potentially ruffle feathers in certain camps – with Sony’s “Brack Friday bunduru” (Black Friday Bundle) perhaps cutting a little close to the bone – but those familiar with the show will know that its writers swear allegiance to no one, and anyone in the public eye is considered fair game.
Here’s the scene in which Kenny, who has adopted the role of princess during the Game of Thrones-style conflict, is gifted a treasure by the Sony boss to aid him – sorry, her – in the ensuing Black Friday struggle.
▼ “Kenny-chan kawaii purinsesuuu~”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I__8eDIBFuw
OK, we know he’s a little boy wearing a blonde wig and little bit of rouge, but we think Princess Kenny is pretty adorable.
▼ “Wow, Kenny’s a Japanese princess!”
Western reactions to the show were overwhelmingly positive, with comments from, “Haha what the hell happened to Kenny!?” to “I haven’t laughed so hard at a South Park episode in long time!” Many wondered, however, what the average Japanese netizen would make of this particular episode, and whether they’d be able to find the humour in Princess Kenny’s transformation.
We showed the video to a handful of our Japanese friends to get their take on it. Their reaction? Chuckles, confusion, “LOL WTF?” and, “Oh, wow, they’re actually speaking Japanese!”. Others simply grinned when they saw Kenny’s new look and were amused to see the Sailor Moon references in the clip. It would appear that, sly digs at their poor English pronunciation or not, this episode has offended few native Japanese, and is providing a lot of laughs both at home and abroad right now, whether or not for the reasons its writers originally intended.
Princess Kenny, you may not be the most politically correct anime mascot ever, but we love you and think you need an entire series of your own, and it simply must include that awful theme song!
Source: Jin
Video: YouTube MaishidaSakusei