So Desu Ka?

One day last Summer I went to a japanese restaurant (Izakaya, in Linz) with Dolore Piqueras. She was an exchange student at Interface Culture, we had been working on our projects to be shown during the Ars Festival and we were damn hungry. So I suggested we try out the mittagsmenu, which is cheap and plentiful but unfortunately doesn’t include any sushi. As we sat inside, there occurred an interesting ZOMG moment which I’ll hardly forget: the moment we found ourselves surrounded by mole-like (that’s what they seemed to me) creatures with big bellies, chubby boobs and proudly displaying prominent testicles.

From Wikipedia

Only months later, after my travel to Japan even (else I’d surely have inquired about and quite possibly bought one of those enigmatic figures), did I remember to ask a japanese person what on earth were those seemingly well-endowed beings supposed to be. So I was told they were Tanuki and informed about the Pom Poko animation film with Hayao Miyazaki as executive producer.

Finally today I saw the movie. As I put it to a friend, “waiter, several doses of ZOMG with extra Z in it, please!”

I can expect all kinds of wonder and bewilderment from a Miyazaki movie. That’s why many people love his work I guess, as it has this ability to amaze with its fantastic imagery. But I just watched a movie which is distributed by Disney, aimed at a young audience and in which racoon dog creatures use their bloated balls as weapons against a squad of riot policemen, among other things.

All in all I guess it’s good to know that there is still room for amazement in watching a non-3D animated movie these days. 

The Tanuki as per www.e-shigaraki.org