Kinnikumen.

The big news over the weekend was of course that the Americans discovered that Gay Marriage is not the path to Hell, something that Canadians had figured out a decade before. Alas, Japan is still a closeted nation and I don't foresee any changes made on this front for a while. This is why I am astounded that キン肉マン (Kinnikuman) and his colleagues have taken the plunge and come out.

To honour this accomplishment, Sunkus conbini has offered up pairs of wrestlers, sold when you buy a couple of teas. There are 8 pairs in all and I just so happened to collect them all.

The first couple to exit their closet are Kinnikuman and his partner Rikishiman the Wolfman.

Robin Mask and Warsman followed their lead.

Terryman paired up with Geronimo, and they couldn't be happier.

 

Brocken Jr. hooked up with Ramenman.

Nice to see that  Pentagon and Black Hole have gotten past their rivalry.

Buffaloman has gotten close to sidekick Alexandria Meat or Meat-kun.

Asuraman holds hands (all 6 of them) with his partner (whose name I can't decipher. Help me out here!)

Finally there is Sunshine and The Ninja. Don't they look good together?

I fervently wish that these couples find eternal happiness and that one day they can be legally wed in Japan.

Check out the first episode and sing along to their theme song. It's catchy.



ps. these guys were branded M.U.S.C.L.E. when released in the States and if you'd like to learn more, I recommend you check out Branded in the 80s.

I Once Knew A Girl From Buffalo...

Why can't I meet a girl with normal parents?

I UFO caught Buffaloman a while back and thought I'd share it with you. It was fairly easy to win the brown one, (I got two!) but I was unsuccessful in acquiring the black one. Not being a fan of wrestling, I have never seen Kinnukiman but the characters do look awful goofy!


Here are a few more to wet your whistle...

Wrestling With Myself.

Ages ago, I once spoke of キン肉マン or Kinnukiman and recently in my never-ending quest to waste my hard-earned shekels, I completed my phone-strap collection of Wrestlers.

Thank goodness, there were only 16, so I didn't have to drink too much tea, but check out how many there could have been!

Click away for an incredibly difficult Karuta (Concentration) game or you can always go here to buy the DVD set, if you have a spare grand!

If you can't afford the dvds, this should whet your wrestling whistle:

HoHoHuh?

I had a few tall ones with Dave yesterday at a place called "Jazz Spot Count". I'd been there once before and it's amazing. It's this little hole in the wall place that you can sit down, have a drink or a coffee and just sit and relax while the guy plays one of his many Jazz records. I hazarded a guess at 4,000 as the amount of records he had...he told me that it's more like 6,000! I love this cigar chewing dude he has sitting on the bar.












He gives out lighters! 022-263-0238.


















I then went and played Simpsons Pinball for about an hour (lots of free games) and did a tiny bit of UFO Catching. I picked up these four awesome goofy-looking wrestling characters, Kinniku Man.
















Now I want them all. I hate wrestling, but I love these guys!












I was a little peckish, so I chucked the diet and got a Happy Set. It comes with this little frog-like creature called ケロロ (Keroro) and there are 66 of these buggers to collect. Talk about otaku-overkill!















En route home, walking along Kris Road, they had all their typical Christmassy decorations up and I snapped this photo with my phone. Sort of a Zen-Santa, don't you think?