Chinpokomon (episode): Difference between revisions

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==Story==
==Story==
The boys and their classmates are caught up in the latest fad from Japan called ''Chinpokomon'' that contains subliminal propaganda to bring down the American government.


===Description===
===Description===
The boys (along with every other kid in town) become fascinated with a Japanese cartoon, Chinpokomon. In spite of the fact that the show has no discernable plot and the dialogue makes little sense, South Park's kids flock to the toy store to purchase action figures and the Chinpokomon video game.  
The boys and every other kid in town become fascinated with ''Chinpokomon'', a Japanese franchise that centers around fictional creatures called "Chinpokomon" and spans cartoons, video games and toys. The parents disapprove of the franchise's popularity as they see it has no intellectual value and is simply a marketing scheme to take money from their children. Nonetheless, South Park's kids continue to flock to the toy store to purchase Chinpokomon products.


Kenny suffers a massive seizure while playing the game but the rest of the children all attend a special Chinpokomon camp, where the real reason behind the craze is revealed -- by none other than Emperor Hirohito himself. The kids are being fed military tactics through the toys and games.  Soon they will be used as pawns to pilot jets to bomb Pearl Harbor. Whenever any adults get suspicious, the Japanese distract them by telling them how large their American penises are.
At the same time, Kyle struggles to keep up with the latest fad. He asks his parents for money to buy Chinpokomon dolls, but his dad Gerald explains he shouldn't follow fads just because everyone else is. Kyle reasons that if he doesn't he will get bullied. Gerald quickly understands and gives Kyle enough money to buy dolls for both him and Ike. When at the toy shop, Kyle agrees with the owner that he doesn't know what kids see in Chinpokomon.


In the nick of time, South Park's grownups figure out how to counter the Chinpokomon threat. As the kids board their fighter jets to attack Pearl Harbor, their parents inform them that they now like Chinpokomon too. This kills the thrill for the boys, who immediately abandon the plan.
Kyle is always one step behind the trends that quickly switched from Chinpokomon toys to video games (something Kenny suffers a massive seizure from playing). The next popular thing is a special Chinpokomon camp that all the kids including Kyle attend. Here, the real reason behind the franchise craze is revealed by Emperor Hirohito. The kids are being fed military tactics and propaganda through their toys and games to bring down the American government. Soon they will be used as pawns to pilot jets to suicide bomb Pearl Harbor.
 
Seeing their kids have been essentially brainwashed, the adults try to snap them out of it. Yet, whenever any adults step in, the Japanese successfully distract them by telling them how large American penises are compared to Japanese penises. In the nick of time, South Park's grownups figure out how to counter the Chinpokomon threat. As the kids board their fighter jets to attack Pearl Harbor, their parents inform their kids that they now like Chinpokomon too.
 
Suddenly Chinpokomon is lame for the kids, who immediately abandon the plan. All except Kyle, who is again late to what's going on. Stan gives a speech on how group mentality is bad, so Kyle decides he needs to bomb Pearl Harbor to be an individual. Stan retracts his lesson, stating group mentality is sometimes good. Confused, Kyle simply gives up.  


===What I Learned Today===
===What I Learned Today===
Line 25: Line 30:


===Memorable Quotes===
===Memorable Quotes===
* "I love you! Let's be friends   and destroy the capitalist American government!" (Chinpokomon doll)
* "I love you! Let's be friends and destroy the capitalist American government!" (Chinpokomon doll)
* "Thank you for stopping by with your gargantuan penis." [[Mr. Hirohito]]
* "Thank you for stopping by with your gargantuan penis." ([[Mr. Hirohito]])
* "But Mo-om!  I have to get a Chimpokomon doll before anyone else does because then I'll be cooool!"  [[Cartman]]
* "But Mo-om!  I have to get a Chimpokomon doll before anyone else does because then I'll be cooool!"  ([[Eric Cartman]])
* "The Primary Main Objective is to destroy the evil power!"  [[Stan]]
* "The Primary Main Objective is to destroy the evil power!"  ([[Stan Marsh]])
* "We very are very simple people, with very small penis.  Mr. Ose penis is especially small."  [[Mr. Hirohito]]
* "We very are very simple people, with very small penis.  Mr. Ose penis is especially small."  ([[Mr. Hirohito]])
* "Jesus tap dancing Christ!  Get with the program, Kyle."  [[Cartman]]
* "Jesus tap dancing Christ!  Get with the program, Kyle."  ([[Eric Cartman]])


==Characters==
==Characters==
Line 103: Line 108:


===Character Debuts===
===Character Debuts===
A whole bunch of Chinpokomon: Furry Cat, Donkeytron, Pen-Gin, Shoe, Lambtor, Roo-STOR, LAMtron, and Chu-Chu Nezumi. Collect them all, and you just might become Royal Crown Chinpoko Master.
A whole bunch of Chinpokomon: Furrycat, Donkeytron, Pengin, Shoe, Lambtron (called Lambtor in this episode), Roostor, and Chu-Chu Nezumi. More Chinpokomon are introduced in ''[[South Park: The Stick of Truth]]''. Collect them all and you just might become Royal Crown Chinpoko Master.  


Red Harris, owner of Luau's Toys. You can see him again in "A Very Crappy Christmas".
Mr. Hirohito, President of the Chinpoko Toy Corporation, and his associate Mr. Ose, who we learn has a microscopic penis. Also Red Harris, owner of Luau's Toys. You can see him again in "[[A Very Crappy Christmas]]".
{{Character list
| Name = Red Harris
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/red-harris.png
}}<br clear="left">


Hirohito, President of the Chinpoko Toy Corporation, and his associate, Mr. Ose, who we learn has a microscopic penis.
{{Character list
{{Character list
| Name = Mr. Hirohito President of Chinpoko Toy Corporation  
| Name = Mr. Hirohito President of Chinpoko Toy Corporation  
Line 119: Line 119:
| Name = Mr. Ose Chinpoko Toy Corporation - Associate
| Name = Mr. Ose Chinpoko Toy Corporation - Associate
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/big-business-mr-ose-chinpoko-toy-corp-associate.png
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/big-business-mr-ose-chinpoko-toy-corp-associate.png
}}<br clear="left">
}}
{{Character list
| Name = Red Harris
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/characters/adults/red-harris.png
}}


===Body Count===
===Body Count===
Kenny has a violent seizure while playing the Chinpokomon video game and stays comatose for the rest of the episode. Finally, at the very end, his body bursts open, revealing that he's filled with rats. So he'd probably been dead for a while.
Kenny has a violent seizure while playing the Chinpokomon video game and stays comatose for the rest of the episode. At the end of the episode his body bursts open, revealing that he's filled with rats. So he'd probably been dead for a while.


==Locations==
==Locations==
{{Location list
| Name = Cartman Residence
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/locations/cartman-house.jpg
}}
{{Location list
| Name = Broflovski Residence
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/locations/broflovski-house.jpg
}}
{{Location list
| Name = Chinpokomon Company
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/locations/shops-n-businesses-miscellaneous-chinpokomon-company.png
}}
{{Location list
| Name = Marsh Residence
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/locations/marsh-house.jpg
}}
{{Location list
{{Location list
| Name = Chinpokomon Camp
| Name = Chinpokomon Camp
Line 130: Line 150:
}}
}}
{{Location list
{{Location list
| Name = Chinpokomon Company
| Name = South Park Elementary
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/locations/shops-n-businesses-miscellaneous-chinpokomon-company.png
| Image = http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/locations/school.jpg
}}
}}
{{Location list
{{Location list
Line 148: Line 168:
==Behind The Scenes==
==Behind The Scenes==
===Where Did The Idea Come From===
===Where Did The Idea Come From===
The story was an extended critique of the Pokemon phenomenon.
This episode is a critique on the ''Pokemon'' phenomenon that exploded back in the late 1990's in both Japan and the United States. The video game-based franchise encouraged consumption of their products through collection: the main video games and anime are about collecting fictional creatures, the English slogan is "Gotta Catch 'Em All", and the franchise even spanned a trading card game series. Despite critics waving off the franchise's sudden popularity as a fad, ''Pokemon'' continues to be a global success and highly influential in the media today.


==Pop Culture References==
==Pop Culture References==
===Shout Outs===
===Shout Outs===
After the kids' parents get them to stop liking Chinpokomon by pretending to like it too, Stan's mom tells Mr. Garrison to "Get on the wire to every parent around the country and tell them how to bring those sons of bitches down." The line comes from the movie Independence Day.
Some Chinpokomon have designs directly inspired by actual Pokémon. Chu-Chu Nezumi's name is based off of Pikachu's (''nezumi'' or ネズミ means "rat" in Japanese like what Pikachu is; ''chu chu'' or チューチュー is the Japanese onomatopoeia of squeaking). However, Chu-Chu Nezumi has wings and an orange color similar to Charizard. Furrycat is an green version of Meowth.
 
The main character of the Chinpokomon cartoon show resembles Ash Ketchum, the main character of the ''Pokemon'' anime with a trucker mullet. One of the villains resembles James from Team Rocket (with the colors of Butch, another Team Rocket member).
 
Kenny's seizure is a reference to a controversial incident in Japan where the broadcast debut of a Pokemon episode called "Dennō Senshi Porygon" or "Electric Soldier Porygon" caused seizures in 685 viewers. The episode included strobing red lights which can induce seizures, a condition called photosensitive epilepsy, in a small portion of the population. The episode was never rebroadcast worldwide.


When talking about how stupid TV shows can destroy a child's mind, Sharon begs Randy to "remember what "Battle of the Network Stars" did to an entire generation.This is a reference to the long-running TV series that pitted popular television performers against one another.
After the kids' parents get them to stop liking Chinpokomon, Stan's mom tells Mr. Garrison to "Get on the wire to every parent around the country and tell them how to bring those sons of bitches down." Mr. Garrison promptly uses a telegraph to spread Sharon's message. This is a reference to the 1996 film ''Independence Day''.


Kyle uses the phrase "ay-eet", trying to say it the way Lauren Hill does, but it turns out that stopped being cool 8 days ago.
When talking about how stupid TV shows can destroy a child's mind, Sharon begs Randy to "remember what ''Battle of the Network Stars'' did to an entire generation." ''Battle of the Network Stars'' was long-running TV series from 1976-1988 that pitted popular television stars against one another.


A few of the Chinpokomon have designs directly inspired by actual Pokémon, such as Fatdactyl having Pikachu's tail, eyes and yellow color, and Monkey resembling Slowpoke and Slowbro. ''[[South Park: The Stick of Truth]]'' would introduce more Chinpokomon figures, some of which are based on newer Pokémon. The main character of the Chinpokomon cartoon show resembles Ash Ketchum (the hero of the Pokémon anime) with an ''awful'' trucker mullet, while one of the villains resembles James of Team Rocket (with the colors of Butch, another Team Rocket member).
Kyle uses the phrase "ay-eet", trying to say it the way Lauryn Hill used to. Lauryn Hill is an American singer known for being a member of the Fugees, a hip hop group in the late '90s.


==Bonus Factoids==
==Bonus Factoids==
===Pointless Observations===
* Trey Parker is a Japanophile and studied a double major in music and Japanese during college. Thus, the Japanese names and dialogue in this episode are pretty accurate. The only exception is when Stan calls Mr. Garrison using the suffix -''san'' when Stan should address teachers with -''sensei''.


===Pointless Observations===
* Mr. Hirohito was played by Trey's Japanese college friend Junichi Nishimura, who also supplied the narration for Trey's college short film ''American History''. Junichi is referenced as the small Asian boy in "[[Jewbilee]]".
Trey Parker studied Japanese and actually lived briefly in Japan. Thus the Japanese names and dialogue in this episode are right on the money. Emperor Hirohito was played by an old friend of his, Junichi Nishimura -- who also supplied the narration for Trey's college short film, American History. You can see a young, animated Junichi briefly in "Jewbilee".
 
* Hirohito was the name of the actual 124th Emperor of Japan. However, the real life Hirohito died 10 years prior to the airing of this episode, succeeded by his son Akihito.


Cartman shows off his ability to play guitar in this episode, as he sings on the sidewalk for people to give him money for more Chimpokomon.
* Cartman shows off his ability to play guitar in this episode, as he sings on the sidewalk for people to give him money for more Chimpokomon.


We see two live-action commercials for toys developed to subvert the Chinpokomon phenomenon: Alabama Man, a plastic doll which spends a lot of time bowling, drinking and beating its wife, and Wild Wacky Action Bike, "the bike that's hard to ride!"
* We see two live-action commercials for toys developed to subvert the Chinpokomon phenomenon: Alabama Man, a plastic doll which spends a lot of time bowling, drinking and beating its wife; and Wild Wacky Action Bike, "the bike that's hard to ride!"


===Nations/Cultures Impugned===
* In Japanese, ''chinpoko'' (ちんぽこ) is a colloquial term for "penis". The "mon" in Pokemon is a contraction of "monster" (''Pokemon'' is short for the original Japanese title ''Pocket Monsters''). As a result, the phrase "Chinpokomon" means "penis monster".
The word chinpoko means "small penis" in Japanese. The phrase Chinpokomon means "small penis monster." Also, Kenny's seizure is a reference to an incident in Japan in which the viewing of a Pokemon episode called "Electric Soldier Porygon" caused a similar problem  with Japanese children. It was never aired in the United States.


{{Season_List_03|Episode=10}}
{{Season_List_03|Episode=10}}

Revision as of 00:54, 13 December 2016

Chinpokomon

Season s03
Episode e10
Written By Trey Parker
Production Code 0310
Original Air Date 1999-11-03

Episode Chronology

Story

The boys and their classmates are caught up in the latest fad from Japan called Chinpokomon that contains subliminal propaganda to bring down the American government.

Description

The boys and every other kid in town become fascinated with Chinpokomon, a Japanese franchise that centers around fictional creatures called "Chinpokomon" and spans cartoons, video games and toys. The parents disapprove of the franchise's popularity as they see it has no intellectual value and is simply a marketing scheme to take money from their children. Nonetheless, South Park's kids continue to flock to the toy store to purchase Chinpokomon products.

At the same time, Kyle struggles to keep up with the latest fad. He asks his parents for money to buy Chinpokomon dolls, but his dad Gerald explains he shouldn't follow fads just because everyone else is. Kyle reasons that if he doesn't he will get bullied. Gerald quickly understands and gives Kyle enough money to buy dolls for both him and Ike. When at the toy shop, Kyle agrees with the owner that he doesn't know what kids see in Chinpokomon.

Kyle is always one step behind the trends that quickly switched from Chinpokomon toys to video games (something Kenny suffers a massive seizure from playing). The next popular thing is a special Chinpokomon camp that all the kids including Kyle attend. Here, the real reason behind the franchise craze is revealed by Emperor Hirohito. The kids are being fed military tactics and propaganda through their toys and games to bring down the American government. Soon they will be used as pawns to pilot jets to suicide bomb Pearl Harbor.

Seeing their kids have been essentially brainwashed, the adults try to snap them out of it. Yet, whenever any adults step in, the Japanese successfully distract them by telling them how large American penises are compared to Japanese penises. In the nick of time, South Park's grownups figure out how to counter the Chinpokomon threat. As the kids board their fighter jets to attack Pearl Harbor, their parents inform their kids that they now like Chinpokomon too.

Suddenly Chinpokomon is lame for the kids, who immediately abandon the plan. All except Kyle, who is again late to what's going on. Stan gives a speech on how group mentality is bad, so Kyle decides he needs to bomb Pearl Harbor to be an individual. Stan retracts his lesson, stating group mentality is sometimes good. Confused, Kyle simply gives up.

What I Learned Today

"This whole Chinpokomon thing happened because we all followed the group. We only liked Chinpokomon because everyone else did. And look at the damage it caused."

Memorable Quotes

  • "I love you! Let's be friends and destroy the capitalist American government!" (Chinpokomon doll)
  • "Thank you for stopping by with your gargantuan penis." (Mr. Hirohito)
  • "But Mo-om! I have to get a Chimpokomon doll before anyone else does because then I'll be cooool!" (Eric Cartman)
  • "The Primary Main Objective is to destroy the evil power!" (Stan Marsh)
  • "We very are very simple people, with very small penis. Mr. Ose penis is especially small." (Mr. Hirohito)
  • "Jesus tap dancing Christ! Get with the program, Kyle." (Eric Cartman)

Characters

Character Debuts

A whole bunch of Chinpokomon: Furrycat, Donkeytron, Pengin, Shoe, Lambtron (called Lambtor in this episode), Roostor, and Chu-Chu Nezumi. More Chinpokomon are introduced in South Park: The Stick of Truth. Collect them all and you just might become Royal Crown Chinpoko Master.

Mr. Hirohito, President of the Chinpoko Toy Corporation, and his associate Mr. Ose, who we learn has a microscopic penis. Also Red Harris, owner of Luau's Toys. You can see him again in "A Very Crappy Christmas".

Body Count

Kenny has a violent seizure while playing the Chinpokomon video game and stays comatose for the rest of the episode. At the end of the episode his body bursts open, revealing that he's filled with rats. So he'd probably been dead for a while.

Locations

Behind The Scenes

Where Did The Idea Come From

This episode is a critique on the Pokemon phenomenon that exploded back in the late 1990's in both Japan and the United States. The video game-based franchise encouraged consumption of their products through collection: the main video games and anime are about collecting fictional creatures, the English slogan is "Gotta Catch 'Em All", and the franchise even spanned a trading card game series. Despite critics waving off the franchise's sudden popularity as a fad, Pokemon continues to be a global success and highly influential in the media today.

Pop Culture References

Shout Outs

Some Chinpokomon have designs directly inspired by actual Pokémon. Chu-Chu Nezumi's name is based off of Pikachu's (nezumi or ネズミ means "rat" in Japanese like what Pikachu is; chu chu or チューチュー is the Japanese onomatopoeia of squeaking). However, Chu-Chu Nezumi has wings and an orange color similar to Charizard. Furrycat is an green version of Meowth.

The main character of the Chinpokomon cartoon show resembles Ash Ketchum, the main character of the Pokemon anime with a trucker mullet. One of the villains resembles James from Team Rocket (with the colors of Butch, another Team Rocket member).

Kenny's seizure is a reference to a controversial incident in Japan where the broadcast debut of a Pokemon episode called "Dennō Senshi Porygon" or "Electric Soldier Porygon" caused seizures in 685 viewers. The episode included strobing red lights which can induce seizures, a condition called photosensitive epilepsy, in a small portion of the population. The episode was never rebroadcast worldwide.

After the kids' parents get them to stop liking Chinpokomon, Stan's mom tells Mr. Garrison to "Get on the wire to every parent around the country and tell them how to bring those sons of bitches down." Mr. Garrison promptly uses a telegraph to spread Sharon's message. This is a reference to the 1996 film Independence Day.

When talking about how stupid TV shows can destroy a child's mind, Sharon begs Randy to "remember what Battle of the Network Stars did to an entire generation." Battle of the Network Stars was long-running TV series from 1976-1988 that pitted popular television stars against one another.

Kyle uses the phrase "ay-eet", trying to say it the way Lauryn Hill used to. Lauryn Hill is an American singer known for being a member of the Fugees, a hip hop group in the late '90s.

Bonus Factoids

Pointless Observations

  • Trey Parker is a Japanophile and studied a double major in music and Japanese during college. Thus, the Japanese names and dialogue in this episode are pretty accurate. The only exception is when Stan calls Mr. Garrison using the suffix -san when Stan should address teachers with -sensei.
  • Mr. Hirohito was played by Trey's Japanese college friend Junichi Nishimura, who also supplied the narration for Trey's college short film American History. Junichi is referenced as the small Asian boy in "Jewbilee".
  • Hirohito was the name of the actual 124th Emperor of Japan. However, the real life Hirohito died 10 years prior to the airing of this episode, succeeded by his son Akihito.
  • Cartman shows off his ability to play guitar in this episode, as he sings on the sidewalk for people to give him money for more Chimpokomon.
  • We see two live-action commercials for toys developed to subvert the Chinpokomon phenomenon: Alabama Man, a plastic doll which spends a lot of time bowling, drinking and beating its wife; and Wild Wacky Action Bike, "the bike that's hard to ride!"
  • In Japanese, chinpoko (ちんぽこ) is a colloquial term for "penis". The "mon" in Pokemon is a contraction of "monster" (Pokemon is short for the original Japanese title Pocket Monsters). As a result, the phrase "Chinpokomon" means "penis monster".

Season 3

e1 Rainforest Shmainforest
e2 Spontaneous Combustion
e3 The Succubus
e4 Tweek Vs. Craig
e5 Jakovasaurs
e6 Sexual Harassment Panda
e7 Cat Orgy
e8 Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub
e9 Jewbilee
e10 Chinpokomon
e11 Starvin' Marvin in Space
e12 Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery
e13 Hooked on Monkey Fonics
e14 The Red Badge of Gayness
e15 Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics
e16 Are You There, God? It's Me, Jesus
e17 World Wide Recorder Concert