How are these J-TV Gameshows looked on in Japan?

Howdy,

How are shows like "London Hearts" and "Gakkou He Ikou" looked upon in Japan? At first I thought they would just be normal late-night stuff, but I have had some conversatiosn with Japanese people who say they are considered low-class entertainment for day-labourers /etc.. Basically, they thought it was all awful.

I might have no class, but I enjoy watching since it gives me a chance to practice a subset of my Japanese. I'm not so sure I'd watch if it were my first language though. Does anyone know more than I about how these are viewed in Japan? (I'll have to try to avoid bringing them up in conversation in that case)

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 5:15 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

My friend (a female) in Japan first recommended London Hearts to me b/c she thought it was funny, but she admitted that most girls think it's trashy and that mostly young guys watched it. She made it out to be her sinful delight that she kept secret, lol. I liked it a lot, along w/ Gakkou e Ikou. But then again, I'm one of very few girls who watch Beavis and Butt-head pinch

She showed it to me for the Bl@ck Mail and similar (also London Boots? I forget). Anyway, my friend and I both liked Gakkou. Some girls watch it just for V6 though. Depends on what skits they are doing at the time. They tend to have this theme going....last time I watched it was when they had the mother-daughter duos that look like sisters (guess their ages) and I knew of some girls watching it for that. Also gotta love the どこに行くんですか game.

Some Japanese people watch them religiously but it tends to be they "grow out" of them and think they are pure garbage. Gimme the idols and garbage, I love it. Beats American reality shows. Haven't seen most of my fave varieties in years......I can't possibly download all that stuff so I choose to try to get more dramas T__T I so wish someone had a distro for varieties so I could catch up ;__;

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:21 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

it depends who you ask. its like asking an opera fan if they like britney spears. saying they are just for "laborers, etc" sounds kind of elitist and stupid. my wife watches them, thinks they are funny, and she's a finance person in a company, and she likes opera and that stuff too.

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 11:17 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

london hearts is definitely teenage girl material.

guys mostly hate london hearts, especially those who had seen it several years ago. it used to be a show that basically tricked guys into proving that they were unfaithful. guys hate it (including me) because the tricks they use are so unfair.

from what i've seen recently though, london hearts has become cleaner. it's still teenage trashy stuff though. but you have to understand, japanese people as a whole are much more immature than westerners so...

gakkou he ikou is for even younger audiences i think. i used to watch it in middle school. as i grew older, it became pretty boring. i think that's the same for most other japanese too.