"I Survived a Japanese Game Show" - June 17, 2009 - second season premiere

The second season of this great show is back, with Majide host Rome, Judge Bob and Mama-san all returning.





This season is a bit different from last season because people already know about the show, so whereas last season, people had no idea what they were signing up for or that they'd be whisked to Japan, the people who applied for this show knew *exactly* what they were getting themselves into.

There was footage of Rome showing up at people's houses and work and events and such to let them know they'd been selected, after which they were IMMEDIATELY taken to Japan.

There were twelve contestants divided up into two teams.

The Green Tigers consisted of Bobaloo, Megan, Debbie, Brent, Cathy and Linda.





The Red Robots (or red monkey spaceman dude, which is what I originally called him) consisted of Drew, Justin, Dan, Yari, Jamie and Kimberly.





Last season, there was this whole thing about the contestants showing up in Japan and being weirded out and scared by the new culture and food and all the exotic stuff and being totally confused and surprised about being thrown in this weird Japanese game show. None of that at all this time - they went immediately to the first challenge.


All the contestants got dressed in these little bunny costumes - pink bodysuit, bunny ears, bunny nose and fluffy tail. The game was called "Rabbit Fire". Each of the contestants had to carry a stack of bento boxes (they looked like styrofoam, though, instead of the plastic or lacquer that I'm normally used to seeing - maybe they thought styrofoam would be harder to carry since they don't stack as well and would slip more easily) and then walk over this little ledge thing to the other side. Whichever team got the most bento boxes over in the time allotted won. The catch was that members of the other team were shooting balls at them, and with velcro on their suits, they sometimes would catch the balls, making maneuvering more difficult. The balls could also be shot at the bento boxes themselves, knocking them off. There were also a couple of walls that they could hide behind periodically.

The Red Robots went first, and some did really well and some not so much. Some of them learned to face away from the direction that the balls were coming so they could use their backs as a shield against the balls being shot at them. Others had a hard time balancing the bento boxes.

Next up were the Green Tigers, who had their own problems as well. One of the team members (I think it was Bobaloo) fell into the foamy liquid with all his boxes.



The "Rabbit Fire" playing field.


Some contestants carrying bento boxes.


Contestants shooting balls at bento-box-carrying contestants. Nice outfits, huh?


When both sides had gone, it was time for the tally. The Red Robots had 57 boxes. And the Green Tigers had 58 boxes, beating the Red Robots by just one box. The Green Tigers rejoiced in their win, but the Red Robots were sore losers, even claiming that it wasn't really a win because it was only one box, and one box wasn't a reason to celebrate. Ummm, it doesn't matter how much you win by - it just matters that you win.

For winning, the Green Tigers won an advantage in the second game, which is the elimination round, but they weren't going to be told what the advantage was until then.

The contestants were then allowed to go to the house they'd be staying in, and it turned out that the house was right across the street from the studio. I remember last year they always had to take a bus back and forth, so they must have built a house right nearby or something? Mama-san greeted them nicely, and they were all so happy to see her. That was weird, because as I recall, she was pretty stern at the beginning last year, and it kind of freaked out the contestants then.

The next day, they walked back to the studio and were told to wear colored spandex outfits. The game was called "Wheel of Human Torpedoes". 4 members from each team would participate. There was a spinning disc, and one person would sit in the middle and three would be laying down and holding on. The person in the middle was the shooter, and the three people laying down were the torpedoes. After they'd been spinning for a while, the shooter could then release one of the torpedoes, with the goal being to knock down one of the stacks of cans nearby. They got credit for each can that was knocked over and into the trough of flour. The dizzy torpedo then had to run to hit a button, signaling that the next torpedo could be released.

The Red Robots went first again. After the first torpedo was released, the person was trying to get to the button, but the shooter released the next torpedo before the button was hit, so the cans that went down into the trough (and there were quite a few of them) didn't count. The shooter later complained that the audience was so loud that he couldn't hear the buzzer on the button. The Red Robots ended up with 5 cans.

The Green Tigers were up next, and Bobaloo wanted to be the shooter to make up for peforming badly in the last contest. The advantage that the Green Tigers had won from the last challenge was that they could have one extra torpedo, if they needed it. Bobaloo did ok with the first torpedo, getting 3 cans, and the rest of the team members would shout at him to wait, and then when the button was hit, they'd shout at him to release the next one, to make sure he didn't release too early. He couldn't see with the disc spinning and really just saw a blur, so his second torpedo ended up not hitting any of the cans. With his third torpedo, though, he managed to get quite a number of cans, so the Green Tigers ended up winning the contest with 8 cans, and they didn't even need to use their extra torpedo.

For winning, the Green Tigers were treated to a trip to the base of Mount Fuji. They were flown by helicopter and dropped off and were able to watch the sunset over Mount Fuji while they had a feast of food and a good time.

The punishment for the losing Red Robots team was to clean one of the subway stations. Kimberly had already been prissy and annoying and completely self-involved anyway, but she became even worse when she found out she was supposed to be cleaning. She refused to do it, so they eventually let her run one of the cleaning machines, which angered Yari, who had to clean with a rag, like most of the rest of the team. They were also really irritated by Kimberly's complaining and overall attitude.

When it came time for the Red Robots to decide who would go to the elimination round, I was surprised they didn't pick the shooter from the day before who'd released the second torpedo early. That had been a major reason for losing that challenge. Instead, they picked Kimberly because she's an irritating bitch (ok, my description, not theirs) and they also picked Yari because they thought she would be weak in challenges.

Kimberly and Yari dressed in spider outfits, and the name of the challenge was "Big Spider Yanky Danky". Yeah, I have no idea what that means either. Each of them had to pop balloons to look for butterfly bodies and wings. They were different colored bug parts, and then they had to put the part on the correct colored butterfly, which was up an incline. They were also tied to a bungee cord which would randomly yank them back down.

Yari went first, and she was yanked hard by the bungee on a number of occasions, which was exhausting for her. She eventually ended up with 12 body parts.

Then it was Kimberly's turn, and Ms. Ex-Junior-Olympian came flying out of the gate. Her teammates really wanted her to lose because they wanted her gone, but they were afraid that because of her height and build and background, she was the favorite to win the challenge. Eventually, though, Kimberly tired as well, to the point where she laid down before her time was up. She also ended up with 12 body parts.

So Kimberly and Yari were tied. The tie-breaker was decided by whichever one of them had the most completed butterflies, meaning the same color of body and wings. And the winner was Yari! Yes, the husband and I cheered along with the rest of the Red Robots.

The Sayonara guys were back (I *love* them!), and they carried Kimberly out. Bye bye, bitch.

Kimberly Whittaker
Outgoing, outspoken and hardworking, this beautiful former pageant queen and Junior Olympian is in a league of her own and knows it. Standing six feet tall with a size 24 waist, Kimberly is definitely a looker and attention grabber. A go-getter, she knows what she wants and won't stop until she gets it; you don't want to be the one to stand in her way, or you'll get the wrath of Kimberly. The first to admit that she's a diva, Kimberly will tell you exactly what's on her mind and doesn't care about hurting someone's feelings.
Age: 25
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Elementary School Teacher

I enjoyed this episode, and I'm glad they're back, but I do hope they include some of the culture stuff too, because I thought it was generally interesting, except for some of the "stupid Americans" stuff.

Hai, Majide!