..Carefully Slide

A school project in which I show off my sweet internet skill and research how Eastern and Western culture operate on the platform of YouTube. I trust you will be entertained, and also educated.

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Engineering Students See Hot Girls Dance for the First Time - ThePrincessHira

I wrote this, then my internet browser crashed. This sucks.

So anyway, this is a video, where some sexy Korean girls dance for some Asian engineering students, who, right on queue, go crazy.

This is a viral video, with over 3 million views. It's been sent to me at least four times, and it's pretty clear that people find this hilarious.

Why? I can't help but think that we all love the stereotype that falls under "engineering" that is - Asian, single, virgin, never seen a girl dance before (see: engineering memes).

So, this clearly falls right into that stereotype, and of course, that's hilarious.

The idea of an Asian engineering student has been around for a long time,  and it falls into that whole thing of "Asians are so smart, good at maths, etc etc."

While I did laugh at this video at first, I felt a little bit uncomfortable about it, To be honest, laughing at this stereotype made me feel a little bit racist. I feel like this part of the internet, and of YouTube, despite how popular it might be, is fostering a lot of subconscious racism.

I mean really, this video is more or less saying "LAUGH AT THE VIRGIN ASIAN ENGINEERING STUDENTS GOING CRAZY OVER GIRLS!!!11"

It's a bit silly.

So, rather than the video itself morphing together East and West cultures, it's the East creating an almost evil kind of humour for the west.

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Ai LIKE Hamburger - change2mycolour

I don't.. I don't even know anymore. What is air?

I think this video is trying to say that it is possible to love someone as much as a hamburger. I think. But I can't say I know for sure.

This is a Japanese song for a game released by Namco, called Idolmaster (or iDOLM@STER).

In this game you are the producer of potential singers and you basically manage them and get some to fame.

A lot of people like this game, judging from the comments on this video.

I honestly can't really say too much about this other than my own opinion.

I was shown this video by a friend, who was more or less "wtf Japan" and showed quote a few people this craaaazy video, and how insane Japan are.

I mean, portraying love to be a hamburger is totally weird, right?

Part of me can't help but think that whoever wrote this song was a bit like "what would appeal to white people? Hm..." and then came up with hamburger.

They were right, I am craving a hamburger right now.

I also can't help but think of a certain conspiracy theory (which I can't remember the name of, my apologies), which argues that when America occupied Japan post WWII, the Americans decided to experiment with the media and see how far they could exploit it and what they could do with it to change the meaning of various ideas and things.

A lot like this film.

Anyway, I thought this was relevant because, while it's a bit of a cult thing, it shows how much Japan morphs English and Japanese together, both in language and in culture. It's weird.

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Hair Kuts in Hong Kong - Wong Fu Productions

In keeping with YouTube's comedy week, I've decided to feature Wong Fu Productions on the blog.

The Wong Fu Productions feature a lot of other Asian (YouTube born) comedians, and they're pretty famous for their own skits and general personalities. In this specific video, they travel to Hong Kong and get some sweet haircuts.

Much like communitychannel and mychonny in Australia, Wong Fu Productions are really popular, but with a slightly larger presence in America. These guys don't really mask their cultural identities; in fact, in a lot of cases, they capitalise on it. Again, people find these guys funny and are embracing them; they're on the top list of funny people on YouTube. 

These guys also have a pretty big western following. A simple Google search will bring up several fan blogs about these guys.

There are several, really popular Asian YouTubers which I recommend you look into, if you haven't already: NigaHiga KevJumba (the start of the video is this guy's dad. For anyone who watches, the duo were in The Amazing Race a couple of years ago) NDtitanlady

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Nyan Cat - saraj00n

This video is cool because it was made with the contribution of Asia and Western nations. And that's what this blog is all about. Amazing!

Some history:

In April 2011 his guy, called Christopher Torres (of Dallas, Texas) decided to create a pop-tart cat through the motivation of the internet. He then created a gif of this image running through space with a rainbow coming off the back of it.

Apparently the cat was created in memory of his own cat, which passed away late 2010.

The original version of the song itself ("nyanyanyanyanyanyan...etc) was posted by a japanese user on a Japanese video site.

The original song got butchered and eventually YouTube user saraj00n combined the two and uploaded it. And bang! Nyancat was born.

It was a top 10 viral video in 2011 and people continue to have it as their ringtones, as apps, and there is even a game based from the gif and repetitive song.

Why was it so popular? I have no idea.Perhaps the bright colours, the cat (anyone on the internet will know that the internet is a cat person), and the repetitive tune - which humans, for some reason, have a tendency to get stuck in their heads.

Nevertheless, it's a video that will go down in history as a ridiculously famous concept, and it was created by people no opposite ends of the world. Beautiful.

Oh, by the way: "nyan" is the Japanese equivalent of "meow".

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Hot Dog Condom Style - BartBaKer

It was pointed out to me a while ago that a lot of shows and music from Asia (namely Japan and Korea in this example) seem like they only really suit the Japanese and Koreans that are within it - such as Iron Chef, Ninja Warrior and Quiet Library. You don't really see shows like that in Australia. The closest we have got to anything near as crazy as that is Celebrity Splash - but that's been a giant flop.

So, 2012 brought us a crazy, amazing, funny, entertaining viral video, which we are now all sick of (but for some reason it just won't leave us alone) - called Gangnam Style, by (for those without access to internet, TV, newspapers, smart phones, radios, or friends) PSY.

When the video first came out, I thought that it was a very cool video. A video which essentially pokes fun at all other music videos today, both in Asia and Western nations - I thought that the video said to all other music videos: "guys, you take yourselves too seriously. Let's have fun."

The thing, in my opinion that made this video work was that it was Korean. I honestly can't imagine this sort of video coming out in a western nation - much like the aforementioned TV shows, I feel like it just wouldn't work.

Sadly very few people got that the idea of the video was meant to be poking fun at other videos, but hey, people thought it was very funny and cool.

So much so, that we saw several, countless parodies of the video. Some of them were funny and smart, some of them not so much.

The video above is one that is not so much funny, and proves my point about Western people trying to use Korean-type humour. It doesn't really work.

So anyway, this video uses some pretty bad american humour (as in penis jokes most of the way through, which is fine, but please, come up with something a bit more intelligent), in an attempt to remake the famous Korean video.

This video directly contradicts what the original was trying to say, firstly by taking itself too seriously as a parody, (yes, that is a thing), and secondly, by being incredibly sexist. If anyone cares to look up the lyrics of Gangnam style (strangely enough, not too many people have done that) a big part of it is actually about being respectful and nice, and NOT being a sexist pig to women.

In my opinion, this is a really disappointing, but realistic, example of how a lot of the internet acts. In the contexts of Korean and english-speaking relations, we see that, while we don't have a huge affiliation with K-pop etc, as soon as there's something cool and funny that we like, we will often take it, stretch it, demean it to the point that it's not even funny any more.

TL;DR: When the rare event of something Asian comes into mainstream media, we ignore what it actually is and butcher the shit out of it because it will get views on YouTube.

For those interested, here are some other Gangnam Style parodies worth watching:

Misheard Gangnam Lyrics

Matty B Gangnam Style (a small child remake)

Gunman Style (Western-style parody)

Eastern Europe Style

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Touch My Body (Tuts My Barreh) - Dawn Air.

Uploaded by mornder. Oh, the joys of double translation.

This song is a karaoke cover of the song of Touch My Body by Mariah Carey.

What has happened in this video is that this guy (who is actually a famous karaoke singer, apparently) has listened to the lyrics and then gone and sung them, believing that they are more or less the same. But once given new English subtitles, the English speaking audience realises that these lyrics are wrong. Very wrong. Some of my personal favourites are:

"I be a lump on you"

"I will give you plankton"

"It's asbestos flaygon you too"

"I will hunt you down" (which are also the actual song's lyrics, I just thought they were a bit creepy)

"Come on a give me water dessert"

There are several videos that look like this all over YouTube: but this one has garnered well over 10 million views, which makes it pretty obvious to me that a lot of people have found it pretty funny.

This video was probably originally created as a recording to show this famous karaoke singer (by the name of Dawn Air) doing his thang, for all the fans (for the uneducated, karaoke is a huge, gigantic, massive thing in Korea/Japan).

However, obviously someone of the English tongue has picked it up and added subtitles for the lulz.

This is yet another example of how much we, the English speakers, find a ridiculous amount of hilarity from people getting our language wrong. This generally happens with the help of what seems to be commonly Asian (Korean and Japanese especially) people. I can only think that it is because our two societies are quite together(particularly given the fact that in America and Australia have a significant Asian population).

Anyway, it's always fun to see your native language butchered. Right?

Here is another good translation I found by Dawn Air. It's a Justin Bieber cover.

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Say You're Sorry - Communitychannel

Here is a video that takes us back to where we are - Australia. With 6% of our population as Asian, there are several emerging faces within the internet community. Natalie Tran, a Sydney-based YouTuber, makes video blogs on a semi-regular basis. Several of her jokes are based on her own ethnicity, and on occasion she will show off her sweet Vietnamese speaking skills. This is a clear example of the way that the internet has embraced the way that we are becoming more and more globalised. Videos from users like communitychannel and mychonny are successful because Australia (and the rest of the world) appreciate their kind of humour, perhaps namely because we are so intertwined in our cultures: perhaps creating a culture of its own. Something to ponder.

In this ideaCity talk, Tran talks about the way she got her sense of homour, and basically pins it down to this: her parents, of a Vietnamese culture, find white people funny. Also, the videos are really funny. You should watch them.

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WAIFUISM - jgsfgs (YouTube user)

This video was posted at the user's continuing dislike of the way a word, "waifu", was being used within the internet community.

This is done mostly via imageboards 4chan and reddit. If you don't know what they are, I suggest you look them up at home. By yourself. It gets freaky. Especially 4chan.*

Basically, waifu meant one thing, then people bastardised it and used it in the wrong context (just like the words "meme" and "troll") constantly and this is a video correcting what "waifu" is. He then goes on to dissect it. In a rather clever way.

I don't want to tell you the specifics because you should watch the video.

Waifu is a Japanese word, which has been adopted by the English speaking, most likely due to influence of loads of Japanese animes.

While Waifuism is a video, this touches on broader issue on the internet, with its roots in a word that of Japanese origin. With a lot of internet things happening unbeknownst to us, the magic of video summarises this one particular issue. The user even goes to compare "Waifuism" to religions.

I don't really need to say much more because the video explains fairly well. But just keep in mind that this video draws on things from the internet that have used Japanese within common verse.

And I bet you were starting to think that I would be posting things ONLY from Asia. Ha.

**4Chan and Reddit are image forums. 4chan more specifically has a bit of an "internet only" stereotype and it is generally regarded as the birthplace of "memes". There is a lot of open discussion on these forums, ranging from extreme political talk to the precise characteristics of characters in an anime.

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I GOT A BOY - SNSD (Girls Generation)

This video is a mere example of the many, many, many kpop (read: Korean pop) and jpop (read: Japanese pop) videos which add loads of English words into their lyrics.

So, why do these guys so often use English?

My detailed research told me that it's because Korea and Japan in particular, have a strong western influence. I mean, to start with, they're all taught English in school. It gives them a broader audience, too. There's a huge fan base of k-pop and j-pop around the world, and the websites linked to the respective languages are for the English speaking fans.

Here, have some lyrics to the video I have posted above.

This, in my humble opinion, is an epitome of the merging of English and Asian languages - globalisation, some might say - where people just do stuff that makes everyone understand at least a part of a catchy song that stays in your head for days and days.

As for me, this song never seems to leave my head. Its infuriating.

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BROKEN WEAR plus other episodes - RED PARKA

I'm pretty sure these are Japanese people making fun of English. You'll also notice that whoever did the subtitles is translating it into "engrish".

Everyone makes fun of everyone!

As far as I could research (read: going through comments and asking a friend who lives in Japan), I believe this series of videos was for a TV show in Japan; with the same guy doing lots of fun things.

Please take note that when he has a Smokey Jet he finds his train and it is glorious (you'll understand when you watch it).

The thing that I feel is important with this video is that everyone manages to make fun of themselves and this makes for hilarious YouTube content. You'll also find that, on your own further research into this video (I've already done research so I can say this with some authority) that this video has gone sort of viral in the depths of YouTube. And has also appeared on "WTF Japan Seriously" channel.

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A video which I like to call MAPLE SITORYYY, by TaKeRu9Z

When I watched this I wasn't entirely sure what I had watched, as will you, dear reader. The origins of this video are unclear, the intentions are similar.

The beautiful singing voice in the background is singing "Maple Story" over and over again, the passion escalating as the video progresses.

For those who are uninformed, Maple Story is a Korean massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), and it's pretty huge as a game, the demographics of players being mostly asian.

There is also a Maple Story game for the Nintendo DS, a trading card game, and an anime series. As you can see, the mass production of the brand indicates that there is a pretty huge fandom; perhaps a reason for our Maplestory man to create this amazing song and dance. Or, you know, he was just being funny.

Nevertheless, it has gathered almost half a million views. You will note that the essence of most of the comments are "I LOVE MAPLE STORY"

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Take Anything You Want - Zuiikin' English

This is a glorious video sent to me a while ago, I thought it was beautiful. According to the Wikipedia page, the show originally aired on television in Japan in 1992, in the dead of night. Apparently, this was a time slot given to people who had different and experimental ideas for TV shows. Zuiikin' English, of course, was an innovative way to combine exercise and English learning.

The video which I've posted above is teaching a Japanese person what to say should they get robbed. In a similar suit, the rest of the series (which I highly recommend watching) teach English pertaining to uncommon scenarios, such as, "lovely golf weather today!"

Not only do they teach some sweet, sweet (not to mention very useful) English, but their tunes are also ridiculously catchy. I've had the beats stuck in my head for a week. No, really.

This series was a bit of a flop in Japan at the time of broadcast; but since 2005 has built up an international, almost cult-like, audience through the magic of The Internet and YouTube. Collectively, these videos have generated 1,315,079 views - excluding several YouTube channels who have also uploaded copies of these videos.

But why is it funny? Simply watching the video may answer that.

But here is my smart answer. Since the ideas of "Engrish" have become popular, it seems that most things morphing English and Asian languages have become some source of hilarity. In this video's case, the ridiculous phrases that the Japanese have come up with just seem redundant for effective English learning. Accompanied by the fantastic dance moves the Zuiikin' girls show us, Zuiikin' English seems like a ridiculous idea from its inception.

For the full series of videos, click here. I highly recommend watching all of them.

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Here is a Google Analytics page on how when and how frequently the word "engrish" is searched via Google. As you can see, it was pretty trendy in 2008, and you will note that Australia, our country of residence, part took in a significant number of these searches.