Gloomy the Vicious Bear

December 13, 2002 8:42 PM

Gloomy the Vicious Bear - we had a recent thread about the teddy bear turning 100. Here's a cute pink Japanese variation that retains a frighteningly feral blood lust. Osaka-based illustrator Mori Chack's innocent cartoon style belies the macabre nature. Just in time for the holidays, get your Gloomy Bear stuffed toys, hightops or other goodies before supplies run out! thanks, gmtPlus9.
posted by madamjujujive (17 comments total)

They're inscrutable!
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:45 PM on December 13, 2002

and there's always panda studio,
if yer into that kinda stuff...
posted by soplerfo at 8:47 PM on December 13, 2002

See also: Junko Mizuno. I guess the whole "disturbing images rendered with a 'cartoony' style" thing is "in".

Not that this is a bad thing.
posted by Eamon at 8:51 PM on December 13, 2002

I ♥ Gloomy.
posted by hama7 at 9:09 PM on December 13, 2002

The image on this page has been confusing me for months.

I call them "The Finger Boys". I really really need to know what is going on there. There appears to be an accepted protocol to those in line, as they all are holding their hands the same. This reminds me of Peanuts cartoons from the 50's, just gone horribly wrong.

If anyone can help, I would appreciate it.
posted by sciatica at 11:33 PM on December 13, 2002

This is one of the most gloriously fucked up things I've seen on MeFi (or the rest of the 'net, for that matter). Thanks, madamejujujive.
posted by LimePi at 1:09 AM on December 14, 2002

Oh, and by "this" I mean the non-Gloomy The Bear section, the one with the picture that sciatica noted. The actual Gloomy stuff isn't horrible, but it ain't all that and a gram of coke, y'know?
posted by LimePi at 1:15 AM on December 14, 2002

[this is adorable.] I think Gloomy should meet the safety bike monkeys from yesterday.
posted by condour75 at 1:26 AM on December 14, 2002

The Japanese are my favorite group of deranged people on Earth.
posted by Down10 at 1:57 AM on December 14, 2002

The finger boys thing is a psychotic take on the, uh, unique practical joke in Japan and Korea where you poke somebody in the butt. People actually do this to other people and think it's funny.

The caption under the boys reads:

"Doing the 'can cho', (being able to point) and others. When this is done from young time, when the anus becomes strong and is difficult to become the hemorrhoids thing is famous even excessively. "

"Kancho" means "enema", and "can cho" sounds like "being able to point", so there's your clever wordplay. You can fill in the blanks on the hemmorrhoid thing. Not all that hilarious, actually, but there you are.

Expect nothing but the finest from the cartoonist whose characters smack each other senseless with golf clubs.
posted by hama7 at 2:04 AM on December 14, 2002

Great link! I love that streetfighter action.
posted by yangwar at 6:05 AM on December 14, 2002

I can vouch that the kancho (ie ass poking) is quite popular in Japanese elementary schools. It's seems to be acceptable behavior for kids-- in fact, tonight I saw a mother and son having a good time trying to poke each others' asses. I don't really understand it, and it freaked me out the first time it happened to me. Now I know to get my back against a wall whenever the kids start getting a little frisky.
posted by madag at 7:37 AM on December 14, 2002

hama7 and madag, thanks for enlightening us on this quaint cultural practice! That's another great aspect of mefi - shared intercultural exchanges.

There's a tagline in here somewhere but I can't quite find it:
Metafilter: intercultural ass poking???
Metafilter: poking fingers where others dare not go????
posted by madamjujujive at 8:36 AM on December 14, 2002

Metafilter: Back against the wall when the kids get frisky?

Nah, that's not it either.
posted by hippugeek at 9:51 AM on December 14, 2002

when the anus becomes strong and is difficult to become the hemorrhoids thing is famous even excessively.

When the anus becomes strong, apparently it's also an effective way to good-bye depression (no malarkey!)
posted by homunculus at 10:23 AM on December 14, 2002

hama7 and madag,

Thanks for the explanation. I can rest easy now.

And a big thank you to madamjujujive for starting all of this.

Now if I could just figure out what the hell the half old man/half robot is supposed to be...
posted by sciatica at 7:05 PM on December 14, 2002

growf!
posted by quonsar at 9:48 PM on December 14, 2002