Oh, the Japanity!

January 6, 2005 11:05 AM

I had today off so I decided to take pictures of my Pikachu Obsession...
posted by kirkaracha (59 comments total)

I think I speak for everyone when I say...

... Holy Shit.
posted by anomie at 11:07 AM on January 6, 2005

Holly crap!

On preview, what anomie said.
posted by furtive at 11:08 AM on January 6, 2005

You should join a 12 step program.
posted by disgruntled at 11:12 AM on January 6, 2005

Subtitle: "If Nintendo Were Prozac...."

...or...Never, never, never say "Collect 'em all!" to the seriously obsessive-compulsive.
posted by Dunvegan at 11:13 AM on January 6, 2005

Losing any cred I may have earnt... I believe it's "Gotta catch 'em all!"
posted by riffola at 11:16 AM on January 6, 2005

The stuff of nightmares.
posted by gwint at 11:17 AM on January 6, 2005

[SA]Hope those plush items are stainguarded...[/SA]
posted by sourwookie at 11:18 AM on January 6, 2005

Good "catch", Riffola.

I think it's the "Gotta" part that's poison to the obsessive.
posted by Dunvegan at 11:21 AM on January 6, 2005

I have a daughter who would waggle her head just a little and give that a resounding "what-EV-rrrrrrr!"
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:22 AM on January 6, 2005

Nice car!
posted by internal at 11:23 AM on January 6, 2005

Slightly related Penny Arcade.
posted by eyeballkid at 11:23 AM on January 6, 2005

...no wait...that was supposed to read:

"I think it's the "Gotta" part that's poison to the compulsive, and the "All" part that is a life sentence to obsessive.

*whew*

I'm compulsively-obsessively relieved to have cleared that up.
posted by Dunvegan at 11:24 AM on January 6, 2005

Pika?
posted by drezdn at 11:26 AM on January 6, 2005

That made my eyes feel like they were bleeding, is that the intended effect or do I have back for more pain?
posted by fenriq at 11:27 AM on January 6, 2005

"Hmm," I thought... then I got to the car. Wow.
posted by odinsdream at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2005

I'm wondering what this woman's life was like before pokemon. Until one day on the tv appeared the cutest funniest yellowest awesomest shaped little cartoon something with it's squeaky little voice that made everything seem nice, and her world seemed brighter, and things started to make sense. It was then that she knew.
posted by airguitar at 11:35 AM on January 6, 2005

I saw a pikachu jello mold at a thrift store the other day. Should I let this slightly deranged collector know about it?
posted by fnord at 11:37 AM on January 6, 2005

Wow. I *do* have a life.
posted by eriko at 11:40 AM on January 6, 2005

... and when we last saw poor little Pikachu ...
posted by madamjujujive at 11:44 AM on January 6, 2005

Alright, alright, I'm going back to get to the car but my bleeding eyes are on all your heads (ewwww!).

Okay, the car is cool looking in a stoned kind of way.
posted by fenriq at 11:56 AM on January 6, 2005

I had a MUCH milder Pikachu obsession a few years ago.

I got better.
posted by black8 at 12:01 PM on January 6, 2005

having remembered a contest for one, I clicked that solely because I was wondering if they had a pika-mobile.
I have not been let down.
posted by poipill at 12:09 PM on January 6, 2005

She wins on quantity (and sheer insane amounts of money spent), but I don't see an original production cel from the Pokemon anime anywhere in there. For this reason alone, my Street Fighter collection must win on quality.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:12 PM on January 6, 2005

Pikachu, I choose you!
posted by hindmost at 12:20 PM on January 6, 2005

She wins in terms of sheer storage space. I look at her pics and don't think "Wow, that's a lot of Pikachu!" as much as, "Hey, lots of Pikachu, but check out all that storage space!!!". But that's probably because I live in Japan.
posted by bugbread at 12:25 PM on January 6, 2005

Pika?

Chu.
posted by me3dia at 12:26 PM on January 6, 2005

Trivia note: these pictures are of James Gandolfini's bedroom.
posted by Sticherbeast at 12:43 PM on January 6, 2005

That six foot pikachu just looks bizzarely out of proportion.

Also: WTF is a Raichu doing in the middle of all of that?

AlsoAlso: I'm really interested in knowing what those trophies were for. I can't help but think it has something to do with horses.
posted by absalom at 12:46 PM on January 6, 2005

Did anyone else notice the weird Barbie-esque doll with the shiny yellow dress and the Pikachu ears or horns or wtf-ever they are??

Why, I ask you, why??
posted by butternut at 12:50 PM on January 6, 2005

Did anyone else notice the weird Barbie-esque doll with the shiny yellow dress and the Pikachu ears or horns or wtf-ever they are??

The weird Barbie-esque doll is a Belle doll, as in Belle from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. If you'll notice, the girl's username is "Pikebellechu." She has combined her love of Belle and Pickachu and thusly customized her Belle doll to reflect that.
At least, that's what I think is going on.
posted by ella minnow pea at 1:08 PM on January 6, 2005

Did anyone else notice the weird Barbie-esque doll with the shiny yellow dress and the Pikachu ears or horns or wtf-ever they are??

Why, I ask you, why??

Apparently, she's a rather frightening looking princess of some sort. (Warning: Page filled with alarming amount of rather large pictures. Dial-ups beware)
posted by LeeJay at 1:10 PM on January 6, 2005

The dirt . . . it . . . won't come off . . .

must . . keep scrubbing . . .
posted by petebest at 1:46 PM on January 6, 2005

Anyone notice the (apparently) unrelated (to her obsession) award on one of the shelves for "Best Attention to Detail"

Hehehehe. I'd say that one was well earned.
posted by elendil71 at 2:12 PM on January 6, 2005

Imagine how obsessed she might be if the character actually spoke. I have a hard time empathizing with any character who says only one word. At least the Smurfs had other words in their vocabulary.
posted by Four Flavors at 2:38 PM on January 6, 2005

I love magnificent obsessions.
posted by sugarfish at 2:52 PM on January 6, 2005

Well, as far as I know, Pikachu speaks two words: "Pika" and "Chu" (Witness Pikachu witticisms like "Pika pika?").

Which, I guess, could be compared to binary, which allows an incredible range of communicative ability, as the entire binary based internet is living proof.

That said, if Pika's language was really binary, I'd expect conversations to be less like:

Ash: "Hey, Pikachu, what's wrong?"
Pikachu: "Pika. Pika pika. Pika chu!"

and more like:


Ash: "Hey, Pikachu, what's wrong?"
Pikachu: "Pika pika chu pika pika chu pika chu chu pika pika chu pika pika pika chu pika chu pika pika chu pika chu chu pika pika chu chu chu pika chu pika pika chu pika pika pika pika chu pika chu chu pika chu pika pika chu pika chu pika pika pika chu pika chu pika pika chu pika chu chu chu chu pika chu pika pika chu pika pika pika chu chu pika pika chu chu pika pika pika."
posted by bugbread at 2:56 PM on January 6, 2005

Well. Now's the time to start your Picachu collection since nobody seems to care about Pokemon anymore and the stuff is in the bargain bin at your local Wal-Mart. In ten years, when Picachu becomes kitschy, she'll be rolling in money. Assuming that she has overcome her OCD.
posted by Arch Stanton at 2:58 PM on January 6, 2005

Oh. The. Humanity.!
posted by Doohickie at 3:02 PM on January 6, 2005

I kind of feel like I should offer to surrender my username to this person. I only have like, 1/1000th of her Pikachu gear.
posted by pikachulolita at 3:17 PM on January 6, 2005

I talked my former roommate out of getting a Pikachu tattoo. He called me up about a year later to thank me.
posted by makonan at 3:43 PM on January 6, 2005

It is just wrong on so many levels....
posted by fixedgear at 4:41 PM on January 6, 2005

holy fucking christ. my eyes are bleeding.
posted by Lizc at 4:58 PM on January 6, 2005

My first response was "Jesus!" Then I saw the car and it was more like "Holy Jesus H. Christ on a bicycle."

From the comments found on the site, a perfect couplet posted by a budding poetress who goes by the name pikabellechu:

I had no clue
you had SO MUCH 'CHU.
posted by Clay201 at 5:10 PM on January 6, 2005

And of course, nothing is opened from its original package.

Way to enjoy those toys.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:19 PM on January 6, 2005

Well, as far as I know, Pikachu speaks two words: "Pika" and "Chu"

I'd like to hear him do a rendition of "Jingle Bell Rock."
posted by kindall at 5:29 PM on January 6, 2005

Pictures really don't do it any justice as all who have seen it live well know....

Pity they aren't around to be asked, what with the lying in shallow unmarked graves without any skin on them and all.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 5:35 PM on January 6, 2005

Am I the only one who tried to translate bugbread's message into binary and decode it? Okay then...

Also, this guy is my bike mechanic. He's a helluva mechanic, being a former pro racer and all, but I've passed on going to his visit his house because I'm afraid of being given the full tour. I'm convinced that he has a...bungeon in the basement.
posted by hindmost at 6:01 PM on January 6, 2005

Funny... I thought this was taken down...
posted by May Kasahara at 6:07 PM on January 6, 2005

I used to be a Disney character, and I would meet this type of girl (or the equivalent type of guy) on the order of once a week. Always completely sweet and extremely happy to see any character, they usually seemed to develop fixations on the shortish characters (i.e. Mickey, Stitch, Meeko... all my height). Or Tigger, for some reason. They never felt quite the same way about Goofy or Pluto. It must be the kawaii thing.

Oh, I have *so* been this girl. So much so, I can imagine the exact expression on her face. The Mouse, not the other one. I'd rather have a thousand of these girls than one guy who thinks he's smart when he asks if it's hot in the costumes.

I wonder if she lives in Orlando. I can't believe I could have missed the Pikamobile, but she has tons of pictures in College Park and around Lake Eola.
posted by Elsbet at 6:09 PM on January 6, 2005

From the first link given by May Kasahara:

Just to let you know I forwarded all the comments made by the retards on this subject to Pokemon USA...of which whom I work for, so they have all your IP adresses and even the annonymous ones...We all have opinions but its only the mature ones that count...

Yes, this lady reported all the nasty people who sneered at her photos to the Pokemon police!
posted by thatwhichfalls at 6:24 PM on January 6, 2005

[This is good].

For years on end I was forced to watch Pokemon every weekday at 4:30 and on Saturday twice at 10 and 10:30.

And now, I feel, I must quote the enduring wisdom of Pokemon World Champion, Ash Katchum:

No... I'll never give up! I can't give up! Pikachu! I choose you!

There is something to be said for a life of grand exclamation mark abuse.
posted by nixerman at 7:18 PM on January 6, 2005

Disgusting.
posted by Colloquial Collision at 7:42 PM on January 6, 2005

There is something to be said for a life of grand exclamation mark abuse.

When I was at the comic shop today, I browsed the anime archive and came to the conclusion that the Japanese just have more advanced exclamation point technology than us.
posted by drezdn at 8:26 PM on January 6, 2005

I used to be a Disney character

So.... how do ya like real life? Was animation more fun?
posted by Doohickie at 9:32 PM on January 6, 2005

:P Animation was much more fun. No boring desk job and I got paid to be adored.

Seriously, growing up in the parks makes this girl look perfectly normal. I'm not sure if that says more about her or me.
posted by Elsbet at 11:06 PM on January 6, 2005

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SHARE THE CHEESE
posted by Bdave at 11:33 PM on January 6, 2005

NO! She made it friends-only!

Anyone save it?
posted by sian at 1:14 AM on January 7, 2005

WTF???People Get Some Lives

Direct hit!
posted by shawnj at 7:41 AM on January 7, 2005

More Japanity.
posted by shawnj at 7:46 AM on January 7, 2005