Pirates of the Rei-chan

September 20, 2008 8:12 AM

Four-year-old Rei-chan plays the electone on tv. Then the "genius electone girl" is invited to perform for Johnny Depp (part 2, part 3), when he went to Japan to promote the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie. (She and her friends also gave the same performance for Orlando Bloom.)

These clips are from episodes of Gakkou e Ikou MAX (Let's Go To School), a tv show that recently ended after 11 years. It was hosted by the idol group V6 and showcased students and schools from all over Japan.

posted by emmling (12 comments total)

holy crap
posted by troy at 8:25 AM on September 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

Interesting thing about Japanese TV, there's often an inset video of someone reacting to what you're watching. It's as if you're never watching TV alone.
posted by rlk at 8:44 AM on September 20, 2008

Interesting thing about Japanese TV, there's often an inset video of someone reacting to what you're watching. It's as if you're never watching TV alone.

I wish this was done with nightly news programs. You'd probably see people doing spit-takes, tearing their hair, throwing things at the television, and so forth.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 8:51 AM on September 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

troy, i'll see your Kansas and raise you some Rush

from the youtube comments: "I think canada would cry tears of joy for this little girl"

indeed, Renegator92, indeed
posted by sloe at 8:52 AM on September 20, 2008 [1 favorite]

That show is really onto something. I think talk shows might be better if they skipped the boring celebrity interview and just had the guest hang out and watch a performance themed on whatever the guest is there to promote.
posted by tushfestival at 9:35 AM on September 20, 2008

Japanese tv is made of WTF-ness. But in a good way.
posted by monocot at 9:51 AM on September 20, 2008

^ rik, yeah, Japanese TV has a veritable army of celebrities -- they're called tarentos, or "talents", to handle the happy socialization duties of TV programming.
posted by troy at 9:53 AM on September 20, 2008

I thought the Rei-chan clip was adorable :)
posted by vronsky at 4:10 PM on September 20, 2008

The girls are indeed cute, and indeed talented, but just edge up to the creepy threshold. It reminds me a bit of those amazing kids in North Korea that are literally bred to do amazing artistic acts like this, and I think Johnny Depp was probably thinking the same thing...underneath the smiles he looks just a weee bit creeped out.
posted by zardoz at 8:28 PM on September 20, 2008

The talented littlest girl's name is Kinoshita Rei-chan.

I think this is also her playing. Amazing.

Wikipedia info about playing the Electone:
"Playing the Electone is a physically engaging activity requiring considerable dexterity and coordination. The performer sits facing the console at a comfortable distance, with the lower manual at about elbow height and with their feet suspended slightly over the pedals. Their right hand typically plays the upper manual, while their left hand plays the lower manual, though in practice both hands may often play the same manual, especially if each mimics a different instrument or orchestral section. As they play, they may change registrations with conveniently-located finger controls located near the manuals. Their left foot plays the pedalboard with dancelike motions that can range from lively to languorous depending on the character of the music, Meanwhile, their outstretched right foot rests firmly on the expression pedal, which they pump gently in order to change the instrument's overall volume or to accent their music dynamics."

This alone is astonishing for a 4 year old child to be able to comprehend and accomplish.
posted by nickyskye at 10:02 PM on September 20, 2008

Is it just me, or is it really hard to tell what she's actually doing to make the sounds? She seems to be randomly banging her hands (in no particular chord shape) on the organ manuals and kicking her feet around in the general direction of the pedals. It looks like any kid would when dicking around on a musical instrument.
posted by DecemberBoy at 10:14 AM on September 21, 2008

Yeah, I sorta got the same impression. It was hard to see the relationship between the (extremely vigorous) movements of her hands and feet, and the resulting sound. At first I thought the audio must not be in synch.

Also, what's going on with Depp's accent? It almost sounds like he hasn't shaken off the Jack Sparrow character.
posted by Ritchie at 1:39 AM on September 22, 2008