The continued tales of a small, brown, open-mouthed monster
March 22, 2020 10:29 AM Subscribe
Nostalgia bomb: Domokun is "a small brown open-mouthed monster hatched from an egg who lives with a wise old rabbit underground." In Japan, he's the mascot of the NHK BS2 channel and is the star of a series of 30-second stop-motion station identification shorts (previously), which are available on YouTube. Did you know Domo then traveled the world, in a series of 2 minute shorts in English, thanks to a collaboration with Nickelodeon (Wikipedia)? Here are the 26 episodes of Domo TV, also on YouTube (with some bonus clips). That was still a decade ago, and Domo hasn't been dormant since then...
Then there was Domo: The Manga [trailer], and for the 15th anniversary of Domo, he had TV special in 2014 (Anime News Network), titled Domo Hollywood e Iku! (Domo Goes to Hollywood!) and re-titled Domo Rock in English.
The next year, the first music compilation based on Domo, Domo Loves Chiptune [trailer], was released on iTunes, Amazon, and all major music streaming services (Spotify), followed later in 2015 by Dom Loves Christmas [Trailer] (Spotify).
And then there were the games. On the Nintendo DSi, there was Crash-Course Domo*, Hard-Hat Domo**, Rock-n-Roll Domo*, Pro-Putt Domo* and White-Water Domo**. The Game Boy Advance got Domo-kun no Fushigi Terebi (long play), and Facebook had Planet Domo [trailer] [gameplay].
* recording of gameplay
** audio rip only
In 2016, things got real, in a way that hasn't aged well. Domo ran for president [playlist of 19 clips]. That didn't pan out, so he fell back on his prior love: DJing [25 minutes at MomoCon].
Then there was Domo: The Manga [trailer], and for the 15th anniversary of Domo, he had TV special in 2014 (Anime News Network), titled Domo Hollywood e Iku! (Domo Goes to Hollywood!) and re-titled Domo Rock in English.
The next year, the first music compilation based on Domo, Domo Loves Chiptune [trailer], was released on iTunes, Amazon, and all major music streaming services (Spotify), followed later in 2015 by Dom Loves Christmas [Trailer] (Spotify).
And then there were the games. On the Nintendo DSi, there was Crash-Course Domo*, Hard-Hat Domo**, Rock-n-Roll Domo*, Pro-Putt Domo* and White-Water Domo**. The Game Boy Advance got Domo-kun no Fushigi Terebi (long play), and Facebook had Planet Domo [trailer] [gameplay].
* recording of gameplay
** audio rip only
In 2016, things got real, in a way that hasn't aged well. Domo ran for president [playlist of 19 clips]. That didn't pan out, so he fell back on his prior love: DJing [25 minutes at MomoCon].
What, no mention of Domokun as the nightmare of cats and/or onanists?
posted by jackbishop at 11:53 AM on March 22, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by jackbishop at 11:53 AM on March 22, 2020 [7 favorites]
DOMO!WORLD - NHK WORLD - English. (Those interstatials)
Created as a display of 8k video technology, all of the different shorts are a single large stop motion animation.
Domo's can communicate by farts!
DJ Domo
DOMO!
posted by zengargoyle at 12:28 PM on March 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Created as a display of 8k video technology, all of the different shorts are a single large stop motion animation.
Domo's can communicate by farts!
DJ Domo
DOMO!
posted by zengargoyle at 12:28 PM on March 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
Oh, and yes... I do have a domokun T-shirt, only one person has ever noticed.
posted by zengargoyle at 12:51 PM on March 22, 2020
posted by zengargoyle at 12:51 PM on March 22, 2020
Posted from a house with double Domo. My wife and a friend we're fans of Domokun, years back, and bought each other a Domo or two. Now our boys play with them.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:00 PM on March 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 1:00 PM on March 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
The NHK satellite channel BS1 had/has a Domo-kun based variety show for children that I used to watch, until they introduced a very Poochie-esque character that very quickly became the center of the show. One could say Domo-kun’s Grover got Elmo’d.
Anyway. One of the best parts of the show was Domo-kun traveling Japan and meeting children in different places and learning from them. One episode, he went to the town that’s held to be the tradition home of ninja (which is a huge tourist gimmick now), and he learned ninja stuff from kids, and suddenly appeared dressed as a Ninja, and attempted (and failed) a variety of ninja moves. Most of his attempts at learning things end in adorable failure, which, hey, I can relate to Domo-kun!
My favorite, though, was Domo-kun visiting a little league team and playing baseball with them. Of course, the Domo-kun body structure means that he can’t reach across his torso/face with his stubby arms, so he’s standing at the plate, holding the bat in one arm, and doing terribly. Finally, the pitcher beaned Domo-kun, and he fell face first into the dirt at home plate. For a moment, I had hope that Domo-kun would jump up with an angry face, charge the young pitcher, and eat him, but sadly, children’s television prevailed, and Domo-kun took his base, then proceeded to steal his way to third, finally getting batted home, and there was rejoicing. I mean, it was cute, but I’d have loved it if he ate the kid.
ドモドモ！
posted by Ghidorah at 3:57 PM on March 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
Anyway. One of the best parts of the show was Domo-kun traveling Japan and meeting children in different places and learning from them. One episode, he went to the town that’s held to be the tradition home of ninja (which is a huge tourist gimmick now), and he learned ninja stuff from kids, and suddenly appeared dressed as a Ninja, and attempted (and failed) a variety of ninja moves. Most of his attempts at learning things end in adorable failure, which, hey, I can relate to Domo-kun!
My favorite, though, was Domo-kun visiting a little league team and playing baseball with them. Of course, the Domo-kun body structure means that he can’t reach across his torso/face with his stubby arms, so he’s standing at the plate, holding the bat in one arm, and doing terribly. Finally, the pitcher beaned Domo-kun, and he fell face first into the dirt at home plate. For a moment, I had hope that Domo-kun would jump up with an angry face, charge the young pitcher, and eat him, but sadly, children’s television prevailed, and Domo-kun took his base, then proceeded to steal his way to third, finally getting batted home, and there was rejoicing. I mean, it was cute, but I’d have loved it if he ate the kid.
ドモドモ！
posted by Ghidorah at 3:57 PM on March 22, 2020 [3 favorites]
Thank you so much for this. I was a big fan of Domo in university, to the point where all the gifts I received were Domo merchandise. I had a big squishy Domo cube which would probably give me some comfort right now if I could hug it.
posted by invokeuse at 9:21 PM on March 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by invokeuse at 9:21 PM on March 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
For the longest time my main keychain was an unwieldy Domo-kun that didn't fit into my pockets.
Somewhere in my room now there is a dusty Batman Domo-kun that a friend bought for me.
And I believe one of the first LINE sticker sets I bought was a Domo-kun one.
In short, Domo-kun.
posted by LostInUbe at 10:37 PM on March 22, 2020
Somewhere in my room now there is a dusty Batman Domo-kun that a friend bought for me.
And I believe one of the first LINE sticker sets I bought was a Domo-kun one.
In short, Domo-kun.
posted by LostInUbe at 10:37 PM on March 22, 2020
English-language Domo is important information I needed to know
posted by Merus at 11:30 PM on March 22, 2020
posted by Merus at 11:30 PM on March 22, 2020
I Domo image bombed my wife in instant messaging for years back in the yore. I just Domo bombed her again right now. She is ignoring it probably in hope that it will stop again.
It's the little things...
posted by srboisvert at 12:41 PM on March 23, 2020
It's the little things...
posted by srboisvert at 12:41 PM on March 23, 2020
« Older Gaming Roundup for All Your Gaming Needs | Stephen Sondheim Is Still Alive And Turns 90 Years... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by ba at 11:38 AM on March 22, 2020