Domo-kun

From Free net encyclopedia

(Redirected from Domokun)

Domo-kun (どーもくん) is the mascot of Japan's NHK television station, appearing in several short stop-motion sketches. Domo-kun, a strange monster-like creature born from an egg, is short, fuzzy and brown with beady black eyes and an open mouth revealing pointy teeth. He lives in an underground cave with Usajii, a wise old rabbit, who loves to watch TV and drink astringent tea (in Japanese, "Usagi" = rabbit and "Oyaji" = older man). The name "Domo" was acquired during the second episode of his show in which a TV announcer said, "Domo Konnichiwa" (roughly translatable as "Hello indeed!"). Domo's favorite food is seasoned beef with potatoes and he has a strong dislike for apples (an unexplained mystery in his DNA). Domo is known to pass gas repeatedly when nervous or in a bad mood.

1 Popularity
2 Appearences in Other Media
3 Domo-kun and other names
4 See also
5 External links
- 5.1 Pictures

[edit]

Popularity

Domo-kun is recognized by at least 90% of Japanese schoolchildren, who are familiar with his television antics; however, for many people outside Japan, their first experience with Domo-kun may have been a humorous mock "public service announcement" that states "Every time you masturbate... God kills a kitten," or through various memes popular on humor sites such as Fark.com and b3ta. This is not at all in keeping with Domo's image within Japan itself.

Domo-kun merchandise is quite abundant in Japan, and it is heavily sought by collectors in the United States, as evidenced by its constant presence on eBay. Domo-kun is featured in the Game Boy Advance videogame Domo-Kun no Fushigi Terebi. There is also a fan-made Flash game called "Domo-Kun's Angry Smashfest" that can be viewed here. Image:Domo1.jpg

It should be noted that "-kun" is not actually part of his name, it is in fact an honorific indicating strong friendship or possibly family ties, usually to a younger male person (son, brother, school student, team member and so on).

Other characters in the sketches include Ta-chan (a teenage female weasel), Shinobu & Morio (2 bats—mother and child)

[edit]

Appearences in Other Media

In Half-Life 2, during the entrance to Black Mesa East, there is an elevator ride with Dr. Mossman during which several scenes are depicted. The elevator descends three stories. The rooms passed are a long hallway with generators with Vortigaunts power them, a kitchen with Vortigaunts preparing headcrabs for eating, and a rest area with beds and a human and a Vortigaunt playing chess. If one uses the "noclip" cheat to enter the rest area, one will notice that all the matresses on the beds are brown with Domo-kun's unmistakable face on it. In some updates of the game, the Domo-kun matresses are replaced by the original texture.

[edit]