Alright look, I love all TV. No matter the style or the country it’s from. The anime, “Bocchi the Rock”, transcended all my expectations. No, I have not read the manga, so I was completely blindsided by this show’s hilarious writing and really fun dive into the world of indie music in Japan. “Bocchi the Rock” is available to watch on CrunchyRoll and right now only has twelve episodes.
Quick synopsis:
“Bocchi the Rock” takes place in Japan. The protagonist, Hitori Gotoh, a young highschool student with crippling anxiety wants to start a band. Throughout the first season we get to watch her journey (as an already elite guitarist) of joining and starting a new band (Kessoku Band, which means zip tie/ wristband) with the first friends she’s ever made.
Trailer:
I thought this was going to be a silly little band anime, but after the first few minutes of the first episode, I saw how truly delightful this story was going to become. Gotoh’s new bandmates help her acclimate to interactions with people in the nicest ways possible. They push her to help her realize her dream, while also realizing and striving for their own dreams.
The guitar, Gotoh’s contribution to the band, absolutely shreds. The pop-y vocals are perfect at encapsulating the somber lyrics that Gotoh writes for the band. All the band members are unique characters with unique desires based on their backgrounds (and they’re all gay).
Besides Gotoh, my favorite character in the show is Ryo Yamada, the bassist who inspires Gotoh to write the lyrics that are most true to her character. She’s a weird music nerd with her head in the clouds, while remaining grounded in the music writing world.
If you aren’t an anime inclined person, but love music, this show is for you. If you love fun, quirky anime, this show is for you. If you enjoy a passionate story of personal growth, this anime is for you. Basically, if you aren’t stubborn and like good music, TV and stories, this show is for you.
As of writing, I have not had a good, full night of sleep in two days. The fact that the weather has been sub-freezing has not helped, either. There is naught that I desire more at the present moment other than pillow, blankie, and, of course, bed.
I also have a wide variety of music that I listen to regularly before bed to get me into the mood for being cozy and ready for bed. However, I don’t listen to music when actually asleep for fear of what it could do to my psyche, and also because I feel like it’d be weird to wear earbuds to bed, and also because I don’t own any earbuds.
Today, I dare to ask the theoretical question: what if I did listen to this while asleep? What would that do to myself while dreaming? Would it even work at all?
Welcome to the 4th annual roundup of this series, where we asked WKNC’s DJs and Staff to submit their 3 favorite tracks, artists, and albums of 2023!
You can check out each staff member’s Spinitron through the link in their name, to see all their sets and all of the other music they’ve been playing on WKNC, as well as their Instagram or other contacts if they chose to link those.
"Pig City" album cover by Pig City. Hardcore crust band from Arizona.
Something within me *clicks* with Pig City’s newest release “Pig City”. It’s inspired me to deviate from the normal way I write my album reviews. I’ve done a few odd approaches the past couple months on album reviews, but I aim to make this one my strangest.
Pig City is a queer hardcore crust band hailing from Arizona and releasing music through To Live A Lie Records right here in Raleigh. The album is definitely FCC explicit so cover your ears if you dislike curse words. This album was released on September 15, 2023.
Each track is followed by a block of text that relates to the subject matter and energy of the songs above it. It might help to listen to the music while you read if that is something you can do.
We’ve made it easy to reduce things down to our specific little categories, but I feel critics have forgotten how to expand upon the meaning of a piece of worthy art. We shelve it away into musty cabinets on bookshelves becoming overladen with garbage. It makes your blood boil, doesn’t it? F*** your bookshelf. Break it. Burn it. Listen to this drum beat. Listen to these screams. Scream along with Pig City. “Where you gonna go?” (last line of “Modern Life I”).
I’m taking apart my room. Shred it. Piece by piece and examining every micrometer because I wanna find out why nothing is where it was supposed to be. Books were in places, but they didn’t fit there. Tear out the pages, glue them in different orders. Make it into the right kind of meaningful pattern. Burn this one, trash that one. Put them into place.
On my roof now. It’s night. The cold gusts clip my ears and draws blood from my body. Drink a beer. Share it with critters running over numb legs. I can’t see my hands. Can’t feel them, but I see the moon and she calls out to take another sip and…
Awake. My head hurts. The world is upside down. It’s always been like this. Hasn’t it? Prolly gonna puke. My leg’s caught in the power line running from my house to the street. I’m hanging from the roof. Rip the leg free. Fall to the ground. It hurts, but not as much as my head. Spinning, standing and spinning. Beer can. It’s half full on the dirt covered sidewalk. I crush it under my boot. Metal succumbed to me. To my weight. I’m bigger than anything around me. I can do what I need to.
There’s a corpse rolled up the living room rug. Not gonna deal with that now. Bloated and blue – it’s not mine or anybody’s. Figment of the draining hangover. Not going to deal with it, I said. I want coffee. The strongest there is. All that acid and bitters draining from pot to cup to mouth and… now I can focus on the corpse in my living room.
You’d think this would fast track my day. A body in the living room. A hangover and falling from the roof. The day is slow. Nothing moves. Me, my coffee, a corpse. All of us act as if we’ve got all the time in the world to sit still. Sure, I’ve got work this morning. I’ll get there when I get there. Bossman can’t believe the things I’ve been through. Boss – Corpse. They are one in the same. A dead man whipping away at our backs to make us efficient. I finish my coffee and shower.
Hot showers are for suckers. Cold beams of water open eyes better than any coffee, Redbull or Monster Energy. In a shower, it’s just me and the droning of water against tub or against shower curtain or against body. A fshthh, kftdd, or bmbbmmm kind of sound, respectively. You can think up thousands of things in a shower. Like what to do with a body or how much effort I need to put into cleaning my destroyed room.
Thoughts wash away. It’s nice, empty isolation. Bare-nakedness keeps me raw and vulnerable to only myself. I’m not going to do a thing about the body, about my job, about my room. Leave it all as a masterpiece. Keep on living.
###
I know I didn’t actually talk about Pig City’s skills or literal sounds, but the point of this article was to explain their energy, effort, and artistry by using it as inspiration to create.
“We Are the Best!” is a movie set in the early 1980’s when traditional Swedish punk like KSMB started to decline in popularity. It centers around a trio of young girls making themselves seen through block-headed determination to have their uniqueness shine into the world around them.
Swedish punk music truly came alive in the 1970’s with bands like KSMB and Ebba Grön, and in the 1980’s hardcore punk became more mainstream in bands like Mob 47 and Anti Cimex (info from Discogs).
When I watched this movie, I had little knowledge of Swedish punk history. I hadn’t really listened to many old school punk bands not from the US or UK. While the movie doesn’t dive too much into niche punk bands and sounds, it supplies viewers with delightful, raw punk spirit through the three main characters, Bobo, Klara and Hedvig.
The film is based on the director’s wife’s (Coco Moodysson) graphic novel, “Never Goodnight”. I haven’t read it myself but the art style encapsulates the DIY nature of punk energy and the movie’s story does so too (this article has a few snippets from the book).
“We Are the Best!” was released in 2013. Director Lukas Moodysson, with the guidance of his partner Coco Moodysson, also created the screenplay for this film. If you want to watch this film, you can find it for free on YouTube with ads.
The Plot:
I am going to get into some spoilers for this film, so if you don’t want to read them, stop reading here.
Two besties, Klara and Bobo, are thirteen years old and tired of taking s**t for being young, girls, punk and different from everyone else. We see them compared to their stereotyped blond teen classmates and older boys and adults who constantly patronize them.
On an absolute whim stemming from justified anger, Klara and Bobo start making music and writing songs. The two do everything together. They’re completely reliant on each other, but still have their tensions sparking fights throughout the film. Eventually, at a school talent show, they meet Hedvig, an outwardly appearing Christian conservative with real talent for music.
Bobo and Klara recruit Hedvig to join their band and the three of them continuously get into trouble while opening Hedvig’s eyes to the world beyond Christianity.
After meeting up with other local punks and a few internal dramatic moments, Bobo, Klara and Hedvig have their first gig by the end of the film. They get raucous boo’s for being girls, but absolutely eat up the negative energy as fuel for their righteous performance on stage. The movie ends with the three of them being the best of friends and living up to their fullest punk potentials.
Why’s It So Good?
“We Are the Best!” does a phenomenal job at capturing and harnessing true punk spirit, realistic characters, history and tension. I love all the interactions between every side character, little gimmicks of getting free food, begging for money, just everything Bobo, Hedvig and Klara did together seemed whimsical and true to the nature of young teens trying to be themselves in a structured conforming society.
The music was also amazing. The characters had great dialogue about the music of the times (which I think is accurate, not really sure because my music history knowledge is poor). Scenes with classic Swedish-punk tunes like “Schweden Schweden” by Ebba Grön and “Sex Noll Två” tied the dialogue and history together with the raw emotion you get from punk tracks. You can check out the whole soundtrack list on IMDb.
The pacing of the film was also well done. Characters and events flowed smoothly from one triumph or failure to the next without losing my interest. Also, there were tons of hilarious and awkward interactions between children and adults that still occur today. I love it when a movie transcends time periods to show how actions between each other are still the same.
Conclusions:
I loved “We Are the Best!”. Lukas and Coco Moodysson created a wonderful homage to that awkward punk spirit I wish I had when I was younger, and they’ve made a piece of art that shows us why rebellious kids and adults will never die out as a fad ever again. People will continue to be marginalized for something they can’t control, so the only option to counter that is to be loud, stand tall, and join with your friends to fight for individuality.
I definitely recommend taking some time to watch this film with homies, besties, buds, friends, companions, really anyone that you’re close to because it will make you all smile without fail.
For those unfamiliar with Baldur’s Gate 3, the game allows a player’s PC to travel in the company of several companions who seem specially-tailored to be both intensely likeable (excluding Gale) and intensely attractive.
Through gameplay and interaction, the player can learn more about these new friends (or enemies — or lovers — depending on how you swing things) and build plot-relevant relationships.
That’s all well and good, I suppose.
But beyond all the hours of carefully crafted backstory and world-building infused into BG3’s gameplay, I’m interested in imposing upon these characters my own pretentious personal ideas about music.
Nobody asked, but I will deliver.
The Selection
I digress with a brief disclaimer to highlight that this is, primarily, a joke. However, I stand wholeheartedly by all of these claims.
I also will only be covering the “main cast” of companions, so if anyone was expecting to see what kind of music Scratch or Minthara would listen to, they’ll have to decide that for themselves.
My criteria for making these assessments comes from four main factors:
Personality
Style
Canon
My personal opinions
As an English major, I have a lot of practice in the art of character analysis. As a music fan, I have a lot of experience being force-fed other people’s music opinions.
The intersection of these two realms will yield something interesting, if not accurate.
Lae’zel
Lae’zel is a Githyanki Fighter with a Soldier background. If you’re not familiar with DND, those words will mean next to nothing to you. That’s fine. All you need to know is that Lae’zel is the modern man’s tsundere.
If I’m being honest, I struggled the most with this one. Lae’zel is characterized as being both strictly no-nonsense and highly repressed, coming from a highly militaristic society.
At the same time, however, her culture has a strong musical and artistic foundation. Githyanki music is defined as highly variable, though consistently centered around metallic, harsh and strident rhythms.
Cover for “20 Jazz Funk Greats” by Throbbing Gristle
From this perspective, I think Lae’zel’s music taste would follow similar lines. I can see her enjoying weird industrial music as well as brassy jazz.
Bands I can think of that fit this kind of idiosyncratic harshness and experimental irregularity include:
I also think she’d like insanely hard, vigorous metal. Perhaps jazz-metal fusion, like Agabas.
Shadowheart
Also known as “God’s Favorite Princess,” Shadowheart is a half-elf Cleric with an Acolyte background.
I was pleased to find that despite my first impressions of her, Shadowheart has proven to be a well-written female character. I adore her, and if it wasn’t my goal to make all the companions fall in love with me, I would probably romance her.
Cover for “Punisher” by Phoebe Bridgers
All the same though, I don’t think her music taste would be all that spectacular. Though her outward personality projects pragmatism, I think she’d find music as an important emotional outlet. So, obviously, she’d be very into girlcore.
I can see her appreciating female artists, specifically. Such as:
i will preface this by stating that I am not a misandrist.
Gale is a human Wizard with a Sage background. He’s also from Waterdeep, as he’s particularly keen on mentioning.
I don’t dislike Gale, per se, but he definitely gives off an air of instability that reminds me of several uncharismatic and overly-confident men I’ve met in my life. While I’m sure that Gale is far from the “fantasy incel” I like to pretend he is for laughs, I do think he’d listen to The Smiths.
Cover for “In the Court of the Crimson King” by King Crimson
As someone who also listens to The Smiths, like recognizes like.
Gale also seems like the kind of person who would give over his heart to enigmatic, long-winded sprawls of progressive rock.
He’d probably smell like patchouli — and another fragrant herb — in real life.
Oh, man. I really do enjoy this mean, fruity little man.
Astarion is a high elf Rogue with a Charlatan background. He’s also a vampire, which despite being extremely obvious, is somehow a surprise to all the other characters.
I consider whether or not someone likes Astarion to be a sort of litmus test. For what exactly, I will not say.
Cover for “Getz/Gilberto” by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto
Maybe it’s trite to think this, but I see Astarion as being an appreciator of classical music and soft, smooth jazz. I like to think he may even appreciate bossa nova.
He’s 200 years old and probably sick to death of the whole music business, prefering instead just to listen to what “feels nice.”
And yes, I’m fully aware that Neil Newborn has his own Astarion playlist, and that it has “Even Flow” on it.
This is my little brother’s favorite character (because warlocks are cool.)
Wyll is a human Warlock (The Fiend) with a Folk Hero background. He has a stone eye with a heart-shaped pupil, which to me signals to the fact that he’s probably the most well-adjusted companion (and character, perhaps) in the game.
Cover for “Badmotorfinger” by Soundgarden
Though he defines himself as a warrior and monster-slayer (the “Blade of Frontiers,” which is a name he apparently gave himself?), he’s inherently kindhearted and subtly dorky.
This, combined with his red-and-black fashion motif, leads me to think of him as a big fan of dad rock. He’s into alternative sounds, but only really familiar with the more topical names.
An unequivocal representation of peak female character design, Karlach is a Tiefling Barbarian with an Outlander background. She’s also got an infernal engine in her chest, which honestly only adds to her abject hotness.
Cover for “away” by Fromjoy
Karlach is a beacon to angsty ADHD girlies everywhere. While I think she’d honestly just enjoy listening to anything upbeat and fun, I also see her as particularly drawn to heavy music a la Doom Slayer. But perhaps with an emo or nu metal twist.
Us waiting for awards at NSEMC, and not for Olive Garden. Image: Jamie Lynn Gilbert
I, and five other of my treasured members of WKNC staff (plus our amazing advisor Jamie) had the special privilege of getting to represent the station at the CBI National Student Electronic Media Convention in Orlando, Florida from Oct. 19 – 21. While there, we scored three awards for how awesome we are, along with an even bigger prize: knowledge that will be applied to make the station better in the near future.
October 19 marks the 40-year anniversary of “Stop Making Sense,” a 1984 American concert film centering around the rock band Talking Heads.
In anticipation of the film’s upcoming anniversary, studio A-24 returned “Stop Making Sense” to theaters in crisp 4k.
Musical group Talking Heads; left to right: David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, in a promotional photo for the album Remain In Light. Distributed by Sire Records. Image in the public domain.
After putting it off for weeks, I finally went to see it on October 7 with DJ Claymore.
In short: it was excellent.
For the longer version, look below:
The Film
When I go to live shows, the onstage performance is only part of what contributes to the experience. A good show has atmosphere, with energy diffused from the performers to the audience below.
Despite taking place on the big screen, thus severing the connection between audience and performer, “Stop Making Sense” manages to cultivate a vividly energetic and intimate experience that moves and transforms.
David Byrne onstage with the Talking Heads, October 1, 1977 Jay’s Longhorn Bar, Minneapolis, MN, uploaded by Michael Markos, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
The Cinematography
The film’s methodical construction is in part largely responsible for its massive acclaim, as it transforms “concert” and “cinema” into something dynamic and soul-touchingly imaginative.
Though shot across four concert performances at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre, the film maintains a sense of temporal continuity.
In fact, set design, costuming and camera positioning were specially-tailored to create the illusion of the film taking place across a single performance.
And while wide-angle shots serve to capture the magnitude of the band’s stage presence, the use of closeups and tracking shots adds a sense of dynamism and intimacy, taking full advantage of the cinematic medium.
As a result, one could argue that “Stop Making Sense” is more than a concert. It’s a documentary; it’s a glimpse into something methodical and artistic and special.
The Sound
“Stop Making Sense” was filmed during the band’s tour to promote their 1983 album “Speaking in Tongues.”
The soundtrack has an unraveling effect, with each track coinciding with the addition of a new band member to the stage.
Cover for “Speaking In Tongues” by Talking Heads
The film’s first song features Byrne performing an acoustic version of “Psycho Killer.” Next, with “Heaven,” bassist and guitarist Tina Weymouth joins the stage.
All band members appear for the climactic performance of the band’s new hit “Burning Down the House.”
There were several points during this film that my skin erupted in goosebumps or I found myself compelled to kick my feet, to bob my head, to move in some capacity to actualize the energy I felt buzzing all around me.
After the first couple songs, the audience — those of us moviegoers — seemed to forget that that it wasn’t 1984 and that David Byrne was not, in fact, dancing and weaving and gesticulating upon a stage in front of us.
They began to clap, cheer and laugh with abandon. If we weren’t seated, I expect that they would have swayed and danced, too.
Final Thoughts
I went into this film knowing next to nothing about it, only that I loved Talking Heads and loved David Byrne’s flagrant and unabashed eccentricity even more.
Even for those unacquainted with the band, this film is a great experience and possibly a great introduction to the works of Talking Heads.
On Friday October 6, for the 3rd year running WKNC will be participating in World College Radio Day by holding a 24 hour “lock in” in the station. Every hour will feature a live DJ in both studios celebrating the most important day of the year for a college radio station. The production room will also host a livestream where DJs will be playing games, making tierlists, showing powerpoints, and much more. The full schedule is below:
HD-1
timeslot
dj name
show name
description
12:00 AM
scrimble
scrimble’s bad music hour
1:00 AM
justintime & zen
In a Timely Manner
the two jazz dj’s do a collaborative set
2:00 AM
dj fives
autumn summer winter fall
weapon-themed set
3:00 AM
dj independent fact checkers + valkerie
inhouse pharmacy
dj independent fact checkers: 2013 monstercat valkerie: 2012 dubstep
4:00 AM
twerp
p2p connection
vaporwave
5:00 AM
Erik++
Regular Point
Acid/Techno – livemixing down to b2b!
6:00 AM
dj mithrax
sounds of space junk
mix of rock/spooky music cuz october
7:00 AM
little brown bat & streya
colombianas en raleigh
colombian salsa & tropical
8:00 AM
space cadet
modern girl
9:00 AM
dj beans
froot loops
10:00 AM
claymore
claynation
all over set
11:00 AM
maddog
the doghouse
Wes Anderson themed set! Waaaa 😀
12:00 PM
KONDE
The KONDE Pop-up Hour (daytime)
Jazz, Funk, Soul, and some other stuff!
1:00 PM
flowers mcpowers
the flowers mcpowers hour
2:00 PM
dj hexane, scrimble
null to the front
2000s/2010s throwback indie/pop music
3:00 PM
last name utt
some songs are better than others
4:00 PM
president shrimpo & malocchio >;)
fireside chats- halloween month, the beginning
spooky stuff, post punk and the like
5:00 PM
fullmetal racket and DMC WOODSTOCK
EVIL MUSIC TO SCHEME/PLOT TO ∩ (◣_◢) ∩
drew like a dark, fucked up version of my set haha. just a glimpse into my dark twisted reality
6:00 PM
young iowa
SPOOKY MONTH PART ONE WITH YOUNG IOWA
evil stuff to start spooky month
7:00 PM
springheel jack
cockroach radio
Spooky folklore and urban legend inspired songs. Cause Springheel Jack. Get it?
8:00 PM
wizard of gore
the inferno
hard riffs that will make you kill your neighbors with hammers
9:00 PM
bel$
the beldam
muahahahahahaha
10:00 PM
chalcopyrite + apollo
blackgazemaxxing
blackgaze
11:00 PM
leksipro
iller-pilled
japanese hardcore based off chainsaw man ˚₊‧꒰ა ₍ᐢ. ̫.ᐢ₎ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
HD-2
timeslot
dj name
show name
description
12:00 AM
dj roxy
rock candy
midnight tunes
1:00 AM
rensenware
late nite lan party
video game music of a different variety… all kinds EXCEPT rhythm game
2:00 AM
zen
the swing set 2: this time it’s personal
dog i have no idea but it’s going to be good and not jazz
3:00 AM
johnny ghost
the new and improved classic rock radio
classic rock deep cuts. just trust me
4:00 AM
auxymoron
local planetarium soundtrack
space ambient!
5:00 AM
DJ Mithrax
Sounds of Space Junk
songs that remind me of 5 am
6:00 AM
7:00 AM
minacat
two way radio
8:00 AM
Rodeo Romeo
Western Friday
Americana Central
9:00 AM
DJ Tullykinesis
Nightcore Radio
NIGHTCORE!!!!!!
10:00 AM
DJ Ocean Spray
Folk Fall
some favorite fall songs
11:00 AM
DJ Tullykinesis + rensenware
Middle school vocaloid youtube playlist..
vocaloidy
12:00 PM
DJ Hubcap
Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum
sea shanties, sea shanties, and more sea shanties (will move if slots fill up)
1:00 PM
DJ Pon-3 (will gladly move for a student shift)
Local Lunch
Join DJ Pon-3 for some of her favorite North Carolina artists.
2:00 PM
Lumkas
3:00 PM
Springheel Jack
Jack Ruins Music
Genre division is dead. So is taste. I’m the Captain now.
4:00 PM
scrimble + hexane
the scrimble space
karaoke
5:00 PM
bel$
junior high
music you wanted to forget about
6:00 PM
DJ Crush
Crush’s Yearly Allotted KPop Set
Terminal levels of k-pop girl groups
7:00 PM
rensenware + DJ Cranberry
steely dan power hour
bestie set 🙂
8:00 PM
DJ Crush
Dead Air
Ultra Spooky Fun Time ;3
9:00 PM
rensenware
in cametek we trust
tribute to the greatest rhythm game artist of all time
10:00 PM
Lead Pipe
Gettin’ Bonked
Some doom and sludge to really mess with the vibes
11:00 PM
DJ Hubcap
Sarah Bonito Extravaganza
sarah midori perry my beloved :3
Production Room
timeslot
name
activity
description
12:00 AM
my name is zach
LEGO Build Hour 😀
we build a LEGO set together for the station
1:00 AM
quaker
we write and illustrate a childrens book
2:00 AM
3:00 AM
4:00 AM
erie
board gam (chess, raleighopoly)
5:00 AM
6:00 AM
katie
😱
spooky scary games (if u want this spot u can have it lol im just puttin stuff here)
7:00 AM
erie
tier list time
including a poor little meow meow ranking
8:00 AM
andi
crochet hour
crochet or read if i’m not asleep
9:00 AM
10:00 AM
claire
Live promos
we design and record a promo for u on the spot! (if anyone wants this time slot u can have it)
11:00 AM
claire
Epic picross tournament
15×15 no live validation WHO WILL WIN
12:00 PM
claire
WKNC does hair
u want a buzzcut? 2 sleepy djs can do it
1:00 PM
erie
they see me rolling
sorting tshirts
2:00 PM
Spencer, sophia, rose
Rose Reacts
subject president shrimpo to wacky music and see her priceless reactions as her mind is expanded
3:00 PM
sophia, willow, bug
fursona commission hour
we will draw your fursona. don’t have one? we’ll make one for you
4:00 PM
Mason
WKNC Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader
Quizzing DJs on random trivia
5:00 PM
J
video games (?)
playing video games really poorly
6:00 PM
claire
WKNC family tree
updating the family tree i made last year!!!
7:00 PM
rose
Nixon Hour
President Shrimpo talks about 37th president of the United States Richard Milhaus Nixon
8:00 PM
sara
scrimble’s ppt night
9:00 PM
sara
scrimble’s ppt night if there are too many for 1 hour
10:00 PM
erie
application quiz
guess the application!!!!!!!!!
11:00 PM
dante
metal band logos
guess what the hell metal band logos are supposed to say
Alternate poster from Criterion of "Tampopo" directed by Juzo Itami
Alright, so this week I’ll be taking a short break from my regularly scheduled blogs focused on hardcore and local music, but I’ve prepared a nice treat as a substitute. I will be writing about “Tampopo” by Juzo Itami.
This movie was introduced to me by a good friend, and has quickly become a comforting favorite to rewatch every now and again. The biggest draws towards this movie are its comedy, food presentation, and wacky characters. “Tampopo”is all about a novice ramen maker trying to become a full-fledged ramen master by the end of the movie.
I’ll dive a little deeper into the plot, but not too much so that it ruins the movie. Honestly, I think even if this film were to be spoiled it’d be terrific to watch anyway because of how the actors deliver their jokes, lines, and emotion on screen. I could never capture the beauty on the screen and translate it into words here.
Serving 1 – Plot
The movie opens in a movie theater with a dapper man and woman talking through the fourth wall to us about how to enjoy a movie with food (no chips!). These two characters are fun additions to the main plot of Goro (played by Tsutomu Yamazaki), Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) and Gun (Ken Watanabe) trying to fix up Tampopo’s ramen shop.
Tampopo is a vibrant woman running a ramen shop with lots of beautiful smiles, earnest attempts at improvement and so much love towards everyone and everything. She is one of my favorite characters in the movie as she is so cheerful and wonderful throughout the film.
This film has many characteristics of a classical Western in that it has a strong vagabond protagonist trying to better the people around them, Goro wears a cowboy hat, and loves to fight to make a point. “Tampopo” also is a comedy. It satirizes the tropes of Westerns and makes fun of many cultural customs like eating quietly.
By the end of the film we are in love with the whole cast of characters and rolling around laughing because of the ridiculous behaviors, scenes and gags that we get to witness on Tampopo’s journey to becoming a ramen master.
Serving 2 – Music
“Tampopo” blends jazzy instrumental scenes with classical scores to elicit emotions like awe, love, joy and comedic shock. The composer and sound workers for this film created a life-like city while adding in sound effects to enhance the noodle-slurping madness that makes this move so appealing.
There’s also a great scene with a group of unhoused people from the city singing a beautiful song in appreciation for their one true ramen master who taught them to appreciate food.
Plate 3 – A Sip of Sake before We Go
“Tampopo”, a lot like “Monty Python” and other satirical movies, has many gag scenes that aren’t focused on the characters of the movie, but do have to do with the general theme of the film. Many such scenes include an old woman fondling soft items in a grocery store, a Charlie Chaplin-esque scene focused on sneaking into a kitchen to make a beautiful egg and rice dish, a sick mother dying and her family eating her meal she made as a sign of respect and a few other naughty scenes played out by the couple from the beginning of the film.
I don’t know what y’all look for in films but if you want comedy, food, music, emotion and anything else, “Tampopo” is the place to go. It’s easy to watch on HBO (or other places if you’re not willing to pay for a subscription…). There are many unmentioned treats in this film because there’s so much to explore and love.
