Why is this funny?

mezbup Member

From: sausage lip Registered: 2008-09-18 Posts: 1681 Website

http://rightriot.ti-da.net/e2586655.html

You have to scroll down the page a bit to get to the comic strip. I don't get it at all... why is it funny??

wccrawford Member

From: FL US Registered: 2008-03-28 Posts: 1551

Okay, keep in mind that your level is way beyond mine...

But I -think- ... The boy was asked by his mother to unplug the vacuum and does so. Then he walks right over to the TV and turns on the sumo wrestling, and the father says 'I forgot! You did good to remember!' And the boy is like 'yeah, kinda...' ... And they show the wall plug, which looks like a sumo ring from above with the 2 lines of the plug looking like the wrestlers facing each other.

I think. Also keep in mind that explaining a joke usually kills it.

Also keep in mind that 99% of webcomics aren't funny in the first place.

Last edited by wccrawford (2010 February 26, 5:40 am)

chamcham Member

Registered: 2005-11-11 Posts: 1444

Oh ok. I though maybe the vacuum interfered with the TV signal and the screen didn't become clear until he unplugged the vacuum....

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Codexus Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2007-11-27 Posts: 721

Now that you mention it, I can see a similarity in the shapes. But I would never have guessed that was the joke. Part of it is that I didn't even recognize the TV was showing sumo, and also my own expectation of what an electric plug looks like is very different (they have a completely different shape here).

wccrawford Member

From: FL US Registered: 2008-03-28 Posts: 1551

chamcham wrote:
Oh ok. I though maybe the vacuum interfered with the TV signal and the screen didn't become clear until he unplugged the vacuum....

I tried to make it be about the vacuum and the TV interfering by noise for a long time, but the boy is clearly touching one of the buttons on the TV. I think the lines above the TV are trying to show that it's just been turned on.

Looking again, I see that the lines aren't the wrestlers after all... They are markings on the mat, and that the ring on TV does really look like the plug.

mezbup Member

From: sausage lip Registered: 2008-09-18 Posts: 1681 Website

Come to think of it that actually could be it. Haha... I had no idea really about the sumo mat looking like the plug which is probably why I was a bit clueless.

yeah, 母さん asks him to unplug the vac and he wanders back over to the tv and is like the sumo is on! and his dad sarcastically (i think) says... "oh, you'd forgotten? well that sure reminded you" and he's like "yeah, a bit". haha.

wccrawford Member

From: FL US Registered: 2008-03-28 Posts: 1551

mezbup wrote:
Come to think of it that actually could be it. Haha... I had no idea really about the sumo mat looking like the plug which is probably why I was a bit clueless.

yeah, 母さん asks him to unplug the vac and he wanders back over to the tv and is like the sumo is on! and his dad sarcastically (i think) says... "oh, you'd forgotten? well that sure reminded you" and he's like "yeah, a bit". haha.

Well that makes more sense. I was having trouble with what the dad was saying because of my horrible grammar. Really gotta work on that.

Codexus Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2007-11-27 Posts: 721

I think the dad had forgotten sumo and the kid turns on the tv. The dad has no idea why the kid remembered the sumo.

yudantaiteki Member

Registered: 2009-10-03 Posts: 3619

Of course, the whole point of that blog post is that the joke is hard to get even for Japanese people.

Jarvik7 Member

From: 名古屋 Registered: 2007-03-05 Posts: 3946

mezbup wrote:
http://rightriot.ti-da.net/e2586655.html

You have to scroll down the page a bit to get to the comic strip. I don't get it at all... why is it funny??

The answer is... it's not funny. It looks like the Family Circus of Japan.

mezbup Member

From: sausage lip Registered: 2008-09-18 Posts: 1681 Website

Codexus wrote:
I think the dad had forgotten sumo and the kid turns on the tv. The dad has no idea why the kid remembered the sumo.

Ahhh yes. God this joke is ridiculous.

So it's like they'd both forgotten but the kid gets reminded by the plug and then his dad who had actually forgotten, thinks he's clever because he did such a good job at remembering so he's like you remembered well! and the kids like..yeah, kinda... haha.

そんな感じ

Last edited by mezbup (2010 February 26, 6:25 am)

wccrawford Member

From: FL US Registered: 2008-03-28 Posts: 1551

yudantaiteki wrote:
Of course, the whole point of that blog post is that the joke is hard to get even for Japanese people.

I feel special now.

Jarvik7 Member

From: 名古屋 Registered: 2007-03-05 Posts: 3946

Let's make an Anki deck out of boring comics and their explanations.

Codexus Member

From: Switzerland Registered: 2007-11-27 Posts: 721

There used to be a whole magazine about doing just that.

yudantaiteki Member

Registered: 2009-10-03 Posts: 3619

Jarvik7 wrote:
mezbup wrote:
http://rightriot.ti-da.net/e2586655.html

You have to scroll down the page a bit to get to the comic strip. I don't get it at all... why is it funny??
The answer is... it's not funny. It looks like the Family Circus of Japan.

More or less. Those kind of 4-komas tend to be as bland, repetitive, long-lasting, and boring as many American newspaper comics.

kazelee Rater Mode

From: ohlrite Registered: 2008-06-18 Posts: 2132 Website

I thought the fat old woman shouting was what reminded him of the sumo.

georgative Member

From: Santa Barbara Registered: 2009-05-26 Posts: 42

Whats with the kid's head? Are his brains coming out the back of his skull?

Last edited by georgative (2010 February 27, 6:19 am)

wccrawford Member

From: FL US Registered: 2008-03-28 Posts: 1551

georgative wrote:
Whats with the kid's head? Are his brains coming out the back of his skull?

I think his barber was drunk.

georgative Member

From: Santa Barbara Registered: 2009-05-26 Posts: 42

It kinda looks like a medieval Norman haircut.

Jarvik7 Member

From: 名古屋 Registered: 2007-03-05 Posts: 3946

In the previous comic he fell into a woodchipper. It was much more funny.

pm215 Member

From: UK Registered: 2008-01-26 Posts: 1354

IceCream wrote:
well. im glad to find out what kind of plug sockets Japan uses.

Wikipedia has a good page on plugs and sockets around the world. The UK plug is of course the best; sadly the Japanese borrowed the US version.

Incidentally, does anybody happen to know the history of why half of Japan is 50Hz and the other half 60Hz?

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chamcham wrote:

mezbup wrote:

mezbup wrote:

Codexus wrote:

yudantaiteki wrote:

Jarvik7 wrote:

mezbup wrote:

georgative wrote:

IceCream wrote: