Children are rarely actively interested on learning a language, that's why TPR is very useful for teaching them a second language. However I would like to see how TPR could benefit us adults learning Japanese. BTW, I love Curious George.

To learn a language you need repeated comprehensable exposure to elements you don't yet know (words, patterns, phonemes whatever it is) over stretches of time long enough for your brain to physically change in response. That is all and any exposure will do as long as you are understanding new parts of it. It doesn't have to be total or physical, nor do you need to respond necessarily.

There are a trillion and one different little things to learn in a new language so I don't know why you'd bother engineering games or doing exercises to 'lock in' specific parts. Keep consulting reference when required but the idea that you can install high level, usuable knowledge into your brain in a short time like in the matrix if you just use something like TPR seems very fanciful. It only has something going for it provides a pleasurable first exposure to the content, which may be the case for kids but (i suspect) not adults.

TPR and TPRS are supposedly highly effective, but I have no idea where to even find a place it's being taught with Japanese. One of the ways TPR methodlogy is supposedly better is it makes more use of the right brain (the side more responsible for creativity rather than analytics) then other methods tend to.

Unfortunately, it's hard to take TPR and apply it to self study as a lot of us are doing. I think it could be done with software though. However, it would have to be something a lot more complicated then that phone dialing game to be effective. I think the main problem is to be more or as effective as a TPR classroom, it would have to adapt to the learner.