It's extremely entertaining!! Some may say it's a bit stereotypical, but I don't see it as such. It's very informative, and Rhys Darby's comedy input is so funny.
3 Reviews
Absolutely amazing!
ghjwpgnc19 April 2022
Big in New Zealand, maybe
guyau-399-6837224 August 2020
I was hoping to learn something about Japan and I'm a sucker for a travel series, but Japan takes a back seat to the presenter and his zany, nerdy, staged adventures from samurai boot camp to mascot cosplay. Every cliche is trotted out here - robot hotels, geisha, bullet trains, eating blowfish, etc. - but that's OK, give me more of that and less of the host hamming it up. A must for fans of Rhys Darby (he must be big in New Zealand) but I could only take two episodes, and I fast forwarded through most of the second one.
Better Than James May, I Guess...
thalassafischer24 August 2023
There are definitely some entertaining parts to this mini-series, though Darby visits the same old stereotypes of every other Japan tourist show he does some original things like dress up as a mascot and he actually spends time with a Japanese family, which was fun.
He's definitely less rude and obnoxious than James May, but I was still asking myself "Why do white Western men think it's alright to behave this way in Japan???"
You can see some of the local people are visibly taken aback by how narcissistic and overbearing he is. There are times when he's being funny, and there's other times where he's doing the thing that white men do when they go to East Asia. WHY? It's nauseating. It's upsetting. It's absolutely rude and reeks of white male entitlement.
For example, he compares his own fame in the entertainment industry with geisha performers leaving their families in their teens and devoting their entire lives in an almost cloistered way to the traditional art. Who in production or camera crew or editing didn't think to themselves "uh dude we should edit that part out."
Refreshingly, the woman Sara who joins him for this faux pas gives him hell in the very next scene, and she delivered her barbs with what seemed to me authentic spite towards Rhys.
Anyway, In Japan with Sue Perkins is still by far the best tourist show for this topic.
He's definitely less rude and obnoxious than James May, but I was still asking myself "Why do white Western men think it's alright to behave this way in Japan???"
You can see some of the local people are visibly taken aback by how narcissistic and overbearing he is. There are times when he's being funny, and there's other times where he's doing the thing that white men do when they go to East Asia. WHY? It's nauseating. It's upsetting. It's absolutely rude and reeks of white male entitlement.
For example, he compares his own fame in the entertainment industry with geisha performers leaving their families in their teens and devoting their entire lives in an almost cloistered way to the traditional art. Who in production or camera crew or editing didn't think to themselves "uh dude we should edit that part out."
Refreshingly, the woman Sara who joins him for this faux pas gives him hell in the very next scene, and she delivered her barbs with what seemed to me authentic spite towards Rhys.
Anyway, In Japan with Sue Perkins is still by far the best tourist show for this topic.
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