Take a game show like Takeshi’s Castle, add skateboards and a 100-million-yen cash prize, and you will get a wild, entertaining show full of guts. Welcome to Kasso, the natural evolution of skateboarding’s Instagram culture. It’s a Japanese show that has American skateboarders hyped!
Kasso airs on TBS, the same channel that aired Takeshi’s Castle and Ninja Warrior back in the day. We have no idea if the show will get picked up by a streaming service like Netflix or even Crunchyroll, but here’s hoping. Thankfully, we have a 13-minute YouTube video to enjoy. Three courses, a high drop into cold water, and a “crushing” gate for the final stage. What more could you ask for? Let’s go!
Most can thank Tony Hawk Pro Skater for introducing us to skateboarding, but what about the next generation? Sure, they remade THPS, and the fingerboarding craze seems unkillable. Kasso reimagines skateboarding as family entertainment that we can enjoy without taking the slams and scrapes ourselves. The future of skateboarding depends on initiatives like that.
Tokyo to Paris, on a Board
As Joe said in his thigh-appreciation post about the cycling anime Rinkai!, you can tell by the influx of sports-themed anime that it’s an Olympic year. Zoom in on skateboarding, and you’ll find a compelling story about Japan’s rocketing ability in the… uh… sport. Artform? Recreational toy? That’s a debate we’re not having. The Tokyo Olympics saw the debut of skateboarding as an Olympic sport, and Japanese riders were out in force at the three skating events Tokyo hosted. Is it fair to say that the Tokyo games put Japanese skaters on the radar? Maybe. It appears Japan is ready to do it again in Paris this year.
Japanese skaters are not just making an impact in the sports arena. Skateboarding’s roots might be American, but skate culture finds new expressions wherever you go. And Japan is making its unique mark on board riding on social media, in manga, anime, and ultimately on the streets and in skateparks. As skateboarding finds new, younger fans in Japan, thanks to shows like Kasso, you can bet we’ll see great skating coming out of Japan.
Bring on the board riding maids!
You can follow Kasso on Instagram. That’s where all the skaters hang out.
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Would you be excited for a skateboarding version of Ninja Warrior, like Kasso, on your network of choice? Which anime character would make the most entertaining skateboarder, and why Haruko from FLCL?
Lum (Urusei Yatsura) looks great on a skateboard deck, and we have a great Lum LookUp figure in stock.
