I write a lot about wacky Japanese television because, well, it’s so wacky. While I do my best to correct the stereotype that Japanese “game shows” have developed in the West — the “Simpsons go to Japan” episode in which Homer and family must endure physical torture to win plane tickets back to Springfield comes to mind — sometimes I’m reminded of the fact that stereotypes are based on reality. One show my family likes to watch is called Dasshutsu Game DERO! (“Escape Game GET OUT!”), which puts famous “talents” (never boring nobodies off the street, like in American game shows) in some amusingly dangerous situations. In some segments photogenic stars like Aki Hoshino or the funny comedian team London Boots must clip wires attached to bombs that correspond to answers to trivia questions, and clipping the wrong wire will cause the bomb to “explode” with steam and noise. In another section, two teams of people are put in a Dostoyevskian locked room standing on metal beams that are receding into the wall. If they can’t answer the question they’re asked quickly enough, the beam will disappear and they will “fall” into the (CG-enhanced) darkness below.
Japanese “talents” must solve puzzles to exit a locked room alive.
