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Originally Posted by 68style
I watched this too, felt mixed about it at times but generally enjoyed it... I like James May and some parts were great and funny... a few bits here and there fell flat and the Haiku theme really fell on its face (at least for me) I wanted to fast forward anytime he brought that up. The train song conductor was quite an amazing little discovery and the train fanatics were a great, harmless example of some Japanese otaku.
I definitely did note down a few places he went and it was extra interesting for me because he followed pretty much the exact same path I did 10 years ago minus the creepy doll village. Interesting to note that it took them 3 months to film this show and I covered the same route in less than 3 weeks. I'd like to see what they were up to the rest of the time!
Yujiro really made the show shine, James is pretty good on his own but Yujiro is the perfect foil to James' stodgy side. I wish James had let go a little bit more ie: let that boy band actually dress him or just suck it up and go to the maid cafe... but say what you want about him, he's true to himself.
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Yeah there were parts that kind of fell flat. I like that they just took a bunch of chances, recorded it all, and put most of it into the show. Honestly this could have been a really good 1 or 2 hours like their Cambodia boat episode. I appreciate the long form because it was interesting enough and funny enough that it didn't drag too much.
You can tell they knew they had something with Yujiro and probably used him more than they originally planned. Dude just says whatever is on his mind with no shame at all, but unlike most people who do that, it is harmless and self-deprecating and funny, instead of insulting and mean.
I know I laughed at some of the haikus so it couldn't have been that bad
As for the maid cafe, I think in the west, we think of these places being SUPER creepy, in a more sexual way than they actually are. It is kind of hard for us to understand... they're kind of creepy to western sensibilities, but not AS creepy as we assume. Most of the girls there are just really into that kind of thing. They consider it to be "cute" and don't even really think of the subservient aspect. It's a weird thing, but I think James took it way too seriously. I thought he was doing a bit and they'd eventually go in, but nope, he actually thinks it's kind of a whore house.