[2021.01.14] Kan's Diary, Part 1
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transitions101VSA Producer Kan Tsuyoshi reminisces about VS Arashi and shares his thoughts about appearing in the Netflix documentary, Voyage.
It’s been 3 weeks since VS Arashi’s final episode…
With the flurry of setting up new programs during the year end and new year, I hardly had the time to reflect on the show. I’m not really the type who’s bogged down by the past (people who have built their careers in television tend to switch their minds pretty quickly), but as you’d expect, I thought it would be better to summarize the show’s 13 year history. That being said, allow me to enumerate them here.
Everyone’s watching the Netflix documentary, “ARASHI’s Diary – Voyage”, right? The Netflix crew also filmed Arashi on the VS Arashi set, which is why, as part of the staff, I was also in the footage. When that happened, Arashi would contact me to confirm whether that was okay.
“Sure, it’s fine.”
After I replied their message, I looked forward to the episode. However, my appearance was shorter than I thought it would be. (laughs) I guess that’s to be expected.
Here’s some idle chitchat which happened.
Sakurai: Kan-san, you were on camera (in Voyage)!
Usually the conversation would end with Nino’s ruthless and witty comebacks. It’s a scene that we frequently witness before filming begins. That’s why I have titled this post, “Kan’s Diary”. Christened by Sakurai Sho --> I hope he doesn’t find out about this.
The games which appear in the show every 2 weeks are now standing in the warehouse.
“We haven’t been asked to appear recently.”
They might be having conversations like that… Actually, we often anthropomorphize the games.
“Because Pinball Runner is a veteran.” [1]
Therefore it was heartbreaking when we made the decision to send them to Niigata, it felt as if I was a coach telling my players that they were relegated to the minor league. [3] That’s because we had a rule whereby the games which are unused will be temporarily sent to the Niigata warehouse.
Until their debut, these were our children that we worked so hard to create. (laughs) Although it’s great if they could generate excitement on the show, things don’t go as smoothly in reality. The games which won themselves a regular place on the show could be counted on our hands. It can’t be helped since we had to maintain the quality of the show.
Come to think of it, we had an incident on the first live broadcast of VS Damashii where the belt conveyor stopped working. It was the first time something like this happened in the 13 year history of the show. Although the game was new, we had been using the conveyor belt all along. The belt worked during the rehearsals so the staff was thrown into a frenzy…
Perhaps it might be “their” way of protesting. [4]
“What~? I haven’t heard anything about VS Damashii!”
I’ll make sure to go to the warehouse and conduct a proper explanation!
I hope VS Damashii will come to be a show that is loved by everyone… (^^)
Kan Tsuyoshi
Translator's Notes:
1) Pinball Runner first debuted on VS Arashi on 12 July 2008, and welcomed its last match on 24 Dec 2020. It’s one of the longest ongoing games on VS Arashi.
2) Kicking Sniper and Bomber Striker are games with similar concepts; bowling pins/cans are placed on a conveyor belt and players take turns to strike them down
3) For those unfamiliar with this sporting reference, minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. They generally have lesser fan bases, much smaller revenues and salaries, and are used to develop players for bigger leagues
4) Kan-san is anthropomorphizing the games again.
You can read the translations of Kan's blog posts here:
Kan's Diary, Part 2
A Precious Tasuki We Recevied from the People of Japan
Sources: Kan Tsuyoshi's LINE blog, VSA Game Stats by Project Paprika
Kan’s Diary Part 1
14 Jan 2021, 23:10
It’s been 3 weeks since VS Arashi’s final episode…
With the flurry of setting up new programs during the year end and new year, I hardly had the time to reflect on the show. I’m not really the type who’s bogged down by the past (people who have built their careers in television tend to switch their minds pretty quickly), but as you’d expect, I thought it would be better to summarize the show’s 13 year history. That being said, allow me to enumerate them here.
Everyone’s watching the Netflix documentary, “ARASHI’s Diary – Voyage”, right? The Netflix crew also filmed Arashi on the VS Arashi set, which is why, as part of the staff, I was also in the footage. When that happened, Arashi would contact me to confirm whether that was okay.
“Sure, it’s fine.”
After I replied their message, I looked forward to the episode. However, my appearance was shorter than I thought it would be. (laughs) I guess that’s to be expected.
Screen shot from Arashi’s Diary – Voyage, Episode 22
Here’s some idle chitchat which happened.
Sakurai: Kan-san, you were on camera (in Voyage)!
Kan: Yeah, but isn’t the footage rather little?
Sakurai: That’s plenty already! It’s not Kan’s Diary, you know! (^^)
Kan: …too bad.
Nino: No one’s gonna watch a documentary about an old man! (laughs)
Usually the conversation would end with Nino’s ruthless and witty comebacks. It’s a scene that we frequently witness before filming begins. That’s why I have titled this post, “Kan’s Diary”. Christened by Sakurai Sho --> I hope he doesn’t find out about this.
The games which appear in the show every 2 weeks are now standing in the warehouse.
“We haven’t been asked to appear recently.”
“Haven’t we been spending a long time in this warehouse?”
They might be having conversations like that… Actually, we often anthropomorphize the games.
“Because Pinball Runner is a veteran.” [1]
“Kick thinks of Bomber of its rival.” [2]
Therefore it was heartbreaking when we made the decision to send them to Niigata, it felt as if I was a coach telling my players that they were relegated to the minor league. [3] That’s because we had a rule whereby the games which are unused will be temporarily sent to the Niigata warehouse.
Until their debut, these were our children that we worked so hard to create. (laughs) Although it’s great if they could generate excitement on the show, things don’t go as smoothly in reality. The games which won themselves a regular place on the show could be counted on our hands. It can’t be helped since we had to maintain the quality of the show.
Come to think of it, we had an incident on the first live broadcast of VS Damashii where the belt conveyor stopped working. It was the first time something like this happened in the 13 year history of the show. Although the game was new, we had been using the conveyor belt all along. The belt worked during the rehearsals so the staff was thrown into a frenzy…
Perhaps it might be “their” way of protesting. [4]
“What~? I haven’t heard anything about VS Damashii!”
I’ll make sure to go to the warehouse and conduct a proper explanation!
I hope VS Damashii will come to be a show that is loved by everyone… (^^)
Kan Tsuyoshi
Translator's Notes:
1) Pinball Runner first debuted on VS Arashi on 12 July 2008, and welcomed its last match on 24 Dec 2020. It’s one of the longest ongoing games on VS Arashi.
2) Kicking Sniper and Bomber Striker are games with similar concepts; bowling pins/cans are placed on a conveyor belt and players take turns to strike them down
3) For those unfamiliar with this sporting reference, minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. They generally have lesser fan bases, much smaller revenues and salaries, and are used to develop players for bigger leagues
4) Kan-san is anthropomorphizing the games again.
You can read the translations of Kan's blog posts here:
Kan's Diary, Part 2
A Precious Tasuki We Recevied from the People of Japan
Sources: Kan Tsuyoshi's LINE blog, VSA Game Stats by Project Paprika