So where is Old Deli?

Source: ACCC press release.

Typo's aside, I have been personally waiting for this day for a very long time.

Twitter Gems, part 34

Source.

Just as well I suppose.

Cross cultural adaptations still don't work

It was with more than with a little amusement that I stumbled upon SNSD's Japanese rendition (with Chinese subtitles) of their Korean/English song, "THE BOYS".

And to be honest, I can't stop laughing.

What on earth ever possessed them to write "銀河も飛び越えて君となら歴史を変えられそう" for the lyrics?

It roughly translates to "With you and me the both of us can fly to the galaxies, and the both of us can change history".

And don't get me started on "九人十色的中毒性". I don't even know if this is fail or win. I can't tell these days.

But it is not the worst I've seen.

Remember when I blogged about national broadcasters? And met Mr. "SNSD is a evil conspiracy by the Korean national broadcaster to "steal the hearts of young boys and stupefy them into dreaming and fantasizing regarding one particular member"

Turns out while SNSD has publicly declared their plans to take over the world, it is not Lee Soo-Man that we need to be afraid of. It is this:

Source.

His name is Akimoto Yasushi, the creator of AKB48. And their spinoffs: SKE48, SDN48, NMB48, HKT48.

Now that would have been fine if it was all in Japan. But then, came this:

Yes folks, JKT48! (JKT= Jakarta, Indonesia) And they debuted with their adaptation of AKB48's "Heavy Rotation".

And I thought adapting "ポップコーンが/弾けるように" from AKB48's "Heavy Rotation" as "Seperti popcorn yang meletup letup" for JKT48's Bahasa Indonesia version was gold.

And Akimoto Yasushi is not stopping there. He has plans for TPE48 in Taipei, and word from the grapevine is that spinnoff's in Singapore, Thailand, China and Italy are supposedly on the cards.

(Haven't Singapore got Sea☆A already?)

While I understand TPE48 (let's face it, in another world Taiwan would be just another Japanese prefecture), but JKT48?

Source.

(Graph shows the proportion of J-pop (in blue) and K-pop (in red) fans in the South East Asia region. From left to right: Manila (the Philippines), Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and Jakarta (Indonesia).)

According to the Japanese media (their sometimes dodgy stats notwithstanding), Jakarta is the last bastion in SEA where the hallyu wave hasn't completely swamped the local populace. Just. So the most natural thing for them is to use Jakarta as a springboard into the (South East) Asian market.

But seriously, the whole AKB48 and their spinoff's are big enough to be a small army. Just watch their performance during the 第62回NHK紅白歌合戦:

(It is illegal in Singapore to have so many people in a small a space. :P)

Again, as usual, Singapore shows the region how it is properly done, and Indonesia is far more liberal and progressive than the average Malaysian gives them credit for.

But my point still stands. Be it "銀河も飛び越えて君となら歴史を変えられそう" or "Seperti popcorn yang meletup letup", cross cultural adaptations do not work.