Mecha-Mecha Iketeru!
Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! (めちゃ²イケてるッ!) is a popular Japanese variety show, shown on Fuji TV. The hosts of the show are the owarai duo Ninety-Nine (Takashi Okamura and Hiroyuki Yabe), and the show is usually attended by regulars Yoiko, Gokuraku Tombo, Oasiz, Shinji Takeda, Akiko Hinagata, and Sarina Suzuki. However, Gokuraku Tombo's Keiichi Yamamoto has not appeared on the show since being involved in a scandal in 2006. Egashira 2:50 also appears as a semi-regular guest. The show is also known as Mecha-Ike (めちゃイケ).
Corners
The show consists of a varied selection of games (called corners) and comedy sketches in a format that is relatively typical of popular Japanese comedy themed variety shows, though many of the games are never played more than once. Generally each show introduces one special guest, and they take a central role in most of the games.
The following is a list of a few corners that were recently played on the show.
Shichinin no Shiritori Zamurai
- (七人のしりとり侍, "Seven Shiritori Zamurai")
Bakusou kazutori-dan
- (爆走数取団, "Vroom counter game")
Due to the occasionally complex nature of Japanese counter words, there are certain simple games that can be played exploiting the difficulties in choosing the correct counter word, which is the basis of this game. Usually only male cast members play this game, as the punishment for losing is quite harsh, although members of female trio Mori San-chū have participated in the past. Each member also plays as a different character showing typical Rock and Roll and Rockabilly stereotypes, listed below in order of introduction:
- Yabe (leader): Shō (翔)
- Katō: Ken (拳)
- Hamaguchi: Yū (優)
- Arino: Jimmy (ジミー Jimī)
- Yamamoto: Hikaru (光)
- Takeda: Johnny (ジョニー Jonī)
- Okamura: Mickey (ミッキー Mikkī)
- Guest: Variable
They all meet in a bar named Snack Mugendai (スナック∞ Sunakku Mugendai) which is modeled after a famous Japanese drama, Kinpachi Sensei, and after each member introduces himself, the game begins.
The members are seated on motorcycles, arranged in a circle on a rotating platform. As the platform rotates, the member directly in front of the camera must first quote a quantity (starting from one) including a counter (for example i-ppon, 1本, which counts 1 long slender item; for example, a pencil) and then quote an object for the next person in line to count (for example "paper", which would be thus counted as ni-mai, 2枚, mai being the counter for flat objects). This whole process must follow the rhythm of a chant (mostly consisting of repetitions of bun-bun ("vroom", the sounds of a motorcycle revving) which gets faster as the game progresses. It becomes difficult to decide (with very little time to think) which counter to use (hon, mai, ko, etc.) when players are given awkward objects, such as mountains or wigs.
Any player who fails to give the correct counter is put up against one or more aggressive sumo rikishi who then humiliate them. With repeat failure players often have a "secret seal" smacked onto their skin which has some sort of embarrassing image on it, and is always censored on screen. Since regular members of the show have experience playing the game, guests are often more likely to make mistakes.
After the punishment is finished, the game is restarted.
This corner has not been aired since Keiichi Yamamoto was sacked from the show. It has since been replaced by Irotori Ninja.
Stamp 8
This corner parodies the famous dance troupe Stomp. The cast all have their own American personae (complete with fake nose and strange English mutterings) and are assisted by the voice of Thane Camus who is an American born Japanese talent and acts as the announcer for this game. The names for each of the casts personae are:
- Yamamoto (leader): Luke
- Okamura: Michael (modeled after Michael Jackson)
- Hamaguchi: Paul
- Yabe: Carl
- Arino: Steve
- Katō: David
Not so much a game as an excuse to abuse each other, the characters all start by performing stupid tricks with a broom, after which Yamamoto tosses an 8-sided die with each of the characters names written on one side. The "loser" (person whose name lands face-up) approaches center-stage, and after small chant is whacked in the face by all of the other members with large paper fans, the largest of which is held by Yamamoto, or if Yamamoto happens to be the loser, Katō. The fake noses that each member wears may or may not provide some protection against the blow, though since the fans are made out of paper the momentum of the blow is probably relatively small.
Synchronized Eating
A joke game based on the Olympic sport of synchronized swimming, the participants of this game must simultaneously (as a team) guess the type of food that they are given while their eyes are closed and noses are plugged. Often they will stand in some sort of strange pose (supposedly inspired by synchronized swimming). Each "team" consists of 2 players for a normal episode and 5 members for a special episode, representing the Olympic synchronized team of a country. If even one member of the team guesses wrong they are given a result of "Maicching" (probably a pun using mai, 昧, meaning "vague" and ching from "matching") and the floor opens dropping them into the ice cold water below. If they all guess correctly, they are given a result of "Matching". If they all guess incorrectly, but all guess the same food, they are given a result of "Synchro-Maiching" and are dropped into the icy water while being sprayed with icy water from a hose. After removing themselves from the cold water, their only recourse is a small pool of steaming hot water.
The following are some of the names of some of the international characters each member plays:
- Russia: Katō (K. Katoski) and Arino (S. Arinov)
- China: Ōkubo (Hung-Little) and Mitsuura (Hung-Big)
- USA: Okamura (Janet Okamura) and Haranishi Takayuki (Whitney Haranishi)
Special Episodes
The show also broadcasts special episodes, which generally last 2 hours. One of the most common games made into a special episode is the "surprise end-of-term exam".
The guests on these specials are given an innocuous-sounding work assignment or a scheduled appearance at a certain place. When they turn up, however, they find themselves walking onto a set rigged out as a makeshift classroom. They are then told that they will be taking a high school-level end-of-term exam (in school uniform, no less) on Japanese, mathematics, science, society (which covers geography and history in Western curricula) and English. At the end of the exam, the "teacher" and his assistant (Takashi Okamura and Fuji TV announcer Mizuki Sano) grade the papers and go about ridiculing the incorrect answers. After this, the test rankings are announced starting from the top and lowest-scoring person is eventually named and crowned in a special mock ceremony.
Past guests have included Rinka, Egashira 2:50, Kuniko Asagi, Chinatsu Wakatsuki, Sonim, members of Morning Musume, and members of AKB48. Occasionally, some of Mechaike's own members are themselves duped into playing, mainly for comic effect and to round out the bottom of the test rankings.