@bashcraft:

Please continue watching and pointing out the inaccuracies in the show. It's interesting.

kftgr

Oh gawd...Andos Japanese...

暇人

LMFAO at the guys who said "weeboo". I didn't know what it meant so I looked it up, and this was the definition that came up from encyclopedia dramatica:

-The Wapanese (also called Japanophiles or "Weeaboo") much like wiggers, are cultureless honkies trying to fill their cultural void by pretending not to be white. In this case, by humping the giant Godzilla leg of the Land of the Rising Sun until they are assimilated into its culture, as if being azn is some kind of acquired communicable disease. So badly do they wish this, in fact, that they are willing to dedicate whole afternoons to memorizing up to five common phrases in Japanese and then misusing them at the mall or furry conventions. They frequent sushi bars, the Panda Express in the food court and Sanrio stores on a weekly basis. They are the bane of American youth.

That, my friends, is hilarious.

champ24 vamp_24(psn)

I guess only someone who is Japanese, or lives in Japan would notice those things. It's still nitpicking though, and I don't see why it would really affect the quality of the show so much. Heroes is one of the better programs right now, and a few stupid, minor mistakes, that only some people will notice doesn't make it unwatchable. At least not to me. It's fine.

PurpleMonkey

For heaven's sake, the guy has superpowers and you think the clocks in the subway are unrealistic!

Safirerings

@Brian Ashcraft: I must add that I wondered WTF Chinese actors were doing in Memoirs of a Geisha, so I see where you're coming from but it is a TV show we're talking about.

As others pointed out, actors audition, and they pick the best one. It would seem that Lee was the best one they had to choose from.

I mentioned the Mickey Roonie thing myself earlier in the thread. As I stated before, at least they got 1 Japanese person....unlike the old "Cowboys and Indians" movies where nobody was an Indian. It's bad enough that Masi Oka has to personally check the dialogue to make sure it works, much like Hiroyuki Sanada was the unofficial "cultural localizer" for Last Samurai. They don't hire people to get shit right, the actors have to offer to do it themselves or nobody does.

Really though, Lee is way more than a few steps away from Roonie. One is taking advantage of horrible cultural stereotypes. The other is doing his best to genuinely speak a foreign language. There's a difference.

I just don't understand how you can throw stones when you live in a glass country.

Billkwando

@Brian Ashcraft:

Honestly those points were addressed in the comments. What I want to know is why they didn't hire a white guy to play Freddie in the Cromartie High School: The Movie.

Or Freddie Mercury himself.

I'm guessing one was inconvenient/expensive and the other was impossible.

(Hope I don't get banned but if I do it's been a fun year)

Billkwando

Some strange comments on here. Some people are getting defensive and pointing out the shortcomings of Japanese portrayals of Americans. Others attack Bashcraft as some kind of braggart for pointing out stuff that bugs him in a TV show. Others seem to hate the show AND hate Bashcraft.

I initially dismissed the show when it started but the positive word-of-mouth got me interested. The truly lazy portrayal of Japan and the Japanese was obvious, but it was something I laughed at while enjoying the show anyway. I didn't notice Ando's accent all that much, but I was watching the show in the US at the time. I watched Season Two while here in Japan, and his accent seemed a lot more noticeable to me.

In my case, the show was irritating me on two ignorant fronts: the "Tokyo" scenes and the "New York" scenes were ludicrously dressed up versions of Los Angeles, painfully obvious to someone who had been to both megacities (but I've only been to LA once when I was five).

Some of the shortcomings you mentioned are dumb but they serve a storytelling purpose (however meager). The giant digital clock on the Tokyo subway is there to let us know Hiro can manipulate time. Don't ask what purpose the kanji clock is supposed to serve: that was one of the examples I gave my wife in explaining how the show's version of Japan is weird.

Most of what you mention is easy to overlook IF you find the story to be otherwise compelling. This is not necessarily the case in Season 2, when Hiro spends an intolerably long time in "feudal Japan" which is both a poor love story and an insult to anyone who's ever picked up a Japanese history book. Then again, the whole season manages to come together with some kick-ass TV at the end, but I couldn't understand why I had to wait so long to get there.

My final advice to Bashcraft: give Heroes a few more episodes, but if it doesn't kick in soon, it's not going to get any better. And to those who defend Heroes by attacking Japanese TV: yes, I get just as annoyed when they get the US wrong. That doesn't give Heroes a pass.

feitclub

@Brian Ashcraft: Heh I already kind of said it, but I think your opinion is quite valid (shows like ER drive my Dad, a Peds ICU Doc, totally nuts), and like I already said I think you probably just want to stop now, as others have noted the show has enough little niggling issues that if something like that is layered on top I don't know if I would want to watch it anymore either. Also Season 2 was very, very disappointing, hopefully Season 3 will be a step back in the right direction but I doubt the problems with accuracy of japanese language and setting will ever get seriously addressed at this point.

DaiMacculate

@PTCoakley:
Nope! I'd expect them to, you know, hire Japanese actors to play Japanese characters. Otherwise, they're just one hop, skip and a jump away from Mickey Rooney!

Brian Ashcraft

Would you honestly expect them to come here (to Japan) simply to fulfill a more realistic portrayal of SOME scenes of a show that mostly takes place in the US? And seriously, who are you to nitpick people's accents? Regardless of your experience with the language and culture, unless you hold some sort of certification on linguistics, why bother complaining about something like a guy not sounding "Japanese enough."

PTCoakley

@Sonjool: Yeah I'm with Sonjool, BSG is just a bit better than Dexter. Hell of a consolation prize for all of us to put it in the same league though ;)

DaiMacculate

Heroes is like those old WWII movies where "ze germanz" speak half english with some "deutsch" mixed in. No one ever took the trouble to find out how german soldiers would really speak because the audience wouldn't know the difference anyway.
Looking back on those movies it's almost insulting, if it weren't so funny. Apparently there were no lessons learned, and "Heroes" falls into the same old trap.

BTW, most anime shows make the same mistake, sometimes even having english speaking characters literally say "blah blah blah". At least they admit they don't understand their subject matter.

little computer eerk

I toughed it out through the first 4 episodes and then deleted the rest. Did the same thing with Desperate Housewives though, too, few years back. Can never figure what the masses (the sheoples) are gonna like. they can eat some real shit though, sometimes. then the good stuff like something cerebral like Firefox gets dissed and cancelled. This f$#@ing universe isn't 'consequential', as my wife would say.

banmojo

@Sonjool: Battlestar Galactica disagrees. Dexter is damn good, though.

AlKusanagi

The only reason I stuck through that clusterfuck of bad writing and direction was Tim Sale's art. And then they killed off the artist.

In retrospect I'm glad they did - I couldn't get through season 2.

TrevWolf

I've seen every episode to date and I can say I don't care a whole lot for the show. I've only kept with it cuz of my roommate, but Hayden Panettiere in HD easily makes it more interesting. But really, there are plenty better shows to rent like Damages, Battlestar Galactica, The Wire, Rescue Me, Rome, etc etc etc.

B-Minus

are you seriously basing the shows "dumbness" on the japanese! are you serious! the show is AWESOME on how well the charaters react with eachother... who cares what they sound like. and second the samsung computer...its called advertising! maybe you heard of it!

navyrican911

Not that I share the problems with the nitpicks, but I appreciate the culture specific details mentioned.

questworld

Think of it for revenge for every anime that has been released that has "americans" speaking "english"... that gets painful too.

LuppyLuptonium

Heroes has Kristen Bell in it now. This makes everything better. All is forgiven. She makes everything overlook-able.

4 8 15 16 23 42

I have to say that Heroes irritated the heck out of me for the exact same reasons as Bashcraft said. Maybe its an ex-pats thing?
Yeah its a comic book so the plot is whatever but they really did show the most stereotypical Japan with the most stereotypical Japanese geeks possible. I have friends who are all "omg Hero is awesome!" However, I am inclined they only think that because he makes them feel like less of an idiot.

Its kind of like laughing at black face. Yes we find it super offensive now, but a lot of people back then didn't know better.

gifurocks

It's an American show for an American audience. I'm sure there are some pretty awful Japanese actors that try to sound American in Japanese TV shows, but no one there would care since they're JAPANESE. I wonder what a Japanese show about American cowboys would be like? Same diff. Maybe they wanted the Ando actor for his acting skills and weren't too concerned about the accent since the vast majority of viewers wouldn't notice.

In terms of stuff like the office clock and the subway having digital clocks and so on, these help American viewers identify the setting of the characters as being in Japan since they are seen as typically Japanese. Often those items are shown when Hiro shifts back from America and they are a frame of reference for the viewer to immediately recognize that Hiro has teleported back to his home.

The Samsung placement is just a product placement and again is really pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. The story itself is pretty entertaining and does a good job of introducing plot twists and developing the characters in interesting ways.

Xsid

@Alkalyne:
Hey, that stuff was no sweat! From the Night Note:

So, yah, those are just "little" things. Not so important. What really makes it hard to watch is Hiro's friend, Ando. His Japanese accent is pretty horrible, and he sounds like foreigner speaking Japanese. Every time he opens his mouth, it totally ruins the illusion...

The thing that totally miffs me: If you're going to have someone speak pretty much Japanese on your show, why not, you know, get a real Japanese person? (Asian people are different! Don't TV people realize that?!)

Shame people don't read the entire thing, but just react. A damn shame.

Brian Ashcraft

It's an American show, made for Americans, by Americans. Not the Japanese. Honestly, because all the things you mentioned were so insignificant unless you lived in Japan, none of the 40+ people I know who watch the show ever brought it up.

If they got all those things corrected, it would be too distanced from the average American to relate to. They can more easily relate to cubicles and digital clocks than normal ones. The kanji also helps over-exaggerate the 'fact' they're in 'Japan'.

That's like me getting mad at a French film for showing Americans constantly eating hamburgers and wearing red, white, and blue.

..

Course that kinda happens anyway, but still.

Alkalyne

I think the escalator thing was on purpose. You know, everyone looks like a lemming, and then our 'heroes' break the mold.

Also, sorry to say, all your complaints seem to be stuff about inaccuracies to do with japan. Most americans will never know the difference, and either way you spend almost no time there after the first episode.

MrGlass

There're a lot of problems with that show much more glaring than their handling of Japanese people and culture.

Sure, it's generally pretty solid, but it too often lacks simple story necessities like cohesion, climax, and character development. Also, they've totally wasted Kristen Bell to this point.

EmTeeZ

Shit, wait until you find out they're not really superheroes.

Squozen

That's quite a bit of nitpicking. Having errors here and there is nothing horrid. Besides, lord knows all the misconceptions and errors there are of foreign culture in the Japanese media. So only slamming Heroes for its errors in Japanese culture and language is a bit too one-sided a viewpoint for my tastes.

VergessenHeld

Coincidentally, the first season was just released on DVD in Japan.

Despite not airing on mainstream TV, the likes of '24' and 'Lost' are pretty popular.

yeahblah

This was entertaining but to be honest, when do TV or movie makers get the "foreign language" parts right? For example Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift (was there even a single "real" Japanese in this one - at least I didn't notice em) or - just to prove that not only crap movies fail utterly in that - Indiana Jones. The "Germans" in the later are so bad it is incredibly entertaining.

Surprisingly they get French parts right once in a while - maybe because at least Canadian talent is available in Hollywood?

develin

@Brian Ashcraft:
Thank you.
:)

WolvenOne

We'll, Im not exactly a fan of hereos myself as well, but I will point out that nearly everything pointed out here I have seen in the japanese world. While its not regular, I have seen kanji clocks, people not standing on an escilator, japanese people with bad accents that sound like foreigners, cubicles in japanese firms, and even samsung computers. As for the digital clock on the train, never on a regular train but I seem to recall one on a shinkansen at one point in time.

Basically though, you shouldnt really look at things like that. Who cares about accuracy? People in the show shoot lightning, manipulate minds, fly, and so much other crap, does the presence of a digital clock really mean much?

RuneX

wow, this was really nitpicking.

the irish accents in boondock saints were crap, but its still a fun movie. just look past it.

TheIrishNinja

@Player2: It may be the general consensus that Kotaku is only a blog when it's posting non-game topics, but I'm not the general population of Kotaku. In fact, some have noted in the past that I'm only one person.

Kotaku is ALWAYS a blog. And it's not ALWAYS game related. Especially the night notes, which are very rarely game related.

It's just that many people have the idea that Kotaku is a news source. It's not. Do many of us get our news from here? Sure. But this is still just an extremely well populated blog.

ShaggE

we get it. you live in japan. congratulations. to those of us who don't care, it's a good show.

TheGoalkeeper

GOD I hope you come down with a horrible case of raped to death by a horse, Then Hiro takes me back in time so i can watch it repeatedly. Then sylar takes your brain so he can have the powers of being a dumb fuck also.

anotherdeadhero3

@kunio: You're "Right-on-ing" a guy who has failed to relize that Jin's grasp of the Korean language is even worse than Ando's use of Japanese. Daniel Day Kim is not a native Korean speaker, the actress that play Sun also doubles as his language coach. Most Koreans would say he sounds like a 2nd grader most of the time.

brandonf

Tip is: Forget about the japanese stuff and watch it.

I mean, I didn't notice everything Bashcraft did... I don't live in Japan, though I wish to, and I did visit there once. But I did notice some of that.
And yeah, a millionaire production like that couldn't let stuff like that happen. But they happen, all the time.

At least it wasn't nearly as stereotypical as some other stuff I've seen out there. Though Hiro is stereotypically funny/weird, it's not like it was made to say something like "LOOK AT THE JAPANESE PEOPLE, THEY ARE SO WEIRD" kinda way.

And the story, after you watch some episodes, does get interesting.

Unfortunately, general Hollywood productions, along with western TV series are still far away from "getting" the japanese culture... but you either learn to deal with that, or you'll just skip lots of interesting stuff because of it.

I'm japanese decendant myself. And though I still prefer Lost over Heroes, I did watch the first season and liked it, trying to put aside the japanese stuff.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

Cheesy, badly acted, lame.

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World?

That is the epitome of mental vomit.

axia777

Hero's is the gheyness. It is wanna be Marvel comics. I watched one show and could not stand even that.

axia777

@HurricaneDave: Actually, I LIVE in the deep south, and a lot of people actually talk like that. It's pretty accurate. Stereotyped, maybe, but accurate.

Spiffyness

@Doomstink:Right on the money there. I really enjoy Sun and Jin's subplot.

I loathe the misrepresentation of asian cultures. It perpetuates all the wrong stereotypes.

kunio

Despite it's flaws with plotline and settings (and believe me, there are MANY), I still find the show very entertaining. Comic books have the same problems. You just let it fly and learn to enjoy it.

CyberGlitch

Heroes is a lame ass show anyways. I never understood the universal appeal of it. They tried to make it action packed and interesting and it just comes off as cheesy and badly acted.

MrSatan

@osiris83: Yeah, a full season would have been about perfect. In Japan, almost all the prime-time dramas run about 3 months and tell a single story. While 3 months isn't always ideal, running a series "as long as it makes money" like in the States doesn't work so well either.

It would be wonderful if there could be a middle ground between the two -- 6-month to 12-month shows with a decided beginning, middle, and end. It would fix a lot of the problems with TV.

erlik

Fact. Best show on TV is Dexter. Both seasons.

Sonjool

You're complaining about a lack of reality on a show about comic book heroes? Serioulsy dude, keep away from the sharp knives in the kitchen before you hurt yourself.

Heroes is a "fun" show. It's not meant to be realistic and perhaps the bad "japanese" is something of a satire on english dubbed, crappy japanese movies.

I like the show personally and I especially like the idea that super powers are some sort of genetic mutation which may or may not be desireable.

cowboyshootist

@Hiero Glyph: I think you got a little confused, this was a Night Note posting and therefore tends to be non-game related. Still, not sure you said anything "bann-worthy". You clearly respected his opinion and sort of touched on an interesting point about game journalist and probably us gamers as a whole. Are we going to eventually become overly critical of other forms of media based on the way we critique games.

brandonf

There are mountains in Odessa, Texas. (the Guadalupe Mountains).

On US television it is common to make other countries appear more American, so that the viewer can focus on the story instead of "lessons". This is done on purpose (sometimes, sometimes not. either way to the same end.) If a person is presented a accurate portrayal they will be distracted from the stories progression. Despite TiVo, DVR, and DVD box sets most people still get their shows directly from a broadcast that they can't watch a second time. If the producerss want them to come back for more episodes, then they typically use the images to convey elements of the story in a way would relate to the target audience.

By the way, your post did come off a little bit elitist. I am not saying you are, just that it did come off that way.

stevenjazz787

@rcomegys: Sun's Korean is "OK" because she is a Korean actress who stared in the highest grossing buggest budget Korean action film of all time (in Korea at that time), Shiri (Swiri). Lost is her first non-Korean acting gig.

Poor Brian, this post was a serious can of worms.

brandonf

@NotAZombie: Oh and why the hell is this still going? Is this the new KoK thread that is gonna hit 1k for no reason. :D

NotAZombie

@Doomstink: My Korean friends say that Jin is essentially the Korean equivalent of Ando. Yes, his parents may be Korean, but they say his spoken Korean is terrible. Sun is apparently okay, though.

rcomegys

@Brian Ashcraft: Aww why did you ban him? He was kidding.

NotAZombie

Yeah welcome to the rest of the bloody world.

Do you think any tv show gets any of this stuff right about any country? Of course not. Part of the reason is they need to ham up the stereotypes to make sure the dumb american public knows what they're watching.

Speaking of lost, isn't it supposed to be a pacific island and a plane from Australia? Not enough locals on the plane ... of course, otherwise the public wouldn't understand what they were saying. You can't even ask your waitress for a fucking 'coke' without them not understanding what you asked for - you know, when they were asking for drink orders and everyone's ordering soft drinks. You have to use an american accent.

Anyway, it's a bloody sci-fi comic on the screen, it isn't a documentary.

And at least they're acknowledging other places exist.

Typical elitist ex-pat. You're just another ex-pat, and a yank at that. If you hate your home country enough to leave it, why do you give a rats bum what they do.

NotZed

Heroes was intriguing until the Season1 finale. It just died with no payoff. A full season of mystery and cliffhangers and it just died.

jwestburg

The acting and script quality on this show are reprehensibly bad! I am a huge comic book geek and I couldn't watch it for more than a few minutes. It makes Alias or VIP look like Masterpiece Theater. Most inane garbage ever, I'd think I'd rather watch Roswell, which would certainly lead to some self-maiming.

GOLD5

@yonderTheGreat:
*Yawn"

Brian Ashcraft

I'm disappointed in this article. Why not comment on all the bad non Japanese actors/actresses that appear in Japanese shows/movies? What about the horrible English lesson TV shows where they teach Japanese people to pronounce words incorrectly. These types of things come up in TV/movies in every country. This certainly is not a reason to not watch Heroes. Bash came off sounding like a Japan obsessed foreigner who thinks he knows everything there is to know about Japan.

qwerty124

@DeaconBooze:

Farewell, Professor Uncalledfor.

Billkwando

you's dumb. :)

yonderTheGreat

i think youre hating heroes for the wrong reasons, imo. myself, i didnt care about any of that stuff while watching it, because i was focusing on the plot. then season two came, and i started to get bored with it to the point where i didnt care if i missed an episode

bigman88zz

I dislike Heroes for a whole slew of different reasons, but I'll be sure to add these to my list. I just can't see the hype.

ElErico

@WolvenOne:
Nice comment. :)

Brian Ashcraft

I like Heroes

I also know the the portions of the show depicting Japan are way off.

But.....

....I don't care.

Seriously, you cannot expect writers and prop designers to know every cultural nuance of every nation. Japan regularly botches American cultural nuances, but that certainly doesn't ruin the experience for me.

In other words.

It's a television show, it's not meant to be taken too seriously, it is meant to be enjoyed. So instead of sitting around and pointing out everything that's unrealistic. *such as teenagers healing from bullet wounds in under a minute,* I'm just going to enjoy it for what it is.

WolvenOne

I think you're a little too hard on the show being that it is aired in America, it isn't as if Japan doesn't have it's own sterotypes or misconceptions about America. I mean, just have a look at the Super Mario Kart DS commercial to see what Japanese think Americans act/look like.

But yeah, you are right on a few good points there, mostly the "Asian people are different" comment. Japanese, Chinese, Korean.. it's all the same here. We have Chinese actors portraying Japanese characters and that sort of thing all the time, and it happens quite a bit in Heroes. I noticed it myself often in season 2, which you may or may not see..

Anyway it's an interesting and entertaining show all things mentioned aside.

glemmstengal

@Mattz: for Hayden Paniettiere's gorgeous thighs

This point cannot be emphasized enough in defending the watching of this show, as far as I'm concerned ;)

DaiMacculate

> If you're going to have someone speak pretty much Japanese on your show, why not, you know, get a real Japanese person?

Because they want an ACTOR. They have casting calls and pick the best ACTOR - not a decent actor who lived longer in japan.

Artki

It's not really the lack of accurate Japanese accents/culture that gets me with this show, it's the lack of writing. And acting. And the constant new-age chanting music for every "ohhh, mysterious!" moment.

Seiru

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but Ando's actor is in fact a Korean so I imagine his accent does sound very off to a native speaker. But then as a Brit, I was absolutely horrified to meet some American relatives from California a few years back and to realise that Americans really do have accent's like on TV. Perhaps as a Scot who doesn't bother with any of the "See you Jimmy y'ken like," talk I refuse to believe that anyone speaks like they do in TV shows.
Personally even if these things were on a level where they annoyed me, I'd still watch it for adorable optimism and honest heroism that Masai Oka brings to the show, for Hayden Paniettiere's gorgeous thighs, for the ice-cold evil of Zachary Quinto's Sylar and the generalised high American hero atmosphere that the show has. I love that kind of thing and I wouldn't let a few inaccuracies of setting that are largely irrelevent to the plot spoil a fun and decent show.
I mean they took Prison Break from me, House is on hiatus and even if we do get Scrubs back, it's the last season. I mean what the hell am I going to watch then? I might have to go...outside...

Mattz

Ease up, Ashcraft. You're sounding like a typical Japanese. If the guy was white, they'd all be "jouzu!"ing, but he's not, so the expectations are higher.

The guy's Japanese is totally passable and sounds perfectly fine. Could it sound more native? Of course, but so could Hiro's. でしょう？

rupansansei

I enjoy Lost and Heroes even though I've only been watching them on DVD as was late to the party.

DigitalHero

I really tried to like Heroes, but just couldn't get on the bandwagon...I think it's for the best though, lol

Sandbox_Emperor

Don't you guys know that Asians in Hollywood only portray three things? Gangsters, Nerds, or Kung-Fu masters.

DefDealer

These little details are hardly any big deal... I watch shows where cats talk and dogs make dinner. So I have no problem with suspension of disbelief. It's certainly not a show about historical fact after all. These people fly, disappear, ignite into flame, and heal themselves.. I'm hardly worried about a clock, cubicles, or subway trains...heh

Fujoshi

@Fyren: "Onto topic, I watched the first three episode of Heroes and wonder how can anyone sit through an hour and watch this garbage?. Same goes for Lost."

The same way people can sit through the daily rubbish that is Kotaku. Cake anyone?

DeaconBooze

Alright, I love the show and I can understand somebody not liking it. I can even agree that they have the right the bash it to death on the net. But really? What you've pointed out is really inconsequential. You just sound snob because you know Japanese culture.

with_a_pH

@Doomstink: You don't know how f'ed up the Koreans are represented. Ms.Yoon is ok, but the guy is about credible as the N.Koreans in the latest bond flick.

Onto topic, I watched the first three episode of Heroes and wonder how can anyone sit through an hour and watch this garbage?. Same goes for Lost.

Fyren

(ducks)

Fujoshi

Insightful - I like the cultural contrast of your review...

Seriously, you should stick to what you do best - massaging Crecente's hairy scrota, masturbatory Nintendo game reviews, and detailing your mini-slant's every cute little dirty diaper.

DeaconBooze

@my spoon is too big:

All of this flaming on Ban Monday? Ashcraft can say whatever he wants because it is a blog site and he can say his opinion, so STFU if you don't like it, and if it bothers you that much, then go somewhere else, or perhaps Witzbold will force you to find another site. I'm just saying there's alot of stupidity coming from this discussion, and a TV show flame war is not really worth being banned over.

Please tell me this is sarcasm. If you are really that scared of being banned that you won't even state your real opinions, and just kiss ass instead that's just pathetic. It speaks volumes about this site and it's writers as well, I really hope they are paying attention to what kind of community they are creating.

Player2

I love the show.. nyah

Fujoshi

You think Ando is painful, wait until you see a *SPOILER ALERT(kinda)* certain mexican bitch in season 2.

monkey_87

The guy who plays Ando is KOREAN. I think he does a damn good job of it too. Sure, he's no native speaker but his Japanese is still much better than others trying to speak a foreign language on other TV shows.

It does suck when you actually know someone isn't a native speaker, but you just gotta ignore it and accept that hey.. atleast they're trying.

Besides Heroes has bigger issues to deal with than "accents"

Siye

@ShaggE: No, Kotaku = Blog only when it's convenient, like explaining why it's got non-gaming stuff on it. Otherwise it's serious journalism.

But when it is a blog, it is a game blog. That's why there are constant stories about the editors' kids and what they ate for dinner, or going to the dentist, etc. You know, all that gaming stuff.

Player2

At least Hugh Laurie can fool Americans into thinking he was a genuine American with that genuine accent. Admittedly, that's not as hard as trying to speak a totally different language... I LOVE YOU HOUSE

Plan303e

Leaving budget problems aside. Making Japanese people as they really are would break the illusion the rest of the world has about how they are, and the show would be critizised by those who think that Japanese people do everything inside a cubicle. (It would also break the illusion the rest of the world has that americans do not know anything about what's outside their country).

Mute the TV and add subtitles, maybe you'll enjoy it more that way.

LaughingCrow

Basing the quality of an entire show on one person's bad accent is all kinds of dumb.

dgonchild

@doubtful: You mean Converse.

brandonf

@terrydwj:

Night Notes can't all be winners. I think Bashcraft's posted way enough on the FTW side to forgive a little FTL.

Billkwando

Stupid topic. If it was made on some random forum you guys would lay into the topic creator.

terrydwj

@D00mM4r1n3:

I would recommend renting the movie: "Snkes On A Plane"

"I, Robot" is another good trainer for spot-the-product-placement.

Now excuse me while I lace up my Reeboks and cruise out of here in my Audi.

doubtful

With regards to the Samsung laptop, when you see the brand of just about anything in a show, especially if the camera lingers as it sweeps across the logo, then it's a paid product placement. If it isn't too obvious at first glance, I would recommend renting the movie: "Snkes On A Plane" for training purposes to improve one's skill at spotting them. Pretty much any prime time show currently being broadcast, will also do.

D00mM4r1n3

I don't even like the show all that much, but nit-picking on that stuff is just petty. Mind you, Brian, the show is for us Americans.

If you have problems with the show, let it be based on how crappy the writing is, or how some characters are lame.

samuraisul

The show isn't great, but what other good shows are there? Lost, prison break, house, Nip/tuck, Dexter, Monk...I struggle to name more than 6. So even though you don't like it, it's still one of the best shows.

valleyshrew

Never seen Hero, the only show I watch and I don't even know if it's on NBC is Medium. I really like that show.

Sailorcancer

I'm going to post this link as an example of "Nit-Picking" on wikipedia.

danc4498

I suppose it could be much worse. Let's not forget that America once made a movie about Genghis Khan starring John Wayne.
As for this Heroes, I've never watched it and I don't intend to do it, but that's because I've always hated super-hero stuff.

Carroceiro

@Doomstink: You apparently know nothing about Koreans.

brandonf

This is my very first post on Kotaku...and I've always enjoyed reading these posts you guys have written here...but I am honestly sick of reading Mr. "Bashcraft"'s antics about Japan and his "Japanese" life.

I'm a Japanese and I was born and raise here. First of all, just because you live in Japan and you married a Japanese woman...don't give you the right to be a Japanese elitist. In fact it just makes you a "weeaboo" and it honestly scares the living shit out of me...

I know you're proud to be doing your thing in Japan, but to bash anything that comes out from other country because it's not the "Japanese" you know to be "true" is rightfully wrong.

Now on with my comment: There are plenty of buildings in Tokyo that has workers sitting in cubicles now. How many office buildings in Tokyo have you been to? Seeing them on TV do not count by the way.

Also, I've seen several times in office buildings and "shopping plazas" with Japanese people not wanting to stand to one side on escalators in JAPAN. Also, I don't think it's just a Japanese thing to stand to one side and have other people pass on the other "lane".

And about Hiro and his clock? Well, sometimes (believe it or not)...Japanese people DO like to read clocks in kanji...

I'm really annoyed that every time I read these "To Crecente; From Bashcraft" it turns into something about Japan. Get over yourself already, please.

AngryJapanese

@rlh445 - Well, Everyone Else Is Doing It!: Is 3) Collect underpants?

balls187

They guy who plays Ando is korean.

balls187

@The Konamunist: Well, that bit you wrote about it being a gaming blog and wondering why he even posted anything about Heroes. It's the Night Note man, they talk about anything and everything in the night note. Night Note / Day Note are really more like messages between the editors that they post so we get a glimpse of their lives outside of Kotaku. Like when Ashcraft posts about Mini-Bash, they're usually fun little insights into daily life in Japan. This one, well definitely comes across as a little winey. I think he may have been having a bad day or something.

brandonf

@comedy: Uh, no, that would be Lost. Or Desperate Housewives. Or Prison Break.

seafisch

@The Konamunist: If your opinion gets you banned then that would be a really bad reflection of Kotaku and it's editors since you disagreed with them. I completely agree with you 9as I expressed earlier). It's a ridiculous reason to ahte and judge a show when most everything on film/TV/books or any media has done it. Ashcraft's attitude was that of an elitist snob which is just funny seeing it's over a Hollywood production.

VeritasVierge

I was literally forced to watch the first season of Heroes. At first I thought the writing was horrible, particularly the dialog (actually, it totally is), but after about the 7th or 8th episode, it starts picking up and starts making you think it could turn into something awesome. But then the finale is lame and does not deliver... I don't know, it's probably worth watching the first season. But the 2nd season was ass.

RemyDuvalle

most overrated show on tv. period.

comedy

OMsneeze, TV misrepresents things!

Why are you not posting every night that a videogame special airs? Why not complain about how bad G4 is, or whatever crap show Keighly's on?

Gonzodamus

This post was pathetic.

BalbanesBeoulve

I take it that you are someone of Japanese decent.

KreacherOfBloodandRank

I think Heroes sucks for entirely different reasons. However, all the criticisms that were made are plenty valid to me.

But that's just me.

I know that all of the reasons he listed seem like small details that don't matter, but it's these small details that give away the overall stupidity of the show in general. I've tried to watch Heroes on several occasions, but I can't understand why this show is so popular.

fatheadwilson

@thaKingRocka: So true.

Heroes is as good as Lost. And that's not a compliment.

I'm not surprised that a few people here like those shows, the narrative is about as good as any typical video game's. That's not a compliment either.

floppylobster

Why am I not suprised at this post? Oh yeah, because I'm on a site that totally swings on the nuts of everything Japanese. Aren't you all self righteous and amazing. We're impressed, I assure you.

That being said, I don't watch Heroes. Never got interested. If I do, I won't cry about Samsung computers, I assure you.

Gonzodamus

@doubtful: Oh god yes, his comic work, while possibly not BETTER than B5, is totally amazing. The new Thor series is excellent, his first couple arcs on SpiderMan (they encompass the main content of the "Best of SpiderMan" hardcovers you may have seen at Barnes and Noble) are some of the best Spiderman work in the last 15 years, his new Book "The Twelve" is great...yeah get to your local shop and ask them, they'll hook you up! ;)

DaiMacculate

Heroes was ok but they lost me on the second season just like Lost did.

MURDERFACE

Guys, come on.

Bash loves Japan. He loves it so much he moved there, married a Japanese woman, and puts up with all kinds of crazy shit just to be able to write about video games in the country.

If a show totally butchered one of my favorite things, I'd be pretty pissed too. This isn't a corporate blog--people actually express opinions here.

Legion329

man, i'll admit heroes doesnt have the best acting, but damn if its not entertaining. i got bored over xmas break and started watching the first disk and COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. i watched like 5 episodes every day and was done in a week. i just hope they pick up s2 again soon

elislider

@rlh445 - Well, Everyone Else Is Doing It!: I know, it's ingenius.

KM91

I don't care that its ban monday.

But you know what pisses me off? People who think they are more intelligent because they dislike television shows.

"The plots don't get anywhere and I won't spend my time watching it"

Don't spend your time writing a pointless comment about it.

@Bashcraft: Oh big woop the Japanese havn't been portrayed properly on a television show for people living in America. The show is half decent, Something to watch in times you don't feel like doing anything else.

Just don't watch a show with intention to find problems with it, It reminds me of Comic Book guy from The Simpsons.

I see problems with computers in films and television looking stupidly unrealistic running some fake made up OS, it just makes me laugh, I don't suddenly decide the show/film is stupid and hate it and write all over the interwebz "Zomg unrealistik"

flukielukie

AAHH but DID u know Bash man that some japanese words come from the portuguese? Much because portuguese were the first gaijins arriving to japan. For instance Gajo in portuguese is a stranger, now knowing if portuguese learned it from japan or we took it there i do not know. I also eared that pão (bread) and tabaco (cigarrets) are also used in japan cause portuguese took those words there.

FelicioLostHorizonPT

Wow, what a terrible way to hate a show.

NoBullet

To be fair, some of the Tokyo scenes were at least filmed in LITTLE TOKYO in California. Gotta count for something, right?

Gospel X

Ok, Seriously, being someone who is also raised in another country/kinda and Bi-Lingual. Seriously guy get over it. If that is your reason to not like somthing, bad accents,then I have a feeling you would miss a lot of cool stuff if you didn't speak japanese.

kimsballs

The things you've pointed out are the same reasons I use to justify never watching any college-based TV sitcoms:

The kid that lives across the hall is never named Calvin, the carpet in the dorms are NEVER blue, and why oh why do they have a Californian accent? I attended school in the Midwest part of the United States! If they don't cater a show to my exact experiences in life, how will I ever understand what's going on?

Sorry Bash, this post is a bit nit-picky, IMO. It's an enjoyable show and I hope you're able to look past the things you've mentioned and give it another chance.

jfmzoo

Quantum Leap is awesome.

stromasdragon

I love Heroes and Lost. But if read so far into thing in these shows there is no point watching them.

It's all about the transportation of the viewer in to the show. If we where all so hypercritical about everything, then there would never bother watching or playing anything.

Setting the seen and bringing to the masses is most important. After all it's not like it a documentary.

stromasdragon

Jeepers..why is it that every Monday one of the editors drops an article that they just KNOW is gonna bring out the um, less tactful group of posters? Oh wait! I know..hold on.

1) Ban Monday
2) Flame Baiting Article
3) ????
4) Profit

rlh445 - Well, Everyone Else Is Doing It!

Wow, I am generally disappointed by Mr. Ashcraft's postings on this blog, but this one takes the cake...

As a former resident of Japan I can understand hating bad Japanese accents. Japanese is beautiful language, and it sounds amazing when spoken correctly. For this reason I too often judge the Japanese of many foreigners to be unbearable, including my own. In particular, Cameron Diaz's Japanese in the first Charlie's Angels film still stands out in my mind as the worst accent I have ever heard.

That said, James Kyson Lee's Japanese does not bother me that much at all. I knew plenty of Japanese people in Japan (granted, I was in Kansai) that spoke just like him. Perhaps in Tokyo such an accent is unthinkable, but not in Osaka or Kobe.

But seriously, what purpose did your post have Brian? I thought that this was a gaming blog, not a "What does Brian Ashcraft want to complain about today?" site. You have what many would conside a perfect life, you get to live in Japan, you have a Japanese wife, and you have a job that many would kill for. Yet you flaunt this lifestyle like it is a burden and out of reach of all us "commoners" in each of your posts.

When I was living in Japan I did my best to tell others how they could do the same, and to encourage them. Sure, I had my complaints, but I did not force them on the public each week.

In the end, I am not angry with your behavior, just disappointed. And if my opinion gets me banned then so be it.

The Konamunist

@symphony_of_the_night: You must have no life so that you have time to watch the worst show of all time, not to mention sit through the second season as well! What I'm wondering is how you manage to watch every other shows that's on the same time as Heroes in order to make that comparison. Or even better, how you've managed to watch every TV show since the beginning of time. Or the best, why you'd watch Heroes if you hate it so much.

Heroes is an American show. Most people from America will not notice the accent or the cubicles bit, and therefore won't complain about it. Every freaking Japanese show has broken English thrown in it, but that doesn't mean it's a bad show, nor is it dumb, nor do I have any real reason to complain about it. I don't want watch Spanish TV because I won't understand it, just like I won't watch Japanese TV and complain about their broken english. If all it takes is a bad accent and a bad portrayal of Japan (which is really only relevent for the first couple episodes since they go to NYC afterwards) then it's probably for the best Heroes doesn't have fans like you. TV shows have inaccuracies. Every last one of them.

Tiger-Fever

Seriously, you should give the show a chance. it is a great show. I even thought the second season was decent, even though most are haters for it.

I might not live in Japan, but I've seen a lot of Japanese shows from my friends that live in Osaka, and the Japanese are 1000 times worse at portraying Americans.

bodmodkub

I actually really enjoyed season one of Heroes. The acting is all over the place, but I really enjoyed the theme music and kind of liked Peter for some reason, even though his acting in particular is kind of.. meh. Season two on the other hand, from what I saw, was a joke.

If you want to see the best episode, watch 'Company Man.'

And not having living in Japan myself, only visiting once and watching lots of media with subs, I had no idea the Japanese representation was so off - I even thought they did a surprisingly good job on it. Oops.

sir_carrot

I actually don't understand why everyone thinks Heroes Season 2 was so poor. It introduced some great characters such as Bob & Elle. Sure West was annoying but the show really lacked love between the characters. I thought the ending of Season 2 was pretty good considering they had the writer's strike on their ass.

You should really give it a chance and remember it's an American show not a Japanese show and it's like 2 characters out of them all. I personally thought Ando is a great character and he speaks pretty good Japanese considering he knew none before the show, and he was picked because he is such a lovable character and a great actor.

Plus, Mr.Bennet is like the best character ever made ever.

Absel

I also get somewhat annoyed when I'm watching something from Japan with a character who's supposedly a native English speaker. The accents range from almost plausible to way off.

L33tminion

Banhammer??

jackthompsonsbastardson

Wow. To get hung up on something like that so early on... I mean, I noticed it too, but so what? It's an American show made by comic book writers. If anything, I chuckled at the kanji clock because it's so obvious - it's like a joke that means they're just trying to apply the Japanese feel without the expertise or means to do it.

So you must have loathed Kill Bill then? And any Japanese show where there's an American whose only line is "オー　マイ　ガッド！", or "ジーザス！" or does it only bother you one-way? (No, I'm not making a point, I want to know.)

Do you boycott any movie where there's a Japanese character played by a Chinese actor?

Personally I noticed a lot of places where Heroes got minor details wrong, but watched the show for the plot, not the purity of the accents.

fuchikoma

Yes, Ban Monday notes! I love them. Hopefully Crecente makes his note on his 12th XBox red ringing but he refuses to give up because the PS3 has no games and the Wii is a toy.

I see a Metal Gear for 360 article coming in the near future and an article about God in gaming.

ceilingFANBOY: now with 100% more fanboy

Ashcraft, your reasons for hating the show are so very wrong (altho even as a fan I concede it's not the best show out there). By your logic, anytime any culture or country is misrepresented in media (especially Hollywood), it will automatically suck.

On the flispide, Resident Evil 5 must suck since once again, my country of birth, Haiti, is being misrepresented as the birthplace for voodoo and zombies (like every fucking media outlet before it). Yeah, the folks at Capcom sure aren't half-assing that one.

If only I should write a blog about how racisr and stereotypical that ones is coming off as for Haitians and people familiar with the real culture. Oh wait....

VeritasVierge

@DaiMacculate: No, you are not the only one. Mohinder became downright hatable in Season 2.

seafisch

Some people have already pointed this out, but it's no worse than how America is portrayed in Japan. Sometimes they are pretty decent (though comical) if you get a major anime picture, like say "Patlabor: Wasted 13". But other times, well...

I remember complaints in a drama about the portrayal of a third generation Japanese-American character living in Japan and how she didn't act like she'd been born and raised in America, instead she acted way too Japanese.

Also noticed that recent portrayals of Americans always have them swearing. Nothing takes you out of "Ah My Goddess" quicker than hearing "SHIT!" coming from your speakers.

Beelzebozo

@WizarDru: X-Files was Vancouver. Sorry, I'm a whore for the X-Files. :D

gils0n

You whine Ashcraft, but having likeable Asian characters play leading roles on TV is more than just a novelty back here in America; maybe you forget that with all the Japanese TV you watch? Yea they butcher a lot of the stuff and the translations they provide are far from accurate, but from my point of view, this is a huge step up from The Green Hornet.

Although, you will probably go crazy when they utterly butcher Japanese history in the second season, I know I did. It's on a level of having George Washington beating the French in the Civil War.

kenkankendo

@badasscat: Yeah, that probably wasn't a smart move for him.

oblivionNIN

Worst show on TV. The End.

seriously, it's freakin' awful.

cooler_dood

Just wait until you see Hiro's father...

Man that's really horrible! I mean Andou japanese isn't perfect but it's wayyy better than Hiro father.

yasudevil

Best show on TV. The End.

Chromeo

I'm sure all Japanese TV features perfectly accurate portrayals of American culture... right?

NeverSage

@Bluecell: Hey, thanks a lot :)

Actually there were a few petitions created online. I guess most of us know the truth about these online petitions anyway. The fans also had this 'rice-a-roni' campaign going on [save-journeyman.blogspot.com]
Too bad it didn't work.
I've never watched Jericho, although I've heard a lot about it. A friend of my brother has also recommended it. I'll try to get my hands on the DVD.

And yes, Quantum Leap is one of my all time favourite shows as well.

osiris83

I really enjoyed heroes first season. I was sucked in right from the start. So if you aren't enjoying it from what you have already seen then I doubt you should bother with it.

steve86uk

It may not be culture accurate, but thats hardly the point of the show and a reason to deride it.

Its an awesome show that i thought of years before its conception and I'm glad it turned out the way it is. Subtle X-Men.

I can understand maybe you disliking the acting, the writing, or eve the subject matter, but don't just look past the inaccuracies and follow the story to the end. It might grow on you in a good way.

btw... i used to like LOST until i got lost in the 3rd season and i never went back to it. Besides its going to take another 4 more seasons before the story ends and we can get actual answers. Tiring!!!

joncoffee

So, bash, your point is what? That you noticed that a TV show cuts corners? Like the fact that they use the same locations to film NYC, Philadelphia and a dozen other cities that they have neither the schedule nor budget to actually visit? Each person is going to notice where they cut corners. This has always been the case. Like when the show thirtysomething featured shots with public telephones marked with the Pacific Bell logo, or when every location in the X-files looks like suburban Toronto.

I can understand how that can take you out of a story, but the average US viewer can't speak Japanese, let alone discern the quality of their accents.

And really, it's not like you don't see equally bad representations of Americans in shows overseas. Lots of British shows have actors who do TERRIBLE American accents. And more than a few Japanese TV shows have absolutely terrible 'American' actors or worse, representations of Americans, too. You've just got blinders on for them. Never mind the weird stuff that crops up in video games, something you of all people should be familiar with.

[www.japanprobe.com]

WizarDru

I saw an episode on real late one time. I changed the channel after about 10 minutes. Never watched it again. Same with lost. Just not my kind of shows I guess.

klogg

Get over it! I have a Japanese friend who loves Heroes. She's always picking out the bad Japanese in shows and movies. The thing you might be forgetting...it's entertainment, not Japan 101. By the way, she said the Lost accents are off too! They pick American actors, because later on in the shows, they will start speaking...yeah you guessed it...English. And since it's an American show, we'd rather hear bad Japanese, than bad English.

IMURZRO

@Pugs: He LIVES in Japan dude, his wife is Japanese. I think it's undestandable for him to be critical of the series, definitely. I just don't think he should let those details completely ruin it for him.

brandonf

Heroes is a great show. My only gripe is that the finales of season one and two seem rushed. The first due to network executives, the second due to the wirters strike. The show will really reach its full potential when they finally switch over to the type pf schedule that 24 uses. Besides the rushed finales, the story is actually pretty solid and has a diverse cast of characters. This diversity, while being good for Heroes target audience, might turn some people off to the series. Every major network wants their top shows to be as diverse as possible for the sake of being politically correct. (That's why even House, in which Doctor House is a nihilistic atheist, occasionally explores religious themes.) Taken overseas, I can understand why there may be some frustration with certain inaccuracies. If you watch Heroes for what it is, though, you will find some great material. I have watched plenty of foreign (including Japanese) shows, where Americans were misrepresented, but I laughed it off. There are even Japanese video games that have misrepresented Americans, as well, but I gladly play them anyway. One of the first things to judge the quality of a show on is not whether it is altogether accurate (unless it claims to be accurate) but if it reaches its target audience well. If you are not their target audience and you have no idea how the target audience thinks, you must focus on plot progression and character building to truly enjoy the show. For some, misrepresentations of certain cultures is a deal-breaker, but you'll find something to enjoy if you can get past that.

Sylar

@osiris83: Dude, I had to restrain myself from mentioning Quantum Leap in my last post. That is still my favourite TV show of all time, and for that I'm adding you to the kotaku followers dealy-thing.

I hadn't heard any news of Journeyman being cancelled, but I can completely understand if it does get the can. It's the same with Jericho. Jericho started out strong, quickly lost it's appeal to most people, then ended the season with some truly amazing episodes. But Jericho left on a cliffhanger, the main character literally yelling "NOW!", starting the first major battle of a war. Fans wouldn't have it and it's back for a second season to give us some closure. Journeyman didn't end like that though, and it's not going to spark the same reaction Jericho had. Or Quantum Leap for that matter (because it was cancelled at one point as well.) It does explain how quickly Journeyman progressed though. And I agree then, that the final episodes wouldn't have been as good without that fear of cancellation.

Bluecell

Wow. I don't watch heroes, but your "grievances" seem more like you're trying to say "I'm superior to you all because I live in Japan, and anyone who misrepresents how minor details work here in another country is a moron."

Living in Japan is actually affecting you, I'm beginning to assume; those statements are typical Japanese xenophobic crap.

Tsaketh

here is a picture from Odessa
[www.utpb.edu]

does that look like you have to suspend disbelief to see mountains there?

Seiven

Hmm, so what else did you dislike? If cultural/Historical inaccuracies is all thats wrong and thats reason enough to dislike something, I minus well hate Parasite Eve, Zero Punctuation, RE4, Titanic, 300 and G Gundam. All of which I enjoy, but all have glaring inaccuracies, and those are some to just name a few. I've come to the realization that any media that is set in one country, but made somewhere else, is always going to fall prey to inaccuracies. What matters is how big or small they are.

Also, I have to laugh at the fishes who take the bait so easily on this article. Mjolnir awaits.

KeroseneClimax

This post is turning into a train wreck, I don't want to watch but I can't turn away....

FoxHoundADAM

@Pugs:

you are all kinds of banned.

Jaziek

Bash. Get over yourself man, if you can't get passed this I don't know how you watch ANYTHING at all.

I've got tons of Korean friends who think Jin speaking Korean on Lost is totally laughable but after a few episodes they just get over it and let it ride. They still enjoy the show. I think maybe you should try a bit of the same.

You think this sucks? Wait till you see Leo DiCaprio as Kaneda in Akira.

brandonf

Ashcraft, being fluent in Japanese myself I know where you are coming from. Personally I found it worthwhile to do my best to ignore that aspect of Heroes. Actually I made up my own story that Ando was actually a recently naturalized Korean. Both he and Hiro do improve in skill level as the show goes on as well.

jpriley

What a weird hangup!

I mean, in Prison Break, the character "Lechero" (Robert Wisdom) has obviously never spoken Spanish in his life, but I can separate his horrible Spanish accent from his genuine ability to emote.

I believe it's on that basis that James Kyson Lee was selected for his role. Fans have responded in turn -- the Ando character was considered for killing-off, until fan uproar kept him on the show.

topaz420

The show is full of so many other problems that Brian talking about these small issues that someone from Japan wouldn't care about doesn't bother me. The first season had some great episodes towards the end, but the show overall just has really bad awkward writing and it makes it so much more obvious how good Lost really is. And yet I still watch Heroes...

Cartman86

Really?

A show about time travel and people flying and walking through solid objects, and you're going to hone in on subway clocks and the accuracy of an accent?

Really?

VoodooHack

Meh, I never care about things like this.

Aflack: Likes slushies

This post seems kind of, I don't know, whiny to me. I could have the same complaints about the lame "latino" twins in Season 2, but this is an American show, not a Latin American or a Japanese show, so why should we expect their accents to be perfect?

CarlitosColon

Well, that's pretty much how movies portrait just about any other foreign culture. Brazilians speaking spanish, or monkeys/indians/aligators walking freely in big cities... and chinese actors playing japanese characters? Memoirs of a Gueisha says "Hello".

Even brazilian soap operas always miss when trying to portrait a character that lives in a different region of Brazil, specially in the 'regional accent' area.

You just have to ignore that, and enjoy the show, if you like the story. Come on, it won't hurt.

omegasc