Do you have time to answer a really short survey for us ?
(5 questions; 35s to answer on average
Yes    I'll do it later    No

Forum - View topic
Hiding behind lamp posts?




Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
fstony



Joined: 05 Dec 2010
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:23 pm Reply with quote
I was watching the opening of Sgt. Frog and I suddenly thought, why is there someone hiding behind a lamp post (or a street corner) in each and every japanese cartoon? It doesn't seem like most of the instances are gags, but I don't see any other explanation. If I go to Chiba, will real people hide in plain sight? Do you have to be a ninja to make this work? The success rate in anime seems unlikely.

Last edited by fstony on Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ArsenicSteel



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 2370
PostPosted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:25 pm Reply with quote
I would wager that any instance of hiding behind a lamp post you have seen were indeed done as gags. I could probably name more cartoons that do the gag to the point of the character's body disappears into an object that is obviously smaller than them.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Jedi Master



Joined: 28 Nov 2008
Posts: 400
PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 9:56 pm Reply with quote
I haven't seen that show in particular, but if you're just going about your business without expecting to be followed/spied on, do you really pay attention to a lamp post half a block or more from your position? Add more people to the street going about their own business. Toss in a cultural tendency to ignore strangers on the street while you're at it. Suddenly hiding behind a lamp post doesn't seem so far fetched.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
EricDent



Joined: 28 May 2008
Posts: 997
Location: Georgetown, TX
PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:24 pm Reply with quote
There is this rather fun example of this that I can think of.

On an episode of Scooby Doo (not sure which version) Scooby was trying to follow some bad guy by hiding behind various objects.

Once he hid behind the object, he took the shape of the object.
So if he hid behind a fire hydrant (for example) he was shaped like a fire hydrant until he hid behind something new.

Of course I could be off, and this might have been a Tom & Jerry episode...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:08 pm Reply with quote
Fitting the shape of the object happened all the time in older cartoon. Dunno about nowadays, they don't really create as much as they used to (or at least stylish and wacky enough to be noticed).

I'd say the funniest hiding style in all of anime is Chopper from One Piece. It doesn't matter what he attempts to hide behind, we (and the characters) have a full view of him.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
vashna



Joined: 19 Feb 2010
Posts: 1313
PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:45 pm Reply with quote
This brings another anime question to my mind, since I actually read this thread thinking 'Yeah, I do see quite a few anime characters hide behind lamp posts as such.' I was wondering why strong female characters in anime, or sometimes the coaches of teams, would carry teakettles. Kaname, in Full Metal Panic, actually was told that she was required to do so. Is there a joke I'm not getting? It seems that it could be, like the lamp post one, a simple joke sight gag.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group