Interest

Mnet TV to Run Danny Choo's Culture Japan in U.S.

The American television station Mnet announced on Monday that it will begin running Culture Japan, the Japanese pop culture television series created and hosted by Danny Choo, on July 5. The show will run on Tuesday nights at 9:30 p.m. EDT/PDT. Mnet's website lists the television service providers that have the Mnet channel.

The show has been airing in Japan and running on Animax Asia. It is also streaming on Crunchyroll.

In an interview with ANN, Mnet Senior Vice President of Programming and Development Julie Choi said, "since we at Mnet are dedicated to featuring all things cool Asian pop, [Culture Japan is] a natural fit … it's an insider look at the Japanese pop youth culture and it's an obvious fit for us. Mnet launched in December, and we're so passionate about anime and we're so excited to have this show."

Choi explained that Culture Japan is a variety show that features different guests in the Japanese anime industry, including voice actors, writers and animators. "I'm a huge fan of [Tantei Opera Milky Holmes]," Choi said, and in one episode Choo "has all the characters from Milky Holmes in character on set going through a practice of what they're going to be recording for their next episode."

Choo first became well known for cosplaying in Tokyo as an Imperial Stormtrooper from the Star Wars films. He will attend Anime Expo on July 1-4 as a guest of honor. Choo was profiled on CNN in 2008.

Choo told ANN that the show provides "a nice balance of traditional Japan, pop culture, technology and fashion." Choo added, "the goal of Culture Japan in general is to help me continue to share my passion for Japanese pop culture. I've got a piece on my blog that … explains why I'm so hellbent on continuing to share Japanese pop culture …. I absolutely love Japanese culture, it's definitely done a lot for me and I really want to continue to share it with folks around the world."

Choo also noted that he did not have an update on his anime project Chinka with his studio Mirai Fushion. Choo announced on his blog in August that Chinka would be an original video animation (OVA) project first. Choo did say that "at the moment it's in a stage where money is still trying to be accumulated for some of the production."

Mnet also runs a "Bandai Entertainment Block" with anime and live-action shows on Wednesdays from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. EDT/PDT. The block is now airing Outlaw Star, Eureka Seven, and Fantastic Children.

The first season of Culture Japan contains 12 episodes. A trailer for the show is below.



Images © Dannychoo.com/Culture Japan