Rahmens
Native nameラーメンズ
NationalityJapanese
Alma materTama Art University
Years active1996-2009
GenresOwarai
Members
  • Jin Katagiri
  • Kentarō Kobayashi
Websitewww.rahmens.net
Same year/generation as:
Drunk Dragon
Shinagawa Shoji

Rahmens (ラーメンズ, Rāmenzu) is a Japanese comedy duo, referred to as an owarai kombi, consisting of Jin Katagiri (片桐 仁) and Kentarō Kobayashi (小林 賢太郎).

Formation

Katagiri and Kobayashi met as students and formed a conte group in 1996 while studying printmaking at Tama Art University in Tokyo. They became popular on a national scale after appearing on the NHK show On Air Battle in 1999.[1] Thereafter, Rahmens generally appeared for live performances on stage rather than on televised programs. Kobayashi reported that he personally was motivated more toward stage performance because the idea of being a TV celebrity was unappealing, and did not want people coming to see him simply because of his TV presence.[2] Of the pair, Kobayashi is generally responsible for scriptwriting and stage direction behind the group's performances.[1][3]

Their last live performance was in June 2009 during their "TOWER" tour.[4]

Notable performances

Promotional image of Rahmens with Jin Katagiri (left) and Kentaro Kobayashi (right)

Rahmens appeared in a regional "Get a Mac" ad campaign produced by Apple Japan, where Katagiri portrays the PC, and Kobayashi portrays the Mac. These advertisements were similar in some respects to content in ads featuring John Hodgman and Justin Long,[5] but some noted subtle differences in the duo's body language and tone from other "Get a Mac" commercials that were intentionally done for the sake of appealing to a Japanese audience, where ads that directly compare brands are generally not well received.[6]

Rahmens was also featured in a series of short films called "The Japanese Tradition." The films were directed by Junji Kojima with screenplay done by Kobayashi.[7] These films were comedic explanations of customs related to various topics such as sushi and apologizing.[8][9]

Performances

  • First performance, "Hakoshiki [Box Type]" in 1998[10]
  • Second performance, "Hakoshiki Dainisyu [Second Box Type]" in 1998[10]
  • Third performance, "Hakoyo Saraba. [Goodbye Box Type]" in 1999[10]
  • Forth performance, "Kanzen Rippoutai~PERFECT CUBE~ [Perfect Cube]" in 1999[10]
  • Fifth performance, "home" in 2000[10]
  • Sixth performance, "FLAT" in 2000[10]
  • Seventh performance, "news" in 2001[10]
  • Eighth performance, "Tsubaki [Camellia]" in 2001[10]
  • Ninth performance, "Kujira [Whale]" in 2001[10]
  • Special performance, "Zero no Hakoshiki [Box Type of Zero]" in 2001[10]
  • Tenth performance, "Suzume [Sparrow]" in 2002[10]
  • Very special performance, "RMS1" in 2002[10]
  • Eleventh performance, "CHERRY BLOSSOM FRONT 345" in 2002[10]
  • Twelfth performance, "ATOM" in 2003[10]
  • Thirteenth performance, "CLASSIC" in 2005[10]
  • Fourteenth performance, "STUDY" in 2005[10]
  • Fifteenth performance, "Arisu [Alice]" in 2007[10]
  • "RAHEMENS PRESENTS 'GOLDEN BALLS LIVE'" in 2007[10]
  • Sixteenth performance, "TEXT" in 2007[10]

Throughout all the performances, Kobayashi wrote and directed the script. For each performance, they performed six to ten skits for about an hour and a half. Their skits are considered to be exited in between comedy and theater, different from a complete comedy or a complete theater. [10] The characteristics of their skits include repeating words with the same sound but different meanings, each focusing on sound or meaning, making use of the audience's understanding of the setting of the skit, and changing individual characters and their way of performing. Their skits are made up of various elements, which create synergies and exist.[10][11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Meet the comedy duo Rahmens". GaijinPot. GPlus Media. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Tanaka, Nobuo (17 December 2014). "Silence is golden in art-comedy for all". The Japan Times. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. ↑ William (12 August 2014). "Kentaro Kobayashi's stage design celebrated in exhibition at Spiral". Japan Trends. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Playlist". Rahmens.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Chafflin, Brian. "Apple's "Get a Mac" Commercials Turn Japanese". The Mac Observer. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Fowler, Geoffrey A.; Steinberg, Brian; Patrick, Aaron O. (1 March 2007). "Mac and PC's Overseas Adventures". Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Walter, Shane R. J.; Hanson, Matt (2005). Motion Blur: Graphic Moving Imagemakers. London: Laurence King. ISBN 1856694658.
  8. ↑ "The Japanese Tradition". The Japanese Tradition (in Japanese). Japan Culture Lab. Archived from the original on 1 December 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Hashi. "Are the Rahmens Japan's Funniest Comedy Duo?". Tofugu. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Kamiyama, A & Yamada, N.(2009). A study on relationship between sketch comedy and laughter : case study: the sketch comedy of Rahmens [Konto to warai no kankei ni tsuite no kousatsu: Rahmens no konto wo daizai ni site]. Toyama University Journal of the Faculty of Human Development and Science, 3(2), 177-187. https://toyama.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=713&file_id=18&file_no=2
  11. ↑ Ida, K. (2013). Methodology of Laughter: Kentaro Kobayashi Research [Warai no houhouron: Kobayashi Kentaro kenkyuu]. Expressive Culture, 7,108-134. https://dlisv03.media.osaka-cu.ac.jp/il/meta_pub/G0000438repository_111E0000020-7-7
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