Line #11 Recap/SouthParkS3E11Chinpokomon


1	'''Original air date:''' 11/3/1999
2
3	The boys become fascinated with the latest fad from Japan, which turns out to be an insidious plot to have American children brainwashed into overthrowing the U.S. government.
4	----
5	!!This episode provides the following:
6	* {{Animesque}}: The kids' craze over ''Chinpokomon'' turns their eyes into arches when they smile and causes them to speak in Japanese with glee. Bonus points: Trey Parker speaks Japanese as he studied it in college, so it's actually authentic.
7	* TheAlcoholic: JustForFun/AlabamaMan. "He can bowl, he can drink, he can drink some more, he's Alabama Man!"
8	* AppealToFlattery: The Japanese creators of ''Chinpokomon'' successfully lull critics by praising the American penis size.
9	* ArtShift: The focus group toy commercials are filmed in live-action.
10	* AwesomeButImpractical: The main four are shown a commercial for a toy called Wild Wacky Action Bike. As repeatedly mentioned in the ear worm of a song, it's hard to ride this bike, defeating the purpose of getting a bike in the first place.
11	* BilingualBonus: The Japanese term chinpoko (ちんぽこ) means 'small penis'. The entire phrase "Chinpokomon" means "penis [pocket] monster" in Japanese. The word Poké is short for pocket in Japanese, which is where the word "poko" comes from.
12	** Children chant Owatta Beikoku (終わった米国) "the U.S. is finished" while marching.
13	** The billboard written by Japanese, 眠気スッキリ (Nemuke sukkiri) means "keeping awake and refreshing".
14	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The kids are brainwashed into becoming anti-American Japanese soldiers.
15	* DomesticAbuse: One of the kids playing with Alabama Man has him smack his wife with his bowling ball.
16	* DopeSlap: The assistant receives one after telling Sharon she has a big penis.
17	* EarlyBirdCameo: In the HD remaster, Lola (a background character commonly seen in the later seasons) can be seen during the scenes where the kids are in the crowd.
18	* GratuitousJapanese: Several instances throughout the episode. Notably, what's spoken is actual Japanese (in which Trey Parker is fluent), as opposed to [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign foreign-sounding gibberish]].
19	* IntentionalEngrishForFunny: The Chinpokomon anime characters speak in comedically broken English.
20	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: It's easy to tell that this episode was made at a time when ''Pokémon'' was seen as a passing craze that would likely be over in a few years. The idea that it would become a franchise with enormous staying power-- to the point that the anime has been on the air for as long as ''South Park'' has-- clearly never crossed the writers' minds. In fact as of 2021, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is the ''highest grossing media franchise of all time''.
21	* MadeOfExplodium: Mercilessly parodied during the "Wild Wacky Action Bike" commercial, where the bike crashes into a truck and it's the ''child'' riding it who ends up exploding.
22	* MerchandiseDriven: The Chinpokomon TV show as a tool to sell merch.
23	* MotorMouth: The characters in Chinpokomon speak in a speed that rivals ''Anime/SpeedRacer''.
24	* NowBuyTheMerchandise: In the Chinpokomon cartoon, instead of trying to catch the eponymous {{Mon}}s, the characters are actually trying to ''buy'' them (which, given how [[MerchandiseDriven heavily merchandised]] ''Pokemon'' and other children's anime are, isn't ''completely'' inaccurate).
25	* OffhandBackhand: How Alabama Man smacks his wife around.
26	* ParodyCommercial: We get two mock advertisements. The first was the "Wild Wacky Action Bike", a bicycle with both front and rear handlebars, advertised as "almost impossible to steer". The second product was the "Alabama Man", an action figure of a stereotypical redneck who spends his time drinking beer, bowling, chewing tobacco, and beating his wife ("When Wife asks him where he's been, just use the action button and Alabama Man busts her lip open! 'Shut up, bitch!'"). After a focus group consisting of Cartman, Stan and Kyle dismiss both as "gay", the researcher says, "Oh, dear. Well, let's keep trying. How about this?" Cut to real commercials.
27	* {{Phonymon}}: The Chinpokomon, which were meant to control the minds of American children so America would be vulnerable to a Japanese attack.
28	* {{Revenge}}: The basic gist of the Japanese's plan. They want revenge for UsefulNotes/WorldWarII by attacking Pearl Harbor and eventually overthrowing the United States government.
29	* RefugeInAudacity: The Alabama Man figure. Not too often you see domestic abuse being advertised as a plus.
30	* RunningGag:
31	** Whenever Kyle tries to join in on a fad, his friends have already moved on to the next one. This ends up ''backfiring'' when Kyle is still completely willing to carry out the bombing himself, and Stan's first attempt to calm him down (giving him an Aesop that sometimes it's better not to FollowTheLeader with trends) only succeeds in convincing Kyle to ''double down'' on doing so (not wanting to be made fun of yet again for being behind the crowd), with Stan only talking him down by deliberately confusing him with the BrokenAesop.
32	** The Chinpokomon makers address the adults' concerns about their plot by complimenting the American penis size.
33	* ShoutOut:
34	** When Randy and Sharon are watching ''Chinpokomon'', whenever the scene shows them rather than ''Chinpokomon'', music from ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' can be heard in the background.
35	** Sharon Marsh's line, "Get on the line, tell everyone how to bring these sons of bitches down!" is a reference to ''Film/IndependenceDay'' as is Mr. Garrison's use of the telegraph in order to spread Sharon's message covertly.
36	* ShownTheirWork: All of the Japanese, with the possible exception of "Garrison-san", is correct Japanese. Trey Parker studied Japanese in college and speaks it fluently.
37	* TakeThat:
38	** At the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' franchise and the massive fandom it amassed, which was skyrocketing in popularity at the time of the airing. Matt and Trey [[ItWillNeverCatchOn were clearly convinced]] that it was just another fad that would die out quickly... they've since admitted their incredible lack of foresight on this one.
39	** Sharon convinces Randy that the stupidity of Chinpokmon could be damaging to a kid's mind by comparing it to ''Battle of the Network Stars''.[[note]]Although this may be more of a retaliation against people accusing ''South Park'' of such.[[/note]]
40	* TeenyWeenie: The Japanese creators keep talking about how small their penises are as opposed to the well-endowed Americans. Sharon calls them out on this, saying that they're only saying this to distract the male Americans. While this ''is'' true, one of the creators proves that he's not lying about the size of his penis, either. One of said creators also uses the "your penis so big" line on a ''woman'', causing the other creator to smack him upside the head for the screw-up.
41	* TotallyRadical: Exploited by the parents when they discover that the surefire way to get their children to abandon the fad is to make a show of feigned, stilted enthusiasm for it.
42	* TrendAesop: {{Deconstructed\|Trope}} by showing in a realistic matter exactly how such an aesop could backfire. Early on, Gerald tries to convince Kyle not to keep up with fads and assert his individuality, only for Kyle to tell him that he'll get bullied if he doesn't participate in the latest fads. This ends up blowing up in their faces when the parents had ''no idea'' of Kyle's moral dilemma and are thus shocked when he was completely willing to carry out the bombing ''himself''. Stan ''tries'' to tell Kyle that they only liked Chinpokomon because of group mentality, and it's time to move on, attempting an Aesop of being an individual and not following the leader. Kyle, being burnt one-too-many times for being behind trends, refuses to do so, since he considers quitting Chinpokomon as following the group, and wants to express his individuality by staying with the dying fad. Stan ends up having to contradict himself by saying following the group is good, before Kyle simply gives up out of confusion.
43	* TheyKilledKennyAgain: Kenny dies from a seizure he gets from playing the ''Chinpokomon'' video game, though it's not entirely clear when he actually dies as he's still fully mobile (though speechless) until the end of the episode, when rats subsequently surround him, before they come out of his body. At one point earlier in the episode, the rats, believing that Kenny was already dead, start gnawing on him, but Cartman swats them away; its possible that one of the rats managed to get inside his body. Stan and Kyle don't say their usual catchphrase, they just laugh.
44	--> '''Cartman:''' ''[swatting rats away from Kenny]'' Get off of him, he's not dead yet!
45	* UnreadableDisclaimer: A verbal example. The "Alabama Man" commercial ends with the announcer saying very quickly "Not all people from Alabama are wife-beaters" in a hushed voice.
46	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: We never learn what the adults planned to win back their children until it successfully pays off at the end.

Context Recap / SouthParkS3E11Chinpokomon