News
TV Tokyo Program Crowns King of Foreign Otaku
posted on by Egan Loo
Japan's TV Champion 2 television program pitted five foreign otaku in a series of challenges to crown the "Foreigner Akiba King" on May 10. TV Champion 2 is the sequel to a long-running program on TV Tokyo; like its predecessor, it holds weekly contests to find the best contestant in a given field. It currently airs after Naruto Shippūden. Previous episodes have crowned the King of Rapping, the Queen of Shōjo Manga, the King of Games, the best crane game player, and the Japanese King of Akiba (the nickname for the Akihabara shopping district).
Contestants for the Foreigner Akiba King episode included HobbyLink Japan's Ardith Carlton, American foreign exchange student Jonathan Underwood, French video game otaku Sébastien Jarry, aspiring Russian idol Jenya (личная), and the eventual winner from Hong Kong, voice acting student Chang Gafai.
The Stage 1 challenge consisted of naming tunes and their anime tie-ins, as well as singing them. In Stage 2, the contestants solved various tasks at different sites of Akihabara, such as finding a maid cafe with only a drink from the cafe as a clue. For the Champion Stage, the two finalists (Jenya and Chang) answered trivia questions and completed tasks, such as dressing up as the character Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam and reciting his dialogue.
Update: Sébastien Jarry's name and website links updated.
Source: TV Tokyo, Japan Probe
