Underplayed Gems

Kinniku Banzuke (1995)

Kinniku Banzuke poster
Country
Japan
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More series like this

How it feels

Professional athletes and regular contestants take on a series of physical challenges and games. They test their strength and skill to win prizes by completing all the obstacles.

energeticcompetitivefunplayfulexcitingvariedathleticupbeat

What happens

Kinniku Banzuke (Japanese: 筋肉番付; lit. 'Ranked List of Muscle'), known internationally as Unbeatable Banzuke, is a Japanese television program, that aired weekly as the premier sports entertainment variety show of TBS. Originally a spinoff of Pro Sportsman No.1, it evolved into its own series which has continued to see spinoffs and installments for more than three decades. Several seasonal specials were also made, such as Sasuke, which would become a worldwide franchise in its own right. Through various games based on varying disciplines of sports, professional players and general participants challenged the limits of physical strength and technique, winning prizes if all challenges were successfully destroyed. The popularity of the displays of amazing physical strength and technique by professional players and luck of general participants drove TV Asahi to move its anime time slot up one hour and caused the cancellation of Heisei Kyouikuiinkai (平成教育委員会, Heisei Board of Education) on Fuji TV. The use of the program's mascot, Kongō-kun (金剛くん, Adamantium Boy), originally only featured during the broadcast, expanded in 1996 into the program's opening sequence and every game's introduction. Later on, he appeared in a wide variety of merchandise including Anime, Manga, Video games, Action figures, Trading cards and Board games. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.