Rahmens

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).

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

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 Hodgeman 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]

References
  1. "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.
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