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15 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Simply the funniest thing I have ever seen., 23 December 2003
Author: TMAN247 from Traverse City, MI

I have only recently been introduced to this show, (under the name MXC here in the States) and I am hooked. I have not laughed this hard in years.

Putting the Americanized potty humor aside (MXC version), the nature of the games shown is total humiliation of the contestants, not to mention complete and utter disregard for their well being. And it is funny. Really funny. Why do I laugh at a 90 pound woman smashing into a brick wall on a rope? Maybe because she is in a duck costume, and comes up muddy and smiling? The level of joy in the contestants faces cannot be measured - they are in bliss, even though they are in pain, and being made fools of.

Surreal and brilliant, please try and watch Takeshi's Castle on the Challenge network in the UK, or on MXC on the Spike network in the USA.

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11 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Happy Clappy Jappy Chappies, 18 March 2004
Author: jeeper_white

The contestants on this show are mad.

Thanks to Challange TV I'm able to watch this tormenting game-show where the contestants leave with bruises and headaches rather than prizes. How many people have actually won? Around 2 i'd say. You can feel the pain that they receive as Craig Charles would inform you 'He plowed the bank with his face'.

It's hilariously cruel, an idea that only the Japenese could come up with. If only we could view more Japanese game-shows here in Britain.

Brilliant.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Just Plain Daft.., 27 August 2004
Author: neiljones1981 from United Kingdom

Well if there's one thing that Tarrant on TV has shown us, it is that the Japanese have the wackiest and silliest programmes (and adverts) ever. Takeshi's Castle is one of them.

This is basically edited highlights of the original run of the show from Japan, condensed into a thirty minute slot and voiced over by Craig Charles, he of Robot Wars and Red Dwarf fame. Expect to see all kinds of wierd things going on here, including throwing yourself at a plank of wood, spinning on a giant mushroom, leaping across some rolling logs that spin easily, and spending a lot of time in a ditch or three of muddy water. The original show is like nearly fifteen years old; you'd never know, but it looks brand new.

It's strangely compelling as well - and self explanatory. Don't expect to see any winners though - this game is ridiculously tough. The rules though are deliberately ambigious it would appear and so makes for interesting viewing in some cases. Look out for the kids special episode for something involving General Lee that you won't see across the rest of the run. :)

Originally a cheap import, it's probably recouped its import costs many times over by now. It's the Coronation Street of Challenge - that is, pretty much guaranteed to pull in the viewers. If you're the sort of person who wants to know what happens when you throw somebody wrapped in velcro at a wooden wall, or want to see new and painful ways of bending your body in half on the high rollers, check this show out. Or if you just want to see what all the fuss is about, tune in. Of course, if you just want to see wierd people play even wierder games and fall into the muddy ditches with an aplomb (or at least act like it) then you'll love this.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Takeshi's Castle, 8 June 2005
9/10
Author: Jackson Booth-Millard from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

When it was on this is probably one of the funniest game shows created by the Japanese. Robot Wars' host Craig Charles does very good narration for this show. Basically loads of Japanese are put through loads of challenges to try to get to the main event, Takeshi's Castle. Some of the challenges before the castle are very funny to watch and look difficult, e.g. rock jumping (some fake), the maze, climbing the wall, bridge walking with a ball in hand (while being shot with other balls), the rollers and many other bizarre and hilarious ideas. Whoever thought of this show in Japan is very good. The only silly thing is that nearly every episode no-one wins the show, and even if they did there's no prize. Very good comedy game show!

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Takeshi's Castle, 17 January 2007
10/10
Author: Lauren Conner from United Kingdom

i think that Takeshi's Castle is an absolutely fantastic programme. It is very funny. I can't watch a single episode without laughing at least 5 times! All of the challenges are amazing and look so difficult, and the contestants are the ones that make it funny by falling over or something. I want to thank Craig Charles, Hayato Tani (General Lee) and everyone else especially the contestants for making such a funny show a success!!! I always watch it. Absoulty brilliant 10/10!!! I try to watch the repeats on Challenge at 5pm everyday after school. I can't miss an episode. My favourite challenges have got to be Wipe Out, Skipping Stones, Avalanche, Honeycomb Maze and Dragon Lake. This show makes me feel better when I'm upset! :)

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Takeshi's Castle, 26 May 2006
10/10
Author: ferretsblue from United Kingdom

Brilliant show. Love it. I watch this show all the time and I am not bored of it. It keeps me happy. My favourite character in the show has to be either Animal or Blondie. I have so many favourite games, one of them being Sumo Rings. The show makes it even more funny with Craig Charles commentating it. There is hardly any winners though. There had to be about 2 or 3 winners and that was it. When it gets to the showdown at the end, I vote for the guards because I know they will win all the time. Is there going to be another series? If so, let me know please. I have no idea if there is going to be another series. I really need to know please.

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Fun, but what's on the other side?, 23 October 2009
6/10
Author: -kalendra_with12 from Sri Lanka

I only started watching this since I was a kid. Having forgot about it and not seen not a single feature of it since the last 4 or 5 years, I was mildly thrilled to see that this show is still on TV. Let me say firstly that Takeshi's Castle is silly and daft. However on the other hand, it is extremely funny and entertaining. I loved yesterday night's feature with the Rolling Pins, Skittles, Bridge Ball, The Honey Maze, Dominoes and skipping stones. Obviously, the best was the rolling pins. Funny seeing people attempting a cross a river by spinning through pins and having these hilarious falls. Even though this show made me and my family laugh our heads off, it still has it's negatives. 1) It is Extremely DANGEROUS! Despite of it's lame funniness, the makers should think twice of what injuries people have had. It presumably seemed like a girl broke her jaw and a man broke his ribs while skipping stones. 2) They say it's a competition, but there's no winner at the end! They just have people who made it through all of the challenges, playing Dodgems or something at the end. Like I said - daft!

Overall, we know this show's fun but what's on the other side? Nothing but daftness, silliness and downright stupidness! It's entertaining but only when you're in the mood.

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This is, quite simply, the funniest game show ever made!, 7 October 2009
10/10
Author: rainbowclimbinghigh from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is basically a Japanese game show in which 100 contestants, led by General Lee (played by the handsome Hayato Tani) have to get through several EXTREMELY tough (but, more often than not, hilarious) challenges, and then attempt to storm the castle.

I only came across this gem a few months ago, but I am now hooked, as it is absolutely hilarious, especially when a contestant fails at a challenge.

There are a number of challenges, so not all of them will be in every single half-hour episode of the show. These include:-

Skipping stones (my personal favorite), High Rollers, Bridge Ball, The Gauntlet, Knock Knock, Slipped disks, Avalanche Karaoke, Quake, Wipeout, amongst many many others.

Then comes the Final Showdown i.e. the storming of the castle. Don't expect there to be many winners - there are usually just a handful of people who get through to this stage, and the Emerald Guards are extremely good at defending the castle. I think I've been watching the show for about six months, and I have seen two people win.

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Maybe even more fun than the original release, 8 June 2008
Author: Graham Greene from United Kingdom

Takeshi's Castle (2002) is the re-dubbed UK release of cult-classic Japanese show Operation! Takeshi's Castle (1986-1989), an endurance-based game show in which 100+ contestants compete in a series of outlandish assault-course-like challenges until the numbers are whittled down to a select few. From here, the remaining handful of contestants can go on to battle the infamous "Count Takeshi" and his guards for the chance to win up to one million in Yen. The show is notable for at least two reasons; the first is the outright eccentric nature of the events and the seemingly dangerous falls, scrapes and mishaps that befall the contestants during their bid for glory. The second is the appearance of esteemed Japanese actor/filmmaker/comedian Takeshi Kitano, who here plays the titular count (though his appearance is edited down in this particular version). The format of the show mixes the bizarre events alongside some even more bizarre sketch-based moments of typically absurdist Japanese humour, as the contestants put themselves through some of the cruellest and most punishing events ever witnessed on national television.

What was great about the original show was the way that the contestants seemed to be having a great time, even when falling eight feet into shallow water, being smeared in mud or talcum powder and being knocked off a rickety suspension bridge by a barrage of rubber-ball cannon fire. It also benefited from a colourful, larger than life quality, in keeping with the tradition of early Nintendo video games and Anime films; as the overstated supporting characters and continual appearances from General Tani (here renamed General Li) give the events a sense of context and continuity. Ultimately though, the programme works because of its uniqueness; with the nature of the games, the imagination, the willingness and excitement of the contestants and the obviously low-production values (combined with the witty commentary from actor Craig Charles, with his bad puns and sly double-entendres) all adding to the bizarre, subversive glee.

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The funniest thing on TV EVER!, 30 January 2004
Author: Starscream_86_

This has simply got to be, the funniest program ever created! Why it isn't on more-often, or out on DVD (to my knowledge) is crazy...it's simply a must-see program!

Well, whats to say of the program, basically, the idea behind the show is a kind of, Japanese "It's a Knockout" with 100 Mad contestants competing in a serious of dangerous and equally mad games. Those who fail in a game are knocked out, those who don't go through! - Simple!.....well actually, No, not quite. Unfortunatly for the contestants, but not for us, the Games are devilishly hard and involve pain, LOTS of pain. Take for example, Knock-Knock. In this, the contestants have to work their way through five sets of doors, easy! Wrong! in each set there is five doors, two are made of paper, three are made of wood...the object being to avoid the wooden ones, and as you can guess, not all of our "Happy-Clappy-Jappy-Chappies" make it. For some strange reason, watching a flying Japanese Kung-Fu monkey, fling himself head-first into a large wooden door, and bounce off like a flea in a bouncey castle, defines the word "Comedy". This is utterly hilarious, i can't think of anything that rivals this show in Laughs per Half-Hour. And, of course, if your watching the UK version, not only do you get to see Japanese people hurl themselves at Doors in Knock-Knock, break shins and legs in Skipping Stones, Get runover by large boulders in Avalanche, Get hit by large-pumped up volley balls in Bridge Ball...but you also get Craig Charles' (of Red Dwarf fame)commentary. This is too, hilarious, admittedlly he takes some of his lines from either Red Dwarf itself (Badly-Parked Volkswagens anyone?) or from his book "The Log" (Save the whales gig) but even those, though heard before, are still damn funny to hear again. His commentary, though sometimes using only simple comments, hardly ever fails to get a laugh, particulary after watching one hapless contestant impale his Family Jewels on a large concrete rock, comments like "No more family planning for that guy" or "He's smiling, but his spud's are killing him" are sheer comedy gold. Of course though, it's the games we watch it for, and yes, there are some slightly less-funny games (still hilarious though!) such as Karaoke, or Quake. But, it's when you get the chance to see a "Highly-Trained" Emerald Guard, get wasted by one of his own teams Boulders in Avalanche, and continue to plummet, with said boulder down a long and crudely built set, that you appriciate the funny things in life.

In short, the Games are superb, the commentary is amazingly well-timed if not accurate (one example being Craig's "He's won, He's won, He's....a she" Comments, which appear rather alarmingly, quite often).

This programme is a classic, i can guarentee, you will not see many programmes that can supply you with more laughs. Utterly compelling viewing.

Those of you who have Challenge TV at home, go at watch this every time it's on, it's a definate must see, it really is such a good programme, and i swear, you will laugh harder than you've ever done before! Superb!

And, as Mr Charles likes to say at the end...

"AS my old Dad used to say, You can't cook minute rice in a minute. The Rice is fast, the Microwave's fast, you've got a split second...you never can make it" - Answer's on a postcard please.

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