A Japanese Alice in wonderland falls down the rabbit hole in search of her cellphone and lands in a bizarre world of magical brands. This amazing Superflat Louis Vitton by Takashi Murakami bears resemblance to Murakami’s Superflat First Love, and uses similar motives. It is a yet higher level of the mixture of the worlds of psychedelia, consumerism and magic.
Tag Archives: japanese psychedelia
Sailor Moon
27 JunSailor Moon is one of the super-successful Japanese anime series of the 90’s (It also has a whole franchise of manga, merchandise and other stuff). It demonstrates the popular genre of “Magical girl warrior”, in which girl warriors release their magical or psychic powers through transformation sequences that mostly include magic rituals like… changing clothes.
Yes, you heard that right. In this genre (That has already spread out of Japan), controlling supernatural magic is done by changing to the the right outfit. It’s hard to understand what is the idea behind this. Does it try to convey a commercial message? Or does it symbolize an inner mental transformation, like in “Synchronization” in Neon Genesis Evangelion (Another famed anime series from the 90’s)?
It’s only purpose is probably to look cool in the eyes of the girls that form the show’s audience. But as long as it is presented with psychedelic-like visuals of glowing colors and surreal images, it satisfies me! If you are looking for more clips like these, Youtube is just loaded with them.
Boredoms – Vision Creation Newsun
11 JunA beautiful psychedelic video by Japanese hard rock band Boredoms.
The Incredible Story of ToastGirl
2 MayToastgirl is a Japanese performance artist, who began her career after one day, out of boredom, she decided to toast a piece of bread while holding a toaster on her head.
The rest is history. On her debut performance in Melbourne, Toastgirl made a toast on her head, while her friend’s band played. This was a sensation and she became widely known as toast-girl and has a strong following among young women inJapan (I’m not making any of this up. I swear!).
PS. I think I’m in lve.
(Link: Pi: Thanks!)
Toshio Matsumoto – White Hole (1979)
22 AprToshio Matsumoto (Born 1932) is a Japanese film director best known for his film “Funeral Parade of Roses” which influenced Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange”.
“While Hole” has an extremely similar aesthetic style to that of the final scenes of Kubrick’s “2001, a space oddessey“, that came out in the exact same year (1969), and with which so many hippies were tripping at the time.
Matsumoto has created some other pretty psychedelic experimental films over the years. His “White Hole” from 1979 has pretty some amazing visuals, even without taking into consideration that it was done more than 30 years ago. The film has a beautiful flow which makes for a benign trip, whereas Matsumoto’s “Phantom” contains what seems to be the most psychedelic yoga lesson ever as well as other beautiful and bizzare visuals.
(Link: Stefan Demey. Thanks!)
Nippon Kazauwa
18 AprThis guy doesn’t even look Japanese but he will definitely raise your adrenaline levels. “Nippon Kazauwa” is a sort of freaky homage to Japanese freakiness, which was freaky enough itself – and it comes in the form of a new beverage which makes people crazy!
(Link: Tom Orgad. Thanks!)
Japanese pop-punk-psychedelia
4 AprIn the video “for common people” Japanese group Eel delivers Japanese pop-punk-psychedelia, kawaii puppets, splashing colors all around.
(Link: STM. Thanks!)
KaiKai & KiKi – Takashi Murakami
21 Mar“Kaikai & Kiki” is 2005 teaser for a longer animation video by Takashi Murakami, which has been featured on the DPV before. While we haven’t been able to find the full film, we are always ecstatic at any new eye-candy from this Japanese genius of pop-culture psychedelia.
Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 26 – Shinji’s Mind at the end of the world
3 JanTo my mind, Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion is probably the best, most mind blowing television series ever created and probably the most mind shattering material ever recorded on video. It changed my life when I first watched it around 2003 and I will forever be grateful to it.
This episode, from episode 26, the final episdoe of the original series (1995) is part of the ultra-psychedelic trip Shinji is going through is mind right around the end of the world. It deals with very fundamental truths about who we are and draws from Freud , among others, but reminds me of a the death-rebirth experiences which one might undergo during a psychedelic experience. (“Death-Rebirth” is incidentally the name of one of the two Evangelion films which were produced in 1997).
(Link: Morning Glory. Thanks for reminding me!)
OOIOO
4 DecOOIOO is a Japanese all-woman band, founded in 1995. Even how they describe themselves in their website is delirious:
“OOIOO has it’s own personality. It’s music has been changing into different color even it’s own music breath and regenerate itself. You can not find the balance of their music any where else. One and only existance.”
The Daily Psychedelic Video 