It would be redundant to say what’s NHK. For the uneducated, it’s to Japan what CNN or Fox TV is to USA, or what TF1 or France 2 is to mainstream french TV.
Now, you are all wondering what is the big deal about it. I’ll say, it is a big deal.
It’s quite a feat when one’s creation, that started as a hobby, is being enriched by the fans and have grown to the point it turns into a cultural or/and internet phenomenon. Big enough to grab the attention of the mainstream medias who would make the author the subject of one of their shows. It’s something dreamt by most of nerds, but rarely achieved, or never.
I can think of another nerd that achieved such a thing, in my opinion. His contribution was enough to have given birth to a whole new genre in gaming: Gary Gygax, father of Dungeons & Dragons. Sure, he don’t enjoy nicevideos made by crazy fans, but a lot of authors have used his game as basic framework and expanded upon it. ZUN and Gygax are, in my eyes, nerds deities, but in way different fields.
Next step for ZUN would be to be nominated as one of Japan’s National Treasures. But, having read about the man, his ambitions are on a more modest scale. So he will continue to churn out crazy danmaku and godmoded bishoujos until he call it a day and let Yukari Yakumo kill Gensokyo. But who would want to let its lovely self-built universe die? Certainly not me.
09/06/2008 EDIT:
Here the TV show
ZUN appears around the 8:00 mark.
Tags: Random, Touhou
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