Culture Shock (カルチャーショック, Karuchā Shokku) is a pair of Sanrio characters who are human samurai named Yumenosuke and Tetsunoshin. Towards the end of the Edo era, the two travel to Paris to experience the "Culture Shock" of a lifetime, as well as learning what they can about western culture to bring back to Japan.
Tetsunoshin is known for his kindness and dedication, but he can be quite stubborn at times, especially when learning about new things at first. He is taller than Yumenosuke and is usually seen in traditional Samurai clothing.
Yumenosuke however is regarded as a "man of his time" and is driven by his excitement and curiosity towards western culture to discover new things, much to Tetsunoshin's exasperation. He is shorter and has a rounder face compared to Tetsunoshin and is depicted in later merchandise to wear a mixture of Japanese and Western styled clothing.
Various Culture Shock products have unique storytelling elements to them which further illustrate and describe Tetsunoshin and Yumenosuke's reactions to western ideals and inventions such as bicycles, cannons, and classical music. In addition to the visuals, Yumenosuke produces various writings in-universe such as a newspaper which can give further insight.
Although Culture Shock is regarded as a duo character, sometimes either character is depicted by themselves either on merchandise or in Sanrio publications.
History[]
Culture Shock initially debuted in sometime in August of 1985, in a separate Sanrio catalog where various merchandise such as white out, pencil cases, Japanese style curtains, sewing kits, and waterproof memo pads were shown alongside art of Yumenosuke and Tetsunoshin. The catalog included brief dialogue from both characters and described the product line as being primarily targeted towards Japanese high schoolers, with the quote "We hope this "Culture Shock" becomes Sanrio's new face" indicating that Sanrio was optimistic that the series would become popular.
Aside from the catalog's release, Tetsunoshin and Yumenosuke would not appear in the Strawberry News until the next year in 1986 in which new Culture Shock items would be advertised throughout the year. The 1986 products included soap sets, check book notepads, handheld fans, perfume, serveware, and various pieces of fabric depicting both Yumenosuke and Tetsunoshin. The samurai duo were also featured in various Sanrio character felt craft books released during the few years the series was active.
Culture Shock was not acknowledged often in the Strawberry News during the time products were being made, indicating a lack of popularity in comparison to other characters being sold at the time, however a few pieces of fanart sent in by fans would be published in the Strawberry News and original character art was made for the magazine in sections Yumenosuke and Tetsunoshin were featured such as the monthly horoscope section (representing Taurus) and articles in which a lot of their new merchandise was featured.
Culture Shock was included on the 1986 character voting ballot for the very first Sanrio Character Poll, however Zashikibuta ended up winning first place and Culture Shock did not place anywhere in the top results.
The series' popularity continued to dwindle over the next few years, to where no mention is made of Culture Shock past the late 80s, presumably being retired later around that time due to low sales or the artist leaving the company. Their unpopularity was the likely reason neither Tetsunoshin nor Yumenosuke get any mention in special Strawberry News magazines that hit certain issue milestones and detailed noteworthy events and characters that debuted in past years.
Culture Shock remained forgotten, until sometime in the 2000s where both Yumenosuke and Tetsunoshin received their current character designs and were occasionally featured in character polls taking place that decade with hundreds of Sanrio entrants included.
To this day, Culture Shock is usually given mention in Sanrio History Treasury Books and recent Strawberry News magazines when highlighting the company's Japanese-styled characters created in the past and is fondly remembered by a few older fans and collectors of Sanrio.
Ranking in the Sanrio Character Ranking[]
In the 2013 Sanrio Character Ranking, if Culture Shock reaches 50th place or higher, the head of Zangiri is a symbol of civilization and enlightenment. However, they failed to reach that rank.
- From 1986 to 2009, they are below top 10.
- 2010: Below top 20
- 2011: 63rd place
- 2012: 77th place
- 2013: 90th place
- No participations since 2014.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Based on the real life experience of Culture Shock.
- Related to this phenomenon is Paris Syndrome which is common among Japanese tourists in France, but far more serious and severe for one's health.
- A lot of early merchandise was geared towards high school students, including white-out and waterproof memo pads. Later merchandise included perfume and serveware sets.
- Yumenosuke was featured alongside Hangyodon in the audience during the sumo match watched by Pokopon in Pokopon no Satogaeri. Due to how the scene is animated, it's unknown if Tetsunoshin was drawn into the crowd shot or not.
- Culture Shock is noteworthy for being one of Sanrio's few historical based characters with Nezumikozou being based on a famous Japanese thief and folk hero in the Edo Period and with The Friendly Club and The Academic Friends being set in more recent time periods in Japan's history.
- Culture Shock itself takes place in the Meiji era, which was a time in history where Japan began to adopt Western ideals that profoundly changed the country.
Sources[]
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