Jeez Louise I love stumbling upon things like these! We were in Hermanus two weekends ago and the weather was quite below par so we just chilled and braai’d and played pool and table tennis …and watched Takeshi’s Castle. I think it was Main O who introduced it to me, and it is simply the funniest thing I’ve seen in my life.

And one of the main reasons it’s funny is because of the Japanese people in it. God, it would never work with the poncy, upper class English, nor would it work with the faux-European Cape Town set. The Japanese are awesome, because they just do what is fun, without worrying about things like “Oh my GOD daaaaaling, I wonder what so and so will think if they see me on this stupid show?”

The contestants just go balls to the wall (Tits to the floor) and the injuries must be simply horrific! It’s essentially like an obstacle course game, but safety regulations are completely ignored in favour of fun and awesome.

There is one course where they run across stones on a pond, but the trick is that some are just floating fake stones, so okes are running across and suddenly a stone sinks, and I saw a guy do the splits (No doubt breaking his kugelsack) onto a solid stone. It’s SO cringe!

There is also a cool one where contestants have to walk up a hill while gigantic acorns are thrown down on them. I know it probably doesn’t sound thrilling, but trust me, everyone I know who has watched Takeshi’s Castle is completely addicted. It’s like DSTV’s own brand of heroin! Great, another addiction to add to your HIDEOUS cocaine addiction. Nicely played.

So if you have DSTV, then check it out on Animax. PVR it and you’ve got weeks and weeks of pure joy and entertainment!