Teru & Taizo (1998-2010)

A homoerotic skit from a variety show series Warau Inu. Will a detective with the name of Teru find happiness after he professes his love to his partner?

This here's a piece of history and it's one of the skits that paved way for more BL content. People still make fanedits of this to this day which is just wild considering how old it is.

I have split these into seven parts, similarly to how they are officially labeled, but with a slight modification.

Special thanks to a Japanese fan for upscaling the last part (your effort will always be remembered). My thanks also go out to the former jptv and my friend Dew for some of these. It took a loooot of effort to collect it all and prepare it, but in the end, I managed to do it somehow.

Note: Earsubbed, so there may be errors. I'm also using a different romaji style for this one because of the official title.

I'm including two versions for some of these. I recommend watching both for the different music which was changed because of copyright reasons.

Cast:

• Harada Taizo as Taizo (and others)
• Uchimura Teruyoshi as Teru
• Nagura Jun as Junko, Channen
• Toyama Kyoko as Chinatsu, Kyoko (Namiko), Teru's former girlfriend, Nagiko, daughter of Head Priest
• Nakajima Tomoko as Fuyumi, CD store employee
• Horiuchi Ken as Fuyumi's husband, passing policeman, man in CD store
• Oki Jun (Bibiru Oki) as Gen
• Nanbara Kiyotaka as Head Priest Tainen

Narration: Kinomiya Ryoko

The iconic narrator passed away like 3 years after the final part aired in 2010, sadly. I wish we got a proper conclusion with her narration. She made this skit so good. Part 3 also has some great recap scenes with her narration, but I didn't sub those in the end because they weren't on DVD, so it wouldn't match my previous subs. I might sub them later on because I really like her narration.

I might also add some more subbed extras in the future if anyone wants them.

Also, fair warning, this skit may contain questionable parts that wouldn't fly in this day and age, so take it with a grain of salt. This isn't even remotely the worst that was done for the purpose of comedy back then.

Part 1 - Taizo Arc

Part 2 - Taishiro Arc

Part 3 - Michinoku Arc

From now on, you'll hear the word "okama" a lot. Okama is a very tricky word when translating because it can easily sway depending on context. It's used to refer to effeminate men (through mannerism or speech) or cross-dressing men (not necessarily cross-dressers), who may or may not be gay, but also men who have sexual relations with other men. While it was often used as a slur in the past, it could also be used in positive context or neutral context when used by okamas themselves or people close to them. So while I could sub this using the derogatory context in some lines, it just didn't feel right to do it, so I decided to stick with just okama in the end. If you're bothered by the use of the word or potential discrimination, you should move on to Part 6 (but you won't know one character), or Part 7.

The okama Junko actually even got his own spinoff back then, but it got canceled after episode 1, I believe. The makeup was praised by a lot of actual okamas in Japan for how realistic it was.

You should watch the HDTV version for Part 3 Episode 1 because it's actually an extended version. I only found out later after I had subbed it with the DVD raw, so I had to change one line that shows up all the time. Just like before, there's different music on each version.

Part 3 is called Michinoku Arc because that's the official title. Michinoku was a different name for the Mutsu Province, with Akita Prefecture (where part 3 takes place) being part of the province.

Part 4 - Nakamura Arc

I named this Nakamura Arc because the official name is roar of the sea, so yeah, that wouldn't work very well.

In Part 4, Teru uses ゾワ onomatopoeia a lot. I used "yikes" and "ew" for it, but basically it means you shudder or get goosebumps because of disgust or discomfort.

Part 5 - Aizen Arc

This storyline ends with episode 1 and was never continued.

Part 6 - Prologue

Labeled officially as episode 1.

Part 7 - "Taizo Returns" Arc

The skit was never officially ended, but episode 2 of part 7 provides a nice ending to the story.

Note: Episode 1 720p is actually downscale of the upscale (crazy, huh?). I'm including it since the upscale files can be big for some people. Episode 2 720p is different from the upscale version. I recommend the upscale version for episode 2 because of the ending music.

Extras

New Year Greeting:

More in the future, depending on interest, so feel free to leave a comment.