Yamato Damacy

(Created: December 19, 2005, 11:18PM, Views: 1184)

Yamato Damacy (occasionally YD, The Damacy, Yamato, or even YamaDama) was a weekly video podcast released on Fridays at http://yamato.revecess.com. It was produced by Jeshii and Rahman. The subject matter is generally Japan related, although shenanigans by the hosts and parody of other video podcasts was not out of the question.

Yamato Damacy also had a fairly active forums community. Many regulars included LouisT (YD's first fan), Bhim, rickyzhou, Yuukichan's Papa and many others.

Season 1

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Season 1 are the freshman years of Yamato Damacy. Generally quite interesting, if a little rough. Season 1 will always be remembered as the time before Rahman and Jesse got jaded by fame. Season one is 1 hour, 27 minutes, 8 seconds long.

Episode 1 - Who's Cooler, Rahman or Jesse?

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnfucbTo-Tk
In the first episode, Jeshii and Rahman wander the streets of Japanese Phonebook asking random folks which of the two is cooler. The results are put in a scoreboard in the corner. Highlights include a cocky hairdresser and a little kid who attacks the mic cord.

Many people ask why Rahman gets double points from the high school girls. Rahman says it is because they are high school girls.

Editing date: Dec. 13, 2005
Release date: Dec. 16, 2005

Episode 2 - Show us your cell phone!

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJMmCmsy1uQ
Episode 2 takes place in Tokyo, notably in Shibuya and Ikebukuro. The topic: Japanese Cell Phones. The episode turned out okay, despite Jeshii and Rahman thinking it'd be crap.

Editing date: Dec. 21, 2005
Release date: Dec. 23, 2005

Episode 3 - Let's do karaoke!

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBmC1jFAUqg
In episode 3, Rahman and Jeshii return to Takasaki to ask random folks to go sing karaoke with them. They got the idea for the episode from the two girls at the end of episode 1 who sort of invited them to karaoke. Unfortunately, no one accepted, resulting in a total of 27 rejections, not counting people who just ignored them.

Jeshii and Rahman actually both sang two songs, but Jeshii fucked up recording Rahman's redition of Sayonara, Sayonara by Kick the Can Crew, so they also cut Jeshii's redition of Tiger and Dragon by Crazy Ken Band.

Editing date: Dec. 29, 2005
Release date: Dec. 30, 2005

Episode 4 - Happy New Year

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxVoJOuUXc
Episode 4 is about the Japanese tradition called Hatsumode, which is the first visit to a shrine (or temple) in the new year. This is probably the first episode to actually deal with Japanese culture. It also is the first episode taped at two different times and places.

This and the hip hop episode are often considered the worst episodes of YD.

Taping dates: Jan. 1, 2006 (Nakanojo) and Jan. 3, 2006 (Tokyo)
Editing date: Jan. 4, 2006
Release date: Jan. 6, 2006

Episode 5 and 6 - Akihabara

YouTube Link (episode 5): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nYHkdQOIPw
YouTube Link (episode 6): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxw1IBtbMYk
Episode 5 and 6 is a two-part episode dealing with Akihabara and the geeks that inhabit it. The word Akiba-kei comes up in the episode many times, as does mentions of maid cafes.

These episodes were features on G4TechTV's Torrent.

Taping dates: Jan. 3 and 9, 2006
Editing dates: Jan. 4-10 (ep 5) and 16 (ep 6), 2006
Release dates: Jan 13 (ep 5) and 20 (ep 6), 2006

Episode 7 - Coming of Age Day

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Cl50YXApg
Episode 7 deals with Coming of Age Day, which is a day where 20 (or those turning twenty soon) year olds all across Japan have a little ceremony celebrating their official adulthood. Jesse and Rahman interview many women (and one interesting dude) outside the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.

Taping date: Jan. 9, 2006
Editing date: Jan. 24, 2006
Release date: Jan. 27, 2006

Episode 8 - Interview: Toshiya Arai

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYM_7oEPdpc
In episode 8, Jeshii and Rahman borrow Yayoi's car and go interview Arai-kun, a friend of theirs and a semi-popular DJ. This episode is intended as a sort of tribute to DriveTime, one of the first vodcasts Jeshii ever saw.

Jesse's old computer, Katana, died during the editing of this episode.

Taping date: Jan. 31, 2006
Editing date: Feb. 1 and 2, 2006
Release date: Feb. 3, 2006

Episode 9 - Setsubun

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wZLIgy1oUk
While Jesse was at work on Friday, Feb. 3, he realized they had an excellent opportunity to make a new episode. The date is the Japanese holiday known as setsubun. So, he came up with an idea to dress up as an oni, and go scare folks, and tape them throwing soybeans at him.

At first, Rahman was reluctant, but after seeing Jesse's makeshift oni costume, they were off to tape. But since Jesse left the tripod in Yayoi's car, and it was in for repairs after a little fender-bender, they had to enlist the help of a third man. That man was Luka. He ended up helping them tape outside of Maebashi Station, and is credited as Special Guest Director.

This is considered on of the best episodes.

Taping date: Feb 3, 2006
Editing date: Feb 7, 2006
Release date: Feb. 10, 2006

Episode 10 - Vanity Project

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUkpRA4NRtk
This is known as the Vanity Project because it really has nothing to do with Japan. Jesse convinced Rahman to get an airsoft gun while they were in Koreatown on evening. On the train back to Gunma, they began imagining a movie and this was the result. It was taped over the course of two days. One of the reasons it is in black and white was because the lighting during the two days was drastically different. Another little tidbit is that the storyboard was lost in the middle of taping, and that lead to certain incongruities later on.

Taping dates: Jan. 21 and 26, 2006
Editing dates: Jan. 29, 30, Feb. 9 and others, 2006
Release date: Feb. 17, 2006

Episode 11 - Rock Paper Scissors

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toqone0N0x4
This episode was taped in Karuizawa. The story behind it was that Jesse and Rahman were just looking for somewhere new. When they got there, they had no idea what to tape. So, they decided to get lunch first. While trying to decide what to eat for lunch, they janken-ed to see who got to decide. From there, the idea for the episode was born.

This is also a fan favorite.

Release date: Feb. 24, 2006

Episode 12 - Bloopers and Outtakes

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq3IoUz-M2s
While trying to get the first Arudou Debito episode out, they ran into a snag on time. So, they ended up doing a bloopers episode since there was nothing else they could really do.

Editing date: Mar. 2, 2006
Release date: Mar. 3, 2006

Season 2

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Season 2 represents a change in the style of Yamato Damacy. Jesse's PowerBook saw more editing time and many episodes were edited by either Jesse or Rahman. All the Arudou Debito interviews appear in season 2. Season 2 also brought a serge of links from famous blogs such as BoingBoing and Joystiq. Additionally, it was during season two that there was the Yamato Damacy Spring Tour in which Jesse and Rahman traveled to Osaka and Fukuoka to do taping. Season two is 1 hour, 52 minutes, 36 seconds long.

Episode 13 - Interview: Arudou Debito 1

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uKg8vqMyCs
This is the first of four episodes covering an interview with Arudou Debito. The interview took place at the Good Shape Cafe in Roppongi. This was decided really at the last minute. They were denied access to a few places, and even considered doing the interview in a park. But, in a stroke of good luck, they found the cafe and the owner was very kind and understanding.

Debito was later quoted as saying this was one of the highlights of his year in his newsletter. This series of episodes also has interesting racial debates that rage in the comments.

Taping date: Feb. 25, 2006
Release date: Mar. 10, 2006

Episode 14 - Nintendo DS Lite

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQoddebepK0
This episode was conceived the day before over ramen. Rahman had plans to get a DS lite, so Jesse figured they ought to make an episode. Unfortunately, Jesse woke up a little late and Rahman started the episode solo. In the end, the great fortune they always have shined upon them and they just got the last DS lite.

This episode was featured on the popular gaming blog Joystiq.

Taping date: Mar. 11, 2006
Release date: Mar. 17, 2006

Episode 15 - Interview: Arudou Debito 2

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQLKGIa7AY
The second part of the Arudou Debito interview.

Taping date: Feb. 25, 2006
Release date: Mar. 24, 2006

Episode 16 - Scenes from Akihabara

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ2cw8FbpBc
Rahman and Jesse went with TripleCombo to Akihabara. They decided to split the footage in two and they released the non-otaku part first. This actually made many of the otaku very angry since they thought that this would be the only episode made from footage taken that day. The otaku part later became episode 18/

This was the first episode ever put on YouTube, and was actually first posted by Gregg.

Taping date: Mar. 19, 2006
Release date: Mar. 31, 2006

Episode 17 - Hanami

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_llECWChMU
This episode was Jesse's idea. He has an unnatural love of Hanami time, and actually wanted to be in Tokyo the day before, but was unable to make as him and Yayoi had just come back from their honeymoon in Vegas. He also made it late on the day of taping and ended up being a little bummed about the whole thing. But the episode turned out all right.

This episode was edited entirely on the road (or train...) on Jesse's new PowerBook.

This is the only episode to be mentioned on BoingBoing, but since it was just an edit, it did not bring all that many new viewers.

Taping date: Apr. 2, 2006
Editing dates: Apr. 2-6, 2006
Release date: Apr. 7, 2006

Episode 18 - Otaku

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp4ykVSBfts
This episode was totally instrumented by Triple Combo. He drove Jesse to Akihabara (Rahman was already in Tokyo) on a Sunday and organized a meeting with a group of his otaku friends. They spent an interesting Sunday in Akihabara.

Taping date: Mar. 19, 2006
Release date: Apr. 14, 2006

Episode 19 - Which style of toilet do you prefer?

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XHpVsU0iV4
This episode was taped in Osaka in the famous Dotomburi area.

One interesting story about this episode was that it was fully edited by Jesse. Rahman thus had no say in it and was a little miffed about Jesse dicision to put in a fart sound. This is still a point of contention to this day.

Taping date: Apr. 3, 2006
Release date: Apr. 21, 2006

Episode 20 - Interview with Arudou Debito 3

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unEi3MjkuwY
The third part of the Arudou Debito interview.

Taping date: Feb. 25, 2006
Release date: Apr. 28, 2006

Episode 21 - Let's give out umbrellas!

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm7G7hreqQk
This episode was taped in Fukuoka. The idea came about while Rahman and Jesse bemoaned the fact that the rain was getting in the way of taping an episode. Thus, the idea to give out umbrellas with "http://yamato.revecess.com" printed on them was born!

Probably the most interesting part for Jesse and Rahman was that they saw someone who they didn't give an umbrella to with on of the umbrellas later on. Unfortunately, it appears that no one visited the site after seeing an umbrella.

Taping date: Apr. 4, 2006
Release date: May 5, 2006

Episode 22 - Hip Hop

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HbwO00oEFs
This episode was completely random. While wandering Shibuya trying to tape another episode, they came upon this group of Hip Hop guys. Jesse jumped in and started trying to add some sort of beat boxing, and then Rahman busted out with his rap.

Taping date: May 4 and 10, 2006
Release date: May 12, 2006

Episode 23 - Interview with Arudou Debito 4

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OusEQyGxEFQ
The last part of the Arudou Debito interview.

This was the first episode to be released late. Jesse and Rahman decided to keep the season block pattern intact rather than rush out some random episode.

Taping date: Feb. 25, 2006
Release date: May 23, 2006

Episode 24 - Season 2 Bloopers

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XIlw4JDpTU
This is a set of bloopers and outtakes for season 2. This episode was also a few hours late.

Release date: May 27, 2006

Season 3

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Season 3 was less about Japan and more about our hosts and their activities. This season also saw lots of help from new characters such as Luka, Sumir, Retsu, Tae, and even a second appearance by Triple Combo! This season was also never fully completed...

Episode 25 - YD Meetup

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGMYQTF7wNQ
Jeshii and Rahman went to Tokyo to meet up with some YD fans. Jeshii taped the event with his new digital camera. Many people showed up including Bhim (a Dutch guy from the forums), Sachiko (someone who worked with Rahman), Mie (a friend of Sumir's), Adrian (a guy who didn't know there was a meetup, but just recognize Rahman and Jeshii from YD at the station). The night includes a nice meal and a trip to a karaoke box. Some trivia about the night: there was a rendition of Mr. Roboto at the karaoke place by Jeshii. Bhim commented, "This is awesome, why aren't you taping this Rahman?!" Rahman replied, "Oh man, I see this all the time."

It should be noted that this was the first episode after a week long break (in which Jeshii and Yayoi went on their Honeymoon).

Taping date: June 3, 2006
Release date: June 9, 2006

Episode 26 - Anime

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUMjewfsk4Y
This is the only animated Yamato Damacy episode. It was entirely written and animated by Rahman over the course of a few months. The voices were all done one night by Jeshii and Rahman. This episode was also to be featured on the G4 TV show "Torrent", but Jeshii never got word on whether it was actually used or not.

Jeshii was really impressed by Rahman's animation work. Rahman replied that he was impressed by Jeshii's voice work, which was all done in the middle of the night after editing another episode.

Release date: June 16, 2006

Episode 27 - Arcade Games

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyzCX8n-Rhg
This episode was another one that was weeks in the making. Rahman and Jeshii went to Akihabara, again, to challenge some folks to video game battles. Since the footage was kinda iffy, they ended up having friends Retsu and Tae over to discuss the footage in order to make the episode.

This is probably the longest YD episode.

Release date: June 27, 2006

Episode 28 - Japan vs Croatia

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIo0JbTEBV8
In response to the World Cup mania that was going around, Jeshii and Rahman taped the one game they saw as a group. Both Luka and Sumir are seen in this episode.

Some footage from this episode that never made it was show on DriveTime.

Taping date: June 17 and July 2(?), 2006
Release date: July 3, 2006

Episode 29 - Vanity Project 2 - Operation Black Box

YouTube Link (English Version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL66l-JrvIQ
YouTube Link (Japanese Version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrqWK9Oy7aA
YouTube Link (Remixed Version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0cyoTMkQyQ
This episode is the official prequel to episode 10. This episode was entirely written and edited by Luka, although Jeshii and Rahman did help out.

The entire movie was taped in one day. In the original script actually called for Bowers and McCraven to be revealed as brothers and Murdoc to be their father. Also, this episode was a day late because Jeshii insisted that Luka fix the credits where his character's name was written as "Nathaniel McRaven," although this too is a cool name.

This episode was very well received and was even found remixed on Nico Nico Douga.

Taping date: June 10, 2006
Release date: July 11, 2006

Episode 30 - Mt. Fuji

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_8Yti8i9_M
In this possibly last episode, Jeshii, Rahman, Luka, Triple Combo, and Mr. Nakazawa all head up Mt. Fuji. This episode has lots of stories to go along with it, but maybe for another day.

It was released very late as Jesse did the editing in America after moving back.

Taping date: July 16, 2006
Release date: Aug. 22, 2006

Yamatologic

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Jeshii started a blog in 2009 to properly host Yamato Damacy and to do some blogging. Since then he made one video. The video seems to both be Yamatologic and a Yamato Damacy Extra.

What kind of Japanese Music do you like?

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqsMy9F-JZk
NicoNicoDouga Link: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7539522
Jeshii went to Anime Expo 2009 to film a video based off of the GET DOWN web meme. He needed some sort of decoy topic. Originally it was going to be about sushi, but he hit on the Japanese Music idea while at the expo. With Vocaloid cosplayers and other interesting people, the decoy opening took on a life of its own. In the end, the video turned out great.

Taping date: Jul. 3, 2009
Release date: Jul. 4, 2009

Shin Yamato Damacy

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Shin Yamato Damacy is Luka's post-Jesse/Rahman video project.

The Legend of Ultra Man

YouTube Link (English Version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5-7ubLMSAk
YouTube Link (Japanese Version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ZKasQJFPs
Luka had always wanted to make more videos and eventually was able to get enough people together to make "The Legend of Ultraman".

Episode 1 - Who would you want to be?

YouTube Link: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=LM3UhNhh2ZE
In the first episode (apparently the Ultra Man one was more of a special feature), Luka goes around Maebashi station and asks, "If you could be any person or character, who would be want to be?"

Lost Episodes

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These episodes never got edited as Jesse had much less time/equipment for video editing after moving back. They are still waiting to be released.

Episode 31 - Hashiriya

Episode 31 was to follow Jesse, Luka, and Rahman in their search for Hashiriya on the streets of Haruna. This episode was originally going to be the first of three featuring Akagi and Myogi as well.

Episode 32 - Reflections of Failed Episodes

This was to be lost scenes from episodes that were never finished.

Episode 33 - Season 3 Bloopers

Bloopers from Season 3, of course.

Yamato Nadeshico

This was an idea to have Tae and Maki-maki take over as the hosts of Yamato Damacy. Only one episode was ever produced, but it was never edited and finished.

Extras

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The official extras were as follows:

- To the West
- Chun-Li vs. Rahman
- Yamato Damacy Tribute Song
- Jeshii imitates ZeFrank
- Tanuki Horror Video
- There were also some really awesome action movies that Luka had made with his students, but the school got angry and threatened legal action. These videos have since been removed from the record.

Legacy

In the end, Yamato Damacy didn't overtake the vlogosphere, despite Jesse, Rahman, and Luka's hard work. Jesse even talked to other vloggers while working on World 1-1.tv, but no one had ever even heard of it.

Despite this, Yamato Damacy does appear to have a following among anime fans. Jesse was contacted by someone from Fanime who wanted to show some episodes at the convention in 2006 or so.

In October of 2007, someone on NicoNicoDouga did a remix of Vanity Project 2 (NicoNicoDouga|YouTube). The first time Jeshii saw it, he thought he was going to die laughing.

In December of 2007, moomay performed a live version of the Yamato Damacy Tribute Song at a club in Japan.

At Anime Expo 2008, Jesse was approached by a few people asking "Which of the two of us is cooler?" and "Would you like to go to karaoke?" This warmed his heart to no end.

Misc and Trivia

Rahman's age is secret. He has never allowed it to get out in any episodes, but there was lots of speculation on the forums.

rickyzhou does freeze frames and has been able to discern all sorts of strange things from them. These include strange resemblances of cast members to celebrities, the fact that Jesse has weird middle fingers, and even Triple Combo's face!