#119.5 Blending in, but does it Stand Out?! Chameleon Jail

[00:00:00] Welcome to Shonen Flop Chibi, first impressions mini episode where we talk about the first chapter of the series we'll be covering in depth next week with our guest, Joe Zhu. I'm Jordan and with me today as usual is my lovely co-host David. Say hi, David. Hi, David. What series we're covering this week, David? We are covering Chameleon Jail. That's it? Yeah. I thought you were gonna make some kind of joke, I mean... Did you want more like tongue shibby? Chameleon jail. Yeah, that's alright. That's good. That's good. Okay. Anyway.

[00:00:27] Yeah, that's right, David. Oh man, I'd hate to be in Chameleon Jail because that'd be invisible. So, um, actually Jordan, as you may or may not know, chameleons don't actually have the ability to truly turn invisible. Jesus Christ. In fact, the most common use of a chameleon's color changing is usually used as a form of communication or an indicator of its mood. God. And I believe it's actually, if none, very rare in a chameleon to actually be actively turning their color as a form of camouflage. In this essay I work.

[00:00:54] In this video essay, this 10 hour long video essay, I will be delving into the plot holes in Chameleon Jail. Somehow we'll talk about Tommy Tallarico. Anyway, so let's get into the manga details. Chameleon Jail, it was written by Kazuhiko Watanabe and drawn by a heavy hitter David, Takehiko Inoue of Slam Dunk fame. Yes, the series I believe Maxi B says is the perfect Shonen Jump manga. I have never read it. Oh, I have. You have?

[00:01:24] Yeah, I have. It's one of two sports manga I've read. How is it? It's very good. I've, of course, only read, um, Eyeshield 21 and the greatest one of all time, Kajo. I'm just kidding, Eyeshield 21 is the greatest one of all time. Uh, but we're talking about Chameleon Jail. It ran from July 31st, 1989 to October 16th, 1989. An older one, and you can fucking tell. Yeah. Yeah. This only went for 12 chapters and two volumes.

[00:01:51] Yeah, but oh man, I feel this is going to be quite the ride. Yes. But Jordan, shall we get into what happened in that chapter? God, this chapter. Yeah. In the criminal justice system, violent crimes such as murder, reduction, terrorism are considered especially heinous. In New York City, people who investigate and prevent these crimes are known as risk hunters, with the most effective among them being known as Chameleon Jail. These are his stories.

[00:02:17] Yeah, he's called Chameleon because David, he can transform into other people and he throws people in jail unless that's literally his given and family name. Like his dad's like, uh, like Mr. Jail. It's like James Bond or James Bond is his real name. Yeah, like they call him Mr. Jail. He's like, no, Mr. Jail is my father. You can call me sir. Jail. Chameleon Jail. An escaped violent criminal who is black and therefore playing basketball is arrested by his friend who quickly reveals himself to be Chameleon Jail in blackface.

[00:02:47] By the way, Chameleon Jail is transforming his body not with disguises, but by using his spirit energy or Kara to make tiny explosions occur throughout his body. One of the more interesting explanations for supernatural powers that I've ever seen. Yeah, it's quite something. Yeah. Anyway, he's approached by a detective named Shaul, who wears a power suit because this was released in 1989, as well as a Chinese doctor named Juan who has a request for him. Popcorn David.

[00:03:15] A Chinese immigrant named Long was about to marry- Whoa, wait, David. You're telling me there was a Chinese immigrant named Long? Whoa. Whoa. God. Most obvious fucking names. Oh, we'll keep going. And he was about to marry Juan's sister, Ling Ling, when she is killed killed by the mafia, which you hate to see. Yeah. Long vows revenge and so decides to abandon his goal of being a comedic actor to become a New York businessman, changing his name to Goldman.

[00:03:41] I mean, David, what is a New York businessman name but Goldman? Yes. Yeah. Jesus Christ. Oh, not Jesus. Yeah. In reality, he has joined the Chinese mafia in order to get revenge on the Italian mafia. And hey, apparently some mafia guys have been found dead. Juan asks Chameleon to get Long to come to his senses. Long is holding a party to celebrate the opening of his new building, the Ling Ling concert hall, and Chameleon infiltrates.

[00:04:06] Long manages to isolate the boss of the Italian mafia, whose name is literally Mr. Pinocchio, incredible by bringing him into his Ling Ling room, which is a place filled with pretty dresses, including the one Ling Ling was murdered in. Just as he's about to kill Pinocchio, Ling Ling seemingly returns from the dead to play piano, but lol, it's just that wacky chameleon. Oh, man. However, seeing Ling Ling made Long not want to kill kill, so Chameleon punches Mr. Pinocchio in the face and arrests him. He doesn't arrest Long though, because he's not actually a bad guy, even though he admitted to

[00:04:34] murdering a bunch of other mafia guys, but it doesn't count because it wasn't on screen. It wasn't on screen and they don't matter because they're bad guys. Yeah, he killed his boys, Mario and Luigi. It just makes me think of that Brooklyn Nine-Nine scene where like, nice motive, still murder. Yeah. So Jordan, what were your first impressions? Man, David, gotta love this 80s art. Yeah, this really makes me think of Trillian or game with the art style. I think I've heard of that. I haven't read it. It's by the writer of I Shall 21.

[00:05:04] Right. That's why I've heard of it. But yeah, damn, David, can you tell me another way in which this art is very 80s? Very racist. Yeah. Jesus Christ. Fucking oh, the lips on those black people. Wow. Yeah. First person he arrests is a black guy. Walt disguised as a black guy. And they're playing basketball. Yeah. I bet they'd have some stupid racist name where his name is like, you know, no, it's not even worth it. Let's not even go there now. Yeah, but that's about the level of racism.

[00:05:33] That's about the level this goes. Honestly, though, still not the worst that we have seen. Yeah, because we've read robot laser beam. I don't know if this is worse than robot laser beam, but you can find a lot of 80s manga that are worse than this. And that's not saying a lot. That's not saying that this is good. This is pretty bad. Yeah. Oh, and my God. Uh, New York businessman Goldman. Yeah. What was Cohen too on the fucking knows? Jesus Christ. Yeah.

[00:06:02] It being said in America is interesting, which I guess kind of adds to two things. It does. I think we're going to get a lot of American names like, you know, the Bobson Dugnuts. Yeah. For Jonathan Eagle. Yeah. David Atlas. Yes. God. Fuck. I haven't thought about that series in a way. Thanks, Jordan. You're welcome. But yeah, this is so dumb. I just kind of love it. This has 80s Stallone movie energy where it's insane, crazy, like some pretty crazy shit's happening.

[00:06:32] It's kind of racist, but it's also so fucking stupid that it's like, how mad can you get? Yeah. It's so stupid. He makes explosions happen on his face to change his facial makeup. Like what the fuck is happening? I don't know. Jordan uses explosions in his body to change his skin color. Yeah, I don't really understand the power system, but you know, he's having fun writing a series, so you can't be that mad, you know? Yeah. It seems like the pacing is actually quite tight.

[00:07:00] Like it does feel like a well done TV show where it kind of gets you in the action. You understand the gist of it and there's not like too much stupid exposition. Like, yeah, it's racist, but at least he's like doing chameleon jail things from the start. It does kind of feel like a police procedural almost. I started with like the law and order SVU joke, but like it kind of has that vibe. Yeah, it almost feels like a parody of noir. It was just like such a ridiculous backstory for one and long. Also, Mr. Pinocchio. Yeah.

[00:07:29] Amazing name for an Italian mobster. So stupid. Oh, what's an Italian name? Um, Pinocchio. Okay. And he's got like a long nose. Also, why is he using his real face during the mission? You know, you're right. He also doesn't sneak in there very well. Like he's not stealthy about breaking into that. He can clearly change a lot of things. It's not just his face. Yeah. And they don't they don't say some bullshit about where it's like, oh, he only has so much energy or something.

[00:07:58] So as far as we can tell, at least in this first chapter, he could just do it whenever he wants. So it's kind of like, why are you breaking in as chameleon jail when you can just kind of turn into anybody you want? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like he seemingly is able to change his body structure, too. Like he just suddenly transforms into Ling Ling. So he can change his build and gender, which is kind of crazy. Yeah. It can't just be a facial thing because he puts on Ling Ling's dress. Yeah.

[00:08:25] Like so he has to be able to like manipulate his skeleton, too. Like fucking crazy. Why are you running in there just like as yourself? I it's like again, it's like James Bond. Why is he telling people his real name? Yeah. God, there were so many cool things they could have done with that. Like the James Bond code name made sense, but they're just like, nah, his real name is James Bond, you know? Maybe this should have been my guess that turns out his face isn't his real face this whole time. Yeah. Oh, God. But it sure seems like it is.

[00:08:53] I don't expect this manga to go that route. That's kind of too interesting. God. Yeah. Also, is it a fight that there's already a character named Chameleon that's known for disguising himself as other people as the Marvel villain? Oh, yeah. I forgot about him. Yeah. I mean, of course there is. It's so obvious and also not a name. It's like a superhero name or super villain name, but like it's not a person's name. Yeah. So anyway, Jordan, would you I guess there's only 11 more chapters. So would you finish the series? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No risk.

[00:09:23] And then before we get into what we think will happen next, if you've been enjoying the show, we'd really appreciate if you subscribe to the Shonen Flop YouTube trying to hit our goal of 1500 subs. We're at, I think, 1390. So we're getting really close. And when we hit it, we're going to do the Build King epilogue as a bonus episode for YouTube. And so, Jordan, what are your guesses? I think that there will be a Latino character with a very stereotypical name. Like Salsa Verde. Pablo Rodriguez. Isn't it like Hideo Kojima naming characters?

[00:09:54] Chameleon will have to stop a corrupt cop. I don't know. This isn't part of my guess, but maybe like he's got to stop a racist cop to show that like racism is bad while the author is including some very bad stereotypes. And my last guess is his parents are dead. Oh, no. No. How about you, David? What do you guess? So I think we're going to learn nothing about Chameleon Jail as a person. I think no one else will have supernatural powers. And this series is going to end with Chameleon Jail having to do one big final job, maybe directly

[00:10:24] tied into Shawl, who we actually have learned pretty much nothing about. Yeah, I didn't realize until rereading it that like, I think she works for him. Like this chapter was pretty good at throwing out information like so quickly you miss it. Yeah. Like they're just kind of like, oh yeah, that's why all those mobsters are showing up dead. And I'm like, did they mention that before? And no, that's the first time they mentioned it. Like I had to, I looked through the manga. Like, did I miss them talking about this? Like, no, that's the way they introduced that concept. Yeah.

[00:10:54] And then no one gives a shit about it. No. And Jordan, what's your power word? Oh, my power word is imprisoned. Like the darkness imprisoning me. All that I see. Absolute chameleons. Nice. Mine is invisible because as you can see, I forgot to write a power word. I also did. Or did I? Because I just can't see it. Hey, wait, you should write it and then make it in white text. Maybe I already did. Why don't you check? I did. All right.

[00:11:22] Enough of that buffoonery, chicantery, if you will. Let's get into the Q&A. As always, you can submit your questions on the Shonen Flop Discord. We get priority to those who haven't asked a question before. I had a question answered in a long time or patrons. Starting with Sandman, which flop would you have liked to have turned into an anime? Yeah. So, David, for this one, obviously we have the ones that like we said were not a flop and we would pick from those. Yeah. So what's your? Well, yeah. Well, it says which flop. Yeah. So we got to pick something that's either a flop or a certified. I'm thinking Mama Yu Yu.

[00:11:50] I think an anime could really clean up a lot of the issues. Maybe. But I feel like the strength of Mama Yu Yu was its handling. Hmm. So I kind of I don't know. I don't know if I'd go that that way. I bet Matama Security would be fun to watch animated. Oh, yeah. All the baseball and basketball scenes. You know what? I think that you could make one interesting episode of Earth Child. Just the first part of it. Just the first one. Like, so maybe an OVA, like a one off OVA or something.

[00:12:20] Understandable. From Zylon, if some of the series you covered in show and flop were represented by a particular food, which would they be and why? So Jordan, what food would represent Candy Flurry? Oh, I mean, a lollipop. That's if that's a necessary. It's Zylon. Be like, fuck you guys. What about Hungry Joker? Apple. Hungry for apples. Hungry for apples. Double Tai Sei would be the black and white cookie. Yeah. Oh, Borking with the pudding. Remember the pudding arc? Oh, hell yeah.

[00:12:49] What food represents chameleon jail? Um, fried lizards. Oh, I was thinking kind of like one of those transparent roll, like those spring rolls that's transparent so you can only see the inside. I don't know if I know that. Ah, Jordan, Jordan, Jordan. All right. From Stackhorn. If you had to turn a piece of media you liked into a flop manga worthy of the podcast, what would you choose in house life? Why would it get canceled? Um, I feel like the Xavier Renegade Angel manga would be like Chagacha. Hmm.

[00:13:18] I think Donnie Darko just feels like a manga that we would have read and be like, why wasn't anyone talking about this? Or we would read it and just be like, that's fucking stupid. Yeah. I love how it's like the quintessential where the director only had one good movie in him and he kind of he clearly made it by accident. What other movies did he do? Did he do S Darko? Exactly. Damn. From Jolly Green Gamer. Have you read Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe by Araki? If so, what did you think? I actually watched the OVAs for a podcast.

[00:13:47] I think I watched the OVAs too, not for a podcast just because I was like. I think it was Blake and Spencer get jumped or. So I believe I watched it for them. So shout out to those guys. And I quite enjoyed it. How about you, Jordan? I watched it too, just because I saw it on Netflix. I was like, oh, more Jojo content. So I watched that and yeah, I like it. It feels like Jojo Twilight Zone. And that's dope. That is a good way of putting it. Yeah. From Redblade. If Ravgillie had to get a cameo in a currently running Shonen Jump manga, which one would you pick? What do you think, Jordan? Let's see.

[00:14:15] It has to be one where she would be safe. So Akane Banashi would be a good candidate. Akane Banashi would be a good candidate. Or Ruri Dragon. Oh, she'd be a little god. It turns out she is actually half goblin. Yeah. Yeah. As Ruri turns into a dragon, she turns into a goblin. She has a goblin dog. Actually, that's that's my pick. Yeah, there we go. There we go. Revioli is watching me right now. Oh, baby. Yeah, you're a doggy. And then finally from Diego is better than Demon Slayer.

[00:14:43] A good way to classify if a canceled manga is not a flop. So I would definitely see Demon Slayer is like the perfect six out of 10 manga. So yeah, I would say anything better than Demon Slayer, I would say is not a flop. And I would likewise not call Demon Slayer a flop. Would you say Demon Slayer is better or worse than Black Clover? It's worse. I agree. I was like so much more. I dumbfounded that you agreed with that stent. I was so much more interested in Black Clover than Demon Slayer. I really tried to like Demon Slayer.

[00:15:12] I just find it very by the numbers. It just had a really good anime adaption. R-Wise's series really isn't that good. But I watched the anime. It didn't draw me in. Like, I actually really liked some of the drawings in the manga. I thought that that was really cool. But like the anime just didn't draw me in. I mean, the manga obviously didn't either. But like, damn, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. That's fair. All right, well, Jordan, that's all the time we have for today. I want to say thank you so much for all your hard work on the show and editing the chibi. Thank you, David, for all your work in editing the chibi as well. Props to Shane for the awesome cover art.

[00:15:42] Find her online at Illuminati. Thank you, Dylan, for assistance with editing. You can find his podcast Anime Out of Context at animeoutofcontext.com. Thanks to Tucker and Maxi B for assistance with pronunciation, translation, other miscellaneous research. Thanks to Kalal for being our social media manager. You can find us on Twitter at ShonenFlopCast, Tumblr, Shonen-Flop, and our website, ShonenFlop.com. We're also on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, wherever else you get your podcasts. If you want more weekly David and Jordan content, you can find us every Friday on the Chainsaw Minute, where we talk about the latest chapter of Chainsaw Man. Find it at csm.libson.com or wherever else you listen to ShonenFlop. Come join the ShonenFlop Discord.

[00:16:12] It's open to everyone, patron or not. Hang out, fuzz, talk about anime, games, whatever else is on your mind. Even have a manga book club and movie nights. Find a link to in the Shonen or on our site, ShonenFlop.com. And if you've been enjoying the podcast and want to help us keep going, subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com slash ShonenFlop. Along with that warm and fuzzy feeling of helping us out, you also get access to monthly bonus episodes, including the Shonen Drop, where Jordan and I look back at the previous month's episode and open the mystery box. Jordan, what was our bonus content for the month of February? And what did we talk about in the mystery box? Well, David, we're covering part three.

[00:16:42] The final part of our look at Hentai Kamen with Diego of Scoob and Shag. And for the mystery box, we're doing the 10 ShonenFlop Commandments. Hell yeah. Yeah. And if that's not enough, other perks include picking a manga for us to cover a main episode. Episodes up to a week in advance. Behind the scenes content like the warm up audio or recording notes. I also want to read off some of our wonderful patrons, starting with our Dolphin Dad's Way of Gloranac. Rachel, my wonderful wife.

[00:17:08] She somehow convinced me to go to Disney twice while we were in Japan, but it was a great time no matter what. Moving on down to the Ravioli tier where you get weekly pictures of my silly goblin dog Ravioli, where she missed us so much she was heartbroken because she didn't know if she wanted to sleep with me or Rachel because we had terrible jet lag and Rachel got up at 2 a.m. And she went to the couch so she wouldn't wake me up. We have Chris, Eva, Jeanette Davis, Lady T, Matt, Scarlett, T, Tiffany, Trevor Schechner. Moving on down to the King of the Force, we have 090Z, Bandit Stoof, my girlfriend, Brad,

[00:17:36] follow AOC on Blue Sky, Ivan, Jacob, Justin, Kirbymont, Marty, Riley, Sarah, T, Wolffoot, and Tommy Boy. Moving on down to the Galactic Ball Federation officers, we have a deep sexy voice, says, Relax. Relax. Mid-Size Sedan, Ages, Andrew, Andy, Angel, Dire, Ultim, Aura, Biza, Blah, Mimu, Brandon M, Cole, David A, Dennis James, Simone, Don't Dox Me, Dadderson, Drago, Drew, Nigel, Fax, Flash Cardman, Funky Green, Ian McConnell, Jason, Kalala, Keanu, King Solamander, Krinking KB, Lay, Liam,

[00:18:02] Matty C, Manly P. Hall, Marabara, Marvin, Matt, Maxi B, Mecca Scott, Mike Carpenter, Obscure Reference, I Can't Believe They're Making a Goonie Sequel, Resident Warhammer Nerd, Savia, Sean, Do You Remember? I Can't Read All That, Sybil, Silly Rookie, Simping for Sent by Ash, Sackhorn Taper, Clip Tucker, Wright, Elysian, ZZ Digital, and a big thank you to our Beast Children as well. Yes, thank you. I love you all very much. I love all my Beast Children. I love all my Beast Children equally. Well, Jordan, anything else you want to toss in? Check out Mission Ignition, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. So, thank you so much for listening.

[00:18:32] Tune in next Monday as we give our full thoughts on Chameleon Jail featuring Josu. This has been Jordan. This has been David. And you've been listening to Shonen Flop. David, say it. Keep on flopping, floppers. Bye.