Batsu Game - Criticism

Criticism

Batsu games are considered funny in Japan because of the (often outrageous) reactions of the comedians that experience them. However, there have been cases of injuries caused by batsu games, such as one at the Kumamoto Aquadome, where a participant jumped into a pool from a high dive platform and broke several ribs. Injuries caused by such batsu games are often not aired on TV, meaning that an injury hurts both the injured person and the TV show itself. As batsu games have become more and more common on Japanese TV, some shows have increased the danger of the punishments. Critics have commented that the problem lies not with the batsu games themselves, but the popular demand for them.

Conversely, participants in televised batsu games are often criticized as faking their distress, because the humor lies only in their reaction to the punishment and therefore the punishment need not actually exist. An oft-discussed example of this is the hot water baths—the participants claim that the water is extremely hot, but the water does not actually need to be hot for the participants to provide a funny reaction. As such, participants will often try to convince the viewers that the water is actually hot through various means (having an audience member stick his hand in the water, for example, or breaking character by saying that the water is hotter than it was during rehearsal). Generally speaking, the punishments are real rather than faked (the water is actually hot, the wasabi is actually spicy), but they are maintained at a level of preventing injuries.