TERRATAG Blog

Laughing Man

Terratag and Laughing Man
How come Terratag got to designs the Laughing Man logo?
Around 2001, I was designing for a Japanese game developer and music label, Frognation, and sent the guys in the Tokyo office a pile of stickers, which were liberally plastered around. One of the guys at Frognation also happened to be a script editor at Production I.G. who was working on early drafts for the first TV series of Stand Alone Complex. One day the director, Kenji Kamiyama, saw the stickers, loved them and one thing led to another.

So, what’s the big idea?
The brief supplied was particularly interesting in that it asked me to read a short story by J D Salinger ‘The Laughing Man’ and get inspired. I read the story which centres around a minor league baseball team, so I picked up on the idea of using a baseball cap. The text was given to me by Production I.G. and reads: “I thought what I’d do was, I’d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes”. It’s an excerpt from The Catcher in the Rye, also J D Salinger. In the book the text continues to read: “That way I wouldn’t have to have any goddamn stupid useless conversations with anybody. If anybody wanted to tell me something they’d have to write it on a piece of paper and shove it over to me. They’d get bored as hell doing that after a while, and then I’d be through with having conversations for the rest of my life”. At first this text made no sense but later, having seen the series, I can understand the relevance to the character.

What was Production I.G’s thoughts on your work?
In May 2003 I travelled to Tokyo to meet Kenji, the production staff and animators at the Production I.G. studios. Through an interpreter I was very pleased to be told that they loved the logo and felt the submissions from Japanese designers had not quite come up to scratch.

Laughing Man T-shirt

Laughing Man : Logo in use

Laughing Man : Logo in use

Kure Kure Takora (クレクレタコラ ^- Unofficial translation: “Gimme Gimme Octopus”)

TAKORA is character of a Japanese TV program broadcasted in 1973, running for a total of 260 episodes. Kure Kure Takora—the main character of the show—wants everything he sees and says “Kure! Kure! (I want it! I want it!)” all the time.
Each episode was absurd, strange, violent, surreal, indescribable, and ran exactly 2 minutes and 41 seconds. I love it.

The characters are:

Kure Kure Takora
Kure Kure Takora is a red octopus. He uses a type of Ninjitsu where he can transform anything from a dopey iguana to a vacuum cleaner to a guitar. His best-friend is the weak-willed squash Chonbo. While he has friends, he seems to have no problems leaving them for dead if he has to make a fast getaway. Like all other characters in the show, Kure Kure is in love with the fickle pink walrus Monro. His greatest fear is being soaked with vinegar and being served as Sudako (pickled octopus).

Chonbo
Kure Kure Takora’s best friend and toadie, is a squash-humanoid of the genus cucurbita, who is able to cough up coins for vending machines at will. Although he is complicit in many of Kure Kure’s crazy schemes, he’s just as often on the receiving end of Kure Kure’s abuse. Chonbo is often seen somersaulting and tumbling.

To Ro Ro
Is a short jellyfish who squawks like a dolphin. He is able to spray vinegar out of the top of his head via a sprinkler. Kure Kure often attempts to neutralize this super power—since Kure Kure is afraid of vinegar—by throwing hats on To Ro Ro’s head. To Ro Ro can turn invisible and teleport at will and is an even a bigger trouble-maker than Kure Kure Takora. Most of the other characters are frightened of him.

Monro
Is pink walrus with a breathy voice and sexy theme music that all the other male characters pursue. She often demands unreasonable things from her suitors only to lose interest in them. She has been romantically involved with every creature—even the repellent sea cucumber gang—on the show.

Debura
A rotund badger who is often seen chewing on the stub of a cigar, this tough cop runs the local jail. He’s the only character who wears clothes.

Biragon

A dumb, slow-witted iguana, he is extremely lazy and spends most of his time sleeping. He may also be the richest character on the show as he often has a new gadget or toy that is covetted by Kure Kure.

The Sea Cucumber Gang
This trio has their own theme song which they occasionally break in to. It is believed they represent anger (Ikari), happiness (Hera Hera) and sadness (Shiku Shiku). The Sea Cucumber Gang are on the very bottom of the hierarchy of the characters, and poor Shiku Shiku gets picked on the most!