About

Devil Spoo (Japanese: 極悪スプー, Gokuaku Supuu), also called "Spoo the Hell Monster" (地獄のモンスター・スプー, Jigoku no Monster Spoo), is a nickname given to Spoo (スプー), a mascot character of the Japanese children's TV program Okaasan to Issho^[1] and the protagonist of Goo Choco Lantan, a recurring skit from the show featuring a group of furry animals. Once an innocent mascot of a children's show, Spoo was given a new life as a monster following an oddball depiction by the show's co-host Shoko Haida in 2006.

Origin

The monster-like depiction of Spoo began in 2006 with a poorly drawn sketch by the Japanese singer and co-host of the show Shoko Haida (はいだ しょうこ)^[2]. In the skit, Ms. Haida and Yuzo Imai perform a drawing & singing session together, during which Imai struggles to keep his composure after seeing Haida's rendition of Spoo:

Transcript:

A strange U.F.O is coming to Choko Lantan Island
How does it look like?
fleecy x3, fleecy x5
What is in the window? x2
It's an alien. x2
U.F.O loving watermelon
ate a big watermelon.
Here are two seeds. Blip x2
Do you know the name of him who wears a hat and likes banana?
It's Spoo!!

Spread

Haida's earnest but hardly recognizable illustration of Spoo quickly spread across the Japanese web, gaining the nickname "Devil Spoo." The joke also reached the Japanese biggest board community 2channel and drew participation from many Shift-JIS artists and flash animators. The parody phenomenon was also covered by various media outlets including Nikkei Trendy.^[3]

DMCA Takedowns

Meanwhile, NHK, the Japanese broadcast network and the copyright owner of the show, began issuing DMCA notices on YouTube in 2007, which has been reported by ITmedia^[4] as one of the earliest attempts by Japanese old media to bring down digital uploads on the grounds of copyright infringement.

Haida's Response

Ms. Haida's epic drawing skill, or lack thereof, became notorious and she has frequently demonstrated her talent during her TV appearances since retiring from Okaasan to Issho in 2008. Though she has never made any specific mention of this online phenomenon, she included the silhouette of her Spoo in the design for her official page^[5] and blog^[6] launched in April 2008. The reference to the "Devil Spoo" on her blog also brought a sense of excitement to the Japanese internet users.^[7]

title banner of Haida Shoko's official blog

Aftermath

Ms. Haida's drawing skill has been sometimes featured in commercial media or advertising campaigns by the fame of "Devil Spoo". In mid-2008, a Japanese online game service "@games" held a T-shirts present campaign during ehtie, which prints their game's character drawn by her.^[8] This advert campaign succeeded to get much attention from Japanese ineternet users, and her drawings quality was also reported in an online news media.^[9]

Left: Original Character | Right: Ms. Haida's work

Since 2011, she has starred in the advertising campaign for a car Sienta produced by a Japanese automaker TOYOTA. and its commercial movies fully features her epic drawing.

Notable Examples

Moreover, fan arts and parodies including MAD videos and M.U.G.E.N characters have been circulating on the Japanese forums and BBS since 2007. Many of these videos can be found on YouTube^[10], Nico Nico Douga ^[11], Nico Nico Seiga ^[12] and the Japanese artitst community pixiv ^[13], as listed in the Wikipedia entry^[14] for Spoo.

Illustrations

Halloween Version

Due to Devil Spoo's resemblance to a pumpkin, the character has been portrayed as Halloween pumpkins by Japanese amateur illustrators.

LEGO Edition

A user in /news4vip/ board in 2channel posted a thread^[15] for LEGO Devil Spoo in November 2006. The user was later revealed as the professional lego builder Junpei Mitsui in 2011.^[16]

Paper Craft

Produced by Funny Character Cafe:^[17]

Videos

Notable Appearances

Shoko Nakagawa's Tribute

The Japanese Otaku idol Shoko Nakagawa famous for her brilliant manga / illustrations challenged Spoo's drawing song and posted it to her blog in May 2006.^[18]

New Spoo

Ms. Haida drew new Spoo by request from the Japanese fashion model Tsubasa Masuwaka who knew this online phenomenon in May 2011. Tsubasa posted Ms. Haida's new Spoo to her blog^[19], which made headlines around the Japanese web.^[20]

Search Interest

External References