Sometimes my Korean Mother just surprises me with random pop culture knowledge that makes my tiny mind explode. One of the first time she shocked me was when Karma Chameleon came on the radio and she started singing along. If you know my Mom, she never shown any signs of caring about American music, it's all about hymnals and old timey Korean ballads that just makes me want to slam my head into a wall, so when she said she loved Culture Club, I just had to laugh and hug her because that's awesome.
Last Week, during our early Thanksgiving Supper, Mom randomly asked me about Mazinger Z. I just paused and asked her, "How do you know about Mazinger Z, 엄마 (Eomma: Mom)" Her reply was,"What are you talking about? You use to love that show when you were a kid when we were in Korea and I bought you the big robot toy of Mazinger Zed. I use to find the flying fist randomly when I cleaned the apartment. Nathan, that was one of your favorite shows." And then she gave me a quick synopsis of the show.
I have zero recollection of ever watching the show, but I do remember that awesome toy. It was made of that really cheap soft plastic and both fist fired and only the arms and head moved. God, whatever happen to that thing? I think this is why I get super excited and nostalgic when I hear the old show theme song. Just hearing my Mom going on about Mazinger Z just made me smile. I have a cool Mom who remembers some weird obscure shit from my childhood.
I'm not really sure why I'm writing about this, but sometimes you just have to stop and realize I have cool parents and everytime I hang with my Mom, she surprises me more and more. I love you Mom, you're fucking awesome. (And if she ever finds out I used the f-word to describe her awesomeness, she'll probably beat the living shit out of me with a shoe.) Still, it's worth the risk.
While it's not nearly as good as the original Japanese opening, here's the show intro in Korean.
--Nathan
