Disclaimer: I do not mean i love every part of the story. the japanese-racism is very much not acceptable. However, i think there's a lot of genuinely solid stuff at play in this storyline. Also, I know IRL that the actor who plays Val Venis is a terrible pos human being. But as even Vince McMahon has said, wrestling is the garbage business. You're more likely to find a superstar who has committed a crime than you are to find a genuinely good person. at least around this time especially. My analysis of this storyline is entirely about the writing and acting, not the politics behind it. First, i was honestly pretty shocked to realize that Val Venis is a face. With his video-package promos and general gimmick, i kinda assumed this guy was going to end up as a generic Heel. but with his first "feud" being against a born-again christian Dustin Rhodes and then his ongoing feud with Mr Yamaguchi's Kaientai faction, it's very facinating that we have a heroic protagonist who is also a sex worker. Yes it's a male sex worker so he's playing into a different form of male power fantasy, but considering just a decade ago we had Ravishing Ric Rude and even Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels before that, WWE had a history of presenting Men who had game as villains to root against. Fitting the shifting in ideological tones with Steve Austin and the Undertaker becoming protagonists during this same year that we would also see a deconstruction of this classic mid-card trope by shifting the male playboy gimmick to a protagonistic face role as well. a huge part of the Venis/Yamaguchi storyline that i think sells the hell out of it though is Shian-Li Tsang's very solid acting as Mrs Kyoko Yamaguchi. It could so easily have been a really lame story if Shian just played the character like any other bimbo among the female wrestlers around at this time. No offense to Sable, Jaquiline, and Sunny. I love all of you and the many extras wrapping their arms around the Godfather, but it's very clear that Kyoko is more in the style of 80s Miss Elizabeth and not 90s Sable. But she's also not just like, a prized trophy that Val steals from Mr Yamaguchi. during the "porno" scenes and many moments, we get to see Kyoko smile or show genuine joy at watching Val perform. She's clearly in a loveless marriage with "wally" and is ecstatic to have a chance to free herself from the shackles of her current relationship. I honestly wish that we got to see more direct lines of dialogue from Val and Kyoko and maybe have an actual romantic storyline get played out. Or even just give her an option to express her feelings about Wally and why she hates being married to him (even if it's something as crude as "Wally has a small dick, Val is more attractive..." like let a woman be a little shallow) Now, im still on Aug 3rd, 1998, and i believe the actual last episode for this storyline and Kyoko's last appearance is the next episode. so for all i know, Val gets a last minute heel turn and spits in Kyoko's face and calls her a slut. I don't know. but I have been blown away by how much more depth there is in this story than there could have been. This could very VERY easily have been Jake the Snake vs Rav Ric Rude 2: Electric Boogaloo. but it's not. it's a very new and unique take on this storyline and i'm all for it like, yes, the racism is very gross. but outside of the infamous "I choppy-choppy your Pee-pee" and the general sinophobia with making Kaientai a heel faction entirely because they're japanese and that's it, the majority of this storyline hasn't had anything to do with race really. Like, if your main takeaway from watching a story is "I wish they got more time to do more stuff with this idea" then odds are, you have a pretty good idea   submitted by   /u/deathbymanga [link]   [comments]