Unless you’ve been living in an all-things-media-related black hole for the past few weeks (in which case, welcome back to civilization, I’m happy you’ve chosen Otaku Ohana as your reintroduction to society), you’ve probably heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It seems like pretty much everyone in the Internet-connected world, from ordinary people to celebrities like Kermit the Frog and George W. Bush, is being doused with buckets of ice water or eventually will be called out to do the same. (Some people, of course, have done it better than others.) By the time you read this, the total amount raised in the name of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, research is likely to be very close to, if not already over, $100 million.
Granted, you may already be burnt out on seeing people do Ice Bucket Challenges. The world moves at Internet speed these days, which means many of us have already moved on to discussing what Hello Kitty is if she’s neither a cat nor a human girl. (I’m going to say she’s the same species as the Warners, Yakko, Wakko and Dot — cute.) But if you’re still up for watching a few more videos, several members of our local community have posted some in the past week or so. Click the screengrabs to watch the videos:
A bunch of Kawaii Kon staffers took the challenge; the video is a compilation of their efforts.
MidWeek cartoonist / Cacy & Kiara author took the challenge as well, adding a plug for the Hawaii Foodbank in the process.
And then there’s “Calabash” cartoonist Jon Murakami’s video, a two-minute live-drawing treat.
Your friendly neighborhood anime/manga blogger, meanwhile, has not been challenged to do the Ice Bucket Challenge. It’s for the best, because (a) I usually turn into a stuttering mess on camera, ice water poured on me would only make that worse and no one would want to see that; and (b) if I was called out to do it, I’d prefer to go the Patrick Stewart route. All I can say is, if you have a favorite cause, whether it be ALS research or something else, if you have a few extra dollars to give to it, please do so. A lot of people need a lot of help out there.
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