Never give up! Do your best!

September 5, 2024 12:00 PM

Are you just living day to day? It gets better.
posted by Fizz (31 comments total)

( ( high-fives hand of drowning person ) )
posted by neuracnu at 12:27 PM on September 5 [15 favorites]

If you find yourself, as I did, wondering who the hell this guy is, you can find out. You can!!!
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:31 PM on September 5 [4 favorites]

Needed exactly this, at this exact hour of this day of this week. Some real posting kismet. Thank you.
posted by windbox at 12:42 PM on September 5 [4 favorites]

From the wiki:

Since 2006, Matsuoka has been releasing a web series of motivational videos called For you (こんなあなたに･･･, Konna Anata ni...), shot at locations he visits for work. They feature Matsuoka shouting phrases of encouragement at the camera, sometimes in ridiculous or bizarre scenarios. These videos have become popular with both Japanese and Western internet users, accumulating millions of views and being edited in the form of MADs or having uplifting music added to them. In one of his most well-known videos, Matsuoka is harvesting Asian clams in the water at −10 °C and he shouts "Never give up" in English. In 2009, Matsuoka expressed excitement at the popularity of his For you series and the MADs, the latter numbering in the thousands by 2011.

posted by Fizz at 12:48 PM on September 5 [2 favorites]

You can do anything at Zombocom! Anything at all! The only limit is yourself!
posted by rikschell at 1:19 PM on September 5 [15 favorites]

Matsuoka is harvesting Asian clams in the water at −10 °C

Where I live, water freezes at 0 °C so that's pretty remarkable in and of itself.
posted by dobbs at 1:26 PM on September 5 [3 favorites]

I live in Japan and Matsuoka is a fixture on Japanese TV: sports commentator, variety show guest, TV commercials. He's everywhere.
posted by zardoz at 1:26 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

The only limit is yourself!

Yeah... :(
posted by aubilenon at 1:34 PM on September 5 [21 favorites]

Where I live, water freezes at 0 °C

Seawater (salty) doesn't.
posted by rikschell at 1:36 PM on September 5 [11 favorites]

quitting is for quitters.
posted by philip-random at 1:42 PM on September 5 [2 favorites]

Seawater still freezes at about −2°C, but in the video where he says このマイナス１０度のところ (“this −10° place”) he obviously means the air temperature, not the water temperature.
posted by mbrubeck at 1:48 PM on September 5 [5 favorites]

If y'all think an overly strident middle-aged man yelling "encouragement" at you is great, you should have grown up with my dad.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:17 PM on September 5 [15 favorites]

If y'all think an overly strident middle-aged man yelling "encouragement" at you is great, you should have grown up with my dad.

Did he have a pause, mute, or quit button?
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:15 PM on September 5 [3 favorites]

(wearily) He did not. In fact, he's been dead eleven years and still regularly shows up in my dreams to yell that my depression and shortcomings are all failures of will and attitude.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:22 PM on September 5 [13 favorites]

I LOVE HIM! I DO!
posted by SinAesthetic at 3:31 PM on September 5

Reminds me of Eddie Lawrence, The Old Philosopher..."Never give up, never give up, never give up the ship"...
posted by Czjewel at 3:33 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

Vaguely jealous all I got was (dust outline of a parent as they zoom away)
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:36 PM on September 5

Never give up!

I half expected this to be a rickroll.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:38 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

Never give up. Never SURRENDER! (Cmdr. Taggart, begrudgingly.)
posted by ltLurker at 3:43 PM on September 5 [3 favorites]

Counterpoint
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:44 PM on September 5 [12 favorites]

I never thought a guy yelling at me in Japanese would be so motivating but here we are.
posted by tafetta, darling! at 3:59 PM on September 5 [2 favorites]

I, for one, feel encouraged. Maybe I’ll make another FPP.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:02 PM on September 5 [5 favorites]

Here's a pretty great summary of why I am suspicious of "encouraging" videos like this in the extreme:

Barbara Ehrenreich, "Smile or Die"
posted by DorsetNaga at 4:05 PM on September 5 [4 favorites]

God I needed that. feels like kendo with Nerf bats
posted by clavdivs at 4:22 PM on September 5 [2 favorites]

I hope someone makes/has made a lot of screencaps from that video useful for social media.
posted by stevil at 4:51 PM on September 5

still regularly shows up in my dreams to yell that my depression and shortcomings are all failures of will and attitude

Just tell him you have a cold.
posted by flabdablet at 7:21 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

my new self-assurance mantra is now "look at me! I'm harvesting clams! You just have to try!"
posted by mcstayinskool at 4:51 AM on September 6

It's been done.

On preview, what Czjewel said.
posted by lordrunningclam at 5:59 AM on September 6

It’s a good thing there’s subtitles because without them I would think he was yelling at me.

Oh, wait… He sort of is.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:34 AM on September 6

The only limit is yourself!

Oh... well, that's me out.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 8:55 AM on September 6

Are you ready for THIS?

...YOU WEREN'T

Also was that a random Samurai Champloo clip in the first one? wtf
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 9:37 AM on September 6