Hamstah Ganstaz are like whut!

Update: April 6, 2003: Episode II production begins

Well, it's been a long time coming, but we're finally going to do the second episode of Hamstah Gangstaz. I'll update later this week when my dvd drive comes in.

Update: Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Merry, everyone. This week, on December 24th and 25th (that's right, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), I'm going to be serving Hamstah Gangstaz over my cable modem via Kazaa. So load up, download, and then shoot a load in your pants.

Update: Hamstah Gangstaz: Episode 2: The Big C (j/k)

We have decided that before we do our Kung Fu movie re-dub parody, Bloody Stulz, we are going to do the second episode of Hamstah Gangstaz called "Thug Adventures in Time". It be all that, y'all!

Update: Nekocon 2002!

We have received a request from video organizers at Nekocon 2002. They have asked for our permission to screen Hamstah Gangstaz at this year's convention. If we can get the second episode done, we'll probably send that as well. More updates soon!

Update: Otakon 2002!

Well, the premiere of Hamstah Gangstaz at Otakon 2002 was a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and we handed out about 130 Video CDs of the parody at the convention. I'm also starting to receive some feedback from our fans via email and I'd like to say thank you for letting us know that it was worth making fools of ourselves to entertain others. If you would like to send us feedback please email me at shad@genki-web.net .

We are also considering the possibility of mailing Video CDs to our fans for the cost of $2.00 each. This covers the cost of a high-quality CD, packaging, and postage. However, we may hold off until we finish the Special Edition Hamstah Gangstaz with full comentary and an episode of Genki-Web: CRIBS. Again, if you're interested, leave me some feedback.

A Thug Is Born
People are talking about Hamstah Gangstaz. Well, a few people anyway. Actually those few people are all friends of ours, but this is beside the point.

So, what is Hamstah Gangstaz? It all started when Shad (that's me) brought a videotape of Tottoko Hamutaro back from Japan. I forgot about it for awhile until one evening when several of us were very, very drunk. In our inebriation we joked about how funny it would be if the cute, cuddly little hamsters swore like sailors and pimped like... well, er, pimps. Months (and many drinks) later, we recorded the Master Dub for our anime parody which we aptly named Hamstah Gangstaz.

Roll Call!
Here's a brief description of some of the characters is our parody.

Hamutaro - A thug from the city, Hamutaro's family moves to the small Japanese town of Compton. There, the little thug must start from scratch to build a new posse. His owner is a little ho who is addicted to pornography. His longtime friend is the family dog, who is constantly in a semi-comatose state due to years of drug abuse.	Crackhead Bitch - Hamutaro meets a new friend in Compton; a local crackhead who will do anything for his favorite drug. With Hamutaro's help, he hopes to become a good enough thug to get all the crack someday.
Big Pimp - Big Pimp is a sub-terranian thug who owns a nightclub beneath Hamutaro's house. He pimps many of the Ho's in the area, many of which are lesbians, whom he like to watch. He becomes a role model for both Hamutaro and Crackhead Bitch.	Big Pimp's Ho - Presumably of of the lesbians, Big Pimp's ho enjoys being watched and frequently stands nude in front of her bedroom window. Big Pimp is in love with her, but her heart belongs to Hamutaro, because he pimps it just how she likes.

Cast (a list of the voice actors)

Narrarator - Mastah P
Hamutaro - Shad
Crackhead Bitch - Chris Asbestos
Big Pimp - DJ Xero
Hamutaro's Owner - Chris Asbestos
Mother - Shad
Father - Chris Asbestos
Little Japanese Girl - DJ Xero

Here is a picture of some of the Hamutaro merchandise available in Japan. We should expect to see about as much of this in the U.S. since the show's premiere on Cartoon Network as "Hamtaro". The Genki parody was edited and mastered by Shad.

The Soundtrack

Choosing new background music was deemed necessary in order to set the proper mood for Hamstah Gangstaz. We decided to use some old-school rap as well as a little P-funk. So far, we've received many compliments for our choice in music. A few of the artists we chose to rip off - er, I mean, artists that inspired us, were the Ghetto Boyz, Onyx, Skee Lo, MC Paul Barman, Jay Z, and of course Parliament Funkadelic.

The Payoff

A tape of Hamstah Gangstaz was sent to Otakon in the hopes that they would enjoy it enough to show it at the convention. Several other parodies have premiered at Otakons in the past, so we hoped that ours would get a chance as well. Well, our delusions of grandure did pay off, and we eventually received word back that our parody would indeed premiere at Otakon 2002. Below is the description that Otakon decided to use for their programming guide (which is included in the free bag of Otakon goodies every year). So far, the tentative screening time is Friday night at 1am (which is actually Saturday, just so nobody gets confused), but you might want to check the schedule at Otakon if you're going to be looking for it.

Genki-web's anime fan parody "Hamstah Gangstaz" (2002, 23 minutes).
"Hamstah Gangstaz" is the first episode of the wholesome Japanese animated children's show 'Tottoko Hamutaro' (which just started running on Cartoon Network as "Hamtaro"), re-edited, re-scored, and re-dubbed so that the cuddly little fuzzy critters are tough-talking gangsters, pimps, and crackheads. I kid you not. "Hamstah Ganstaz" makes its convention premiere at Otakon 2002.
If you catch "Hamstah Gangstaz" at the con and want to tell the makers how much you liked it you can write to Jack Nixon at shad@genki-web.net.

The Finished Product

We'd love to be able to serve the parody in its entirety, but unfortunately we're freeloading our server space and we have a very limited bandwidth. If anyone is intered in hosting our parody video for download on the web, we'd be happy to send you a copy and maybe even a tshirt. The tshirt might be something that I haven't worn since high school, but hey it's a tshirt nonetheless. You can email us here if you'd like to volunteer, or to give us feedback, questions, or other comments. We hope that if you see us at Otakon this year (look for the shirts, signs, afros, etc) you'll stop and say hello to us. We also accept gifts in the form of cash flow money or personal checks. Just kidding (only not really).