Female Anchor Facial! 17th Anniversary Remastered Edition!
As "ROCKET's" 17th anniversary production, this film is not just a remake of a classic theme but also an extreme experiment on audience desires, media culture, and performance ethics. Borrowing a line from Nietzsche in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra": "Man is a rope stretched between animal and superman." This work undoubtedly builds a dangerous tightrope between the "animalistic" desires and the "superhuman" absurdity of performance. "ROCKET," with its core brand philosophy of "making the impossible possible," has long excelled at transforming users' wild ideas into visuals. "RCTD-674" continues its signature "mind-bending" approach, opting to remake the classic theme of "female anchor facials" and pushing it to even more exaggerated extremes. Based on online sources, the film features actresses Hoshino Natsuki, Matsuzaka Tugumi, and Minato Asami, with the director employing "ROCKET's" trademark exaggerated style to combine "media crossover" with "public humiliation," creating a dual assault on the visual and psychological senses.
The core setup of "RCTD-674" is "freely jumping into the TV," a concept that not only borrows from science fiction but also serves as a postmodern critique of media. When "surrealism" dominates, the boundaries between reality and fiction have long blurred. As a "simulacrum" medium, television carries the audience's projected desires, and "jumping into the TV" symbolizes a shift in power from passive reception to active intervention.
In the film, the male lead uses some "technology" to cross into the TV and perform facials on the female anchor, an act that seems absurd but actually deconstructs the structure of media power. The female anchor, as a "screen goddess," typically holds a lofty position, representing authority and a perfect image, while the facial act pulls her down from her pedestal, exposing her to the most primal physical state. This "blasphemous" pleasure is a staple of "ROCKET's" works. However, it raises deeper questions: Is this pleasure merely a challenge to authority, or is it a re-objectification of the female body? Drawing from feminist scholar Laura Mulvey's theory of the "male gaze," the audience in this "crossover" game is undoubtedly placed in the dominant position, with the female anchor becoming the object of gazing and manipulation.
The subtitle "Endure a Smile No Matter How Dirty the Face Gets During the Broadcast" highlights another core theme—the limits of performance and the breakdown of professional ethics. The female anchor suffers facials during the live broadcast yet must maintain a smile, a form of "endurance" that challenges not just the body but also the psyche and morality. This setup evokes thoughts of the Japanese cultural virtue of "gaman," or enduring and restraining oneself in adversity. However, "ROCKET" pushes this virtue to absurd extremes, turning "gaman" into a mockery of human dignity.
From the perspective of performance theory, this "enduring smile" broadcast is an extreme example of "Brechtian" performance. Brecht advocated for the "alienation effect," making audiences aware of the fictionality of the performance to provoke critical thinking. In "RCTD-674," the contrast between the female anchor's smile and her filthy face forces viewers, while satisfying their desires, to confront the absurdity and degradation behind the performance. Is this a deliberate critique by the director, or merely a gimmick to appeal to the market? The answer likely rests with "ROCKET" alone.
As part of the "User Request Festival," "RCTD-674" directly responds to audience fantasies. "ROCKET's" official website once declared: "Everyone's 'wouldn't it be great if' is here!" This user-driven model gives the work a strong "crowdsourced" flavor. However, it also sparks ethical debates. When a production fully caters to extreme user fantasies, does it reinforce unhealthy desire structures? Drawing from Freud's psychoanalytic theory, this work undoubtedly taps into the "id's" primal impulses but lacks the "superego's" moral constraints.
Furthermore, "ROCKET's" "user request" model reflects the commercial logic of the contemporary porn industry. By commodifying audience fantasies, "ROCKET" not only meets market demands but also turns viewers into "accomplices." This accomplice relationship echoes Marx's critique of commodity fetishism in "Capital": When desires are commodified, human subjectivity is alienated into a tool of consumption.
Overall, "RCTD-674" upholds "ROCKET's" consistent style of exaggeration. The director uses rapid editing, close-up shots, and sound effects to create a nearly cartoonish sense of absurdity. The female anchor's "dirty face" is magnified in close-ups, clashing with her mechanical smile, evoking the exaggerated "ahegao" expressions from Japanese manga. This visual language not only appeals to fans of otaku culture but also makes the work more impactful visually.
The performances of the three actresses are also noteworthy. Hoshino Natsuki plays against her pure image for contrast, Matsuzaka Tugumi demonstrates solid acting skills, and Minato Asami conveys the character's struggle and resignation through subtle expressions. Their "enduring smiles" serve as both a tribute to professional spirit and a perfect embodiment of absurd theater.
"RCTD-674" is undoubtedly a visual and psychological carnival, challenging viewers' moral boundaries and imaginative limits with its extreme setup. Yet, when the carnival ends, it leaves behind an inexplicable emptiness. As Kafka reveals in "The Metamorphosis," the true tragedy of being transformed into something absurd is not the external change but the internal loss. As "ROCKET's" 17th anniversary work, it both continues the brand's spirit and encapsulates contemporary desire culture. It shows us that when "fantasies" become reality, they may bring not satisfaction but more questions and reflections. Borrowing a line from Shakespeare's "Hamlet": "To be, or not to be, that is the question." In the world of "RCTD-674," are we the masters of desire, or its slaves? This might be the greatest issue the work leaves us with.