| “ | Hey! Who did all of this? That's pretty good! | ” |
Hairdresser Octopus (タコ山さん Takoyama-san*) is a hairdresser. He debuted in PaRappa The Rapper 2 and is the Teacher of "Stage 5: Hair Scare".
Story
PaRappa the Rapper 2
General Potter put Parappa and PJ Berri - who have just finished Instructor Moosesha's training - on a mission to check out what is happening over at the hair salon. They find people leaving the place with afros that expand on their own due to Colonel Noodles' influence. Rushing inside, they find MilkCan tied to chairs as they undergo Hairdresser Octopus's exclusively afro-creating treatment. PJ Berri likes the look, but Parappa does not. This causes his motivation to be preventing Sunny Funny from obtaining the hairstyle rather than the 'trauma' of the treatment itself. When Hairdresser Octopus notices Parappa, he challenges him to see who can create the better hairstyle. Parappa's reward has the Octopus redo everyone's hair.
He's normally blue and is a skilled hairdresser. However, when hypnotized by the tape deck, he turns red and becomes crazed by the music, giving everyone afros that increase in size. Throughout his stage, Octopus will be shown working on the afros. This includes trimming, cutting, priming, and dying. If the player receives a Cool rank, Hairdresser Octopus will leave to sweep up the hair on the floor.
Hairdresser Octopus is returned to normal when the hypnotic device is destroyed. He doesn't appear to recall what happened. In the wait for their performance in "Stage 8: Always Love!" as dancers, he stands next to Instructor Moosesha, most likely interacting. During Sunny Funny's performance in "Come a Long Way", he sits at a table with Moosesha, General Potter, and the ghost of Beard Burger Master, where he's stoked as everyone else when Sunny starts to sing.
PaRappa TV Anime
Like other teachers, Hairdresser Octopus also appeared in the PaRappa TV Anime in Episode 27. Throughout the episode, he is referred to by his Japanese name. He seems to transform into his red alter when angered, rather than being hypnotized by a machine.
PJ Berri no Mogu-Mogu Munya-Munya
Hairdresser Octopus can be seen several times in the background of episode 20 and is the only PaRappa the Rapper 2 exclusive teacher to show up in the entire series.
Personality & Habits
| “ | "He's known to do great haircuts, but he's gone bananas ever since that tape deck started rolling. He'll only do afros!" | ” |
— Katy Kat
|
Eccentric and passionate, timid in his blue form and loud in his red, Hairdresser Octopus is best known for his skills as a hairdresser. His red alter-ego shows him to be confident and energetic. He takes up a lot of space and uses way bigger tools. Interestingly enough, certain proportions of his red version — such as his hands and tentacle-hair — are made vastly larger. This may mean he can cause himself to grow or shrink. In the anime, he also becomes red when provoked.
In the Japanese subtitles (due to all audio being English), he isn't consistent with his personal pronoun, using watashi, boku, ore, and even uchi one time.
Design
Hairdresser Octopus has an "upside down" octopus head; his tentacles make up his hair instead of his body. His face formation of unequal placed and sized pair of eyes and dots make it seem like bubbles floating towards the surface.
He has a Spanish accent, as indicated by his usage of Spanish words and pronouncing certain words with an 'ah' sound instead.
His blue form is designed to look timid in comparison. His voice is soft and cracked, his hair is well-kept in waves and he is a lot smaller than his red form, making his dress ruffle up, giving it an accordion vibe. When in red form, his smile is wider, his teeth are clearer and his hands are far larger. His tentacles move individually as far apart from his head as possible to make him appear bigger and have their suckers visible. He stretched his body to the maximum height of his dress.
Trivia
- His Japanese name is a pun with "Tako" meaning octopus and "yama" coming from the Japanese word "Tokoyama" which is the name of a Hairdresser hired by the Japan Sumo Association.
- Hairdresser Octopus' two forms have loose similarities to Dissociative Identity Disorder, as his red form has a radically different demeanor and behavior from his blue form, and his blue form does not remember what occurred when he was in his red form--two hallmark symptoms of the disorder. Interestingly, treatment for Dissociative Identity Disorder has a reputation for utilizing hypnosis to discover or explore identities hidden away in patients, and has even been theorized to cause similar phenomena.[1]
Gallery
- Main article: Desktop Accessories
- Main article: PaRappa The Rapper 2 Official Guide Book
Notes
- ↑ https://www.healthyplace.com/abuse/wermany/uses-of-hypnosis-with-dissociative-identity-disorder#:~:text=Hypnosis%20can%20be%20used%20to%20call%20out%20personalities%20so%20that,may%20not%20be%20in%20trance.