RTA in Japan: Viewers of a My Summer Vacation speedrun join the game’s characters in morning gymnastics

During the Japanese speedrunning event RTA in Japan Summer 2022, there was a speedrun of the game Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation -The Endless Seven-Day Journey-. A scene from the event showing attendees performing morning gymnastics together has become popular on Twitter in Japan.

Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation -The Endless Seven-Day Journey- is an adventure game currently available for the Nintendo Switch. Players control Shinnosuke, the protagonist of popular manga and anime Crayon Shin-chan, and spend a fulfilling summer holiday in Kumamoto, Japan by doing things like catching bugs and fishing.

RTA in Japan is a speedrunning event that is held in Japan. The name comes from the Japanese term for speedruns: Real Time Attack or RTA for short. Gamers play their favorite games under set conditions and aim for the best time, similar to other charity events like Games Done Quick.

The event is streamed live and features players using all kinds of methods to beat games as quickly as possible while following the regulations that are set for each category. Some peculiar speedruns performed in the past include a run where the aim was to finish a game while the console was heated on a hot plate and a run that involved physically rotating an entire GameCube. The event does a great job at conveying the appealing qualities of speedrunning and has become quite popular. After being held online in the last few years, offline events recommenced with RTA in Japan Summer 2022.

During this event, speedrunner Rebatan attempted an “All Episodes run” of Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation -The Endless Seven-Day Journey- which entails beating the game along with all the sub-scenarios. Rebatan is currently the world record holder for the game in both the All Episodes and Any% categories.

Though the game itself is about experiencing a laidback summer vacation, speedrunning it is a rather frantic affair as Rebatan must progress through events in the most efficient way possible. Shinnosuke speeds through the game’s idyllic countryside setting while poking his ass out at the screen (his “Ketsudake Seijin” form) because it’s quicker than regular movement. The commentator of the speedrun described the spectacle as “single-mindedly shaking your ass and eating curry.”

At the start of each day in the game, Shinnosuke must perform morning gymnastics. You cannot skip these events, making them rather loathsome for a speedrun. However, the morning gymnastics drew in those watching the speedrun and created a heartwarming display. Commentator Runasoru called for all those at the venue and watching from home to join in on the exercise. The stream of the event shows the people in the audience get up and follow along with the characters on screen. Judging from the tags around their necks, it seems they were either fellow speedrunners, commentators, or event staff.

In addition to the people at the event, many of those watching online also participated. The lyrics of the morning gymnastics song were repeatedly posted in the Twitch comment section and on Twitter. The signature line: “One! Two! Three!” was even trending on Twitter in Japan for a short time. For a moment, the speedrunner, commentator, viewers, and event staff were all in unison.

Incidentally, the speedrun began at 6:30 a.m. Japan time and lasted until past 8:00 a.m.. This is fittingly around the time that morning gymnastics are performed in real life. This morning ritual is a very familiar one for Japanese people, and those watching may have found themselves joining in, spurred on by their own exercise memories.

Rebatan managed to complete the run without making any major mistakes and finished it in 1 hour, 56 minutes, and 41 seconds, which is just three seconds shy of the world record of 1 hour, 56 minutes, and 38 seconds that Rebatan set on August 8. When discussing their run, Rebatan expressed gratitude to all those who joined in on the morning gymnastics.

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-08-15 14:53 JST)