Watch "Kure Kure Takora" and be afraid... very, very afraid

by Chris MaGee

What was in the water in the early 70s?! I was going to say healthy doses of lysergic acid diethylamide and a splash of Baby Duck, but at least in Japan what was in the water appears to have been a very frightening octopus named Kure Kure Takora, or "Gimme Gimme Octopus". Between October of 1973 and September of 1974 "Kure Kure" appeared on Fuji TV and undoubtedly scared the hell out of kids. In this very first episode he tries to shoot the sun for god sake! If you thought those old "H.R. Puffinstuff" shows were weird then check this out, and if you're a real glutton for punishment you can actually get all the episodes on DVD via a website called Weirdo Records. Appropriate.