City Sushi

"City Sushi"
South Park episode
Butters looks at the video footage he set up the previous night.
Episode no.	Season 15 Episode 6
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker
Production code	1506
Original air date	June 1, 2011 (2011-06-01)
Episode chronology
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South Park (season 15) List of South Park episodes

"City Sushi" is the sixth episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 215th episode of the series overall. "City Sushi" first aired in the United States on Comedy Central on June 1, 2011.^[1] It is the first episode to air in June since the 2002 episode "Simpsons Already Did It". The episode, which parodies several horror films, is centered on Butters, and is notable for not including Cartman, Kyle, Stan or Kenny in any speaking roles; which is similar to the season five episode, "Butters' Very Own Episode".

Plot

The episode begins with Butters distributing flyers for a newly opened Japanese restaurant named City Sushi, giving a flyer to Tuong Lu Kim, the owner of the Chinese restaurant City Wok. Bewildered at the prospect of a Japanese restaurant next to his, an angered Lu Kim enters the establishment and starts a fight with the owner, a Japanese man named Junichi Takayama. Butters is then sent home by the police for indirectly starting an "Asian turf war". Linda wonders what is the problem, and, according to Stephen, "it's clear it isn't our parenting, we're awesome!". Stephen decides that Butters must have mental problems and he and Linda take Butters to therapy, where he ends up being misdiagnosed with multiple personality disorder by psychiatrist Dr. Janus. However, it would turn out that Janus actually has multiple personality disorder himself and unknowingly puts Butters in situations that make the boy appear more mentally unfit.

While this occurs, Lu Kim is further infuriated that everyone in South Park is lumping Chinese and Japanese together; such as the town naming its Chinatown "Little Tokyo". He proceeds to enact a plan to get rid of Takayama by first faking a truce and then publicly humiliating him at the school by depicting old stock photos of the atrocities Japan committed against the Chinese prior to World War II, such as the Nanking massacre. Lu Kim later makes an apology to Takayama while building a tower called "the Tower of Peace" between the two restaurants for an "Asian Diversity Festival", intending to murder Takayama and make it look like a suicide which would not arouse suspicion, due to the stereotype behind it.

At that time, Butters is investigating Dr. Janus' house at the insistence of "Billy", one of Janus' personas, and makes a shocking discovery: "Tuong Lu Kim" is and always has been yet another split-personality of the therapist. Even though Dr. Janus is Caucasian, his most dominant alternate persona is the owner of the local Chinese restaurant, and for years Janus has effectively convinced the people of South Park that he is indeed the Chinese "Tuong Lu Kim" by squinting his eyes and speaking in a stereotypical Chinese accent. Butters contacts the police and as they arrive Lu Kim is attempting to push Takayama off the tower and visibly changes his personality in plain sight before the town. Out of shame for being easily fooled into thinking a white person was actually Asian, Takayama ironically commits suicide by jumping over the edge of the tower yelling "This is a racial stereotype" and falling on the City Sushi building, destroying it on impact.

Butters is praised as a hero by the police for exposing the split identities of Janus, and his parents, upon learning the truth of the events, are proud of him. Despite Takayama's harassment and death and the disorganized state of Janus' mental health, the police decide to keep Lu Kim around since he owns the only Chinese restaurant in South Park. The episode ends with a scene parodying the final scene of the acclaimed horror film Psycho; Lu Kim sits in a prison cell, covered in a blanket, and when a fly lands on him, and he says he will show them he is fine as he would not even harm a fly, before a shot of Dr. Janus covers his face, followed by a final shot of City Wok.

Cultural references

Dr. Janus is named after Roman god Janus, god of transitions. This god is generally depicted with two faces: one on the front of his head and one on the back.^[2]

The scene in which Butters watches a video he recorded of his night sleeping is a reference to the film Paranormal Activity (Butters acknowledges that he got the idea from the film)Calling It ParanormalFile:Sp 1506 clip07 city-sushi.jpg and the final scene with Lu Kim is a reference to the film Psycho.^[2]

In the scene where Butters is playing as a trucker, he is quoting parts of the song "Convoy" by C. W. McCall.

Musical references

The scene in which Lu Kim and Takayama are holding the Asian Diversity assembly features LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem"^[3].

Critical reception

Assignment X rated the episode B+, stating that South Park had "emerged from its slump", stating "the spoof of horror movies is where the episode really excels".^[4] The A.V. Club gave it the same rating, praising the creators on their "mindfulness" of not diluting Butters' character by repeatedly putting him in the spotlight.^[2] Meanwhile, IGN gave the episode a mixed review stating "so far this season has displayed a drastic drop in quality, and it's sad when even Butters can't put it right".^[5]

References

1. ^ "City Sushi", South Park Studios, accessed June 9, 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "City Sushi". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/city-sushi,56765/. 
3. ^ Southpark Season 15: Partyrock Anthem HD on YouTube
4. ^ Cortez, Carl. "TV Review: SOUTH PARK - Season 15 - "City Sushi"". Assignment X. http://www.assignmentx.com/2011/tv-review-south-park-season-15-city-sushi/. 
5. ^ Isler, Ramsey. "South Park: "City Sushi" Review", IGN, June 2, 2011

External links

• "City Sushi" Episode guide at South Park Studios
• "City Sushi" Full episode at South Park Studios
• "City Sushi" at the Internet Movie Database
• "City Sushi" at TV.com