When my Dragon Con roommate Kurt aka TheGreatSG told me about his panel for Dragon Con, I figured it was worth a look. I hadn’t been in the J-Music scene in a while, but I’m always down for weird music videos.

I was not prepared for how weird it was going to get.

While this was my first year attending, Awesomely Bad Japanese Music videos has become something of a staple of cons in the Southeast. Showcasing the best of the bad, the panel has grown to have its own in-jokes and expectations over the years. Starting with the glory of interdimensional being Daigo Stardust to the death of Tarako Kewpie at the hands of Chris Jericho. Don’t worry, where that strange red bean kewpie fell, what will rise in its place is an epic and mind-bending song about snack crackers composed by Yoko Kanno. No, really.

The thing I quickly learned between being swung back to the days of Kishidan and Supercar’s somewhat mortifying ‘Be’ video is that Awesomely Bad Japanese Music Videos is not really about mocking these videos. Which seems like it would be the main idea when you got videos like ‘Nande?’ and the bizarre, hysterical and cheaply made video for Polysics’ ‘Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto.’ However, as much as it is about comedy, it’s also about celebrating the weird. There’s something of an art in the weird and SG gets that. It’s fun because it’s weird and awesomely bad. Not in spite of it.

Of course, there’s even a few earworms in there. I had ‘Nande?’ and Complex’s ‘Be My Baby’ stuck in my head for days after the panel. And, of course, FISH FIGHT!

If you’re at a con where Awesomely Bad Japanese Music videos will be at, I implore you to give it a look. It will be weird and awesomely bad, but it’s presentation is the furthest thing from malicious. Being introduced to these videos in a crowd that was just as into it as I was was easily some of the most fun I had at the con this year. If have one complaint though, it’s that we didn’t get ‘Miira Killer’ on our playlist, but that’s only because I’m biased towards the current NXT Champion.

For the Dragon Con playlist and to find out when Awesomely Bad is coming to a con near you, check them out on Facebook or Tumblr.