City Sushi: Difference between revisions

| title series = City[[South SushiPark]]

| seriesimage = South Park

| music = "[[Party Rock Anthem]]"<br>by [[LMFAO]]

| season_article = South Park (season 15)

"'''City Sushi'''" is the sixth episode of the [[South Park (season 15)|fifteenth season]] of the American animated sitcom ''[[South Park]]'', and the 215th episode of the series overall. It premiered on [[Comedy Central]] in the [[United States]] on June 1, 2011. In the episode, [[Butters Stotch|Butters]] is misdiagnosed with [[Dissociative identity disorder|multiple personality disorder]]. Meanwhile, [[Tuong Lu Kim]] takes on South Park's new Japanese resident, who has put a [[sushi]] restaurant right next to his City Wok.<ref>[https://southpark.cc.com/guide/episodes/s15e06-city-sushi "City Sushi"]{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, South Park Studios, accessed June 9, 2011.</ref>

The episode was written by series co-creator [[Trey Parker]] and is rated [[TV-MA]] in the United States. It parodies several [[horror film]]s, such as ''[[Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho]]'', ''[[Paranormal Activity]]'' and the [[Thriller film|thriller]] ''[[Identity (2003 film)|Identity]]''.

[[Butters Stotch|Butters]], is distributing flyers for a newly opened Japanese restaurant named City [[Sushi]], though nobody seems interested. He gives one to [[Tuong Lu Kim]], the owner of the [[China|Chinese]] restaurant City Wok. Enraged at the prospect of a Japanese[[Japan]]ese restaurant next to his, Lu Kim enters the establishment and gets in a fight with the owner, a [[Japanese people|Japanese]] man named Junichi Takayama (the same one from "[[HumancentiPad]]"). Butters is thenblamed sentfor homethe incident by the police forwho indirectlyclaim startinghe started an "Asian [[wikt:turf war|turf war]]". After Butters is grounded and sent to his room, [[List of South Park families#Stephen and Linda Stotch|Linda]] wonders what is thewrong problem,with and, according tohim. [[List of South Park families#Stephen Stotch|Stephen]], "it'safter cleardismissing itthe isn'tidea ourthat parenting,either we'reof awesome!".them Stephenare the issue, decides that Butters must have mental problems andso he and Lindathey take Buttershim to [[therapy]],. whereThe hepsychiatrist, endsDr. up[[Janus]], beingmisdiagnoses misdiagnosedButters with [[Dissociative identity disorder|multiple personality disorder]] by psychiatrist Dr. Janus, even though Butters is clearly just a child playing and using his imagination, toincluding pretendplaying to beas a firefighter, a supervillain, detective and atruck detectivedriver. Ironically,When howeverquestioning Butters, it turnsbecomes outapparent that Dr. Janus actuallyironically has multiple personality disorder himself andwhich unknowinglyseverely putsconfuses Buttersand infrightens situations that make the boy appear more mentally unfitButters.

While this occursMeanwhile, Lu Kim is further infuriated that everyone in South Park is lumping Chinese and Japanese together, such as the town naming its Chinatown "[[Japantown|Little [[Tokyo]]". He proceeds to enactconcocts a plan to get rid of Takayama by first faking a truce and then [[Struggle session|publicly humiliating]] him at the school by depictingdisplaying old stock photos of the [[Japanese war crimes|atrocities Japan committed]] against the ChineseChina during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], (such as the [[Nanjing Massacre]]) and a chart that greatly exaggerates [[Suicide in Japan|the country's rate of suicides]]. Lu Kim later makes an apology to Takayama, while buildingproposing a towernew called "the Tower of Peace"peace between the two restaurants forby throwing an "Asian Diversity Festival". Against his better judgement, intendingTakayama agrees. Lu Kim leaves Takayama a note telling him to come to the top of what Lu Kim calls the "Tower of Peace" where he really intends to murder Takayama and make it look like a suicide which would not arouse suspicion, due to the [[Suicide in Japan|stereotype behind it]].

AtUpon thatadvice timefrom Dr. Janus, Butters isfilms investigatinghimself while sleeping and sees Dr. Janus' houseenter athis bedroom, beat him and urinate on his face. When confronted with this, Dr. Janus becomes a violent personality and forces Butters to break into a jewellery store with him. However, mid-heist, Dr. Janus reverts to his doctor personality and turns Butters over to the insistencepolice thinking he decided to rob the store himself. While Butters is in his garden, Dr. Janus, in the personality of "a young boy called Billy," onebegs offor Butters' help saying Dr. Janus is getting worse. They go to Dr. Janus' personas,house to look for answers but Billy reverts to Dr. Janus before cycling through his many other personalities. Butters flees and makesenters a shockingroom discovery:full of defaced flyers and posters of Takayama and his City Sushi restaurant where he learns to his horror that "Tuong Lu Kim" is, and ''always was'', yet another split-personality of the therapist. Even though Dr. Janus is [[White people|white]], 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 [[Chinglish|stereotypical Chinese accent]]. Lu Kim leaves Butters after seeing he is late to the festival. Butters contacts the police andwho asarrive theyat arrivethe festival just as Lu Kim is attempting to push Takayama off the tower and visibly changes his personality in plain sight before the town. Upon finding out that Lu Kim was white all along, Takayama comes to the realization that he has brought shame upon himself and commits suicide by jumping over the edge of the tower, to his deathdespite yelling:, "No! This is racial stereotypingstereotype!", and fallinglands on the City Sushi building, destroying it on impact.

Butters is praised as a hero by the police for exposing the split identities of Dr. 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 ending of ''[[Psycho (1960 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.

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.<ref name=avclub>{{cite web|last=O'Neal|first=Sean|title=City Sushi|url=httphttps://www.avclub.com/articles/south-park-city-sushi,56765/-1798168437|publisher=The A.V. Club|date=June 2, 2011|access-date=March 6, 2022}}</ref>

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".<ref name=assignmentx>{{cite web|last=Cortez|first=Carl|title=TV Review: SOUTH PARK - Season 15 - "City Sushi"|url=http://www.assignmentx.com/2011/tv-review-south-park-season-15-city-sushi/|publisher=Assignment X}}</ref> ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave it the same rating, praising the creators on their "mindfulness" of not diluting [[Butters Stotch|Butters]]' character by repeatedly putting him in the spotlight.<ref name=avclub /> 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".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Isler, |first1=Ramsey. [http|title=South Park: "City Sushi" Review |url=https://mwww.ign.com/articles/11721642011/06/02/south-park-city-sushi-review "South|website=IGN Park:|access-date=March "City6, Sushi"2022 Review"]|date=June {{webarchive2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607025351/http://m.ign.com/articles/1172164 |archive-date=2011-06-07 }}, [[IGN]], June 2, 2011</ref>

* [https://southparkwww.ccsouthparkstudios.com/guide/episodes/s15e06dhi2tb/south-park-city-sushi-season-15-ep-6 "City Sushi"] EpisodeFull guideepisode at South Park Studios

[[Category:South Park (season 15) episodes]]