Harisen

The harisen (ハリセン, meaning "slapping fan" in Japanese) is a giant paper fan, usually made in a closed fashion. It is most traditionally used as part of a manzai act, in which the straight man (tsukkomi) smacks the funny man (boke) in response to their jokes or idiocy.

In popular culture

• The psychopathic character Kazuo Kiriyama is given a harisen in the movie Battle Royale.
• In the video game Chaos Wars, the character Shizuku's weapon of choice is a harisen which often uses it to hit the main character in typical comedic fashion. Her special attack is called Harisen Ranbu (張り扇乱舞) or "Harisen Dance".
• In the manga and anime series Hayate no Gotoku!, the supporting character and Kansai native Sakuya Aizawa frequently carries a harisen used mostly to smack the title character during their brief manzai exchanges.
• Kaname Chidori of the anime Full Metal Panic uses a harisen that she seems to pull out from hammerspace to stop Sousuke Sagara from doing anything that could injure or kill a civilian in Tokyo (at one point, her harisen is seen to be extendable and takes up as much space as a matchbox).
• In the manga Negima!, character Asuna Kagurazaka wields a giant sword-sized harisen that later transforms into an enormous single-edged sword.
• The character Dr. Eto in the series Nodame Cantabile is known by the nickname "Harisen" because he uses one to punish his students.
• In the manga and anime series Saiyuki Genjyo Sanzo uses a harisen to punish both Son Goku and Sha Gojyo when the two argue for even the smallest of things.
• In the video game series Super Smash Bros., a large fan is a usable item. Characters can wield it as a very fast weapon, causing minimal but repeated and nigh-unstoppable damage to enemy characters.
• In the video games Tekken 6 and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, Asuka Kazama uses a harisen as her item move.
• The tengu-karasu that attend to the Zashiki-Warashi in the manga and anime series xxxHolic wield harisen, though they generally only attack Kimihiro Watanuki since they believe he's the one that makes her cry.
• In the video games Sengoku Basara, Oda Nobunaga's joke weapon is harisen.
• In the anime and manga Pandora Hearts, various characters use non-paper harisen, including Duke Rufus Barma and Lady Cheryl Rainsworth. During one episode, a drunk Lady Sharon Rainsworth makes multiple paper harisen and threatens the other characters with them.
• In the video game, manga, and anime Comic Party, Yū Inagawa uses a harisen both for its real purpose (making noise to attract customers) and its comedy purpose (slapping idiots).
• In the video game Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2, Neptune can wield the harisen fan as a weapon.
• In the side story series, Naruto SD: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden, Tenten uses this fan as a comic relief mostly on Rock Lee or other characters.

External links

• "Harisen". TV Tropes.