History ComicStrip / HsuAndChan

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->''"Hello, video gamers! I'm Hsu Tanaka, that's my brother Chan!"''
-->-- ''Hsu [[NoFourthWall greeting the reader]] at the beginning of almost every episode''

** Parodied hilariously when Hsu does a test to see if video games really do make people violent. His test subjects include a stereotypical 90's teenager and another teen who is clearly mentally unstable. For the test, the 90's stereotype plays MDK 2 (a Dreamcast third person shooter) and the other plays an educational game for the UsefulNotes/ColecoVision. Guess which one goes on a murderous rampage.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: A lot of the Tanaka's game ideas and marketing schemes tend to end up like this, such as in ''Hsu and Chan's All-Star Gala Zombierama'' when, as part of a publicity stunt for their upcoming ''[[Franchise/ResidentEvil Resident Evil]]'' rip-off ''Zombies Bite''[[note]]Released in France as ''Sacre Bleu! Les Zombis me Mangent!'' ("Drat! The Zombies are Eating Me!")[[/note]], they unleash a real-life zombie outbreak and quote the trope directly once they see that free-range zombies are, well, dangerous.

In October 1999, a two-page comic appeared on the pages of ''Magazine/ElectronicGamingMonthly''. That comic, by [[Creator/NormanVonScott Jeremy "Norm" Scott]], continued to appear in the magazine for nine years, continued on a blog on 1Up.com, and even got eight issues and a compilation published by Creator/SlaveLaborGraphics with a ninth issue announced. The comic follows the misadventures of the brothers Hsu and Chan Tanaka, two American video game designers of Japanese descent. They created a company called "Tanaka Bros. Game Development" that releases "top quality video games and occasional cheap knockoffs as the situation dictates." Together, the titular brothers have released such mildly enjoyable titles as ''Roller Death Derby'', ''Fist of the Dark Elf'', ''Lord of the Trousers: a Japanese dating sim'', and ''The Incredible Simulated Box Turtle'' (he poops!). Their misadventures usually show them trying to market their new game with humorous results, putting up with the antics of their non-human employees, and competing with their rivals at Yamamoto Games, known as the "[[OverlyNarrowSuperlative Most Evil Video Game Company in the world]]" (though there wasn't a lot of competition for that title at the time). The comics are known for their style of humor and the wordiness of some issues, especially the Slave Labor comics.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: The newest episode on Norm's website, ''Cave of the Tyrant Lizard''.

--->'''Studio Executive:''' It works like this -- You get a fat check, we take complete creative control of the project, trample all over your established storyline and characters, then hand the whole thing off to an NYU film dropout with two shampoo commercials to his credit, who will most likely turn the film into a cross between a high school drama production and a Duran Duran video. It will then have a two-week theatrical run and then be forgotten forever.
--->'''Chan:''' Deal!
--->'''Hsu:''' We can cash these today, yes?

* ViewersAreMorons: The brothers believe this especially when it comes to RPG gamers who they consider too stubborn to admit they can't beat a broken game the Tanaka's market to them. This trope is also employed when the brother's explore creating an illusion of depth and consequence in a video game.

* FiveManBand
** TheHero: Either Hsu or Chan (this is interchangeable with TheSmartGuy).
** TheLancer: Gila Mobster
** TheSmartGuy: Whichever Tanaka brother isn't assigned to the hero role.
** TheBigGuy: Chernobyl, who, despite being a RidiculouslyCuteCritter, can cause a nuclear meltdown at will.
** TheChick: Arnie

* TakeAThirdOption: In ''Punch Drunk'', the brothers drunkenly enter an underground fighting circuit. Realizing that the winner of the fight between the two of them would go on to fight a feral [[VideoGame/StreetFighter Blanka]] expy to the death, Chan instead picks a fight with a random person in the crowd and concedes to him when the man retaliates.

* RealityEnsues: ''Thunderblarg'' has the brothers do research for a spy game by having them live out the roles of characters in a James Bond film. Hsu, who has the Bond role, gets so drunk on martinis that he can barely stand, and his "high speed romantic conquest" attacks him when he tries to ditch her. In the end, the main reason he succeeds is a) Chan (in the Dr. No role) didn't really plan far beyond killing the spy and was hesitant to rush ahead that far, and b) Hsu ended up vomiting on Chan during his gloating.

In October 1999, a two-page comic appeared on the pages of ''Magazine/ElectronicGamingMonthly''. That comic, by [[Creator/NormanVonScott Jeremy "Norm" Scott]], continued to appear in the magazine for nine years, continued on a blog on 1Up.com, and even got eight issues and a compilation published by Slave Labor Graphics with a ninth issue announced. The comic follows the misadventures of the brothers Hsu and Chan Tanaka, two American video game designers of Japanese descent. They created a company called "Tanaka Bros. Game Development" that releases "top quality video games and occasional cheap knockoffs as the situation dictates." Together, the titular brothers have released such mildly enjoyable titles as ''Roller Death Derby'', ''Fist of the Dark Elf'', ''Lord of the Trousers: a Japanese dating sim'', and ''The Incredible Simulated Box Turtle'' (he poops!). Their misadventures usually show them trying to market their new game with humorous results, putting up with the antics of their non-human employees, and competing with their rivals at Yamamoto Games, known as the "[[OverlyNarrowSuperlative Most Evil Video Game Company in the world]]" (though there wasn't a lot of competition for that title at the time). The comics are known for their style of humor and the wordiness of some issues, especially the Slave Labor comics.

-->'''Hsu:''' JUDO CHOP * judo chops a man in the face*
-->'''Chan:''' SWEEP KICK! * sweep kick's a thug*
-->'''Gila Mobster:''' * Stabs a thug with a knife*
-->'''Thug:''' YOW!
-->'''Gila Mobster:''' Unannounced Seat-of-the-Pants Jab!

-->'''Random Player''': Oh mighty brothers Tanaka, we offer this tribute that you may not smite us for another thirty days.
-->'''Hsu's statue''': ''Louder!''

-->'''Chan:''' Hsu, our problems have just intensified. He's found the secret munitions cache on the second floor!
-->'''Hsu:''' ... Since when do we have a secret munitions cache in the office?
-->'''Chan:''' Since '95. Door-to-door munitions dealer dropped by and you know how I am with salespeople.

* NewMediaAreEvil: Parodied hilariously when Hsu does a test to see if video games really do make people violent. His test subjects include a stereotypical 90's teenager and another teen who is clearly mentally unstable. For the test, the 90's stereotype plays MDK 2 (a Dreamcast third person shooter) and the other plays an educational game for the UsefulNotes/ColecoVision. Guess which one goes on a murderous rampage.

-->'''Hsu''': Come, Chan, into the sunset! We ride!
-->'''Chan''': It's 3:15.
-->'''Hsu''': We'll ride slowly!

* VaporWare: Back in 2004 when Norm released the ''Too Much Adventure'' collection, he commented that he was considering releasing a comic that contained a collection of the strips that have run in Electronic Gaming Monthly. Well over a decade later he seems to have made no effort to create such a book.

*** Norm has stated on his website that the chances of him continuing that comic are extremely slim.

*** This is apparently due to 1up.com holding the rights to the comics which he made exclusively for them; considering the legal nature of Norm's stumbling block, it's probably permanent.

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Happens to Hsu in ''Schooln' '' when he becomes the head of a graphic design school the brothers founded. As he rapidly goes mad with power, he makes chewing gum in class punishable by 30 lashes and demands that all students and faculty refer to him as "God-Emperor Hsu." At the peak of his madness, he holds a young child hostage because Chan is explaining his concern about Hsu's actions.