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Kinamania is a videogame-related channel started by Pavel "Kinaman" Grinyov from Rostov, Russia, and featuring himself and his friends Nikolay "Coulthard" Moiseev, Maksim "MCSim" Edush, Andrey "The Sandman" Vdovichenko, Anna "Frozza" Gulbis, Ruslan "Sephiroth" Serdyukov, Dmitriy "Fcst 1993" Udalov and others.

The project started when Pavel was shown an The Angry Video Game Nerd episode, and, inspired by how easy it was (or so it seemed) to create interesting content, got an idea to create a series of documentaries about how it was to be a child during The '90s in The New Russia called "The nineties as we remember them," but ultimately decided against covering a broad range of topics, and concentrated on the true emblem of the nineties: The Dendy, a clone of the Nintendo Entertainment System that was incredibly popular in Russia, and all other former Soviet countries back then. Not wanting to invite too much comparison with the Nerd from the get go, Pavel chose to make a feature-length documentary instead of a series. The documentary, titled "The Curse of the Grey Elephant" (a reference to Dendy's mascot) was released on YouTube in mid-2011 and received much acclaim, prompting Pavel to make, as a sequel of sorts, a cycle of reviews and retrospectives called "Dendy Chronicles," for which Maksim joined him as a technician, cameraman and the character "arm-man."

Other projects and series include "In the Kitchen", a series of Let's Play videos in which Pavel and Nikolay (both visible on-screen while they're playing) play and beat games on the NES; "Kinamania Live" (livestreams); Dendy Memories, retrospectives by Pavel akin to AVGN's "memories" videos; and "V.H.S.," a series in which Pavel criticizes bad Russian dubs of movies, but the latter seems to have been abandoned past the pilot. Kinaman is currently working on a multi-part documentary titled "One Day of Childhood", the first part has been uploaded on January 1st 2017.


    Episodes of Dendy Chronicles so far 
  • A three-part retrospective on Super Mario games, mostly focused on hacked versions, unofficial ports and Dolled-Up Installments.
  • A review of Ghostly Village, a version of Ghosts 'n Goblins with a slight (and cruel) twist.
  • Two reviews of both licensed and unlicensed NES/Dendy games based on Disney cartoons: The Lion King and Aladdin.
  • A two-part retrospective on the most bizarre, ridiculous and plain mind-numbing cartridge labels.
  • A review of Ghostbusters1984.

    Tropes present in "The Curse of the Grey Elephant" 
  • Copy Protection: Kinaman shows off two (obviously pirated) games where the copy protection makes them unwinnable.
  • Follow the Leader / Foreign Remake: The similarities between Kinaman's behavior in this movie and AVGN's mannerisms are obvious.
  • Overly Long Gag: The part where Kinaman fights Shredder in ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Project"" is very long and, while it is used to great effect to showcase the horrible experience Russian gamers went through due to the game's Copy Protection, it becomes boring soon enough. In a making-of video, Kinaman revealed that in the original cut, the scene was even longer.
  • Pilot Movie: While not intended as such, it ended up becoming this to "Dendy Chronicles."

    Tropes present in Kinamania's other projects, and pertaining to Kinamania in general 
  • Adaptation First: In-Universe: When Kinaman discusses Super Mario 16, which was actually a hack of Joe & Mac, he shows an extract from "Dendy: New Reality" where the presenter, completely sincerely, praises Super Mario 16 for its graphics and gameplay... and a couple of weeks later, bashes Joe & Mac for being a ripoff of Super Mario 16!
    Kinaman: And that simply because they received the hack before the original!
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: At the end of his Super Mario reviews, Kinaman is amused by a thought of Mario being thrown into a fighting game, like a Street Fighter or something. Right after he finishes the sentence, Arm-Man produces a cartridge which contains just that.
  • "Blind Idiot" Translation: Unfortunately for the English-speaking crowd, the subtitles can border on this in some videos.
  • Brick Break: The "arm-man" attempts this with a wooden board in the "Dendy Chronicle" episode about bad cartridge labels, and fails. One of the Hilarious Outtakes shows Maksim actually pulling it off successfully on complete accident.
  • Covers Always Lie: The labels Kinaman shows off in the review dedicated to them. Sometimes they lie, but most of the time, they don't make any sense.
  • Divergent Character Evolution: Started in the first episodes of "Dendy Chronicles," where Kinaman abandoned some of the AVGN-inspired mannerisms. Most notably, he cut down on his swearing and switched to non-alcoholic beverages.
  • Dolled-Up Installment: All Super Mario games, starting from Super Mario Bros 4.
  • The Faceless: Maksim in "Dendy Chronicles." He is usually silent, and the only visible part of him is his right arm.
  • Guide Dang It!: The main focus of the Ghostbusters review. It becomes this when you're playing it without a manual... And in Japanese.
  • Head Swap: The Super Mario Bros Dolled Up Installments were more often than not made by taking an existing game and replacing the protagonist's head with Mario's head... and nothing else.
  • Nintendo Hard: Ghostly Village is Ghosts 'n Goblins without continues!
  • Porting Disaster: In-Universe. The Disney reviews are full of these, both official and unofficial.
  • Retraux: Despite using an HD camera to film, the "Dendy Chronicles" series are intentionally made in the 4:3 format.
  • Shoddy Knockoff Product: While everything on the Dendy, including the Dendy itself, is this, the "Aladdin 2" game is the shoddiest of them all.
  • The Silent Bob: The "arm-man" in "Dendy Chronicles". The gestures he makes with his hands are effective enough at communicating so that he doesn't need to talk at all.
  • Trademark Favorite Drink: Pepsi. Done intentionally to evoke The '90s, as Pepsi was very heavily advertised in Russia back then.
  • Unlicensed Game: Almost all of the games Kinaman reviews.
  • Urban Legend of Zelda: In-Universe:
    • Instead of actual helpful codes, the code books are filled mostly with these.
    Kinaman: To warp to a next level, press in the middle of the D-Pad and the Select button...
    • To add insult to injury, even the show "Dendy: New Reality" sometimes offers tips that are completely wrong.

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