Waiting at the airport baggage claim for your luggage to show up can be a nerve-racking time. Did the airport lose your bags? How can you tell your suitcase from all the other ones that look just like it? Is that your giant fish head or someone else’s?
That’s exactly what this mascot for the Chiba Lotte Marines, a Japanese professional baseball team, was thinking as he waited for his top half to arrive at the Honolulu airport.
#ハワイアン航空で行った謎の魚ハワイの思い出 ～ホノルル到着編～ ハワイの島経由でホノルル到着。到着ロビーにテレビのワイドショーが待っているのではと警戒しましたが、何も起こりませんでした・・・。
— 千葉ロッテマリーンズ (@chibalotte) April 1, 2018
ハワイアン航空(@HawaiianAirJP) でも謎の魚出没中！#chibalotte pic.twitter.com/CTRt7YfLrR
The thirty-three-second video clip is a master class in how to produce short cinema.
First, the fish head slowly enters the shot following four ordinary suitcases.
The camera follows the head until we see this guy.
Who almost misses his luggage because, hey, that could be anyone’s giant angler fish head.
Then he decides, “Oh yeah, that’s mine. I recognize the lips”. He grabs it off the belt.
Double checks to make sure it is in fact the correct giant fish head.
Crawls inside.
And saunters off.
Clearly whoever shot this is a shoe-in for best director of a short film starring a fish mascot in an airport.
If nothing else, the person who filmed the video seems to have won a people’s choice award on Twitter.
He had to check and make sure it was his. 😂
— Kissmymatoki (@Whatdoyoukno) April 4, 2018
I applaud that guy. I can never spot my luggage that quickly if I don't have a standout tag hanging from it.
— AmoebaStampede (@AmoebaStampede) April 4, 2018
— 🌠 (@_MindVibesLife) April 4, 2018
A Twitter account that follows Japanese mascots tweeted about the event with screengrabs from each crucial moment in the video:
The Mysterious Fish at baggage reclaim. pic.twitter.com/0QNCGzmuJV
— Mondo Mascots (@mondomascots) April 3, 2018
The tweet went viral, and people reacted strongly to the visuals of a fish man mascot putting his head back on.
https://twitter.com/girlgutters/status/981186740126961665
I can’t explain any part of this, but it’s one of the most magical things I’ve ever seen. https://t.co/YRg66R8xWZ
— Sam 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (@1NeedleKnitting) April 3, 2018
Goddamnit. I’m gonna be thinking about this for months. https://t.co/f6cj3vMmCQ
— Wampler™ (@ScottWamplerRIP) April 4, 2018
yo is that creature from rock bottom in spongebob https://t.co/mdKiDVfU0u
— momo (@guacamomole) April 3, 2018
I refuse to believe this fish had no additional luggage. https://t.co/bRtw5l1vtz
— Meggie Z, 🥔 Latke Enthusiast (@nutmeggles) April 3, 2018
Hopefully, there is a follow up where he realizes he made a mistake, walks back into the airport where an angry businessman is waiting with a briefcase. They exchange the briefcase for the fish head and both awkwardly walk away.