It's kind of torture knowing that MAOU is airing right now, but I don't have it in my hands yet--
....so, with the previous post, I'm at over 25,000 words of just nattering on about Kabuto, despite that I'm only about a quarter of the way through the series. "orz" does not really begin to cover it. Anyway, on to Kamen Rider Kabuto ep 13, with SPOILERS for the episode listed at the very least (and very likely into the 30s and possibly the whole series), I don't plan these things in advance, we'll see from there.
Kamen Rider Kabuto episode 13: This episode starts off with more of the fight between Kabuto and Drake, until Gon interrupts (after Kagami yells that there's no reason for them to fight like this) and says, it's not like I'm trying to stop you, Daisuke's too naive about women, you should beat him some more. That Kabuto's in the right and Daisuke's just mad because Tendou was cooler than he was. And if I hadn't loved her before that point, I certainly would after. She owns him so hard and someday they are going to be total OTP. Just. You know. Way, way in the future, when Gon is grown up.
I also really love how much the guys in their suits manage to get across, the Kabuto guy is especially good at mimicking Tendou's body language and just radiating that quiet, faint smug amusement that Tendou has when people admit that he's right.
After Daisuke leaves, it's back to Tendou at home with Juka, serving the takenoko that Hiyori had given them and the whole bit with Tendou saying that he's no match for her flavoring makes a lot more sense this time around and makes Hiyori seem less... well, it's not that I ever thought she was a Mary Sue or anything, but there was a certain amount of, ".... am I suppose to find Hiyori oh-so-special, too?" and I didn't know if the show was trying to push Tendou/Hiyori or what. But with proper context it makes a lot more sense. (And I don't think it's just that I didn't like the het, because I still like the idea of Kagami/Hiyori, just that Tendou/Hiyori never pinged right for me.) Juka asks about that day in Shibuya, "Onii-chan, after saving me, you headed back to the rubble, right? You said there was someone you still had to save." Tendou acts casual about it, but Juka still wonders if it was Hiyori that he rescued that day.
So that is one thing cleared up that I was slightly fuzzy with on the timeline (since I wasn't paying attention the first time through these episodes), how Tendou was around when Hiyori was trapped under the rubble, especially if Juka was around as well. I'm not sure if Tendou was with Juka at the time of the meteor (I assume he was?) and I still kind of wonder how he knew where to find Hiyori, but.
Tendou says, "I saved Hiyori, the future of the foolish humanity that came before." and Juka reacts to this about like I do, "....yeah, there Tendou goes again. XD" You get the impression that Juka finds Tendou to be incredibly vague sometimes, too, but just rolls with it.
After that is the scene where Kageyama is joining Tadokoro, Misaki, and Kagami's team, saying he's tired of the front line of battle and that Shadow has been dissolved. You know, the first time through the series, I wasn't paying much attention to the characters beyond the main three, so I didn't really pick up much about Kageyama until this scene, where he kind of seemed like a little bit of a little bitch. The first time through I was kind of, "....?? Wasn't this guy supposed to be the sweet little nice one? Why is he being such a little bitch now?" This time it makes a lot more sense, of course. XD
So, Tadokoro-san says to Misaki that former Shadow members are being targetted, that someone might be trying to gain information, while Kagami goes to rein Kageyama back in as he's looking over the equipment they use, talking about how Shadow has been dissolved because they don't have a leader (which Kagami feels a little responsible for) but Kageyama just says, well, we all had our own situations.
They argue a little and then we have a scene of two guys jogging towards each other, identical appearances, obviously one of them is the Worm. This kind of meeting happens a lot in the series and it sort of makes me wonder, because the Worm was coming from a good distance away and had the exact same clothes on that the jogger did. How far away did the Worm have to be to mimic the guy? I assume that it must be a pretty good distance that they're able to mimic across? In this case it's possible that the Worm mimicked the guy previously and is deliberately setting out to kill him here, but this sort of thing seems to happen a lot and I always wondered how close they had to be to the person to mimic them. I assume it has to be in person as well or else they'd just mimic the prime minster or something. (That and I think the Worm mindset must be kind of... um. Special. Going after people in white, people who it thinks look pretty, people who make wishes, etc. Wtf? XD)
I can't remember the episodes following this one, so I'm not sure if Kageyama has TheBee yet or not, but it's a really safe bet that he was, because Yaguruma shows up during the scene where Kagami and Misaki are examining the body of the Shadow guy and Yaguruma is clearly on the case, doing things the right way again, but TheBee hasn't come back to him. (Plus, the scene towards the end of the episode was obviously planned and Kageyama said, "I was sure you would see that I had become TheBee.", implying that he'd been chosen from the outset.) Even if it's not his jurisdiction, he still feels he needs to help/protect the people of Shadow, which... seems to be what TheBee wants out of a user? Idk. I mean, if it chose Kageyama, I'm not sure I understand what the hell TheBee wants.
Kageyama is a little bitch when Yaguruma goes to see him, saying OMG I KNEW IT you really are the true leader of Shadow! after Yaguruma gives the speech about Kanzen Chouwa again, despite that he'd scoffed over it earlier in the episode. The first time I watched these scenes, I wasn't sure what the hell to make of him, like, was he supposed to be a dick? Was he won over by Yaguruma again? Not that I was paying attention to him, but. This time it makes a lot more sense to me, because, well, he is a little bitch.
I know he is trying to flush out the Worm (and trying to see if it's Yaguruma that's the traitor), when he pleads for Yaguruma to get Shadow back together and says that he'll gather everyone, I imagine he probably doesn't want to be hiding forever, but... watching these scenes and knowing what's coming, it does feel a lot like Kageyama's doing it so that he can show off being TheBee in front of everyone and really humiliate Yaguruma, rather than just being about flushing out the traitors.
You know, when Tendou shows up at the store that Hiyori's at, it strikes me that there's more explanation for it than Tendou often gets. He saw Hiyori drop the plate at La Salle and was there when Yumiko sent her out to get more olive oil, even saying that he uses the same brand. So it's easy to figure out how he got there and I want to say I don't remember getting as much explanation for Tendou's ~*randomly showing up*~ at other times?
Of course there's the sound of something breaking and Tendou opens the door in the back to show Yaguruma (who looks kind of unnerved/ruffled before he sees Tendou and rights himself) and it's a scene where Tendou and Yaguruma aren't bitchy at each other at all, why they get along great.
Also, I love how Tadokoro says, okay, Kagami, get this special new weapon to Kabuto, who tries to go, but I don't know who he is or where he is...., and Tadokoro's response is kind of delightful, like he has no time for your bullshit, Kagami, and doesn't care what you're trying to say. Just get this to Kabuto somehow, understand?
So, Kagami rushes off to go find Tendou (and apparently has Tendou Radar now, because he manages to find him, despite that Tendou's out shopping for olive oil, even though I know he's probably at least near his usual route or something so that Kagami could find him) and hands over the briefcase with the new weapon and I kind of think Tendou's half-serious when he says, "It's small for a box of olive oil..." like he kind of buys into the idea that the universe really will just hand him whatever he's looking for. I also really love Kagami's half-second annoyed face before he moves on to more important matters. ♥
It is nice to see, once they get into the store and they're attacked by two worms, that Tendou rushes over to grab Hiyori's hand and duck out of there with her, it was one of those really sweet little human moments with him that were rather rare early on in the series. He steadies himself pretty quickly and is calm and assured with her when locking her into the warehouse before going off to fight the Worm, though, which is very big-brotherly of him, but. I kind of like the human glances of Tendou.
And little bitch totally set it up so that he would transform in front of Yaguruma and the others, he totally wanted Yaguruma to think that TheBee zecter was coming for him, the way Shadow immediately fell into step like it was rehearsed (and I would not put that past Kageyama) and even when Yaguruma asks to join Shadow again, Kageyama turns him down, that he would bring disharmony to the team.
Part of me goes, you know, if Kageyama really hated Yaguruma, he'd allow him to join and lord his power over Yagurma to no end. But he doesn't even look like he considers it for a moment, just immediately turns him down. Possibly he knows that leaving Yaguruma on his own is far worse than at least making him part of a team again in some way or, considering their dynamic later in the series, maybe some part of Kageyama did like Yaguruma and just wanted to push him away rather than be a little bitch to him. Eh, either way.
I also love the ending fight in this episode, it is such a blatant excuse for Photoshopping those falling olive oil bottles and an excuse to make Tendou look cool by catching the very last one. I love it, though, because once the bottles break, at least the oil itself still only goes in slow motion (even if I wonder if they shouldn't have broken open that fast, if the bottles should still be just starting to crack open once the Worm rebounds off them) and it's just. It's great.
The episode ends on Mishima saying that Kagami is the traitor that was giving out Shadow info and Hiyori watches the end of the fight with Kabuto and notices the belt he's wearing, saying that he killed her parents.
The ending tag is totally cute, too, because Tendou says he's the universe's treasure and Kagami is like, "Yeah, sure, whatever." before waving to the audience, just totally ignoring Tendou. ♥
I've also been watching Boukenger in small bits and pieces here and there, finally getting up to episode 6 yesterday. It's not that it's a bad show (though, am I the only one who is kind of thrown off by the audio quality in the episodes? it's like it's dubbed... except it's clearly what they're actually saying?), but maybe it just takes awhile to get into. I was the same way with Kabuto at first, too. SPOILERS for up through this episode, even if I'm not really sure you need spoiler warnings for a show from 2006 that I'm only six episodes into.
Boukenger --> episode 06: I think what really is starting to win me over--much like what won me over with Kabuto as well--is that I'm developing a bit of a ship. Like, I was trying to be open to the possiblity of het, because Black/Yellow seemed like it might be kind of cute! But then Black (asld;fkj like I can remember their names yet) had all this tiny, snarly, pissy chemistry at Red, who is a Better Treasure Hunter than he is, while Red sort of deliberately eggs him on because he wants Black to stay on the team and also because maybe it's kind of a lot of fun to get Black all worked up.
I was shipping it a little up until episode 6 where it kind of went into overdrive. Little things like Red grabbing Black's jacket collar to turn it aside to see the drop of water on his neckline or the way Red rushed in to save Black when facing off against the monster and he'd kind of froze like a deer in the headlights.
Also, I would do Sakura/Natsuki for a quarter. *__*
I'm not really sure about the plot yet, mostly because it sort of doesn't have one yet, but. It's also interesting to get a bit more familiar with proper sentai, rather than just watching an endless amount of Kamen Rider. I think it's getting easier for me to get through, though, just like Kabuto started getting easier for me to get through at about this point.
And, of course, more Arashi stuff, spoilers for anything listed under the cut. (Himitsu no Arashi-chan #13 [2006.07.03] + VS ARASHI #06 [2008.05.17])
♥ - Himitsu no Arashi-chan #13 [2006.07.03] - So you know who's bandmates are a bunch of bitches? Ohno's bandmates are a bunch of bitches. The first half of this episode was the conclusion of the skin care thing with Sho/Ohno/Jun and it suffered from all the same problems that the previous segment suffered from--namely that if I wanted to watch an infomercial about skin care... well, I'd watch the Arashi one, but that's not why I'm watching Himitsu no Arashi-chan! It was like the guys were incidental on their own show.
There were a couple moments of total gold, like the exercise woman smacking Ohno across the face or the model that (I think?) thought Sho was trying to nanpa her, I laughed kind of a lot during those bits. But beyond that, I was kind of seriously waiting for this segment to be over.
Because. I'd heard about the second half, where Ohno is filming a fake commercial (that he doesn't know is fake) and they put him through hell during it. It's a ramen commercial to tie in with MAOU, I think? And the ramen they make him eat during the filming of it is spicy as hell, to the point that you can even see Ohno's face going >_< when he tries to eat it.
They make him do this take eleven different times. I was crying with laughter when they showed that he had to eat it over and over and over and then the one time that he just about got it perfect, they had an AD DROP A BUNCH OF PANS IN THE BACKGROUND TO RUIN THE SHOT and those bitches were practically shrieking with laughter as they watched this over the monitor. Poor, poor Ohno, he looked like it was kind of really painful to eat that by the end.
Then they have Ohno and the actor film an alternate version of the commercial where they do this little dance that mirrors each other, which they keep doing over and over, the director eventually making Ohno do this sillier and sillier dance and adding even more ridiculous movements onto it. Aiba, Sho, and Jun were kind of killing themselves with laughter during the part where he had to whip around and go, "PAN~!"
Nino is also lurking around, though, he doesn't actually show up that much, he's just an assistant running around (with a mask on so Ohno doesn't recognize him) and painting over the sign in the background of the commercial for a later revelation. He's actually not as evil about this as you'd expect and I like to think this is because Nino knows that if he had been a little bitch about it, there would be no makeouts for a month. As it is, he's still probably going to have to treat everyone to dinner and that includes Aiba who eats three times as much as the rest of them and Matsujun who will do what my nephew tries to do--order three of the most expensive things on the menu, take two little bites of each, and then say he's full. If Nino is being punished into paying for their dinners, that is exactly what I expect Jun to do.
ANYWAY, SO THEY WEREN'T EVEN DONE YET. They had an actress come in to be a part of the commercial, who stood around in the background while they did the little dance, and it went all right the first time they tried to film it, but then she started complaining that it wasn't interesting at all, getting into a huge fight with the director while poor Ohno stands in the middle and looks like he doesn't have any idea what the hell to do. He really looks like he's so uncomfortable and so worn down by all of this, that THAT is when Arashi decides, well, okay lets go in and reveal the whole thing.
Ohno looks so surprised when Aiba, Jun, and Sho walk onto the set and greet him, doing the little dance that they made him do with the "PAN~!" final gesture. When they point out the sign behind him and it finally dawns on Ohno that all of this is a prank, the whine in his voice as he says, you guys are the worst is beautiful.
And, yeah. Yeah. They're all so happy for Ohno doing the lead in MAOU, they're all so proud of him and supportive of him and just delighted for him. So, how do they show their love for him?
By being a bunch of bitches.
Oh, man. Please, please, please let this trend of pranking Arashi/pranks by Arashi continue because it's gold every time we see it. Like, they probably couldn't get Nino (not unless they get some outside help) and Jun probably wouldn't fall for it or else would get super-pissed, but Aiba or Sho would be great fodder for it. Or, hell, make it a running gag, like playing a game against Nino, they have to win against him eventually!
♥ - VS ARASHI #06 [2008.05.17] - Nankai Candies [subbed] - I also finally got around to watching this episode and this is why I ♥ Nankai Candies. I remember reading a lot about their duo when they first showed up on Shukudai-kun, how they're so much different than the usual manzai act and I can actually sort of see why they'd be so good at what they do. Plus, Shizu-chan's crush on Aiba is so adorable, especially when they start teasing her about no, you can't go with him, you have to go over to the machine during the falling pipe catch and Nino being a little snot and telling Aiba to ask her which ones she's going to choose and she's so cutely torn. She's also so adorable when she deliberately throws him off balance by saying that she's started practicing making kara-age for him and he's all SERIOUSLY!? and of course he misses. <3
Aiba crumples to the ground and stays there and I LOL as Jun bitches, "You let her get to you too much." And I love that Aiba doesn't bother fixing his hair as he stumbles back over to the rest of the group and he apologizes, he didn't think there was any way she'd use kara-age in her attack! And then the AUDIENCE GETS IN ON THE ACT by going "WOOOO~~~" at the teasing of Shizu-chan's crush and a;sdlfjalsjk okay when Japanese fangirls are awesome, they're awesome.
I love that Jun volunteers to choose the numbers against Shizu-chan and Aiba says, "Get her back for me!" like, yes. Send your bitchy girlfriend to take care of the girl trying to encroach on her territory. And then they point out, well, you know, before Shizu-chan started to like Aiba, her favorite in Arashi was Matsujun. And she is AWESOME because they tease her that it's like Matsujun is her ex-boyfriend now and she goes, "I'm sorry. I'd just like to forget that time." Holy crap, do I ever love her.
She also totally owns at doing a double catch, getting 50 points (not an easy thing! though, I think Arashi was trying to send the pipes too early in this episode, they didn't give enough time to let the other person stew a bit) and Jun actually looks a little impressed. ....I would totally go for Jun + Shizu-chan = Trauma Time for Aiba fic.
So, it's Nino's turn to catch the pipes and he actually does predict the right two that Yama-chan chose, except he doesn't realize it because he's just goofing around, then afterwards they tell him no you really got it right the first time! Nino goes OMG *FACEPALM* and I love Shizu-chan a lot for pointing to the audience and saying, "Well, the audience's response kind of gave it away, well, they're on your side, right?" and then totally calls them a rude word. Love her.
Next it's Cliff Climb and they're trying to discuss who hasn't done it yet and Sho's like AH! I HAVEN'T DONE IT YET! then immediately whips his hand back down and Arashi give him looks. The kind that are DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, SAKURAI. They put all settings on IGNORE SHO and discuss who's all done it so far and who hasn't while Sho practices warming up in a goofy way and you can see Jun give him this look like, No way in hell, Mr. Sports Loser.
Nino vouches for him anyway, so they basically let Sho do it. Who wants to support him? Nino asks, NOT ME. NOT ME Aiba and Jun immediately echo and WALK OFF, leaving poor, poor Ohno standing there with a lost expression on his face for a few seconds before he decides, eh, and goes with it, mimiming swinging the basket across. It's. It's a beautiful moment and god I love these guys. Sho and Ohno are SUCH DORKS together, pantomiming the movements until Aiba yells at them IT'S TV, SO AT LEAST TALK!!
And then Nino, being the GOOD FRIEND THAT HE IS, says, it's Arashi's old man team! :D Until Sho yells at him HEY! WE ARE TOTALLY THE OLDER BROTHER TEAM, YOU JERK and then makes awesome faces when he and Ohno are asked how old they are (27 and 26) and says, w-well, I guess we are getting close to 30, huh? And once again WHY DOES FANDOM DEPRIVE ME OF THE OHNO/SHO PORNS? Or Ohno/Sho/Nino, I'm not fussy.
I love that Sho actually kind of looks surprised that he managed to get all the points and finish in time, plus I'll admit that he did look pretty cool doing it. XDb
I know Arashi can't win this episode because they didn't break their losing streak until recently, so I'm wondering how the Rolling Coin Tower goes (since I missed this episode the first time around, I hadn't watch it raw, this is my first time) but I already love Shizu-chan all over again for getting to choose the two members of Arashi that she's "two-timing on". a;sdljkfalkjs she clearly finds this hilarious. <3 Jun also clearly finds this hilarious, saying, you know, it's kind of like we're a three-person team. :D :D :D :D (Meaning him, Shizu-chan, and Aiba.) Seriously, you guys, where's my Jun + Shizu-chan = Torture for Aiba fic??
So, Jun loses the Rolling Coin Tower because, even though it falls over in Shizu-chan's area, I guess because she didn't actually touch it before it fell, it's his mistake and, seriously, how has the VS ARASHI staff-san-tachi made it out of this show alive?? The reactions from the rest of the team while Jun is all HEY WAIT A MINUTE are pretty gold, too.
They do the MDA thing at the end and, you know, as amusing as it was the first several times, I really kind of didn't like the whole idea after awhile. Like, way to make the person feel kind of genuinely badly about themselves! I'm glad they got rid of it. But I'll grant that this one was super fun because none of Arashi wanted to do it, so they got Yama-chan up to do it, who's all, eeeeee, I know it's not true, but it's kind of like I've joined Arashi, eeeee! And the random person yelling out GAMBATTE! while Yama-chan snaps THIS ISN'T SOMETHING YOU DO YOUR BEST AT and I'm kind of totally cracking up.
And then they drop Jun anyway because Jun's bandmates are bitches and are sleeping on the couch for a month after this. (Jun looked totally gorgeous in this episode, though, so that balances a lot out for me.) This episode was TOTALLY worth watching, one of the more fun VS ARASHI ones, I think.
Kamen Rider Kabuto episode 13: This episode starts off with more of the fight between Kabuto and Drake, until Gon interrupts (after Kagami yells that there's no reason for them to fight like this) and says, it's not like I'm trying to stop you, Daisuke's too naive about women, you should beat him some more. That Kabuto's in the right and Daisuke's just mad because Tendou was cooler than he was. And if I hadn't loved her before that point, I certainly would after. She owns him so hard and someday they are going to be total OTP. Just. You know. Way, way in the future, when Gon is grown up.
I also really love how much the guys in their suits manage to get across, the Kabuto guy is especially good at mimicking Tendou's body language and just radiating that quiet, faint smug amusement that Tendou has when people admit that he's right.
After Daisuke leaves, it's back to Tendou at home with Juka, serving the takenoko that Hiyori had given them and the whole bit with Tendou saying that he's no match for her flavoring makes a lot more sense this time around and makes Hiyori seem less... well, it's not that I ever thought she was a Mary Sue or anything, but there was a certain amount of, ".... am I suppose to find Hiyori oh-so-special, too?" and I didn't know if the show was trying to push Tendou/Hiyori or what. But with proper context it makes a lot more sense. (And I don't think it's just that I didn't like the het, because I still like the idea of Kagami/Hiyori, just that Tendou/Hiyori never pinged right for me.) Juka asks about that day in Shibuya, "Onii-chan, after saving me, you headed back to the rubble, right? You said there was someone you still had to save." Tendou acts casual about it, but Juka still wonders if it was Hiyori that he rescued that day.
So that is one thing cleared up that I was slightly fuzzy with on the timeline (since I wasn't paying attention the first time through these episodes), how Tendou was around when Hiyori was trapped under the rubble, especially if Juka was around as well. I'm not sure if Tendou was with Juka at the time of the meteor (I assume he was?) and I still kind of wonder how he knew where to find Hiyori, but.
Tendou says, "I saved Hiyori, the future of the foolish humanity that came before." and Juka reacts to this about like I do, "....yeah, there Tendou goes again. XD" You get the impression that Juka finds Tendou to be incredibly vague sometimes, too, but just rolls with it.
After that is the scene where Kageyama is joining Tadokoro, Misaki, and Kagami's team, saying he's tired of the front line of battle and that Shadow has been dissolved. You know, the first time through the series, I wasn't paying much attention to the characters beyond the main three, so I didn't really pick up much about Kageyama until this scene, where he kind of seemed like a little bit of a little bitch. The first time through I was kind of, "....?? Wasn't this guy supposed to be the sweet little nice one? Why is he being such a little bitch now?" This time it makes a lot more sense, of course. XD
So, Tadokoro-san says to Misaki that former Shadow members are being targetted, that someone might be trying to gain information, while Kagami goes to rein Kageyama back in as he's looking over the equipment they use, talking about how Shadow has been dissolved because they don't have a leader (which Kagami feels a little responsible for) but Kageyama just says, well, we all had our own situations.
They argue a little and then we have a scene of two guys jogging towards each other, identical appearances, obviously one of them is the Worm. This kind of meeting happens a lot in the series and it sort of makes me wonder, because the Worm was coming from a good distance away and had the exact same clothes on that the jogger did. How far away did the Worm have to be to mimic the guy? I assume that it must be a pretty good distance that they're able to mimic across? In this case it's possible that the Worm mimicked the guy previously and is deliberately setting out to kill him here, but this sort of thing seems to happen a lot and I always wondered how close they had to be to the person to mimic them. I assume it has to be in person as well or else they'd just mimic the prime minster or something. (That and I think the Worm mindset must be kind of... um. Special. Going after people in white, people who it thinks look pretty, people who make wishes, etc. Wtf? XD)
I can't remember the episodes following this one, so I'm not sure if Kageyama has TheBee yet or not, but it's a really safe bet that he was, because Yaguruma shows up during the scene where Kagami and Misaki are examining the body of the Shadow guy and Yaguruma is clearly on the case, doing things the right way again, but TheBee hasn't come back to him. (Plus, the scene towards the end of the episode was obviously planned and Kageyama said, "I was sure you would see that I had become TheBee.", implying that he'd been chosen from the outset.) Even if it's not his jurisdiction, he still feels he needs to help/protect the people of Shadow, which... seems to be what TheBee wants out of a user? Idk. I mean, if it chose Kageyama, I'm not sure I understand what the hell TheBee wants.
Kageyama is a little bitch when Yaguruma goes to see him, saying OMG I KNEW IT you really are the true leader of Shadow! after Yaguruma gives the speech about Kanzen Chouwa again, despite that he'd scoffed over it earlier in the episode. The first time I watched these scenes, I wasn't sure what the hell to make of him, like, was he supposed to be a dick? Was he won over by Yaguruma again? Not that I was paying attention to him, but. This time it makes a lot more sense to me, because, well, he is a little bitch.
I know he is trying to flush out the Worm (and trying to see if it's Yaguruma that's the traitor), when he pleads for Yaguruma to get Shadow back together and says that he'll gather everyone, I imagine he probably doesn't want to be hiding forever, but... watching these scenes and knowing what's coming, it does feel a lot like Kageyama's doing it so that he can show off being TheBee in front of everyone and really humiliate Yaguruma, rather than just being about flushing out the traitors.
You know, when Tendou shows up at the store that Hiyori's at, it strikes me that there's more explanation for it than Tendou often gets. He saw Hiyori drop the plate at La Salle and was there when Yumiko sent her out to get more olive oil, even saying that he uses the same brand. So it's easy to figure out how he got there and I want to say I don't remember getting as much explanation for Tendou's ~*randomly showing up*~ at other times?
Of course there's the sound of something breaking and Tendou opens the door in the back to show Yaguruma (who looks kind of unnerved/ruffled before he sees Tendou and rights himself) and it's a scene where Tendou and Yaguruma aren't bitchy at each other at all, why they get along great.
Also, I love how Tadokoro says, okay, Kagami, get this special new weapon to Kabuto, who tries to go, but I don't know who he is or where he is...., and Tadokoro's response is kind of delightful, like he has no time for your bullshit, Kagami, and doesn't care what you're trying to say. Just get this to Kabuto somehow, understand?
So, Kagami rushes off to go find Tendou (and apparently has Tendou Radar now, because he manages to find him, despite that Tendou's out shopping for olive oil, even though I know he's probably at least near his usual route or something so that Kagami could find him) and hands over the briefcase with the new weapon and I kind of think Tendou's half-serious when he says, "It's small for a box of olive oil..." like he kind of buys into the idea that the universe really will just hand him whatever he's looking for. I also really love Kagami's half-second annoyed face before he moves on to more important matters. ♥
It is nice to see, once they get into the store and they're attacked by two worms, that Tendou rushes over to grab Hiyori's hand and duck out of there with her, it was one of those really sweet little human moments with him that were rather rare early on in the series. He steadies himself pretty quickly and is calm and assured with her when locking her into the warehouse before going off to fight the Worm, though, which is very big-brotherly of him, but. I kind of like the human glances of Tendou.
And little bitch totally set it up so that he would transform in front of Yaguruma and the others, he totally wanted Yaguruma to think that TheBee zecter was coming for him, the way Shadow immediately fell into step like it was rehearsed (and I would not put that past Kageyama) and even when Yaguruma asks to join Shadow again, Kageyama turns him down, that he would bring disharmony to the team.
Part of me goes, you know, if Kageyama really hated Yaguruma, he'd allow him to join and lord his power over Yagurma to no end. But he doesn't even look like he considers it for a moment, just immediately turns him down. Possibly he knows that leaving Yaguruma on his own is far worse than at least making him part of a team again in some way or, considering their dynamic later in the series, maybe some part of Kageyama did like Yaguruma and just wanted to push him away rather than be a little bitch to him. Eh, either way.
I also love the ending fight in this episode, it is such a blatant excuse for Photoshopping those falling olive oil bottles and an excuse to make Tendou look cool by catching the very last one. I love it, though, because once the bottles break, at least the oil itself still only goes in slow motion (even if I wonder if they shouldn't have broken open that fast, if the bottles should still be just starting to crack open once the Worm rebounds off them) and it's just. It's great.
The episode ends on Mishima saying that Kagami is the traitor that was giving out Shadow info and Hiyori watches the end of the fight with Kabuto and notices the belt he's wearing, saying that he killed her parents.
The ending tag is totally cute, too, because Tendou says he's the universe's treasure and Kagami is like, "Yeah, sure, whatever." before waving to the audience, just totally ignoring Tendou. ♥
I've also been watching Boukenger in small bits and pieces here and there, finally getting up to episode 6 yesterday. It's not that it's a bad show (though, am I the only one who is kind of thrown off by the audio quality in the episodes? it's like it's dubbed... except it's clearly what they're actually saying?), but maybe it just takes awhile to get into. I was the same way with Kabuto at first, too. SPOILERS for up through this episode, even if I'm not really sure you need spoiler warnings for a show from 2006 that I'm only six episodes into.
Boukenger --> episode 06: I think what really is starting to win me over--much like what won me over with Kabuto as well--is that I'm developing a bit of a ship. Like, I was trying to be open to the possiblity of het, because Black/Yellow seemed like it might be kind of cute! But then Black (asld;fkj like I can remember their names yet) had all this tiny, snarly, pissy chemistry at Red, who is a Better Treasure Hunter than he is, while Red sort of deliberately eggs him on because he wants Black to stay on the team and also because maybe it's kind of a lot of fun to get Black all worked up.
I was shipping it a little up until episode 6 where it kind of went into overdrive. Little things like Red grabbing Black's jacket collar to turn it aside to see the drop of water on his neckline or the way Red rushed in to save Black when facing off against the monster and he'd kind of froze like a deer in the headlights.
Also, I would do Sakura/Natsuki for a quarter. *__*
I'm not really sure about the plot yet, mostly because it sort of doesn't have one yet, but. It's also interesting to get a bit more familiar with proper sentai, rather than just watching an endless amount of Kamen Rider. I think it's getting easier for me to get through, though, just like Kabuto started getting easier for me to get through at about this point.
And, of course, more Arashi stuff, spoilers for anything listed under the cut. (Himitsu no Arashi-chan #13 [2006.07.03] + VS ARASHI #06 [2008.05.17])
♥ - Himitsu no Arashi-chan #13 [2006.07.03] - So you know who's bandmates are a bunch of bitches? Ohno's bandmates are a bunch of bitches. The first half of this episode was the conclusion of the skin care thing with Sho/Ohno/Jun and it suffered from all the same problems that the previous segment suffered from--namely that if I wanted to watch an infomercial about skin care... well, I'd watch the Arashi one, but that's not why I'm watching Himitsu no Arashi-chan! It was like the guys were incidental on their own show.
There were a couple moments of total gold, like the exercise woman smacking Ohno across the face or the model that (I think?) thought Sho was trying to nanpa her, I laughed kind of a lot during those bits. But beyond that, I was kind of seriously waiting for this segment to be over.
Because. I'd heard about the second half, where Ohno is filming a fake commercial (that he doesn't know is fake) and they put him through hell during it. It's a ramen commercial to tie in with MAOU, I think? And the ramen they make him eat during the filming of it is spicy as hell, to the point that you can even see Ohno's face going >_< when he tries to eat it.
They make him do this take eleven different times. I was crying with laughter when they showed that he had to eat it over and over and over and then the one time that he just about got it perfect, they had an AD DROP A BUNCH OF PANS IN THE BACKGROUND TO RUIN THE SHOT and those bitches were practically shrieking with laughter as they watched this over the monitor. Poor, poor Ohno, he looked like it was kind of really painful to eat that by the end.
Then they have Ohno and the actor film an alternate version of the commercial where they do this little dance that mirrors each other, which they keep doing over and over, the director eventually making Ohno do this sillier and sillier dance and adding even more ridiculous movements onto it. Aiba, Sho, and Jun were kind of killing themselves with laughter during the part where he had to whip around and go, "PAN~!"
Nino is also lurking around, though, he doesn't actually show up that much, he's just an assistant running around (with a mask on so Ohno doesn't recognize him) and painting over the sign in the background of the commercial for a later revelation. He's actually not as evil about this as you'd expect and I like to think this is because Nino knows that if he had been a little bitch about it, there would be no makeouts for a month. As it is, he's still probably going to have to treat everyone to dinner and that includes Aiba who eats three times as much as the rest of them and Matsujun who will do what my nephew tries to do--order three of the most expensive things on the menu, take two little bites of each, and then say he's full. If Nino is being punished into paying for their dinners, that is exactly what I expect Jun to do.
ANYWAY, SO THEY WEREN'T EVEN DONE YET. They had an actress come in to be a part of the commercial, who stood around in the background while they did the little dance, and it went all right the first time they tried to film it, but then she started complaining that it wasn't interesting at all, getting into a huge fight with the director while poor Ohno stands in the middle and looks like he doesn't have any idea what the hell to do. He really looks like he's so uncomfortable and so worn down by all of this, that THAT is when Arashi decides, well, okay lets go in and reveal the whole thing.
Ohno looks so surprised when Aiba, Jun, and Sho walk onto the set and greet him, doing the little dance that they made him do with the "PAN~!" final gesture. When they point out the sign behind him and it finally dawns on Ohno that all of this is a prank, the whine in his voice as he says, you guys are the worst is beautiful.
And, yeah. Yeah. They're all so happy for Ohno doing the lead in MAOU, they're all so proud of him and supportive of him and just delighted for him. So, how do they show their love for him?
By being a bunch of bitches.
Oh, man. Please, please, please let this trend of pranking Arashi/pranks by Arashi continue because it's gold every time we see it. Like, they probably couldn't get Nino (not unless they get some outside help) and Jun probably wouldn't fall for it or else would get super-pissed, but Aiba or Sho would be great fodder for it. Or, hell, make it a running gag, like playing a game against Nino, they have to win against him eventually!
♥ - VS ARASHI #06 [2008.05.17] - Nankai Candies [subbed] - I also finally got around to watching this episode and this is why I ♥ Nankai Candies. I remember reading a lot about their duo when they first showed up on Shukudai-kun, how they're so much different than the usual manzai act and I can actually sort of see why they'd be so good at what they do. Plus, Shizu-chan's crush on Aiba is so adorable, especially when they start teasing her about no, you can't go with him, you have to go over to the machine during the falling pipe catch and Nino being a little snot and telling Aiba to ask her which ones she's going to choose and she's so cutely torn. She's also so adorable when she deliberately throws him off balance by saying that she's started practicing making kara-age for him and he's all SERIOUSLY!? and of course he misses. <3
Aiba crumples to the ground and stays there and I LOL as Jun bitches, "You let her get to you too much." And I love that Aiba doesn't bother fixing his hair as he stumbles back over to the rest of the group and he apologizes, he didn't think there was any way she'd use kara-age in her attack! And then the AUDIENCE GETS IN ON THE ACT by going "WOOOO~~~" at the teasing of Shizu-chan's crush and a;sdlfjalsjk okay when Japanese fangirls are awesome, they're awesome.
I love that Jun volunteers to choose the numbers against Shizu-chan and Aiba says, "Get her back for me!" like, yes. Send your bitchy girlfriend to take care of the girl trying to encroach on her territory. And then they point out, well, you know, before Shizu-chan started to like Aiba, her favorite in Arashi was Matsujun. And she is AWESOME because they tease her that it's like Matsujun is her ex-boyfriend now and she goes, "I'm sorry. I'd just like to forget that time." Holy crap, do I ever love her.
She also totally owns at doing a double catch, getting 50 points (not an easy thing! though, I think Arashi was trying to send the pipes too early in this episode, they didn't give enough time to let the other person stew a bit) and Jun actually looks a little impressed. ....I would totally go for Jun + Shizu-chan = Trauma Time for Aiba fic.
So, it's Nino's turn to catch the pipes and he actually does predict the right two that Yama-chan chose, except he doesn't realize it because he's just goofing around, then afterwards they tell him no you really got it right the first time! Nino goes OMG *FACEPALM* and I love Shizu-chan a lot for pointing to the audience and saying, "Well, the audience's response kind of gave it away, well, they're on your side, right?" and then totally calls them a rude word. Love her.
Next it's Cliff Climb and they're trying to discuss who hasn't done it yet and Sho's like AH! I HAVEN'T DONE IT YET! then immediately whips his hand back down and Arashi give him looks. The kind that are DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, SAKURAI. They put all settings on IGNORE SHO and discuss who's all done it so far and who hasn't while Sho practices warming up in a goofy way and you can see Jun give him this look like, No way in hell, Mr. Sports Loser.
Nino vouches for him anyway, so they basically let Sho do it. Who wants to support him? Nino asks, NOT ME. NOT ME Aiba and Jun immediately echo and WALK OFF, leaving poor, poor Ohno standing there with a lost expression on his face for a few seconds before he decides, eh, and goes with it, mimiming swinging the basket across. It's. It's a beautiful moment and god I love these guys. Sho and Ohno are SUCH DORKS together, pantomiming the movements until Aiba yells at them IT'S TV, SO AT LEAST TALK!!
And then Nino, being the GOOD FRIEND THAT HE IS, says, it's Arashi's old man team! :D Until Sho yells at him HEY! WE ARE TOTALLY THE OLDER BROTHER TEAM, YOU JERK and then makes awesome faces when he and Ohno are asked how old they are (27 and 26) and says, w-well, I guess we are getting close to 30, huh? And once again WHY DOES FANDOM DEPRIVE ME OF THE OHNO/SHO PORNS? Or Ohno/Sho/Nino, I'm not fussy.
I love that Sho actually kind of looks surprised that he managed to get all the points and finish in time, plus I'll admit that he did look pretty cool doing it. XDb
I know Arashi can't win this episode because they didn't break their losing streak until recently, so I'm wondering how the Rolling Coin Tower goes (since I missed this episode the first time around, I hadn't watch it raw, this is my first time) but I already love Shizu-chan all over again for getting to choose the two members of Arashi that she's "two-timing on". a;sdljkfalkjs she clearly finds this hilarious. <3 Jun also clearly finds this hilarious, saying, you know, it's kind of like we're a three-person team. :D :D :D :D (Meaning him, Shizu-chan, and Aiba.) Seriously, you guys, where's my Jun + Shizu-chan = Torture for Aiba fic??
So, Jun loses the Rolling Coin Tower because, even though it falls over in Shizu-chan's area, I guess because she didn't actually touch it before it fell, it's his mistake and, seriously, how has the VS ARASHI staff-san-tachi made it out of this show alive?? The reactions from the rest of the team while Jun is all HEY WAIT A MINUTE are pretty gold, too.
They do the MDA thing at the end and, you know, as amusing as it was the first several times, I really kind of didn't like the whole idea after awhile. Like, way to make the person feel kind of genuinely badly about themselves! I'm glad they got rid of it. But I'll grant that this one was super fun because none of Arashi wanted to do it, so they got Yama-chan up to do it, who's all, eeeeee, I know it's not true, but it's kind of like I've joined Arashi, eeeee! And the random person yelling out GAMBATTE! while Yama-chan snaps THIS ISN'T SOMETHING YOU DO YOUR BEST AT and I'm kind of totally cracking up.
And then they drop Jun anyway because Jun's bandmates are bitches and are sleeping on the couch for a month after this. (Jun looked totally gorgeous in this episode, though, so that balances a lot out for me.) This episode was TOTALLY worth watching, one of the more fun VS ARASHI ones, I think.