DIAF, Kabuto and Boukenger!
as;dlfkjas okay. So I'm actually writing way ahead of what I'm posting (because I don't want to post too fast, but I'm trying to get through this at a good clip so I can be ahead of wolfie while she watches), I'm on the recap for episode 31 and oh my god, Kabuto, you can go DIAF.
Episode 31 is the first little extra tag with Akashi in it. And he's heard about the reputation of this restaurant and the food is so good it must be a Precious! Tendou's like, whatever, what an arrogant guy, so he smacks a plate of peas down in front of Akashi, this should be enough for you, who just totally dives into them. DON'T TELL ME, THEY'RE YOUR FAVORITE?? Tendou shrieks.
And I hate this series. HATE IT. IT CAN GO DIAFF FOREVER. >:<
It had to be fucking peas that're Akashi's favorites. *SULLEN*
Anyway. Usual blah, blah, blah, and then on to Kamen Rider Kabuto ep 19, 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 19: So, the episode starts with only a brief glance at Tendou cooking in his kitchen before it switches to Tsurugi's first appearance and... I'm not sure how I'm going to take these scenes the second time around. If I were watching all in a rush again, it might be different, but since I'm going slowly... I mean, I love Tsurugi, but my patience has its limits for the way Jiiya fawns over him sometimes. (It's also interesting to see the way the show is contrasting Tendou against Tsurugi by showing how each of them has breakfast.)
Though, it is a little easier to get through Tsurugi's whole, "I cannot forgive the fork that leaves my hand!" spiel this time, having gotten past that at least once and come out on the other side knowing that he's a total retard and that I really do like him. Also. You know. *SOBS* WHY, TSURUGI? T________T
This episode does have the scene where I dislike Tsurugi the least, because his introduction is basically him being a spoiled, snotty brat while his butler fawns over him, then they have to rush off somewhere and a cop pulls them over, who is skewered right in front of Tsurugi, who says he's thankful to the Worm for that.
Just.
What?
An honest cop who's just doing his job to make the world safer is killed and you're grateful, just because he wasn't immediately bowing and scraping at you? No.
Which is one of the places where I sort of fault Kabuto as a series, because I'm pretty sure they were trying to make Tsurugi as obnoxious as possible, they were trying to make him very self-centered and uncaring of what went on around him, but they'd later make him more likable and human. It's just. That initial casual disregard for an innocent life, the way he said he was grateful to the Worm for getting rid of that annoyance (well, that was the implication, but he directly said, "Worm. I am grateful. My job will finish more quickly.") and that being the way we're introduced to the character... it did not leave me feeling particularly kind towards Tsurugi.
I can overlook it now as just being the series not quite sure what they wanted to do with him yet, but it's still a little hard to watch. So, Tsurugi defeats a bunch of random Worms that happened to pop up and then the next scene is Kagami asking Misaki if she ever has thoughts about rebelling against or doubt about ZECT, which is because of the thing with Gon, I assume. It was probably a hard blow for both of them, this organization they felt they were doing the greater good for, would use a little girl for their own reasons like that.
Well, it's not that she hasn't, she says, but it's okay the way it is, because it's not like ZECT is her whole life. (Which strikes me as a bit of an odd answer? Despite that I know it's a set up for the next bit.) Kagami asks, "What do you mean it isn't everything?" The main point of this scene is that he has a lot of trouble imagining Misaki-san doing normal, everyday things because she's so tough and no-nonsense, but it also kind of fits with how Kagami seems to have poured so much of himself into ZECT that it's not really something that'd crossed his mind.
After that, Tsurugi is getting paid to defeat the Worms and Mishima tries to get him to defeat some of the other Riders who won't ally with ZECT, but Tsurugi basically refuses and says he's the one who'll defeat all the Worm and that he's not ZECT's subordinate. Obviously they're paralleling him with Tendou here (and setting up future conflicts) but the look Mishima gives him as Tsurugi leaves is also interesting. One wonders if he knows Tsurugi is a Worm.
Then, Yumiko is trying to get Kagami to join a soccer team (I guess?) and Kagami's all, ehhh, I don't know if I really would like that, so she asks Tendou who has clearly overheard this conversation, and he... agrees? I... am suspicious. He says it's because he's always indebted to Yumiko-san, but I still find it suspicious that the show made the point of asking Kagami first, who was all, "I don't know if I have confidence in that..." and then asked Tendou. Especially when he says he has a condition, that he wants to do the match by himself.
I know the show isn't really trying to go there, but it's kind of. Um. Telling that Kagami just happens to be there and Tendou is totally preening and showing off. Especially when Kagami kind of flips out at him that soccer teams need to be 11 people, don't you know that? And Tendou smugly says that he'll be enough by himself.
How am I not supposed to read that as, "Okay, so the sleeveless shirts didn't work, Kagami still hasn't jumped me. Time to show him HOW COMPLETELY AWESOME I am at sports!" It's great, too, because Kagami is watching him on the field like he has this huge headache about to start, while Hiyori wonders if it'll really be all right. (Seriously. Satou Yuuki/Tomohito makes the BEST FACES in this scene.) The only thing that disappoints me about this scene is that I would have paid kind of a lot for Tendou to have actually played against the entire other team.
So, Tsurugi and Tendou are Way Too Alike and Kagami is laughing because they're so similar and you know part of him has to have briefly thought that AHAHAHA finally Tendou will know what a headache it is to deal with someone like him. Of course, it doesn't last long because everyone is all *__* over Tendou's soccer playing and even Kagami is impressed. (Tendou will be happy to note this, I'm sure.)
And I love the match. I LOVE IT. I love it in all of it's over the top NO FUCKING WAY IS THAT POSSIBLE straight out of a special effects movie GLORY. It's beautiful because it just DOESN'T STOP. Basketball and volleyball and table tennis and kendo and bowling and it just gets funnier. I love that Hiyori and Kagami start out impressed and then... by the end they're both SO VERY BORED and Kagami's like, jeez, can't you guys cut it out already? (As a side note--Hiyori is really pretty in this episode. *__*)
Of course, after Kagami's like ugh you guys cut it out, Tsurugi says, well, I guess it can't be helped, but Tendou apparently is going to go for one more game. Which I know is about his competitive streak and he hates losing, but you can't tell me that it's not at least somewhat about Kagami and Hiyori watching. Like, I'm not sure Tendou really needs to be cool and awesome in front of his sisters, but he kind of does this a lot while Kagami is watching.
OH YEAH. I'd almost forgotten that this episode is the one with the Phantom Shadow Thief who leaves notes about who they're going to steal from and how much I kind of loved this storyline. I also love the scene where Tendou his helping Juka with her homework as they talk about the thief stealing everything lately and how he's still just a theif. I like it because it shows how much time Tendou really does spend with Juka, how much he really likes being there for her, even in just the day to day stuff. It's not always about defending them from Worms or making sure they have a safe place to live, it's also about cooking food they like and helping them with their homework and terrorizing future prospective boyfriends.
This episode also has Tsurugi's dream about his sister's death at the Worm's hand and I do like that it was carefully done, how it could have been nothing more than Tsurugi's memory haunting him, he obviously had a very strong personality and that was an incredibly emotional and powerful moment for him. But knowing what we do about Tsurugi, it also takes on another note about how that emotion in that moment keeps overriding the Worm that he actually is.
So, Tendou goes out walking and seems to somehow ~*know*~ that the Phantom Shadow Thief is hiding around the corner, but the cops are almost there, so instead of going over, he walks away and I'm... not sure what the point of that was. To foreshadow that he already knew, I guess? But Kagami finds out that it's her when he's watching video footage (which we'd also deduced pretty much when it was obviously a woman grunting in pain as her hand/wrist was hit by the policeman) and the first person he tries to tell is Tendou, who is kind of bitchy about it and basically tells Kagami to go check himself into the psych ward. (Kagami paying attention to other people does not make Tendou happy, you know. :| I mean, I know they're trying to go for Tendou throwing Kagami off the track, but still. He's kind of bitchy about it.) So then he tries to talk to Tadokoro-san about it who lets him in on the plan.
Objectively, I know that this is the writers' way of drawing Tendou further into the story/foreshadowing the later reveal or just making for a funny scene (because Kagami flailing over Tendou saying it too loudly is kind of lol), but it's, um. Kind of telling, too.
But I think I actually like Kagami's interaction with Misaki even more--you can see how much more capable and badass he's getting as the series goes along, plus he totally is playful with her when saying why he joined, playing on the same thing she said to him earlier at the soba stand. When she smiles back at him, the way the actors played off that scene, it was marvelously done, I thought.
The episode ends with Tendou confronting the Worm that Misaki-tachi were most likely trying to hunt and I... don't remember why Tendou is doing this, if he knew that it was Misaki all along, if he just wanted to fight the Worm by himself (because that goes agains the general direction of his character lately) and while it's funny to say that it's because he's pissy that Kagami's so focused on Misaki lately, so HE WILL SHOW KAGAMI WHO IS THE MOST AWESOME OF ALL, I don't think that's really it. Of course, it could have just been one giant excuse to have the Tendou vs Tsurugi match all over again, too. XD
There's a promotion for the movie at the end of the episode and wow. WOW. That's.
That's really gay there, Tendou. I can't even describe how gay that outfit is. Or how much I love it.
And, of course, more Arashi stuff. Spoilers for anything listed under the cut:
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #93 [2008.07.21]
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #88 [2008.06.16]
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #87 [2008.06.09]
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #93 [2008.07.21] - I've been really enamored with Haruna Ai more and more every time I see her, so I was delighted that she was showing up on Shukudai-kun. It took me by surprise to learn she's transgendered (which I knew before starting this episode, so it put things a bit more into context) because I never would have guessed, plus she's so pretty! But mostly I love how fun and happy and delightful she seems. <3
She was totally cute in this episode, I loved the black dress with pink trim, I loved how totally into having fun she was, she just joined right along with the teasing of Sho and was SUPER CUTE while she did it. Like, SUPER SUPER CUTE. She's just the right combination of that Japanese kind of cute and still fun-loving and obviously has a strong personality that I'm really sort of taken with her.
Plus, Sho's bandmates giving him shit about being her boyfriend is kind of beautiful. The way everyone just bowled right over Sho's, "Um, excuse me, but--" when there weren't enough bowls of food for everyone and she just keeps rolling right along, dishing out the bowls and brightly talking and as;ldkfja;lkj I love her with Arashi so much, not even ten minutes into the episode. I would totally ship Haruna Ai/Sho for a quarter.
Also, the segment with her talking about how much any given surgery costs? Kind of beautiful for a) being so open and cheerful about being transgendered yet she's not being the butt of the jokes, she's totally having fun her own way here and b) when she holds up the 100,000 yen card and has them guess which surgery cost that much, Aiba immediately goes, BREASTS!! and she answers, "CORRECT. :D" and it was the funniest thing I'd seen all day.
I think it'll be greatly improved by subs (since they didn't really do a whole lot), but I loved the hell out of the guest so it was totally worth the watch for me.
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #88 [2008.06.16] - I have to admit, my eyes were crying at me by the time I finished watching this episode because the subbing text is so small (and the show is so colorful that it's hard to read colorful text on top of it), but that's about my only complaint.
The guest is... kind of crazy and I found her rather odd, but when she said Ohno was her favorite because he brought out the motherly instincts in her and because he worked really hard but kept that face inside him (which the others asked about and he's like, nope, totally not working hard at all .__. and I had to lol), I liked her a little more.
The -inGU thing got really kind of old after awhile, maybe Japanese humor just isn't my thing, but. The episode was still worth it for moments like Nino totally feeding Sho part of the desert instead of Sho just getting his own and then the guest just TOTALLY LEANS OVER like ME TOO ME TOO at Nino, who has the best DO NOT WANT face ever.
Or Arashi acting like she's their mom and MOOOOM I WANT TO EAT A BIG ONE (piece of the cherry desert) and she just totally goes ahead with, HAI HAI JUN-CHAN and, okay, maybe I love her a little.
Or for watching the way Aiba stacks about four or five cherries one by one onto his fork and then eats them all at once and you know he totally does that all the time. Ogu-san tries to point out that it's a bad-mannered way of eating and Aiba's NO, I'M EATING IT THE WAY I WANT *IGNORES* and as;dljkfa;lskj I love Aiba so much.
ALSO. THE SPICY CAKE. Everyone is all OH MY GOD OW OW OW SO SPICY OWWWW and Ogura-san feeds Sho a piece of cake and he's like ....eh? and nothing happens. So Arashi's response? KEEP FEEDING HIM CAKE TO SEE IF IT HURTS HIM EVENTUALLY. *crying* A-also, yay for Jun just totally leaning over to feed him, too. It's like. It's everyone's turn to feed Sho this episode. And Jun's "....holy shit, you are a freak." look is still beautiful.
(And who knows if Sho really was lying, because he did look affected by it and they totally accused him of lying/acting like it wasn't spicy, but it almost sort of looked more like he thought it tasted like crap, rather than that it was too hot.)
Oh, and you know what was totally not signifigant? That Jun remembered Aiba's favorite comedy duo (or at least the one he was really impresed with) was Takada Corporation. When the guest (Edo Harumi, I think was her name?) talked about how it's been two years since she debuted, which was right around the same time as Takada Corporation, which OH HEY THAT'S AIBA'S FAVORITE :D and, yeah, sweetie, that was totally subtle. .__.b
The bits with Degawa were also a lot more funny/interesting this time around, knowing what he was saying, and it's amusing how they totally pick on him. Nino closing the doors on him constantly (and Degawa complaining that he's not doing it fast enough, which leaves him at a loss for what to do during that second where Nino's closing them slowly XDDD) and Nino just looks at him without pity and doesn't close the doors FOR EVEN LONGER.
A-also. You know who's still smoking hot when they're yelling, even if it's acting? Aiba is. Oh, man, why does he not get all pissed off and snarly more often? *_____*
Finally, so you know who I hate? darkeyedwolf, that's who. She has no pity for me! DESPITE THAT MY PAIN IS HER FAULT.
I still didn't quite follow the whole "nabe" conversation, but any time they're fucking with Degawa and Jun HAPPILY goes straight over to hold him down while they're evil bastards to him, and Degawa screams WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE HAVING SO MUCH FUN RIGHT NOW!?, it's A+ material.
So, overall... very strange and Degawa kind of totally took over, but I didn't really mind, and... well, I at least found a lot of stuff to talk about, it just. Was very strange and kind of random.
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #87 [2008.06.09] - As long as I was making progress on getting subbed stuff watched, I went to watch this one as well. I don't know much about the guests, other than that they're some sort of performing group who's popular with children and rarely wear regular clothes (hence everyone being, "Um, I think there's been some kind of mistake... you're not...." and them snapping that they totally are, shut up), which I kind of knew before watching because of the pants the one guy wore being very, very badly held together with velcro.
The episode was totally worth watching, though, for how of course it's Aiba who suggests they turn around to show that the guy's pants are ripping. While on national television. (Even if it is late at night. XD)
It's also interesting to hear the guest say he doesn't really care about eating, that eating regular meals is troublesome for him, so he doesn't really eat much, and Nino pipes up that he's the same way. I just. I want to tie him and Jun to chairs and make them eat, goddammit. >_< Also, I totally think Nino should suggest--next time Sho starts fussing that Matsujun doesn't eat enough--that they all hold him down and push on the pressure point that will stimulate his appetite. Nino volunteers to try to find the pressure point, even! Because he's helpful like that! And Jun is like JESUS, FINE, I'LL EAT A SANDWICH when Sho starts to look really thoughtful about it.
I also love how everyone is trying to get everyone else to try the eel and no one's going ahead so Nino--WHO HAS NOT HAD ANY EITHER--says, eh, does everyone not have appetites? Ohno, being on the same psychic wavelength as that little fucker, immediately dives for the chopsticks to take a bite, BUT THAT IS HIS MISTAKE. NOW HE HAS THEIR ATTENTION.
And his bandmates are total bitches, you guys. ;___; Making the sensei come back out despite that Ohno was totally going to eat, you guys!! ;______;
I love that--after TWO TIMES they make the guest go through the painful hand pressure point, where he is obviously lying that his appetite has been stimulated--he goes for the third dish by himself and Aiba laughs at this and quietly remarks, wow, that pressure point must REALLY hurt. I was kind of dying because I totally, totally thought the same thing.
I also love that they're trying out the fourth dish, the unagi tsukiyaki, and they're all like, wow, this is unagi, right?? and Aiba opens his mouth full of food and turns to Nino, this is really unagi, right?, and Nino's just like, yup, it is. without missing a beat. Like it's totally normal for Aiba to turn to him and show him a mouthful of half-chewed food. ....I really want Aiba/Nino chaos, you guys. ;___;
And a;lksjf;alskj I'd forgotten that this was the episode with the crazy chicken dance that Fujisaki Market knew Arashi had done at their concert, which they brought up and the LOOKS on Ohno and Sho's faces when they were like NO WE DIDN'T .___. were beautiful.
So, overall, a fun episode to rewatch again, even if it's not my favorite it had some really great moments. XDb
Episode 31 is the first little extra tag with Akashi in it. And he's heard about the reputation of this restaurant and the food is so good it must be a Precious! Tendou's like, whatever, what an arrogant guy, so he smacks a plate of peas down in front of Akashi, this should be enough for you, who just totally dives into them. DON'T TELL ME, THEY'RE YOUR FAVORITE?? Tendou shrieks.
And I hate this series. HATE IT. IT CAN GO DIAFF FOREVER. >:<
It had to be fucking peas that're Akashi's favorites. *SULLEN*
Anyway. Usual blah, blah, blah, and then on to Kamen Rider Kabuto ep 19, 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 19: So, the episode starts with only a brief glance at Tendou cooking in his kitchen before it switches to Tsurugi's first appearance and... I'm not sure how I'm going to take these scenes the second time around. If I were watching all in a rush again, it might be different, but since I'm going slowly... I mean, I love Tsurugi, but my patience has its limits for the way Jiiya fawns over him sometimes. (It's also interesting to see the way the show is contrasting Tendou against Tsurugi by showing how each of them has breakfast.)
Though, it is a little easier to get through Tsurugi's whole, "I cannot forgive the fork that leaves my hand!" spiel this time, having gotten past that at least once and come out on the other side knowing that he's a total retard and that I really do like him. Also. You know. *SOBS* WHY, TSURUGI? T________T
This episode does have the scene where I dislike Tsurugi the least, because his introduction is basically him being a spoiled, snotty brat while his butler fawns over him, then they have to rush off somewhere and a cop pulls them over, who is skewered right in front of Tsurugi, who says he's thankful to the Worm for that.
Just.
What?
An honest cop who's just doing his job to make the world safer is killed and you're grateful, just because he wasn't immediately bowing and scraping at you? No.
Which is one of the places where I sort of fault Kabuto as a series, because I'm pretty sure they were trying to make Tsurugi as obnoxious as possible, they were trying to make him very self-centered and uncaring of what went on around him, but they'd later make him more likable and human. It's just. That initial casual disregard for an innocent life, the way he said he was grateful to the Worm for getting rid of that annoyance (well, that was the implication, but he directly said, "Worm. I am grateful. My job will finish more quickly.") and that being the way we're introduced to the character... it did not leave me feeling particularly kind towards Tsurugi.
I can overlook it now as just being the series not quite sure what they wanted to do with him yet, but it's still a little hard to watch. So, Tsurugi defeats a bunch of random Worms that happened to pop up and then the next scene is Kagami asking Misaki if she ever has thoughts about rebelling against or doubt about ZECT, which is because of the thing with Gon, I assume. It was probably a hard blow for both of them, this organization they felt they were doing the greater good for, would use a little girl for their own reasons like that.
Well, it's not that she hasn't, she says, but it's okay the way it is, because it's not like ZECT is her whole life. (Which strikes me as a bit of an odd answer? Despite that I know it's a set up for the next bit.) Kagami asks, "What do you mean it isn't everything?" The main point of this scene is that he has a lot of trouble imagining Misaki-san doing normal, everyday things because she's so tough and no-nonsense, but it also kind of fits with how Kagami seems to have poured so much of himself into ZECT that it's not really something that'd crossed his mind.
After that, Tsurugi is getting paid to defeat the Worms and Mishima tries to get him to defeat some of the other Riders who won't ally with ZECT, but Tsurugi basically refuses and says he's the one who'll defeat all the Worm and that he's not ZECT's subordinate. Obviously they're paralleling him with Tendou here (and setting up future conflicts) but the look Mishima gives him as Tsurugi leaves is also interesting. One wonders if he knows Tsurugi is a Worm.
Then, Yumiko is trying to get Kagami to join a soccer team (I guess?) and Kagami's all, ehhh, I don't know if I really would like that, so she asks Tendou who has clearly overheard this conversation, and he... agrees? I... am suspicious. He says it's because he's always indebted to Yumiko-san, but I still find it suspicious that the show made the point of asking Kagami first, who was all, "I don't know if I have confidence in that..." and then asked Tendou. Especially when he says he has a condition, that he wants to do the match by himself.
I know the show isn't really trying to go there, but it's kind of. Um. Telling that Kagami just happens to be there and Tendou is totally preening and showing off. Especially when Kagami kind of flips out at him that soccer teams need to be 11 people, don't you know that? And Tendou smugly says that he'll be enough by himself.
How am I not supposed to read that as, "Okay, so the sleeveless shirts didn't work, Kagami still hasn't jumped me. Time to show him HOW COMPLETELY AWESOME I am at sports!" It's great, too, because Kagami is watching him on the field like he has this huge headache about to start, while Hiyori wonders if it'll really be all right. (Seriously. Satou Yuuki/Tomohito makes the BEST FACES in this scene.) The only thing that disappoints me about this scene is that I would have paid kind of a lot for Tendou to have actually played against the entire other team.
So, Tsurugi and Tendou are Way Too Alike and Kagami is laughing because they're so similar and you know part of him has to have briefly thought that AHAHAHA finally Tendou will know what a headache it is to deal with someone like him. Of course, it doesn't last long because everyone is all *__* over Tendou's soccer playing and even Kagami is impressed. (Tendou will be happy to note this, I'm sure.)
And I love the match. I LOVE IT. I love it in all of it's over the top NO FUCKING WAY IS THAT POSSIBLE straight out of a special effects movie GLORY. It's beautiful because it just DOESN'T STOP. Basketball and volleyball and table tennis and kendo and bowling and it just gets funnier. I love that Hiyori and Kagami start out impressed and then... by the end they're both SO VERY BORED and Kagami's like, jeez, can't you guys cut it out already? (As a side note--Hiyori is really pretty in this episode. *__*)
Of course, after Kagami's like ugh you guys cut it out, Tsurugi says, well, I guess it can't be helped, but Tendou apparently is going to go for one more game. Which I know is about his competitive streak and he hates losing, but you can't tell me that it's not at least somewhat about Kagami and Hiyori watching. Like, I'm not sure Tendou really needs to be cool and awesome in front of his sisters, but he kind of does this a lot while Kagami is watching.
OH YEAH. I'd almost forgotten that this episode is the one with the Phantom Shadow Thief who leaves notes about who they're going to steal from and how much I kind of loved this storyline. I also love the scene where Tendou his helping Juka with her homework as they talk about the thief stealing everything lately and how he's still just a theif. I like it because it shows how much time Tendou really does spend with Juka, how much he really likes being there for her, even in just the day to day stuff. It's not always about defending them from Worms or making sure they have a safe place to live, it's also about cooking food they like and helping them with their homework and terrorizing future prospective boyfriends.
This episode also has Tsurugi's dream about his sister's death at the Worm's hand and I do like that it was carefully done, how it could have been nothing more than Tsurugi's memory haunting him, he obviously had a very strong personality and that was an incredibly emotional and powerful moment for him. But knowing what we do about Tsurugi, it also takes on another note about how that emotion in that moment keeps overriding the Worm that he actually is.
So, Tendou goes out walking and seems to somehow ~*know*~ that the Phantom Shadow Thief is hiding around the corner, but the cops are almost there, so instead of going over, he walks away and I'm... not sure what the point of that was. To foreshadow that he already knew, I guess? But Kagami finds out that it's her when he's watching video footage (which we'd also deduced pretty much when it was obviously a woman grunting in pain as her hand/wrist was hit by the policeman) and the first person he tries to tell is Tendou, who is kind of bitchy about it and basically tells Kagami to go check himself into the psych ward. (Kagami paying attention to other people does not make Tendou happy, you know. :| I mean, I know they're trying to go for Tendou throwing Kagami off the track, but still. He's kind of bitchy about it.) So then he tries to talk to Tadokoro-san about it who lets him in on the plan.
Objectively, I know that this is the writers' way of drawing Tendou further into the story/foreshadowing the later reveal or just making for a funny scene (because Kagami flailing over Tendou saying it too loudly is kind of lol), but it's, um. Kind of telling, too.
But I think I actually like Kagami's interaction with Misaki even more--you can see how much more capable and badass he's getting as the series goes along, plus he totally is playful with her when saying why he joined, playing on the same thing she said to him earlier at the soba stand. When she smiles back at him, the way the actors played off that scene, it was marvelously done, I thought.
The episode ends with Tendou confronting the Worm that Misaki-tachi were most likely trying to hunt and I... don't remember why Tendou is doing this, if he knew that it was Misaki all along, if he just wanted to fight the Worm by himself (because that goes agains the general direction of his character lately) and while it's funny to say that it's because he's pissy that Kagami's so focused on Misaki lately, so HE WILL SHOW KAGAMI WHO IS THE MOST AWESOME OF ALL, I don't think that's really it. Of course, it could have just been one giant excuse to have the Tendou vs Tsurugi match all over again, too. XD
There's a promotion for the movie at the end of the episode and wow. WOW. That's.
That's really gay there, Tendou. I can't even describe how gay that outfit is. Or how much I love it.
And, of course, more Arashi stuff. Spoilers for anything listed under the cut:
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #93 [2008.07.21]
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #88 [2008.06.16]
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #87 [2008.06.09]
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #93 [2008.07.21] - I've been really enamored with Haruna Ai more and more every time I see her, so I was delighted that she was showing up on Shukudai-kun. It took me by surprise to learn she's transgendered (which I knew before starting this episode, so it put things a bit more into context) because I never would have guessed, plus she's so pretty! But mostly I love how fun and happy and delightful she seems. <3
She was totally cute in this episode, I loved the black dress with pink trim, I loved how totally into having fun she was, she just joined right along with the teasing of Sho and was SUPER CUTE while she did it. Like, SUPER SUPER CUTE. She's just the right combination of that Japanese kind of cute and still fun-loving and obviously has a strong personality that I'm really sort of taken with her.
Plus, Sho's bandmates giving him shit about being her boyfriend is kind of beautiful. The way everyone just bowled right over Sho's, "Um, excuse me, but--" when there weren't enough bowls of food for everyone and she just keeps rolling right along, dishing out the bowls and brightly talking and as;ldkfja;lkj I love her with Arashi so much, not even ten minutes into the episode. I would totally ship Haruna Ai/Sho for a quarter.
Also, the segment with her talking about how much any given surgery costs? Kind of beautiful for a) being so open and cheerful about being transgendered yet she's not being the butt of the jokes, she's totally having fun her own way here and b) when she holds up the 100,000 yen card and has them guess which surgery cost that much, Aiba immediately goes, BREASTS!! and she answers, "CORRECT. :D" and it was the funniest thing I'd seen all day.
I think it'll be greatly improved by subs (since they didn't really do a whole lot), but I loved the hell out of the guest so it was totally worth the watch for me.
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #88 [2008.06.16] - I have to admit, my eyes were crying at me by the time I finished watching this episode because the subbing text is so small (and the show is so colorful that it's hard to read colorful text on top of it), but that's about my only complaint.
The guest is... kind of crazy and I found her rather odd, but when she said Ohno was her favorite because he brought out the motherly instincts in her and because he worked really hard but kept that face inside him (which the others asked about and he's like, nope, totally not working hard at all .__. and I had to lol), I liked her a little more.
The -inGU thing got really kind of old after awhile, maybe Japanese humor just isn't my thing, but. The episode was still worth it for moments like Nino totally feeding Sho part of the desert instead of Sho just getting his own and then the guest just TOTALLY LEANS OVER like ME TOO ME TOO at Nino, who has the best DO NOT WANT face ever.
Or Arashi acting like she's their mom and MOOOOM I WANT TO EAT A BIG ONE (piece of the cherry desert) and she just totally goes ahead with, HAI HAI JUN-CHAN and, okay, maybe I love her a little.
Or for watching the way Aiba stacks about four or five cherries one by one onto his fork and then eats them all at once and you know he totally does that all the time. Ogu-san tries to point out that it's a bad-mannered way of eating and Aiba's NO, I'M EATING IT THE WAY I WANT *IGNORES* and as;dljkfa;lskj I love Aiba so much.
ALSO. THE SPICY CAKE. Everyone is all OH MY GOD OW OW OW SO SPICY OWWWW and Ogura-san feeds Sho a piece of cake and he's like ....eh? and nothing happens. So Arashi's response? KEEP FEEDING HIM CAKE TO SEE IF IT HURTS HIM EVENTUALLY. *crying* A-also, yay for Jun just totally leaning over to feed him, too. It's like. It's everyone's turn to feed Sho this episode. And Jun's "....holy shit, you are a freak." look is still beautiful.
(And who knows if Sho really was lying, because he did look affected by it and they totally accused him of lying/acting like it wasn't spicy, but it almost sort of looked more like he thought it tasted like crap, rather than that it was too hot.)
Oh, and you know what was totally not signifigant? That Jun remembered Aiba's favorite comedy duo (or at least the one he was really impresed with) was Takada Corporation. When the guest (Edo Harumi, I think was her name?) talked about how it's been two years since she debuted, which was right around the same time as Takada Corporation, which OH HEY THAT'S AIBA'S FAVORITE :D and, yeah, sweetie, that was totally subtle. .__.b
The bits with Degawa were also a lot more funny/interesting this time around, knowing what he was saying, and it's amusing how they totally pick on him. Nino closing the doors on him constantly (and Degawa complaining that he's not doing it fast enough, which leaves him at a loss for what to do during that second where Nino's closing them slowly XDDD) and Nino just looks at him without pity and doesn't close the doors FOR EVEN LONGER.
A-also. You know who's still smoking hot when they're yelling, even if it's acting? Aiba is. Oh, man, why does he not get all pissed off and snarly more often? *_____*
Finally, so you know who I hate? darkeyedwolf, that's who. She has no pity for me! DESPITE THAT MY PAIN IS HER FAULT.
- BECKY: Sometimes I hate you a lot, even years later.
BECKY: I'm still watching that subbed episode of Shukudai-kun and they've had this long thing with Degawa (a regular guest that they abuse in a friendly way, but they totally mock him) and an acting scene with the pretty female guest.
BECKY: Degawa went for a kiss in the scene, but they all jumped up to stop him before he could get to her, and said NO NO NO NO NO WAY. Degawa's complaining very loudly about this.
BECKY: And he snaps at Nino (who's telling him that he's wrong/etc.) that if the actors feelings are there, you can totally kiss! And then he says, "In a love scene, if Clint Eastwood told you to kiss, you would kiss, right? If you were completely in character...."
And he means as a director to Nino with another actress, but. Well. I STILL HATE YOU.
WOLFIE: LOLOLOLOL
WOLFIE: DYING
WOLFIE: DYING
BECKY: *CRIES* I THOUGHT I WAS DONE WITH THAT.
BECKY: AND THEN IT POPPED BACK INTO MY HEAD AND TRAUMA, WOLFIE.
BECKY: EVEN OVER A YEAR LATER. STILL TRAUMA. T_________T
WOLFIE: AHAHAHAHAHAHA
WOLFIE: nino would do a lot more than kiss, if clint eastwood asked him to.
WOLFIE: or maybe just kissing specific parts...
BECKY: *glares at from huddled under the desk* You're going to hell, you know.
I still didn't quite follow the whole "nabe" conversation, but any time they're fucking with Degawa and Jun HAPPILY goes straight over to hold him down while they're evil bastards to him, and Degawa screams WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE HAVING SO MUCH FUN RIGHT NOW!?, it's A+ material.
So, overall... very strange and Degawa kind of totally took over, but I didn't really mind, and... well, I at least found a lot of stuff to talk about, it just. Was very strange and kind of random.
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #87 [2008.06.09] - As long as I was making progress on getting subbed stuff watched, I went to watch this one as well. I don't know much about the guests, other than that they're some sort of performing group who's popular with children and rarely wear regular clothes (hence everyone being, "Um, I think there's been some kind of mistake... you're not...." and them snapping that they totally are, shut up), which I kind of knew before watching because of the pants the one guy wore being very, very badly held together with velcro.
The episode was totally worth watching, though, for how of course it's Aiba who suggests they turn around to show that the guy's pants are ripping. While on national television. (Even if it is late at night. XD)
It's also interesting to hear the guest say he doesn't really care about eating, that eating regular meals is troublesome for him, so he doesn't really eat much, and Nino pipes up that he's the same way. I just. I want to tie him and Jun to chairs and make them eat, goddammit. >_< Also, I totally think Nino should suggest--next time Sho starts fussing that Matsujun doesn't eat enough--that they all hold him down and push on the pressure point that will stimulate his appetite. Nino volunteers to try to find the pressure point, even! Because he's helpful like that! And Jun is like JESUS, FINE, I'LL EAT A SANDWICH when Sho starts to look really thoughtful about it.
I also love how everyone is trying to get everyone else to try the eel and no one's going ahead so Nino--WHO HAS NOT HAD ANY EITHER--says, eh, does everyone not have appetites? Ohno, being on the same psychic wavelength as that little fucker, immediately dives for the chopsticks to take a bite, BUT THAT IS HIS MISTAKE. NOW HE HAS THEIR ATTENTION.
And his bandmates are total bitches, you guys. ;___; Making the sensei come back out despite that Ohno was totally going to eat, you guys!! ;______;
I love that--after TWO TIMES they make the guest go through the painful hand pressure point, where he is obviously lying that his appetite has been stimulated--he goes for the third dish by himself and Aiba laughs at this and quietly remarks, wow, that pressure point must REALLY hurt. I was kind of dying because I totally, totally thought the same thing.
I also love that they're trying out the fourth dish, the unagi tsukiyaki, and they're all like, wow, this is unagi, right?? and Aiba opens his mouth full of food and turns to Nino, this is really unagi, right?, and Nino's just like, yup, it is. without missing a beat. Like it's totally normal for Aiba to turn to him and show him a mouthful of half-chewed food. ....I really want Aiba/Nino chaos, you guys. ;___;
And a;lksjf;alskj I'd forgotten that this was the episode with the crazy chicken dance that Fujisaki Market knew Arashi had done at their concert, which they brought up and the LOOKS on Ohno and Sho's faces when they were like NO WE DIDN'T .___. were beautiful.
So, overall, a fun episode to rewatch again, even if it's not my favorite it had some really great moments. XDb