...coherence is overrated.
You know what sucks? Cleaning sucks. It is exhausting.
Anyway. Usual blah, blah, blah, and then on to Kamen Rider Kabuto ep 21, 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 21: And, sure enough, episode 21 starts off with ZECT sending in a bunch of random people to try to get the crazy little motherfucker bug-shaped robot that is the Gatack Zecter. (I can't remember, is there a reason they're doing so, when it was planned to be Kagami's from way back when the Kagamis and the Kusakabes were friends? Just testing it out?) And I LOVE THIS SCENE. The cute little bug-shaped robot! Buzzing in this really horrible, menacing way in this really OMINOUS SCENE and you don't actually see the fight, just the damage it does to the walls and the guy's screaming and BadTouch-san refusing to stop it and then the guy is spit back out with not a scratch on the Zecter and it just floats omniously in mid-air while the doors close on it and it's just the best thing ever.
I love it with the irony of how deliciously over the top it is and yet I love it without irony for being the GREATEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN.
OH HEY. I didn't even recognize that it was Tadokoro-san! I thought the flashes we got of the guy's face early in the scene looked a lot like him, but since they didn't mention his name or anything, I wasn't sure. And even when he got spit back out, he was kind of rolling around on the floor and bloody, so I didn't realize it was him until the computer screen flashed his name and image, "Syuichi Tadokoro". And, wow, they tried a lot of people out on Gatack. (Which was kind of DURR on my part, because they specifically have Misaki-san getting a phonecall that he's been hospitalized and, come to think of it, they go visit him, don't they? *iz jeenyus*)
BadTouch-san is reporting to KagamiSr about how they've tried a bunch of people on it, but it's rejecting all of them. "However..." Mishima-san continues. "Gatack is the pivotal point for the Masked Rider project. We cannot give up now." ....maybe he doesn't know who it's meant for?
"You know of Abraham, right?" KagamiSr says. "He... to lead a new religion to God... ...went as far to take his child... ...and sacrifice his life."
"In other words... even your son... ...you are prepared to offer your son as a subject?"
Maybe KagamiSr waited because he didn't really want to sacrifice his kid to the crazy motherfucker bug-shaped robot, hoping that someone else would be accepted by the Gatack Zecter? As much as he's resigned to it, he obviously does regret it.
After that, the show once again contrasts the Tendou household breakfast against the Discabil household breakfast, though, they don't seem as far apart this time, what with Tsurugi not being a spoiled little child quite as much. But the point is to show the comparisons between Tendou and Jiiya and asld;kfjasl I love this whole upcoming plotline that'll happen with them.
Oh, and! This is the episode with the Worm nest and I... always kind of wondered about this whole thing, because we never really get much information on the Worm or their biology. The only times we really know of Worm reproduction are what you can assume from this episode and Hiyori, who is obviously an anomoly. Anyway, Kagami hears strange noises coming from the factory and goes to investigate, he's about ready to leave when he opens his cell phone and it goes crazy (....does it have Worm detection built into it or something? Or is it that they're putting out some crazy signals?) so the guy he was talking to transforms and smacks the phone away from his hand. Kagami fights back as best he can, but it's a Worm nest and he's way outnumbered. A little kid yells at him to come this way instead and you do wonder why that kid is out there in time to be able to help Kagami. (Even if he later says that he was hoping Kagami would have food or water.)
They escape through the tunnels under the floor then it's off to Tendou going to La Salle, where Hiyori is waiting for him by saying he's late. And, you know, I realize I shouldn't think too hard about it, but given how often the Kabuto Zecter shows up whenever there's a plot with Worms involved, you sort of start to think that it can sense the Worms (at least the ones that are dangerous to people) and yet it's strangely quiet here. I know it's actually just what the plot calls for but, eh. I'll fankwank it around that maybe they're masking their presence inside the abandoned factory, even from other Worms/Natives/the Masked Rider system, because they want to protect their nest. *washes hands of this problem* Anyway, the scene where Hiyori has Tendou be the chef for the day (and clearly his ego is preening at being in charge of cooking while Yumiko is away and Hiyori can't do it himself) and it's kind of adorable.
I love that Kagami apparently has candy in his pockets, too. You know, no matter how much he loves Tendou's food, he would still totally sneak candy in even if Tendou gave him nasty looks for it. And I do like the way this scene (where Kagami says he'll help the kid escape, who says, no way!, weren't you totally weak before anyway?) builds up Kagami's motivation for going after the Gatack Zecter later on.
Anyway, in the next scene, Tsurugi has a bad dream again and so he rolls down the window to get some fresh air... and happens to smell the food from the La Salle restaurant. Which was kind of wtf the first but makes a lot of sense on the rewatch. I dunno if the writers intended it that way, I suspect it was just one of those things you're just supposed to roll with and not think about too hard, but I like that it can at least be fanwanked into making somewhat of a sense. (Not that we get confirmation of a Worm's sense of smell being better, but we know their better hearing carries over even while they're mimicking human form.) I mean, Jiiya does say that he'd been wondering the same thing for awhile and I suppose it's possible if the restaurant was less than a block away, but still. I'm sticking to the Worm!senses thing. :F
So, Kagami and the kid bond some more, the kid says he wants to see a "Moonbow" and Kagami smiles and says he's sure the kid will. Which fits into the theme of Kagami = the moon, though, I'm not sure they meant that, either. XD They drop the telescope and get seperated, the kid runs to hide in the room, while Kagami manages to mow a bunch of Worms down with a forklift and I really love Kagami a lot. A quick scene of Tsurugi showing up at La Salle and being kind of obnoxious, but I love Hiyori for being like, "That weirdo from before is here." Then back to Kagami at the Worm nest, when one of the Worms has mimicked him and I rub my hands together in glee. I love this whole storyline.
Shadow saves Kagami when the Worm transforms and knocks the forklift (well, I don't think it's exactly a forklift, but close enough) aside, but it runs off before TheBee can finish it. Kageyama says that everyone in the factory is a Worm, but Kagami can't quite believe that, doesn't really want to believe it. He talks to Misaki and Tadokoro-san in the hospital about it, but they don't have any way to help, either. And, you know, I'm with Circe, I could totally ship Tadokoro/Misaki post-series.
They try to get Kagami to leave it alone, there's something ZECT is hiding but they don't know what. I'm wondering how much of this was a set-up. Was it just coincidence that BadTouch-san used as an opportunity? Or was the "something they were hiding" that this was all a giant set-up to get Misaki and Kagami on the watch, knowing that eventually Kagami would find the kid, Kageyama would try to discourage him, and Kagami would be desperate enough to go after the Gatack Zecter to do something about it? It seems kind of far-fetched, that they would be able to count on Kagami bonding with the kid, though.... Idk, I'm just thinking aloud, really.
But Mishima-san was right there when Tadokoro-san and Misaki tried to tell him to leave and not come back. So, I wouldn't put it past the show for it to have been all a plan by the Natives--they possibly get Gatack and destroy a Worm nest at the same time. Anyway, Kagami asks who he is (apparently never having seen Mishima-san before?) and Mishima-san says that Tadokoro volunteered to go up against Gatack in order to keep his subordinates out of danger. (Which was totally a lie, wasn't it? Tadokoro-san was there, but it wasn't until after he was hurt that KagamiSr said to go after Kagami.) Also, BadTouch-san is creepy in this scene. Who would have thought.
BadTouch-san says that he got hurt trying to become the newest Rider, Gatack. And it's all verrrrrrrry convenient and you'd think warning bells would be going off in Kagami's head, especially the way Mishima-san is saying that it would be a very powerful Rider, powerful enough to... take on a Worm nest alone.
And then back to La Salle and I love this whole thing. I love Tendou's cooking being really good, but Jiiya says it's missing one thing, so he cooks Tsurugi's food himself, and Tendou's okay with it because he's watching Jiiya cook, saying he's no ordinary chef. Then the soup is amazing and Tendou says Hiyori made it, and it's just. This is so much more awesome the second time around when you get why Hiyori's cooking is so great. Tsurugi leaves without paying (after saying Hiyori should cook for his birthday) and you can tell she's still weirded out by all these batshit people around her, and Tendou is meanwhile dorking it up in the background over Jiiya's food.
Sometimes this show really loves me.
So, Kagami runs to where the Gatack Zecter is and, oh, how convenient, the door to the safe holding the Rider Belt is open! Misaki comes running in and says, stop it!, are you just going to waste Tadokoro-san's sacrifice for you!?, which implies that they were after Kagami earlier and I know. Giving too much thought to this. (Yet I can't help it. .__.) And again I love Satou Yuuki/Tomohito's acting in this, because he looks honestly torn and yet angry and determined and a bunch of other things, all mixed together. But he can't just leave Makoto-kun in that Worm nest, he has to do this. And as soon as he nears the doors, the Rider Belt lights up with green energy and I know it's for dramatic effect, but. The only time we see that is when the two Belts in the first episode are near each other (for Kabuto) and then here for when Kagami is going after Gatack.
It doesn't really mean much ultimately, but it's interesting to note that the show is kind of stampic HEY PAY ATTENTION THIS IS GOING TO BE IMPORTANT on these scenes.
Also, I kind of love that shot of Kagami putting on the belt in the room with the Gatack Zecter, it's filmed at such a great angle. XDDD I also love the way the crazy little robot fucker clearly has a personality in this episode and it is crazy in the head. Kagami tends to attract this sort. I love the closing shots on the Gatack Zecter clicking its mandibles together and little red lights (that look like eyes from a certain angle) lighting up whilet he doors close again. It's so, so deliciously awesome.
Kagami is spit back out and collapses on the floor, a bloody mess, while Misaki screams his name. Meanwhile, Tendou is still trying to figure out what flavor Jiiya added to make the food taste different when he gets a phone call. You don't hear the other person speak, but Tendou goes wide-eyed and I swear to god it's not just me being a fangirl, but he totally looks a little panicked. "What?? Kagami is badly hurt?" Misaki explains that he was mimicked by a Worm and badly hurt to protect a little boy, and she needs his (Tendou's) power. Tendou flatly refuses and hangs up on her.
He thinks, Foolish Kagami... always causing trouble... and, yeah, that might have worked better if you didn't have that immediate knee-jerk reaction to your boyfriend having gotten hurt, Tendou.
So Tendou does know that there's a Worm out there that's mimicked Kagami, it's not as ~*PSYCHIC*~ as I might have originally thought, but. And I love Kabuto for the way the scene was shot, where Tadokoro-san and Misaki-san are watching him through the glass window and you can totally see Tendou's messy hair on the "doctor" that just walked in, but you'd never notice it if you weren't looking for it.
The Worm!Kagami sneaks in and is about to kill Kagami when Tendou violently rips his hand away from Kagami and tears the mask off his face and seriously. Tendou is totally capable of hurting people if he wants to. Yet, does he ever really with Kagami? I don't recall him violently shaking Kagami off, the worst I can think of is when he smacked Kagami's hand away when Kagami was asking for help while being framed.
Then Tendou says something truly awesome as he won't let go of the Worm!Kagami's hand. "Grandmother said this: Once you know the real thing... you won't be fooled by an imitation."
Yeah.
Okay, then.
It shouldn't come off as awesome as it does, because he obviously knew that the Worm would try to target Kagami and it's true that he's an imitation. But. With every other instance of this, especially when there are two of them facing off, obviously one of them a Worm, Tendou knows that the one trying to kill the other is the Worm. It's never been about knowing the original, yet he makes a point to say that here. Even if he hadn't known Kagami from anyone else, he would still know which was the Worm, because the one was trying to strangle the unconscious one in the bed.
Yet. Tendou makes a point to say he knew the original so he wouldn't be fooled by an imitation. It's right around this time that I start going .___. even more and wonder if the show is doing it on purpose.
"A Worm that would mimic hasty Kagami... will definitely come to eliminate the original." And then Tendou follows it up with how well he can predict Kagami sometimes and, yeah, okay, show. How else am I supposed to take that?
I remember watching this fight the first time around and while Tendou is calm and casual in the hospital room with Kagami right there, once the fight starts (by the two of them smashing through the hospital wall to fall out onto the pavement below), he is oddly quiet and ruthless in this fight. He's not overly aggressive beyond the usual, but there's little taunting or conversation, even less than usual for him. I don't think he hardly says a word to the Worm and would have destroyed him in about a minute with a Rider Kick if the two other pupa-staged Worms hadn't jumped in front of it.
The episode ends with Kagami being moved to a different room and the Gatack Zecter floating omniously in its little room and snapping its mandibles. The epilogue tag is mostly just going through the various Riders we've seen, Mishima-san saying, "At last the strongest Rider, Gatack, is here." That's not the first time they've made mention of how Gatack is supposed to be the strongest of all (which is why it could have been the last one revealed/the one that took the longest to make, I suppose) but the show never really backs that up, I don't think? Though, he does seem on par with Kabuto at least? Enh. Not that it's really important.
(God, if I ever start talking about, "WHO WOULD WIN IN A REAL FIGHT, KABUTO OR GATACK? :D :D :D" in all seriousness, someone please smack me. orz)
EXTRA NOTE: As an addendum to episode 20, it occurs to me that possibly I am kind of dimwitted about things! I was rereading that post (well over a week after I'd written and after I'd gotten much further into the rewatch) and got to the part where I was confused about KagamiSr saying "the lion has shown its true nature" and it occurs to me now that possibly he meant Tadokoro-san! Who has spent several of these latest episodes roaring at customers in various restaurants. So, it could be that KagamiSr meant Tadokoro-san was showing his true colors?
And, of course, more Arashi stuff. Spoilers for anything listed under the cut:
→ Himitsu no Arashi-chan #16 [2008.07.24]
→ MAOU episode 03
♥ - Himitsu no Arashi-chan #16 [2008.07.24] - Wow, they just jumped right into the Child Minder segment with Aiba and Nino, didn't they? Not that I'm complaining because I was all too happy that it was indeed Aiba/Nino this time around! Not that I would have minded another Nino/Jun segment, but--!! Aiba/Nino--!! WITH A BABY. I'm still a little sorry that we didn't get to see more of the part that goes into getting the license (which would have made a really great "secret" segment, too) because the idea of having Aiba do a special report on it, interspersed with previous footage of the other members was suggested (by kegom, I think?) and it seemed like a great potential opportunity wasted.
But, well. Still hard to complain when it's Aiba and Nino with a baaaaaaaaaabyyyyyyy. Especially when I would glance up at the corner screen and I swear every time I would look, Jun would be all OMG AIBA WITH A BAAAAABYYYYYY *OVARIES EXPLODE* just like I was.
And, wow, that baby is the ONLY PERSON ON EARTH who can resist Aiba when he's doing stuff with his mouth. I just really love watching both Nino's expression as the water swishing totally fails and Jun just going :D :D :D :D :D in the corner screen. Seriously, he's not going to stop smiling for days. Ohno, meanwhile, is just totally laughing his ass off at the whole thing.
Though, seriously, the whole time Nino was carrying Yuuto-kun around and walking back and forth, it was like my ovaries were practically screaming at me. And when he finally stopped crying because of the song! And then they thought they were going to have to change a diaper! THE LOOK ON NINO'S FACE OMG. AND THEN LITTLE SLEEPING BABY IN AIBA'S ARMS I COOED SO HARD AND OMG WHO NEEDS OVARIES ANYMORE ANYWAY.
I agree that there was something slightly missing with this one, but I'm not sure quite what it is. It's not the Aiba/Nino match-up because they were gold, but it felt like... nothing really major happened. Too many short little clips and it felt like it never really got into gear, maybe? Maybe not enough shots of them practically cooing at the baby or showing that stuff of them feeding Yuuto-kun or giving him a bath, which we saw a second or two of, but not much more. It just felt like it was somehow really oddly edited together, even if I can't think of what I'd really have done different.
As for the western-themed part of the episode? A++++, OHNO PLZ TO EAT MORE. Like, I wouldn't worry so much, but he JUST got off a major butai run and now he's on MAOU and after this they've got concerts, when the hell is he going to find time to eat and rest properly?? But I do love this theme. Like, yes, whoever picks the food with the most calories, HAS TO EAT IT. It's like the staff said to themselves, how can we bully them and make sure they eat a proper meal? AHA! ARASHIAN ROULETTE. AWESOME. (Though, really, Japan, I feel your messages are somewhat mixed here. Way to make eating proper-sized meals be associated with a punishment game. I'd have much rather the winning team get to eat properly, to positively reinforce the idea that eating = good. Because, really, the whole thing seems designed to make everyone think that eating the meal = punishment and you were going to wind up being overweight for it. Instead of, you know, HEALTHY. I feel the guy who brought out the food/did the intros was kind of only REALLY ENFORCING this, too. ~_~)
I love that Jun's clothes from the waist up really aren't very Western at all, yet he looks so fabulous that I don't even care. And, I swear, it wasn't just me, but they spent a whole lot of time focused on Jun during this segment, didn't they? It seemed like half of the time the closeups were on him or him and Aiba standing next to each other and I sort of feel like this is perhaps a message that *STARE* MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T BE SUCH A STICK, MATSUMOTO from the staff.
W-worse is that Ohno is so skinny that even Jun is going, why don't you eat sometimes, Leader, okay? Seriously, Oh-chan. When Matsumoto Jun is telling you to eat more, maybe you really should. (Th-though I'll grant that them all immediately taking up the nickname of "Plasma TV" may have been kind of lolarious.) ....actually, I shouldn't be so harsh to Jun lately, he's actually looked really pretty good! I haven't winced at him taking his shirt off in awhile and he's actually got some definition on his arms. I've been cautiously pleased with him lately.
So, Arashi wins the first round, but loses the second (and the bread they eat looks so gross with HUGE CUBES OF BUTTER ON IT UGH) and Jun seriously looks like he's dying and then, when the calorie count is announced, he shakes his head like NO WAY IN HELL, DO NOT WANT and I-- I know I shouldn't find it so funny, but it really kind of is. At least Ohno thought it was good, though. ;___;b
It looks like next week is Aiba/Nino again with Haruna Ai? And another round of the Arashian Roulette? I AM ALL FOR BOTH OF THESE THINGS. While I do wonder a little how all of this is going over--really? you're having a calorie counting game?--I'm not opposed to them fiddling with the format and getting new segments on. I actually enjoyed both segments on the show for once!
♥ - MAOU - episode 03 - I debated which version to watch--there's a softsubber over on d-addicts that puts out .srt that I can use to make my own personal hardsubs out of, which I like because then I can adjust the font size/placement to where it's most convenient for me. But they're a pain to watch on-line if someone is around to flail at, so I like sakurai-storm's subs which are nice and easy to watch. And I have to jump through epic hoops to get to STORMY's releases, which includes a giant hassle of downloading and you do not want to hear about my fight with Virtual Dub with the x264 codec (which I hate when anime fansubbers use, too) and it's way too much of a pain to watch on my computer, so I have to re-encode for my own use and then I can watch it on my DivX dvd player and even that doesn't work and it's just. I want to watch for the translations but I had to give up on them.
So I went for the softsubs on d-addicts instead, since all three versions came out about at the same time. And now the wait for episode four. >_<
Which is going to be really difficult because I-- I don't even know where to begin with how amazing this drama is and how brilliantly put together it is. There were at least three or four moments in this episode alone where I felt like my heart wanted to seize up and jdramas almost never do that for me.
The first was went the woman who "murdered" Yousuke and Naruse pleaded "legitimate self defense" and you saw exactly where Naruse was going with this, you saw the gut-punching shock on Serizawa's face, and I... I could not bring myself to be on Serizawa's side in this. What Naruse is doing isn't right, no good will ever ultimately come of this, but... now Serizawa knows how it feels.
When Naruse said that it was a shame to lose someone just as their life was beginning to start? I think that might be one of my favorite scenes in any drama ever, because it was brilliantly pulled off. Naruse's cold satisfaction, Serizawa's intense fury and loss, the pain you realized that everyone went through. Good god was that scene intense.
The other scene I'm nearly unable to even talk about for how incredible it was was the ending, where Serizawa and Shiori are driving around to find the place in her vision and they realize it's Serizawa's junior high school. He walks down the hallway with the young boy running past him and you can see the moment he realizes who the person running is and it was chilling when the four younger guys stepped up and watched him run, walking slowly after him. The inevitable conclusion of that scene, the horrifying casualness of the way they were bullying/torturing that poor kid, the world dropping out from underneath the adult Serizawa as his memories won't stop coming back.
The casting for the drama is amazing, I was really kind of impressed with the younger versions of the deliquents and the younger version of Shiori--who has also been drawn into this, because she found the body, and Naruse wants her to be the voice for the victims--and I. I really, really like her. And part of me is already shipping Naruse/Shiori just a little bit, I want to believe there's some way for them. Because she is so cute around him and when she mentioned that Over The Rainbow is her favorite song, too--! So adorable!
And you can see how much her opinion actually matters to Naruse, too. He obviously felt confused and saddened when the mother still felt like a murderer, despite how he'd gone to lengths to make it not really her fault, she didn't see the difference. And then Shiori feels like she led the police off track and maybe her gift is from Satan instead of God and he looks so quietly pained and suffering, too, in that scene. He doesn't want these innocent people to suffer and I love that the drama is giving him those emotions.
I love that they're clearly there, yet Ohno's acting is brilliant enough that you can believe the people around him don't see them, he's careful to turn his face away or be vague enough that they could be interpreted other ways. It's amazing to watch the incredibly subtle shifts of emotion on his face and I'm amazed at what they're bringing to this character. I'm amazed at how I've been with them every step of the way--normally, the "villains" starting to feel emotion halfway through their revenge plot feel so cliche, but Ohno is just nailing bringing emotions to Naruse and letting us see them.
I originally thought that he was going to be a sociopath and that's what attracted me to the character, but... he's really not. He doesn't really have all the signs of one and he obviously has deep regrets and a lot of pain and sadness that he's never been able to let go of. I-- I find myself really hoping that eventually a dam breaks in him because I want to see Ohno play that scene, I want to see all of his bitterness and grief and sorrow and pain and rage at what happened to Hideo come spilling out.
And as;dlfkjaslj I want to see Serizawa figure out who's behind the plot, I want to see that dawning look of horrified realization. Because when he realized that this isn't just about him so much as it's about the boy he killed in junior high? Fantastic. I'm really hoping next episode we get some explanation about Naruse's name, if he changed it or if Serizawa somehow just... forgot... what it was? Which I find would stretch believability a little far, given how often Naruse keeps popping up, no matter how common of a name Serizawa might think it is or whatever.
Also, you know, I was talking with Wolfie and she makes a really good point about how... the people around Serizawa aren't exactly the nicest of people. You have bottom-feeders like Souda, you have Yousuke who beats up women and threatens little girls for loan money, you have the glasses guy who's sleeping with another man's wife, and you have Serizawa who doesn't seem particularly bothered by a lot of this. The father is obviously pure slime, the lawyer was incredibly inappropriate with the "monetary compensation", and so on. I'm not exactly rooting for them as the "good" side.
I might have felt more sympathy for Yousuke, because he was at least trying to start a better life, but there hardly seemed to be much regret for the one he was living now. It's good that he was trying to do better, but did he regret nothing of his past? Did none of that even matter? Did it not matter to Serizawa? And then the reveal of Naruse's timing being deliberate--he was just about to start his life and then it was snatched away and the murderer got away with it. It's not so fun being on the other end of that, is it, Serizawa? In the scene where he's screaming at Naruse for the lack of "justice" in this case, I don't know how Naruse didn't say, well, what about when you claimed self-defense for killing my brother?, because god knows I sure as hell would have.
And I think that's what made me love this drama so much, because there's no way that parallel wasn't deliberate and there's no way it wasn't deliberate that they set Serizawa up to be a hypocrite about it. Oh, it's different when it's your loved one? Because the woman never intended to kill Yousuke, she was just trying to protect herself (and Yousuke did go after her, who knows what would have happened if she hadn't sprayed him, seriously) and she wasn't guilty like Serizawa wanted her to be. But it's different for you? Only you should get away with it?
It seems like Naruse is also aware of her ability, which makes me really curious about how... how does she not see him or trace anything back to him? How are her visions always seeming to help him/be manipulated by him? She never really sees faces, so I suppose there's no danger of that, but it still seems like kind of a big risk to take.
Overall, this episode is even better than the previous ones and it's so painful waiting from week to week, I don't how I'm going to stand waiting through all 11 episodes! I'm sad to see the ratings seem to keep sliding downards, but I'm trying to remain positive that, as long as it gets good critical reviews, things should be fine. (But seriously Japan. How do you not see the brilliance of this drama??)
And now the wait for subs for episode 4. *claws at the internet*
Anyway. Usual blah, blah, blah, and then on to Kamen Rider Kabuto ep 21, 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 21: And, sure enough, episode 21 starts off with ZECT sending in a bunch of random people to try to get the crazy little motherfucker bug-shaped robot that is the Gatack Zecter. (I can't remember, is there a reason they're doing so, when it was planned to be Kagami's from way back when the Kagamis and the Kusakabes were friends? Just testing it out?) And I LOVE THIS SCENE. The cute little bug-shaped robot! Buzzing in this really horrible, menacing way in this really OMINOUS SCENE and you don't actually see the fight, just the damage it does to the walls and the guy's screaming and BadTouch-san refusing to stop it and then the guy is spit back out with not a scratch on the Zecter and it just floats omniously in mid-air while the doors close on it and it's just the best thing ever.
I love it with the irony of how deliciously over the top it is and yet I love it without irony for being the GREATEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN.
OH HEY. I didn't even recognize that it was Tadokoro-san! I thought the flashes we got of the guy's face early in the scene looked a lot like him, but since they didn't mention his name or anything, I wasn't sure. And even when he got spit back out, he was kind of rolling around on the floor and bloody, so I didn't realize it was him until the computer screen flashed his name and image, "Syuichi Tadokoro". And, wow, they tried a lot of people out on Gatack. (Which was kind of DURR on my part, because they specifically have Misaki-san getting a phonecall that he's been hospitalized and, come to think of it, they go visit him, don't they? *iz jeenyus*)
BadTouch-san is reporting to KagamiSr about how they've tried a bunch of people on it, but it's rejecting all of them. "However..." Mishima-san continues. "Gatack is the pivotal point for the Masked Rider project. We cannot give up now." ....maybe he doesn't know who it's meant for?
"You know of Abraham, right?" KagamiSr says. "He... to lead a new religion to God... ...went as far to take his child... ...and sacrifice his life."
"In other words... even your son... ...you are prepared to offer your son as a subject?"
Maybe KagamiSr waited because he didn't really want to sacrifice his kid to the crazy motherfucker bug-shaped robot, hoping that someone else would be accepted by the Gatack Zecter? As much as he's resigned to it, he obviously does regret it.
After that, the show once again contrasts the Tendou household breakfast against the Discabil household breakfast, though, they don't seem as far apart this time, what with Tsurugi not being a spoiled little child quite as much. But the point is to show the comparisons between Tendou and Jiiya and asld;kfjasl I love this whole upcoming plotline that'll happen with them.
Oh, and! This is the episode with the Worm nest and I... always kind of wondered about this whole thing, because we never really get much information on the Worm or their biology. The only times we really know of Worm reproduction are what you can assume from this episode and Hiyori, who is obviously an anomoly. Anyway, Kagami hears strange noises coming from the factory and goes to investigate, he's about ready to leave when he opens his cell phone and it goes crazy (....does it have Worm detection built into it or something? Or is it that they're putting out some crazy signals?) so the guy he was talking to transforms and smacks the phone away from his hand. Kagami fights back as best he can, but it's a Worm nest and he's way outnumbered. A little kid yells at him to come this way instead and you do wonder why that kid is out there in time to be able to help Kagami. (Even if he later says that he was hoping Kagami would have food or water.)
They escape through the tunnels under the floor then it's off to Tendou going to La Salle, where Hiyori is waiting for him by saying he's late. And, you know, I realize I shouldn't think too hard about it, but given how often the Kabuto Zecter shows up whenever there's a plot with Worms involved, you sort of start to think that it can sense the Worms (at least the ones that are dangerous to people) and yet it's strangely quiet here. I know it's actually just what the plot calls for but, eh. I'll fankwank it around that maybe they're masking their presence inside the abandoned factory, even from other Worms/Natives/the Masked Rider system, because they want to protect their nest. *washes hands of this problem* Anyway, the scene where Hiyori has Tendou be the chef for the day (and clearly his ego is preening at being in charge of cooking while Yumiko is away and Hiyori can't do it himself) and it's kind of adorable.
I love that Kagami apparently has candy in his pockets, too. You know, no matter how much he loves Tendou's food, he would still totally sneak candy in even if Tendou gave him nasty looks for it. And I do like the way this scene (where Kagami says he'll help the kid escape, who says, no way!, weren't you totally weak before anyway?) builds up Kagami's motivation for going after the Gatack Zecter later on.
Anyway, in the next scene, Tsurugi has a bad dream again and so he rolls down the window to get some fresh air... and happens to smell the food from the La Salle restaurant. Which was kind of wtf the first but makes a lot of sense on the rewatch. I dunno if the writers intended it that way, I suspect it was just one of those things you're just supposed to roll with and not think about too hard, but I like that it can at least be fanwanked into making somewhat of a sense. (Not that we get confirmation of a Worm's sense of smell being better, but we know their better hearing carries over even while they're mimicking human form.) I mean, Jiiya does say that he'd been wondering the same thing for awhile and I suppose it's possible if the restaurant was less than a block away, but still. I'm sticking to the Worm!senses thing. :F
So, Kagami and the kid bond some more, the kid says he wants to see a "Moonbow" and Kagami smiles and says he's sure the kid will. Which fits into the theme of Kagami = the moon, though, I'm not sure they meant that, either. XD They drop the telescope and get seperated, the kid runs to hide in the room, while Kagami manages to mow a bunch of Worms down with a forklift and I really love Kagami a lot. A quick scene of Tsurugi showing up at La Salle and being kind of obnoxious, but I love Hiyori for being like, "That weirdo from before is here." Then back to Kagami at the Worm nest, when one of the Worms has mimicked him and I rub my hands together in glee. I love this whole storyline.
Shadow saves Kagami when the Worm transforms and knocks the forklift (well, I don't think it's exactly a forklift, but close enough) aside, but it runs off before TheBee can finish it. Kageyama says that everyone in the factory is a Worm, but Kagami can't quite believe that, doesn't really want to believe it. He talks to Misaki and Tadokoro-san in the hospital about it, but they don't have any way to help, either. And, you know, I'm with Circe, I could totally ship Tadokoro/Misaki post-series.
They try to get Kagami to leave it alone, there's something ZECT is hiding but they don't know what. I'm wondering how much of this was a set-up. Was it just coincidence that BadTouch-san used as an opportunity? Or was the "something they were hiding" that this was all a giant set-up to get Misaki and Kagami on the watch, knowing that eventually Kagami would find the kid, Kageyama would try to discourage him, and Kagami would be desperate enough to go after the Gatack Zecter to do something about it? It seems kind of far-fetched, that they would be able to count on Kagami bonding with the kid, though.... Idk, I'm just thinking aloud, really.
But Mishima-san was right there when Tadokoro-san and Misaki tried to tell him to leave and not come back. So, I wouldn't put it past the show for it to have been all a plan by the Natives--they possibly get Gatack and destroy a Worm nest at the same time. Anyway, Kagami asks who he is (apparently never having seen Mishima-san before?) and Mishima-san says that Tadokoro volunteered to go up against Gatack in order to keep his subordinates out of danger. (Which was totally a lie, wasn't it? Tadokoro-san was there, but it wasn't until after he was hurt that KagamiSr said to go after Kagami.) Also, BadTouch-san is creepy in this scene. Who would have thought.
BadTouch-san says that he got hurt trying to become the newest Rider, Gatack. And it's all verrrrrrrry convenient and you'd think warning bells would be going off in Kagami's head, especially the way Mishima-san is saying that it would be a very powerful Rider, powerful enough to... take on a Worm nest alone.
And then back to La Salle and I love this whole thing. I love Tendou's cooking being really good, but Jiiya says it's missing one thing, so he cooks Tsurugi's food himself, and Tendou's okay with it because he's watching Jiiya cook, saying he's no ordinary chef. Then the soup is amazing and Tendou says Hiyori made it, and it's just. This is so much more awesome the second time around when you get why Hiyori's cooking is so great. Tsurugi leaves without paying (after saying Hiyori should cook for his birthday) and you can tell she's still weirded out by all these batshit people around her, and Tendou is meanwhile dorking it up in the background over Jiiya's food.
Sometimes this show really loves me.
So, Kagami runs to where the Gatack Zecter is and, oh, how convenient, the door to the safe holding the Rider Belt is open! Misaki comes running in and says, stop it!, are you just going to waste Tadokoro-san's sacrifice for you!?, which implies that they were after Kagami earlier and I know. Giving too much thought to this. (Yet I can't help it. .__.) And again I love Satou Yuuki/Tomohito's acting in this, because he looks honestly torn and yet angry and determined and a bunch of other things, all mixed together. But he can't just leave Makoto-kun in that Worm nest, he has to do this. And as soon as he nears the doors, the Rider Belt lights up with green energy and I know it's for dramatic effect, but. The only time we see that is when the two Belts in the first episode are near each other (for Kabuto) and then here for when Kagami is going after Gatack.
It doesn't really mean much ultimately, but it's interesting to note that the show is kind of stampic HEY PAY ATTENTION THIS IS GOING TO BE IMPORTANT on these scenes.
Also, I kind of love that shot of Kagami putting on the belt in the room with the Gatack Zecter, it's filmed at such a great angle. XDDD I also love the way the crazy little robot fucker clearly has a personality in this episode and it is crazy in the head. Kagami tends to attract this sort. I love the closing shots on the Gatack Zecter clicking its mandibles together and little red lights (that look like eyes from a certain angle) lighting up whilet he doors close again. It's so, so deliciously awesome.
Kagami is spit back out and collapses on the floor, a bloody mess, while Misaki screams his name. Meanwhile, Tendou is still trying to figure out what flavor Jiiya added to make the food taste different when he gets a phone call. You don't hear the other person speak, but Tendou goes wide-eyed and I swear to god it's not just me being a fangirl, but he totally looks a little panicked. "What?? Kagami is badly hurt?" Misaki explains that he was mimicked by a Worm and badly hurt to protect a little boy, and she needs his (Tendou's) power. Tendou flatly refuses and hangs up on her.
He thinks, Foolish Kagami... always causing trouble... and, yeah, that might have worked better if you didn't have that immediate knee-jerk reaction to your boyfriend having gotten hurt, Tendou.
So Tendou does know that there's a Worm out there that's mimicked Kagami, it's not as ~*PSYCHIC*~ as I might have originally thought, but. And I love Kabuto for the way the scene was shot, where Tadokoro-san and Misaki-san are watching him through the glass window and you can totally see Tendou's messy hair on the "doctor" that just walked in, but you'd never notice it if you weren't looking for it.
The Worm!Kagami sneaks in and is about to kill Kagami when Tendou violently rips his hand away from Kagami and tears the mask off his face and seriously. Tendou is totally capable of hurting people if he wants to. Yet, does he ever really with Kagami? I don't recall him violently shaking Kagami off, the worst I can think of is when he smacked Kagami's hand away when Kagami was asking for help while being framed.
Then Tendou says something truly awesome as he won't let go of the Worm!Kagami's hand. "Grandmother said this: Once you know the real thing... you won't be fooled by an imitation."
Yeah.
Okay, then.
It shouldn't come off as awesome as it does, because he obviously knew that the Worm would try to target Kagami and it's true that he's an imitation. But. With every other instance of this, especially when there are two of them facing off, obviously one of them a Worm, Tendou knows that the one trying to kill the other is the Worm. It's never been about knowing the original, yet he makes a point to say that here. Even if he hadn't known Kagami from anyone else, he would still know which was the Worm, because the one was trying to strangle the unconscious one in the bed.
Yet. Tendou makes a point to say he knew the original so he wouldn't be fooled by an imitation. It's right around this time that I start going .___. even more and wonder if the show is doing it on purpose.
"A Worm that would mimic hasty Kagami... will definitely come to eliminate the original." And then Tendou follows it up with how well he can predict Kagami sometimes and, yeah, okay, show. How else am I supposed to take that?
I remember watching this fight the first time around and while Tendou is calm and casual in the hospital room with Kagami right there, once the fight starts (by the two of them smashing through the hospital wall to fall out onto the pavement below), he is oddly quiet and ruthless in this fight. He's not overly aggressive beyond the usual, but there's little taunting or conversation, even less than usual for him. I don't think he hardly says a word to the Worm and would have destroyed him in about a minute with a Rider Kick if the two other pupa-staged Worms hadn't jumped in front of it.
The episode ends with Kagami being moved to a different room and the Gatack Zecter floating omniously in its little room and snapping its mandibles. The epilogue tag is mostly just going through the various Riders we've seen, Mishima-san saying, "At last the strongest Rider, Gatack, is here." That's not the first time they've made mention of how Gatack is supposed to be the strongest of all (which is why it could have been the last one revealed/the one that took the longest to make, I suppose) but the show never really backs that up, I don't think? Though, he does seem on par with Kabuto at least? Enh. Not that it's really important.
(God, if I ever start talking about, "WHO WOULD WIN IN A REAL FIGHT, KABUTO OR GATACK? :D :D :D" in all seriousness, someone please smack me. orz)
EXTRA NOTE: As an addendum to episode 20, it occurs to me that possibly I am kind of dimwitted about things! I was rereading that post (well over a week after I'd written and after I'd gotten much further into the rewatch) and got to the part where I was confused about KagamiSr saying "the lion has shown its true nature" and it occurs to me now that possibly he meant Tadokoro-san! Who has spent several of these latest episodes roaring at customers in various restaurants. So, it could be that KagamiSr meant Tadokoro-san was showing his true colors?
And, of course, more Arashi stuff. Spoilers for anything listed under the cut:
→ Himitsu no Arashi-chan #16 [2008.07.24]
→ MAOU episode 03
♥ - Himitsu no Arashi-chan #16 [2008.07.24] - Wow, they just jumped right into the Child Minder segment with Aiba and Nino, didn't they? Not that I'm complaining because I was all too happy that it was indeed Aiba/Nino this time around! Not that I would have minded another Nino/Jun segment, but--!! Aiba/Nino--!! WITH A BABY. I'm still a little sorry that we didn't get to see more of the part that goes into getting the license (which would have made a really great "secret" segment, too) because the idea of having Aiba do a special report on it, interspersed with previous footage of the other members was suggested (by kegom, I think?) and it seemed like a great potential opportunity wasted.
But, well. Still hard to complain when it's Aiba and Nino with a baaaaaaaaaabyyyyyyy. Especially when I would glance up at the corner screen and I swear every time I would look, Jun would be all OMG AIBA WITH A BAAAAABYYYYYY *OVARIES EXPLODE* just like I was.
And, wow, that baby is the ONLY PERSON ON EARTH who can resist Aiba when he's doing stuff with his mouth. I just really love watching both Nino's expression as the water swishing totally fails and Jun just going :D :D :D :D :D in the corner screen. Seriously, he's not going to stop smiling for days. Ohno, meanwhile, is just totally laughing his ass off at the whole thing.
Though, seriously, the whole time Nino was carrying Yuuto-kun around and walking back and forth, it was like my ovaries were practically screaming at me. And when he finally stopped crying because of the song! And then they thought they were going to have to change a diaper! THE LOOK ON NINO'S FACE OMG. AND THEN LITTLE SLEEPING BABY IN AIBA'S ARMS I COOED SO HARD AND OMG WHO NEEDS OVARIES ANYMORE ANYWAY.
I agree that there was something slightly missing with this one, but I'm not sure quite what it is. It's not the Aiba/Nino match-up because they were gold, but it felt like... nothing really major happened. Too many short little clips and it felt like it never really got into gear, maybe? Maybe not enough shots of them practically cooing at the baby or showing that stuff of them feeding Yuuto-kun or giving him a bath, which we saw a second or two of, but not much more. It just felt like it was somehow really oddly edited together, even if I can't think of what I'd really have done different.
As for the western-themed part of the episode? A++++, OHNO PLZ TO EAT MORE. Like, I wouldn't worry so much, but he JUST got off a major butai run and now he's on MAOU and after this they've got concerts, when the hell is he going to find time to eat and rest properly?? But I do love this theme. Like, yes, whoever picks the food with the most calories, HAS TO EAT IT. It's like the staff said to themselves, how can we bully them and make sure they eat a proper meal? AHA! ARASHIAN ROULETTE. AWESOME. (Though, really, Japan, I feel your messages are somewhat mixed here. Way to make eating proper-sized meals be associated with a punishment game. I'd have much rather the winning team get to eat properly, to positively reinforce the idea that eating = good. Because, really, the whole thing seems designed to make everyone think that eating the meal = punishment and you were going to wind up being overweight for it. Instead of, you know, HEALTHY. I feel the guy who brought out the food/did the intros was kind of only REALLY ENFORCING this, too. ~_~)
I love that Jun's clothes from the waist up really aren't very Western at all, yet he looks so fabulous that I don't even care. And, I swear, it wasn't just me, but they spent a whole lot of time focused on Jun during this segment, didn't they? It seemed like half of the time the closeups were on him or him and Aiba standing next to each other and I sort of feel like this is perhaps a message that *STARE* MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T BE SUCH A STICK, MATSUMOTO from the staff.
W-worse is that Ohno is so skinny that even Jun is going, why don't you eat sometimes, Leader, okay? Seriously, Oh-chan. When Matsumoto Jun is telling you to eat more, maybe you really should. (Th-though I'll grant that them all immediately taking up the nickname of "Plasma TV" may have been kind of lolarious.) ....actually, I shouldn't be so harsh to Jun lately, he's actually looked really pretty good! I haven't winced at him taking his shirt off in awhile and he's actually got some definition on his arms. I've been cautiously pleased with him lately.
So, Arashi wins the first round, but loses the second (and the bread they eat looks so gross with HUGE CUBES OF BUTTER ON IT UGH) and Jun seriously looks like he's dying and then, when the calorie count is announced, he shakes his head like NO WAY IN HELL, DO NOT WANT and I-- I know I shouldn't find it so funny, but it really kind of is. At least Ohno thought it was good, though. ;___;b
It looks like next week is Aiba/Nino again with Haruna Ai? And another round of the Arashian Roulette? I AM ALL FOR BOTH OF THESE THINGS. While I do wonder a little how all of this is going over--really? you're having a calorie counting game?--I'm not opposed to them fiddling with the format and getting new segments on. I actually enjoyed both segments on the show for once!
♥ - MAOU - episode 03 - I debated which version to watch--there's a softsubber over on d-addicts that puts out .srt that I can use to make my own personal hardsubs out of, which I like because then I can adjust the font size/placement to where it's most convenient for me. But they're a pain to watch on-line if someone is around to flail at, so I like sakurai-storm's subs which are nice and easy to watch. And I have to jump through epic hoops to get to STORMY's releases, which includes a giant hassle of downloading and you do not want to hear about my fight with Virtual Dub with the x264 codec (which I hate when anime fansubbers use, too) and it's way too much of a pain to watch on my computer, so I have to re-encode for my own use and then I can watch it on my DivX dvd player and even that doesn't work and it's just. I want to watch for the translations but I had to give up on them.
So I went for the softsubs on d-addicts instead, since all three versions came out about at the same time. And now the wait for episode four. >_<
Which is going to be really difficult because I-- I don't even know where to begin with how amazing this drama is and how brilliantly put together it is. There were at least three or four moments in this episode alone where I felt like my heart wanted to seize up and jdramas almost never do that for me.
The first was went the woman who "murdered" Yousuke and Naruse pleaded "legitimate self defense" and you saw exactly where Naruse was going with this, you saw the gut-punching shock on Serizawa's face, and I... I could not bring myself to be on Serizawa's side in this. What Naruse is doing isn't right, no good will ever ultimately come of this, but... now Serizawa knows how it feels.
When Naruse said that it was a shame to lose someone just as their life was beginning to start? I think that might be one of my favorite scenes in any drama ever, because it was brilliantly pulled off. Naruse's cold satisfaction, Serizawa's intense fury and loss, the pain you realized that everyone went through. Good god was that scene intense.
The other scene I'm nearly unable to even talk about for how incredible it was was the ending, where Serizawa and Shiori are driving around to find the place in her vision and they realize it's Serizawa's junior high school. He walks down the hallway with the young boy running past him and you can see the moment he realizes who the person running is and it was chilling when the four younger guys stepped up and watched him run, walking slowly after him. The inevitable conclusion of that scene, the horrifying casualness of the way they were bullying/torturing that poor kid, the world dropping out from underneath the adult Serizawa as his memories won't stop coming back.
The casting for the drama is amazing, I was really kind of impressed with the younger versions of the deliquents and the younger version of Shiori--who has also been drawn into this, because she found the body, and Naruse wants her to be the voice for the victims--and I. I really, really like her. And part of me is already shipping Naruse/Shiori just a little bit, I want to believe there's some way for them. Because she is so cute around him and when she mentioned that Over The Rainbow is her favorite song, too--! So adorable!
And you can see how much her opinion actually matters to Naruse, too. He obviously felt confused and saddened when the mother still felt like a murderer, despite how he'd gone to lengths to make it not really her fault, she didn't see the difference. And then Shiori feels like she led the police off track and maybe her gift is from Satan instead of God and he looks so quietly pained and suffering, too, in that scene. He doesn't want these innocent people to suffer and I love that the drama is giving him those emotions.
I love that they're clearly there, yet Ohno's acting is brilliant enough that you can believe the people around him don't see them, he's careful to turn his face away or be vague enough that they could be interpreted other ways. It's amazing to watch the incredibly subtle shifts of emotion on his face and I'm amazed at what they're bringing to this character. I'm amazed at how I've been with them every step of the way--normally, the "villains" starting to feel emotion halfway through their revenge plot feel so cliche, but Ohno is just nailing bringing emotions to Naruse and letting us see them.
I originally thought that he was going to be a sociopath and that's what attracted me to the character, but... he's really not. He doesn't really have all the signs of one and he obviously has deep regrets and a lot of pain and sadness that he's never been able to let go of. I-- I find myself really hoping that eventually a dam breaks in him because I want to see Ohno play that scene, I want to see all of his bitterness and grief and sorrow and pain and rage at what happened to Hideo come spilling out.
And as;dlfkjaslj I want to see Serizawa figure out who's behind the plot, I want to see that dawning look of horrified realization. Because when he realized that this isn't just about him so much as it's about the boy he killed in junior high? Fantastic. I'm really hoping next episode we get some explanation about Naruse's name, if he changed it or if Serizawa somehow just... forgot... what it was? Which I find would stretch believability a little far, given how often Naruse keeps popping up, no matter how common of a name Serizawa might think it is or whatever.
Also, you know, I was talking with Wolfie and she makes a really good point about how... the people around Serizawa aren't exactly the nicest of people. You have bottom-feeders like Souda, you have Yousuke who beats up women and threatens little girls for loan money, you have the glasses guy who's sleeping with another man's wife, and you have Serizawa who doesn't seem particularly bothered by a lot of this. The father is obviously pure slime, the lawyer was incredibly inappropriate with the "monetary compensation", and so on. I'm not exactly rooting for them as the "good" side.
I might have felt more sympathy for Yousuke, because he was at least trying to start a better life, but there hardly seemed to be much regret for the one he was living now. It's good that he was trying to do better, but did he regret nothing of his past? Did none of that even matter? Did it not matter to Serizawa? And then the reveal of Naruse's timing being deliberate--he was just about to start his life and then it was snatched away and the murderer got away with it. It's not so fun being on the other end of that, is it, Serizawa? In the scene where he's screaming at Naruse for the lack of "justice" in this case, I don't know how Naruse didn't say, well, what about when you claimed self-defense for killing my brother?, because god knows I sure as hell would have.
And I think that's what made me love this drama so much, because there's no way that parallel wasn't deliberate and there's no way it wasn't deliberate that they set Serizawa up to be a hypocrite about it. Oh, it's different when it's your loved one? Because the woman never intended to kill Yousuke, she was just trying to protect herself (and Yousuke did go after her, who knows what would have happened if she hadn't sprayed him, seriously) and she wasn't guilty like Serizawa wanted her to be. But it's different for you? Only you should get away with it?
It seems like Naruse is also aware of her ability, which makes me really curious about how... how does she not see him or trace anything back to him? How are her visions always seeming to help him/be manipulated by him? She never really sees faces, so I suppose there's no danger of that, but it still seems like kind of a big risk to take.
Overall, this episode is even better than the previous ones and it's so painful waiting from week to week, I don't how I'm going to stand waiting through all 11 episodes! I'm sad to see the ratings seem to keep sliding downards, but I'm trying to remain positive that, as long as it gets good critical reviews, things should be fine. (But seriously Japan. How do you not see the brilliance of this drama??)
And now the wait for subs for episode 4. *claws at the internet*