Gekiranger has totally eaten me, oh my god. .__.
*rubs eyes tiredly* You know, you wouldn't think that Sentai would be that draining, but it really kind of is. At least when you watch over a dozen episodes of it in a single day. I'm switching between Gekiranger and Dekaranger right now, because I love both a whole lot, but it's... it's definitely Gekiranger that has finally officially gotten me to fall for Sentai. It-- it has a plot. It has villains with characterization! It has a whole lot of gay! I mean, well, Dekaranger is the gayest thing this side of Kabuto (because I don't think much can beat Kabuto in the gay department, even if Ban and Hoji are totally all up in each other's personal spaces and bitch at each other like an old married couple) but Jan/Retsu is not exactly with the straightness, either.
I seriously think I've finally found the Sentai of my heart. Every time I tell myself that I'm just going to watch one more episode, I wind up watching, like, five. Anyway, I don't think I can even do Kabuto today because I'm so stuck on Dekaranger and Gekiranger. (Because I got through the episode with Hoji's ex-partner and HOLY SHIT, BAN/HOJI MAKEOUTS FIC, I AM GOING TO NEED A LOT OF IT.)
SPOILERS for up to episode 23 of Gekiranger and episode 12 of Dekaranger.
Let's start with Dekaranger, where I first watched the episode where Ban gets involved with Maira-san, the girlfriend of Shake, and I'm sorry, Dekaranger, when you spend all that time trying to make a case that Ban is straight while Hoji is pissy at this whole situation and then turn around to have the episode end on how she's OMG SO GLAD TO HAVE MET A FRIEND ON EARTH FINALLY, skips off, while Hoji immediately CHEERS UP with a, WELL, that's the way these things go! :D, then have Ban/Hoji arguing like an old married couple, while Sen-chan, Umeko, and Jasmine watch fondly over them?
Yeah, gay.
Like, so gay.
Especially when you then start off the next episode with Hoji and his ex-partner Vino, which was. Seriously, that hug was not at all straight. Not one little bit. It's kind of mind-boggling how not straight that hug was. Or how Ban's immediate reaction is to go, "............HEY. >:/"
The BEST part of the episode, though, was. Well. My conversion with Meg pretty clearly sums up my feelings on it:
I wish that the episode had been a two parter, just so I could enjoy the gay a bit more, but it was probably better off not trying to be stretched meaningly out. It was fun the way it was.
I also watched the episode with Amy-chan, the giant green baby who cried sonic screams and my feelings are mostly boiling down to two points: 1) I would have paid a lot for Hoji to have been the one the baby imprinted on and 2) Umeko is really kind of awesome. Seriously, Umeko just totally unloading on the spikey headed guy because she doesn't have time for this shit was awesome.
She's so girly and she loves long bubble baths and is tiny and adorable and yet she's such a shit kicker and I love her.
You know what was totally surprising about the episode, though? Ban being all up in Hoji's personal space while he didn't complain. That almost never happens in this series. >__>
So, four episodes of Dekaranger in one day was actually a lot for me, but then I also turned around and inhaled, like, nine of Gekiranger, which I think is truly the Sentai of my heart. So much so that I hardly even know where to start!
I kind of knew I was going to possibly love this series a whole lot when I got to episode 6, the Retsu episode, where he's revealed to be a genius painter and stalked by Pierre, and the episode ending with their usual catchphrase being picked up by Pierre as he glomps onto Retsu, knocking him to the ground with Pierre still clinging to him, going "We made it~". A+, Gekiranger. A+.
Then episode did something I wasn't expecting at all--it broke the formual of the episodes a little! I'd been feeling like the giant robot battles weren't all that bad with this series (well, it's not that they're bad with Dekaranger or Boukenger, just that they lasted really long and you could practically set your watch to their placement in the episodes), but when they put the fight at about 1/3 of the way through the episode instead of starting it up at about 2/3rds of the way through, I kind of sat up to take notice. It was stilly pretty formulaic for now, but they changed it up a little! Awesome. (Plus, dancing for an attack always makes me lol. ♥)
Then episode 09 did something I really didn't expect--NO GIANT ROBOT BATTLE AT ALL??? And it had a plot that lasted more than two episodes!! HOLY CRAP, THE SENTAI OF MY HEART IT IS. Anyway, episode 10 continued this trend and it made the giant robot fight even shorter! Because they were focusing on other stuff!
And, actually, Gekiranger has kind of been one giant plot ever since the series started--it still gets in a giant robot fight with nearly every episode and it's still about shorter storylines but they contribute to an overall whole and that's what I've been pining for. There has been consistent characterization of both the main trio and of the villains, there's actual story there and implications of why Rio's doing this crazy search for power at any expense and backstory for Mele and why she's so in love with Rio.
I-- I continue to not really know where I stand with Rio/Mele, because I feel like I should object to the fangirling of the boss, except I... I kind of don't. I love Mele a whole hell of a lot, I love her costume, I love how bad ass she can be, I love that she seems to truly love Rio. Love does make her a little blind, but in that sort of way that actual love does and even when her love for Rio is tested a little, she never wavers in it.
The only thing holding me back, I suspect, is that Rio just seems made to be a character that someone totally fucks with. Which Mele is never going to do. So I'm still kind of waiting to see if I go with Rio/Mele (the way she was willing to burn up her own body so she could fight against Shafu so that Rio wouldn't be killed by the poison, the way Rio hugged her to get her to stop, I am not unmoved) or if I want to slash him with someone later.
After that--if I'm remembering the timeline correctly--is when they start seeking out the rest of the Kensei, or at least go meet Sharkie. And I loved that episode because the series wasn't even TRYING not to be completely fucking ridiculous with their special effects. Seriously, where they have to paddle a boat down a river and it's great because they're not even TRYING to look like the oars go more than half an inch into the water, despite that Ban is speed-paddling them to outrun a shark?? HILARIOUS.
By the time I got to episode 16, the one with Ran-mama, I was just totally in love. I'd heard about when they were turned into babies and I admit it was a little shorter than I was hoping for and I wish baby!Retsu had gotten more to do, but there was so much A++++ here that I can't really complain. What struck me the most was that the show was kind of ACTUALLY implying that Ran was a mother figure to the two of them--even before they get turned into kids, Shafu's like, man, Ran is totally those two's mama.
The show wasn't going for it in a, "LOL, she's acting like a psuedo mom to her potential boyfriend(s)!", no, it seemed like they were going for that with the actual context. I mean, I'm playing it up a lot, but it's kind of why I can... I can ship them as an OT3 on a platonic level, but I'm just not feeling the romantic thing with Ran for either of them. Which contrasts sharply against how I totally would do makeouts and porn with Jan/Retsu.
The episode was totally LOL for the ending, though, because it just utterly destroys Retsu's dignity and he kind of has it coming, because he's another one of those characters who attracts all these people around him that make his life miserable and traumatic because he's just not happy otherwise. It's his own fault for trying to keep his dignity around Jan. :< When he wakes up with only a small sheet to cover himself (because that's all the baby!Retsu was wrapped in) and then when he drops it to change into the GekiBlue outfit and then JAN MOCKING HIM AT THE END, PEEING RETSU~ PEEING RETSU~ because Ran had to change his diaper?
a;sdlfkjaslkja;lskj I KNEW IT WAS LOVE.
About this time I also kind of realized that occasionally these characters had brains! "Master Shafu wants me to do some more ridiculous training? Hmm... the last time he asked that of us, it was some special training technique, so this probably is, too, right?" I mean, not always, there are times when it falls prey to the usual tokusatsu need for the characters to be kind of dense, but they were surpisingly non-aggravating and don't make me want to punch anyone. (Well. To be fair, I did have a moment of extreme irritation with episode 18 where it was OBVIOUSLY not Sharkie who had attacked Shafu, but Bat Li and Elehan totally seemed to buy it and then never even apologized afterwards. But that's kind of part of the nature of tokusatsu as far as I can tell?)
Jan can sometimes get to be a bit much, but I'm actually tolerating him far better than I would have thought. I mean, RAISED IN THE WOODS BY TIGERS is a pretty good excuse for acting like a hyperactive kid and not knowing how to behave normally and using cutesy words for things.
Oh, you know what else I loved? I mean, I could have done without Elehan feeling up Ran (I'd have done a lot more damage to him, Kensei or no, for that) but Bat Li and the dancing on the lake (that is not even TRYING not to pretend it was greenscreened AND totally done with wirework, god, I love a show that embraces its ridiculousness) and Retsu learning FAN DANCING for furthering his beautiful technique? W...way to be straight there, Retsu! And totally not super fabulous, oh my god.
And yet he's not totally stereotypically girly about it, he's just... a prettyboy who likes art and cultured things. I kind of love him because he actually is open to the idea of Jan's crazy ideas, even if they seem embarrassing, because they're working as a triangle, they make each other stronger.
About that time is when the plot started ramping up even more and the giant robot battles got even more interesting and felt better integrated into the plot of the show and Rio stepped up his game and tried to erase GekiJyuKen from the world and so the trio had to step up their game as well. I-- was a little disappointed that they didn't partner up with their strong points (because Ran and Gorie would have been SO GREAT, plus Retsu and the penguine--Michelle, I think?--would have been FANTASTIC), but it was kind of worth it to see them all working really hard together and supporting each other. Still totally platonic with Ran in there, though.
E-even if they got off to a rocky start because Jan ran away from his challenge and Retsu got pissed and then they WRESTLED TO THE GROUND while Ran TURNED THE HOSE ON THEM. Okay, she dumped a vase full of water on them, but I firmly believe if she had had a hose, she would have used that.
And it's just.
It's--
This series loves me a whole lot.
It gives me Jan/Retsu wrestling that looks really kind of totally lolarious and hot at the same time, then it literally has Ran splashing them with water to get them to cool off and as;ldkfja;lskjlkjas THE SENTAI OF MY HEART. I HAVE FOUND IT. It helps that I totally love the big cats/wild animals theme the show has going on, too. Like, I'll admit to a little silent fangirling over the lion, tiger, jaguar, and cheetah stuff. ♥
It also helps that the show does stuff like Retsu refusing to give up against the gazelle and getting the crap beaten out of him and looking really kind of pretty while doing so and then Jan runs over to hug him when he finally wins and s-seriously. OTP forever omg.
The next three episodes are pretty much all about the fight between Rio and the GekiRangers and there's no way I can turn back at this point. I've watched about five episodes already this morning, but I NEED MORE. I need to see where the plot is going, I need to see the fight with Rio, I'm totally pumped up for more! I don't think I even went through Kabuto this fast! Certainly not in the 20s! (Though, I think I'll probably always love Kabuto more, I'm not unmoved by Gekiranger.)
These two episodes are like one big building climax to the final fight between them and then the third episode just dovetails neatly along with it and keeps things moving on ahead full steam. And it continues with the characterization, the show remembers that Shafu and Rio used to be friendly, Shafu used to be his Master and knows that Rio does this because he's scared, that his heart is shaking like a lonely baby bird. Which you'd kind of picked up on already because the characterization is pretty consistent, despite that Rio is so strong already and so determined and so amazingly steely. Using his own despair to fuel his own power was kind of an amazing moment for Rio, even Kata (the Kenma of the Sky) was impressed with him then.
I-- I really don't want Rio to be defeated forever, I want him to find some measure of peace and maybe even rejoin the GekiJyuKen side of things, despite that I kind of suspect it could never really happen after everything he's sacrified on his path for the RinJyuKen.
Not that the episode is all serious business (which I love, mind), because the trio gets some new attacks and HOLY CRAP DO I EVER LOVE RETSU'S. Like, I would pay a lot for a lolarious porn fic that incorporated Retsu's instinct to attack like a gazelle--turning around to bend over and kicking backwards? OMG LOL FOREVER. It seriously looked really, really wrong and really, really hilarious at the same time.
(I'm still sad Retsu wasn't a penguin, though. :<)
Anyway, I wrapped things up with episode 23, where Shafu said they needed to bring in another new member, which I kind of went :< over because I've been enjoying the smaller team dynamics, but then realized, well, if the guy is a) not going to wear a shirt and b) IS RETSU'S OLDER BROTHER, I-- I can totally live with that! (Even if it makes no sense to "evolve their triangle" by MAKING IT A SQUARE. XD)
The episode also had some of the greatest moments ever. Retsu sneaking away from Captain!Ran's lecture (while Jan just tried to eat ramen) because it was time for his shower. Oh, Retsu. You deserve every dignity-shattering thing that happens to you. Also, 9:20 with yankee!Ran knocking Retsu over and Jan just hops right on top of him to check on him, rather than behaving like a normal person and kneeling next to his side.
It was seriously kind of great and the show is not convincing me not to ship Jan/Retsu, like, a whole lot. I just-- I have found the people of my heart. ;__;♥
(The only reason I stopped at ep 23--which is the one that ended with Retsu being like OMG GOU-NIISAN??--was because I was about to have my brain leak out of my ears if I didn't. You wouldn't think Sentai would take that much out of you mentally and yet!)
And, of course, more Arashi stuff. Spoilers for anything listed under the cut:
→ MAOU episode 06
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #94 [2008.07.28][subbed]
→ VS ARASHI #16 [2008.07.26]
(It looks like this week's episode of Shukudai-kun stayed in the 6% range? Which is frustrating because I can understand the drop in ratings for this week's MAOU, it was competing with the opening ceremonies, it had to go down. But this week's Shukudai-kun was on at the normal time, wasn't it? And it still took that 2% ratings hit from where it was before the scandal. Is it that there are more internet-savvy users making up that audience, so they knew about the scandal, versus the prime time audiences who aren't hardcore fans so they had no idea? Some other reason I don't know about? I'm just shooting in the dark here.)
♥ - MAOU episode 06 - I'm sort of of two minds about episode six right now, because I-- well, I think my biggest thing is that I'm practically clawing at the walls for Naoto to find out that Tomoo is still alive and is actually Naruse-san and this episode was such a fucking tease for that. It would have been easier to take if I thought that the next episode would reveal that, but I think we may have to wait awhile longer yet. If this drama were a little longer, I'd be fine with the pace of it, but we're past the halfway mark now and Naoto has maybe begun to start wondering why Naruse-san is drawn into all of this over and over, and I want the explosive scene where he finally finds out! I want some fall out from it! I don't want it to just be one final scene or just in the final episode or anything!
I also feel kind of conflicted about the way Yamano's character is turning out, the way he's gone from a sad pathetic guy who never got his life back on track to an even worse character who is gleefully reveling in the deaths of all these people, apparently not even troubled by it. I'd have preferred him to remain a little more gray in character.
On the other hand, this episode had so much other awesome stuff going for it. Naoto's conversation with his father, where he obviously feels so very guilty about all that he's put the people around him through, even if it's not really deserved.
I actually like that Naoto's not really that focused on Naruse's role in the reveng plot, because it made sense with the way they've been building everything up. Naruse is hardcore, the way he looked directly at Naoto and asked him to figure that reason out, that was seriously really kind of totally fucking awesome and I can buy that it would throw off some of Naoto's suspicions. Naoto is also not in the best frame of mind lately, he's being wound tighter and tighter, of course he's not going to think clearly. And sometimes people not related to Hideo's murder are drawn into this--the guy that killed the lawyer, Sora-chan's mother, etc.--and maybe the "criminal" is using Naruse in the same way, because he's SerizawaSr's lawyer now. No one has shown up this consistently other than people who were directly involved, but I can buy it that Naoto would overlook it for now.
Speaking of Naruse being hardcore--setting up the reporter? The implication that he may have planned it from the beginning? (Though, it seems more like he started planning as soon as Ikehata revealed that he knew Naruse = Tomoo. But Naruse also seems genuinely angry at him for having written the article that "twisted the truth", so maybe the whole thing really was a set up? I kind of hope that it was, because I really want Naruse to stick to the plan, to continue being as hardcore as he's supposed to be.) The scene in the warehouse where he just looked down at Ikehata as he was dying and took the evidence? The unreadable, but unmoveable look on his face? Hardcore, holy shit.
I do wonder what the implication of the article Ikehata dropped was, if it was really that incriminating, why would Naruse have given it to him? And did he really die? The ambulence was rushing him away, last we saw. But there didn't seem to be much of him in the preview for next week? I'm guessing it'll probably be what undoes the plot, though, since it had an address on it and the CD-R thing, which was what contained a recording of his conversations about Tomoo = Ryou. And I think it was Naoto with the CD in the preview? Though, you'd think Naruse would have destroyed that? Unless there was another copy for insurance purposes?
We did see Naruse crying at Nee-san and... I'm not the only one who thinks she may have known all along, right? There was that pause when he first walked up to her in the previous episode, like she was frozen for a moment. And then it was almost like she was testing him with the watermelon seeds comment. I... kind of really want her to suspect him. Especially because I think he seems to genuinely care for her, she seems to be about the only thing he really has in his life.
Another thing I totally loved was OMG THE NARUSE/SHIORI AND I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR A SHIP, MAOU, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO MEEEEEE? Because I have trouble imagining that they could find a way to be happy, how could it possibly end any other way than to have Naruse caught or even possibly killed? (Though, it's not like he's really done much of anything himself, but he's been clearly painted as someone doing "evil" things, even if he himself isn't evil.) B-but... he's not a person worthy of being loved anymore? s-sob. Stop making me want them and cute tiny little makeouts and cute tiny little hand holding and cute tiny little babies!
(asd;fljkaslkj when she was worried about him because he'd received a red envelope! M-my heart!)
I loved the hell out of the scenes with Ikehata towards the end, once you realized that he was caught up in Naruse's web and, hell, even as much as I'm pissed about them teasing us with no resolution in the foreseeable near future, I loved how on edge that whole series of scenes was. Hiding from the mobsters and making a deal with SerizawaSr, only to not realize that the mobsters had been turned from their regular boss. (We never directly see that their new boss is Naruse, so that makes me kind of suspicious.) The chase scene and then he fell through the floor and lay there dying as Naruse slowly walked towards him, while Serizawa waited not too far away, waited for Ikehata to tell him who was behind all of this. I loved the use of turning Ikehata's taunting (with the red envelope and the tarot card) back against him, that it came back to bite Ikehata in the ass, because Naruse was a far more dangerous opponent than SerizawaSr, who actually seems really... tired and worn in this episode.
Not that I like him any more than I did before, but he does at least seem somewhat human now, which I suspect was very deliberate. The scenes with Naoto's older brother were as heartbreaking as Naoto's scenes with SerizawaSr. The relief on SerizawaSr's face that they could just resolve this with money for once was kind of really well done, too.
Anyway, I knew the whole thing with Naoto almost finding out was going to be one giant tease, I knew as soon as Ikehata said he'd tell Naoto "something good" and wouldn't say so over the phone that he was toast. If he'd had a brain at all, he'd have told Naoto where to find him and have him come there, but his greed and arrogance got him killed, which was probably half of the point, I suppose.
And OMG FINALLY SOMEONED DIED AGAIN. I-- I feel really badly thinking that way, but I was kind of starting to not take Naruse's plan all that seriously. It's all fine and good that he sort of wants Naoto to stop him (I think it's half that he doesn't want to be this empty, rageful person who hurts innocent people, too, but also half that he just wants Naoto to finally understand what he did to Manaka Tomoo when he took everything from him, he wants that conversation, and realizes it himself, but he's too far gone to stop himself, too far gone to go back now, so he's going to drag Naoto down to hell with him instead) but I was getting antsy over nothing happening for three episodes. I still wish the dad would die or the affair storyline would wrap up (hopefully next episode?) or Kasai or Souda would bite it just to move the actual plot along, instead of just complicating things.
Not that I don't love the complications, but. Seriously. It's obvious that this has something to do with Manaka Tomoo and could they not just go find a school picture? Not go talk to his teachers to find out, oh, yes, he had a good friend named Naruse Ryou and go OMG WHY DO YOU SUPPOSE NARUSE-SAN NEVER MENTIONED IT?, because I would appreciate that. Even if they just go to the school and the teachers say they never saw him with any friends (because I can buy that maybe they became friends after Hideo died or maybe they never hung out in public), just something to show that they're thinking about it.
This is, of course, a minor quibble against a series that I really love. alsdkfjalsj the tension of this thing is fantastic.
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #094 [2008.07.28] - I was going through my files and realized that I'd skipped over this episode previously and then that there were subs, so I picked it up to watch this morning, too. And it starts out beautifully.
There's an actress in the box who can't decide her life plan after this very moment, so Sho's like, well, that's what this show is for, right? That's the kind of show we've become! While Nino's like, what, such an important thing would be decided on this show? and Aiba's immediate response? EH? ON THIS SHOW, EVEN THOUGH YOU SHOWED YOUR NIPPLE AND SUCH?
ILU AIBA. Never stop diving straight for the gutter. XDb
(It seriously amazes me that people don't get that he's totally the most openly hornball gutter-minded one of the group.)
And OMG yuckie-chan also subbed the AU commercial with the scifi set and EVERY SINGLE TIME I watch this commercial, I just completely lose it all over again. as;dlfkjaslkj NINO ILU FOREVER. The eyebrow waggle as he says, "Shall we watch it at my place?" undoes me every. single. time. It's so. So perfect and, god, I love it when Nino totally mocks a certain type of obnoxious person. Like on the jet in AAA when he gets that snobby, arrogant tone about how, ooh, this is your first time on a jet? Well, I travel all over the world, so I'm really used to this, I can show you around~~ or in the Aozora Pedaru backstage stuff and he gets this really egotistical tone about how he's an ~*artiste*~ and every. single. time. I lose it at how dead on he nails these impressions. The lean-in, the sleezy smile and eyebrow waggle and then the DENIED expression when Sho shows up, it all is my favorite commercial ever.
Anyway, Shukudai-kun #94. I love that they're trying to give the guest a nickname (so as to overcome the wall of how much of a huge sempai she is to them, since she's been working in the industry for so long, since 1990) so Aiba asks her how old she is (of course XD) and they drag up their producer and director to show people in the same age range and I love that they call so much of their staff -chan and that they torment them right back. Working with Arashi also entails this sort of thing, too, I suppose. XD They ask the guest if she ever goes to alumni meetings and she's never gone and Nino helpfully points out, well, if you ever go, you'll also run into these kind of HELL VILLAGERS while referring to the staff. XD No wonder the staff are such shits to Arashi, with this kind of thing, I would be, too. XD
After that, they totally tease Sho about being such an awesome news anchor, but it's actually really kind of a sweet teasing, they're totally putting him on the spot and kind of embarrassing him, but in a way that makes it clear that they're really proud of Sho for being the really smart and dilligent type, so he comes off looking really kind of great here. Even if his bandmates are bitches and try to make him read the news directly in the person's face instead of to the camera. XD
The homework/food segment probably would have been a lot more boring if I'd tried to watch it raw, but because there were subs, it was a lot more fun, with Nino needling the guest about being single while actually being really cute about it (and not genuinely mean at all) while Sho tried to hold onto the position as Maki-chan's favorite and when Nino finished making the okonomiyaki (I think that's what it was?) and tried to get it on the plate, Aiba just suggests Well, why don't you just flip it right over onto the plate?? despite that that would make it upside down. (I had the same thought--who cares what side is up, it's going to taste the same, right?) While Jun suggests, okay, topple it here, then here, then here, then try sliding it onto the plate and as;dfljkas I love you and your weird ways of dealing with food. Though, it's actually a good idea if you have to have it right side up, to flip it over into one bowl, then flip it over again into the proper bowl. (Jun really does have an eye for that sort of thing, he does it all the time with their batshit games, he figures out ways to make things go better. I imagine it's part of what makes him such a good concert master, too. <3 *basks a little in ridiculous Jun adoration*)
The food homework segment was also kind of really worth it for Jun leaning across the table like that and, oh, baby, I know you're skinny as a stick and should eat more than once a day, but sometimes you really are very pretty with your super-long (for a Japanese stick) limbs. Ohno and Sho with their matching "Yuuuuuuuum" expressions while Nino watches over his boyfriend and his BFF in satisfaction over? NEED MORE OT3, FANDOM.
Jun is also super-cute when they made him eat the ice cream ramen thing and he's like, ".......... w-well, it's certainly strong. >_o" a sd;flkjas;lj so adorable, Matsumoto! Jun is also kind of ridiculously :D :D :D during the whole discussion of what kind of person Maki-chan wants to meet as her destined person, to the point I'm kind :D at him myself. It's just. So cute!
Maki-chan herself is super great, too. When they're teasing her about having crowded in so many events into such a short time, getting married next year, getting a house and kids and all that, then Ogu-san teases her with putting up a divorce magnet onto the board at 45, so she's like um, well, then can I have another fated meeting? :D? and takes the magnet to put it up at 46. I had been kind of enjoying her up to that point, but that sort of just put me over the top with her.
The AiLand game was... w-well, any game you've never seen before is batshit when you don't know the culture, but it seems like they all knew the rules and it was cute. The best part, though, was the total little bastard grin on Nino's face when they were picking on Jun at the end, with that impression of Sakana-kun. And oh my god dying, DYING at the impression and you can see that Ohno was just cracking up all over Jun, too. SO ADORABLE, I loved it. (A lot of times he looks really awkward when trying to do stuff, but this one actually came off REALLY well, even if he was obviously embarrassed about it, it was much more smooth than usual. Good for you, Matsumoto! ♥)
♥ - VS ARASHI #16 [2008.07.26] - I've fallen really behind with this show, so I sat down to watch at least one episode of it, espcially because it was the one where Jun does the Cliff Climb while Nino supports and I heard about this one. ....Jun actually has some nice arms again, too, wow. *__*
But god bless whoever decided to pair Nino and Jun up together, because Nino just totally FAILS at sending over the first extra handle, it's totally on the opposite side of where Jun is and I can't believe that he'd fail that badly on accident, so I'm half certain the little shit did it on purpose and then DID JUN JUST FLIP HIM OFF FOR IT? a;sdlkfjaslkjslkj DYING at that.
Nino totally had to have done it on purpose, he deliberately sends it in the wrong direction, and JUN KNOWS IT. CRYING. Especially because Nino is going SO SLOWLY on getting the next one and it's got to be driving Jun CRAZY and asd;flkjaslkj AHAHAHA NINO ILU FOREVER. And after that Jun's laughing way too hard to be able to get more than 90 points despite that they're usually totally rocking at this game, so they were clearly just fucking around with it.
Also, I love Aiba for MAKING FUN OF JUN'S ATTEMPTS TO KEEP BALANCED WHILE JUN IS WALKING TOWARDS THEM.
Seriously, only Aiba could live through that. ;__;b
Falling Pipes was kind of fun to watch, it was so cute the way Aiba was proud of himself for the two-handed catch and after that, they send Ohno up and call him Mr. Falling Pipe again and... you know, I'd really be interested to see someone go back through and make notes about their scores, who's caught the most overall, who has the highest average, who tends to do double catches the most often, who's gone up how many times, etc. But I'll grant that it does seem like Ohno has caught something at least every single time.
I love what the guest did here, she just sent the pipes RIGHT OFF THE BAT, didn't even try to give him time to get ready, and it sort of worked. XDDD
Also, Sho's bandmates are a bunch of bitches who make him do the Rolling Coin Tower all by himself. :< But they're kind of really adorable bitches, they're counting on him~, and Ohno scrunched up under the table to hand the coins to him after he runs around to the other side of the table! And it does make for really good television. XD Same for Sho's OMG I DIDN'T TOUCH IT look when the tower falls over and they get the extra hundred points, allowing them to win.
So, overall not my favorite episode, but certainly that provided a whole lot of fun. <3
I seriously think I've finally found the Sentai of my heart. Every time I tell myself that I'm just going to watch one more episode, I wind up watching, like, five. Anyway, I don't think I can even do Kabuto today because I'm so stuck on Dekaranger and Gekiranger. (Because I got through the episode with Hoji's ex-partner and HOLY SHIT, BAN/HOJI MAKEOUTS FIC, I AM GOING TO NEED A LOT OF IT.)
SPOILERS for up to episode 23 of Gekiranger and episode 12 of Dekaranger.
Let's start with Dekaranger, where I first watched the episode where Ban gets involved with Maira-san, the girlfriend of Shake, and I'm sorry, Dekaranger, when you spend all that time trying to make a case that Ban is straight while Hoji is pissy at this whole situation and then turn around to have the episode end on how she's OMG SO GLAD TO HAVE MET A FRIEND ON EARTH FINALLY, skips off, while Hoji immediately CHEERS UP with a, WELL, that's the way these things go! :D, then have Ban/Hoji arguing like an old married couple, while Sen-chan, Umeko, and Jasmine watch fondly over them?
Yeah, gay.
Like, so gay.
Especially when you then start off the next episode with Hoji and his ex-partner Vino, which was. Seriously, that hug was not at all straight. Not one little bit. It's kind of mind-boggling how not straight that hug was. Or how Ban's immediate reaction is to go, "............HEY. >:/"
The BEST part of the episode, though, was. Well. My conversion with Meg pretty clearly sums up my feelings on it:
- BECKY: I am find Vino's spikey hair slightly amusing because it's kind of, well, a little telling that Hoji's former partner has really spikey hair and then the guy that latches onto him next is also with the spikey hair and I just imagine Hoji's face when I think of someone telling him he has a certain type.
MEG: ....I'd pay Sen-chan a dollar at least
BECKY: I think Umeko would chip in at least five more dollars.
BECKY: So long as she got to be in the room when he did it, anyway.
MEG: Jasmine might throw in the other four
MEG: .....and I have a feeling that Boss might make it twenty
BECKY: Secretly, when no one was looking (and Sen-chan would never tell), Boss would double the amount that the others--YES.
BECKY: ....truly, our hearts beat as one. ;__;b
I wish that the episode had been a two parter, just so I could enjoy the gay a bit more, but it was probably better off not trying to be stretched meaningly out. It was fun the way it was.
I also watched the episode with Amy-chan, the giant green baby who cried sonic screams and my feelings are mostly boiling down to two points: 1) I would have paid a lot for Hoji to have been the one the baby imprinted on and 2) Umeko is really kind of awesome. Seriously, Umeko just totally unloading on the spikey headed guy because she doesn't have time for this shit was awesome.
She's so girly and she loves long bubble baths and is tiny and adorable and yet she's such a shit kicker and I love her.
You know what was totally surprising about the episode, though? Ban being all up in Hoji's personal space while he didn't complain. That almost never happens in this series. >__>
So, four episodes of Dekaranger in one day was actually a lot for me, but then I also turned around and inhaled, like, nine of Gekiranger, which I think is truly the Sentai of my heart. So much so that I hardly even know where to start!
I kind of knew I was going to possibly love this series a whole lot when I got to episode 6, the Retsu episode, where he's revealed to be a genius painter and stalked by Pierre, and the episode ending with their usual catchphrase being picked up by Pierre as he glomps onto Retsu, knocking him to the ground with Pierre still clinging to him, going "We made it~". A+, Gekiranger. A+.
Then episode did something I wasn't expecting at all--it broke the formual of the episodes a little! I'd been feeling like the giant robot battles weren't all that bad with this series (well, it's not that they're bad with Dekaranger or Boukenger, just that they lasted really long and you could practically set your watch to their placement in the episodes), but when they put the fight at about 1/3 of the way through the episode instead of starting it up at about 2/3rds of the way through, I kind of sat up to take notice. It was stilly pretty formulaic for now, but they changed it up a little! Awesome. (Plus, dancing for an attack always makes me lol. ♥)
Then episode 09 did something I really didn't expect--NO GIANT ROBOT BATTLE AT ALL??? And it had a plot that lasted more than two episodes!! HOLY CRAP, THE SENTAI OF MY HEART IT IS. Anyway, episode 10 continued this trend and it made the giant robot fight even shorter! Because they were focusing on other stuff!
And, actually, Gekiranger has kind of been one giant plot ever since the series started--it still gets in a giant robot fight with nearly every episode and it's still about shorter storylines but they contribute to an overall whole and that's what I've been pining for. There has been consistent characterization of both the main trio and of the villains, there's actual story there and implications of why Rio's doing this crazy search for power at any expense and backstory for Mele and why she's so in love with Rio.
I-- I continue to not really know where I stand with Rio/Mele, because I feel like I should object to the fangirling of the boss, except I... I kind of don't. I love Mele a whole hell of a lot, I love her costume, I love how bad ass she can be, I love that she seems to truly love Rio. Love does make her a little blind, but in that sort of way that actual love does and even when her love for Rio is tested a little, she never wavers in it.
The only thing holding me back, I suspect, is that Rio just seems made to be a character that someone totally fucks with. Which Mele is never going to do. So I'm still kind of waiting to see if I go with Rio/Mele (the way she was willing to burn up her own body so she could fight against Shafu so that Rio wouldn't be killed by the poison, the way Rio hugged her to get her to stop, I am not unmoved) or if I want to slash him with someone later.
After that--if I'm remembering the timeline correctly--is when they start seeking out the rest of the Kensei, or at least go meet Sharkie. And I loved that episode because the series wasn't even TRYING not to be completely fucking ridiculous with their special effects. Seriously, where they have to paddle a boat down a river and it's great because they're not even TRYING to look like the oars go more than half an inch into the water, despite that Ban is speed-paddling them to outrun a shark?? HILARIOUS.
By the time I got to episode 16, the one with Ran-mama, I was just totally in love. I'd heard about when they were turned into babies and I admit it was a little shorter than I was hoping for and I wish baby!Retsu had gotten more to do, but there was so much A++++ here that I can't really complain. What struck me the most was that the show was kind of ACTUALLY implying that Ran was a mother figure to the two of them--even before they get turned into kids, Shafu's like, man, Ran is totally those two's mama.
The show wasn't going for it in a, "LOL, she's acting like a psuedo mom to her potential boyfriend(s)!", no, it seemed like they were going for that with the actual context. I mean, I'm playing it up a lot, but it's kind of why I can... I can ship them as an OT3 on a platonic level, but I'm just not feeling the romantic thing with Ran for either of them. Which contrasts sharply against how I totally would do makeouts and porn with Jan/Retsu.
The episode was totally LOL for the ending, though, because it just utterly destroys Retsu's dignity and he kind of has it coming, because he's another one of those characters who attracts all these people around him that make his life miserable and traumatic because he's just not happy otherwise. It's his own fault for trying to keep his dignity around Jan. :< When he wakes up with only a small sheet to cover himself (because that's all the baby!Retsu was wrapped in) and then when he drops it to change into the GekiBlue outfit and then JAN MOCKING HIM AT THE END, PEEING RETSU~ PEEING RETSU~ because Ran had to change his diaper?
a;sdlfkjaslkja;lskj I KNEW IT WAS LOVE.
About this time I also kind of realized that occasionally these characters had brains! "Master Shafu wants me to do some more ridiculous training? Hmm... the last time he asked that of us, it was some special training technique, so this probably is, too, right?" I mean, not always, there are times when it falls prey to the usual tokusatsu need for the characters to be kind of dense, but they were surpisingly non-aggravating and don't make me want to punch anyone. (Well. To be fair, I did have a moment of extreme irritation with episode 18 where it was OBVIOUSLY not Sharkie who had attacked Shafu, but Bat Li and Elehan totally seemed to buy it and then never even apologized afterwards. But that's kind of part of the nature of tokusatsu as far as I can tell?)
Jan can sometimes get to be a bit much, but I'm actually tolerating him far better than I would have thought. I mean, RAISED IN THE WOODS BY TIGERS is a pretty good excuse for acting like a hyperactive kid and not knowing how to behave normally and using cutesy words for things.
Oh, you know what else I loved? I mean, I could have done without Elehan feeling up Ran (I'd have done a lot more damage to him, Kensei or no, for that) but Bat Li and the dancing on the lake (that is not even TRYING not to pretend it was greenscreened AND totally done with wirework, god, I love a show that embraces its ridiculousness) and Retsu learning FAN DANCING for furthering his beautiful technique? W...way to be straight there, Retsu! And totally not super fabulous, oh my god.
And yet he's not totally stereotypically girly about it, he's just... a prettyboy who likes art and cultured things. I kind of love him because he actually is open to the idea of Jan's crazy ideas, even if they seem embarrassing, because they're working as a triangle, they make each other stronger.
About that time is when the plot started ramping up even more and the giant robot battles got even more interesting and felt better integrated into the plot of the show and Rio stepped up his game and tried to erase GekiJyuKen from the world and so the trio had to step up their game as well. I-- was a little disappointed that they didn't partner up with their strong points (because Ran and Gorie would have been SO GREAT, plus Retsu and the penguine--Michelle, I think?--would have been FANTASTIC), but it was kind of worth it to see them all working really hard together and supporting each other. Still totally platonic with Ran in there, though.
E-even if they got off to a rocky start because Jan ran away from his challenge and Retsu got pissed and then they WRESTLED TO THE GROUND while Ran TURNED THE HOSE ON THEM. Okay, she dumped a vase full of water on them, but I firmly believe if she had had a hose, she would have used that.
And it's just.
It's--
This series loves me a whole lot.
It gives me Jan/Retsu wrestling that looks really kind of totally lolarious and hot at the same time, then it literally has Ran splashing them with water to get them to cool off and as;ldkfja;lskjlkjas THE SENTAI OF MY HEART. I HAVE FOUND IT. It helps that I totally love the big cats/wild animals theme the show has going on, too. Like, I'll admit to a little silent fangirling over the lion, tiger, jaguar, and cheetah stuff. ♥
It also helps that the show does stuff like Retsu refusing to give up against the gazelle and getting the crap beaten out of him and looking really kind of pretty while doing so and then Jan runs over to hug him when he finally wins and s-seriously. OTP forever omg.
The next three episodes are pretty much all about the fight between Rio and the GekiRangers and there's no way I can turn back at this point. I've watched about five episodes already this morning, but I NEED MORE. I need to see where the plot is going, I need to see the fight with Rio, I'm totally pumped up for more! I don't think I even went through Kabuto this fast! Certainly not in the 20s! (Though, I think I'll probably always love Kabuto more, I'm not unmoved by Gekiranger.)
These two episodes are like one big building climax to the final fight between them and then the third episode just dovetails neatly along with it and keeps things moving on ahead full steam. And it continues with the characterization, the show remembers that Shafu and Rio used to be friendly, Shafu used to be his Master and knows that Rio does this because he's scared, that his heart is shaking like a lonely baby bird. Which you'd kind of picked up on already because the characterization is pretty consistent, despite that Rio is so strong already and so determined and so amazingly steely. Using his own despair to fuel his own power was kind of an amazing moment for Rio, even Kata (the Kenma of the Sky) was impressed with him then.
I-- I really don't want Rio to be defeated forever, I want him to find some measure of peace and maybe even rejoin the GekiJyuKen side of things, despite that I kind of suspect it could never really happen after everything he's sacrified on his path for the RinJyuKen.
Not that the episode is all serious business (which I love, mind), because the trio gets some new attacks and HOLY CRAP DO I EVER LOVE RETSU'S. Like, I would pay a lot for a lolarious porn fic that incorporated Retsu's instinct to attack like a gazelle--turning around to bend over and kicking backwards? OMG LOL FOREVER. It seriously looked really, really wrong and really, really hilarious at the same time.
(I'm still sad Retsu wasn't a penguin, though. :<)
Anyway, I wrapped things up with episode 23, where Shafu said they needed to bring in another new member, which I kind of went :< over because I've been enjoying the smaller team dynamics, but then realized, well, if the guy is a) not going to wear a shirt and b) IS RETSU'S OLDER BROTHER, I-- I can totally live with that! (Even if it makes no sense to "evolve their triangle" by MAKING IT A SQUARE. XD)
The episode also had some of the greatest moments ever. Retsu sneaking away from Captain!Ran's lecture (while Jan just tried to eat ramen) because it was time for his shower. Oh, Retsu. You deserve every dignity-shattering thing that happens to you. Also, 9:20 with yankee!Ran knocking Retsu over and Jan just hops right on top of him to check on him, rather than behaving like a normal person and kneeling next to his side.
It was seriously kind of great and the show is not convincing me not to ship Jan/Retsu, like, a whole lot. I just-- I have found the people of my heart. ;__;♥
(The only reason I stopped at ep 23--which is the one that ended with Retsu being like OMG GOU-NIISAN??--was because I was about to have my brain leak out of my ears if I didn't. You wouldn't think Sentai would take that much out of you mentally and yet!)
And, of course, more Arashi stuff. Spoilers for anything listed under the cut:
→ MAOU episode 06
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #94 [2008.07.28][subbed]
→ VS ARASHI #16 [2008.07.26]
(It looks like this week's episode of Shukudai-kun stayed in the 6% range? Which is frustrating because I can understand the drop in ratings for this week's MAOU, it was competing with the opening ceremonies, it had to go down. But this week's Shukudai-kun was on at the normal time, wasn't it? And it still took that 2% ratings hit from where it was before the scandal. Is it that there are more internet-savvy users making up that audience, so they knew about the scandal, versus the prime time audiences who aren't hardcore fans so they had no idea? Some other reason I don't know about? I'm just shooting in the dark here.)
♥ - MAOU episode 06 - I'm sort of of two minds about episode six right now, because I-- well, I think my biggest thing is that I'm practically clawing at the walls for Naoto to find out that Tomoo is still alive and is actually Naruse-san and this episode was such a fucking tease for that. It would have been easier to take if I thought that the next episode would reveal that, but I think we may have to wait awhile longer yet. If this drama were a little longer, I'd be fine with the pace of it, but we're past the halfway mark now and Naoto has maybe begun to start wondering why Naruse-san is drawn into all of this over and over, and I want the explosive scene where he finally finds out! I want some fall out from it! I don't want it to just be one final scene or just in the final episode or anything!
I also feel kind of conflicted about the way Yamano's character is turning out, the way he's gone from a sad pathetic guy who never got his life back on track to an even worse character who is gleefully reveling in the deaths of all these people, apparently not even troubled by it. I'd have preferred him to remain a little more gray in character.
On the other hand, this episode had so much other awesome stuff going for it. Naoto's conversation with his father, where he obviously feels so very guilty about all that he's put the people around him through, even if it's not really deserved.
I actually like that Naoto's not really that focused on Naruse's role in the reveng plot, because it made sense with the way they've been building everything up. Naruse is hardcore, the way he looked directly at Naoto and asked him to figure that reason out, that was seriously really kind of totally fucking awesome and I can buy that it would throw off some of Naoto's suspicions. Naoto is also not in the best frame of mind lately, he's being wound tighter and tighter, of course he's not going to think clearly. And sometimes people not related to Hideo's murder are drawn into this--the guy that killed the lawyer, Sora-chan's mother, etc.--and maybe the "criminal" is using Naruse in the same way, because he's SerizawaSr's lawyer now. No one has shown up this consistently other than people who were directly involved, but I can buy it that Naoto would overlook it for now.
Speaking of Naruse being hardcore--setting up the reporter? The implication that he may have planned it from the beginning? (Though, it seems more like he started planning as soon as Ikehata revealed that he knew Naruse = Tomoo. But Naruse also seems genuinely angry at him for having written the article that "twisted the truth", so maybe the whole thing really was a set up? I kind of hope that it was, because I really want Naruse to stick to the plan, to continue being as hardcore as he's supposed to be.) The scene in the warehouse where he just looked down at Ikehata as he was dying and took the evidence? The unreadable, but unmoveable look on his face? Hardcore, holy shit.
I do wonder what the implication of the article Ikehata dropped was, if it was really that incriminating, why would Naruse have given it to him? And did he really die? The ambulence was rushing him away, last we saw. But there didn't seem to be much of him in the preview for next week? I'm guessing it'll probably be what undoes the plot, though, since it had an address on it and the CD-R thing, which was what contained a recording of his conversations about Tomoo = Ryou. And I think it was Naoto with the CD in the preview? Though, you'd think Naruse would have destroyed that? Unless there was another copy for insurance purposes?
We did see Naruse crying at Nee-san and... I'm not the only one who thinks she may have known all along, right? There was that pause when he first walked up to her in the previous episode, like she was frozen for a moment. And then it was almost like she was testing him with the watermelon seeds comment. I... kind of really want her to suspect him. Especially because I think he seems to genuinely care for her, she seems to be about the only thing he really has in his life.
Another thing I totally loved was OMG THE NARUSE/SHIORI AND I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR A SHIP, MAOU, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO MEEEEEE? Because I have trouble imagining that they could find a way to be happy, how could it possibly end any other way than to have Naruse caught or even possibly killed? (Though, it's not like he's really done much of anything himself, but he's been clearly painted as someone doing "evil" things, even if he himself isn't evil.) B-but... he's not a person worthy of being loved anymore? s-sob. Stop making me want them and cute tiny little makeouts and cute tiny little hand holding and cute tiny little babies!
(asd;fljkaslkj when she was worried about him because he'd received a red envelope! M-my heart!)
I loved the hell out of the scenes with Ikehata towards the end, once you realized that he was caught up in Naruse's web and, hell, even as much as I'm pissed about them teasing us with no resolution in the foreseeable near future, I loved how on edge that whole series of scenes was. Hiding from the mobsters and making a deal with SerizawaSr, only to not realize that the mobsters had been turned from their regular boss. (We never directly see that their new boss is Naruse, so that makes me kind of suspicious.) The chase scene and then he fell through the floor and lay there dying as Naruse slowly walked towards him, while Serizawa waited not too far away, waited for Ikehata to tell him who was behind all of this. I loved the use of turning Ikehata's taunting (with the red envelope and the tarot card) back against him, that it came back to bite Ikehata in the ass, because Naruse was a far more dangerous opponent than SerizawaSr, who actually seems really... tired and worn in this episode.
Not that I like him any more than I did before, but he does at least seem somewhat human now, which I suspect was very deliberate. The scenes with Naoto's older brother were as heartbreaking as Naoto's scenes with SerizawaSr. The relief on SerizawaSr's face that they could just resolve this with money for once was kind of really well done, too.
Anyway, I knew the whole thing with Naoto almost finding out was going to be one giant tease, I knew as soon as Ikehata said he'd tell Naoto "something good" and wouldn't say so over the phone that he was toast. If he'd had a brain at all, he'd have told Naoto where to find him and have him come there, but his greed and arrogance got him killed, which was probably half of the point, I suppose.
And OMG FINALLY SOMEONED DIED AGAIN. I-- I feel really badly thinking that way, but I was kind of starting to not take Naruse's plan all that seriously. It's all fine and good that he sort of wants Naoto to stop him (I think it's half that he doesn't want to be this empty, rageful person who hurts innocent people, too, but also half that he just wants Naoto to finally understand what he did to Manaka Tomoo when he took everything from him, he wants that conversation, and realizes it himself, but he's too far gone to stop himself, too far gone to go back now, so he's going to drag Naoto down to hell with him instead) but I was getting antsy over nothing happening for three episodes. I still wish the dad would die or the affair storyline would wrap up (hopefully next episode?) or Kasai or Souda would bite it just to move the actual plot along, instead of just complicating things.
Not that I don't love the complications, but. Seriously. It's obvious that this has something to do with Manaka Tomoo and could they not just go find a school picture? Not go talk to his teachers to find out, oh, yes, he had a good friend named Naruse Ryou and go OMG WHY DO YOU SUPPOSE NARUSE-SAN NEVER MENTIONED IT?, because I would appreciate that. Even if they just go to the school and the teachers say they never saw him with any friends (because I can buy that maybe they became friends after Hideo died or maybe they never hung out in public), just something to show that they're thinking about it.
This is, of course, a minor quibble against a series that I really love. alsdkfjalsj the tension of this thing is fantastic.
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #094 [2008.07.28] - I was going through my files and realized that I'd skipped over this episode previously and then that there were subs, so I picked it up to watch this morning, too. And it starts out beautifully.
There's an actress in the box who can't decide her life plan after this very moment, so Sho's like, well, that's what this show is for, right? That's the kind of show we've become! While Nino's like, what, such an important thing would be decided on this show? and Aiba's immediate response? EH? ON THIS SHOW, EVEN THOUGH YOU SHOWED YOUR NIPPLE AND SUCH?
ILU AIBA. Never stop diving straight for the gutter. XDb
(It seriously amazes me that people don't get that he's totally the most openly hornball gutter-minded one of the group.)
And OMG yuckie-chan also subbed the AU commercial with the scifi set and EVERY SINGLE TIME I watch this commercial, I just completely lose it all over again. as;dlfkjaslkj NINO ILU FOREVER. The eyebrow waggle as he says, "Shall we watch it at my place?" undoes me every. single. time. It's so. So perfect and, god, I love it when Nino totally mocks a certain type of obnoxious person. Like on the jet in AAA when he gets that snobby, arrogant tone about how, ooh, this is your first time on a jet? Well, I travel all over the world, so I'm really used to this, I can show you around~~ or in the Aozora Pedaru backstage stuff and he gets this really egotistical tone about how he's an ~*artiste*~ and every. single. time. I lose it at how dead on he nails these impressions. The lean-in, the sleezy smile and eyebrow waggle and then the DENIED expression when Sho shows up, it all is my favorite commercial ever.
Anyway, Shukudai-kun #94. I love that they're trying to give the guest a nickname (so as to overcome the wall of how much of a huge sempai she is to them, since she's been working in the industry for so long, since 1990) so Aiba asks her how old she is (of course XD) and they drag up their producer and director to show people in the same age range and I love that they call so much of their staff -chan and that they torment them right back. Working with Arashi also entails this sort of thing, too, I suppose. XD They ask the guest if she ever goes to alumni meetings and she's never gone and Nino helpfully points out, well, if you ever go, you'll also run into these kind of HELL VILLAGERS while referring to the staff. XD No wonder the staff are such shits to Arashi, with this kind of thing, I would be, too. XD
After that, they totally tease Sho about being such an awesome news anchor, but it's actually really kind of a sweet teasing, they're totally putting him on the spot and kind of embarrassing him, but in a way that makes it clear that they're really proud of Sho for being the really smart and dilligent type, so he comes off looking really kind of great here. Even if his bandmates are bitches and try to make him read the news directly in the person's face instead of to the camera. XD
The homework/food segment probably would have been a lot more boring if I'd tried to watch it raw, but because there were subs, it was a lot more fun, with Nino needling the guest about being single while actually being really cute about it (and not genuinely mean at all) while Sho tried to hold onto the position as Maki-chan's favorite and when Nino finished making the okonomiyaki (I think that's what it was?) and tried to get it on the plate, Aiba just suggests Well, why don't you just flip it right over onto the plate?? despite that that would make it upside down. (I had the same thought--who cares what side is up, it's going to taste the same, right?) While Jun suggests, okay, topple it here, then here, then here, then try sliding it onto the plate and as;dfljkas I love you and your weird ways of dealing with food. Though, it's actually a good idea if you have to have it right side up, to flip it over into one bowl, then flip it over again into the proper bowl. (Jun really does have an eye for that sort of thing, he does it all the time with their batshit games, he figures out ways to make things go better. I imagine it's part of what makes him such a good concert master, too. <3 *basks a little in ridiculous Jun adoration*)
The food homework segment was also kind of really worth it for Jun leaning across the table like that and, oh, baby, I know you're skinny as a stick and should eat more than once a day, but sometimes you really are very pretty with your super-long (for a Japanese stick) limbs. Ohno and Sho with their matching "Yuuuuuuuum" expressions while Nino watches over his boyfriend and his BFF in satisfaction over? NEED MORE OT3, FANDOM.
Jun is also super-cute when they made him eat the ice cream ramen thing and he's like, ".......... w-well, it's certainly strong. >_o" a sd;flkjas;lj so adorable, Matsumoto! Jun is also kind of ridiculously :D :D :D during the whole discussion of what kind of person Maki-chan wants to meet as her destined person, to the point I'm kind :D at him myself. It's just. So cute!
Maki-chan herself is super great, too. When they're teasing her about having crowded in so many events into such a short time, getting married next year, getting a house and kids and all that, then Ogu-san teases her with putting up a divorce magnet onto the board at 45, so she's like um, well, then can I have another fated meeting? :D? and takes the magnet to put it up at 46. I had been kind of enjoying her up to that point, but that sort of just put me over the top with her.
The AiLand game was... w-well, any game you've never seen before is batshit when you don't know the culture, but it seems like they all knew the rules and it was cute. The best part, though, was the total little bastard grin on Nino's face when they were picking on Jun at the end, with that impression of Sakana-kun. And oh my god dying, DYING at the impression and you can see that Ohno was just cracking up all over Jun, too. SO ADORABLE, I loved it. (A lot of times he looks really awkward when trying to do stuff, but this one actually came off REALLY well, even if he was obviously embarrassed about it, it was much more smooth than usual. Good for you, Matsumoto! ♥)
♥ - VS ARASHI #16 [2008.07.26] - I've fallen really behind with this show, so I sat down to watch at least one episode of it, espcially because it was the one where Jun does the Cliff Climb while Nino supports and I heard about this one. ....Jun actually has some nice arms again, too, wow. *__*
But god bless whoever decided to pair Nino and Jun up together, because Nino just totally FAILS at sending over the first extra handle, it's totally on the opposite side of where Jun is and I can't believe that he'd fail that badly on accident, so I'm half certain the little shit did it on purpose and then DID JUN JUST FLIP HIM OFF FOR IT? a;sdlkfjaslkjslkj DYING at that.
Nino totally had to have done it on purpose, he deliberately sends it in the wrong direction, and JUN KNOWS IT. CRYING. Especially because Nino is going SO SLOWLY on getting the next one and it's got to be driving Jun CRAZY and asd;flkjaslkj AHAHAHA NINO ILU FOREVER. And after that Jun's laughing way too hard to be able to get more than 90 points despite that they're usually totally rocking at this game, so they were clearly just fucking around with it.
Also, I love Aiba for MAKING FUN OF JUN'S ATTEMPTS TO KEEP BALANCED WHILE JUN IS WALKING TOWARDS THEM.
Seriously, only Aiba could live through that. ;__;b
Falling Pipes was kind of fun to watch, it was so cute the way Aiba was proud of himself for the two-handed catch and after that, they send Ohno up and call him Mr. Falling Pipe again and... you know, I'd really be interested to see someone go back through and make notes about their scores, who's caught the most overall, who has the highest average, who tends to do double catches the most often, who's gone up how many times, etc. But I'll grant that it does seem like Ohno has caught something at least every single time.
I love what the guest did here, she just sent the pipes RIGHT OFF THE BAT, didn't even try to give him time to get ready, and it sort of worked. XDDD
Also, Sho's bandmates are a bunch of bitches who make him do the Rolling Coin Tower all by himself. :< But they're kind of really adorable bitches, they're counting on him~, and Ohno scrunched up under the table to hand the coins to him after he runs around to the other side of the table! And it does make for really good television. XD Same for Sho's OMG I DIDN'T TOUCH IT look when the tower falls over and they get the extra hundred points, allowing them to win.
So, overall not my favorite episode, but certainly that provided a whole lot of fun. <3