Long post is long. Again.
So, it's been awhile, I know. Too many other things, too much RL crap that has been next to impossible to deal with, too little energy, etc. But I swore to myself that I was going to get on this pile of subs I have waiting and seeing princess_dexter fall for Arashi re-motivated me to just do it already. Which means! Spoilers for anything listed!
I-- I am not swearing to myself to catch up, but I'm at least going to make an attempt not to get all the way sucked into games. Or spend the entire weekend watching New Tricks because Siobhan was an encouraging jerk when she recommended that series.
Hmph.
I've had these Kabuto posts written for ages, but I procrastinated on posting them for ages (because I'd been losing momentum, despite that I still think about the series practically 24/7) so I'm forcing myself back into a proper posting habit.
Anyway. Usual blah, blah, blah, and then on to Kamen Rider Kabuto ep 46, with SPOILERS for the episode listed at the very least (and very likely all the way to the end, especially since this is the final stretch), I don't plan these things in advance, we'll see from there.
Kamen Rider Kabuto episode 46: So, Misaki has seen Tsurugi transform into the Scorpion Worm and it lunges at her, Kagami barely managing to shove them both out of the way, yelling at Tsurugi to stop this, who manages to rein it back in and wonders what's been happening to him. The really tragic part of this is that of course Misaki's shocked and upset and hurt and angry, but she probably could have forgiven it, gotten past it, because they had already gone through this with Tadokoro-san. But it's going to be too much of a devestating blow to Tsurugi, who lived to defeat the Worms for so long, who realized that he's the one who killed Nee-san, even if he has the original Tsurugi's memories. Nogi Reiji approaches and realizes that Tsurugi's a worm, who denies it, but Nogi Reiji attacks him with a beam of energy that forces him into the change for a few moments. And Tsurugi can't deny it anymore.
He runs away and starts to remember what really happened on that day, realizing that it was him that killed Nee-san and himself, and rips apart the muffler and throws it down onto the ground and it hurts even more than the first time through because I know this can't end any better than it did last time. Misaki also realizes that Kagami knew and screams at him for not having told her, smacking him across the face and... I don't disagree with the way Kagami handled the whole situation (how could he tell anyone, when he didn't know what the whole truth of what Tsurugi was?) but I appreciate that I feel for everyone here.
Tsurugi goes back home and asks Jiiya why he kept silent about it, which Jiiya doesn't really have an answer for. Tsurugi snarls that he has to destroy all the Worm, including himself, throwing the Christmas cake off the table and all across the floor. And right about there is when Tsurugi was kind of doomed--he was never going to be able to live with himself very well, no matter that all the personal growth he went through was him, it still didn't change the fact that he killed the real Tsurugi and Nee-san.
Back at La Salle, Kagami tells Tendou that Tsurugi's a Worm and Tendou demands to know why Kagami kept silent, who says it couldn't be helped. It wasn't like he wasn't constantly thinking about it, but he just didn't know what to do. As uncomfortable as this scene is, I love that the writers put it in, they specifically included a scene where Kagami told Tendou the truth and Tendou wanted to know why he kept it a secret, because the way the scene is set up, it's saying that Kagami needed to explain to both Misaki and Tendou. Misaki is obvious, but why Tendou? Because they're supposed to trust each other.
Tendou, of course, says there's no need to ponder this, if Tsurugi's a Worm, then he needs to be defeated. Kagami protests, saying that Tsurugi's not a bad guy and they all know that. He's the same as Tadokoro-san and Hiyori, which just sets Tendou off, he's kind of furious in this scene and, as much as he has a point, that you can't lump them together because Tsurugi killed the original and Tsurugi's older sister, I strongly suspect that this outburst isn't just about the comparison to Hiyori and Tadokoro-san. I kind of strongly think that it's about Kagami having kept a secret from him and Tendou's hurt/angry about it, because there's a whole lot of glaring directly at Kagami. And it's not like Tendou would come out and say it or anything, but it felt like he was just waiting to snap, waiting until he had an excuse, waiting to see what Kagami's reason would be, and then finally he snapped at the comparison.
The whole scene is painful because Tendou says he's surely killed other people while Misaki thinks about Tsurugi having protected her, with this sad, pained voice that breaks my heart all over again. Tsurugi, meanwhile, is trying to drown himself in the ocean, thoughts of Misaki in his head. ;__;
Then it's Christmas at the Tendou household, where Juka's gleeing over Tendou's Christmas cake and Tendou's in a surprisingly quiet mood, thinking, "Juka... I want you to always smile. And Hiyori... I promise you. I will change the world. Make it into a world where you can smile. I will definitely do it." and it's not his usual tone/mood that he usually has around Juka. I'm not entirely sure that the writers wanted to connect it to the scene in La Salle earlier, but I'm not putting it out of the realm of possibility, either. Of course, it could just be a Christmas mood, too.
After that, Tendou and Kagami (separately) run into groups of Worms, and Kagami runs into Cassisworm and they fight long enough for Tsurugi to re-emerge from the ocean (and one wonders just how long he was down there .__.) and he transforms back into the silver Scorpion Worm. Tsurugi drives Gatack off then he and Nogi Reiji go talk elsewhere, who wants Tsurugi to join him, but gets a sword to his throat for an answer instead. He says that Kamishiro Tsurugi died and that he's been reborn as the strongest Worm, transforming to fight both clones, able to use his tentacles to force them out of their Worm states and saying they'll work for him instead.
Meanwhile, Jiiya sits alone in the Discabil mansion and Tendou approaches, Jiiya saying, please take care of Bocchama, please grant his wish! and I think even Jiiya knows what that means? Ow, stop it, Kabuto. ;___; Especially when you bastards follow it up with Gatack finishing off a bunch of Worm and Tsurugi approaches, Kagami smiling and saying he believed in him, "You may be a Worm, but... you can live as a human." he says. And Kagami means it. And the others would have come around, too. And Tsurugi seems to understand that Kagami is sincere and the look on his face is painful, so much more so the second time around because the first time I had hoped that Tsurugi would be able to get past this somehow. This time I know it's impossible and the look on Tsurugi's face says how much it hurts to hear those words because he can't accept them.
Kagami hands him Misaki's present and says that even Misaki is worried about him, which is the breaking point for him, so Tsurugi only takes the present long enough to throw it down and stomp on it and punch Kagami. "Live as a human?" he sneers. "Fool. I will defeat all humans." and, oh, sweetie, stop breaking my heart. Because I know he doesn't mean it, because I know this is all for the sake of getting Gatack or Kabuto to defeat him, because all Worms will be defeated, because he really did love Misaki and care about his friends and all the human beings. The first time I didn't know if he really had gone over to the other side, if his Worm nature had returned, but knowing that he keeps the bracelet... ;___;
The two clones come up behind Tsurugi and somehow they've snatched up the Gatack Zecter and, honestly, I'm disappointed in the Zecter for not trying to chew the clone's hand off. After Tsurugi says the war is really on now, later he meets Tendou and says that he has Kagami Arata and Tendou looks sharply at him. In the van, Misaki is still struggling with all of this, asking Tadokoro-san just what is a Worm? Just what is a human? But he doesn't know either. But maybe they're fighting to find the answer to that.
Tsurugi's offering Tendou a trade for Kagami's life, which is an interesting way to bring the show back to the beginning of the series, when ZECT aimed a gun at Kagami in order to get Tendou to surrender quietly. But what Tsurugi wants is all the Zecters, because if the Rider System is destroyed, then the Worm will have nothing to fear. Tendou reminds Tsurugi of Jiiya, how he's watched Tsurugi since he was a child, how he took Tsurugi's requests, how he granted Tsurugi's wishes, but Tsurugi turns back to look at him and says he only has one wish. I want to punch things a little. Tsurugi doesn't actually say what his wish is, his attitude conveys that he only wants the Rider System, but you wonder if he isn't already well on the path to his deathwish.
Tendou watches him go, nothing more is said about the Zecters, and this is one of those writing choices they made that kind of surprises even me. Because it seems like there is no way Tendou will go along with this, that he'll work around it somehow. And yet. .__. Back at ZECT, Mishima is reporting that the Worm are still randomly attacking all over the place, it's like they can't stop moving. But, all of a sudden, they're all moving towards the same place Misaki notes as they track the Worms from in the van.
Tendou is also heading somewhere and carrying a suitcase. I remember watching this the first time through, how I thought it was just another set up like it always was with Tendou, how there would be some trick to it like with Kagami handing over the Anti-Mimic Bomb, only snatching it back at the last second. What it looks like on the surface is not what's actually going on, but I was still gleeful that Tendou once again couldn't not save Kagami. This is even after Tendou's been pissy with him earlier in the episode and possibly hurt that Kagami kept quiet about Tsurugi--not that Tendou would just leave someone to die simply because he was mad at them, but there's not really even a muttering about how annoying Kagami is or anything. (Which may possibly say more about how deeply it affected Tendou, I haven't really decided yet--or figured out what's going through Tendou's head.)
Tendou walks towards Tsurugi and the other Worms, who have Kagami held hostage, we see the Zecters set down on a press and I remember being sure that they were fake Zecters or that Tendou would snatch them away at the last second if they were real. Then they started crumpling down when the press was crushing them and I was POSITIVE they were fake Zecters. There's no way Tendou would just hand over the real Zecters just like that! ....r-right? Though, there wasn't time to really think that Tsurugi already had Gatack Zecter, so at least that one would be real, and you'd think he'd recognize Sasword Zecter at least, but.
Kagami yells at Tendou to stop, to just stay away and keep the Zecters and, honestly, I wonder how they got Gatack Zecter to sit still for all of this, it's not like they're not capable of buzzing around or disappearing on their own. But Tendou tosses Tsurugi the briefcase anyway and I'm sure that it's empty and as soon as Tsurugi opens it, Tendou will call the real Kabuto Zecter and fight his way through all of them. But Kagami believes it's real and when he says "Tendou...." and the look on Tendou's face, the unreadable look that says this is the path he's chosen and I just-- asl;dkfjal;kjs my babies. ;__;
But the briefcase has the Zecters in there and Tsurugi sets them on the press, while Kagami looks worried and Tendou watches quietly. Tsurugi says it's the end of the Riders, lowering the press and we hear a lot of metal crunching and the Nogi Reiji clones looking victorious, so Tsurugi says to let Kagami go like they promised. They shove Kagami over to Tendou, who doesn't quite know what to say to Tendou, while Tendou only looks quietly at him for a long moment before looking over to Tsurugi again.
And it's just. It's so easy to fill in the blanks there. Tendou is still angry/hurt with him, but he loves Kagami too much not to do this. I just. Want to give him a hug and feed him cookies to deal with this strange new world of actually accepting your feelings even when it hurts sometimes. ;__;<3
Tsurugi says that their new Worm era begins today and I'm still waiting for Tendou's reveal of having had the real Zecters all along, but it's not happening just yet, the Worms break through the wall and surround Kagami and Tendou and they look ready to fight with their hands until Misaki interupts them all, aiming a gun at the group, telling them ZECT has the building surrounded, and looking really smoking hot. So what? Tsurugi says, you guys have no hope left anymore. The two Cassisworm transform and the closed press suddenly bursts open with light and the Zecters flying out and holy shit, you realize.
Holy shit, Tendou gave him the real Zecters.
Because Kagami's life was at stake.
He didn't try any sort of trick or try to defeat them all instead or even call in ZECT for reinforcements (they came on their own, because they were tracking the Worms), none of that. He just gave Tsurugi the real Zecters because he didn't want Kagami to die.
You can try to fanwank it to a degree, that possibly Tendou knew the Zecters couldn't be so easily destroyed, he never really shows what he's thinking, and neither of them look surprised when the Zecters fly back into their hands, so who knows if Tendou was surprised that they made it through. But there's no way he could know with 100% certainty that the Zecters wouldn't be crushed, that they really would lose their only real weapon against the Worm. And he handed them over for Kagami without any real hesitation.
(And seriously sometimes I think this is such total mahou shoujo, like Kabuto seriously took a shoujo/mahou shoujo storyline and mapped a toku series onto it. The main character's love interest gets kidnapped, so they have to give up their special transformation weapon in order to get him back and, seriously, I'm pretty sure I saw this on Sailor Moon once.)
So, in conclusion: Wow, that's some serious OTP right there. I want to ship other couples sometimes, but then Tendou goes and gives up the Zecters for Kagami and I-- there's nothing else in the series that could possibly be as epic as that, not even the Tendou - Hiyori storyline.
Anyway, they all transform--Tsurugi included, who could have just turned into his Worm form, but I think a) the Riders are more powerful and b) it says a lot about what he's trying to do here and how much he hates his Worm self--and fight each other. Kagami handles the Cassisworm and the Pupaworms, while Tendou and Tsurugi take it outside. The Hoppers--still in the chains, btw--happen across the scene, when Yaguruma says, shall we try seeking it one more time? The light..., which Kageyama agrees to, so they rip off the chains and fling themselves into battle. God, I love these two hardcore babies, they are ridiculous amounts of OTP, too. And Kageyama... does not look half-bad with the hair falling in his eyes like that.
You know what else I love? Besides Kagami kicking the crap out of Cassisworm here. Is when the Hoppers are working on the other Cassisworm and he's got the two of them pinned down, so Kageyama looks over and says, "Aniki!" who understands what he's trying to say--they both plant one foot in the Worm's stomach and do a double Rider Kick, launching it into the air. Sometimes I realize just why exactly it is that toku has me so hard and it's moments like this. XD
Tendou's not giving Tsurugi any room, he's not backing down and levels a Rider Kick right at Tsurugi, who falls back and Sasword leaves him, where we can see he's still wearing the bracelet that Misaki got him for Christmas. And I start wibbling all over again because it means that Tsurugi isn't really evil, he's just doing the only thing he himself can live (well....) with in this situation, and yet it doesn't mean the ending will be any different. Misaki sees the present on his wrist and realizes what it is and that maybe Tsurugi-kun is doing this on purpose, but he still transforms into the silver Scorpion Worm form to fight Tendou and STOP IT, SHOW. STOP BEING SO MEAN TO ME. ;__;
She yells at Tendou to stop and starts running up towards them, Tsurugi's thoughts a voiceover as the final part of the fight plays out. "Misakinu, please forgive me. Just once I wish we could have gone on a date. I made a plan. First we'd drink tea. Then we'd go to an amusement park." We see scenes of their never-was date, both of them lit up and happy, exchanging gifts and going to an amusement park, mixed in with slow-motion scenes of Misaki running up the stairs to where Tendou and Tsurugi are still fighting, soft and sad music playing. "And, then, we'd have the ultimate Christmas," Tsurugi continues. I know the show is fucking with us and deliberately twisting the knife. I know the show is doing everything it can to get the maximum amount of heartache out of this, yet I cannot find fault with them for this storyline direction. Tsurugi was never going to be able to live with himself as a Worm, knowing that he killed Nee-san. He would never be able to get past it, no matter if everyone else forgave him and saw that he was a good person. All the character growth that he himself, the Worm, went through, it wouldn't have mattered as much as the plain fact that he killed Tsurugi and Nee-san. This is the ending that always had to happen. So, I buy into it where I might have been rolling my eyes at another series. Here, though, my fangirl heart hurts and I remember the first time I watched this, how badly I wanted it to not go the way it was obviously, inevitably going. I wanted Tendou to realize that Tsurugi wasn't really a bad person, I wanted Tsurugi to say something, I wanted them all to smack some sense into Tsurugi's head.
But this time around, I realize that Tendou already knew. And knew that this is what Tsurugi wanted, that Jiiya had asked him to grant Tsurugi's wish. Even when Misaki screams at him to stop it, Tendou doesn't stop and neither does Tsurugi. He keeps slowly walking towards Tendou and when Tendou hesitates as Tsurugi tries to hit him, Tsurugi yells at him to remember their promise! After a moment's pause and an unreadable look even for a full face mask, Tendou twists the sword and hits Tsurugi, and, goddammit, I think this scene just made me cry for a second time. The bracelet rolls down the steps as Misaki watches and I hate this show as much as I love it.
At the same time, Kageyama and Yaguruma are pretty battered and beaten, but still breathing, high fiving even as they're kind of collapsing back onto the ground, now that it's done.
Afterwards, Misaki painfully asks Tendou why, even though she said to stop. That Tsurugi-kun was still Tsurugi-kun and Tendou finally softly replies that he knew. But that he was able to keep Tsurugi's promise, because he always said it, "Defeat all Worm." And by his power, he was able to make that dream come true. This wasn't easy for Tendou, either, he didn't really want to kill Tsurugi, but he'd made that promise and he knew that's the way it had to be. And I love that he makes that clear to Misaki here, he's grown enough as a person to show that to her.
And then the show just totally goes for the kill. Back at the Discabil mansion, Tsurugi is draped into a chair, obviously mortally wounded and dying, but getting to see Jiiya one last time, asking if it's okay for him to dream? Jiiya being so patient and cheerful with him, taking Tsurugi's hand and saying of course it's okay, Jiiya will always be by your side. The first time I saw this scene, I was just sobbing buckets over it, I think Tsurugi's death hit me harder than any other character. Despite that I knew exactly what was coming, despite that I've seen this episode, despite that I almost never cry a second time at a scene I've already seen, I find myself getting teary-eyed over this one all over again.
Tsurugi goes with a soft smile and a thank you to Jiiya and just slowly fades, his arm dropping down next to him and I don't know what it is about this scene, if it's just that I loved Tsurugi that much or if it was just that well done or if I'm just a giant sap, but it always gets me. Always.
*sniffles*
In the next episode, the necklaces make their appearance and Tendou's wearing a high turtlenecked shirt (I'm guessing Kagami is still on the couch then) and Dark Tendou is back and Kabuto and Gatack face off again. Despite that they're fighting in that episode, I actually really love the way that plays out. The extra at the end of the episode is super cute with Tendou and Juka, who wants a present, while her brother obviously forgot. <3
Anyway. On to the Arashi stuff! Spoilers for:
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #139 [2009.06.15] subbed
→ Non-no interview - July 2009 - Arashi's Tears
→ Himitsu no Arashi-chan 053 [2009.06.11]
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #138 (2009.06.08) subbed
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #139 [2009.06.15] subbed - I decided to start with one of the more recent episode subs for Shukudai-kun (and then hopefully work my way backwards) and the guest is Imoto Ayako, who is a comedian, of course. And she has declared Aiba her rival, obviously implying that they're both good (relatively speaking, I mean) at what they do.
And I'm sort of torn because, well. We see her come out of the box and Jun goes over to stare in fascination at her and I get that it's a joke and all, I get that she's being stared at because she's a weird girl and there's the whole thick eyebrows joke and I'm pretty sure Jun is making fun of himself, but I still get a little squicky when female comedians are treated like freaks because they're not super perfect but then I keep thinking:
Well, yes. She's declared herself to be like Aiba, so of course Jun goes over to play everything up with her.
....wow. Literally one minute and four seconds into my first Shukudai-kun in months and I'm already putting on the tinhat before I knew it.
It's not like I was even trying to be that fan again! It's not like they were making kissy faces at each other again, where it was super obvious! It was something I had to really reach for and is totally ridiculous and yet it just pops fully formed into my brain like I'd never left.
Not enough "orz" in the world, you guys.
I do love that, as a reason for why Jun was staring at her, she goes, "Our eyebrows are similar." and Jun is like THEY ARE NOT! and asl;dkfjaslkj I kind of love her already. But then I love her even more when Sho asks her if she has a favorite and she just LOCKS ON and gets all up in his personal space to traumatize him.
And Sho's bandmates--who are total bitches--are totally helpful. Jun is like, "She's attacking, she's attacking~" and I laugh and laugh and laugh because a) I'm twelve and b) that's one of the few Japanese verbs I know.
Even Nino is like, "He's going to fall. If you attack any further, he's going to fall." while she nearly pounces on him like a lion on its prey. I-- I can't even-- I just-- a;lsdkjfaslkj I know it's all for show and everything, but it still makes me kinda cry with laughter.
So, they ask her, is there anyone who isn't your type? She replies that Aiba's totally not her type and he gets up, mock offended. And look. I know it's just because Jun's the one sitting next to him. And I know a lot of this is scripted (or close enough, that there's a rough outline of the way things go) so they probably all knew what was coming. But it was still Jun who got up and got him to calm down. *adjuts hat* Shut up.
I also love that Aiba totally gets into a cage match with Ayako over who's the better hunter. He's SUCH A BOY, seriously, my nephew does the SAME EXACT THING.
Aiba has also been hanging out with Jun way too much lately. She demonstrates her hippo story, that they're the most violent animals in Africa, so this one hippo just shoved her away when she sat beside it, would Aiba please shove her like this, so he just IMMEDIATELY SHOVES HER across the stage and, seriously, that's something I expect from Matsumoto, not Aiba!
But I imagine Aiba's happy that finally he's the one inflicting pain on someone else! Finally, he's not the victim of Matsumoto someone hitting him with their giant rings or shoving him across the stage! He still can't do the bitchface like Matsumoto can afterwards, though. Naturally, Ayako takes this chance to stumble onto Sho and cling to him for dear life.
I love her with all my heart.
So, they move onto the food segment. And Nino earns my eternal love. Because apparently Ohno is being kind of spacey today and Nino says, "Don't mind Windows 95 over there." and LOL LOL LOL FOREVER LOL, but about thirty seconds later, when Ohno is still crap at reading the cards and Jun is like GIVE ME THAT and reads it properly. So Sho says, "As expect of XP!"
LOL.
But also I immediately had the thought of, "....I wonder which of them that makes Vista?" I was originally going to say Aiba, whom I love a lot, but is also as crap at doing things as Vista sometimes is, but then I was talking to Hoface and she pointed out that Vista is plenty shiny, it's just kind of useless and fails a lot, so it was totally Sho.
I a) immediately LOL'd and came around to her way of thinking and b) was so fervently glad that I wasn't alone in these thoughts, that we'd both immediately thought the same thing after watching that episode. TRULY, I WILL NEVER BE ALONE IN ARASHI FANDOM AS LONG AS SHE IS HERE, ILU HOFACE.
Other things I noticed during the food homework segment:
→ Ayako also eats like Aiba, apparently. Just dives right in and takes huges bites when she should EAT MORE SLOWLY OR YOU'LL CHOKE, DAMMIT.
→ I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED, SHUKUDAI-KUN. WITH THE METLED MARSHMELLOWS. Gooey, drippy white stuff and Ohno is the only one you make take a bite of it? FOR SHAME.
→ Ohno deliberately fucking with his intonation while reading the cards always makes me lol. He really does have the most hilarious monotone when he's reading, but this time his voice just kept getting higher, lolz.
→ Ohno can pour the cream over the fluffy desert but when asked, aren't you going to cut it? Eh, Sho can do that, he says in a voice that's just barely above a whine. ILU OHNO. Also, dying at Sho's way of cutting it like it's a turkey.
Then it's on to talk a little about Ayako and she talks about her top three most dangerous stunts with animals. The second most dangerous one is when she tied a piece of meat to herself to make a komodo dragon (apparently a man-eating lizard) chase her.
You know.
Sometimes....
Sometimes Japan is weird.
AND THEN. The whole reason for watching this episode! Aside from that it was the latest sub. The Ailand game with the cushions! o/ Which starts out awesome because Aiba's like I HAVE IMOTO-LIKE EYEBROWS FOR EVERYONE and goes to put them on even Ogura-san.
And just.
as;ldkfjasl;kjalskja;lksj
Ogura-san and Jun's faces when they're stuck on.
It's the epitome of, "Wtf am I even doing? Why is this my job?"
And then it's cushion jumping time. I'm not really surprised that Ohmiya are good at this game, but Shukudai-kun loves me because they put Jun as a jumper with Aiba putting the cushions under him. Ayako and Sho are paired up as well, but they fail RIGHT AWAY, which totally made me lol.
Now, I know what's going to happen, I've seen pics from the episode. So, every time Aiba slams under cushion under Jun and Jun's elbow comes within, like, two centimeters of Aiba's head, I wince.
And, sure enough, on the sixth cushion, Jun lands badly. Pretty much lands elbow-first on Aiba's head and then Jun goes flailing off and Aiba clutches his head in pain and just asdl;kfjaslkj of course that's how it ends. Of course it ends with Jun's elbow on the crown of Aiba's head. And of course Jun doesn't even feel one bit guilty about it.
And of course Ohno and Nino go for a ten-cushion record! \o/ While I would have liked to see them go on even further, it's kinda cool to have them do the number of years they'be been together as a group. (SHUT UP, I CAN BE A MORON ABOUT THAT IF I WANT TO.)
I loved the tag of the episode, too. SHO GETS ANOTHER CHANCE. Ayako still slides the cushion over too far! Sho LANDS ON HIS KNEE! I shouldn't LOL, but oh how I did. Seriously, that was one of the best episodes of Shukudai-kun just about EVER, totally worth watching.
Oh, and. I felt really guilt about not yelling at Matsumoto to eat a sandwhich (though, he didn't look truly terrible by any means) because I was too busy staring at him in the three piece suit minus the jacket number. Holy shit, stop looking kinda hot, Matsumoto! I don't want these uncomfortable feelings for you!
♥ - Non-no interview - July 2009 - Arashi's Tears - I saw the summary of this interview with Nino and Jun and I couldn't resist reading it.
AND BOY WAS I REWARDED.
It's an interview with Nino and Jun, of course, where Aiba got to choose the theme for them.
And his theme? TEARS.
Then they start the interview off (Jun and Nino, that is) bitching that Aiba's such a dick to them. God bless this band. I've been getting kind of bored by interviews, but this one was A GOLD MINE.
There's this exchange:
Ninomiya: For me, I probably cry when I feel moved. When I watch a documentary at home, somehow my tears would just flow.
Matsumoto: Same for me. Also, at a friend's wedding, I would feel choked up. Like when I watch the pictures or videos of the bride and groom growing up.
Ninomiya: I know! Why is that, I wonder? It's not like we have any memory of our friends when they were born! Maybe we've finally become old men (laughter)
I cannot even tell you how long or how hard I laughed. They cry at weddings! They cry at baby videos! Why is this??
THEY'RE JUST "EMOTIONALLY SENSITIVE", SHUT UP.
The interview even ends on an awesome note. It's an Ohno/Jun interview up next and Nino gets to choose the next theme--DANCING. HE WANTS TO SEE OHNO AND JUN DANCING TOGETHER, NINO LOVES ME.
♥ - Himitsu no Arashi-chan 053 [2009.06.11] - Wow, it's been ages since I watched anything raw and I can definitely feel my comprehension going down. But I think I got the basic gist of things, I think they're trying to guess which appliance uses the least electricity and all that. It was kind of slow going until about 11 minutes in, after the Aiba team guessed two right and got the third wrong, so the lights went out and a SWAT team member came in through the window and... burst a balloon on them.
Except the cameraman of the SWAT team didn't get out of the way fast enough when the lights came back on, so it was kind of TOTAL LOL watching this very, very obvious dude in a black suit trying to literally slither out of there.
And misono was super, super adorable and of course they put Ohno with the mom-like one, which he was clearly used to, and just LOL.
The other fun moment was when the Matsumoto Team lost and Sho starts teasing Jun in this really obnoxious way and a;sdlkfjasl;kja the look on Jun's face. I sincerely hope that Sho slept with one eye open that night because Matsumoto was going to kill him.
That half was fun, but I'll readily admit the Mannequin Five half was way more fun, I am all for this segment. I had a moment of, "....why must they always make people choose between them, I feel so badly for those who don't get chosen!" at the beginning, but that kind of wore off halfway through, it really was hilarious and they were obviously having a great time with it.
FIRST UP, THEIR OUTFITS:
Sho: I... am not sure how I feel about Sho's camper look. It's... kind of a thumbs down. It might have been okay, EXCEPT FOR THOSE SHORTS.
Aiba: Aiba's top half looked great! BUT AGAIN WITH THE SHORTS. Rainbow shorts should not be that god-awful looking, though! Clearly, they came out of the '70s and should go back there.
Nino: APPROVED. *thumbs up* Though, I'd like him to tie his shoes properly, he looks like he's falling out of them.
Ohno: Ohno's jacket: GOOD. Cammoflage pants: .....UNDETERMINED. (And, as Hoface says) FISHING POLE: ...UNSURPRISING
Jun: ..........JUN'S SOCKS. The red jacket actually looks pretty good on him. I... am not a fan of the shorts. BUT THOSE SOCKS. THEY ARE REALLY TERRIBLE.
That part is kind of fun, watching the reveals of the outfits. But where it gets really awesome is when the chicks start coming in because they got some AMAZING girls for this. The first one was sort of forgettable, but I remember laughing really hard during it because the other four were trying valiently not to crack up, but Ohno seriously has this STONE COLD POKERFACE the entire time and that never, ever fails to make me laugh. You'd think the spacey one would have a terrible pokerface! But no! He has an AMAZING ability to not crack the hell up! That scene with Sho in Uta no Onii-san seriously would have had just about anyone else in stitches, hell, Sho was just about cracking up, but Ohno didn't even twitch. I love him forever.
I don't think he so much as BLINKED as the girl was examining all of them. And then. Oh, my god, I loved the second girl. She was totally not afraid to get up close and personal and alsd;kjfasljk I love that she was cracking them up so hard and then TOUCHING OHNO'S PANTS.
So Aiba gets chosen second, which leaves Ohno, Sho, and Jun. Ohno and Sho just FLOP all over that couch, while Jun bitches as he lounges on the floor.
And I loved that Jun refuses to get up the third time, so just poses in a lounge.
THEN THE THIRD GIRL. Who comes out and starts looking at them... and gets to Sho.
"Sakurai-san... what the hell is this!?" LOL. LOL LOL LOL. Then she points out that Sho's shoes LOOK LIKE SLIPPERS. I THOUGHT THE SAME THING. And then... I think, after that, she made fun of Jun's socks? Seriously, I will love her forever.
Sho's dejected face as everyone kept passing him over, the absolute whining he did in between poses, the way the staff was seriously dying in the background, all of it was beautiful. Ohno was pretty great with his sort-of-victorious pose at the end and Sho having had his slippers and socks taken off and of course Sho is the last one left and just.
Oh, man, now I remember why I love Arashi forever.
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #138 (2009.06.08) subbed - ;asdklfal;skj well this one didn't take long to get awesome. I just-- THE ANNOUNCER.
When they're doing the preview for the waitress thing and they have a short clip of Jun carrying the tray of wine glasses and not spilling them, with the waitress headband. The announcer says over the video, "Matsujun, you surprisingly look good in that!"
misono is adorable by this point as well, she is cute as a button and I love her enthusiasm with the audience calling her cute. She spends the entire episode being just really loud and happy and ADORABLE AS A BUTTON. And I love that apparently she's an enthusiastic eater. They bring out the hamburgers on a stick and she says, I CAN TOTALLY EAT ALL OF THIS and I just think, man, what that relationship with Nino would be like.
The rest of the food homework segment was kind of not as interesting, at least not noteoworthy important. But it was fun. At least not until they get to the fortuneteller lady, who is HILARIOUS. And I love that of course it was Jun's suggestion that they janken for it, because Jun is kind of an evil sadist who likes to see people suffer.
I love that the fortune teller says that Nino's already married one minute, then says he's the type who'll never divorce because he's such a family person (I think that was about him?), but then a minute later says he'll meet his destined person in three years. She also says that he's a cold person and that cold people can try to change, but they always go back to being cold. He thinks he's the most popular in the group, but he's actually not.
And, actually, Aiba, Nino, and Jun all think they're the most popular when they're not and I just. Cracked up so hard because yes. Choose MATSUMOTO in the list of people who secretly think they're the most popular but actually aren't, that is TOTALLY SPOT-ON FORTUNETELLING RIGHT THERE, NO REALLY. Just like how NINO HAS NO FRIENDS. THAT IS TOTALLY ACCURATE, NO REALLY.
Then she says that Sakurai-san is the true prince and they don't cherish him or use him enough. And I just started laughing again and thought, "Well, I'm sure they remedied that later that night. I'm sure they all took him home and cherished him and used him. :|b"
The image segment was cute, mostly for the guys being kind of bitches to misono and how she just BROKE THE PICTURE of her heavier days and they say, just let us see it again, we won't show it, promise~~ and Jun turns right around to show it. a;sldkfjasljk I hope he never stops being his fabulous self.
Jun giving Nino shit about being a cold person again later on--after Nino says he'd wonder what he did to drive the other person to cheat and such--and a;lsdkjfalksj I love their relationship, too. My favorite bit was probably Sho pointing out that Nino and misono both said they don't mind if the other person cheats on them and says, "What would that relationship be like?" and does this little scenario.
SAKURAI SHO JUST ABOUT WROTE A NINO/MISONO FANFIC RIGHT THERE. HE IS A FANGIRL AFTER MY OWN HEART.
Seriously, I can't tell you how many "I'd ship it for a quarter" conversations I've had that went exactly like that.
Then! On to the game for the episode! WAITRESS HEADBANDS AND A DRINK TRAY! o/ And Sho making a >:< face at the other team before he goes first! I... I really want to know what that was about!
But the best part. The best part is when it's Jun's turn and Ohno says, "It's kind of cute." at Jun's get-up.
asdfl;kjas;dlkjasl;kdjafl;sdkjalksjdal;ksj
There's this moment where Sho has this look on his face, like he expects death to come for Ohno at any second. Then we see Jun's face and he's just sort of staring blankly at Ohno, like "....................", while his brain has clearly locked up when it tried to decide between DEATH TO OHNO and being flattered.
OH WAIT THERE WAS ONE OTHER MOMENT I LIKED, TOO. AND IT'S TOTALLY A SURPRISING ONE.
Everyone else is going and the other team is actually doing pretty good, so Jun says, "Just wait, we still have Miracle to go." like he's practically beaming while he says it.
a) His crush is totally subtle, Matsjun doesn't know what you're talking about. :|q
b) I love that they still bring up that nickname.
And then. asl;dkfjaslk SHO. Sho gets Jun's revenge for him. When Ohno is trying to do his turn, Sho says, "This si like... a southern country's okama cafe." Lolz.
After that, it's Aiba's turn and he... slips during the practice jump. Which I knew was going to happen, they showed that bit during the preview, except I didn't know it was the practice jump, which makes it EVEN FUNNIER. And then Jun practically instantaneously TELEPORTS over to his side! And he's laughing, but he totally ran over to shake Aiba's shoulder and ask if he was okay and it wasn't until he was already over there before Nino headed over and just.
a;sldkfjalskj yeah, Matsumoto. Subtle.
And Jun even walks with him back over and just asl;dfkjaslk;j I love my OTP forever.
Totally worth watching and I think I'm glad I waited for subs, as much as I should have watched it when it first came out. Tons of OTP moments and a super adorable guest and a fun game at the end and just everything a Shukudai-kun episode should be. <3
I-- I am not swearing to myself to catch up, but I'm at least going to make an attempt not to get all the way sucked into games. Or spend the entire weekend watching New Tricks because Siobhan was an encouraging jerk when she recommended that series.
Hmph.
I've had these Kabuto posts written for ages, but I procrastinated on posting them for ages (because I'd been losing momentum, despite that I still think about the series practically 24/7) so I'm forcing myself back into a proper posting habit.
Anyway. Usual blah, blah, blah, and then on to Kamen Rider Kabuto ep 46, with SPOILERS for the episode listed at the very least (and very likely all the way to the end, especially since this is the final stretch), I don't plan these things in advance, we'll see from there.
Kamen Rider Kabuto episode 46: So, Misaki has seen Tsurugi transform into the Scorpion Worm and it lunges at her, Kagami barely managing to shove them both out of the way, yelling at Tsurugi to stop this, who manages to rein it back in and wonders what's been happening to him. The really tragic part of this is that of course Misaki's shocked and upset and hurt and angry, but she probably could have forgiven it, gotten past it, because they had already gone through this with Tadokoro-san. But it's going to be too much of a devestating blow to Tsurugi, who lived to defeat the Worms for so long, who realized that he's the one who killed Nee-san, even if he has the original Tsurugi's memories. Nogi Reiji approaches and realizes that Tsurugi's a worm, who denies it, but Nogi Reiji attacks him with a beam of energy that forces him into the change for a few moments. And Tsurugi can't deny it anymore.
He runs away and starts to remember what really happened on that day, realizing that it was him that killed Nee-san and himself, and rips apart the muffler and throws it down onto the ground and it hurts even more than the first time through because I know this can't end any better than it did last time. Misaki also realizes that Kagami knew and screams at him for not having told her, smacking him across the face and... I don't disagree with the way Kagami handled the whole situation (how could he tell anyone, when he didn't know what the whole truth of what Tsurugi was?) but I appreciate that I feel for everyone here.
Tsurugi goes back home and asks Jiiya why he kept silent about it, which Jiiya doesn't really have an answer for. Tsurugi snarls that he has to destroy all the Worm, including himself, throwing the Christmas cake off the table and all across the floor. And right about there is when Tsurugi was kind of doomed--he was never going to be able to live with himself very well, no matter that all the personal growth he went through was him, it still didn't change the fact that he killed the real Tsurugi and Nee-san.
Back at La Salle, Kagami tells Tendou that Tsurugi's a Worm and Tendou demands to know why Kagami kept silent, who says it couldn't be helped. It wasn't like he wasn't constantly thinking about it, but he just didn't know what to do. As uncomfortable as this scene is, I love that the writers put it in, they specifically included a scene where Kagami told Tendou the truth and Tendou wanted to know why he kept it a secret, because the way the scene is set up, it's saying that Kagami needed to explain to both Misaki and Tendou. Misaki is obvious, but why Tendou? Because they're supposed to trust each other.
Tendou, of course, says there's no need to ponder this, if Tsurugi's a Worm, then he needs to be defeated. Kagami protests, saying that Tsurugi's not a bad guy and they all know that. He's the same as Tadokoro-san and Hiyori, which just sets Tendou off, he's kind of furious in this scene and, as much as he has a point, that you can't lump them together because Tsurugi killed the original and Tsurugi's older sister, I strongly suspect that this outburst isn't just about the comparison to Hiyori and Tadokoro-san. I kind of strongly think that it's about Kagami having kept a secret from him and Tendou's hurt/angry about it, because there's a whole lot of glaring directly at Kagami. And it's not like Tendou would come out and say it or anything, but it felt like he was just waiting to snap, waiting until he had an excuse, waiting to see what Kagami's reason would be, and then finally he snapped at the comparison.
The whole scene is painful because Tendou says he's surely killed other people while Misaki thinks about Tsurugi having protected her, with this sad, pained voice that breaks my heart all over again. Tsurugi, meanwhile, is trying to drown himself in the ocean, thoughts of Misaki in his head. ;__;
Then it's Christmas at the Tendou household, where Juka's gleeing over Tendou's Christmas cake and Tendou's in a surprisingly quiet mood, thinking, "Juka... I want you to always smile. And Hiyori... I promise you. I will change the world. Make it into a world where you can smile. I will definitely do it." and it's not his usual tone/mood that he usually has around Juka. I'm not entirely sure that the writers wanted to connect it to the scene in La Salle earlier, but I'm not putting it out of the realm of possibility, either. Of course, it could just be a Christmas mood, too.
After that, Tendou and Kagami (separately) run into groups of Worms, and Kagami runs into Cassisworm and they fight long enough for Tsurugi to re-emerge from the ocean (and one wonders just how long he was down there .__.) and he transforms back into the silver Scorpion Worm. Tsurugi drives Gatack off then he and Nogi Reiji go talk elsewhere, who wants Tsurugi to join him, but gets a sword to his throat for an answer instead. He says that Kamishiro Tsurugi died and that he's been reborn as the strongest Worm, transforming to fight both clones, able to use his tentacles to force them out of their Worm states and saying they'll work for him instead.
Meanwhile, Jiiya sits alone in the Discabil mansion and Tendou approaches, Jiiya saying, please take care of Bocchama, please grant his wish! and I think even Jiiya knows what that means? Ow, stop it, Kabuto. ;___; Especially when you bastards follow it up with Gatack finishing off a bunch of Worm and Tsurugi approaches, Kagami smiling and saying he believed in him, "You may be a Worm, but... you can live as a human." he says. And Kagami means it. And the others would have come around, too. And Tsurugi seems to understand that Kagami is sincere and the look on his face is painful, so much more so the second time around because the first time I had hoped that Tsurugi would be able to get past this somehow. This time I know it's impossible and the look on Tsurugi's face says how much it hurts to hear those words because he can't accept them.
Kagami hands him Misaki's present and says that even Misaki is worried about him, which is the breaking point for him, so Tsurugi only takes the present long enough to throw it down and stomp on it and punch Kagami. "Live as a human?" he sneers. "Fool. I will defeat all humans." and, oh, sweetie, stop breaking my heart. Because I know he doesn't mean it, because I know this is all for the sake of getting Gatack or Kabuto to defeat him, because all Worms will be defeated, because he really did love Misaki and care about his friends and all the human beings. The first time I didn't know if he really had gone over to the other side, if his Worm nature had returned, but knowing that he keeps the bracelet... ;___;
The two clones come up behind Tsurugi and somehow they've snatched up the Gatack Zecter and, honestly, I'm disappointed in the Zecter for not trying to chew the clone's hand off. After Tsurugi says the war is really on now, later he meets Tendou and says that he has Kagami Arata and Tendou looks sharply at him. In the van, Misaki is still struggling with all of this, asking Tadokoro-san just what is a Worm? Just what is a human? But he doesn't know either. But maybe they're fighting to find the answer to that.
Tsurugi's offering Tendou a trade for Kagami's life, which is an interesting way to bring the show back to the beginning of the series, when ZECT aimed a gun at Kagami in order to get Tendou to surrender quietly. But what Tsurugi wants is all the Zecters, because if the Rider System is destroyed, then the Worm will have nothing to fear. Tendou reminds Tsurugi of Jiiya, how he's watched Tsurugi since he was a child, how he took Tsurugi's requests, how he granted Tsurugi's wishes, but Tsurugi turns back to look at him and says he only has one wish. I want to punch things a little. Tsurugi doesn't actually say what his wish is, his attitude conveys that he only wants the Rider System, but you wonder if he isn't already well on the path to his deathwish.
Tendou watches him go, nothing more is said about the Zecters, and this is one of those writing choices they made that kind of surprises even me. Because it seems like there is no way Tendou will go along with this, that he'll work around it somehow. And yet. .__. Back at ZECT, Mishima is reporting that the Worm are still randomly attacking all over the place, it's like they can't stop moving. But, all of a sudden, they're all moving towards the same place Misaki notes as they track the Worms from in the van.
Tendou is also heading somewhere and carrying a suitcase. I remember watching this the first time through, how I thought it was just another set up like it always was with Tendou, how there would be some trick to it like with Kagami handing over the Anti-Mimic Bomb, only snatching it back at the last second. What it looks like on the surface is not what's actually going on, but I was still gleeful that Tendou once again couldn't not save Kagami. This is even after Tendou's been pissy with him earlier in the episode and possibly hurt that Kagami kept quiet about Tsurugi--not that Tendou would just leave someone to die simply because he was mad at them, but there's not really even a muttering about how annoying Kagami is or anything. (Which may possibly say more about how deeply it affected Tendou, I haven't really decided yet--or figured out what's going through Tendou's head.)
Tendou walks towards Tsurugi and the other Worms, who have Kagami held hostage, we see the Zecters set down on a press and I remember being sure that they were fake Zecters or that Tendou would snatch them away at the last second if they were real. Then they started crumpling down when the press was crushing them and I was POSITIVE they were fake Zecters. There's no way Tendou would just hand over the real Zecters just like that! ....r-right? Though, there wasn't time to really think that Tsurugi already had Gatack Zecter, so at least that one would be real, and you'd think he'd recognize Sasword Zecter at least, but.
Kagami yells at Tendou to stop, to just stay away and keep the Zecters and, honestly, I wonder how they got Gatack Zecter to sit still for all of this, it's not like they're not capable of buzzing around or disappearing on their own. But Tendou tosses Tsurugi the briefcase anyway and I'm sure that it's empty and as soon as Tsurugi opens it, Tendou will call the real Kabuto Zecter and fight his way through all of them. But Kagami believes it's real and when he says "Tendou...." and the look on Tendou's face, the unreadable look that says this is the path he's chosen and I just-- asl;dkfjal;kjs my babies. ;__;
But the briefcase has the Zecters in there and Tsurugi sets them on the press, while Kagami looks worried and Tendou watches quietly. Tsurugi says it's the end of the Riders, lowering the press and we hear a lot of metal crunching and the Nogi Reiji clones looking victorious, so Tsurugi says to let Kagami go like they promised. They shove Kagami over to Tendou, who doesn't quite know what to say to Tendou, while Tendou only looks quietly at him for a long moment before looking over to Tsurugi again.
And it's just. It's so easy to fill in the blanks there. Tendou is still angry/hurt with him, but he loves Kagami too much not to do this. I just. Want to give him a hug and feed him cookies to deal with this strange new world of actually accepting your feelings even when it hurts sometimes. ;__;<3
Tsurugi says that their new Worm era begins today and I'm still waiting for Tendou's reveal of having had the real Zecters all along, but it's not happening just yet, the Worms break through the wall and surround Kagami and Tendou and they look ready to fight with their hands until Misaki interupts them all, aiming a gun at the group, telling them ZECT has the building surrounded, and looking really smoking hot. So what? Tsurugi says, you guys have no hope left anymore. The two Cassisworm transform and the closed press suddenly bursts open with light and the Zecters flying out and holy shit, you realize.
Holy shit, Tendou gave him the real Zecters.
Because Kagami's life was at stake.
He didn't try any sort of trick or try to defeat them all instead or even call in ZECT for reinforcements (they came on their own, because they were tracking the Worms), none of that. He just gave Tsurugi the real Zecters because he didn't want Kagami to die.
You can try to fanwank it to a degree, that possibly Tendou knew the Zecters couldn't be so easily destroyed, he never really shows what he's thinking, and neither of them look surprised when the Zecters fly back into their hands, so who knows if Tendou was surprised that they made it through. But there's no way he could know with 100% certainty that the Zecters wouldn't be crushed, that they really would lose their only real weapon against the Worm. And he handed them over for Kagami without any real hesitation.
(And seriously sometimes I think this is such total mahou shoujo, like Kabuto seriously took a shoujo/mahou shoujo storyline and mapped a toku series onto it. The main character's love interest gets kidnapped, so they have to give up their special transformation weapon in order to get him back and, seriously, I'm pretty sure I saw this on Sailor Moon once.)
So, in conclusion: Wow, that's some serious OTP right there. I want to ship other couples sometimes, but then Tendou goes and gives up the Zecters for Kagami and I-- there's nothing else in the series that could possibly be as epic as that, not even the Tendou - Hiyori storyline.
Anyway, they all transform--Tsurugi included, who could have just turned into his Worm form, but I think a) the Riders are more powerful and b) it says a lot about what he's trying to do here and how much he hates his Worm self--and fight each other. Kagami handles the Cassisworm and the Pupaworms, while Tendou and Tsurugi take it outside. The Hoppers--still in the chains, btw--happen across the scene, when Yaguruma says, shall we try seeking it one more time? The light..., which Kageyama agrees to, so they rip off the chains and fling themselves into battle. God, I love these two hardcore babies, they are ridiculous amounts of OTP, too. And Kageyama... does not look half-bad with the hair falling in his eyes like that.
You know what else I love? Besides Kagami kicking the crap out of Cassisworm here. Is when the Hoppers are working on the other Cassisworm and he's got the two of them pinned down, so Kageyama looks over and says, "Aniki!" who understands what he's trying to say--they both plant one foot in the Worm's stomach and do a double Rider Kick, launching it into the air. Sometimes I realize just why exactly it is that toku has me so hard and it's moments like this. XD
Tendou's not giving Tsurugi any room, he's not backing down and levels a Rider Kick right at Tsurugi, who falls back and Sasword leaves him, where we can see he's still wearing the bracelet that Misaki got him for Christmas. And I start wibbling all over again because it means that Tsurugi isn't really evil, he's just doing the only thing he himself can live (well....) with in this situation, and yet it doesn't mean the ending will be any different. Misaki sees the present on his wrist and realizes what it is and that maybe Tsurugi-kun is doing this on purpose, but he still transforms into the silver Scorpion Worm form to fight Tendou and STOP IT, SHOW. STOP BEING SO MEAN TO ME. ;__;
She yells at Tendou to stop and starts running up towards them, Tsurugi's thoughts a voiceover as the final part of the fight plays out. "Misakinu, please forgive me. Just once I wish we could have gone on a date. I made a plan. First we'd drink tea. Then we'd go to an amusement park." We see scenes of their never-was date, both of them lit up and happy, exchanging gifts and going to an amusement park, mixed in with slow-motion scenes of Misaki running up the stairs to where Tendou and Tsurugi are still fighting, soft and sad music playing. "And, then, we'd have the ultimate Christmas," Tsurugi continues. I know the show is fucking with us and deliberately twisting the knife. I know the show is doing everything it can to get the maximum amount of heartache out of this, yet I cannot find fault with them for this storyline direction. Tsurugi was never going to be able to live with himself as a Worm, knowing that he killed Nee-san. He would never be able to get past it, no matter if everyone else forgave him and saw that he was a good person. All the character growth that he himself, the Worm, went through, it wouldn't have mattered as much as the plain fact that he killed Tsurugi and Nee-san. This is the ending that always had to happen. So, I buy into it where I might have been rolling my eyes at another series. Here, though, my fangirl heart hurts and I remember the first time I watched this, how badly I wanted it to not go the way it was obviously, inevitably going. I wanted Tendou to realize that Tsurugi wasn't really a bad person, I wanted Tsurugi to say something, I wanted them all to smack some sense into Tsurugi's head.
But this time around, I realize that Tendou already knew. And knew that this is what Tsurugi wanted, that Jiiya had asked him to grant Tsurugi's wish. Even when Misaki screams at him to stop it, Tendou doesn't stop and neither does Tsurugi. He keeps slowly walking towards Tendou and when Tendou hesitates as Tsurugi tries to hit him, Tsurugi yells at him to remember their promise! After a moment's pause and an unreadable look even for a full face mask, Tendou twists the sword and hits Tsurugi, and, goddammit, I think this scene just made me cry for a second time. The bracelet rolls down the steps as Misaki watches and I hate this show as much as I love it.
At the same time, Kageyama and Yaguruma are pretty battered and beaten, but still breathing, high fiving even as they're kind of collapsing back onto the ground, now that it's done.
Afterwards, Misaki painfully asks Tendou why, even though she said to stop. That Tsurugi-kun was still Tsurugi-kun and Tendou finally softly replies that he knew. But that he was able to keep Tsurugi's promise, because he always said it, "Defeat all Worm." And by his power, he was able to make that dream come true. This wasn't easy for Tendou, either, he didn't really want to kill Tsurugi, but he'd made that promise and he knew that's the way it had to be. And I love that he makes that clear to Misaki here, he's grown enough as a person to show that to her.
And then the show just totally goes for the kill. Back at the Discabil mansion, Tsurugi is draped into a chair, obviously mortally wounded and dying, but getting to see Jiiya one last time, asking if it's okay for him to dream? Jiiya being so patient and cheerful with him, taking Tsurugi's hand and saying of course it's okay, Jiiya will always be by your side. The first time I saw this scene, I was just sobbing buckets over it, I think Tsurugi's death hit me harder than any other character. Despite that I knew exactly what was coming, despite that I've seen this episode, despite that I almost never cry a second time at a scene I've already seen, I find myself getting teary-eyed over this one all over again.
Tsurugi goes with a soft smile and a thank you to Jiiya and just slowly fades, his arm dropping down next to him and I don't know what it is about this scene, if it's just that I loved Tsurugi that much or if it was just that well done or if I'm just a giant sap, but it always gets me. Always.
*sniffles*
In the next episode, the necklaces make their appearance and Tendou's wearing a high turtlenecked shirt (I'm guessing Kagami is still on the couch then) and Dark Tendou is back and Kabuto and Gatack face off again. Despite that they're fighting in that episode, I actually really love the way that plays out. The extra at the end of the episode is super cute with Tendou and Juka, who wants a present, while her brother obviously forgot. <3
Anyway. On to the Arashi stuff! Spoilers for:
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #139 [2009.06.15] subbed
→ Non-no interview - July 2009 - Arashi's Tears
→ Himitsu no Arashi-chan 053 [2009.06.11]
→ Arashi no Shukudai-kun #138 (2009.06.08) subbed
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #139 [2009.06.15] subbed - I decided to start with one of the more recent episode subs for Shukudai-kun (and then hopefully work my way backwards) and the guest is Imoto Ayako, who is a comedian, of course. And she has declared Aiba her rival, obviously implying that they're both good (relatively speaking, I mean) at what they do.
And I'm sort of torn because, well. We see her come out of the box and Jun goes over to stare in fascination at her and I get that it's a joke and all, I get that she's being stared at because she's a weird girl and there's the whole thick eyebrows joke and I'm pretty sure Jun is making fun of himself, but I still get a little squicky when female comedians are treated like freaks because they're not super perfect but then I keep thinking:
Well, yes. She's declared herself to be like Aiba, so of course Jun goes over to play everything up with her.
....wow. Literally one minute and four seconds into my first Shukudai-kun in months and I'm already putting on the tinhat before I knew it.
It's not like I was even trying to be that fan again! It's not like they were making kissy faces at each other again, where it was super obvious! It was something I had to really reach for and is totally ridiculous and yet it just pops fully formed into my brain like I'd never left.
Not enough "orz" in the world, you guys.
I do love that, as a reason for why Jun was staring at her, she goes, "Our eyebrows are similar." and Jun is like THEY ARE NOT! and asl;dkfjaslkj I kind of love her already. But then I love her even more when Sho asks her if she has a favorite and she just LOCKS ON and gets all up in his personal space to traumatize him.
And Sho's bandmates--who are total bitches--are totally helpful. Jun is like, "She's attacking, she's attacking~" and I laugh and laugh and laugh because a) I'm twelve and b) that's one of the few Japanese verbs I know.
Even Nino is like, "He's going to fall. If you attack any further, he's going to fall." while she nearly pounces on him like a lion on its prey. I-- I can't even-- I just-- a;lsdkjfaslkj I know it's all for show and everything, but it still makes me kinda cry with laughter.
So, they ask her, is there anyone who isn't your type? She replies that Aiba's totally not her type and he gets up, mock offended. And look. I know it's just because Jun's the one sitting next to him. And I know a lot of this is scripted (or close enough, that there's a rough outline of the way things go) so they probably all knew what was coming. But it was still Jun who got up and got him to calm down. *adjuts hat* Shut up.
I also love that Aiba totally gets into a cage match with Ayako over who's the better hunter. He's SUCH A BOY, seriously, my nephew does the SAME EXACT THING.
Aiba has also been hanging out with Jun way too much lately. She demonstrates her hippo story, that they're the most violent animals in Africa, so this one hippo just shoved her away when she sat beside it, would Aiba please shove her like this, so he just IMMEDIATELY SHOVES HER across the stage and, seriously, that's something I expect from Matsumoto, not Aiba!
But I imagine Aiba's happy that finally he's the one inflicting pain on someone else! Finally, he's not the victim of Matsumoto someone hitting him with their giant rings or shoving him across the stage! He still can't do the bitchface like Matsumoto can afterwards, though. Naturally, Ayako takes this chance to stumble onto Sho and cling to him for dear life.
I love her with all my heart.
So, they move onto the food segment. And Nino earns my eternal love. Because apparently Ohno is being kind of spacey today and Nino says, "Don't mind Windows 95 over there." and LOL LOL LOL FOREVER LOL, but about thirty seconds later, when Ohno is still crap at reading the cards and Jun is like GIVE ME THAT and reads it properly. So Sho says, "As expect of XP!"
LOL.
But also I immediately had the thought of, "....I wonder which of them that makes Vista?" I was originally going to say Aiba, whom I love a lot, but is also as crap at doing things as Vista sometimes is, but then I was talking to Hoface and she pointed out that Vista is plenty shiny, it's just kind of useless and fails a lot, so it was totally Sho.
I a) immediately LOL'd and came around to her way of thinking and b) was so fervently glad that I wasn't alone in these thoughts, that we'd both immediately thought the same thing after watching that episode. TRULY, I WILL NEVER BE ALONE IN ARASHI FANDOM AS LONG AS SHE IS HERE, ILU HOFACE.
Other things I noticed during the food homework segment:
→ Ayako also eats like Aiba, apparently. Just dives right in and takes huges bites when she should EAT MORE SLOWLY OR YOU'LL CHOKE, DAMMIT.
→ I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED, SHUKUDAI-KUN. WITH THE METLED MARSHMELLOWS. Gooey, drippy white stuff and Ohno is the only one you make take a bite of it? FOR SHAME.
→ Ohno deliberately fucking with his intonation while reading the cards always makes me lol. He really does have the most hilarious monotone when he's reading, but this time his voice just kept getting higher, lolz.
→ Ohno can pour the cream over the fluffy desert but when asked, aren't you going to cut it? Eh, Sho can do that, he says in a voice that's just barely above a whine. ILU OHNO. Also, dying at Sho's way of cutting it like it's a turkey.
Then it's on to talk a little about Ayako and she talks about her top three most dangerous stunts with animals. The second most dangerous one is when she tied a piece of meat to herself to make a komodo dragon (apparently a man-eating lizard) chase her.
You know.
Sometimes....
Sometimes Japan is weird.
AND THEN. The whole reason for watching this episode! Aside from that it was the latest sub. The Ailand game with the cushions! o/ Which starts out awesome because Aiba's like I HAVE IMOTO-LIKE EYEBROWS FOR EVERYONE and goes to put them on even Ogura-san.
And just.
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Ogura-san and Jun's faces when they're stuck on.
It's the epitome of, "Wtf am I even doing? Why is this my job?"
And then it's cushion jumping time. I'm not really surprised that Ohmiya are good at this game, but Shukudai-kun loves me because they put Jun as a jumper with Aiba putting the cushions under him. Ayako and Sho are paired up as well, but they fail RIGHT AWAY, which totally made me lol.
Now, I know what's going to happen, I've seen pics from the episode. So, every time Aiba slams under cushion under Jun and Jun's elbow comes within, like, two centimeters of Aiba's head, I wince.
And, sure enough, on the sixth cushion, Jun lands badly. Pretty much lands elbow-first on Aiba's head and then Jun goes flailing off and Aiba clutches his head in pain and just asdl;kfjaslkj of course that's how it ends. Of course it ends with Jun's elbow on the crown of Aiba's head. And of course Jun doesn't even feel one bit guilty about it.
And of course Ohno and Nino go for a ten-cushion record! \o/ While I would have liked to see them go on even further, it's kinda cool to have them do the number of years they'be been together as a group. (SHUT UP, I CAN BE A MORON ABOUT THAT IF I WANT TO.)
I loved the tag of the episode, too. SHO GETS ANOTHER CHANCE. Ayako still slides the cushion over too far! Sho LANDS ON HIS KNEE! I shouldn't LOL, but oh how I did. Seriously, that was one of the best episodes of Shukudai-kun just about EVER, totally worth watching.
Oh, and. I felt really guilt about not yelling at Matsumoto to eat a sandwhich (though, he didn't look truly terrible by any means) because I was too busy staring at him in the three piece suit minus the jacket number. Holy shit, stop looking kinda hot, Matsumoto! I don't want these uncomfortable feelings for you!
♥ - Non-no interview - July 2009 - Arashi's Tears - I saw the summary of this interview with Nino and Jun and I couldn't resist reading it.
AND BOY WAS I REWARDED.
It's an interview with Nino and Jun, of course, where Aiba got to choose the theme for them.
And his theme? TEARS.
Then they start the interview off (Jun and Nino, that is) bitching that Aiba's such a dick to them. God bless this band. I've been getting kind of bored by interviews, but this one was A GOLD MINE.
There's this exchange:
Ninomiya: For me, I probably cry when I feel moved. When I watch a documentary at home, somehow my tears would just flow.
Matsumoto: Same for me. Also, at a friend's wedding, I would feel choked up. Like when I watch the pictures or videos of the bride and groom growing up.
Ninomiya: I know! Why is that, I wonder? It's not like we have any memory of our friends when they were born! Maybe we've finally become old men (laughter)
I cannot even tell you how long or how hard I laughed. They cry at weddings! They cry at baby videos! Why is this??
THEY'RE JUST "EMOTIONALLY SENSITIVE", SHUT UP.
The interview even ends on an awesome note. It's an Ohno/Jun interview up next and Nino gets to choose the next theme--DANCING. HE WANTS TO SEE OHNO AND JUN DANCING TOGETHER, NINO LOVES ME.
♥ - Himitsu no Arashi-chan 053 [2009.06.11] - Wow, it's been ages since I watched anything raw and I can definitely feel my comprehension going down. But I think I got the basic gist of things, I think they're trying to guess which appliance uses the least electricity and all that. It was kind of slow going until about 11 minutes in, after the Aiba team guessed two right and got the third wrong, so the lights went out and a SWAT team member came in through the window and... burst a balloon on them.
Except the cameraman of the SWAT team didn't get out of the way fast enough when the lights came back on, so it was kind of TOTAL LOL watching this very, very obvious dude in a black suit trying to literally slither out of there.
And misono was super, super adorable and of course they put Ohno with the mom-like one, which he was clearly used to, and just LOL.
The other fun moment was when the Matsumoto Team lost and Sho starts teasing Jun in this really obnoxious way and a;sdlkfjasl;kja the look on Jun's face. I sincerely hope that Sho slept with one eye open that night because Matsumoto was going to kill him.
That half was fun, but I'll readily admit the Mannequin Five half was way more fun, I am all for this segment. I had a moment of, "....why must they always make people choose between them, I feel so badly for those who don't get chosen!" at the beginning, but that kind of wore off halfway through, it really was hilarious and they were obviously having a great time with it.
FIRST UP, THEIR OUTFITS:
Sho: I... am not sure how I feel about Sho's camper look. It's... kind of a thumbs down. It might have been okay, EXCEPT FOR THOSE SHORTS.
Aiba: Aiba's top half looked great! BUT AGAIN WITH THE SHORTS. Rainbow shorts should not be that god-awful looking, though! Clearly, they came out of the '70s and should go back there.
Nino: APPROVED. *thumbs up* Though, I'd like him to tie his shoes properly, he looks like he's falling out of them.
Ohno: Ohno's jacket: GOOD. Cammoflage pants: .....UNDETERMINED. (And, as Hoface says) FISHING POLE: ...UNSURPRISING
Jun: ..........JUN'S SOCKS. The red jacket actually looks pretty good on him. I... am not a fan of the shorts. BUT THOSE SOCKS. THEY ARE REALLY TERRIBLE.
That part is kind of fun, watching the reveals of the outfits. But where it gets really awesome is when the chicks start coming in because they got some AMAZING girls for this. The first one was sort of forgettable, but I remember laughing really hard during it because the other four were trying valiently not to crack up, but Ohno seriously has this STONE COLD POKERFACE the entire time and that never, ever fails to make me laugh. You'd think the spacey one would have a terrible pokerface! But no! He has an AMAZING ability to not crack the hell up! That scene with Sho in Uta no Onii-san seriously would have had just about anyone else in stitches, hell, Sho was just about cracking up, but Ohno didn't even twitch. I love him forever.
I don't think he so much as BLINKED as the girl was examining all of them. And then. Oh, my god, I loved the second girl. She was totally not afraid to get up close and personal and alsd;kjfasljk I love that she was cracking them up so hard and then TOUCHING OHNO'S PANTS.
So Aiba gets chosen second, which leaves Ohno, Sho, and Jun. Ohno and Sho just FLOP all over that couch, while Jun bitches as he lounges on the floor.
And I loved that Jun refuses to get up the third time, so just poses in a lounge.
THEN THE THIRD GIRL. Who comes out and starts looking at them... and gets to Sho.
"Sakurai-san... what the hell is this!?" LOL. LOL LOL LOL. Then she points out that Sho's shoes LOOK LIKE SLIPPERS. I THOUGHT THE SAME THING. And then... I think, after that, she made fun of Jun's socks? Seriously, I will love her forever.
Sho's dejected face as everyone kept passing him over, the absolute whining he did in between poses, the way the staff was seriously dying in the background, all of it was beautiful. Ohno was pretty great with his sort-of-victorious pose at the end and Sho having had his slippers and socks taken off and of course Sho is the last one left and just.
Oh, man, now I remember why I love Arashi forever.
♥ - Arashi no Shukudai-kun #138 (2009.06.08) subbed - ;asdklfal;skj well this one didn't take long to get awesome. I just-- THE ANNOUNCER.
When they're doing the preview for the waitress thing and they have a short clip of Jun carrying the tray of wine glasses and not spilling them, with the waitress headband. The announcer says over the video, "Matsujun, you surprisingly look good in that!"
misono is adorable by this point as well, she is cute as a button and I love her enthusiasm with the audience calling her cute. She spends the entire episode being just really loud and happy and ADORABLE AS A BUTTON. And I love that apparently she's an enthusiastic eater. They bring out the hamburgers on a stick and she says, I CAN TOTALLY EAT ALL OF THIS and I just think, man, what that relationship with Nino would be like.
The rest of the food homework segment was kind of not as interesting, at least not noteoworthy important. But it was fun. At least not until they get to the fortuneteller lady, who is HILARIOUS. And I love that of course it was Jun's suggestion that they janken for it, because Jun is kind of an evil sadist who likes to see people suffer.
I love that the fortune teller says that Nino's already married one minute, then says he's the type who'll never divorce because he's such a family person (I think that was about him?), but then a minute later says he'll meet his destined person in three years. She also says that he's a cold person and that cold people can try to change, but they always go back to being cold. He thinks he's the most popular in the group, but he's actually not.
And, actually, Aiba, Nino, and Jun all think they're the most popular when they're not and I just. Cracked up so hard because yes. Choose MATSUMOTO in the list of people who secretly think they're the most popular but actually aren't, that is TOTALLY SPOT-ON FORTUNETELLING RIGHT THERE, NO REALLY. Just like how NINO HAS NO FRIENDS. THAT IS TOTALLY ACCURATE, NO REALLY.
Then she says that Sakurai-san is the true prince and they don't cherish him or use him enough. And I just started laughing again and thought, "Well, I'm sure they remedied that later that night. I'm sure they all took him home and cherished him and used him. :|b"
The image segment was cute, mostly for the guys being kind of bitches to misono and how she just BROKE THE PICTURE of her heavier days and they say, just let us see it again, we won't show it, promise~~ and Jun turns right around to show it. a;sldkfjasljk I hope he never stops being his fabulous self.
Jun giving Nino shit about being a cold person again later on--after Nino says he'd wonder what he did to drive the other person to cheat and such--and a;lsdkjfalksj I love their relationship, too. My favorite bit was probably Sho pointing out that Nino and misono both said they don't mind if the other person cheats on them and says, "What would that relationship be like?" and does this little scenario.
SAKURAI SHO JUST ABOUT WROTE A NINO/MISONO FANFIC RIGHT THERE. HE IS A FANGIRL AFTER MY OWN HEART.
Seriously, I can't tell you how many "I'd ship it for a quarter" conversations I've had that went exactly like that.
Then! On to the game for the episode! WAITRESS HEADBANDS AND A DRINK TRAY! o/ And Sho making a >:< face at the other team before he goes first! I... I really want to know what that was about!
But the best part. The best part is when it's Jun's turn and Ohno says, "It's kind of cute." at Jun's get-up.
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There's this moment where Sho has this look on his face, like he expects death to come for Ohno at any second. Then we see Jun's face and he's just sort of staring blankly at Ohno, like "....................", while his brain has clearly locked up when it tried to decide between DEATH TO OHNO and being flattered.
OH WAIT THERE WAS ONE OTHER MOMENT I LIKED, TOO. AND IT'S TOTALLY A SURPRISING ONE.
Everyone else is going and the other team is actually doing pretty good, so Jun says, "Just wait, we still have Miracle to go." like he's practically beaming while he says it.
a) His crush is totally subtle, Matsjun doesn't know what you're talking about. :|q
b) I love that they still bring up that nickname.
And then. asl;dkfjaslk SHO. Sho gets Jun's revenge for him. When Ohno is trying to do his turn, Sho says, "This si like... a southern country's okama cafe." Lolz.
After that, it's Aiba's turn and he... slips during the practice jump. Which I knew was going to happen, they showed that bit during the preview, except I didn't know it was the practice jump, which makes it EVEN FUNNIER. And then Jun practically instantaneously TELEPORTS over to his side! And he's laughing, but he totally ran over to shake Aiba's shoulder and ask if he was okay and it wasn't until he was already over there before Nino headed over and just.
a;sldkfjalskj yeah, Matsumoto. Subtle.
And Jun even walks with him back over and just asl;dfkjaslk;j I love my OTP forever.
Totally worth watching and I think I'm glad I waited for subs, as much as I should have watched it when it first came out. Tons of OTP moments and a super adorable guest and a fun game at the end and just everything a Shukudai-kun episode should be. <3