it's a story.....
about a girl named Mizuki, and the very very lovely school she infiltrates!
My (by now, redundant) screencap review of the premiere episode of Hanazakari no kimitach e. I took over 200 caps from it, but I'm picking and choosing for the review.
Our heroine, Mizuki Ashiya - a Japanese American girl living in California
cuts off her hair....
leaves California to enroll into a school in Japan....
and not just any school, but Ohsaka Gakuen, an exclusive, all-boy boarding school. Where bishounen are the order of the day - and hordes of fangirls line the walk from the dormitories to the school entrance.
the future triangle - Nakatsu, Mizuki, Sano
Mizuki's classmates: top row - Sekime (bleached blond here, but in the series - normal colored hair), Kayashima, Nakao, Kazuma second row - Shinji, Nakatsu, Mizuki, Sano third row - Oscar, Nanba, Tennouji, and Kagurazaka (who is not a student at Ohsaka Gakuen, but at a rival school)
so Mizuki has to remember the difference between 'ore' (masculine) and 'watashi' (feminine) when referring to herself, and to hold up under her classmates' first day scrutiny. They're disappointed that she's not a blond haired, blue eyed gajin exotic type and is instead...."practically all Japanese!"
Nakao, the bitchy queen bee of Ohsaka Gakuen. Though in this picture, he looks more like the Prairie Dog of Drama.
Nakatsu, who feels her up to check for muscle tone
Sekime, who announces to the class about her arrival, and then suggests she take part in the upcoming school marathon but really, the whole reason Mizuki went all Felicity and jetted to Japan?
this guy. Izumi Sano - former golden boy at the high jump, now surly malcontent!
Baby, it's love.
Well. Maybe not just yet. Sano calls her chibi-san, and then ejects her from his seat.
Nakatsu and Sano have some kind of history, and throughout the episode, you're torn between theorizing, busted friendship or spurned love. I mean, with this set up and the popularity of shounen-ai in Japan, YOU NEVER KNOW.
Mizuki has issues.
what's cuter than Mizuki and Sano calling her chibi-san? Why, THIS DOG. Yujiro! Who apparently only likes Sano and girls. After suffering the artic freeze Sano's dealt her, Mizuki, who apparently has no other classes besides homeroom, wanders around campus and wonders what kind of situation she's got herself into.... that requires running into:
the theater club, or those Damn Drama Kids, as we called them when I was going to high school. They're housed in Dorm 1.
Seriously, no, WTF is up with this school?
Oscar Hamejima, the R.A. for Dorm 1, and you just know he's the lead role in every school production. Also, is that a cow?
Tennouji, the R.A. for Dorm 3, and future user of steroids. He just seems to be angry all the time. Or maybe that is the way of the open hand.
Which Mizuki knows, as she tries to get away from the crazy boys who all want her to join their dorm.
Luckily for her, Sekime-kun comes to her rescue, and in a completely non contrived way, tells her about the reasoning behind the battle royale for her affections.
THERE IS A DIAGRAM. AND A MAP. If there was flowchart next, I would say damn Sano and Nakatsu and go for Sekime, Mizuki, because at least then you're with someone who's prepared. You know. For the worst. When she finds out Sano lives in dorm 2, Mizuki treks off, only to be confronted with
YOU MEAN THIS SCHOOL ISN'T COMPLETELY MADE OF GAY STUDENTS?
if I crouch and look away in a convincing manner, perhaps I will turn invisible, and that girl kisser will just ignore me. See, Mizuki is a firm believer of Shoujo manga logic. Alas for her, Nanba has other ideas.
A large family sized pizza, and a liter of root beer, okay? Bill that to Umeda Sensei.
Mizuki's close proximity to Nanba sempai does not make Nakao happy.
Let's play Where's Kayashima! walking down the hallways....
in the communal laundry room
and in the dining hall!
Mizuki is not having a good day. Poor thing doesn't know what's in store for her.
But Kayashima KNOWS. Because he can see dead people, and auras, or something.
and also clearly knows a really great barber, cos hey, rocking that asymmetrical, little dude.
As Mizuki digests the potential nest of crazy!vipers she's cohabiting with,
Oscar, Tennouji and their associated dorms barge in and demand once and for all to know who Mizuki picks. And also slipping the information that Nanba is a grade A womanizer, and that he could get her pregnant. Mizuki, still functioning on girl-brain, completely freaks out.
OMG, MANHOOR TO MY LEFT, AND CRAZIES TO MY RIGHT.
Oh, and boy I traveled all the way to Japan for. Hmmm. Let's see.
Yeah, I know the majority of the fans are spazzing out about how hot some of the boys are, but come on. LOOK AT THAT FACE. SHE'S SO PRETTY.
as if there was any other choice.
Mizuki, being a natural klutz, and apparently Japanese benches are constructed so shoddily that someone of her weight could just tip it over....
finds her in the enviable position of Sano on Top
He, being a cranky napper, leaves her.
Oh, the burn.
On deciding the team that Dormitory 2 will enter for the marathon - Nakao persuades Nanba in his unique way....
While Sano passes,
and Nakatsu glares.
And BL fans perk up a little
But wait! Through yonder Mizuki, shounen-ai breaks!
Slightly vulnerable Sano. Trust me, there's a difference.
This is where all the future magic happens.
See?
And apparently, Sano and Mizuki are shacking up in a small apartment, and not just a mere dormitory room.
I am as confused by Shoujo Manga Logic as you are! But yet, I smolder bravely on!
more smoldering and after a terribly awkward moment where Mizuki drops her Big Box of Stalking Sano right in front of him, send in the BARELY DRESSED DORM MATES!
Nanba sempai in something a JE boy would wear
Kazuma-kun, cos all the ladeez love him and then WEE LITTLE SEKIME
Mizuki is MORTIFIED.
And also slightly incredulous that in a dorm of at least 40 boys, that the one boy she ends up living with, has all the shampoo. Well, he does have luxurious locks. Speaking of locks...
Nakatsu carries around a ruler for this sort of thing. Please ponder that for a moment.
La la la! I am a girl posing as a boy, in a shower! La la la la!
Totally Not Product Placement. Take lessons, America!
OMG, WTF?
WTF, indeed.
Yujiro is AMUSED.
Imagine waking up.... (and as a side note, you could totally play twister with those bedcovers. Just a thought, fanficcers.)
to that. Mizuki braves the fangirls
meets the slightly odd Dr. Umeda again (she ran into him on her first day)
who tells her that she hasn't turned in her medical examination papers, and if she wants to stay at Ohsaka Gakuen, to get right on that.
Drinking milk makes your bones strong!
Mizuki totally smashes Nakatsu's speed record.
How can any of these boys just not stuff her in their pockets and take her home and feed her soup? NOT. that I have Ever Contemplated This.
NAKATSU SMASH!
No, really, man. He's going to win the race and then gloat about it. Meanwhile, the other dorms are hard at work training for the marathon:
Nakatsu and Kayashima, BFF!
or is that SECRET LONGING?
NO, I'M GAY FOR MIZUKI. ONLY NOT YET.
Besides high jumping, Sano can also read in the half-light.
How are you going to sneak into his bed unobtrusively, if you have to cross the room and down a flight of stairs to do it, Mizuki? Love will find a way.
I just love how crappy that wig is on Sekime. I think he's wearing one for half of this episode, while they waited for his bleach to be relaxed out....
There are other girls in this show, but we don't care about them, as they are mere plot devices.
because this show is all about the Manly Love! Bond between brothers!
And stalking the ones you love!
Just look at his little face!
Mizuki has been viciously assaulted by tobasco sauce! Or possibly Kool-aid. Wait, Kool-aid is drippier.
Male Cheerleading is NOT GAY. WHY DOES EVERYONE STILL CARRY AROUND THESE NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES?
in case you've forgotten.
Nanba is attacked by his harem of very angry girlfriends - all 15 of them.
Because you always hurt the ones you love.
If only I had an animated gif of this sequence - Sano kicks the door open when he overhears the two thugs from the karate club have 'interfered' with Mizuki.
Hmm. Perhaps the plushness only applies to their larger than average dorm room, the bathrooms aren't goldplated or anything. OH, right, Sano being all protective and RRRAWWWRRRR. Yes, that's very hot.
he comes out to see the deciding lap
You care, and you don't know why. Oh, the steady beating of your heart......
And our little girl-boy who could is making it closer to the finish line
EXCEPT, OH, CURSED TOBASCO SAUCE.
the iceberg is melting steadily....
Ain't no way Nakatsu is letting some punk from the karate club win the marathon....
He's concerned. Is she going to get up?
You guys, I think this tobasco sauce is going septic on me! I'm totally not kidding!
Damn my sensitive heart buried underneath a jokey-clownish exterior!
While Nakatsu waffles about trying to figure out what to do, Sano runs.
You're right, that tobasco sauce is never coming out.
I know, and these shoes were NEW.
If she doesn't love you, I will. I mean, your grandmother died and I can see her spirit behind you, cheering you on. Yeah, yeah, that's it.
THAT BOY IS NOT FOR YOU. SO GET OVER IT.
Awww, he does miss high jumping. And if he can look like THAT at an inanimate object....
Exactly, Mizuki.
I'll play Janken (japanese rock, paper scissors) for her. Him. Whatever.
I knooooow you're a girllllllll. Uber cute ending credits:
LOOK HOW WEE MAKI IS.
Ahhhh, momo! and even more exciting, next week's previews:
didn't you swear to do no harm, or does that only apply in America?
The....Miss Ohsaka pageant/combination talent show, and that ginormous pink barbie doll?
Mizuki. So get this: a girl pretending to be a boy now has to get dressed up in drag as a girl. OH, the gender fun! AND THEN THERE IS KISSING.
Some more cute for the road. So actual thoughts - yes, it was rushed, and there was some dangling plot lines (but I think they might have been mistranslations or omissions) with the school principal and the early entrance of the St. Blossom's, and aside from the boys, not enough Gay!Dr. Umeda, but it is only the first episode, so I'm willing to follow the pace. The chemistry is awesome, and I didn't see the bullying or overt jerkiness....they were being guys.
Our heroine, Mizuki Ashiya - a Japanese American girl living in California
cuts off her hair....
leaves California to enroll into a school in Japan....
and not just any school, but Ohsaka Gakuen, an exclusive, all-boy boarding school. Where bishounen are the order of the day - and hordes of fangirls line the walk from the dormitories to the school entrance.
the future triangle - Nakatsu, Mizuki, Sano
Mizuki's classmates: top row - Sekime (bleached blond here, but in the series - normal colored hair), Kayashima, Nakao, Kazuma second row - Shinji, Nakatsu, Mizuki, Sano third row - Oscar, Nanba, Tennouji, and Kagurazaka (who is not a student at Ohsaka Gakuen, but at a rival school)
so Mizuki has to remember the difference between 'ore' (masculine) and 'watashi' (feminine) when referring to herself, and to hold up under her classmates' first day scrutiny. They're disappointed that she's not a blond haired, blue eyed gajin exotic type and is instead...."practically all Japanese!"
Nakao, the bitchy queen bee of Ohsaka Gakuen. Though in this picture, he looks more like the Prairie Dog of Drama.
Nakatsu, who feels her up to check for muscle tone
Sekime, who announces to the class about her arrival, and then suggests she take part in the upcoming school marathon but really, the whole reason Mizuki went all Felicity and jetted to Japan?
this guy. Izumi Sano - former golden boy at the high jump, now surly malcontent!
Baby, it's love.
Well. Maybe not just yet. Sano calls her chibi-san, and then ejects her from his seat.
Nakatsu and Sano have some kind of history, and throughout the episode, you're torn between theorizing, busted friendship or spurned love. I mean, with this set up and the popularity of shounen-ai in Japan, YOU NEVER KNOW.
Mizuki has issues.
what's cuter than Mizuki and Sano calling her chibi-san? Why, THIS DOG. Yujiro! Who apparently only likes Sano and girls. After suffering the artic freeze Sano's dealt her, Mizuki, who apparently has no other classes besides homeroom, wanders around campus and wonders what kind of situation she's got herself into.... that requires running into:
the theater club, or those Damn Drama Kids, as we called them when I was going to high school. They're housed in Dorm 1.
Seriously, no, WTF is up with this school?
Oscar Hamejima, the R.A. for Dorm 1, and you just know he's the lead role in every school production. Also, is that a cow?
Tennouji, the R.A. for Dorm 3, and future user of steroids. He just seems to be angry all the time. Or maybe that is the way of the open hand.
Which Mizuki knows, as she tries to get away from the crazy boys who all want her to join their dorm.
Luckily for her, Sekime-kun comes to her rescue, and in a completely non contrived way, tells her about the reasoning behind the battle royale for her affections.
THERE IS A DIAGRAM. AND A MAP. If there was flowchart next, I would say damn Sano and Nakatsu and go for Sekime, Mizuki, because at least then you're with someone who's prepared. You know. For the worst. When she finds out Sano lives in dorm 2, Mizuki treks off, only to be confronted with
YOU MEAN THIS SCHOOL ISN'T COMPLETELY MADE OF GAY STUDENTS?
if I crouch and look away in a convincing manner, perhaps I will turn invisible, and that girl kisser will just ignore me. See, Mizuki is a firm believer of Shoujo manga logic. Alas for her, Nanba has other ideas.
A large family sized pizza, and a liter of root beer, okay? Bill that to Umeda Sensei.
Mizuki's close proximity to Nanba sempai does not make Nakao happy.
Let's play Where's Kayashima! walking down the hallways....
in the communal laundry room
and in the dining hall!
Mizuki is not having a good day. Poor thing doesn't know what's in store for her.
But Kayashima KNOWS. Because he can see dead people, and auras, or something.
and also clearly knows a really great barber, cos hey, rocking that asymmetrical, little dude.
As Mizuki digests the potential nest of crazy!vipers she's cohabiting with,
Oscar, Tennouji and their associated dorms barge in and demand once and for all to know who Mizuki picks. And also slipping the information that Nanba is a grade A womanizer, and that he could get her pregnant. Mizuki, still functioning on girl-brain, completely freaks out.
OMG, MANHOOR TO MY LEFT, AND CRAZIES TO MY RIGHT.
Oh, and boy I traveled all the way to Japan for. Hmmm. Let's see.
Yeah, I know the majority of the fans are spazzing out about how hot some of the boys are, but come on. LOOK AT THAT FACE. SHE'S SO PRETTY.
as if there was any other choice.
Mizuki, being a natural klutz, and apparently Japanese benches are constructed so shoddily that someone of her weight could just tip it over....
finds her in the enviable position of Sano on Top
He, being a cranky napper, leaves her.
Oh, the burn.
On deciding the team that Dormitory 2 will enter for the marathon - Nakao persuades Nanba in his unique way....
While Sano passes,
and Nakatsu glares.
And BL fans perk up a little
But wait! Through yonder Mizuki, shounen-ai breaks!
Slightly vulnerable Sano. Trust me, there's a difference.
This is where all the future magic happens.
See?
And apparently, Sano and Mizuki are shacking up in a small apartment, and not just a mere dormitory room.
I am as confused by Shoujo Manga Logic as you are! But yet, I smolder bravely on!
more smoldering and after a terribly awkward moment where Mizuki drops her Big Box of Stalking Sano right in front of him, send in the BARELY DRESSED DORM MATES!
Nanba sempai in something a JE boy would wear
Kazuma-kun, cos all the ladeez love him and then WEE LITTLE SEKIME
Mizuki is MORTIFIED.
And also slightly incredulous that in a dorm of at least 40 boys, that the one boy she ends up living with, has all the shampoo. Well, he does have luxurious locks. Speaking of locks...
Nakatsu carries around a ruler for this sort of thing. Please ponder that for a moment.
La la la! I am a girl posing as a boy, in a shower! La la la la!
Totally Not Product Placement. Take lessons, America!
OMG, WTF?
WTF, indeed.
Yujiro is AMUSED.
Imagine waking up.... (and as a side note, you could totally play twister with those bedcovers. Just a thought, fanficcers.)
to that. Mizuki braves the fangirls
meets the slightly odd Dr. Umeda again (she ran into him on her first day)
who tells her that she hasn't turned in her medical examination papers, and if she wants to stay at Ohsaka Gakuen, to get right on that.
Drinking milk makes your bones strong!
Mizuki totally smashes Nakatsu's speed record.
How can any of these boys just not stuff her in their pockets and take her home and feed her soup? NOT. that I have Ever Contemplated This.
NAKATSU SMASH!
No, really, man. He's going to win the race and then gloat about it. Meanwhile, the other dorms are hard at work training for the marathon:
Nakatsu and Kayashima, BFF!
or is that SECRET LONGING?
NO, I'M GAY FOR MIZUKI. ONLY NOT YET.
Besides high jumping, Sano can also read in the half-light.
How are you going to sneak into his bed unobtrusively, if you have to cross the room and down a flight of stairs to do it, Mizuki? Love will find a way.
I just love how crappy that wig is on Sekime. I think he's wearing one for half of this episode, while they waited for his bleach to be relaxed out....
There are other girls in this show, but we don't care about them, as they are mere plot devices.
because this show is all about the Manly Love! Bond between brothers!
And stalking the ones you love!
Just look at his little face!
Mizuki has been viciously assaulted by tobasco sauce! Or possibly Kool-aid. Wait, Kool-aid is drippier.
Male Cheerleading is NOT GAY. WHY DOES EVERYONE STILL CARRY AROUND THESE NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES?
in case you've forgotten.
Nanba is attacked by his harem of very angry girlfriends - all 15 of them.
Because you always hurt the ones you love.
If only I had an animated gif of this sequence - Sano kicks the door open when he overhears the two thugs from the karate club have 'interfered' with Mizuki.
Hmm. Perhaps the plushness only applies to their larger than average dorm room, the bathrooms aren't goldplated or anything. OH, right, Sano being all protective and RRRAWWWRRRR. Yes, that's very hot.
he comes out to see the deciding lap
You care, and you don't know why. Oh, the steady beating of your heart......
And our little girl-boy who could is making it closer to the finish line
EXCEPT, OH, CURSED TOBASCO SAUCE.
the iceberg is melting steadily....
Ain't no way Nakatsu is letting some punk from the karate club win the marathon....
He's concerned. Is she going to get up?
You guys, I think this tobasco sauce is going septic on me! I'm totally not kidding!
Damn my sensitive heart buried underneath a jokey-clownish exterior!
While Nakatsu waffles about trying to figure out what to do, Sano runs.
You're right, that tobasco sauce is never coming out.
I know, and these shoes were NEW.
If she doesn't love you, I will. I mean, your grandmother died and I can see her spirit behind you, cheering you on. Yeah, yeah, that's it.
THAT BOY IS NOT FOR YOU. SO GET OVER IT.
Awww, he does miss high jumping. And if he can look like THAT at an inanimate object....
Exactly, Mizuki.
I'll play Janken (japanese rock, paper scissors) for her. Him. Whatever.
I knooooow you're a girllllllll. Uber cute ending credits:
LOOK HOW WEE MAKI IS.
Ahhhh, momo! and even more exciting, next week's previews:
didn't you swear to do no harm, or does that only apply in America?
The....Miss Ohsaka pageant/combination talent show, and that ginormous pink barbie doll?
Mizuki. So get this: a girl pretending to be a boy now has to get dressed up in drag as a girl. OH, the gender fun! AND THEN THERE IS KISSING.
Some more cute for the road. So actual thoughts - yes, it was rushed, and there was some dangling plot lines (but I think they might have been mistranslations or omissions) with the school principal and the early entrance of the St. Blossom's, and aside from the boys, not enough Gay!Dr. Umeda, but it is only the first episode, so I'm willing to follow the pace. The chemistry is awesome, and I didn't see the bullying or overt jerkiness....they were being guys.