Never met a girl like you before

Jul 11, 2007 12:12

The screen cap review of Hanazakari no Kimitach e, episode 2

subtitled: Why you be hating, man? Mizuki's my homegirl boy. I think I'm going to ease off visiting the forums for a while, because while I can see and understand some fans' valid complaints about this incarnation of Hana Kimi, I am not a slavish devotee to the Taiwanese adaptation or the manga. I just like being entertained - and I want to take each version on its own merits, because to me, they're all separate entities. I think the J-drama is acquitting itself quite nicely, brilliantly at times with the off the wall baka-ness, while also slipping in some clever sight gags. I also believe they've got the essence of the characters, and I like that I'm not watching a word by word retread of the manga - I like the manga, but if I wanted to see it page by page...why don't I just read the manga? It's there, it's complete, and no flesh and blood men are ever going to come close to looking like their drawn counterparts.

So Your Mileage May Vary.

Also, SARS surprisingly released a hardsub of episode 1 before the group that was listed to sub it (but apparently BON is still doing it, just at a different pace).



All the screencaps I did for this episode can be found here. I'm only going to focus on some key scenes this review instead of recapping the whole episode, as there is quite a lot of gay to get through, and only so much time.

Basically, Umeda-sensei knows Mizuki's a girl, the school puts on another Excuse so we don't need to show them in their classroom - the Mr. And Miss Ohsaka contest, Nakatsu's feeling kind of funny over Mizuki, we meet another person from Sano's high jump career past, Yujiro is crazy adorable, Mizuki and Sano drift closer and yet fall apart, Sano's a kissing monster, and at the end, Mizuki's big brother Shizuki is on his way to Japan to enquire about his most beloved kid sister.



I thought this was clever - it's William Shakespeare! He knows a bit about crossdressing heroines and romantic comedies about mistaken identities and the suspension of belief.



Nakatsu is pointing a finger gun. He clearly means serious business. When Mizuki's not being the unwitting fool in her dormmates' pranks, they're all banded together for her honor - it's quite sweet.



Where are your hands, Nakatsu? Nanba pitches a hissy fit about Nakao sabotaging his romantic life, Nakao seems all too happy to bear the brunt of Nanba's wrath.



Seriously, Sekime is the cutest voice of Exposition ever.



Nakatsu does not agree, and wants Mizuki all to himself.



Uh oh.....he's pouting. (For future reference, whenever Mizuki is with Nakatsu, I'll use 'he,' whenever Mizuki is with Sano, I'll use 'she.') Nakatsu has no hope now.



What is this strange, doki doki feeling? Is it heartburn? Have I forgotten to turn the gas off?



*innocent stare*



Oh, crap.



The pole of denial says you're not having inappropriate touchy feely feelings about your classmate Ashiya!



Though your aura seems to be saying otherwise.



This is just a really nice shot of Kayashima. The actor has quietly stolen the scenes he's in, and he's made the most of being a 'side' character, which is what I really like about the jdrama so far.



I have deep, man pain.



Sure you do.



Dorm 1 attempts to escape Tennouji's wrath for cheating in the marathon.



Uh oh, Sano's tipsy.



Mizuki has no idea what's in store for her.



OH NOES, ALCOHOLIC DRIED FRUIT. OR VEGETABLE. Never has the foreshadowing of kissy doom looked so benign and deceitful!



Sano go down.



Oh wait, he's up again.



Maybe I should say something....





Mizuki chooses to slap Sano into unconsciousness and then pretend like nothing happened.



Except apparently whenever Sano gets around alcohol (-IC FRUITS AND VEGETABLES!), he turns into a kissing machine. And Nakatsu needs to punctuate this after school special with three smacks to Sano's general arse vicinity.



Which only makes Sano smile. SANO HAPPY LAND RIGHT NOW!



Dear Diary, I flew all the way from California to end up in some kind of weird kissing orgy in an all boy's school.



Yeah, that Sano. He's such a scamp. Starting from Nanba down, who has Sano kissed?



Nakatsu, who is saving all his kisses for Mizuki, dammit.



Sekime, who expected a phone call or flowers the next day, at least



Nakao, who was thinking of Nanba sempai the whole time, he swears



Kayashima, who is suitably Zen about the whole thing. Hey, kissing happens.











Dude, Sano, that's just wrong.









Sano believes in spreading goodwill among the dorm R.A.s



And naturally, Oscar has to make a whole big naked production out of it.



What, even YUJIRO, now?



Mizuki is slightly disturbed.




Nakatsu is not stalking, he swears. And Kayashima is just there for moral support.



And for pointing out things like Nakatsu's iridescent pink aura.



I'm not in love. I'm just hanging around this tree.



Nakatsu decides to have a little talk with Mizuki about this 'thing' he has for Sano. And so they go on a date.



They do!



Don't you think you might be acting a little gay, Ashiya-kun? Oh, Nakatsu. Pot. Kettle. Gay.







NAKATSU VISION IS THE BEST THING EVER.



HEARTS. Hearts in his pupils!



Nothing quite spoils the tender romantic moment like when your date decides to turn into your mom on you.



I SUPER LOVE WOMEN.



This is just a random shot of Shirota Yuu, who plays Kagurazaka, Sano's athletic rival. But without subs and a shaky grasp of the context, I will refer to him here as Sano's ex boyfriend.

Also, PRETTY.



OH, NAKATSU.



"Why are we hiding in the bushes?" "Because of Sano and his ex boyfriend!"



Ah, the only other actor who is tall enough to look Oguri Shun in the eye.



You don't call, you don't write. What am I supposed to think?



Chibi-san understandably, gets a little hot under the collar. That's my territory, you big tall freaky interloper!



MINE!



Oh, NAKATSU.



No really, that's my competition? WEAK.

Part two of the Review can be found here

hanazakari no kimitachi e, recap, jdrama, hana kimi

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