The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required on it.
For anyone thinking of marathoning Maou, I just played catch up with three eps in a row and almost gave myself a heart attack. There was much shrieking, flailing, gasping, bouncing, *_____*ing, and SCREAMING AT THE SCREEN.
You might want to take this drama at a reasonable pace if you don't want it to kill you.
( Maou 6-8, major picspam and text vomit warning. )
You might want to take this drama at a reasonable pace if you don't want it to kill you.
( Maou 6-8, major picspam and text vomit warning. )
The scene with Ryou's sister made me wibble, but I also found it kind of inappropriately funny that the only person thanking Naruse for his deceit was one who had no idea what was going on. XD I wonder if she'd be so touched if she knew Naruse most likely bashed her brother's face in to make his corpse unidentifiable... (Actually, maybe she would. "I was stuck here separated from my brother while he had fun with his friends." What an asshole.)
Niisan blew my mind omg. I never expected him to play a bigger role than the stock husband. I kind of got the feeling he was just testing how deep Kasai would go with the lie-- a lot of his conversations seemed to be pushing him to admit the adultery-- but then Naruse stepped in, all calm and cool and "You don't have anything on your record, do you?" and that just pushed him over the edge. So twisted, and so brilliant.
I'm actually feeling for Kasai too. He's a cheating little creep, but he was willing to give up everything for the girl... and she wasn't. Ouch.
Souda, I swear, I hope he goes in style. He's such a shameless fucker, but you can tell he's been messed up. "I felt like a murderer too!" I never really considered the effect lying would have on the rest of the gang. None of them escaped without feeling it.
Still--even with Ikehata-- direct murder? not really . . . he just has him chased and Ikehata jumps the wire . . . though that is pretty direct.
I think it was pretty direct, wasn't it? The goons had instructions to chase him into a specific warehouse (I forget the number, but they repeated about three times, which is how I knew it was important *g*) and the floorboards were conveniently flimsy. At any rate, standing over his victim and watching him die was a lot more hands-on than any other of Naruse's murders. I keep thinking of what kegom said about the law being his personal god, and how he'd eventually trip up by betraying that. And he did. It's thanks to Ikehata and his CDs that Naoto uncovered his true identity.
And seriously--what the hell is Yamano's motivation?? I would love to see NAruse locked up while more letters go off-then they'd pretty much have to let him go and they could pin it on Yamano.
YES. Yes please. I want a happy ending for Naruse, so someone else has to take the fall for him. XD I think Yamano's motivation is the same as ever? He wants Naoto to suffer and doesn't care who else gets hurt. He's just getting deeper and more confident the more shit they pull off, which translates to creepier and more eager and more arrogant glee.
Did you notice how he picked up the card and envelope with his bare hands?? He was totally passively giving himself up!!
omg that's true!! And the scene with Shiori asking him out (when Naoto saw him), was that in front of the police station? I bet he was about to give himself up.
Also, I don't know if I'm just enamored of all the lighting things you point out, but: fireworks. Lighting their faces in green and red while they look at each other . . .
*goes to watch again*
*____*
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I was sort of obsessively waiting for you to finish and picspam so we could chat about this ^^"
\o/
I think it was pretty direct, wasn't it? The goons had instructions to chase him into a specific warehouse (I forget the number, but they repeated about three times, which is how I knew it was important *g*) and the floorboards were conveniently flimsy.
Ok, I'll roll on that one . . . though it only works because Ikehata tries to blackmail him and is greedy enough to become stupid enough to realize that Naruse gets people killed all the time (OK twice) and doesn't think that maybe this is a bad Idea . . . also, I really kind of feel that screwing with Makiko might have had a lot to do with the more direct brutality of the murder--temper got the better of him . . . either way, there's no way he's legally responsible, not that that means anything . . . but he had that card ready way before . . .
Now you have me wondering--between daddy serizawa backing out so Naruse had to get his hands a little dirty and then Yamano going all Jack Nicholson/Shining, perhaps as he gains humanity through his empathy and love for Shiori (and Naoto?), he's losing his ability to control those around him, as well as himself--the whole unraveling . . . now that I say that, I guess it's obvious . . .
Do you think that Tomoo killed Ryou? I kind of thought it was more opportunistic . . . in the flashbacks, he doesn't ever exhibit 'maou-face,' so I kind of thought he was rebuilding a new support and that got taken from him and then he jumped on the chance to a)have a new life and b) get revenge. I hope they clear that up . . .
wouldn't it be a little out of character for him to directly murder his friend? He's generally more indirect . . . *clings to hope that he didn't do it*
I also kind of wonder about who came to his office when he showed up late to the fireworks . . . perhaps no one important, perhaps the push to cut it off now. Am I being too melodramatic to wonder if it was Yamano, and maybe Naruse wanted to put some distance in fast, because that guy is seriously fucked up . . . and this in a show with a meticulous plotter who orchestrates the implosion of families and friendships for ten years to make a point. Anyway, I realize it's probably just about finding focus,, but if it were only about completing the revenge before they stop him, then why make it so easy for her to know? Especially since he knows she (and Naoto, for that mater) has empathy for the killer and will try to stop him.
I really see a sort of mirroring of the potential clusterfuck of the aldulterous/boyhood friend square here with Yamano, Naoto, Naruse, and Shiori-- I have visions of her going to Naruse, getting killed by Yamano, Natuse or Serizawa killing Yamano and Naruse . . . killed by Serizawa? Saves Serizawa from Yamano? I don't know, but in my head, it is epic. And rain is falling. And light on Naruse's face . . . Ot who knows . . . maybe they'll even let Shoiri live . . .
I just kind of dread Makiko and Sora ever learning his identity--so when he dies, I kind of hope Serizawa covers for him . . . how messed up is that?
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I don't know about Yamano though--is this about Hideo, or just a chance to get back at a high school bully? I assume the latter, mostly because that fits with my very unsympathetic reading of him throughout.
I'm actually feeling for Kasai too. He's a cheating little creep, but he was willing to give up everything for the girl... and she wasn't. Ouch.
That kind of hurt me, too. That wasn't about him being a weasel for once, and his clear bewilderment about Kasai turning on him so much (you're my friend) was pretty awful too. Dude, Serizawa should just take up drinking with his police friends, who at least seem to be decent people.
On that subject, how hilarious is it that Naoto's boss essentially gets told to take a vacation and totally doesn't with no consequences?
Souda, I swear, I hope he goes in style. He's such a shameless fucker, but you can tell he's been messed up. "I felt like a murderer too!" I never really considered the effect lying would have on the rest of the gang. None of them escaped without feeling it.
True. and that scene drove in the point again that a) the law is not adequate justice but also b) that other punishments also occur even when the law is inadequate. And in case we hadn't gotten that message yet that moment where Naruse tells Kasai that there are legal options for his problem, but they are limited and limiting--that they won't give him what he wants, which is protection for himself and his loved one.
However, my sympathy is a little leavened by the fact that his response to this is to blackmail his less tormented friends. Not really sure how that's going to ease his guilt. And also? If someone had swung that bottle by my head and threatened to kill me? I don't think I would then blackmail him more and I sure as hell wouldn't continue to live in the same house as him, especially not after the tarot card showed up. Kasai may have balls of solid brass, but his brain seems a little off.
Also, Souda was pretty smooth, arranging police protection-that, like everything else having to do with this police department, seems to be completely useless. Seriously. *rolls eyes*
It would be kind of sweet but disappointing if Yamano turned out to be the real mastermind, but the fact that he didn't know who the next victim was makes that less likely, I guess. But I kept thinking--what if the darkroom actually isn't in his apartment, but somewhere else? With the cuts, it could be . . . I know it's not, but in an alternate universe version . . .
And I love the heated boy straddling with panting. Good lord. IT's like every Friday is Christmas&hearts Too bad the trees are gone.
*sighs*
I go back to reading about enthymemes . . . wth?
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Though, now that I think about it, that may be too dark. Tomoo seemed like a sweet kid even after Hideo's death, maybe he wasn't capable of something so gruesome yet.
either way, there's no way he's legally responsible, not that that means anything . . .
That's definitely true. I'm just a bit stuck on the way the drama set everything up to be a typical Naruse murder, only to pull the rug out from under it at the last minute. Ikehara would've been a victim of his own greed if they'd let Serizawa go through with the hit, but instead Naruse had to come in and play clean up... for what? So Ikehara wouldn't spill the truth about the incident? Shouldn't Naruse have wanted that? Ikehara was introduced as a bad guy because he wrote Naoto's cover story however many years ago. Where was the justice in killing him just because he was a thorn in Naruse's side?
I guess I'm trying to say it felt like a very different murder to me. A lot more personal, like you said, and Naruse had a much bigger (or at least more obvious) hand in it, which led to him almost getting caught. There's a lesson here for budding criminals about keeping your distance. XD
I don't know, but in my head, it is epic. And rain is falling. And light on Naruse's face . . .
Oh my god, how lame am I if all I want from the finale is light on Naruse's face?
Do you think Naruse will die? I'm kind of thinking Naoto will. Redemption through death, and all that-- maybe Naruse has a change of heart and can't kill him in the end (completing his growth as a decent human being), but Yamano goes crazy and gets a shot in, so he's carted off to prison/a mental institution while Naruse/Shiori live happily ever after. Okay, so maybe "happily ever after" is unlikely, but if they're spending all this time developing their relationship just to kill either of them off then I will cry buckets.
And in case we hadn't gotten that message yet that moment where Naruse tells Kasai that there are legal options for his problem, but they are limited and limiting--that they won't give him what he wants, which is protection for himself and his loved one.
You know Naruse had fun saying that, too. XD "You ran away as my brother died in the dirt like a dog? Yes, let me think about the best ways of protecting you."
But I kept thinking--what if the darkroom actually isn't in his apartment, but somewhere else? With the cuts, it could be . . . I know it's not, but in an alternate universe version . . .
That's a really interesting thought. It'd have to be somewhere close-- his hair was wet in the darkroom after his shower-- but we don't know it's actually in his apartment. It'd be a pretty stupid move, actually, considering it's all the proof the police would need to make an arrest.
I can't believe I could instantly recall the state of his hair in the darkroom. God, I need to get out more.
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Um . . . shower scene? Burned happily into our collective retinas? TwiceOh my god, how lame am I if all I want from the finale is light on Naruse's face?
uh . . . I guess we can be lame together ^_~ If he has to die, and to be honest, I have assumed he'd have to die since the first episode,since, Jail? Hell no, and I don't really see the show letting us off the hook emotionally and him ethically by giving him any kind of a happy ending that doesn't involve death and a sense of self-forgiveness, aided by Shiori's tear-filled, light-enhanced face.
I never really thought Naoto would die, unless they both went down together . . . and . . . cue light! Also awesome ^^
Okay, so maybe "happily ever after" is unlikely, but if they're spending all this time developing their relationship just to kill either of them off then I will cry buckets.
You know that's what they want--this show is all about pain. Ours. Which we clearly love&hearts
Really, lately, this show delights in making us feel pain with Naruse, and juxtaposing that with mixed thrills and distancing when he goes all 'maou.' Whereas before in the show, we could get kind of into the maou face because we were in on his secret and on his revenge plan, the more human he seems to be and the more filled with pain, the more we look at the human toll of his actions--on others, sure as a start, but later on himself--and that affects us more, right? So when he looks at the picture and harmonica in 8 with the music box playing, and then looks up in full maou, we see that as a fall from his human side, and as a loss for both him and Shiori--especially since he himself seems to be struggling against it now, and Yamano pushed him back to it--
At this point, the 'maou' is being seen as something almost external to Naruse, imposed on him by Yamano, whom we loathe for doing it"to" him, whereas before we saw it as a truth revealed and thus could enjoy sharing in the secret--it makes us, like him, seem powerful, even omnipotent. Now, the emergence of the maou face is a sort of overwhelming of Naruse and he seems powerless in his own and Yamano's plans--and we feel powerless and frustrated in our desire for him to chuck it and have a herd of small spsychic slightly unhinged meticulous children with Shiori ^^"
You know Naruse had fun saying that, too. XD "You ran away as my brother died in the dirt like a dog? Yes, let me think about the best ways of protecting you."
Totally. Also--"let me tell you about people worth protecting." Because he actually has some. Kasai--not so much.
And also--please let him have planned something elaborately awesome for Yamano for having provided the knife and not having testified, which Shiori did and he clearly appreciated. When Yamano rages at him for letting go of his grudge against Serizawa, I totally wanted Naruse to ask where his outrage was when that court case exonerated Naruse-- but obviously he was too shaken to attack . . .
Although again, if this were also part of the plan--a sort of break between the two that will end with the death of Yamano, I would squee so hard, my neighbors would probably call the police ^^
*hopes*
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;_________; IT COULD HAPPEN! They could always be some sort of redeeming non-fatal wound. Maybe Yamano goes crazy and Naruse takes a hit for Naoto! The ultimate turnaround, and a get out of jail free card for all that pesky homicide.
I wonder if Naruse knows about Yamano's involvement in Hideo's death? ...I think we've talked about this before, but I can't remember what we decided. But I think it's possible Naruse doesn't know Yamano was at the scene. Maybe he knows Hideo and Yamano were friends, but not who the knife belonged to or who was really being chased. (Though I think it's equally likely he knows everything as a shiny, lipglossed god, and there's something massive up his sleeve planned for Yamano. Glee!)
At this point, the 'maou' is being seen as something almost external to Naruse, imposed on him by Yamano, whom we loathe for doing it"to" him
That's fascinating. *__* And really true. At the beginning, all we had of Naruse was the maou-- now it's only a mask he dons to get the job done. And the real Naruse, the human Naruse, is suffering underneath it, but it's all he's known for eleven years and not so easily thrown away.
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*sobs*
WHY MUST YOU OFFER ME HOPE SO THAT MY SOU IS CRUSHED FURTHER???? I-I can kind of see that . . . and since the police brass pretty much ignore that this is even happening, Naoto almost could get away with it.
Plus, there's still no evidence *fervently ignores the darkroom* They can't really even prove that Naruse is not Naruse Ryou . . . I mean I guess they could go look at dental records, if they're still around for a long-dead runaway without parents . . . All they have is an anagram and a coincidence. Oh, and a psychic. That should go over well. And Ymanano is certainly psycho enough to die dramatically and take the blame rather spectacularly. He's unhinged enough that it's entirely likely that he touched things without gloves, and we know that at least on one and probably two occasions, Yamano delivered the letters, so there's probably at least one instance where Naruse has a pretty good alibi . . . Of course we still have to contend with Naruse's self-loathing, which is not likely to allow him to let himself off the hook. \(>_<)/ Dammit! happy ending, please!
I don't think we ever came to any satisfying conclusion as to whether Naruse knows about Yamano's involvement . . . but I would contend that the specificity of his image of Hideo's death may be because Yamano told him what he saw, right? Yamano is certainly banking on Naruse getting his revenge for him, so it's entirely likely that he would have told Naruse whet he saw, even if he didn't tell him about the knife . . . and it seems possible to me that Hideo would have told Tomoo about the bully and his friend and how his friend had done the stupid thing and brought a knife to school . . . maybe? I wonder if the show will clear that up . . . a lot is left to happen in 3 episodes, especially since the final one at least, is likely to be long, right?
We have to find out what happens to Souda (ie. how he dies; the fallout with the rest of that little group, I think Daddy is going to survive *sigh*, marital fallout, OT3 fallout, a few sexually assaulted trees, an appeal to Naruse, a heroic self-sacrificial redemption and/or death. That should leave room for clarifications of what Naruse knows/knew about hideo's death . . . and maybe a psychic revelation of what really happened, since naruse is unlikely to just accept Serizawa's word for it.
Oh, but if Naruse died fighting Yamano, the crazed killer, they could have the tragic headlines about the Angelic lawyer brought down by a twisted killer and have the irony plus spare Sora and Makiko's feelings . . . maybe. Not that I'm advocating for it, mind; it just seems so much tidier and likely.
he knows everything as a shiny, lipglossed god
Good lord, the lipgloss. I ended up having a hugely long online chat with betchan about the lipgloss and its ramifications, which ended up getting into self-loathing and all the bark pieces that would stick to Naoto's lips . . . and it's not even like he wears as much of it as Naruse . . . For Christmas, all of my rl Maou friends are getting random lipgloss in colors like "revenge," "double entendre," and "damned, but hot." I've just decided ^^
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