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[nagasasu]

For those of you following my Tumblr, you probably already know I'm watching a lot of TV and figure skating because omg Mirai Nagasu ;_;.

Eden of the East

• So a bajillion years ago
  carameltrap rec'd this, and when I got sick I marathoned the whole series plus the movies in a day.
• I highly recommend the series, especially if you're part of my generation of 20-somethings facing joblessness in the fact of an uncertain future left to us by our parents. As evidenced by the above sentence, this show is pretty darn sympathetic to the youth of today. I think the show's biggest strength is actually speaking to my generation instead of condescending to them. It really feels like it was made by and for us.So it probably won't appeal to the people who disparage the Millennial generation, generation Me, "go get a job" generation, etc.
• OK, so the plot hinges on the two parallel heroes of Main Boy and Main Girl. Main Boy is a typical Chosen One, but the Main Girl is very down to earth and normal. And usually this wouldn't work for me, because I am so over the Male Hero and his Love Interest Kept on the Sidelines, but something about this series just works for me, and I can't explain what it is. Perhaps it's because I really identify with her dissatisfaction with normalcy and the way she pursues change.
• Also, the use of the memory trope should've annoyed me, but I just didn't care because I was just so sucked in.
• Something about the romance stands out to me, but what I can't quite say. There's something very adult about it? When I look at the characters, I see their attraction, but I don't see the sexual tension -- but at the same time, their actions and interactions are something I'm really used to seeing as sexual? I definitely liked it, whatever it is.
• Misc: One thing I didn't get was the request with the Johnny Hunter's escape, but not a big deal. Juiz was awesome. And would love to have seen more of the Granddaughters.
• (I don't know if it's my own perspective as a Westerner, but I think the series would actually lend itself very well to an American adaptation. That said, I'm not sure how this fits in with my views on the US whitewashing its adaptations of everything not from the US ever. I would, of course, hope an adaptation would be racially diverse, but LOL like that's going to ever happen.)
• Fic to read: antarctic's in the beginning , because I would love to see what happens post-series. <3

Beauty and the Beast S1

• Despite the fact I haven't watched a show on the CW in forever, I actually recommend the series. I was pleasantly surprised by the series, and will definitely watch S2. I'm also quite surprised I heard so little about the series considering how much I liked it.
• So this is a reboot of the prior B&tB TV series. I haven't seen the original, but I honestly think the series has very little to do with the original Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. So if you have misgivings because of that, don't sweat it. I was sold on the series once Netflix told me it was a cop show that I'd like, lol.
• Kristen Kreuk plays a canonically biracial character! And they hired a biracial actress to play her sister as well! (!!!!!!!)
• Positive relationships between women! (!!!!!) Kreuk's a cop, and her partner is a WOC who actually shockingly survives the whole series. And her relationship with her sister! Her relationship with her mother, although now deceased, is also huge. Not to say her relationships with women are always hunky-dory, but these relationships remain strong and develop throughout the season, and are not just abandoned in favor of a romance.
• Ok, so the leading dude, Vincent, I could take or leave him. (I am also secretly hoping someone writes Lora Leigh-esque Breed fanfiction about Vincent and Cat OK? DON'T JUDGE ME.) BUT. He makes relationship mistakes and then admits to them! However he does have some red flag behaviors IMO, and definitely seek out other bloggers' thoughts on Vincent and Cat's relationship.
• Cat (Kreuk) faces a lot of people intervening and doing what they deem is best for her without asking her. And this behavior is called out, and the way Cat faces it just makes me mushy. Because I love it when women are allowed to make mistakes without people (especially dudes) patronizing them about how they ~don't know what they're doing~. Like, yeah, they might not, but it's our choice as women to make fuck you very much.
• So there is a White Male Love Interest who is very much all about ~saving~ Cat and being a stoic hero who does shit ~to help her~ without seeking her input. I am very pleased that this gets called out as well.
• I wasn't a big Kreuk fan when I saw her in S1 of Smallville, but I really like her here. She has this vulnerability in this show that reminds me of Anna Torv's Olivia from Fringe. Perhaps it's the fact that both Cat and Olivia are women who have to work at being emotionally vulnerable and making meaningful relationships.

Beautiful Creatures

• Saw the movie on TV and was pleasantly surprised by it?? WAY better than I thought it'd be (aka Twilight knock-off)
• If the books wasn't so long I'd definitely read it. I'm very intrigued by what it's doing re: feminism and to a lesser extent race.
• Also the quick wit was a bonus. And the stars. Emma Thompson~ (Also Emmy Rossum who I haven't seen in forever)

Orleans by Sherri Smith

• Awesome cover. Not so awesome flap. It might be just me, but I totally misunderstood the plot based on the flap. I also resent the labeling of the Delta people as "primitive." Like, LOL, no, they're just plain ol' people who are making the best of the shit hand they've been dealt. The bottom line is that I really wanted to like the book, but it fell flat for me in many ways:
• Rotating narrators. It's a pet peeve of mine to have rotating narrators, especially when one is in 1st and the other in 3rd.
• Not too keen on how the flashbacks were handled either.
• The plot twist about the government (or at least I think it was supposed to be a plot twist) went over my head, and quite frankly I didn't care.
• I'm not sure what to make of its plot/arc, but that might be because I definitely read books as having rising/climax/falling action, etc. But it left me feeling unresolved in many ways. I feel the novel would make way more sense to me if it were part of a series.
• 1) the quest for the lost virus. If the bottom line is nature is taking care of the plague, I'll take Nausicaa over this. 2) I think it'd be interesting to follow what happens to Enola. 3) Fen's death makes sense to me, but why I can't say. 4) Something about Daniel, he feels very cardboard to me.

If I've forgotten anything I've watched, lemme know. :p

Sorry not sorry, I am not over Mirai Nagasu. ;_;  (GDI NBC you better show the exhibition Gala this weekend.)

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