Zettai Kareshi: "I'm just a love machine, and I won't work for nobody but y... your friend is hot."

[darkeyedwolf]

Zettai Kareshi

Comments

[guingel]

You know, I think in the subs I saw, the "boyfriend's sexual habits" question had the options translated differently, so she started with "no sex drive" and moved to "slight sex drive." I think that raises some really interesting questions about the translator. D:

I'm up to episode 3 (I think. Maybe 2?) and I'm loving it! Riiko is too cute to be annoyed with and basically everyone is adorable and I want to squeeze them. Hard. ::ogle ogle ogle:: It's like a loin-splosion. It's my first introduction to Mokomichi, and he seems perfectly cast and I'm just like *_* all the time. Mizushima Hiro is a fucking hotass, even when his hair prevents him from looking as attractive as he actually is. Aibu Saki is the prettiest thing and I spend half my time distracted by her shiny bob and dimples. AND THEN THERE'S MAYA MIKI TOO. It's like the drama equivalent of one of those seven layer chocolate cakes with chocolate frosting and chocolate pudding inside.

Night is so loveable, though, I'm very attached to him and that makes me nervous.

[pashoshi]

If the "boyfriend's sexual habits" question is what's on the screen there, it actually says something like how H (as in hentai) he is. And then the options are "very H", "a little H", "not interested in H" or "hates H". It just doesn't really translate neatly.

[guingel]

Neatly, no, but the sort of "diversion from the norm" translation above is quite different from seeing "hates H" and translating it as "doesn't want to have sex, period." Which one is more accurate, I don't know. . . I know I was kind of "whoa O.o" when I saw it in the drama, that Riiko was considering a boyfriend with no sex drive.

[pashoshi]

Yeah, it's definitely not the best translation, though I've seen worse. I'm not really clear as to whether "H" means sexual stuff, period, or just things besides "normal" sex, which makes a big difference as to whether you interpret as "no sex drive" or "only pure vanilla sex". Given Night's behavior, though, I don't think she chose "slight sex drive", somehow.

[darkeyedwolf]

It's like the drama equivalent of one of those seven layer chocolate cakes with chocolate frosting and chocolate pudding inside.

And sprinkles! If sprinkles were Moko's peaked, glistening nipples saying "hello world!" during every scene.

I'm so glad you like Night, I felt like his only fan. It was very bizarre -- a tall, bronze sex robot devoted to his master's every whim and pleasure, and people found fault with him. Bwuh?? D: The only thing I didn't like Aibu Saki's character is that we were supposed to believe she wasn't banging that. (Though apparently in the manga she has no reservations, so I really need to check that out.)

[guingel]

Awwww! Were people creeped out by him? Because he is creepy staring! Luckily I just find that hilarious. :D And he's so well-intentioned and. . . wholesome! Meaning that he lacks ulterior motives, because he is not wholesome in any other way. Dude, what the hell fault is there? He's a sweetie! Does he start eating brains in the second part of the show or something?

I'm still so early in the show that Riiko's initial needy desperation is still fresh in my mind. Her attitude towards the two male leads is great, though, so far! And I love the adorable spazztic awkwardness.

I can totally see her as someone who would not have sex with their gorgeous affectionate sexbot, though! It does work with the characterization, I think - at least that initial, excessively romantic characterization. I'm intrigued about the manga, though. XD

[darkeyedwolf]

I think the most common complaint was "boring." Which made no sense to me, because 1) you could make him do whatever you wanted! and 2) he's only spending all day cleaning your house and cooking your meals and doing part-time jobs to pay for himself. Put him in a little loincloth and let the magic happen.

He does have some jealousy issues later, but Riiko programmed him that way, so it's like his faults aren't even his fault.

Riiko is an adorable sweetheart, but she really doesn't think things through. XD

[dangermousie]

Yup, they have sex in the manga. More than once. Ahem.

Also, her initial reservation makes sense because in the manga she is a high-school girl. In some ways, ZK manga is most fun if (like me) you are generally a fan of Yuu Watase because it's sort of poking fun at her own cliches.

Btw, if you want explicit sexin' (ZK manga isn't too explicit in that regard, alas), check out her Ceres: Celestial Legend. It might be up your alley anyway, what with incest (twincest!), evil families, homicidal men with amnesia who grow daggers out of arms and love the heroine enough to come back from the dead, tons and tons of h/c, cross-dressing and (more to the point) I think a 17-page sex scene which is pretty explicit. With my luck, I got to that point of the manga in a public place.

[darkeyedwolf]

homicidal men with amnesia who grow daggers out of arms and love the heroine enough to come back from the dead

Goddamnit! *googles*

17-page sex scene, huh? And it's het?

[dangermousie]

Watase is largely a het mangaka -- I say "largely" because even if her main couple is het, she loooooves her slash something fierce. Her most famous work, Fushigi Yuugi, in addition to a bunch of main protagonists of either gay or dubious sexual persuasion, has a major thing about the villain's s&m fixation on...the heroine's boyfriend. There is whipping and kissing and everything.

I did a bit on Ceres art here and a summary which isn't spoilery:

http://dangermousie.livejournal.com/671001.html

(There is an anime of it which I like even if it's not as good as the manga as they had to cut out bunches of plot).

[darkeyedwolf]

AUGH. YOU FAILED TO MENTION IT WAS WATASE YUU. NEVERMIND. (Trying not to be spoilery in guingel's thread, but I'M SURE YOU CAN GUESS WHY.)

[dangermousie]

Not a fan?

Or is the ending thing bothersome? :) (Note: Ceres ending is not like ZK ending. *tries to be unspoilery*)

[darkeyedwolf]

The ending. I remember what you told me about her! XD

[dangermousie]

Not all the time though. FY has a happy ending, and so does Imadoki (but that is about a gardening club!) and Alice 19th. Ceres has a...I can't say it's unqualifiedly happy, but it's much happier than ZK. (Let me know if you want me to spoil you). Her newest, Ganbu Kaiden, being a prequel to FY will end up in hideous death for everyone, I am sure (but on the plus side, it has a male lead who turns into a woman in order to use his powers and is a prince whose father wants him killed).

She does cut through her secondary characters with a scythe.

[darkeyedwolf]

*snerks* In that case... maybe. The whole "dagger in his arm" thing sounds interesting. I assume he's hot.

[dangermousie]

He is very very hot. I think Watase must have drooled on the pages while drawing him. Night is supposed to be a sort of parody of him.

Plus, he is an amnesiac assassin working for her evil family and who has been assigned to kill her. He'd rather have hot hot make-out sex with her instead.