Real life: trip recovery! Plus general fangirl yammering
I have been messaging with pharrezychica and pestering her to post a life update in her LJ, when it occured to me that I should post in mine!
A bit more about Yuhiden: Well, my verbal/aural Japanese is crappy, but I must understand a lot subconsciously that I can't articulate, because I find shows pretty easy to follow. I lose details, of course, but major plot points are easy to understand. I watched Yuhiden twice. The first time, to watch what was happening physically, and the second time to pay more attention to what was being said. Yuhiden might have been the perfect play to watch for someone with limited Japanese skills because, as Seto said, it's an easy story to follow. Honestly, it was two hours of chanbara with some plot to explain why everyone was fighting. Seto's heroic leading man, Endo's earnest father, Zukki's comedic enemy turned ally, Shuto's jealousy-driven younger brother, and Ikeoka's kabuki-style villain were all easily understood visually. There were also Ryuki, Maeyama, and Arai, who played devoted aides.
Oh, Shuto. He's a new D-BOY. vanilla_ichigo says he had been the P.O.T.S. winner a while back, and so he had been part of WE since then, but not officially a D-BOY. A couple of months before Yuhiden opened, the announcement came that he was joining D-BOYS.
No one else has left since Kaji and Endo, though some people seem to think Taito and Ryuki will. I doubt it, though. Why would they leave when they D-BOYS does nothing to interfere with how they want to pursue their professional lives, or even their personal lives as long as it doesn't involve marriage or possible scandal. I know Endo left in order to marry, Kaji probably has something similar.
Oh, you know Channaka is back acting? He's with a small agency under Watanabe's umbrella, but he is indeed back.
As for Yanagi, I wonder if he'll simply remain on WE's list even if he has become too disabled to continue. Miki seems to have strong feelings about keeping her "family" together if possible.
The weather here is.... raining again! The day after I got back, my daughter and her husband came over to welcome me back home. Then they couldn't return home until this past Sunday because of flooding between here and their place. They should be fine this time, though they might not be able to get back out if the area around them floods. That's why they couldn't get back before. Their place is at the top of a hill, but at the bottom of the is all creeks and low pasture.
I was horribly sick in Japan, thanks to some salaryman coughing right on me for 15 minutes on a crowded train. By the time I got home and saw my doctor, I was apparently on the verge of pneumonia. After almost a week of antibiotics and steroids, I was recovered enough from what I am calling Salaryman Bronchitis to go back to work Wednesday, but only for half a day, and also went in late Thursday. Everyone thought I should probably have stayed home because I was obviously still recovering. But yesterday, aside from still suffering from residual jet lag, I was OK and able to put in a full day at work. Hurray! Just in time for the semester to become constantly busy.
On the bright side, my entire family has agreed to having no gifts for Christmas! I'm so stoked! I never have time for shopping in December, so it becomes very stressful for me. I'd rather put the time into just visiting and sharing meals. Plus, it means that the money that would have gone to gifts instead will go toward a down payment on a house or condo. I'm even thinking about beginning to pack things so I can move in July. Well, not so much pack as sort through stuff so I don't end up packing things I really have no interest in keeping.
I still haven't put up my Gassoh review, but I have a long review all written out in longhand, so it should go up this weekend. Also, pictures from my trip are finally uploaded on Flickr, so after I make sure they aren't upside down or mostly thumbs, I'll pic spam you with Japan pictures.