Some reccs, a list of new music & a bit on jdramas

[winterspel]

I read two wonderful fanfics recently:

• Juunengo no Shiawase (Happiness Ten Years Later), is a really lovely Sapuri fic by nihongofrancais who is the biggest Sapuri fan I know. If you loved Sapuri, don't miss this fic.
  
  
• Untitled Kurosagi fic by ilanabean42. She says it's unfinished, but it reads like it is and it's wonderful.

A music recc: icajoleu introduced me to Scottish band

Comments

[dj_miyihee]

I can't understand how he has so much pride to do stupid things (like changing his seat) when the whole reason he's going back in time is to let Rei know he cares about her.

Seriously. I just can't get over this particular plothole. It would be one thing if when he went back in time, there was a subtle effect where he starts to merge back into the mindset and personality he had the first time around and has to fight to remember enough to change things, or even if when he's in the past, he doesn't remember that he's from the future. But otherwise...

I feel like the storyline is too predictable right now; probably the last time he "flashes" back, he'll open his eyes to find he's at the altar with Rei, marrying her because he finally made the right moves, and eh. That's not a big enough payoff for me.

[ina]

Unfortunately I agree with you about the end of ProDai, and I have a real problem with that.

[dj_miyihee]

And the thing is the promos gave it away, too, with all those shots of him in a tuxedo with Rei staring up worshipfully at him! >.<

I'm almost hoping Ken pulls a Shuji/Akira and decides he's not mature enough for Rei at this point and bows out of the running at the end.

[winterspel]

I feel like the storyline is too predictable right now; probably the last time he "flashes" back, he'll open his eyes to find he's at the altar with Rei, marrying her because he finally made the right moves, and eh. That's not a big enough payoff for me.

I agree - I always try to figure out where the drama is going, and so far the predictability is killing my brain cells.

The voiceovers are strange because they are a combination of Ken trying to change things and a combination of him analying his teenaged self and examining his flaws. But he doesn't behave much differently! *gnashes teeth* If I had the marvelous opportunity to go back in time and change things and/or tell my crush/true love/whatever that I'm in love with them - that's what I would do! Ken is so stunted and I'm supposed to care about him, but...good gods, I hope I get an A for effort with this one...

[dj_miyihee]

Voiceovers really make me cringe, especially if they're cheap tools to give exposition. As soon as the first episode started with a voiceover, I thought: I'm really going to have a problem with this script, aren't I? And it's weird, because isn't it written by a famous screenwriter? You'd think all these shortcuts would be beneath her.

Even though I think the story is a bit different from Groundhog Day, looking at the way the TV anchor changes throughout the film would be really instructive for this drama. Because I think the writers wanted to make it a transformative drama about an 'obstinate' character who grows and becomes a better person--but they didn't have the balls to flat-out make Ken unlikeable at the very beginning, and so these incremental changes and steps backward feel bizarre, unplotted, pointless. In terms of letting us see Ken's redemptive qualities, I think the script tipped its hand way too soon, and so where is there to go for the next 7 or 8 or whatever episodes?

[winterspel]

I don't mind voiceovers all the time. For example, I loved them in Nobuta wo Produce and also in Tatta Hitotsu no Koi. But I'm not a fan of the voiceovers here because they seem pointless.

I don't know about the screenwriter: after a very quick search, I only found 1 other drama attributed to Kaneko Shigeki at dramawiki.

Because I think the writers wanted to make it a transformative drama about an 'obstinate' character who grows and becomes a better person--but they didn't have the balls to flat-out make Ken unlikeable at the very beginning, and so these incremental changes and steps backward feel bizarre, unplotted, pointless. In terms of letting us see Ken's redemptive qualities, I think the script tipped its hand way too soon, and so where is there to go for the next 7 or 8 or whatever episodes?I agree - but I suppose in their defense, if they had truly made Ken unlikeable, then it would be even more of a stretch to understand why Rei liked him back then

[dj_miyihee]

re: Kaneko Shigeaki, you're absolutely right. I had her confused with the person who wrote one of Ryo's dramas. oops! o.0

ken's voiceovers seem so blah to me because the information they reveal is often so generic--it sets the scene, like, "oh, that was the time when," etc., or it fills in other information. For me, that the voiceovers are needed as glue really points to how paper-thin and poorly thought out the premise is. Because I agree--I think the writer/producers thought if Ken started out unlikeable, then why would Rei like him? It's like instead of fleshing out meaningful connections between characters, Ken's unlikeability is turned down just a bit, and that tiny glimmer is supposed to power his relationship with Rei?

It's sickly logic to me. If they'd made Ken unlikeable, then they would have *had* to go back and find that essential thing that connects Ken and Rei, across space and time and suspension of disbelief; to come up with a really good reason the way the writers of House have to come up with good reasons for

[winterspel]

I love your comments, and they've made me think: what is special about Ken? Why do his friends like/love him? What are the moments that uniquely define their relationships? Right now, they seem bound not by any deep feeling or special moments, but rather only by history and time - that they've known each other for so long and have shared a lot of events together. When I look back at my close friendships as a teenager, I can reel off the special moments, or the particular characteristics that bound us together - even when they're unspoken things, silent understandings. I'm still close to two of those friends, and I know that we share those memories and feelings of keen understanding - but with Ken and his friends, they have memories of events, but no sparks, if that makes any sense at all. It all seems very superficial. I can only hope that the drama shows us something deeper that binds them together than what we've seen so far.

[dj_miyihee]

I can reel off the special moments, or the particular characteristics that bound us together - even when they're unspoken things, silent understandings.
Yes! I know exactly what you mean. and I think most everyone who watches ProDai knows what you mean too, which makes the friendships on-screen feel that much paler by comparison.

I hope it gets better, but at this point, I'm just crossing my fingers that Yamapi gets a better scripted role next time.

[ginzarhapsody]

To speak to the voiceovers, in episode four particularly, they made me want to smack Ken with a large mallet. He knows he's dumb, but continues to be dumb!! *kicks him* :P

I feel like they are making Ken be stupid because it's a romantic comedy, but it can still be funny without him being so dense!! *gah*

[winterspel]

And they don't seem to realize that making Ken dumb makes me lose sympathy for him, and isn't that the point? I'm supposed to be rooting for this hapless guy, but his slowness and stupidity are not endearing, even if I love Yamapi - right now, I think Rei is much better off with Tada, and as of episode 3, there hasn't been a single piece of evidence to make me think otherwise, to make me feel like Ken really deserves to be with Rei and that Rei would be so much happier with him.