GP Fortnight Day 02
Welcome to the second day of Golden Pair Fortnight:
GP in Manga
Today we'll be covering Eiji and Oishi in the manga... how different they are to the anime, looking at Oishi's madness and Eiji's growth, and of course the famous soul-bonding above the clouds as they become the only pair ever to go synchro!
Expect to find: Illuminating meta, translated manga downloads and brand new doujinshi
All manga images used within were translated and scanlated by Fruity Explosive Translations.
The Golden Pair are significantly different to their anime counterparts. This is to be expected, considering the difference in the story between the two.
While the story is similar up until the Hyoutei arc, it has significant differences after that.
(Before they cast Kondou and Hiroki)
"Plotting another scheme" indeed.
Oishi, for starters, is rather mad. He's altogether more scheming and confident, and this really shows when Tezuka leaves for Kyushu (not Germany!).
Before we start... please remember that I have all of these chapters up for download at the bottom of this post. :3
Despite the frequent statements of 'You're such a worrywart!' by the cast, there is no cuddly mother hen here! One of the best demonstrations of Oishi's manipulative personality (besides his tennis) happens in Genius 160*. Oishi tricks the passionate yet vulnerable junior members of Seigaku into 'overhearing' a (staged) conversation with Tezuka, where he implies that they are really not very good. Enraged, Kaidoh, Momo & Ryoma launch themselves into enthusiastic training, all part of Tezuka's Oishi's plan to distract them from the distressing departure of their captain.
"Oishi," Tezuka says, "Ever since we came back from bowling it seems like your character has changed a lot."
* Why the manga author Konomi calls his chapters 'genius' is quite beyond me... maybe he just wanted to make the point about Tezuka Fuji Oshitari Ryoma *really* clear!
Indeed. In fact, once Tezuka is off the scene, it's Oishi gone wild!
Genius 161 sees him 'being nice and strict at the same time', in the words of Ryoma, who sees Oishi in his mind's eye surrounded by sparkly twinkles. Once he's done playing good cop/bad cop (by himself), Oishi gets the team together to show them a little phallic drawing he's done. He wants to know how the team interpret the image so he can work out their personality types and prepare for Rikkai accordingly.
Oishi really has things in his stride, as the formation he comes up basically repeats the one used at Hyoutei. Look at his face on the left there. What a guy. He knows exactly what he's doing and uses his failures productively!
Again, everyone refers to the bowling incident, which just goes to show that a little winner in Oishi can go a long way!
"How smarmy," you might be thinking, "He's a bit creepy. I cannot see in the manga this sex god you speak of, nor any sort of attraction for Eiji."
And quite frankly, Satoumizu agrees with you. Her favourite way of potraying Oishi is as a nutcase after Tezuka's position, who keeps the body of old captain Yamato in a basement.
Love the priest costume.
To be frank, I do think that the manga offers far more for Eiji than Oishi, but what it's important to take away is that Oishi is extremely capable and creative. He is most comfortable 'driving from the back seat'... when his leadership is validated by those around him, respected by Tezuka and by the team, he thrives. He makes plans, he constructs and thinks. He seems to need that prod, that element of security to be confident.
But once he's got it, look at what he does. :3
We haven't got to the most beautiful part yet... I hope I've still got you by the balls your attention. There's one more hurdle till we get to the really good stuff, and that's another huge difference between the anime and manga... the basis of Eiji & Oishi's relationship.
For a start, there is none of this ridiculousness going on. :P
The youthful relationship of the golden pair begins with a Momo/Kaidoh style antagonism. Bet you never thought that kind of rough sexiness could apply to them, but it does. :3
Genius 203.
"God," Thinks Eiji, "That plain boring kid just follows Tezuka around like a dog, he's rubbish."
Oishi is caught up in his head and has no idea what this little punk wants with him. But he likes Eiji's bizarre play and thinks that he wants to play doubles with him.
This is where Oishi gets really interesting... sure, he's strict, he follows the rules, in a lot of fiction he's got a rather terrible stick up his arse and gives up fun for homework. Yet, he's attracted to the bizarre and creative, he wants to use it. Whether he wants to play doubles to learn, to get to know Eiji or just to spice up his 12 year old life is irrelevant... he loves stuff that's out of his thinking box. He loves creativity, and he also loves people.
Oishi can't stop himself from talking. It's not as noticeable in the manga, but when we get onto the anime we'll see it more.
Eiji realises he wants to play doubles with Oishi so that he can cream his arse in future. This isn't quite what Oishi had in mind. You can imagine the fic potential, though, if you go from the basis that the Golden Pair initially hated eachother.
The snarkiness! The grudges!
The interest that's just a little bit over the top! The snarling!
Anyway.
It's also really interesting to take a look at the chapter in which learn this... the Golden Pair play Rikkai. At the beginning, Niou hits a ball right into Eiji's face and knocks him out. Oishi chucks a huge tantrum and swears on court. Look at the loathing in his eyes. It's rare to get him that worked up. The Golden Pair don't get much of a chance to express closeness in the manga, but they sure get passionate in their rare instances, and I'm about to show you the part where it gets magnificently intense.
Rikkai is also a good instance of the classic Golden Pair support happening... they reassure eachother that they'll break through their weaknesses, Oishi props up Eiji and Eiji de-stresses Oishi. I've uploaded this for you to look at.
I'd also like to note that Rikkai is where we first see the appearance of Oishi Territory and Kikumaru Bazooka, tennis moves, apparently. The function of a bazooka is to invade a territory, is it not? Just wanted to put that out there.
Then Oishi does the unexpected... challenges Tezuka to a match and ruins his wrist in the process. We'll examine this particular event later in GP fortnight, and what it means to both the boys, but it's important to note that it's *Tezuka* that Oishi is playing, not Ryoma as in the OVA.
Eiji doesn't like this decision. His rage and grief is absolutely palpable in this frame... and look at Oishi's face. Eiji has been training his gut off and Oishi betrays his partnership by putting the team first in a set of morals Eiji doesn't understand.
He plays singles in Higa, and declares that he'll never be playing doubles again. The beauty of this match is how Eiji's thoughts about OIshi's decision are interwoven with the game. The manga rarely allows anyone such an insight, or such detail into their feelings, and the feeling around these chapters (265+) when they came out was that they were something really special. A narrative about Eiji's growth becomes really clear.
For all his happy-go-lucky laid-back charm, Eiji is a character who tries, hard. We see him training alone, getting over his stamina problem, making himself a support for Oishi and not a liability. This is why he has to win his singles match, he needs to prove that he can function as a good player by himself...
And people say he isn't hot.
.
... and he chooses to return to Oishi and their partnership, because, as he says, he can win at singles but it's lonely.
"Come back to me, partner." It's the most lovely resolution to a match. Eiji has sweated, bled and cried as he's trained himself to his peak performance, and he wants to join with his partner again because they both function best when they're together.
What does Oishi think about all of this? He's in love, apparently.
Ok, I cheated there, that's fromt he same scene in the OVA. In the entirety of the manga, though, you can see that Oishi is proud of Eiji. Aside from the understanding they share on the courts, you can see his satisfaction with his partner in Hyoutei, Rikkai and here, Higa..
I said earlier that Oishi was a creative soul, and it's clear through his history that he values this same creativity in Eiji.
Love? I might not have convinced you yet, but after this happy resolution at Higa we were granted an extra, beautiful little treat.
SOUL BONDING ABOVE THE CLOUDS~
The infinite possibilities of doubles!
Ah, Genius 293. If you'd like to see my initial reaction to it, click here. It's worth a laugh.
In Genius 293, Seigaku fight against Hyoutei and the GP are finally pitted against their cousins in name, the Silver Pair Ohtori and Shishido.
I'd just like to share a daggy story with you... I was in Japan visiting the Silver and Golden Temples Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji when this Genius came out. I took the bus from the D2 bus stop.
They seem to be matched in ability... everyone works harder and harder, both teams are sweating and battling to their hardest... and just when they all think they've had enough, Konomi shows us Eiji... he's breezing through, thanks to his high intensity training. It's so charming that now he can finally support Oishi the way he intended to.
In fact, they keep battling, harder and harder. Ohtori and Shishido think they have the Golden Pair in a pinch... Oishi's wrist is acting up on him again. They fight them into a corner, and then something strange starts happening.... smoke! Or steam! Or some kind of mysterious soul-aura! Is it the imperius curse? Suddenly they aren't sweating at all, but tendrils of soul-thread spin between them as they act as one!
Eiji and Oishi have achieved 'synchro'... apparently only observed in the competitive doubles courts of the world! It can't be! How magnificent! After two pages of magnificent flashbacks of love, Konomi tells us that their thoughts and breath are in synch with one another, allowing them to play without eye contact, playing... unconsciously!!!
Back and forth, back and forth... Shishido and Ohtori manage to claw their way to match point. The Golden Pair look absolutely formidable... they fly around the court like seiyans from Dragonball Z, only much more.... nice looking. The game looks desperate, Ohtori sees an opening, he hits it through and looks on in shock...
Eiji has flung out his hand, stopping Oishi from returning the shot, losing them the match. Shishido is absolutely furious. "What the hell are you doing?"
Eiji doesn't know.
"What happened? I don't remember anything at all...
...it was as if Oishi and I were playing in the clouds. I really had a lot of fun."
Fuji speculates that Eiji could sense that Oishi's wrist was in danger while in synchro.
Well, folks, there you have it.... PROOF from Konomi da Man himself that Eiji and Oishi are effectively one soul in two bodies! You just *have* to imagine what the lovemaking would be like....
Well, in fact, one doujinka has done just that! Here's another one from Matthew Masaki: it's absolutely hilarious.
She shows us what synchro sex might be like. :P (It's funnier if you read the manga first)
Million Dollar Crimson
Scanlated by: Me, translated by: the_seijin
Rating: PG
YSI
Megaupload
And here are three significant (translated) parts of the manga for you. (Please, take megaupload if you can.)
The Rikkai One
YSI
Megaupload
Eiji plays singles
YSI
Megaupload
Soul-bonding vs Hyoutei
YSI
Megaupload
Megaupload II
While this hasn't been 'meta' in the most illuminating sense of the term, it's interesting to bear the origins of the GP in manga in mind as we explore them over these two weeks. The differences, while subtle, can have really interesting effects. Oishi's authority is a good one to think about... the constant oscillation between calculating leader and caring young man... it's what makes him really quite fascinating, and also very interesting in bed. (Not that I know, like, personally or anything... I'm talking from a fic writing perspective. :P) Eiji in the manga has a beautiful theme of growth, and he also oscillates... insecurity, confidence... manliness, youth.... it's all there. We'll analyse it more closely in upcoming meta: this was for those of you who may not have seen these chapters and differences, or who wanted a refresher. :3
(The poo hat)
Finally, happy birthday to Nagayama Takashi, who portrayed the second version of Eiji in the tennis musicals. :3
GP GP