Ridiculously long fandom post HO.
May. 22nd, 2008 08:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tammaiyaOh my god, my entire body hurts. I just want to sleep through tomorrow and not move at all. Why do I have first period? T____T <-- post Aikido (actually it's now two days later, but this is still true. OW. SO MUCH OW.)
also, seiza position on tatami with no cushion is the devil.
on a different note the jeans that fit me properly have developed a hole in the inner thigh, which vexes me greatly. I attempted to search for jeans at uniqlo, but Japanese girls HAVE NO HIPS and it was a lot cause. The boys jeans were a possibility, but they don't sit QUITE right and also, the material is really rough and hurts my delicate fainting flower skin because they don't have stretch jeans here. So I got track-pants instead.
Anyway, whatever, fannish stuff hoy.
Starting with Doctor Who, which I finally thought to search for on youtube and am thus no longer left behind in the dust on!
4x01: Wasn't sure what to expect, going into a new season with a new(-ish) companion, but... okay, this was just enjoyable. The plot was kind of just like wtf-- seriously, alien fat? They were kind of cute, in a really fucking weird CGed ALIEN FAT?! kind of way-- and yet I totally didn't care, because Donna and the Doctor were just SO MUCH FUN. All the antics where they keep almost almost seeing each other and just missing each other was slapstick gold-- it was very pantomime, the way by the time they actually do see each other you're all frustrated and "AUGH BEHIIIIIND YOOOU!" but it was well done, and their really detailed charades conversation was just HILARIOUS, because of course. Of course THEY WOULD DO THAT. I love how Donna somehow manages to make the Doctor sink down to her level and be an enormous dork with her.
And of course everyone in the room they were spying on has just stopped to stare at them and be like, are you quite done now? XD Seriously. I LOVED that.
I was a bit wary of Donna talking about how she was waiting for the "right man" to come and change her life, but they made it abundantly clear that it wasn't so much the Doctor as what he represented, and that made me chill. I like Donna and Doctor antics, but I don't want them to get romantic. Aside from the fact that I really liked Doctor/Rose, and I still kind of OTP Doctor/Martha (and Doctor/Master, okay, I'm just kind of a fandom whore when it comes to Doctor Who) I just think it's good for him to have a platonic companion for a change. As he says: a mate. (NOT mating. XD)
The other thing is, Donna really got on my nerves in the Christmas episode-- I can't stand stupidity, and she was running around being obnoxious and stubborn and (I now suspect this is down to a love-is-blind kind of deal) quite dense and it frustrated me. The Christmas ep gave her her defining moment of growth as a character, though, and the open-minded Donna, seeking new things rather than obsessing over wassname, grabbed me right from the start. I'll admit I've had plenty of time since watching the Christmas ep to soften up to her, too, but she's just so funny and smart-ass and, well, plucky (I use that with full irony XD) that it's impossible to love her. Especially when even if she doesn't necessarily have the book smarts like Martha did, she's still got brains and knows how to use them and shows that off in a way she didn't in the Christmas ep. More so in later eps, but also with the way she kept her cool and got as far as she did without the Doctor in this ep.
Anyway. Yes. Obviously the best thing for me in this ep was the dynamic between Donna and the Doctor-- their miming conversation, the way she decides to go with him and even his HAIR looks bewildered, all her luggage while he's just standing there, totally confused and also, WHIPPED... but I also loved her grandfather. I loved that she's going around looking for mysteries because travelling the Earth wasn't good enough, it didn't change anything, and the thing with the bees where as the viewer you're thinking, XD "conspiracy theories!" because Donna is smart but sometimes silly and yet the Doctor is just like, "bees? what, bees? really?" in this totally baffled tone.
And I also love her new hairstyle. It's kind of smoking hot.
4x02: Okay, episodes set in the past are always my favourites, and this one was great, stuffed full of crazy geeky in-jokes. They went to POMPEII, YOU GUYS, HOW EXCELLENT IS THAT.
But you know what the best thing was for me?
THE FAMILY WAS NAMED AFTER THE FAMILY IN MY YEAR 7 LATIN BOOK. I shit you not. Caecilius est pater, Matila est mater, is like the only Latin I remember. XD (And that the son was Quintus. I could never remember the daughter's name.) And I think they took certain details of their life from the textbooks too-- I didn't continue on with Latin, but Eugenie informed me of some of the continued exploits of the family, which involved them escaping Pompeii unscathed and Quintus going to university. Sound familiar? *g*
Plus all the amusing little gags with them being CELTIC when they speak Latin, Quintus dishonouring the household gods, the Doctor's incomprehensible mystic babble showdown with the soothsayer guy (and you're a thousand years too early to try showing down the Doctor on that one, dude)... the plot was okay, certainly better than the alien fat as a concept, but I was more interested in the whole POMPEII! Donna and Doctor show! family from my Latin textbook! goings on. The characters and in-jokes are really MAKING this season. And the set, it looked really good with the marketplace and Caecilius's house and everything.
Oh, oh, and the start of the running gag where the Doctor and Donna get mistaken for a couple and make these TOTALLY DISGUSTED EXPRESSIONS, it's brilliant. ♥ Fun times.
Other things... Donna's friendship with the daughter (whose name I STILL can't remember), her totally gorgeous Roman clothes (she should keep them, it's a good look), and the way she... like, in the Christmas episode she was really pigheaded, and that grated, but here, while she's still stubborn, she's grown as a person and her compassion shines through at the same time as she stands her ground. The way she wants to change history, can't bear the thought of standing by while everyone in Pompeii dies and the way the Doctor knows that it's a fixed point, that he can't change it, even with all the people who'll die, the way you can see both their arguments and you know the Doctor is right, you don't mess with fixed history or Bad Shit happens, but at the same time you know you'd feel the same way as Donna if that were you in her shoes. And then the choice, when it's not just fixed history, it's him who has to decide, and it's like Gallifrey all over again, except this time Donna has accepted the weight of it, that it's Pompeii (and them) or the whole world and sometimes you have to make tough choices, even if a lot of people will suffer and lose their lives.
But, like she says, like she teaches him, not being able to save everyone doesn't mean you can't save SOMEONE. And even if that was obviously going to happen, I loved Donna Noble SO MUCH for making the Doctor understand that. The plot mostly didn't stand out in this episode, but that bit was really good. It was a really strong character moment, and it hit hard for emotional impact.
Also, HOUSEHOLD GODS, HAHA.
... and Quintus goes to become a doctor, and the girl getting into fashion and having fun like Donna was trying to persuade her to before. Heeee.
4x03: Much in the way that I almost always love episodes set in the past, episodes set in the future don't tend to do it for me. I'm a bad sci-fi fan, I know. I think perhaps it's the way the sets all tend to look the same? After a while one gets sick of spaceships and warehouses, I dunno. Plus, I'm not the world's biggest fan of episodes involving the Ood. I found previous episodes with them... not bad, (although that one episode with Rose and the Doctor on that spaceship REALLY DRAGGED for me) but just not as fun as other episodes. Also, creepy.
So I dragged my heels a little-- like, by a whole day or so, even! what, that's totally a long time when I get into obsessive fandom mode-- but I actually really liked this episode, way more than I expected to. The red-eyed Ood were creepy, as, y'know, they are, but by the end of the ep I was really feeling moved by them, by the horror of their treatment, by the labotomies they suffered because humans are cruel and arrogant, by their song and their captivity and their revolution. I loved the dramatic justice of turning their captor into one of them, the utter patience and peaceful protest of... Omega? the main Ood, anyway. The way the rabid Oods let Donna and the Doctor go, because the kindness they'd shown to the circle of free Oods resonated and broke through the madness. The way the Doctor recognised the debt he owed them, having left them to die before, and not having seen that they were really slaves. I loved Donna's compassion, again, the way how after the initial recoil and "what is it?!" when they saw the Ood dying at the beginning she empathised with it. I thought it was interesting how they DIDN'T go the cliche route and make the PR woman see the error of her ways; how she called the guards on them, even when presented with the obvious moral dilemma and wavering, and how she later died in the revolution without changing the way I thought she would.
Of course, throughout this there was still the fun of the Donna and Doctor show, with the continuation of the "UGH NO NOT MARRIED" gag (yep, still funny), and classic moments like when he's telling her about his last Ood encounter and says, kind of sheepish and kind of blase, that LAST time they were being controlled by Satan, and she's just like, "... shyeah. Right. WhatEVER." *loves Donna a whole lot*
Then there was that thing about the Doctor's song soon ending. What was up with that hookey prophesising? Is it just something they threw in to sound mysterious and ominous, or is this going to be vital like the Face of Boe's dying words? Hmmm.
4x04-05: The immediate response to this two-parter is, of course, YAY, MARTHA JONES! Donna Noble is all kinds of awesome, but that doesn't diminish my love for Martha one whit. The two of them on screen together was just SUPER ADDED BONUS AWESOME. ♥
And having said that, my obvious next comment is how MUCH I loved the Donna and Martha interaction. That, my friends, was what I like to call sheer excellence. You think they're going to be all wary and sizing each other up-- and if it were either of them and Rose, I think that would be what happened-- and the Doctor clearly thinks so too, and is all, oh, don't fight over me, I HATE that, in a way where you can tell he kind of secretly likes it... and then they get on like a house on fire and team up to mock the crap out of him while he is like "D: WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO MEEEE" and it is BEAUTIFUL. Cat fights can be fun, I might be interested to see tension between Rose and one or both of them later, but in this case, it was just the perfect response. It wasn't what I was expecting, and the way they just bounced off each other while the Doctor got caught in the middle with his bewildered hair was great.
Other things; Martha Jones is still smoking hot, and still has chemistry with the Doctor. I was torn over whether to be happy for her for moving on, getting herself a job and a fiance, or whether to be sad about how the writers were hitting me over the head with a stick entitled "DOCTOR/MARTHA BUBBLE-BURSTER"; well, more on that when I talk about 4x06, because it's more relevant there. Anyway, yes, I still love Martha. She's still kickass, and she's still herself even when the Doctor worries about her turning into a soldier-- working to change them from the inside, like the perfect visionary we know she is from Last of the Time Lords, and the way she can empathise even with her dying clone, the creation that stole her face and memories and tried to destroy humanity using them, even though the Doctor, who is always the one to preach about mercy for beings that can't help what they've done, seems ready to just leave it to its fate.
Hitler junior, I've forgotten his name, reminds me weirdly of Seth Green as Dr Evil's son in the Austin Powers movies, and that made it hard for me to hate him completely. XD Also, the bit where he's all, HAH, that's totally a tautology, OKAY, after being corrected a moment earlier by the Doctor and the Doctor being like, "...you're not used to people saying no to you, are you?" and the kid being like, "whatever, I'm still RIGHT!" made me sporfle, because omg, what a smart-arsed little shit, but still kind of endearing. If he weren't trying to destroy humanity, anyway. Saw his self-sacrifice coming, it was the only way for him to redeem himself by that point, but it still worked fairly well.
Speaking of, Donna smacking the Doctor in the face for being a self-sacrificing moron? A++++++, Donna, he totally deserved that! I mean, yes, I admire and respect his moral code, especially since he's already committed multiple genocide and I'm sure it's not an easy burden to bear, but there's a difference between a strong moral code and plain stubborn foolishness. He knows that they're not going to accept, there is ZERO PERCENT CHANCE-- it's a totally futile attempt, which makes what he's doing a completely pointless suicide mission. If there was even the slightest chance they'd take the truce I would have no choice to admire him, but while I still do hold some admiration for his tenacious adherence to what he believes is "right", it's also completely selfish to throw away his life like that for nothing substantial when there are people STANDING RIGHT THERE who would mourn for him. In this case, where if the kid hadn't intervened there would have been a 100% outcome of him losing his life and not achieving anything by it, it stops being a cause and starts being hubris.
I still liked it as a character moment, though, because that's who the Doctor IS. He's this "superior being", but he's incredibly flawed, and hubris is definitely one of those faults.
RE: the Sontarans, I guess they're this season's big enemy? I wonder if we'll see Daleks or Cybermen at all this season. I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing Simm!Master any time soon, his revival would require much more fanfare and the season is already 2/3 over. (Pity, I am very partial to Simm!Master. Then again, I think it would be too soon if they brought him back now, so presumably for the best.) Other than that, not much to say about them.
RE: the specific plot... OH MY GOD, HOMICIDAL CARS. That thought TERRIFIES me. It's like how![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
schiarire once commented that House freaks her out because people are doing these ordinary, everyday things... and then DEATH! DISASTER! SUDDEN MYSTERY ILLNESS! It's always most terrfying when something you expect to be mundane and ordinary suddenly turns around and goes "HAHA I'MA GO KILL YOU NOW >D >D >D" ;____;
Speaking of things killing people, I totally went LOL when they were like, Tokyo has started dying! Because of course. Of COURSE. When there is a giant lizard or giant mechas or general apocalypse threatening the world, of COURSE Tokyo is the first to go.
And then I stopped, strange expression passing across my face as I realised: HEY, SELF. *YOU* totally live in Tokyo now! If Tokyo's the first to go, it's taking you down with it!
And then I wasn't sure whether this made it more or less hilarious. XD
Anyway, slightly more frivolous stuff: I continue to love Donna's relationship with her grandfather, he's all kinds of endearing, especially once it got revealed he was the guy in the stall who'd stubbornly stayed in London during the Christmas episode at the start of the season (which I didn't really like, btw, it was kind of bland, but S4 is more than making up for that with sheer awesomeness so never mind that). The bit where Donna says she's going home and the Doctor gives this whole big spiel about does she really mean it? and how fun it was to travel together and how much he'll miss her, getting all emotional, and I seriously believed she meant it for real too after what Martha had said to her... but then he eventually trails off and is like, "Ah. You meant for a visit, didn't you." while she has this perfectly patient, amused expression, and she's just like, uh, yeah, but carry on, I like hearing about how wonderful I am~ and the Doctor is just like, OH MY GOD, WHY DID YOU LET ME DIG MYSELF INTO THAT HOLE *HEADDESK*. I love how much she totally owns him. XD
Er... yeah. In conclusion, yay Donna! yay Martha! :D
Oh, also, on a sidenote, the Doctor commented on the bees disappearing thing again. I thought it was just a totally offhand thing in episode 1, but the mention of it again here makes me wonder-- running gag, or foreshadowing something actually relevant? Hmmmm.
4x06: I wasn't sure what to expect from this episode after seeing the preview. I knew the Doctor had had a daughter before (I think? certainly a granddaughter, don't know whether the initial offspring was male or female) and I was kind of wondering if it would be at all connected to that, but no. (Although there was reference to it.)
There was also the small matter of genetics. Forget the fully grown asexual reproduction in a matter of minutes thing; this is sci-fi, I'm totally cool with that. What I DON'T get is how a human created from a single gene donor can not only be the opposite gender, but look completely different. I'd even maybe be willing to put it down to Time Lord genes, since they do essentially change their entire genetic makeup when they regenerate... but the natives didn't seem at all perturbed by Jenny, and for that matter, given how much they use the machine, we'd be seeing the same face all over the place if that was the case. So one can only assume that the machine creating whole new people out of a single set of genes is par for the course. I love you, show, but GENETICS SAYS NO. D: (I seem to need to tell my fandoms this a lot, recently.)
Other things... I spent most of the episode really distracted trying to figure out where I'd seen Jenny's actress before. I had the feeling it was a really airheaded character, and it aside from the annoying niggling sensation of being unable to remember, it was quite weird to compare with Jenny's soldier persona. (I eventually came to the conclusion that she plays the daughter, Janie, in My Family. Not sure if that's right, but.)
Other than that, though, I really liked Jenny. I liked her progression from pure soldier to an individual who could think for herself and make decisions on the basis of her own moral code, and her Entrapment moment backflipping through the lasers was total AWESOME even if I'd already seen it on the preview.
Donna and Martha continued to shine with the weight of their sheer combined awesome. They're both so competent, in their own kickass ways; Donna, who's good with numbers and uses her experience with filing systems to figure out it's a dating system, and Martha, not just sitting around waiting to be rescued, working out the radiation levels on the surface and plotting a direct route to the centre. I just loved both of them so much right then.
Aside from their competence, though (and competence is totally worth hotness points, for the record), it was also a shining moment for both of them in terms of compassion. On the one hand there's Donna trying to make the Doctor treat Jenny like a human being, even while she's struggling with the idea of the cloning machine herself; when the Doctor finally explains he's already been there, done that and it hurt too much to lose it, she manages to be both sympathetic and firm. Without being callous about it, she points out that she didn't know, because he never TOLD her; he's always talking but never about things that matter, and that's just SO TRUE, I loved her for not just letting that go.
Then on the other hand, there's Martha, the doctor, who treats a patient even if they're a fish person who doesn't speak her language (what, too hard for the TARDIS to translate?), whose people are at war with the human folken, who are packing serious heat and may possibly misunderstand what she's doing. She's risking her life to help the injured Hath, but she still does it, because that's who she is. She's a really excellent doctor right to the very core.
On the topic of Martha, though, one of the things that gave me mixed feelings about this episode was my love of Doctor/Martha, which has become very much complicated by canon. I mean, from what we saw of him before her fiance is a very nice person, and I'm sure it's much healthier than being in love with the Doctor... but WAAAAH, SHOW, DON'T TAKE MY DOCTOR/MARTHA AWAY FROM ME. D: On the one hand, there's still so much chemistry between her and the Doctor, there was still that moment of delight at travelling when they first arrived, there was the way she still ran straight to him and hugged him when they saw each other again in central room, there was the sense that maybe she was just telling herself she was over him, over this lifestyle, because it was the sane thing to do... but on the other hand, aforementioned BUBBLE-BURSTING STICK. I pretty much shrieked with dismay when the Hath died, and not just because their friendship was sweet-- even if I'd kind of seen the Hath's death coming, part of me was still holding out hope that Martha was going to remember how much she loved this and rejoin the Doctor. The moment the Hath died, though, it was obvious Martha was going to leave at the end of the episode, because a reminder of how painful it can be to travel with the Doctor and how sometimes people die around you, BECAUSE of you, was the last thing to persuade her to stay. There was also the thing with her touching her ring and smiling at the end. WHATEV, SHOW, I'M IGNORING YOU NOW. *sulk*
Anyway. Other comments; the twist with the war having been only going on for a week was really good, not just because it was accompanied by a totally brilliant Donna moment, but also because I really did not see it coming and it was a kind of cool revelation.
The ending, by contrast, just left me going "wtf?" I was really touched by Jenny getting shot defending the Doctor, by the way he almost shot the old man and then told them to remember, to base their society on a man who would never do it; I probably cried, because, y'know, I'm just a sissy like that. I liked that they brought up the regeneration thing, Martha telling him Jenny was like him but not enough and the Doctor responding, no, she's too MUCH like me. It was sad thinking about how this always happens to him (it probably brought back traumatic memories of the Master, too, thinking about it; yet again thinking there's someone else, only to have them shot and have to face up to the fact that they can't/won't regenerate), sad with Martha's line about how she thought he'd finally found something to LIVE for and he tells her that there's always things worth living for... but it's deflecting, you can totally see what Martha is talking about.
HOWEVER. The bit after that? The bit with Jenny MIRACULOUSLY coming back to life? I get that it was supposed to refer to the "creation myth" in reverse, but it just didn't make sense. WHY did it happen? Where the hell did their creation myth even come from, if it's going to act out in reverse like that? It felt like a cop-out. I mean, I understand that they couldn't keep Jenny alive when the Doctor was leaving if they didn't want to add her to the cast right then. I understand wanting to keep her on standby for future episodes. I just think they could have done it a hell of a lot better, in a way that made sense and didn't feel totally tacked on (especially the bit with her stealing the spaceship and riding off into the stars). Like, for example, what they did with the Master-- obviously, since they haven't brought him back yet, it's still just speculation, we don't know how they'll do it (though they've pretty much said that Simm!Master will be back), but it's a fairly good guess that he orchestrated the whole thing with Lucy shooting him, refusing to generate, the ring... it's complex, it's sneaky, it's IN CHARACTER and it's a really impressive mind-fuck. Compared to, yay! Random and convenient breath of life, whee! :D :D :D
Also, the Doctor's explanation about why the TARDIS took them to that planet-- to create Jenny-- just went right over my head, WHOOSH. I didn't get it at all. The hell? WAY TO BE TOTALLY CONVOLUTED AND NONSENSICAL, SHOW.
4x07: Okay, I absolutely LOVED this episode. I'm weak enough to episodes set in the past, but geeky literary references? A murder mystery, centred around AGATHA CHRISTIE? HAHA, *YES*.
I am totally with Donna, too: forget about the planet Zog, a party in the 1920s! THIS is where it's at! That's totally what I'd be interested in if I was travelling in the TARDIS. XD
This episode had a lot of great lines, too-- Donna saying how typical it is that all the good-looking men are "on the other bus" and the Doctor being like "Or Time Lords!" while she just gives him this, yeah, whatEVER look (and I really don't think Time Lord-ness is all that relevant to the topic at hand, considering *g*), that thing about Donna being the PLUCKY girl who helps him out and her sheer indignation-- plucky? PLUCKY?!,
And the potential for in-jokes. I was not disappointed. When the PROFESSOR was killed in the LIBRARY with a LEAD PIPE I was like "AHAHAHAH CLUEDO" and then Donna commented on it, too, in this totally "oh, come ON" kind of way and I was just. <3 Oh, show, I love your geekiness. And then her being like, oh yeah right, we're at a tea party with Agatha Christie and there just HAPPENS to be a mysterious murder. That's like Charles Dickens being surrounded by ghosts at Christmas! and I just sporfled when the Doctor was like, uh, actually, now that you MENTION it...
And then it just got better when Donna starts talking about Enid Blyton as an example instead and is like, "There's no Noddy, right? There isn't. TELL ME THERE'S NO NODDY." like she's NOT COMPLETELY SURE. Beautiful. XD
That whole bit where they interrogate each person in the house and they all say one thing where you can see what they were ACTUALLY up to was hilarious, especially Roger. "I was alone. Completely. Utterly. AbsoLUTELY alone. Taking a walk BY MYSELF. No one was with me. AT ALL. EVER." Poor boy, he's clearly not a very good liar. *g*
On a connected note, I was sad that he had to be one of the victims, but I really loved Donna right then in that moment when she said how much it sucked that the pageboy (or whatever he was) couldn't even MOURN Roger. Obviously they're not going to have a homophobic Companion, considering the director... but still. I heart Donna. <3
Plus, Agatha Christie was just fabulous. Her sharp wit, her scientific scepticism, the banter between her and the Doctor, the way she's so strong but at the same time has such a low opinion of her own capabilities... she was a really interesting character, the way they portrayed her. I adored the logical deductions toward the end, where she correctly accuses the girl of being the Unicorn and the true nature of the hostess's "malaria", just like a scene in one of her books... but also the bit where she turns to the husband, and he's like CONFOUND IT, YOU'VE GOT ME, but how did you know? and she's like, a little bewildered "er... I didn't. I was just going to say you were completely innocent. Um. Sorry." which would never happen in one of her books and was doubly hilarious for it. XD
Then when the Doctor took over, he and Donna are just such a perfect slapstick pair, the way she's sitting back and going, "HE did it? NO. Really?" every time the Doctor (or Agatha) pointed to somebody, and the Doctor just being TOTALLY GRATUITOUS with his pointing at people and going, it was YOU! when talking about something totally different (though connected) to the actual murders.
Doctor: Which brings me to... YOU, DONNA NOBLE!
Donna: ME? You're saying *I* committed the murders?
Doctor: No, but you said it was just like the plot of one of Agatha Christie's books. Which brings me to... YOU!
Donna: ... you're accusing AGATHA CHRISTIE?! :O
Doctor: No, but the murders are like something out of one of the books she wrote. And who is Ms Christie's biggest fan, hm? ... The hostess!
Donna: So she DID do it, then?
Doctor: ... No. :D
Me: *facepalm at their combined silliness*
What else... oh, return of the "UGH NOT MARRIED!" joke, which is still amusing to me. The Doctor shaking off the effects of cyanide by CUNNING MEANS OF CHARADES (he and Donna were a lot better at it in the first ep, heh) was funny-- her snogging him for the "shock" was a little predictable, and could have been a bit touch-and-go, but I think it worked because you can tell they are still platonic, it's not a case of protesting too much, they were both pretty horrified by it. ("I should do that again." "*DISTURBED LOOK*" "The detox!! THE DETOX, not the... ANYWAY." *both visibly decide to move on and never discuss again*) Speaking of running gags, Donna continually accidentally slipping things about Christie's future novels and asking for copyright was fun. Even if it's fairly standard to have those mini time paradoxes in time travelling plots, they're standard for a reason, after all. I also liked the awkward conversation about Agatha's husband, because it was such a sensitive area, Donna could have really botched that up and almost did, but then she was just so blase about being dumped for a giant spider and... oh, Donna. ♥
As for the ending, the giant wasp alien was a little weird and the whole absorbing a skewed view of the world through the book was a little convoluted, but otherwise it was good. Lots of suspense, and while I thought it was the vicar at the beginning of the ep, I was thrown off track and practically forgot his existence by the end of it (I thought it was the mother, honestly). The deduction scene was, as previously mentioned, great; it was kind of funny to watch them come up with such a bizarre explanation for Christie's disappearance and amnesia, and I really liked the bit where Donna threw the pendant into the lake, because when the Doctor did his whole "how could you, he couldn't HELP it!" thing, Donna stood her ground without being callous about it. No, he couldn't help it-- but what was she supposed to do, stand there and let him kill Agatha? Sometimes the Doctor can be incredibly hypocritical about that stuff; it's okay when it's him making the decision to sacrifice, say, the Ood to save the humans, because he's a Time Lord, but heaven forbid someone else make that call. And I actually like that, I like that not only is his character not perfect but that he gets called on it by other characters, because it shows that he's not perfect and he's not SUPPOSED to be perfect, it's not okay for him to be hypocritical or arrogant just because he's a "superior being". He's not always right, no matter how he thinks he is, and it's a good thing canon acknowledges that.
Okay, I'm done, that's an AWFUL lot of Doctor Who. XD;
Now I've got western TV out of my system for the purposes of this post, it's back to the manga. Specifically, back to SOUL EATER, volumes 7 to 9. It's almost ridiculous, how much I love this manga; Becky and I both agree that it leaves something to be desired in terms of fleshing out the mechanics of the background world, considering that well into volume 9 we still don't really have an explanation for the Shibusen-witch tension or the technician-weapon thing, but despite that, for both of us, it's managed to grab our interest and keep it.
There's two reasons for that; plot, and character. It's not even so much plot as it is the way it handles plot arcs and uses and introduces characters-- the characters who are supposed to be strong and adult figures are never made extraneous, and there's no sudden incredible inexplicable SUPER DUPER POWER UPS at the last moment a la DBZ or, say, TeniPuri. The kids have potential, but things don't just drop into their lap-- they have to work for it. Every time they improve, we either see the hard work they put in to get there, or, like with the black blood and its link with insanity, they have to pay a price for it. And the black blood thing was hardly sudden, either, there was a lot of foreshadowing leading up to that. Plus, while the kids are the main characters, this is their story, more than half the time it ends up being the adults who step in. It was Stein and Spirit who took on Medusa, the most formidable opponent in the Kishin arc-- and it wasn't just TELLING us Stein's a genius, it was showing us. Even he won that fight mostly due to luck and not without paying for it. Later on, it's Justin who rescues them from Arachne, Sid who pulls Black*Star's chestnuts out of the fire against Mifune. The kids are strong, but they don't surpass these supposedly brilliant adults in an instant just because they're the main characters and it suits the manga artist's purposes at the time.
Which brings me to the characters, which is the other real and undeniable strength to this manga. Aside from Medusa and Arachne and co, who, well, you're probably not meant to like, I really care about all of the characters.
Actually, I'll start with the enemies, since I'll be quicker about that. Essentially, aside from Mifune, I'm happy to see them go down. Arachne is... well, she's kind of hot on the one hand, but on the other hand I can't help but be terrified of her because YEAAAAAARGH SPIDERS! Medusa I just don't like. She makes a good villain, but in the kind of way where you hate her and want to her to stop picking on Chrona and Stein (even if insane!Stein makes for good angst). Eruka-- I think that's her name? frog witch, anyway-- is cute but I'm kind of not that bothered either way by her. Crazy golem guy is obnoxious, which he's probably meant to be; it's amusing when he's fighting with Justin, mostly for Justin's sake, otherwise I don't care. Mosquito, I again don't care. Mifune, on the other hand = HEART. I really want him to go to Shibusen with Angela and become a teacher of tiny cute children! It'd be awesome! I'm convinced it will happen, because SID SUGGESTED IT. CLEARLY, IT IS THE WAY OF THE FUTURE.
Moving on from the enemies to the main(-ish) characters-- I just adore them, pretty much. Even those characters I was wary of or indifferent to in the beginning, like Justin and Chrona and Marie, have really grown on me. I think Justin is awesome, which is despite the fact that I have a natural wariness of priest characters. It's impossible not to love his bitching automobile and his earphones and his lipreading and the way he says "oops, I talked so loud I set off an avalanche... oh look, an enemy troupe." Chrona I just didn't care about for most of the manga up until the middle of the Kishin arc, but now I am actually interested in what happens to her, actually feel for her when Medusa comes back to manipulate her-- I probably mentioned this in my last post regarding Soul Eater, but it bears repeating.
The other students are another example of the right way to introduce new characters, because I get attached to the characters that are already there and often new characters can just feel tacked on or superfluous, so I eyed them with a little suspicion, but so far I like them, and I think it's good for Maka and co to have classmates other than their close-knit group who aren't just anonymous faces.
Sid has turned out to be surprisingly awesome. I have this THING about zombies, okay, I just. I don't like zombies. I don't think they're cool. There is nothing cool about rotting body parts. But I think the reason I like Sid is that him being a zombie is like... he just IS. Like Kid is a Shinigami. Most of the time it's irrelevant. He's got his own personality, you like him for his character and his character just happens to be a zombie.
As for Marie... my feelings are mixed, because on the one hand I'm still a little worried they're setting her up as a love interest for Stein, and I'm STUBBORN, okay, once I've formed an OTP that's it, I'm ENTRENCHED. Stein/Spirit OTP FOREVER, YOU'LL NEVER CHANGE MY MIND. On the other hand, aside from the comment when she was first introduced that she used to have a crush on him, they don't seem to be moving in that direction. On her own merits, I think she's really sweet. She's sincere about caring about those kids, about trying to be a good teacher, even if she has no sense of direction and sometimes fumbles things.
I've already made my feelings known on how much I adore all the staple main characters; the kids, Shinigami, Spirit, Stein. One thing I also love is how strong the bonds between all of them are. Not just the fact that Soul and Maka are complete and utter het OTP, or the strong affection and respect Kid and the Thompson sisters have for each other, or the fact that Tsubaki really sees Black*Star's potential and will accomodate his soul wave, but at the same time it's not one-sided, he respects her too. Those are all important things, but it's also the way Black*Star will fucking take DOWN anyone who messes with Maka, the way Kid tolerates them even though they're assymetrical idiots, the way they all want to wheedle Soul into playing piano for them... the way that, even though they break up into pairs (or a trio, in Kid, Patty and Liz's case), they're also a cohesive whole. They genuinely care about each other, and they have fights and things aren't EASY, especially not when they have to work together and you've got conflicting personalities like Maka and Black*Star involved, but they're still a group, they still pull through it. It's also really sweet watching Chrona slowly get drawn into their group, and kind of heartbreaking seeing Medusa come back and take that away from her.
I am going to end this on the note of, STEIN/SPIRIT OTP OH MY JESUS GOD, *WHY* IS THERE NOT MORE FANFICTION? I need it like I need air to breathe! Don't make me write it myself, fandom, I've already got a billion and one things to write with boyband!X heading the list! ;___; I've already mentioned my feelings on this topic, but for as much as I was afraid Shinigami splitting Stein and Spirit's partnership would take these moments away from me, and as much as it HAS reduced the time they spend on screen together, it's surprising how much they're still in each other's thoughts. The reluctance and worry is so clear on Spirit's face when Shinigami splits them up; he knows why and accepts it, but he still seems hesitant, and you know even without Shinigami asking it of him he'd be keeping an eye on Stein's mental state. As for said insanity, I'm pretty sure it makes me a terrible and probably screwed up human being, but character angst is a fairly strong kink for me. Er. Not like that. God that sounds wrong. It's hard to explain this, even if I'm sure it's not really all that uncommon, but it just hits my OTP buttons hard in this kind of situation. Lots of kinds of situations, actually, but this particular situation totally works.
Oh, whatever, Stein going crazy while Spirit worries about him but can't do anything is kind of hot, sue me. I also totally appreciate how prominant Spirit was in one of the recently translated chapters (35?) when Stein was forcing himself to think of the people who keep him grounded and tied to sanity.
... I'm done, I swear!
That DOESN'T mean I'm done talking about Soul Eater, though, or even Stein/Spirit OTP. :D Instead I'm going to talk about the Soul Eater anime, since episodes 6 and 7 aired since the last post I made. Well, I'm actually only going to talk about episode 7, because I wasn't really paying enough attention to episode 6 to have any comments on it. I'll have to go back and watch it sometime.
Episode 7 was beautiful, though. It's the first episode where Chrona is introduced, and also the first episode where Stein and Spirit (Death Scythe, just in case I'm confusing anyone) meet again. Starting with Chrona, because that's the main part of the plot; the bit at the beginning with Soul and Maka running errands in town and Soul getting into fights was really fun and well done, and it just got better when they got to the church. I've kind of been going off anime adaptations lately, but Soul Eater is really reminding me of how fun they are when they're actually done WELL. The voice-acting, the colours and the SFX and the animation... they all actually add something to it. Maka opening the church door was really creepy, and Chrona's voice was spot on, just perfectly on that line of androgeny where you would reasonably assume that she's a boy. In the manga when I first saw her and the text referred to her as "he", I went EEEEH, that's a *BOY*? (which, no, it's not) but I can see where the translators got that from, even without the low voice, because she uses "boku" to refer to herself. There's also the thing about not knowing how to talk to ~girls~ which I totally forgotten about, but retrospectively, knowing she's female... Wow, Chrona kind of has gender issues, hey?
The fast pace of the fight looked really good in action, and the hopelessness of the fight, Soul protecting Maka, it was all just as perfect as it was in the manga and made me remember why I love those two and the way they complement each other.
The reason I bear ETERNAL DEVOTION for this episode, though, was Stein and Spirit's reunion. It was even better than in the manga; I in no way anticipated how truly awesome it would be. Essentially it was the same scene, same lines, etc, but the tones of voice, the expressions, the awkward silences... that's all something you need animation for. THIS is what anime adaptations are supposed to be about, taking the manga and enhancing it.
Spirit goes to Shibusen because he wants to see Maka, but first he goes to the infirmary, and flings himself through the door, throwing himself in a hug at who he thinks is Medusa, the school nurse... but, as he realises after a few moments of nuzzling and shoujo hearts, is in fact Stein. Trauma!
Stein, of course, just stands there with a poker face letting Spirit-sempai nuzzle his stomach. As you do. XD
The real OTP moment, though, is when Stein "congratulates" Spirit on his marriage to Maka's mother, because it's just so... loaded. In the manga it could have been read as sheer amused needling, but... okay, one second Spirit has this really RAAARGH BASTARD face on, when Stein comments on how Maka's grown, and then a second later, when Stein says in this totally conversational tone, "You know, I was a bit uneasy when I heard you'd gotten married, sempai," he's so totally thrown. Stein is all, "Aaah, I never thought you'd make it, but when I saw the two of you, so happy, I knew your love would last forever~" and his voice in the anime is just so perfect, so cheerful but there's kind of this hint of steel. Even though on the surface he sounds flippant, you can tell he's genuinely still pissed off about being ditched as Spirit's technician.
Then there's this really long, drawn-out silence where Spirit kneels on the bed looking totally awkward, not able to look up at Stein (who still has his back turned to him) until eventually he admits that, well, um, maybe you hadn't heard, but the thing is, we kind of... got divorced last month.
And Stein's voice is just so flat and almost a little poisonous when he says, "I knew." Which surprised me a little, because I thought they'd do it more flip and mocking, but this sounded more like... revenge? I don't know. Like it's not just messing with sempai because it's fun and he makes it so easy; it's messing with him and pretending not to know when you do because you're pissed off, about him dumping you for another technician, running off and leaving you and getting married and then getting divorced without even TELLING you? Yeah, he totally deserves a little pointed ribbing. Pointed with KNIVES.
Or MAYBE, just POSSIBLY, I'm reading too much into it, but I still totally adored that scene. And I also love how when Spirit is in the middle of trying to kill Stein for his lousy sense of humour, Stein says that he thinks that a demon sword has appeared and Spirit just stops, it's all business, you can clearly see they're partners. Even if Spirit complains about Stein being his worst nightmare, they're just such a perfect team. Aaah, OTP. ♥
(Seriously guys, SERIOUSLY, where is my fic? *taps foot*)
Now, last post I was talking about the Moyashimon anime; since then I have found the Moyashimon manga. I have to confess, I mostly skimmed it and only really paid any attention to the bits with Kei and occasionally bits about Hasegawa. XD; For the first volumes especially I much prefer the anime art-- it's cleaner-- and it was raw, so I couldn't really work up the enthusiasm for reading the really dense passages about microbes. Especially since there's often a disappointing lack of Kei. XD There were a few storylines in the manga that weren't included in the anime, which I noticed in my skimming. But I didn't read them. Because there was no Kei. *cough*
I am cheered by the fact that it seems they're not travelling in the Sawaki/Oikawa direction, however.
The manga isn't that much further than the anime at this stage, and most of it has been spent with Sawaki and the two sempai in France running around after Hasegawa, which is kind of cute, even if I do miss Kei (there's the occasional flip back to him and Mutou in Tokyo). There was one particularly cute chapter, though, which had Kei and Oikawa using their "feminine wiles" to get the male masses to come to their fundraising store so they could get the cash for plane tickets to France. *g*
Anyway, yes, my Kei bias is very obvious, I know. XD As for the manga, I like the way it works as an anime better, I think. I'll pay more attention to what's going on when they air it as S2.
Okay, so. Tsubasa 189. Hoo, boy. Evidently, I was wrong about who Syaoran's father was. Syaoran's father is... SYAORAN. CCS!Syaoran, which means his mother... is CCS!Sakura. (Also his name isn't really Syaoran.)
I... can barely even BEGIN with what is wrong with that. I mean, to start with, I hate retrofitting a series like that. CCS is complete within itself. TRC was never supposed to be a sequel (or that's what we were led to believe). Suddenly springing it on us as a sequel after 189 chapters just makes me want to dig my heels in, even without all the other problems with it. It's fun when fic does it, it's not so fun when it's canon. LEAVE CCS FREE FROM THE MADNESS, JESUS. Furthermore: TRC!Syaoran looks EXACTLY like his father? Uh huh. Suuuuure. Or NOT. GENETICS SAYS NO, CLAMP.
Not to mention contradicting ones' own canon. I didn't remember this, but Becky said at the end of CCS there was a big point made of how love can't be predicted, and Clow couldn't foresee that Sakura would fall in love with Syaoran, not Yue. So if he foresaw all this stuff to do with what would happen in TRC-- revolving around SYAORAN AND SAKURA'S SON-- how could he not know Sakura would end up with Syaoran?
Moving on from all the technical, stuff, though, it's just WRONG AND CREEPY. Creepy! CREEPY! She looks EXACTLY LIKE HIS MOTHER! She's got the same SOUL as his mother! And the same name! AAAAUGH, CLAMP, I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU INTEND TO FIX THIS BUT IT BETTER BE PRETTY BLOODY SPECTACULAR.
As for 190, that just makes it even CREEPIER. Like, seriously? If it's not enough having TRC!Syaoran fall in love with a girl who's essentially HIS MOTHER, CLAMP are like, lol, let's make sure you can't possibly forget the fact! Syaoran is like, "wow, she looks JUST LIKE MY MOTHER WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG! she has THE SAME NAME! her mother looks EXACTLY THE SAME AS MY GRANDMOTHER! and her father is the same as my grandfather!" and I am like, THANK YOU, I DIDN'T THINK YOU COULD MAKE THIS CREEPIER, BUT YOU'VE FOUND A WAY.
Plus, what the hell, how can the king be Fujitaka? Have you forgotten that Syaoran's adoptive father was also Fujitaka, CLAMP? How can there be two of them in ONE WORLD? WHAT THE HELL CRACK ARE YOU SMOKING?! I know I often accuse CLAMP of being on crack, but usually it's said with awe. This time, I mean it in a "STOP SMOKING THE BAD BATCH" kind of way. ><
The only reason I'm tentatively forgiving them is that finally there has been a Seishirou/Subaru splashpage, and it's really pretty. Also, the text says "very soon, they will be able to see each other again" which makes me hopeful. Knowing CLAMP it's probably LIES, ALL LIES-- or they'll do it in a way that makes me want to kill myself when it actually happens-- but I'm putting them on probation. I'll forgive a lot of things for potential Seishirou/Subaru; heaven knows why after all the times CLAMP has smacked me around with them, but oh well. ;___;
Shukudai-kun #83, like all the recent episodes, was kind of hilarious. (Although I will admit to spacing out a bit in the last segment, but the first 2/3 was more than funny enough to make up for it.) I think it rather set the tone for the show when they start by asking the guest, who's obviously seen Nino and Jun on tv before, what she thinks of them.
Guest RE Nino: Eeeeeeeeeeeh....
Nino: What, you don't have ANY impression? DDDDD:
Guest RE Jun: Ah! Hana yori dango! :D *quotes a Doumyouji line, something like FINE, SEE IF I CARE!*
Jun: But that's so not me! ;___;
Then for fun, they ask her about the OTHER members!
Guest RE Aiba, who is wearing a t-shirt with the American flag all over: ... Kind of American?
Others: AHAHAHA AMERICAN *mock the crap out of him*
Aiba: QUIIIT IIIIT. ;____;
Guest: *placatingly* Um, pleasant?
Aiba: *sulk*
Guest RE Sho: You're on the news!
Sho: Well, that's pretty me... XD
Guest RE Ohno: .............. *CRACKS UP*
Ohno: ;____;!!! WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING.
Nino: *hug*
And then, as a bonus, RE Ogura: "... old?"
*snicker fit*
Then they moved onto the food. Aiba goes for the first dish, and... maybe gets told off? I missed it because I was distracted, but either way he goes D: and Jun gives him a hug to make him feel better. Hee. *g*
Then after the guest eats it, it's Aiba's turn... and they all start making jokes about THE AMERICAN and he's all, OMG, STFU, GUYS >< and then the narrator is like, the American is mad! :D :D :D
Aiba: SERIOUSLY, QUIT IT! >O
The second dish is teppenyaki, which you eat while it's still sizzling (kind of like flambe), so OBVIOUSLY it's really hot. The guest eats it really carefully, having a little trouble trying not to burn her mouth, but she declares it good. Then Jun goes-- and maybe isn't careful enough because he's like "WAAAGH HOT!" and looks really awkward trying to eat it. XD Then it's Aiba's turn again, and not only does he have trouble eating it because it's hot, the FX people play the American anthem WHILE HE'S EATING and he's like "AFSDJKFLSDJFK NOT AGAIN!!! ><" He seems quite pissy this ep, actually, he got grumpy about the food being too hot too. XD;
Anyway. I think we've all obviously concluded that HOT FOOD IS HOT by this point.
So what does Sho do?
He PUTS THE WHOLE THING IN HIS MOUTH and then spits it out, shrieking, like he's somehow SURPRISED by the burning. XDDDDD Oh Sho. I thought you were the SMART one. *shakes head* Bt he eats it anyway and is like, "... it's good though!" while everyone else is like, "................"
The last dish is apparently a little weird. Everyone has a strange look on their face when they eat it, and Ogura comments that you can really tell what people think about it from their expression. Then they totally zoom in on Ohno making this weird spaced out face, completely on purpose, until Nino thwaps him with a piece of paper for being a dork. *g*
They're still having trouble identifying the dish, so Aiba takes a spoonful of it, and he makes a weird face like the others... but then he takes another bite. Still making the face. So Sho decides to join in, and takes a bite. And makes a face. And it's been postulated by this point that it's maybe meatballs and yoghurt? But Sho and Aiba keep eating it with those funny looks, going faster and faster, and at the end, Sho tells them, "... Yep. Definitely meatballs and yoghurt. :Db"
The segment following the food is about the guest's "special skill", which is massage. She decides to give Aiba a foot massage to demonstrate, so Aiba kicks off his shoes and Jun scooches over to sit next to Ohno instead to give the guest more room. She puts her hands on Aiba's foot, presses, and Aiba's foot goes CRUNCH! and he goes OW! ;__; and leaps away. The guests persuades him to sit back down, though, so he manfully persists with letting her continue to maim his foot, cringing away along with all the loud crunch noises, and eventually Sho is like, what, does it really hurt that much?
Aiba: YES. WHY DON'T YOU TRY. >(
And Sho is sullen and reluctant about it, but he gives in, and... nothing happens.
Guest: ... huh? You don't have any knots.
Others: It doesn't hurt?
Sho: Huh? No.
Someone, probably Aiba: Does that mean he's not human?
Guest: Yeah, he's so not human!
So she moves onto Ohno. And it is the FUNNIEST THING EVER, I SWEAR, because she presses down and Ohno's foot crunches-- and Ohno SHRIEKS and FLAILS BACKWARDS and FALLS OFF THE COUCH. Like, he fully falls backwards over the arm onto the floor and yells "OOOOOW" and it was pretty spectacular, and you know, that is just. It's classic. Comedy GOLD.
Then the last section was about her ideal date. I didn't really pay much attention, but it involved muscular arms, her half-hitting on Sho and Ogura, and a line-up of anonmyous guys (including Sho and Ogura) behind a wooden screen with just their right arms sticking out doing strong man poses and playing jan ken. (Everyone: EUUURGH, CREEPY!) She then chose number 6, and when they revealed them she's like WAH I MEANT FOUR! FOOOUR!
Sho, who was number 5: *plaintively* What about ME?
And then they make her go on a "date" with the dude. Seriously. MAKE. Jun totally shoves her, I'm not kidding. XD
Shukudai-kun #84 was just... it was a thing of beauty, you guys, I can't even. Unfortunately I missed it on tv because they moved it forward half an hour (what the fuck? Who just DOES that without warning?! Japanese tv is screwed up!) but I have totally degenerated to the point where I went to find it on youtube instead. << The picture is clearer on my mobile and the show isn't so disjointed as it is by being cut into segments on youtube, but on the other hand I can rewatch particularly hilarious moments or things I've missed.
The guest is this totally hilarious guy who was in The Last Princess with Jun, and he pretty much spends the whole first section HITTING ON JUN. I'm just. I'm not even kidding. First of all, there's the fact he calls him JUN. Just Jun. When the rest of Arashi pounces on this, he's like, well, it's so hard to know what to call someone when you first meet them! It's weird calling him Matsumoto-kun, it's too distant!
J: Actually, you DID call me Matsumoto-kun when we first met.
Guest: Huh?
J: *tells the story of their first meeting*
Guest: ... well I made a mistake, then! And later realised "Matsumoto-kun" was too distant! *continues to call him Jun*
There's also a spectacular moment where he hits on the WHOLE OF ARASHI AT ONCE, saying that he's really nervous, and when they ask why, being like "you're all so good looking! It makes my heart go doki doki! I have to look at Ogura-san to calm myself down!"
O: ....................
Guest: ... sorry? :D?
Mostly he hits on Jun, though. XD He says that being around Jun gives him an "onna gokoro" feeling. Lit. female heart; translating my japanese dictionary, it is:
1. A girl's feelings, female psychology;
2. The feelings a girl has when she has a crush on a boy.
XDDDDDDD
This guest is kind of hilarious.
Anyway, he then tells them all a story about how when they had to go to the furo after filming on the Last Princess because of all the grime, and how he'd be like ZOMG DOKI DOKI DOKI DOKI when Jun came in and hid under the water and made waves to make the water less see-through because HIS STOMACH STICKS OUT WAAH. Then he talked about how when he got out of the furo he was curious about what kind of pants Jun wore.
Nino: THAT'S NOT ONNA GOKORO!
Guest: Eh? Then what gokoro is it?
Jun: Doesn't that just make you a hentai? XDDDDD
Aiba: *leans forward in his seat* Did you get to see them~? :D :D :D
Guest: ANYWAY, PANTS. So Jun gets in the furo, I put pants on-- *mimes putting on pants*
Sho: *horrified* DID YOU JUST PUT ON JUN'S PANTS?
Guest: No, these are MY pants.
Jun: *amused* Then where are MY pants?
Guest: *waves over in front of Sho* Around here.
Nino: *DYING*
After that is the food segment, and the return of food-stall!Sho, who puts on a kansai accent and is kind of excellent. Plus, his cha-han is once more actually edible, surprising everyone (including himself) and he's like, "... d-does this mean I'm getting better? *hopeful*"
The food segment was followed by questions for the guest, where he tells them about this version of jan ken that essentially involves BASHING THE LOSER REALLY HARD. Uuuuuuuuuh.
Finally, there was RETURN OF AIBA LAND, which-- I was going to say is the best bit hands down, which usually would be true, but the first segment of this episode was so excellent that that's a hard call to make. Either way, though, I laughed so hard I CRIED. Then I rewatched it, and AGAIN laughed so hard I cried, because it's just that wonderful. The game is essentially a cross between simon says and giant's treasure-- one person is chosen to be the "oni", and with their back facing all the "children", reads out a sentence starting with "daruma-san wa..." (Daruma are those round red things with the faces.) The sentence can finish with "(blah) ni natta!" (became BLAH), or a verb. The children then have to act like the daruma and do whatever it supposedly did, and the one who makes the poorest imitation gets out and has to hold the oni's hand. The next "child" to get out hold's the first person's hand, continuing in a line, until one of the players still in touches the joined hands of the oni and the first child and they all run away. The oni yells out to make them freeze and jumps as far as they can. They then have to try to reach out and touch one of the children without moving from that spot.
They played two games, one with Nino as the oni and one with Jun. Both times, Ogura got out first because he didn't do anything, just stood there and laughed at the rest of them being total morons, which I kind of heart him for.
Nino's was fun (the guest lost), but Jun's turn was PURE GOLD. I freaking CRIED when he made them mimic Michael Jackson, and it just got better when he told them to become rappers and then just stood there LAUGHING AT THEM LOOK LIKE MORONS for almost a full minute before choosing one of them as out. XDDDD Sho lost that time. I think the punishment was making them make stupid faces or something, they only ran that bit during the credits, but heeeee.
Okay, I'm stopping there. I watched episodes 12-19 of NCIS as well, but I feel this post is already getting quite long soooooooo I'll include them in the next fannish post.
also, seiza position on tatami with no cushion is the devil.
on a different note the jeans that fit me properly have developed a hole in the inner thigh, which vexes me greatly. I attempted to search for jeans at uniqlo, but Japanese girls HAVE NO HIPS and it was a lot cause. The boys jeans were a possibility, but they don't sit QUITE right and also, the material is really rough and hurts my delicate fainting flower skin because they don't have stretch jeans here. So I got track-pants instead.
Anyway, whatever, fannish stuff hoy.
Starting with Doctor Who, which I finally thought to search for on youtube and am thus no longer left behind in the dust on!
4x01: Wasn't sure what to expect, going into a new season with a new(-ish) companion, but... okay, this was just enjoyable. The plot was kind of just like wtf-- seriously, alien fat? They were kind of cute, in a really fucking weird CGed ALIEN FAT?! kind of way-- and yet I totally didn't care, because Donna and the Doctor were just SO MUCH FUN. All the antics where they keep almost almost seeing each other and just missing each other was slapstick gold-- it was very pantomime, the way by the time they actually do see each other you're all frustrated and "AUGH BEHIIIIIND YOOOU!" but it was well done, and their really detailed charades conversation was just HILARIOUS, because of course. Of course THEY WOULD DO THAT. I love how Donna somehow manages to make the Doctor sink down to her level and be an enormous dork with her.
And of course everyone in the room they were spying on has just stopped to stare at them and be like, are you quite done now? XD Seriously. I LOVED that.
I was a bit wary of Donna talking about how she was waiting for the "right man" to come and change her life, but they made it abundantly clear that it wasn't so much the Doctor as what he represented, and that made me chill. I like Donna and Doctor antics, but I don't want them to get romantic. Aside from the fact that I really liked Doctor/Rose, and I still kind of OTP Doctor/Martha (and Doctor/Master, okay, I'm just kind of a fandom whore when it comes to Doctor Who) I just think it's good for him to have a platonic companion for a change. As he says: a mate. (NOT mating. XD)
The other thing is, Donna really got on my nerves in the Christmas episode-- I can't stand stupidity, and she was running around being obnoxious and stubborn and (I now suspect this is down to a love-is-blind kind of deal) quite dense and it frustrated me. The Christmas ep gave her her defining moment of growth as a character, though, and the open-minded Donna, seeking new things rather than obsessing over wassname, grabbed me right from the start. I'll admit I've had plenty of time since watching the Christmas ep to soften up to her, too, but she's just so funny and smart-ass and, well, plucky (I use that with full irony XD) that it's impossible to love her. Especially when even if she doesn't necessarily have the book smarts like Martha did, she's still got brains and knows how to use them and shows that off in a way she didn't in the Christmas ep. More so in later eps, but also with the way she kept her cool and got as far as she did without the Doctor in this ep.
Anyway. Yes. Obviously the best thing for me in this ep was the dynamic between Donna and the Doctor-- their miming conversation, the way she decides to go with him and even his HAIR looks bewildered, all her luggage while he's just standing there, totally confused and also, WHIPPED... but I also loved her grandfather. I loved that she's going around looking for mysteries because travelling the Earth wasn't good enough, it didn't change anything, and the thing with the bees where as the viewer you're thinking, XD "conspiracy theories!" because Donna is smart but sometimes silly and yet the Doctor is just like, "bees? what, bees? really?" in this totally baffled tone.
And I also love her new hairstyle. It's kind of smoking hot.
4x02: Okay, episodes set in the past are always my favourites, and this one was great, stuffed full of crazy geeky in-jokes. They went to POMPEII, YOU GUYS, HOW EXCELLENT IS THAT.
But you know what the best thing was for me?
THE FAMILY WAS NAMED AFTER THE FAMILY IN MY YEAR 7 LATIN BOOK. I shit you not. Caecilius est pater, Matila est mater, is like the only Latin I remember. XD (And that the son was Quintus. I could never remember the daughter's name.) And I think they took certain details of their life from the textbooks too-- I didn't continue on with Latin, but Eugenie informed me of some of the continued exploits of the family, which involved them escaping Pompeii unscathed and Quintus going to university. Sound familiar? *g*
Plus all the amusing little gags with them being CELTIC when they speak Latin, Quintus dishonouring the household gods, the Doctor's incomprehensible mystic babble showdown with the soothsayer guy (and you're a thousand years too early to try showing down the Doctor on that one, dude)... the plot was okay, certainly better than the alien fat as a concept, but I was more interested in the whole POMPEII! Donna and Doctor show! family from my Latin textbook! goings on. The characters and in-jokes are really MAKING this season. And the set, it looked really good with the marketplace and Caecilius's house and everything.
Oh, oh, and the start of the running gag where the Doctor and Donna get mistaken for a couple and make these TOTALLY DISGUSTED EXPRESSIONS, it's brilliant. ♥ Fun times.
Other things... Donna's friendship with the daughter (whose name I STILL can't remember), her totally gorgeous Roman clothes (she should keep them, it's a good look), and the way she... like, in the Christmas episode she was really pigheaded, and that grated, but here, while she's still stubborn, she's grown as a person and her compassion shines through at the same time as she stands her ground. The way she wants to change history, can't bear the thought of standing by while everyone in Pompeii dies and the way the Doctor knows that it's a fixed point, that he can't change it, even with all the people who'll die, the way you can see both their arguments and you know the Doctor is right, you don't mess with fixed history or Bad Shit happens, but at the same time you know you'd feel the same way as Donna if that were you in her shoes. And then the choice, when it's not just fixed history, it's him who has to decide, and it's like Gallifrey all over again, except this time Donna has accepted the weight of it, that it's Pompeii (and them) or the whole world and sometimes you have to make tough choices, even if a lot of people will suffer and lose their lives.
But, like she says, like she teaches him, not being able to save everyone doesn't mean you can't save SOMEONE. And even if that was obviously going to happen, I loved Donna Noble SO MUCH for making the Doctor understand that. The plot mostly didn't stand out in this episode, but that bit was really good. It was a really strong character moment, and it hit hard for emotional impact.
Also, HOUSEHOLD GODS, HAHA.
... and Quintus goes to become a doctor, and the girl getting into fashion and having fun like Donna was trying to persuade her to before. Heeee.
4x03: Much in the way that I almost always love episodes set in the past, episodes set in the future don't tend to do it for me. I'm a bad sci-fi fan, I know. I think perhaps it's the way the sets all tend to look the same? After a while one gets sick of spaceships and warehouses, I dunno. Plus, I'm not the world's biggest fan of episodes involving the Ood. I found previous episodes with them... not bad, (although that one episode with Rose and the Doctor on that spaceship REALLY DRAGGED for me) but just not as fun as other episodes. Also, creepy.
So I dragged my heels a little-- like, by a whole day or so, even! what, that's totally a long time when I get into obsessive fandom mode-- but I actually really liked this episode, way more than I expected to. The red-eyed Ood were creepy, as, y'know, they are, but by the end of the ep I was really feeling moved by them, by the horror of their treatment, by the labotomies they suffered because humans are cruel and arrogant, by their song and their captivity and their revolution. I loved the dramatic justice of turning their captor into one of them, the utter patience and peaceful protest of... Omega? the main Ood, anyway. The way the rabid Oods let Donna and the Doctor go, because the kindness they'd shown to the circle of free Oods resonated and broke through the madness. The way the Doctor recognised the debt he owed them, having left them to die before, and not having seen that they were really slaves. I loved Donna's compassion, again, the way how after the initial recoil and "what is it?!" when they saw the Ood dying at the beginning she empathised with it. I thought it was interesting how they DIDN'T go the cliche route and make the PR woman see the error of her ways; how she called the guards on them, even when presented with the obvious moral dilemma and wavering, and how she later died in the revolution without changing the way I thought she would.
Of course, throughout this there was still the fun of the Donna and Doctor show, with the continuation of the "UGH NO NOT MARRIED" gag (yep, still funny), and classic moments like when he's telling her about his last Ood encounter and says, kind of sheepish and kind of blase, that LAST time they were being controlled by Satan, and she's just like, "... shyeah. Right. WhatEVER." *loves Donna a whole lot*
Then there was that thing about the Doctor's song soon ending. What was up with that hookey prophesising? Is it just something they threw in to sound mysterious and ominous, or is this going to be vital like the Face of Boe's dying words? Hmmm.
4x04-05: The immediate response to this two-parter is, of course, YAY, MARTHA JONES! Donna Noble is all kinds of awesome, but that doesn't diminish my love for Martha one whit. The two of them on screen together was just SUPER ADDED BONUS AWESOME. ♥
And having said that, my obvious next comment is how MUCH I loved the Donna and Martha interaction. That, my friends, was what I like to call sheer excellence. You think they're going to be all wary and sizing each other up-- and if it were either of them and Rose, I think that would be what happened-- and the Doctor clearly thinks so too, and is all, oh, don't fight over me, I HATE that, in a way where you can tell he kind of secretly likes it... and then they get on like a house on fire and team up to mock the crap out of him while he is like "D: WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO MEEEE" and it is BEAUTIFUL. Cat fights can be fun, I might be interested to see tension between Rose and one or both of them later, but in this case, it was just the perfect response. It wasn't what I was expecting, and the way they just bounced off each other while the Doctor got caught in the middle with his bewildered hair was great.
Other things; Martha Jones is still smoking hot, and still has chemistry with the Doctor. I was torn over whether to be happy for her for moving on, getting herself a job and a fiance, or whether to be sad about how the writers were hitting me over the head with a stick entitled "DOCTOR/MARTHA BUBBLE-BURSTER"; well, more on that when I talk about 4x06, because it's more relevant there. Anyway, yes, I still love Martha. She's still kickass, and she's still herself even when the Doctor worries about her turning into a soldier-- working to change them from the inside, like the perfect visionary we know she is from Last of the Time Lords, and the way she can empathise even with her dying clone, the creation that stole her face and memories and tried to destroy humanity using them, even though the Doctor, who is always the one to preach about mercy for beings that can't help what they've done, seems ready to just leave it to its fate.
Hitler junior, I've forgotten his name, reminds me weirdly of Seth Green as Dr Evil's son in the Austin Powers movies, and that made it hard for me to hate him completely. XD Also, the bit where he's all, HAH, that's totally a tautology, OKAY, after being corrected a moment earlier by the Doctor and the Doctor being like, "...you're not used to people saying no to you, are you?" and the kid being like, "whatever, I'm still RIGHT!" made me sporfle, because omg, what a smart-arsed little shit, but still kind of endearing. If he weren't trying to destroy humanity, anyway. Saw his self-sacrifice coming, it was the only way for him to redeem himself by that point, but it still worked fairly well.
Speaking of, Donna smacking the Doctor in the face for being a self-sacrificing moron? A++++++, Donna, he totally deserved that! I mean, yes, I admire and respect his moral code, especially since he's already committed multiple genocide and I'm sure it's not an easy burden to bear, but there's a difference between a strong moral code and plain stubborn foolishness. He knows that they're not going to accept, there is ZERO PERCENT CHANCE-- it's a totally futile attempt, which makes what he's doing a completely pointless suicide mission. If there was even the slightest chance they'd take the truce I would have no choice to admire him, but while I still do hold some admiration for his tenacious adherence to what he believes is "right", it's also completely selfish to throw away his life like that for nothing substantial when there are people STANDING RIGHT THERE who would mourn for him. In this case, where if the kid hadn't intervened there would have been a 100% outcome of him losing his life and not achieving anything by it, it stops being a cause and starts being hubris.
I still liked it as a character moment, though, because that's who the Doctor IS. He's this "superior being", but he's incredibly flawed, and hubris is definitely one of those faults.
RE: the Sontarans, I guess they're this season's big enemy? I wonder if we'll see Daleks or Cybermen at all this season. I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing Simm!Master any time soon, his revival would require much more fanfare and the season is already 2/3 over. (Pity, I am very partial to Simm!Master. Then again, I think it would be too soon if they brought him back now, so presumably for the best.) Other than that, not much to say about them.
RE: the specific plot... OH MY GOD, HOMICIDAL CARS. That thought TERRIFIES me. It's like how
schiarire once commented that House freaks her out because people are doing these ordinary, everyday things... and then DEATH! DISASTER! SUDDEN MYSTERY ILLNESS! It's always most terrfying when something you expect to be mundane and ordinary suddenly turns around and goes "HAHA I'MA GO KILL YOU NOW >D >D >D" ;____;Speaking of things killing people, I totally went LOL when they were like, Tokyo has started dying! Because of course. Of COURSE. When there is a giant lizard or giant mechas or general apocalypse threatening the world, of COURSE Tokyo is the first to go.
And then I stopped, strange expression passing across my face as I realised: HEY, SELF. *YOU* totally live in Tokyo now! If Tokyo's the first to go, it's taking you down with it!
And then I wasn't sure whether this made it more or less hilarious. XD
Anyway, slightly more frivolous stuff: I continue to love Donna's relationship with her grandfather, he's all kinds of endearing, especially once it got revealed he was the guy in the stall who'd stubbornly stayed in London during the Christmas episode at the start of the season (which I didn't really like, btw, it was kind of bland, but S4 is more than making up for that with sheer awesomeness so never mind that). The bit where Donna says she's going home and the Doctor gives this whole big spiel about does she really mean it? and how fun it was to travel together and how much he'll miss her, getting all emotional, and I seriously believed she meant it for real too after what Martha had said to her... but then he eventually trails off and is like, "Ah. You meant for a visit, didn't you." while she has this perfectly patient, amused expression, and she's just like, uh, yeah, but carry on, I like hearing about how wonderful I am~ and the Doctor is just like, OH MY GOD, WHY DID YOU LET ME DIG MYSELF INTO THAT HOLE *HEADDESK*. I love how much she totally owns him. XD
Er... yeah. In conclusion, yay Donna! yay Martha! :D
Oh, also, on a sidenote, the Doctor commented on the bees disappearing thing again. I thought it was just a totally offhand thing in episode 1, but the mention of it again here makes me wonder-- running gag, or foreshadowing something actually relevant? Hmmmm.
4x06: I wasn't sure what to expect from this episode after seeing the preview. I knew the Doctor had had a daughter before (I think? certainly a granddaughter, don't know whether the initial offspring was male or female) and I was kind of wondering if it would be at all connected to that, but no. (Although there was reference to it.)
There was also the small matter of genetics. Forget the fully grown asexual reproduction in a matter of minutes thing; this is sci-fi, I'm totally cool with that. What I DON'T get is how a human created from a single gene donor can not only be the opposite gender, but look completely different. I'd even maybe be willing to put it down to Time Lord genes, since they do essentially change their entire genetic makeup when they regenerate... but the natives didn't seem at all perturbed by Jenny, and for that matter, given how much they use the machine, we'd be seeing the same face all over the place if that was the case. So one can only assume that the machine creating whole new people out of a single set of genes is par for the course. I love you, show, but GENETICS SAYS NO. D: (I seem to need to tell my fandoms this a lot, recently.)
Other things... I spent most of the episode really distracted trying to figure out where I'd seen Jenny's actress before. I had the feeling it was a really airheaded character, and it aside from the annoying niggling sensation of being unable to remember, it was quite weird to compare with Jenny's soldier persona. (I eventually came to the conclusion that she plays the daughter, Janie, in My Family. Not sure if that's right, but.)
Other than that, though, I really liked Jenny. I liked her progression from pure soldier to an individual who could think for herself and make decisions on the basis of her own moral code, and her Entrapment moment backflipping through the lasers was total AWESOME even if I'd already seen it on the preview.
Donna and Martha continued to shine with the weight of their sheer combined awesome. They're both so competent, in their own kickass ways; Donna, who's good with numbers and uses her experience with filing systems to figure out it's a dating system, and Martha, not just sitting around waiting to be rescued, working out the radiation levels on the surface and plotting a direct route to the centre. I just loved both of them so much right then.
Aside from their competence, though (and competence is totally worth hotness points, for the record), it was also a shining moment for both of them in terms of compassion. On the one hand there's Donna trying to make the Doctor treat Jenny like a human being, even while she's struggling with the idea of the cloning machine herself; when the Doctor finally explains he's already been there, done that and it hurt too much to lose it, she manages to be both sympathetic and firm. Without being callous about it, she points out that she didn't know, because he never TOLD her; he's always talking but never about things that matter, and that's just SO TRUE, I loved her for not just letting that go.
Then on the other hand, there's Martha, the doctor, who treats a patient even if they're a fish person who doesn't speak her language (what, too hard for the TARDIS to translate?), whose people are at war with the human folken, who are packing serious heat and may possibly misunderstand what she's doing. She's risking her life to help the injured Hath, but she still does it, because that's who she is. She's a really excellent doctor right to the very core.
On the topic of Martha, though, one of the things that gave me mixed feelings about this episode was my love of Doctor/Martha, which has become very much complicated by canon. I mean, from what we saw of him before her fiance is a very nice person, and I'm sure it's much healthier than being in love with the Doctor... but WAAAAH, SHOW, DON'T TAKE MY DOCTOR/MARTHA AWAY FROM ME. D: On the one hand, there's still so much chemistry between her and the Doctor, there was still that moment of delight at travelling when they first arrived, there was the way she still ran straight to him and hugged him when they saw each other again in central room, there was the sense that maybe she was just telling herself she was over him, over this lifestyle, because it was the sane thing to do... but on the other hand, aforementioned BUBBLE-BURSTING STICK. I pretty much shrieked with dismay when the Hath died, and not just because their friendship was sweet-- even if I'd kind of seen the Hath's death coming, part of me was still holding out hope that Martha was going to remember how much she loved this and rejoin the Doctor. The moment the Hath died, though, it was obvious Martha was going to leave at the end of the episode, because a reminder of how painful it can be to travel with the Doctor and how sometimes people die around you, BECAUSE of you, was the last thing to persuade her to stay. There was also the thing with her touching her ring and smiling at the end. WHATEV, SHOW, I'M IGNORING YOU NOW. *sulk*
Anyway. Other comments; the twist with the war having been only going on for a week was really good, not just because it was accompanied by a totally brilliant Donna moment, but also because I really did not see it coming and it was a kind of cool revelation.
The ending, by contrast, just left me going "wtf?" I was really touched by Jenny getting shot defending the Doctor, by the way he almost shot the old man and then told them to remember, to base their society on a man who would never do it; I probably cried, because, y'know, I'm just a sissy like that. I liked that they brought up the regeneration thing, Martha telling him Jenny was like him but not enough and the Doctor responding, no, she's too MUCH like me. It was sad thinking about how this always happens to him (it probably brought back traumatic memories of the Master, too, thinking about it; yet again thinking there's someone else, only to have them shot and have to face up to the fact that they can't/won't regenerate), sad with Martha's line about how she thought he'd finally found something to LIVE for and he tells her that there's always things worth living for... but it's deflecting, you can totally see what Martha is talking about.
HOWEVER. The bit after that? The bit with Jenny MIRACULOUSLY coming back to life? I get that it was supposed to refer to the "creation myth" in reverse, but it just didn't make sense. WHY did it happen? Where the hell did their creation myth even come from, if it's going to act out in reverse like that? It felt like a cop-out. I mean, I understand that they couldn't keep Jenny alive when the Doctor was leaving if they didn't want to add her to the cast right then. I understand wanting to keep her on standby for future episodes. I just think they could have done it a hell of a lot better, in a way that made sense and didn't feel totally tacked on (especially the bit with her stealing the spaceship and riding off into the stars). Like, for example, what they did with the Master-- obviously, since they haven't brought him back yet, it's still just speculation, we don't know how they'll do it (though they've pretty much said that Simm!Master will be back), but it's a fairly good guess that he orchestrated the whole thing with Lucy shooting him, refusing to generate, the ring... it's complex, it's sneaky, it's IN CHARACTER and it's a really impressive mind-fuck. Compared to, yay! Random and convenient breath of life, whee! :D :D :D
Also, the Doctor's explanation about why the TARDIS took them to that planet-- to create Jenny-- just went right over my head, WHOOSH. I didn't get it at all. The hell? WAY TO BE TOTALLY CONVOLUTED AND NONSENSICAL, SHOW.
4x07: Okay, I absolutely LOVED this episode. I'm weak enough to episodes set in the past, but geeky literary references? A murder mystery, centred around AGATHA CHRISTIE? HAHA, *YES*.
I am totally with Donna, too: forget about the planet Zog, a party in the 1920s! THIS is where it's at! That's totally what I'd be interested in if I was travelling in the TARDIS. XD
This episode had a lot of great lines, too-- Donna saying how typical it is that all the good-looking men are "on the other bus" and the Doctor being like "Or Time Lords!" while she just gives him this, yeah, whatEVER look (and I really don't think Time Lord-ness is all that relevant to the topic at hand, considering *g*), that thing about Donna being the PLUCKY girl who helps him out and her sheer indignation-- plucky? PLUCKY?!,
And the potential for in-jokes. I was not disappointed. When the PROFESSOR was killed in the LIBRARY with a LEAD PIPE I was like "AHAHAHAH CLUEDO" and then Donna commented on it, too, in this totally "oh, come ON" kind of way and I was just. <3 Oh, show, I love your geekiness. And then her being like, oh yeah right, we're at a tea party with Agatha Christie and there just HAPPENS to be a mysterious murder. That's like Charles Dickens being surrounded by ghosts at Christmas! and I just sporfled when the Doctor was like, uh, actually, now that you MENTION it...
And then it just got better when Donna starts talking about Enid Blyton as an example instead and is like, "There's no Noddy, right? There isn't. TELL ME THERE'S NO NODDY." like she's NOT COMPLETELY SURE. Beautiful. XD
That whole bit where they interrogate each person in the house and they all say one thing where you can see what they were ACTUALLY up to was hilarious, especially Roger. "I was alone. Completely. Utterly. AbsoLUTELY alone. Taking a walk BY MYSELF. No one was with me. AT ALL. EVER." Poor boy, he's clearly not a very good liar. *g*
On a connected note, I was sad that he had to be one of the victims, but I really loved Donna right then in that moment when she said how much it sucked that the pageboy (or whatever he was) couldn't even MOURN Roger. Obviously they're not going to have a homophobic Companion, considering the director... but still. I heart Donna. <3
Plus, Agatha Christie was just fabulous. Her sharp wit, her scientific scepticism, the banter between her and the Doctor, the way she's so strong but at the same time has such a low opinion of her own capabilities... she was a really interesting character, the way they portrayed her. I adored the logical deductions toward the end, where she correctly accuses the girl of being the Unicorn and the true nature of the hostess's "malaria", just like a scene in one of her books... but also the bit where she turns to the husband, and he's like CONFOUND IT, YOU'VE GOT ME, but how did you know? and she's like, a little bewildered "er... I didn't. I was just going to say you were completely innocent. Um. Sorry." which would never happen in one of her books and was doubly hilarious for it. XD
Then when the Doctor took over, he and Donna are just such a perfect slapstick pair, the way she's sitting back and going, "HE did it? NO. Really?" every time the Doctor (or Agatha) pointed to somebody, and the Doctor just being TOTALLY GRATUITOUS with his pointing at people and going, it was YOU! when talking about something totally different (though connected) to the actual murders.
Doctor: Which brings me to... YOU, DONNA NOBLE!
Donna: ME? You're saying *I* committed the murders?
Doctor: No, but you said it was just like the plot of one of Agatha Christie's books. Which brings me to... YOU!
Donna: ... you're accusing AGATHA CHRISTIE?! :O
Doctor: No, but the murders are like something out of one of the books she wrote. And who is Ms Christie's biggest fan, hm? ... The hostess!
Donna: So she DID do it, then?
Doctor: ... No. :D
Me: *facepalm at their combined silliness*
What else... oh, return of the "UGH NOT MARRIED!" joke, which is still amusing to me. The Doctor shaking off the effects of cyanide by CUNNING MEANS OF CHARADES (he and Donna were a lot better at it in the first ep, heh) was funny-- her snogging him for the "shock" was a little predictable, and could have been a bit touch-and-go, but I think it worked because you can tell they are still platonic, it's not a case of protesting too much, they were both pretty horrified by it. ("I should do that again." "*DISTURBED LOOK*" "The detox!! THE DETOX, not the... ANYWAY." *both visibly decide to move on and never discuss again*) Speaking of running gags, Donna continually accidentally slipping things about Christie's future novels and asking for copyright was fun. Even if it's fairly standard to have those mini time paradoxes in time travelling plots, they're standard for a reason, after all. I also liked the awkward conversation about Agatha's husband, because it was such a sensitive area, Donna could have really botched that up and almost did, but then she was just so blase about being dumped for a giant spider and... oh, Donna. ♥
As for the ending, the giant wasp alien was a little weird and the whole absorbing a skewed view of the world through the book was a little convoluted, but otherwise it was good. Lots of suspense, and while I thought it was the vicar at the beginning of the ep, I was thrown off track and practically forgot his existence by the end of it (I thought it was the mother, honestly). The deduction scene was, as previously mentioned, great; it was kind of funny to watch them come up with such a bizarre explanation for Christie's disappearance and amnesia, and I really liked the bit where Donna threw the pendant into the lake, because when the Doctor did his whole "how could you, he couldn't HELP it!" thing, Donna stood her ground without being callous about it. No, he couldn't help it-- but what was she supposed to do, stand there and let him kill Agatha? Sometimes the Doctor can be incredibly hypocritical about that stuff; it's okay when it's him making the decision to sacrifice, say, the Ood to save the humans, because he's a Time Lord, but heaven forbid someone else make that call. And I actually like that, I like that not only is his character not perfect but that he gets called on it by other characters, because it shows that he's not perfect and he's not SUPPOSED to be perfect, it's not okay for him to be hypocritical or arrogant just because he's a "superior being". He's not always right, no matter how he thinks he is, and it's a good thing canon acknowledges that.
Okay, I'm done, that's an AWFUL lot of Doctor Who. XD;
Now I've got western TV out of my system for the purposes of this post, it's back to the manga. Specifically, back to SOUL EATER, volumes 7 to 9. It's almost ridiculous, how much I love this manga; Becky and I both agree that it leaves something to be desired in terms of fleshing out the mechanics of the background world, considering that well into volume 9 we still don't really have an explanation for the Shibusen-witch tension or the technician-weapon thing, but despite that, for both of us, it's managed to grab our interest and keep it.
There's two reasons for that; plot, and character. It's not even so much plot as it is the way it handles plot arcs and uses and introduces characters-- the characters who are supposed to be strong and adult figures are never made extraneous, and there's no sudden incredible inexplicable SUPER DUPER POWER UPS at the last moment a la DBZ or, say, TeniPuri. The kids have potential, but things don't just drop into their lap-- they have to work for it. Every time they improve, we either see the hard work they put in to get there, or, like with the black blood and its link with insanity, they have to pay a price for it. And the black blood thing was hardly sudden, either, there was a lot of foreshadowing leading up to that. Plus, while the kids are the main characters, this is their story, more than half the time it ends up being the adults who step in. It was Stein and Spirit who took on Medusa, the most formidable opponent in the Kishin arc-- and it wasn't just TELLING us Stein's a genius, it was showing us. Even he won that fight mostly due to luck and not without paying for it. Later on, it's Justin who rescues them from Arachne, Sid who pulls Black*Star's chestnuts out of the fire against Mifune. The kids are strong, but they don't surpass these supposedly brilliant adults in an instant just because they're the main characters and it suits the manga artist's purposes at the time.
Which brings me to the characters, which is the other real and undeniable strength to this manga. Aside from Medusa and Arachne and co, who, well, you're probably not meant to like, I really care about all of the characters.
Actually, I'll start with the enemies, since I'll be quicker about that. Essentially, aside from Mifune, I'm happy to see them go down. Arachne is... well, she's kind of hot on the one hand, but on the other hand I can't help but be terrified of her because YEAAAAAARGH SPIDERS! Medusa I just don't like. She makes a good villain, but in the kind of way where you hate her and want to her to stop picking on Chrona and Stein (even if insane!Stein makes for good angst). Eruka-- I think that's her name? frog witch, anyway-- is cute but I'm kind of not that bothered either way by her. Crazy golem guy is obnoxious, which he's probably meant to be; it's amusing when he's fighting with Justin, mostly for Justin's sake, otherwise I don't care. Mosquito, I again don't care. Mifune, on the other hand = HEART. I really want him to go to Shibusen with Angela and become a teacher of tiny cute children! It'd be awesome! I'm convinced it will happen, because SID SUGGESTED IT. CLEARLY, IT IS THE WAY OF THE FUTURE.
Moving on from the enemies to the main(-ish) characters-- I just adore them, pretty much. Even those characters I was wary of or indifferent to in the beginning, like Justin and Chrona and Marie, have really grown on me. I think Justin is awesome, which is despite the fact that I have a natural wariness of priest characters. It's impossible not to love his bitching automobile and his earphones and his lipreading and the way he says "oops, I talked so loud I set off an avalanche... oh look, an enemy troupe." Chrona I just didn't care about for most of the manga up until the middle of the Kishin arc, but now I am actually interested in what happens to her, actually feel for her when Medusa comes back to manipulate her-- I probably mentioned this in my last post regarding Soul Eater, but it bears repeating.
The other students are another example of the right way to introduce new characters, because I get attached to the characters that are already there and often new characters can just feel tacked on or superfluous, so I eyed them with a little suspicion, but so far I like them, and I think it's good for Maka and co to have classmates other than their close-knit group who aren't just anonymous faces.
Sid has turned out to be surprisingly awesome. I have this THING about zombies, okay, I just. I don't like zombies. I don't think they're cool. There is nothing cool about rotting body parts. But I think the reason I like Sid is that him being a zombie is like... he just IS. Like Kid is a Shinigami. Most of the time it's irrelevant. He's got his own personality, you like him for his character and his character just happens to be a zombie.
As for Marie... my feelings are mixed, because on the one hand I'm still a little worried they're setting her up as a love interest for Stein, and I'm STUBBORN, okay, once I've formed an OTP that's it, I'm ENTRENCHED. Stein/Spirit OTP FOREVER, YOU'LL NEVER CHANGE MY MIND. On the other hand, aside from the comment when she was first introduced that she used to have a crush on him, they don't seem to be moving in that direction. On her own merits, I think she's really sweet. She's sincere about caring about those kids, about trying to be a good teacher, even if she has no sense of direction and sometimes fumbles things.
I've already made my feelings known on how much I adore all the staple main characters; the kids, Shinigami, Spirit, Stein. One thing I also love is how strong the bonds between all of them are. Not just the fact that Soul and Maka are complete and utter het OTP, or the strong affection and respect Kid and the Thompson sisters have for each other, or the fact that Tsubaki really sees Black*Star's potential and will accomodate his soul wave, but at the same time it's not one-sided, he respects her too. Those are all important things, but it's also the way Black*Star will fucking take DOWN anyone who messes with Maka, the way Kid tolerates them even though they're assymetrical idiots, the way they all want to wheedle Soul into playing piano for them... the way that, even though they break up into pairs (or a trio, in Kid, Patty and Liz's case), they're also a cohesive whole. They genuinely care about each other, and they have fights and things aren't EASY, especially not when they have to work together and you've got conflicting personalities like Maka and Black*Star involved, but they're still a group, they still pull through it. It's also really sweet watching Chrona slowly get drawn into their group, and kind of heartbreaking seeing Medusa come back and take that away from her.
I am going to end this on the note of, STEIN/SPIRIT OTP OH MY JESUS GOD, *WHY* IS THERE NOT MORE FANFICTION? I need it like I need air to breathe! Don't make me write it myself, fandom, I've already got a billion and one things to write with boyband!X heading the list! ;___; I've already mentioned my feelings on this topic, but for as much as I was afraid Shinigami splitting Stein and Spirit's partnership would take these moments away from me, and as much as it HAS reduced the time they spend on screen together, it's surprising how much they're still in each other's thoughts. The reluctance and worry is so clear on Spirit's face when Shinigami splits them up; he knows why and accepts it, but he still seems hesitant, and you know even without Shinigami asking it of him he'd be keeping an eye on Stein's mental state. As for said insanity, I'm pretty sure it makes me a terrible and probably screwed up human being, but character angst is a fairly strong kink for me. Er. Not like that. God that sounds wrong. It's hard to explain this, even if I'm sure it's not really all that uncommon, but it just hits my OTP buttons hard in this kind of situation. Lots of kinds of situations, actually, but this particular situation totally works.
Oh, whatever, Stein going crazy while Spirit worries about him but can't do anything is kind of hot, sue me. I also totally appreciate how prominant Spirit was in one of the recently translated chapters (35?) when Stein was forcing himself to think of the people who keep him grounded and tied to sanity.
... I'm done, I swear!
That DOESN'T mean I'm done talking about Soul Eater, though, or even Stein/Spirit OTP. :D Instead I'm going to talk about the Soul Eater anime, since episodes 6 and 7 aired since the last post I made. Well, I'm actually only going to talk about episode 7, because I wasn't really paying enough attention to episode 6 to have any comments on it. I'll have to go back and watch it sometime.
Episode 7 was beautiful, though. It's the first episode where Chrona is introduced, and also the first episode where Stein and Spirit (Death Scythe, just in case I'm confusing anyone) meet again. Starting with Chrona, because that's the main part of the plot; the bit at the beginning with Soul and Maka running errands in town and Soul getting into fights was really fun and well done, and it just got better when they got to the church. I've kind of been going off anime adaptations lately, but Soul Eater is really reminding me of how fun they are when they're actually done WELL. The voice-acting, the colours and the SFX and the animation... they all actually add something to it. Maka opening the church door was really creepy, and Chrona's voice was spot on, just perfectly on that line of androgeny where you would reasonably assume that she's a boy. In the manga when I first saw her and the text referred to her as "he", I went EEEEH, that's a *BOY*? (which, no, it's not) but I can see where the translators got that from, even without the low voice, because she uses "boku" to refer to herself. There's also the thing about not knowing how to talk to ~girls~ which I totally forgotten about, but retrospectively, knowing she's female... Wow, Chrona kind of has gender issues, hey?
The fast pace of the fight looked really good in action, and the hopelessness of the fight, Soul protecting Maka, it was all just as perfect as it was in the manga and made me remember why I love those two and the way they complement each other.
The reason I bear ETERNAL DEVOTION for this episode, though, was Stein and Spirit's reunion. It was even better than in the manga; I in no way anticipated how truly awesome it would be. Essentially it was the same scene, same lines, etc, but the tones of voice, the expressions, the awkward silences... that's all something you need animation for. THIS is what anime adaptations are supposed to be about, taking the manga and enhancing it.
Spirit goes to Shibusen because he wants to see Maka, but first he goes to the infirmary, and flings himself through the door, throwing himself in a hug at who he thinks is Medusa, the school nurse... but, as he realises after a few moments of nuzzling and shoujo hearts, is in fact Stein. Trauma!
Stein, of course, just stands there with a poker face letting Spirit-sempai nuzzle his stomach. As you do. XD
The real OTP moment, though, is when Stein "congratulates" Spirit on his marriage to Maka's mother, because it's just so... loaded. In the manga it could have been read as sheer amused needling, but... okay, one second Spirit has this really RAAARGH BASTARD face on, when Stein comments on how Maka's grown, and then a second later, when Stein says in this totally conversational tone, "You know, I was a bit uneasy when I heard you'd gotten married, sempai," he's so totally thrown. Stein is all, "Aaah, I never thought you'd make it, but when I saw the two of you, so happy, I knew your love would last forever~" and his voice in the anime is just so perfect, so cheerful but there's kind of this hint of steel. Even though on the surface he sounds flippant, you can tell he's genuinely still pissed off about being ditched as Spirit's technician.
Then there's this really long, drawn-out silence where Spirit kneels on the bed looking totally awkward, not able to look up at Stein (who still has his back turned to him) until eventually he admits that, well, um, maybe you hadn't heard, but the thing is, we kind of... got divorced last month.
And Stein's voice is just so flat and almost a little poisonous when he says, "I knew." Which surprised me a little, because I thought they'd do it more flip and mocking, but this sounded more like... revenge? I don't know. Like it's not just messing with sempai because it's fun and he makes it so easy; it's messing with him and pretending not to know when you do because you're pissed off, about him dumping you for another technician, running off and leaving you and getting married and then getting divorced without even TELLING you? Yeah, he totally deserves a little pointed ribbing. Pointed with KNIVES.
Or MAYBE, just POSSIBLY, I'm reading too much into it, but I still totally adored that scene. And I also love how when Spirit is in the middle of trying to kill Stein for his lousy sense of humour, Stein says that he thinks that a demon sword has appeared and Spirit just stops, it's all business, you can clearly see they're partners. Even if Spirit complains about Stein being his worst nightmare, they're just such a perfect team. Aaah, OTP. ♥
(Seriously guys, SERIOUSLY, where is my fic? *taps foot*)
Now, last post I was talking about the Moyashimon anime; since then I have found the Moyashimon manga. I have to confess, I mostly skimmed it and only really paid any attention to the bits with Kei and occasionally bits about Hasegawa. XD; For the first volumes especially I much prefer the anime art-- it's cleaner-- and it was raw, so I couldn't really work up the enthusiasm for reading the really dense passages about microbes. Especially since there's often a disappointing lack of Kei. XD There were a few storylines in the manga that weren't included in the anime, which I noticed in my skimming. But I didn't read them. Because there was no Kei. *cough*
I am cheered by the fact that it seems they're not travelling in the Sawaki/Oikawa direction, however.
The manga isn't that much further than the anime at this stage, and most of it has been spent with Sawaki and the two sempai in France running around after Hasegawa, which is kind of cute, even if I do miss Kei (there's the occasional flip back to him and Mutou in Tokyo). There was one particularly cute chapter, though, which had Kei and Oikawa using their "feminine wiles" to get the male masses to come to their fundraising store so they could get the cash for plane tickets to France. *g*
Anyway, yes, my Kei bias is very obvious, I know. XD As for the manga, I like the way it works as an anime better, I think. I'll pay more attention to what's going on when they air it as S2.
Okay, so. Tsubasa 189. Hoo, boy. Evidently, I was wrong about who Syaoran's father was. Syaoran's father is... SYAORAN. CCS!Syaoran, which means his mother... is CCS!Sakura. (Also his name isn't really Syaoran.)
I... can barely even BEGIN with what is wrong with that. I mean, to start with, I hate retrofitting a series like that. CCS is complete within itself. TRC was never supposed to be a sequel (or that's what we were led to believe). Suddenly springing it on us as a sequel after 189 chapters just makes me want to dig my heels in, even without all the other problems with it. It's fun when fic does it, it's not so fun when it's canon. LEAVE CCS FREE FROM THE MADNESS, JESUS. Furthermore: TRC!Syaoran looks EXACTLY like his father? Uh huh. Suuuuure. Or NOT. GENETICS SAYS NO, CLAMP.
Not to mention contradicting ones' own canon. I didn't remember this, but Becky said at the end of CCS there was a big point made of how love can't be predicted, and Clow couldn't foresee that Sakura would fall in love with Syaoran, not Yue. So if he foresaw all this stuff to do with what would happen in TRC-- revolving around SYAORAN AND SAKURA'S SON-- how could he not know Sakura would end up with Syaoran?
Moving on from all the technical, stuff, though, it's just WRONG AND CREEPY. Creepy! CREEPY! She looks EXACTLY LIKE HIS MOTHER! She's got the same SOUL as his mother! And the same name! AAAAUGH, CLAMP, I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU INTEND TO FIX THIS BUT IT BETTER BE PRETTY BLOODY SPECTACULAR.
As for 190, that just makes it even CREEPIER. Like, seriously? If it's not enough having TRC!Syaoran fall in love with a girl who's essentially HIS MOTHER, CLAMP are like, lol, let's make sure you can't possibly forget the fact! Syaoran is like, "wow, she looks JUST LIKE MY MOTHER WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG! she has THE SAME NAME! her mother looks EXACTLY THE SAME AS MY GRANDMOTHER! and her father is the same as my grandfather!" and I am like, THANK YOU, I DIDN'T THINK YOU COULD MAKE THIS CREEPIER, BUT YOU'VE FOUND A WAY.
Plus, what the hell, how can the king be Fujitaka? Have you forgotten that Syaoran's adoptive father was also Fujitaka, CLAMP? How can there be two of them in ONE WORLD? WHAT THE HELL CRACK ARE YOU SMOKING?! I know I often accuse CLAMP of being on crack, but usually it's said with awe. This time, I mean it in a "STOP SMOKING THE BAD BATCH" kind of way. ><
The only reason I'm tentatively forgiving them is that finally there has been a Seishirou/Subaru splashpage, and it's really pretty. Also, the text says "very soon, they will be able to see each other again" which makes me hopeful. Knowing CLAMP it's probably LIES, ALL LIES-- or they'll do it in a way that makes me want to kill myself when it actually happens-- but I'm putting them on probation. I'll forgive a lot of things for potential Seishirou/Subaru; heaven knows why after all the times CLAMP has smacked me around with them, but oh well. ;___;
Shukudai-kun #83, like all the recent episodes, was kind of hilarious. (Although I will admit to spacing out a bit in the last segment, but the first 2/3 was more than funny enough to make up for it.) I think it rather set the tone for the show when they start by asking the guest, who's obviously seen Nino and Jun on tv before, what she thinks of them.
Guest RE Nino: Eeeeeeeeeeeh....
Nino: What, you don't have ANY impression? DDDDD:
Guest RE Jun: Ah! Hana yori dango! :D *quotes a Doumyouji line, something like FINE, SEE IF I CARE!*
Jun: But that's so not me! ;___;
Then for fun, they ask her about the OTHER members!
Guest RE Aiba, who is wearing a t-shirt with the American flag all over: ... Kind of American?
Others: AHAHAHA AMERICAN *mock the crap out of him*
Aiba: QUIIIT IIIIT. ;____;
Guest: *placatingly* Um, pleasant?
Aiba: *sulk*
Guest RE Sho: You're on the news!
Sho: Well, that's pretty me... XD
Guest RE Ohno: .............. *CRACKS UP*
Ohno: ;____;!!! WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING.
Nino: *hug*
And then, as a bonus, RE Ogura: "... old?"
*snicker fit*
Then they moved onto the food. Aiba goes for the first dish, and... maybe gets told off? I missed it because I was distracted, but either way he goes D: and Jun gives him a hug to make him feel better. Hee. *g*
Then after the guest eats it, it's Aiba's turn... and they all start making jokes about THE AMERICAN and he's all, OMG, STFU, GUYS >< and then the narrator is like, the American is mad! :D :D :D
Aiba: SERIOUSLY, QUIT IT! >O
The second dish is teppenyaki, which you eat while it's still sizzling (kind of like flambe), so OBVIOUSLY it's really hot. The guest eats it really carefully, having a little trouble trying not to burn her mouth, but she declares it good. Then Jun goes-- and maybe isn't careful enough because he's like "WAAAGH HOT!" and looks really awkward trying to eat it. XD Then it's Aiba's turn again, and not only does he have trouble eating it because it's hot, the FX people play the American anthem WHILE HE'S EATING and he's like "AFSDJKFLSDJFK NOT AGAIN!!! ><" He seems quite pissy this ep, actually, he got grumpy about the food being too hot too. XD;
Anyway. I think we've all obviously concluded that HOT FOOD IS HOT by this point.
So what does Sho do?
He PUTS THE WHOLE THING IN HIS MOUTH and then spits it out, shrieking, like he's somehow SURPRISED by the burning. XDDDDD Oh Sho. I thought you were the SMART one. *shakes head* Bt he eats it anyway and is like, "... it's good though!" while everyone else is like, "................"
The last dish is apparently a little weird. Everyone has a strange look on their face when they eat it, and Ogura comments that you can really tell what people think about it from their expression. Then they totally zoom in on Ohno making this weird spaced out face, completely on purpose, until Nino thwaps him with a piece of paper for being a dork. *g*
They're still having trouble identifying the dish, so Aiba takes a spoonful of it, and he makes a weird face like the others... but then he takes another bite. Still making the face. So Sho decides to join in, and takes a bite. And makes a face. And it's been postulated by this point that it's maybe meatballs and yoghurt? But Sho and Aiba keep eating it with those funny looks, going faster and faster, and at the end, Sho tells them, "... Yep. Definitely meatballs and yoghurt. :Db"
The segment following the food is about the guest's "special skill", which is massage. She decides to give Aiba a foot massage to demonstrate, so Aiba kicks off his shoes and Jun scooches over to sit next to Ohno instead to give the guest more room. She puts her hands on Aiba's foot, presses, and Aiba's foot goes CRUNCH! and he goes OW! ;__; and leaps away. The guests persuades him to sit back down, though, so he manfully persists with letting her continue to maim his foot, cringing away along with all the loud crunch noises, and eventually Sho is like, what, does it really hurt that much?
Aiba: YES. WHY DON'T YOU TRY. >(
And Sho is sullen and reluctant about it, but he gives in, and... nothing happens.
Guest: ... huh? You don't have any knots.
Others: It doesn't hurt?
Sho: Huh? No.
Someone, probably Aiba: Does that mean he's not human?
Guest: Yeah, he's so not human!
So she moves onto Ohno. And it is the FUNNIEST THING EVER, I SWEAR, because she presses down and Ohno's foot crunches-- and Ohno SHRIEKS and FLAILS BACKWARDS and FALLS OFF THE COUCH. Like, he fully falls backwards over the arm onto the floor and yells "OOOOOW" and it was pretty spectacular, and you know, that is just. It's classic. Comedy GOLD.
Then the last section was about her ideal date. I didn't really pay much attention, but it involved muscular arms, her half-hitting on Sho and Ogura, and a line-up of anonmyous guys (including Sho and Ogura) behind a wooden screen with just their right arms sticking out doing strong man poses and playing jan ken. (Everyone: EUUURGH, CREEPY!) She then chose number 6, and when they revealed them she's like WAH I MEANT FOUR! FOOOUR!
Sho, who was number 5: *plaintively* What about ME?
And then they make her go on a "date" with the dude. Seriously. MAKE. Jun totally shoves her, I'm not kidding. XD
Shukudai-kun #84 was just... it was a thing of beauty, you guys, I can't even. Unfortunately I missed it on tv because they moved it forward half an hour (what the fuck? Who just DOES that without warning?! Japanese tv is screwed up!) but I have totally degenerated to the point where I went to find it on youtube instead. << The picture is clearer on my mobile and the show isn't so disjointed as it is by being cut into segments on youtube, but on the other hand I can rewatch particularly hilarious moments or things I've missed.
The guest is this totally hilarious guy who was in The Last Princess with Jun, and he pretty much spends the whole first section HITTING ON JUN. I'm just. I'm not even kidding. First of all, there's the fact he calls him JUN. Just Jun. When the rest of Arashi pounces on this, he's like, well, it's so hard to know what to call someone when you first meet them! It's weird calling him Matsumoto-kun, it's too distant!
J: Actually, you DID call me Matsumoto-kun when we first met.
Guest: Huh?
J: *tells the story of their first meeting*
Guest: ... well I made a mistake, then! And later realised "Matsumoto-kun" was too distant! *continues to call him Jun*
There's also a spectacular moment where he hits on the WHOLE OF ARASHI AT ONCE, saying that he's really nervous, and when they ask why, being like "you're all so good looking! It makes my heart go doki doki! I have to look at Ogura-san to calm myself down!"
O: ....................
Guest: ... sorry? :D?
Mostly he hits on Jun, though. XD He says that being around Jun gives him an "onna gokoro" feeling. Lit. female heart; translating my japanese dictionary, it is:
1. A girl's feelings, female psychology;
2. The feelings a girl has when she has a crush on a boy.
XDDDDDDD
This guest is kind of hilarious.
Anyway, he then tells them all a story about how when they had to go to the furo after filming on the Last Princess because of all the grime, and how he'd be like ZOMG DOKI DOKI DOKI DOKI when Jun came in and hid under the water and made waves to make the water less see-through because HIS STOMACH STICKS OUT WAAH. Then he talked about how when he got out of the furo he was curious about what kind of pants Jun wore.
Nino: THAT'S NOT ONNA GOKORO!
Guest: Eh? Then what gokoro is it?
Jun: Doesn't that just make you a hentai? XDDDDD
Aiba: *leans forward in his seat* Did you get to see them~? :D :D :D
Guest: ANYWAY, PANTS. So Jun gets in the furo, I put pants on-- *mimes putting on pants*
Sho: *horrified* DID YOU JUST PUT ON JUN'S PANTS?
Guest: No, these are MY pants.
Jun: *amused* Then where are MY pants?
Guest: *waves over in front of Sho* Around here.
Nino: *DYING*
After that is the food segment, and the return of food-stall!Sho, who puts on a kansai accent and is kind of excellent. Plus, his cha-han is once more actually edible, surprising everyone (including himself) and he's like, "... d-does this mean I'm getting better? *hopeful*"
The food segment was followed by questions for the guest, where he tells them about this version of jan ken that essentially involves BASHING THE LOSER REALLY HARD. Uuuuuuuuuh.
Finally, there was RETURN OF AIBA LAND, which-- I was going to say is the best bit hands down, which usually would be true, but the first segment of this episode was so excellent that that's a hard call to make. Either way, though, I laughed so hard I CRIED. Then I rewatched it, and AGAIN laughed so hard I cried, because it's just that wonderful. The game is essentially a cross between simon says and giant's treasure-- one person is chosen to be the "oni", and with their back facing all the "children", reads out a sentence starting with "daruma-san wa..." (Daruma are those round red things with the faces.) The sentence can finish with "(blah) ni natta!" (became BLAH), or a verb. The children then have to act like the daruma and do whatever it supposedly did, and the one who makes the poorest imitation gets out and has to hold the oni's hand. The next "child" to get out hold's the first person's hand, continuing in a line, until one of the players still in touches the joined hands of the oni and the first child and they all run away. The oni yells out to make them freeze and jumps as far as they can. They then have to try to reach out and touch one of the children without moving from that spot.
They played two games, one with Nino as the oni and one with Jun. Both times, Ogura got out first because he didn't do anything, just stood there and laughed at the rest of them being total morons, which I kind of heart him for.
Nino's was fun (the guest lost), but Jun's turn was PURE GOLD. I freaking CRIED when he made them mimic Michael Jackson, and it just got better when he told them to become rappers and then just stood there LAUGHING AT THEM LOOK LIKE MORONS for almost a full minute before choosing one of them as out. XDDDD Sho lost that time. I think the punishment was making them make stupid faces or something, they only ran that bit during the credits, but heeeee.
Okay, I'm stopping there. I watched episodes 12-19 of NCIS as well, but I feel this post is already getting quite long soooooooo I'll include them in the next fannish post.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-05-25 05:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-25 05:44 am (UTC)MY FANDOMS, THEY ARE INFESTED WITH CLONES! XD;
no subject
Date: 2008-05-25 05:50 am (UTC)~~<3
no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 06:41 am (UTC)ASDFDSF CHAPTER 35 AND DID YOU NOTICE THAT SPIRIT ALMOST HAD A WHOLE PANEL TO HIMSELF?!
I am so in love with the pairing it hurts (and broken, insane men are indeed hot), and you need to read more because the entirety of 38 to 40 is so epic win and Stein is insane and pretty and Spirit and everyone and. And. And. *coherent words are gone*
So, um, once that's done, I'll go and slink off again?
no subject
Date: 2008-05-28 06:45 am (UTC)