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November 30, 2004
Nasu Yukie: Flower Destroyer
I don't really like this series. It may have something to do with how I read the sequel (Dark Age) before this one, I'm not sure. Or maybe it's just because the protagonist is boring and the other characters don't have personalities.
... I like Nasu Yukie. I swear.
The plot is time travel and super powers and vaguely SF. A flower is discovered inthe future in outer space and it's discovered that it gives people who smell it supernatural powers. A girl who smelled some runs away and bring some to the present, where our protagonist accidentally smell it. She's later hired by the time police to assist in weird trouble. Um. I can't really think of more to say, because I can't be bothered to re-read this.
Also included is an early short-story by Nasu called Yukionna (roughly, "snow maiden".) I had heard lots of good things about this one, and I was looking forward to being awed, but because my expectations were so high I couldn't stop simulating in my head what this story was about and how it would end, and I figured it out about halfway through and thereby spoiled myself. It probably didn't help that I had just read Lafcadio Hearn's Yukionna a few weeks ago ... I mean, Nasu couldn't have ended this story like in Hearn's version, so she had to go for the other option. So much hate for myself.
Category: Shojo/ladies | Comments (3)
November 25, 2004
Escape disc 2 (Ogihara Hideki x Yoshino Hiroyuki, Itô Kentarô x Ichijô Kazuya)
First posted in LJ's bl_dramas community; re-posted here with slight alterations.
More Escape! Wheee~!
Yoshino Hiroyuki plays Yamano, the class president of Yamato's (Ogihara Hideki) class. They're having a school festival, and Yoshino suggests that the class have a "host club" for the day. The entire class thinks it's a horrible idea and boos him out, and Ogihara tells him that if Yoshino becomes a host, people would run away screaming. It appears Yoshino and Ogihara are dating, though, so Yoshino is hurt and decides to show Ogihara by becoming a real host and having tons of women buy him cars and jewelry.
So he goes to a real host club to learn how you're supposed to do it ... but is hired as a dishwasher.
To his luck (?), he smashes some plates and loses his glasses, which makes the owner (played by Ichijô Kzuya) notice that he's actually pretty cute without the glasses. So Ichijo agrees to let Yoshino try out being a host, and Yoshino is assigned a customer (who is supposed to sound like a woman, and not a transvestite ... or so I strongly assume) and fucks it up royally by holding a speech about the weather in his weirdest voice (which is the most hilarious scene in a BLCD, ever. 本日は御日柄も良く? bwaha!).
Ichijo still thinks Yoshino is cute so he says he'll give him a, ahem, private lesson, and after the club has closed down they, ahem, engage in it. Just when Ichijo has managed to get a finger or two up the shrieking Yoshino, who comes to his rescue but ...
Ogihara!!!
So Ogihara takes Yoshino home, and is all jealous of Ichijo and ties Yoshino up, and they have wild monkey sex. Afterwards, Ogihara admits that he only said the bad things about Yoshino not being attractive because he was afraid that if Yoshino took off his glasses and played a gigolo, everyone would realize how cute Yoshino is and go after him. And all is well with the world.
That sounds incredibly stupid when I write it down. And ... it is. But it's a hilarious and cute kind of stupid, trust me. I never claimed this series had much brains, but it makes up for it plenty with teh funneh and teh hot, so. I love how Ogihara is capable of reading these cheesy lines about nipples and junk which would, in any other CD, make me wince and cover my ears, and actually make it sound ... hot. The script-writer is talented, but so is Ogihara, I think. Everyone should love him. He doesn't have enough fans.
But! But! But! The greatness of this CD cannot be expressed without a mention of ... the second story! Itô Kentarô x Ichijô Kazuya ... oh god. That casting. And no, I didn't write the pairing wrong: Ichijô is uke. Like omg wheeeee!
This story seems to have some back-story to it which I'll explain beforehand: ItoKen, I guess, is a swimmer who was in an accident, and Ichijo a gigolo. Ichijo sees ItoKen do rehabilitation outside his host club, and was touched by how determined he was, I think. This somehow turned to ItoKen working for the club, and Ichijo giving ItoKen more of his famed private lessons. (Haha.) So the two gradually became lovers. I, um, guess.
So anyway, when this story begins ItoKen is out for an early morning jog, and meets Ichijo who just got home from a date with one of his customers. Ichijo invites ItoKen back to his place, and Ichijo talk for a long while about the aforementioned backstory ... and then they do 69 and fuck.
I wish I could say more but that's what they do for the majority of the story, so. (Imagine me giggle inanely at it here.) Well, to be fair, they also have a bet about who will come last in the 69ing, which cracked me up. This is seriously the most smutty story on discs 1 and 2 combibed ... and I think you might not feel too comfortable about it if what you're looking for is cutesy uke being molested by his big seme, since this is two big guys with deep voices doin' each other. I loved it but I'm like that (hehe). My pal Nagibook tells me she hated it, and I suspect she might have a more mainstream taste than me when it comes to BL, so listen with caution!
In the last track, set at the host club, ItoKen tells the transvestite his customer that his ideal woman is a "femme fatal", one you know is dangerous but you can't stop falling in love ... by which he means Ichijo, of course. And at the end they kiss and ItoKen says "I love you," and Ichijo aaaaaalmost returns the feelings. Only not, because he's a gigolo and shouldn't love people. I'm sure he'll succumb soon, though. Mufufu.
Category: BLCDs | Comments (3)
Escape disc 1 (Ogihara Hideki x Midorikawa Hikaru, Hiyama Nobuyuki x Midorikawa Hikaru)
First posted in LJ's bl_dramas community; re-posted here with slight alterations.
The Escape drama CDs are based on the game of the same title, which I have never played and never intend to, but I'm told it's a ren'ai (love) simulation game where you play to have sex with the guy of your choice. Like, duh. It's not that I have anything against these sort of games (on the contrary!), but for some reason this background info made me reluctant to listen to the CDs at first. I think I had disc 1 lying on my HD for a year before I listened to it.
Which I sorely regretted when my pal Nagibook sent me disc 4 and I fi-nal-ly sat down and listened. Cuz this series is, like, wicked.
Each CD consist of several shorter stories each with a different pairing. Ogihara Hideki is in most of these pairings, and in most of them he's whispering sweet nothings in the ears of his lovers, but that doesn't mean he's a two/three/four/five-timing bastard; these stories aren't supposed to be taking place in the same timeline, and are just realizations of the different pairings you can have in the game (and then some). Doesn't change the fact that Ogihara is a total manwhore ... eh, *cough*
In one word, these stories are smutty. By which I mean they are omg 2 hotttt fer wordzzz!11!! But on top of that, they're funny (often hilarious), well-written, and cute without being sugary. What more can a girl ask for? Nothing, I say.
Disc one features two separate stories, each with Midorikawa Hikaru's role Natsukawa Jun as a Johnny's idol and bitchy uke (Johnny's idol ... that amuses me far too much). Him and Ogihara Hideki's role Majima Yamato are classmates. The story starts with Midorikawa hosting a radio show, where he utilizes his best cutesy-teen-idol voice (and I die from teh cute). He gets a lot of calls from listeners with weird questions about hotdogs and SM queens and rabbits and one hole and getting knocked up. That's all hilarious and junk. At the end of the show Midorikawa gets a mail from a female listener about his new single: she writes that she has a boyfriend but that he's away a lot so she's sad ... and then she continues to say that one particular part of Midorikawa's new single reminds her of her BF when he comes (ahahaha). Midorikawa replies and is very sympathetic, and at the end he goes "Aishiteruyo ♥" at her request.
Scene changes, and we hear Midorikawa call Origaha. Because, as was to be expected, he was the one who sent in the silly letter! Midorikawa is all upset (so cute), of course, to which Ogihara replies that the letter was all true: they haven't been able to see each other lately because Midorikawa is so busy, and that he has been listening to Midorikawa's new single and thinking about having sex with him. Midorikawa gets even more upset ... but Ogihara somehow manages to provoke him into having phone sex (bwaha). So Ogihara does the usual seme-talk ... "You like to be touched on your nipples, right? Touch them. Oooh, you're so dirty ... you love this ... I bet you touch them when you jerk off by yourself, too ..." (Midorikawa is all "No way! Shut up!" but he likes it, obviously.) Then Ogihara manages to get Midorikawa to finger himself, and he comes.
This story ends with Ogihara cutely asking Midorikawa to say that he loves him, and Midorikawa complying reluctantly. Very very very very very cute and hot. In short, I loved this.
The second story featured Midorikawa again as Natsukawa, and Hiyama Nobuyuki as the seme Sena Yoshihiko. Here we meet Midorikawa right after he has slept with a producer of a TV show to get a role. (Aw!) He hates himself for it, so when Hiyama sees him smooch with the producer and blackmails him into following him to his apartment, Midorikawa doesn't object.
Turns out Hiyama doesn't want to have sex with him, though ... Hiyama is a hentai manga writer, and is in dire need of someone to assist his manga-drawing so he can meet his deadline. (Ogihara's role Yamato is Hiyama's assistant in this story.) Midorikawa is very relieved, and he ends up helping Hiyama from time to time.
Along the way Midorikawa comes to trust Hiyama more and more, probably because Hiyama doesn't treat him like an idol but just like an ordinary and annoying kid. One night, Midorikawa confesses to Hiyama about how he hates himself for sleeping with producers, and how he thinks everyone knows about it and are looking down on him for it, and how he almost doesn't find being an idol fun, and stuff. Hiyama consoles Midorikawa by telling him that ... um, that Midorikawa should do porn to learn what good sex is about (bwahaha). Then Hiyama holds a long speech about what good sex is, and hugs Midorikawa, and then they proceed to have good sex. With toys. And it's hot.
Midorikawa is too damn cute in this CD, in case you couldn't tell from what I wrote above. He's really cute in idol-mode like in the first story, of course, but in non-idol mode he's pouty and angry and annoying and just ... I want to slap him and hug him and take him home with me, dammit! And the worst thing is, I'm not even a Midorikawa-fan! I can't imagine what this will do to his fans ... fry their brains, probably. Muchly recommended. Of course, Ogihara and Hiyama are great as well.
Category: BLCDs | Comments (1)
November 23, 2004
Fujiko F Fujio: SF zentanpen vol. 3
A complete collection of all Fujiko F Fujio's SF short stories, a bit like the three SF tanpenshû I have mentioned earlier, just much much MUCH thicker and to all appearances, actually complete. A dream-come-true for any F-fan.
I felt like re-reading this third and final volume after watching a few trailers of The Incredibles, because this volume features all 14 chapters of the classic series Chûnen superman Saenai-shi (Mr. Saenai, the middle-aged superman). For those in the know it's sort of a ESPer Mami with a middle-aged protagonist ... but I doubt anyone reading has every heard of ESPer Mami, so um. Mr. Saenai is an ordinary "salaryman" who is one day given a superman suit by another ordinary salaryman, and he is given superpowers and the duty to save whatever he can. He doesn't save the world and become world-famous, though: he realizes early on that superman can't, you know, fix any trouble that's actually deep trouble, so he goes around saving people ... actually I can't even remember who it is saves, because it's all so insignificant. No one important, at any rate. The whole series plays with the ideas of the individual and what he can do against the fundamental evil that is society, but in a rather deadpanned and unserious way. Brilliant, I think.
This volume also includes the hilarious series about the man from the future who strands in contemporary Japan, and tries to sell a number of super-cameras from the future to make a living ... and usually fails miserably. Everything here is good, though.
On a side-note, I love this Chûôkôronsha (now Chûôkôronshinsha) "Aizôban" ("treasure edition") series. Why do publishers not put out big-format manga paperbacks anymore?! Those modern bunko are way too small, y0. I'm not asking for magazine-size, but at least something like twice the tankobon-size would be nice. The four-volume Kaze to ki no uta in this series is positively droolworthy. And I own it, haha. Suckers.
Category: Shonen/seinen | Comments (3)
November 18, 2004
Chôja Reideen episode 1, part 2
Beware: gratuitous screencap post.
I feel like it would benefit everyone (or just myself) if I posted this junk with thumbnails and stuff, but I can't be bothered. So for now ...
Hisho and Tsubasa go to Saijô Kirari's concert. Or it's an event, actually, for her new single. Completely irrelevant info, there.
Some invincible monster walk about on the street and make cars crach. This guy is all, "What the fuck just happened?" and I'd like to ask the same -- people whose cars crash like that are usually, you know, injured.
It's this guy again. No one seems to be able to see him.
That thing Kirari is wearing is apparently a "Zodiac Globe" which they need for ... something. To take over the universe, probably.
Reiko-san arrives in her spiffy blue car to Kirari's concert.
And complains to herself loudly about the lack of bishonen in the world.
And just happens to spot Hisho.
And fangirls him like mad. (I like her already.)
"Hey, pretty boy ... wanna be in my seedy video?" (She didn't say that, no.)
Hisho: "No thanks, I'm not interested in the entertainment bizz."
Reiko: *swirly eyes*
Ace and Reiko-san already know each other, it appears. (Ace should never button his shirt.) Ace tells Reiko that she has good taste. (How gay.)
Reiko: "So he is ..." What? He's an octopus? What?
Hisho doesn't know who Kirari is, so Tsubasa thinks he's, like, so old. Tsubasa is cute. Hisho sits gaily.
I think I've mentioned this before, but just so you know ... Hisho is cute.
Kirari's clothes. No comment.
Kirari-chan prays to the mirror that the people who listen to her songs will become all warm and fuzzy inside. Aw.
So she gets on stage.
Hisho is all omgetfbbq?! at seeing her, and for a short while I worry that he might have fallen for Kirari and I'm ready to smack him up for cheating on Ruri.
But luckily, Kirari just reminded Hisho of Ruri. (Why am I supporting a het pairing in this gayest show in the history of anime, anyway?)
Kirari is cute, too.
The monster comes up on stage and Kirari is afraid. (I don't want to take caps of the monster, so you'll have to take my word for it.)
No one in the audience can see the monster except Hisho.
Hisho thinks back to the weird man he met in outer space, and the Chomazoku/Choma he mentioned, and thinks that this monster is probably one. (Why he believes such a weird-looking guy he met in outer fucking space, I do not know.)
Kirari can see the monster too, so she runs away.
Here she has run into an elevator and is mumbling about "They must have come." Who, the Choma? Why does she know?
Kirari dropped the blue thing on her dress while running, but it appears it wasn't a real Zodiac Globe after all.
Kirari runs out on the roof of the building and is conered. Silly girl.
Hisho to the rescue! I'm relieved: Hisho can look ugly, too.
The monster attacks and knocks Hisho out.
The God Feather appears out of nowhere, and Hisho has another flashback to him and Ruri. Here, Ruri is wondering if there is a story out there just for her. I think she was a bit emo, that Ruri.
Aw, lub.
Is it just me, or are her eyes swimming? Drugs, I tell you.
Hisho looking up at the shining God Feather. Pretty. The God Feather is talking about how Hisho should take him and become one with him. Bwaha.
Kirari is cornered and falls down. At her scream, Hisho finally grabs the God Feather and changes into Reideen as seen in the opening. (No, I won't cap that again.)
He saves Kirari, woot. I wonder why the God Feather didn't come to him when Ruri was about to die and stuff.
No one can see the Reideen either, it seems.
Kirari: "Who are you?"
Weird man: "I am ... Reideen Eagle!!!"
Good to know.
The monster swells up and stuff. What is this, Ultraman?
Attack! Defence! Fight! And junk!
Reideen Eagle takes out his sword. "There is nothing my sword cannot cut!!!" I suspect we'll see this sequence in every episode.
Reideen Eagle defeats the ugly monster, and Rouche says something about the Reideen getting in his way again. Then why is he smiling?
Ace and Reiko-san were watching. Stalkers, they are.
So Hisho changes back into human, and he's all naked. It kind of makes sense, because the Reideen dude is certainly bigger than Hisho, but still ...
Gratuitous butt-shot.
Symbolic final shot. Hisho, go home before you're arrested for streaking.
Category: Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
November 17, 2004
Chôja Reideen episode 1, part 1
Beware: gratuitous screencap post.
The first episode was as I had expected: introduction of the protagonist and his angsty background and the villains, and the first transformation of the protagonist to one of those Reideen-thingies. I mean, this is a hero series ... what else was I to expect?
I did like it more than I thought I would, though, mostly because of the protagonist Hisho. First of all he is mightly cute-looking, but he also has an actually interesting angsty backstory, with Ruri, his friend/girlfriend, apparently being an angsty goth-type who maybe tried to kill herself and maybe not, and is now in a coma. I just love how he sits and reads for Ruri in the hospital ... so cute. His interaction with his sister was adorable, too. Hisho is just generally very lovable, without being too cutesy or goody-good.
Screencaps and a somewhat random summary to follow.
The villain comes flying in from outer space.
His stupid-looking sidekick. Probably to be killed later in this episode.
The villain Rouche (sp?) explains that there is a "God Reideen" on Earth protected by the twelve constellations (I think?), and that he needs to get ahold of the "Star Globes" (I think?) in order to get ahold of it and take over the universe. The exposition came strong and fast so I wasn't paying much attention. This guy is voiced by Yao Kazuki, and I can't recall ever watching anything with him in it, but his voice is mighty nice.
Gratuitous bare chest shot of Ace (one of many to come). He's standing on top of a tall building and gazing over the city as if looking for something.
Then he just sort of jumps down like that. Ace is cool.
Hisho reading an article on meteor crash in outer space for Ruri. Aw. (In reality this article is about the arrival of the villains from outer space. Oooh, clever.)
Ruri, in a coma.
Ruri's mother comes in and Hisho stands up. I noticed that he calls Ruri "Ruri" when they're alone but "Ruri-chan" when he mother is present. That smells of a deeper relationship to me.
Ruri is really pretty, I think.
Gratuitous Hisho angst. Hisho is played by Itô Kentarô, by the way. Really neat.
Hisho thinks back to the day of Ruri's accident. Ruri is cute.
OMG gakuran. Not only gakuran, but gakuran on bare skin!!! Hisho is a true trooper. I adore him already.
Ruri talks about how everything bores her and that she wants to get wings and flyyyyy awaaaaaay o/~
It's so obvious Hisho is in love with her, man.
Wind blows. Gratuitous pretty shot of Hisho.
Ruri, what the fuck are you doing?
Flyyyyy awaaaaaay o/~
Ruri really is pretty, but I think she was on drugs.
oh noez! (She's falling down if you couldn't tell.)
As seen in the opening.
Hisho snaps out of the flashback and finds a feather. I think Ace referred to this one as the "God Feather".
Is it just me, or does God Feather look really villainy and evil?
It shines and stuff. Gratuitous pretty Hisho pic.
Hisho suddenly finds himself in outer space.
Pretty.
Attack!
Fighting! A bunch of mecha fighting follows which I didn't bother to cap.
Hisho falls down because he was hit by the villain. Dude, you were floating just fine a minute ago.
I can't stop capping Hisho. He's pretty.
Pretty.
Hisho is rescued by this weird man. The weird man gives us a lot of exposition about how the Reideen faught the Chômazoku (or just Chôma) a very long time ago in this galaxy and managed to banish them, but that they've resurrected and have come back. Then the weird man says he is Hisho, and that Hisho should take the God Feather and fight.
Hisho refuses.
Hisho has sex is woken from this bad dream (or was it? dum dum dum).
By his sister! Aw, she's cute. She's called Tsubasa. How symbolic.
Gratuitous prettyboy angst.
Hisho has promised to take Tsubasa to a concert with the idol Kirari, and takes her there on his shoulders. Aw.
Gratuitous bare chest shot of Ace. I think he's stalking Hisho, yo.
Eyecatch 1.
Eyecatch 2.
To be continued in part 2.
Category: Miscellaneous | Comments (2)
November 16, 2004
Chôja Reideen opening 1: In My Justice
Beware: this is a gratuitous screencap post.
I wasn't going to make an "anime" category here, because on the rare occasion that I do watch anime, I usually get bored and stop after one or two episodes. In the case with this anime, I haven't even watched one episode, just the opening animation. But I swear to watch it! Really! Thus I'm making this post in the hope that it will remind me to continue watching. Hey, a girl can hope ...
Chôja Reideen is am anime series from 1996/1997 made by Sunrise, the people behind Gundam. I think it's a part of their long-running "Yûsha" series and that it's a re-make of Yûsha Reideen from 1975/1976. But reportedly, it has obsolutely no similarities with the original Reideen.
The "Yûsha" series is basically an anime version of Toei's many tokusatsu and sentai series: a group of young men and women change into superheroes in mecha-ish costumes and fight evil. And ... that's all I know and I guess it's all you need to know.
On to the screencaps.
A guy is standing with light shining behind his back, and suddenly a pair of wings grow out of his back. It looks really painful and I was for some reason reminded of the first real appearance of Amon in Devilman. But whatever.
Gratuitous mecha shot to lure in the kids.
Logo: Chôja Reideen (duh).
Left: Ikazuchi. Right: Hayate. (Or at least I think that's right.) They look all serious and cool here, but Ikazuchi is a comic from Osaka and Hayate is the recident shota.
Ace, the recident stereotypical foreigner.
I can't for the life of me remember what this guy's name is, but I think he's the leader of the hero group. He has wicked hair and wicked tanned skin. I think it's because he's an idol, or a model, or something.
The protagonist Hishô. Or at least I think that's his name. Maybe I read the kanji wrong, because "Hishô" is a really weird name. But so is "Ikazuchi" ...
Mecha. Don't ask me who's who.
The three heroines. From left to right: Ruri, the school girl; Reiko-san, the manager; and Kirari, the idol. There's a manager in there because the five heroes are in a boyband when they aren't fighting evil. (And you thought Weiss kreuz had a stupid premise.)
I guess that's the villain.
Again.
Ace looks cool here. I dig him already.
Reiko-san and Ace. I think I heard they end up as a couple. Wow, like, foreshadowing.
Ruri, the school girl.
Falling down and stuff.
Hishô. I think he's reaching out for Ruri. I can't really remember what their relationship was, but I think Ruri is in a coma and that Hishô is somehow responsible? (It's a shame I can't remember if this show came before or after Wk.)
The villain, I guess, with the obligatory body-paint and pointy ears to show he's an alien and evil, and junk.
I like him, though. He looks like a funny guy.
Kirari, the idol. Did I mention yet that this girl has the worst clothes ever?
Hishô grabs a feather.
And shines and stuff.
Gratuitous pretty shot of the hero.
And more. I'm not complaining, since he is pretty.
I wish he didn't dance like a damn backstreet boy, though.
"Lalala~"
I don't know what that is on his arm, but it looks painful.
This is where it gets weird.
Did I mention this is a fan-service anime?
I hear they do this in every episode.
I think Hishô is transforming. But whatever it is, those muscles sure look painful.
Auch! Auch! Auch!
Auch! Auch! Auch!
Look, Hishô thinks it's painful, too. Or maybe he's just angsting because his exaggeratedly long eyelashes make him look gay.
He's glowing. And stuff.
3D mecha! High-tech! I guess.
More mecha. Shiny.
More gratuitous pretty shots of Hishô. Dammit, he's pretty. Even with gay eyelashes.
Mecha. If you think my comments to mecha pics are less that enthusiastic, you'd be right.
More mecha.
I guess the heroes will ... fly in this thing? On a side-note I dislike 3D animation mixed with cell animation.
Blue mecha. No idea who that is.
Green mecha. Ditto.
Red mecha is Hishô, I suppose, following sentai logic. He's having an orgasm here.
Like, wheeee!
Hishô lands ... Wait, I was told they were naked when they transformed back to humans! Cheating!
They strike a pose and it's all cool and junk. Notice the shortpants on Hayate? I told you he was the recident shota.
And that's it. Didn't it make you all want to watch the actual series, too? It certainly convinced me! It helped that the song is good.
No, there isn't a conclusion beyond that here.
Category: Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
November 12, 2004
Shinshitsu no kagi kaimasu (Seki Toshihiko x Midorikawa Hikaru, Takemura Hiroshi, Koyasu Takehito)
This was the first BLCD I listened to, back in 1996. A friend of mine was a huge Gundam W Duo x Heero fangirl at the time (as was the rest of the Japanese fangirl population, it seemed ...), and she recommended this CD to me because of the cast. You know, Midorikawa and Seki? Yeah.
As I mentioned under BL urabanashi vol. 2, I had a seven-year hiatus of listening to BLCDs after I got this one. That doesn't mean it's bad; I just didn't have an opportunity to listen to more. (We had to walk 50 miles through snow! uphill! both ways! to get our audio buttsex back then, ya know.) Actually, as far as idiotic porn-disguised-as-a-story-with-a-tagged-on-kidnapping scenarios go, this is ... decent.
But I might just be biased because the Seki Toshihiko seme in this one is like woa.
Um, back to the story. Nao (Midorikawa) and Yû (Seki) were childhood friends, and they meet again one faithful day ... by Yû almost almost running Nao over and crashing his car in the process. Nao wants to repent for running out in front of the car and Yû says he'll forgive him if he gets to fuck him. So they fuck. In the hospital. After Yû gets out he sorta moves in with Nao for no apparent reason, and one day he asks Nao if he won't buy him for a month for something like a million yen, and Neo agrees for some weird reason. Then they fuck. Then they get into a fight about Yû getting valentine's day chocolates from girls? or something? and then Nao gets kidnapped and oh no.
Yes, the story is going everywhere and nowhere.
I think by the standards of the time (dammit, this review is making me feel more and more old) this was pretty smutty, but it's not worse than most titles coming out today. I do think, however, that you can hear the cast (especially Midorikawa-san) is less used to doing these things than they are now, and the uke-voice in the sex scenes are ... shrill. Like, my poor ears. His acting in the other scenes are good, though, with a not-too-pretty but pouty and cute voice, and Seki is just fabulous: he doesn't have the now-typical deep seme voice, but rather a spunky and teasing tone that puts me in a good mood. Muchly recommended for Seki-fans.
Oh, Koyasu only appears in about one scene and acts horribly. I don't know why. But I thought I'd mention him because he was in GW, too.
Category: BLCDs | Comments (0)
November 11, 2004
Watsuki Nobuhiro: Busô Renkin vol. 4
The volume in which Kazuki and Tokiko battle the Hayasaka-twins, and enter the headquarters of the LXE.
I never meant to read this manga, and the only reason I did was the freaky crazy villain Chôno Kôshaku (he's like Hisoka of Hunter x Hunter, just less perverted but more weird), so this volume loses major points with me when he only appears in about two or three scenes. One of them, the public bathhouse scene, was cracktastically fabulous in so many ways, and I can eat several bowls of rice just with the picture of that tub hanging from Chôno's crotch, but still! We need more Chôno!
Speaking of the bathhouse scene, as far as I understand the relative sizes of the penes of the four friends can be expressed as Daihama > Kazuki > Rokumasu > Okakura, right? Somehow, that fits perfectly with Okakura's characterization.
As usual I'm not enjoying the battle sequences, because I can't tell what's going on. I lost interest in Rurôni Kenshin when it entered the Kyoto arc and began to be centered around battles, so that sort of figures. But Watsuki himself mentions in the liner notes that this manga loses major amounts of votes in the Jump reader's polls when it enters battles, which must mean I'm in the majority for once! Wheee!
Speaking of liner notes, they're very extensive as usual, but Watsuki never fails to annoy me with his constant putting down of himself. Like the way he draws himself as a fat pig? Really, now, if he doesn't respect himself how the heck am I supposed to? Also, this might just be my prejudice speaking, but it also smells of "omg I suck and I know it, aren't I just speshul? Feel bad for me!!!" He might just mean it as comic relief, but news flash! It's not funny unless you're a comic genius on the level of Matsumoto Hitoshi, k?
The tagic past (TM) of the Hayasaka-twins was neat, though. If the male counterpart is coming back in some form, I'll get volume five.
... okay, who am I kidding, I'll read volume five just to see what's up with Chôno's wings. But it better be good, Watsuki! And no more whining, damn you!
Category: Shonen/seinen | Comments (0)
November 09, 2004
Cherry Boy Sakusen 2 (Fukuyama Jun x Suzumura Kenichi, Suzuki Chihiro x Toriumi Kôsuke, Narita Ken)
The following is an excerpt from a journal entry elsewhere in which I summarized this CD in order to give a few people an idea of that was happening in it.
"I had forgotten that Suzumura and Suzuki and Toriumi (and Chiba Susumu) are in that group of relatively new male seiyu whose voices I can't tell from one another. -_- I'm so happy they call each other's names everytime they meet as if they're surprised. ("Akira!" "Takeshi!" *me checks the cast listing frantically to see who is who*)
"But Fukuyama Jun seme = neatness. Especially since I gave up on Wild Rock because of his uke. And it sounds as though he's the protagonist, although he's the seme. Yay, lots of monologues. There's this Koyasu-esque feel to his voice here, I think? Just a bit. (You probably shouldn't trust me on that, since I think Takahashi Hiroki sounds like Narita Ken, too.)
"Track 2 min 5: Narita Ken!!! It's been so long since I heard him. OMG. ;o; (<-- happy tears)
"Mesu, mesu, mesu ... MESUBUTA!!! XD NariKen just said mesubuta! I don't know why that amuses me so much.
"Track 4: ... for a while there I though it would be Suzumura x Fukuyama.
"Fukuyama: "... you drank it?"
Suzumura: "Yeah."
Fukuyama: "... thanks."
Me: "wtflol?"
"Track 7: Suzuki and Toriumi appear here. It sounds like Toriumi x Suzuki. A lot. And it sounds as though Toriumi wants to have a foursome wtf. plz stop.
"Track 9: Suzuki x Toriumi, it is. "Kono ... hetakuso!" Hahaha, that's a first in a BLCD. Oh, Toriumi didn't want a foursome, he just liked being watched. Yay, I guess? But wah, I like this Toriumi-uke.
"Track 11: Fukuyama's house is so big, it has an echo. It sounds as though four gay people are having a bitchfight in a large men's room.
"3:30: Narita Ken!!1!!11!1!!11!!! (Seriously, I jump a bit every time I hear his voice.) zomg, NariKen is Fukuyama's big bro and he popped Suzumura's cherry. Actually no one said the latter yet but it's obvious.
"Track 12: *listens intently to the Narita x Suzumura flashback* *chants a prayer for some smut to come on*
"Track 13: Gah, I do not want to hear this Miki x Murota shit! Get back to the NariKen x SuzuKen, dammit!!
"Ooooooh ... there it is. *listens intently* Wait, that was just Fukuyama's dream? Dammit. I guess I'll have to go listen to Saredo futeki na yatsura again. Dammit. BTW, I recommend that one. it's extra tasty because it has a bit of Midorikawa-seme in it, too.
"In conclusion, I have been withdrawning from Narita Ken for far too long. Also, the Suzuki x Toriumi was omg hot and far too short. Is there a sequel with them? Probably not. ;_;"
Summary? What summary? There is no story to this thing what-so-ever. What I described above is roughly the whole thing. I don't recommend this unless you're dying to hear Fukuyama-seme or Toriumi-uke. Not that I'd blame you for that, or anything.
Category: BLCDs | Comments (0)
CLAMP: Tsubasa ch. 53-60
I keep wondering who this manga is aimed at. I'm not a CLAMP fan, but I have read the vast majority of their bibliography and I have so far recognized all characters in this manga that I was supposed to recognize. Coincidentally, that's also the only reason I have enjoyed this title -- I only care about it when the guest characters are some I cared about to begin with, like Seishiro (of Tokyo Babylon and X) or Ashura and Yasha (of RG Veda). If we assume that other people feel the same as me (and seriously, they ought to -- the main storyline of this thing is so thin it's transparant), this manga can be said to be aimed at CLAMP fans in a broad sense. But ... but ... is the average reader of Shonen Magazine a CLAMP fan?! No way, man. Then why does all the hype seem to indicate that this manga is actually popular in the magazine?!
Oh, wait. I said it. Hype. Silly me.
Anyway, to the point: after the Sei-chan arc, the 4 + 1 moved on to a land of rabbit-like creatures, which bored me to tears, and when they exited this land they ended up separated from one another in some weird Japan-esque place where they saw statues of Ashura and Yasha, and then they were sent on to a land where Ashura and Yasha are people and fighting a bloody war. Xiaolang and Sakura end up with Ashura, and Fei and Kuro-yan with Yahsa, and it seems as though Fei and Kuro-yan have forgotten who the others are.
I can't figure out if this arc really does intrigue me or if I'm just happy to see the grown-up-and-sexeh Ashura again. But who cares: King Ashura is like wow, and that's all that matters to me right now. In RG Veda he was a hermaphrodite and I suppose he still is here, with those feminine traits and flat boobs and that dance, and I can't wait for him to meet Yasha. In the pace this thing is going, that might happen around chapter 75. Also, seeing the Ashura castle made me all nostalgic for the good-ol' days when I actually liked CLAMP manga. I even miss the Gigarian style of RG Veda which I used to hate with a passion.
I suppose I'm sorta interested in seeing what has happened to Fei and Kuro-yan as well. Fei had a close connection to a certain King Ashura where he came from (if I remember correctly Few put him to sleep and that's why he had to run away?), though that was the father of the King Ashura of above paragraph -- eh, I mean ... (Dammit, why can't these kings have unique names?)
Also, I still haven't given up my hope of seeing Geo (of Magic Knight Rayearth fame) again. Nor my hope that he'll be lovey-dovey with Eagle in some other universe. I'll love CLAMP forever if it really does happen.
Category: Shonen/seinen | Comments (0)
November 01, 2004
Ikeno Koi: Tokimeki Tonight ~ Hoshi no yukue
Tokimeki Tonight is the longest running series of Ribon magazine, and one of the longest shojo manga ever. It began serialization in Ribon in 1982, and concluded in 1994 with 30 volumes of tankobon. It was one of the very first shojo manga I ever read, and to this day, it holds a special place in my heart.
This is a supplementary volume to the 30 other volumes, so to speak, and contains the true ending of the Aira episodes, plus a few epilogues about the more minor characters of the series. The deal is that Ikeno began to draw the manga version of the magical girl anime Nurse Angel Ririka SOS in 1995, and she was forced to end Tokimeki Tonight in a manner she hadn't intended it to.
So, as a Tokimeki fan, I had to read it. I've never hid the fact that the Aira episodes weren't my thing, and I also think Ikeno's art style was much better around Tokimeki volume 15 or so, but all that aside, I think this was a satisfactory end to the series. Most of the loose ends about Aira, Kairi, and Shinjo-san are tied up, and some of the epilogues are quite funny (especially the one with Mumu and Leon). I also adore King Aron! But of course, it nowhere compares to the two climaxes of the Ranze episodes ... Agh! Shut up about that all ready, myself! There's no sense in comparing it to a masterpiece of a shojo manga from a decade ago!
Ahem. All in all, I think it's great that Ikeno got the oppotunity to finish her work as she wanted to. But no matter how much new Tokimeki she may draw, my Tokimeki Tonight ended when the Ranze episodes did. I really can't say much more.
Category: Shojo/ladies | Comments (0)