What's all this, then?
Mar. 2nd, 2008 12:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddThis week, a book and, to switch things up a bit, some music!
Jam (Nagayama Takashi):
The only reason I know this guy exists is because I got sucked into Prince of Tennis and he played an unbelievably cute Eiji in the first incarnations of the musicals. Turns out that aside from having an adorable face and a pretty hot body, he's an actor/singer/clothing designer. You can go look up "Nagayama Takashi + shower scene" if you want some eye candy. Better wait till you get home, though, it's maybe not workplace-appropriate. I'm not sure why Youtube recently tagged it as 18+, unless it's the implication that he's naked in the tub, because we're not shown anything below the waist, but anyway...
I downloaded this album on a whim, and while I was expecting generic fluffy pop, I was surprised by it being more than that. It's fun, straightforward J-pop, in the best possible sense of the word, bouncy numbers mixed in with slow ballads, and I really appreciated being able to properly hear Nagayama's voice. The man can sing, and his voice has a pleasing naturaleness to it, so it's nice that they didn't bury it: there are barely any backing vocals to speak of, and no weird distortion/dubbing effects. He wrote all the songs (music and lyrics) himself, and though I haven't paid much attention to the words, they don't seem too cheesy, and the Engrish is kept to a minimum.
As a bonus, for people like me, whose fancy is always tickled by songs that reference specific places, the chorus of "Minami guchi" name-drops the south exit of Shinjuku's JR station. :D
Final verdict: 8/10 -- I've been listening to it at least once a day for the past week.
C'est quoi, cette idée-là, de lire deux livres en français en moins d'un mois?!
La working girl : petite chronique de la vie de bureau (Sophie Talneau):
Un petit livre tout court (je l'ai terminé en deux jours, c'est-à-dire moins de deux aller-retours en métro) dans lequel Zoé raconte le début de sa carrière dans une grande compagnie de cosmétiques. Un peu style Bridget Jones, mais traitant uniquement du travail, c'est un livre léger et amusant. Je n'ai même pas pu m'empêcher de pouffer de rire dans le métro, surtout face à l'interlude comique avec Joe le clown, quand d'habitude je peux me contenter de sourire lorsque je lis quelque chose de drôle. Faudrait pas que les Japonais se posent des questions à mon sujet, quand même!
L'histoire se passe à Paris, et c'est tout très français, évidemment, mais la vie de bureau est partout un peu pareille, peu importe le décor, donc on se reconnait. Il y a le boss séduisant, le stagiaire qui ne fout rien, celle à qui on ne répond pas directement mais qui nous refile tout de même le travail qu'elle ne veut pas faire, les travailleurs parfois récalcitrants de l'entrepôt... Enfin, c'est une chronique des petits drames et des petites aventures quotidiennes dans le monde du travail, rien qui ne changera votre vie, mais ça vous fera sourire.
Note finale: 8/10
And then, it was over. But only the tv series! I'll keep it short, I promise.
Prince of Tennis:
Many others have said it before me, but I'll say it again: this series is pure crack. It's addictive as all get-out, the cast is enormous (and half of them are quite possibly insane), and the creators themselves seem to have been smoking something. How else to explain the chibi episodes; the gravity-defying, perception-skewing, multicoloured, sparkly tennis moves; aVery Special bonus episode that seems to have been created as an excuse to show Tezuka and Atobe in skimpy clothing, lying sweaty and panting on top of each other. Come on, with all that silliness going on in the canon, who even needs a fandom? Not that the Prince of Tennis fandom is anything short of incredible and hysterical, of course.
I'm seriously thinking of doing an episode-by-episode recap, which will give me a convenient excuse to watch the series again. Of course, it wouldn't be a serious recap, because where would the fun be in that? It would be screencaps with my random commentary about all the slashy subtext, because honestly, there's just so much of it that you can't not see it! Actually, what I think I'll do is wait until my brother comes to visit to make him watch the series, just to see how someone who -- as far as I know -- has never explored slash fandom sees the rampant gayness of it all.
I must confess I watched "The Truth Behind the Genius" (the fansubbers' parody episode that condensed the three-episode-long match between Tezuka and Fuji) before watching the actual episodes themselves, and while I couldn't stop laughing about how brilliantly done it was ("They're playing a match to decide who gets to top tonight!"), I thought to myself that there was simply no way the real thing was anywhere near that slashy, right? Right???
I stand corrected.
First off, while I've always liked Fuji, I never really liked his look: in a series full of weird and improbable hair, he's the only one who looks like he doesn't style his AT ALL. Fuji = shaggy mop head. However, he was all kinds of hot in that last match! Tezuka really know how to draw him out, it seems. Secondly, while Fuji/Tezuka is one of the standard pairings (and I've read lots about how the manga seems to imply it as much as, if not more than, the Golden Pair being more than friends), I never really saw much evidence for it, though that could have been because Tezuka is away for nearly half the series. But this? Their shared history? Their mutual fascination/obsession with each other? For gods' sake, the final episode of their match is entitled "CLIMAX"! *rofl* And I thought Eiji and Oishi were the most obvious "We're not even trying to hide it" couple... Though they still win, because what other couple has MATCHING RINGS, I ask you? (So it was just in that music video, but still...)
Of course, this is the same series that, without irony, likens the rivalry between Atobe and Sanada to the tango, which, as we all know, is totally not a dance about getting your partner into bed, not at all.
Also, since there are virtually no female characters in the series, and only two of them are potential love interests (Sakuno for Ryouma and An for Momo - all the other women, including the eldest Fuji, are too old for our boys), it's only natural that the fandom pair the boys off with each other. And given the passion with which they approach their matches, it's all too easy for "They're such a good doubles pair" to become "They are so partners off the court as well" and for "I'm going to crush my opponent" to become "I want to pound my opponent into thetennis court matress nearest available flat surface." Because playing tennis = foreplay, everyone knows that!
Anyway, for sheer enjoyment, I have to give this series 9/10, and thank it whole-heartedly for rekindling my love of anime, which had lain dormant for the past few years.
Jam (Nagayama Takashi):
The only reason I know this guy exists is because I got sucked into Prince of Tennis and he played an unbelievably cute Eiji in the first incarnations of the musicals. Turns out that aside from having an adorable face and a pretty hot body, he's an actor/singer/clothing designer. You can go look up "Nagayama Takashi + shower scene" if you want some eye candy. Better wait till you get home, though, it's maybe not workplace-appropriate. I'm not sure why Youtube recently tagged it as 18+, unless it's the implication that he's naked in the tub, because we're not shown anything below the waist, but anyway...
I downloaded this album on a whim, and while I was expecting generic fluffy pop, I was surprised by it being more than that. It's fun, straightforward J-pop, in the best possible sense of the word, bouncy numbers mixed in with slow ballads, and I really appreciated being able to properly hear Nagayama's voice. The man can sing, and his voice has a pleasing naturaleness to it, so it's nice that they didn't bury it: there are barely any backing vocals to speak of, and no weird distortion/dubbing effects. He wrote all the songs (music and lyrics) himself, and though I haven't paid much attention to the words, they don't seem too cheesy, and the Engrish is kept to a minimum.
As a bonus, for people like me, whose fancy is always tickled by songs that reference specific places, the chorus of "Minami guchi" name-drops the south exit of Shinjuku's JR station. :D
Final verdict: 8/10 -- I've been listening to it at least once a day for the past week.
C'est quoi, cette idée-là, de lire deux livres en français en moins d'un mois?!
La working girl : petite chronique de la vie de bureau (Sophie Talneau):
Un petit livre tout court (je l'ai terminé en deux jours, c'est-à-dire moins de deux aller-retours en métro) dans lequel Zoé raconte le début de sa carrière dans une grande compagnie de cosmétiques. Un peu style Bridget Jones, mais traitant uniquement du travail, c'est un livre léger et amusant. Je n'ai même pas pu m'empêcher de pouffer de rire dans le métro, surtout face à l'interlude comique avec Joe le clown, quand d'habitude je peux me contenter de sourire lorsque je lis quelque chose de drôle. Faudrait pas que les Japonais se posent des questions à mon sujet, quand même!
L'histoire se passe à Paris, et c'est tout très français, évidemment, mais la vie de bureau est partout un peu pareille, peu importe le décor, donc on se reconnait. Il y a le boss séduisant, le stagiaire qui ne fout rien, celle à qui on ne répond pas directement mais qui nous refile tout de même le travail qu'elle ne veut pas faire, les travailleurs parfois récalcitrants de l'entrepôt... Enfin, c'est une chronique des petits drames et des petites aventures quotidiennes dans le monde du travail, rien qui ne changera votre vie, mais ça vous fera sourire.
Note finale: 8/10
And then, it was over. But only the tv series! I'll keep it short, I promise.
Prince of Tennis:
Many others have said it before me, but I'll say it again: this series is pure crack. It's addictive as all get-out, the cast is enormous (and half of them are quite possibly insane), and the creators themselves seem to have been smoking something. How else to explain the chibi episodes; the gravity-defying, perception-skewing, multicoloured, sparkly tennis moves; a
I'm seriously thinking of doing an episode-by-episode recap, which will give me a convenient excuse to watch the series again. Of course, it wouldn't be a serious recap, because where would the fun be in that? It would be screencaps with my random commentary about all the slashy subtext, because honestly, there's just so much of it that you can't not see it! Actually, what I think I'll do is wait until my brother comes to visit to make him watch the series, just to see how someone who -- as far as I know -- has never explored slash fandom sees the rampant gayness of it all.
I must confess I watched "The Truth Behind the Genius" (the fansubbers' parody episode that condensed the three-episode-long match between Tezuka and Fuji) before watching the actual episodes themselves, and while I couldn't stop laughing about how brilliantly done it was ("They're playing a match to decide who gets to top tonight!"), I thought to myself that there was simply no way the real thing was anywhere near that slashy, right? Right???
I stand corrected.
First off, while I've always liked Fuji, I never really liked his look: in a series full of weird and improbable hair, he's the only one who looks like he doesn't style his AT ALL. Fuji = shaggy mop head. However, he was all kinds of hot in that last match! Tezuka really know how to draw him out, it seems. Secondly, while Fuji/Tezuka is one of the standard pairings (and I've read lots about how the manga seems to imply it as much as, if not more than, the Golden Pair being more than friends), I never really saw much evidence for it, though that could have been because Tezuka is away for nearly half the series. But this? Their shared history? Their mutual fascination/obsession with each other? For gods' sake, the final episode of their match is entitled "CLIMAX"! *rofl* And I thought Eiji and Oishi were the most obvious "We're not even trying to hide it" couple... Though they still win, because what other couple has MATCHING RINGS, I ask you? (So it was just in that music video, but still...)
Of course, this is the same series that, without irony, likens the rivalry between Atobe and Sanada to the tango, which, as we all know, is totally not a dance about getting your partner into bed, not at all.
Also, since there are virtually no female characters in the series, and only two of them are potential love interests (Sakuno for Ryouma and An for Momo - all the other women, including the eldest Fuji, are too old for our boys), it's only natural that the fandom pair the boys off with each other. And given the passion with which they approach their matches, it's all too easy for "They're such a good doubles pair" to become "They are so partners off the court as well" and for "I'm going to crush my opponent" to become "I want to pound my opponent into the
Anyway, for sheer enjoyment, I have to give this series 9/10, and thank it whole-heartedly for rekindling my love of anime, which had lain dormant for the past few years.
