Hana Yori Dango 2 and Kurosagi

[dangermousie]

I am this close to finally watching Hana Yori Dango 2 properly (my torrent became wonky and I had to obtain a good copy elsewhere).

Yes.

I am watching it now, and it's awesome, though I still cannot believe I am watching something where I don't understand a word.



I was VERY amused to see the Japanese take on New York (and also gleeful to see NYC in a jdrama).

Let's see:

1. Americans are impatient and a bit rude (fair cop, I think anyone is, compared to the super polite Japanese). Witness the guy finally walking off from Makino.

2. NYC is dangerous! Evil purse-snatchers! OK, somewhat a fair cop, because who leaves a purse on the ground where someone can nab it? Still, no policeman in sight which firmly places it in alterna New York, as Manhattan now has more cops than strippers.

3. NYC is small! Or Makino should give up school and be an Olympic athlete. Because Times Square is right next to NYC Public library. She runs after the purse snatcher from one to another in two seconds flat. This also gets a break as any location shooting is like that. But OMG, I was walking right there a few months back. *glees*

4. NYC is dangerous. Part 2. Make it really dangerous. Apparently, you are OK is you stick to main aventues, but if you go on the streets, as opposed to avenues, you are screwed. They are dim and deserted and gangs of fearsome thugs will come out, preparing to beat, rob and possibly rape you. In Manhattan. In Midtown. In the afternoon. In broad daylight. In the post-Giuliani era, not Philly in the 70s. Who knew? Of course, Japanese portray their own super-safe, well-lit spaces as dangerous, so God knows what they make even of post-Giuliani NYC. Also, see point 3. Super speed runner Makino could have ended up in Harlem with her super speed, for all I know.

5. The evil ones will also use the f-word a lot as it's not a Japanese word (my jaw dropped :D). But never fear, we see someone in shiny pointy shoes (please let it be Domyouji, please let is be Domyouji, about to kick their butts). Yes! The pointy shoes still live! YES!

6. OMG. Is Makino calling out for Domyouji? Not logical as there are a lot of people in NYC so chances of him coming up on her are dim and she should yell for the cops instead, but any time a girl channels her inner Miaka, I squee.


And I also bring you this awesome MV of one of my all time favorite OTPs: angsty, hot and gorgeous OTP of Kurosaki/Tsurara from Kurosagi

I am going to try to liveblog first HYD ep.

So.

ETA1:

Ooooh, I love Domyouji's new hair (I assume after we saw the shiny shoes, it went into a flashback). Yes! It does not scare me any more.

And meganbmoore, your boy Oguri Shun is also lookin' goooooood.

And heeee, Soujiro is sporting earrings, in both ears. Heeee. And lookin' hot.

I am shocked to say, fashion isn't making my eyes bleed yet!

ETA2:

I take back what I said about Oguri Shun looking good. Forget good. He looks FRELLING smokin'.

EEEEEEEE!

Hanazawa Rui

*does breathy Makino voice*

ETA3:

OK, new credits are crack. I prefer old ones, actually, but still, fun.

But, niggle. Please tell me that if they get the Rui-Makino potential romantic thing going, what are they going to do with Shizuka and Rui's torch for her? Also, she came back to him at the end of HYD1. Please tell me they aren't just going to drop it completely. Please?

ETA4:

eeee, Tsukushi's family is also back. Heh, her Dad is pouring undrunk beer back into the bottle. LOL.

Curses, 20 minutes in, I have to relinquish computer.

Later, lovely HYD2, later...

ETA5:

OMG, Makino is doing push-ups! Adorableness. And she opens her drawer to get a scrunchy and there is that hideous gold cellphone omyouji gave her and she is staring at it. Eeeeee, pining is goooood.

And she tried calling him sporadically for a year but his phone number doesn't work. Oh no. Makino is not the most patient person about OTPing anyway. Domyouji, you are digging your grave. You get only so many "I let people almost kill me without fighting back because if I fought back at all they would hurt you" get out of jail free cards.

ETA6:

Sakurako!

Saturn Necklace! (Look at it this way, Tsukushi. Even if your OTP falls through, that's a hell of an expensive jewelry piece. You can always sell it).

Junpei!

Comments

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

*wills torrent to go faster*

I love drama perceptions of America and Americans. For an unintentionally comedic look at the Korean view of American universities, look at "Love Story in Harvard", a kdrama that some people absolutely adore but one I couldn't really stand because (1) that was not Harvard, that was UCLA (2) why can't I understand the hero's English but all the other Americans in the scene can? (3) too dragging for many reasons I could enumerate but hey, I'm getting off topic here. I think maybe Tsukushi's experiences in the big bad streets of Manhattan (next to the Disney Store and the MTV TRL studios with the singing naked cowboy out front?) may encourage her to start carrying some mace.

I have seen this Kurosagi fanvid before and much as I don't want to admit that I have this song on my iPod because Nickelback ruins all sense of my indie cred, the song fits perfectly. When will Maki and Yamapi do another drama together? More importantly, are they ever going to do one where they get to kiss?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

If they ever kiss, the screen will implode, so it's probably a self-preservation thing. But yeah, awesome vid.

Have you checked out th other link I posted in my previous HYD2 post? From yesterday? because bittersweet_bun has it uploaded to file sharing service (forgot which, but you don't even need to use hjsplit, it's all one file) and I got it under an hour (and no, it's not MU so you don't have to worry about dl limits).

I don't know who they got as a designer for this, but I am still recovering from the fact that at least 15 minutes in, I like the clothes. *faints*

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hanizawa....Rui...

*breathy voice*

pictuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeessssssss

I need them...if any of you love me, at least one will provide...

[autumn-yaar.livejournal.com]

Ah, that MV just made me choose Kurosagi as the next drama I'm going to watch, heh.

UST.. hmm. Erm.. do they admit they like each other then atleast?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

if you must know...

SPOILER

Yes. One flat out, the other as much as they're capable(which isn't much, but it's considerable progress from the beginning...)

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

Good clothes! Yes! I did see your HYD2 post and I think I may just snag the whole thing off of that one file link tomorrow morning, as I'm afraid trying to download HYD2 along with all this other stuff I missed might cause my hard drive to do some very unhappy things. I have skimmed a recap of HYD2 and seen screencaps, and oh my god, Ikuta Toma. In eyeliner. I think this show may just kill me.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Because I am a nice girl and because your boy really IS super-fine, here are caps from a Rui scene (courtesy of bittersweet_bun who is my new fve LJer:

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/5194/hyd0103tt8.jpg

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

wow...did he take "How to be even hotter" lessons? *blissful sigh*

[klmorgan.livejournal.com]

POINTY SHOES!!!!

Erm. Tomorrow! I'll make it over there sometime around 3, 3:30 good? How long I stay depends on how much I pack tonight and tomorrow morning, as I'm determined to Be Good and Be Packed days and days before I leave, to prevent nuclear meltdown the night before.

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

It's the hair. It's all about the hair. See, I love Domyouji, don't get me wrong, but when I was in the 8th grade and discovered "Hana Yori Dango", I was all about (and still am) Hanazawa Rui. He's almost as badass as I am, and so clearly, my 8th grade brain decided that we were meant to be together. Years later, looking at the screencaps of Oguri-Shun-as-Hanzawa-Rui, I find it difficult to disagree with my 12-year-old alter ego. *swoon*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

That will totally be awesome.

And yeah, pointy, shiny, black leather shoes of HOTNESS.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The hair is some of it, yes.

Yes indeed.

And...is it just me, or is he the only jactor who can actually pull off the dyed hair?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heh. I am completely a Domyouji girl and have been in every incarnation of the story, but since he is oh so very taken, I don't think I'd complain if I had to "settle" for Rui. Though I think I'd have to fight meganbmoore for him.

[ilanala]

Rui is indeed very hot, especially when we have him gratuitously playing violin later in the episode. I still hope they don't have a big Rui/Tsukushi thing this season, though, since I thought that had been resolved last season. They did seem to be hinting at it rather strongly, though.

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

I think Oguri Shun is the only one who can pull off the dyed hair to that extreme. Yamapi doesn't look overly objectionable with the dyed hair (see "Dragon Zakura" and "Nobuta wo Produce"--but then again, he was all thin and knobbly-kneed in DZ, and let's face it, that orange hair was arranged in sort of a poodle-ish style, which really wasn't that flattering, was it? The orange hair was styled a bit better in NwP), but I have to say that I think he looks best with the jet black hair that he was rocking in "Kurosagi". I think Kamenashi Kazuya can pull off the dyed hair look, but not to huge extremes--see "Tatta Hitotsu no Koi", where his hair clearly had some salon work done to it but it wasn't that retina-burning. Nagase Tomoya can pull off some very shiny, pumpkin colored hair, as in "Mukodono", and heck, so can Takki, but really, Oguri Shun works it out.

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

I hope Rui's violin playing looks competent. I'm a violinist myself, and when I saw "Meteor Garden" years and years ago with the "look how good of a violinist Hua Ze Lei (Hanazawa Rui counterpart in the Taiwanese drama) is!"-scene, I wanted to spork my own eyes out with my bow. Because dude, his arm wasn't moving to the same rhythm as the song! If you're going to have an actor fake playing an instrument, do it well, please! (Interestingly, "Nodame" pulled this off pretty well, and remember MatsuJun faking being a concert pianist when Domyouji was prepping Tsukushi for the ToJ contest?)

[kitsune714.livejournal.com]

I love Domyouji, but I don't think I've got Tsukushi's patience. Those two are just way OTP though, because really, they're just so much alike.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I've seen at least some of everything you listed except Tatta(and I've seen many pics) and I'd have to say that the main thing is that that all look ok with it and it doesn't detract, but with Oguri Shun, it just flat out works. Even in Gokusen, the color is fine, it's just the style that's odd. But that hair...those bangs...*thud*

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

*clutches him in her greedy fists*

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

As much as I love Hanizawa Rui, I really hope they don't go in that direction, unless there's a really, really good reason(like Doumyoji being a wretched prat and Rui taking care of her)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't like really like hair on anyone in dramas (highlights are fine) but yeah, OS looks nice with it...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd smack Domyouji within ten minutes (of course, that means he'd fall for me :D) But as a fictional character, he is awesome!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I guess they can always go the route of her trying to get over the suddenly cold Domyouji by hanging out with Rui and him developing a thing for her? That I could see. Like the hot springs scenario in manga and MG.

Btw, that icon? LOVE.

[ginzarhapsody.livejournal.com]

That music video just made me want a Kurosagi sequel that has Kurosaki and Tsurara happily ever after FOREVER. *laughs* TBS, give me my wish? *chuckle*

[ginzarhapsody.livejournal.com]

It was competent, m'dear. :) He was playing "Canon" so it wasn't terribly complex, but his fingering was actually like right (and I think he even tried a teeny bit of vibrato *giggle*), and the bowing wasn't on the fingerboard or anything. *grin*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

YES! You have to watch it. They have incredible chemistry and one of my favorite OTPs ever.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh, I would kill (or at least maim) for a sequel. I've never seen chemistry like that in a jdrama (or most other places). Kurosagi is my second favorite jdrama (behind only Pride which is my second favorite drama period). But then the whole 'beyond messed up guy and the girl who is his only salvation only he fights it' is a total kink of mine.