Hana Yori Dango: I am done
Feb. 8th, 2006 12:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI finished Hana Yori Dango At 2 freaking am in the morning. I really need to curb my obsessiveness else I shall turn into a zombie with no sleep. By the end of it, I was having trouble reading the subtitles, because my eyes were closing. Hmmm. But oh, no more? I am all sad, because I want to keep watching Tsukushi and Doumyouji and Rui and the rest. Boo! :P ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
katranna, you’ll be glad to hear I got really used to the graphics and ended up liking them by the end.
One of the things I liked the most about HYD was character change, and it was gradual and believable. Rui became a lot more involved with the world, Tsukushi certainly matured and became more self-aware, and Doumyouji? He started the series as a bastard and while at the end he won’t win any humanitarian awards, he did learn to control his temper much better, and to not reflexively look down on anyone outside his class, and he learned just how much he is capable of caring for somebody. So yay.
I also loved how Tsukushi and Rui ended up as very good friends. Because I ended up loving Rui. I started the show with thinking he was great, then got really annoyed at his aloof withdrawal and ended up loving him again, flaws and all (and not just because of what he did at the end). But I love how the relationship between them worked out: when they are staying in Shigeru’s house, sharing a room, and Tsukushi just wants comfort and she asks Rui “can I hold your hand?” and falls asleep like that? Or when she massages his head? It’s nice. In fact, now that she isn’t seeing him as her Prince Charming but as a nice guy with difficult flaws, her shyness is gone and they interact very naturally, like siblings almost, because both the fact that they tried dating and it turned out not to work for either of them and the fact that Rui will clearly always, ALWAYS love Shizuka, removes any tension from their friendship and just makes it comfortable. And he teases her out of her moping (and I love it when he laughs like a kid), and gives her good, bracing advice about facing her feelings.
So I am so glad for Rui when Shizuka comes back. In fact, it’s one of my favorite moments in the series, Rui and Tsukushi and Shigeru talking on the emergency stairway, Shigeru being oblivious as always and thinking Rui and Tsukushi are a couple and then all of a sudden, Shizuka appears and she’s come for Rui. And she wants Rui to go back to Paris with her and she tells him she’s been thinking of him non-stop since he left, wondering when she is happy or sad or anything “I wish I could share this with Rui” and Rui just stands up and leans against the wall as if he doesn’t have any strength to stand on his own, and Tsukushi (smart girl!) drags Shigeru away, but as she leans back to close the door she sees Rui pull Shizuka into this incredibly romantic hug and awwwww….
I loved when (earlier) Shigeru with Doumyouji bumped into Rui and Tsukushi and Shigeru invited them all to her country house and of course, split up the rooms where she is in the same room with Doumyouji and Tsukhushi and Rui are sharing a room (I love Tsukushi’s indignant “I wish there was another futon in the room” and Rui’s pragmatic response “It’s warmer this way. The house is freezing” :P) And I love that Tsukushi is jealous and can’t sleep because she is imagining Shigeru and Doumyouji together (and hey, she is the one who ditched him, but jealousy isn’t rational) and she is also wondering with Doumyouji kept staring at her (I love the girl, but intuition isn’t her strongest point). And meanwhile Shigeru throws herself at Doumyouji and he tells her he isn’t interested (I love that she tries to do the “fingers in ears, dancing in place, lalalalalala” thing) and he tells her that the only thing he can think of is “why is Tsukushi with Rui? etc etc” and she replies that Tsukushi doesn’t even love him back, she congratulated her (Shigeru) earlier etc etc and doesn’t it bother him and Doumyouji says it doesn’t matter and Shigeru drops all her clothes (girl, come on, get a spine) and Doumyouji is still not interested and there are chair crashes and things and Tsukushi can’t take it any more and runs in to see what’s going on (another exchange I love. Tsukushi (hearing a crash of chair Shigeru threw through a window): Is it a burglar? Rui (phlegmatic): It’s coming from Doumyouji and Shigeru’s room. Tsukushi (getting more and more agitated): Do you think he is forcing her? Rui: With them? It’s likely to be the other way around. At which Tsukushi does not look comforted :P). And of course, in the best tradition of melodrama, she walks in on naked Shigeru on top of Doumyouji and just bolts.
But what I really like is when Doumyouji sees that Shigeru is really distressed, he is very gentle with her, and he comforts her and tells her he is sorry and this is his fault. My, my, this boy is certainly maturing.
And then of course we get more angst with Tsukushi who couldn’t sleep just sitting by the pond in a flimsy kimono, not even noticing the cold (and I love how her little visual keeps replaying in her head) and Doumyouji comes out and finds her and they just sit quietly together, not talking, and they are both so defeated and that’s just sad.
Another little moment I loved? Tsukushi is taking a foreign exchange exam, and if she passes, she will leave Japan and she is zonked the morning of the exam because Shigeru brought a huge bunch of people to her house and had a party. And I love that Doumyouji is right outside the exam room, and he brings her a cup of coffee to wake her up, even though if she passes he loses her for good.
Unfortunately, subtitles for two of the eps went psycho as if the regular translator took a coffee break. One ep was translating everything literally (‘I can fell light’ might be a Japanese expression but it means nothing to me) and the other translated it OK but chopped off the ends of sentences. It made guessing what they said a bit interesting.
Thoughts on the last three eps follow.
But my favorite? When he runs to her house (after finding out his mother fixed scores so Tsukushi would pass and go) and tells her about how nothing happened with Shigeru and tells her she is the only one for him. She tells him she is not brave enough to join his world (with Mama Bitch ruling the roost, I can see the hesitation) and he says “well, I did say I'd follow you anywhere, even into hell, so if you can't join my world, I'll join yours.” And he jokes that he liked her mom's boiled potatoes, so it can’t be that bad. And then he hugs her and she hugs him back and he is kissing her and she slowly, slowly closes her eyes and I am a puddle on the floor. Finally, 49 freaking episodes in!
Of course, there are still two episodes to go. And how much angst can we cram in? A heck of a lot! Because then we get to next to last ep and it made me cry. Boooo. :P With Doumyouji being locked up by his evil mother with bodyguards and bruises (and seeing how everything was trashed in his room, quite a fight, too. That boy is energetic). And Tsukushi hears of it so she decides to go to the house (and she wants to see Doumyouji all day :P) and then she is joined by Rui who quietly says, "I am going too" and then by Akira and Soujirou and then by Shigeru. So they all show up at the house and have a confrontation with Mommy Dearest where Tsukushi is being amazingly adult and tells her that the Mom is afraid that Doumyouji is changing and realizing that normal world can have worthwhile things too and if he does, Kaede will lose him and when Kaede, pissed, says that Doumyouji is too young to know his feelings and when he is an adult they'd go away, Tsukushi replies "Maybe, but shouldn't he find out for himself." And when Kaede slaps Tsukushi, Tsukushi slaps her right back. Yesssssssssssss! I tried not to scream because Husband was sleeping, but it was damned hard.
And she says she wants to see Doumyouji and Kaede isn't so pleased but Doumyouji hears Tsukushi and he breaks the window in his room and manages to get out, with extra bruises and cuts and basically my favorite (and aaaangsty) scene in the series follows as she starts walking towards him, not paying any attention that she is wading in some kind of a pool and he is kinda tottery and she goes "why" and he tells something to the effect of "I told you I'd follow you to your world" and they sit together as everyone just stares and she takes care of his cuts and tells him that she was so happy this morning because everything was beginning but now she sees it must end because it can't go on like that because they wouldn't be able to take it (which is not very typical for fighter-girl, and made me want to shake her because he is fighting for her so hard, so come on, fight for him too. But she has a huge point. His mother is clearly ruthless bitch queen and who knows what she'll do next and Tsukushi is worried for him and wants to spare him further misery. Because she loves him (imagine my inner 5-year old voice saying that)). And she says goodbye and leaves and Doumyouji is too in shock to even run after her.
So much angst. Hey, if it ended right there, I would have beaten on something.
But then we get the last episode. And Charlotte Bronte would approve of Tsukushi because it’s 3 months later and she hasn’t seen Doumyouji since but she isn’t wasting away. She is studying, and coping with living alone as her family has left to work in a village, and has her friends and basically, she will deal with anything, which is really cool. But of course she still wuuuuuvs him. And since this is a fairy tale, after all, she does get him at the end, and I love that it’s their friends: the F3 and Shigeru and the nouveau riche boy friend of Tsukushi that get it all together. And I love that Shigeru (who really is a lovely person and hopefully will find someone who loves her back) ring leads the whole thing and she knows exactly which buttons to push to get Tsukushi involved. It’s not jealousy, or love, it’s her temper. And I love that it’s Rui who forges that letter, supposedly from Doumyouji, that brings Tsukushi in a towering temper on board the cruise ship on which the newly married Doumyouji and Shigeru are about to set sail (and she jumps and catches the rope as the boat pulls off). And then Shigeru takes off her veil and puts it on Tsukushi and tells her about the plot (while Doumyouji and Tsukushi just goggle, hee) and then just jumps off the boat in her dress and is caught into a smaller boat by the rest of the gang. They have good friends. And Doumyouji and Tsukushi are just staring at each other, and still kinda fighting (heh. They will never stop) but she doesn’t jump off and they are so adorable together and she has a veil on and even his mother finally gives up (though I doubt it’s because her daughter is begging her to leave them alone this time, please. It’s probably because she thinks months on a boat, they will kill each other :P). And the best thing is? They are stuck on a boat so she can’t run off :P
But that makes me wonder. Is Doumyouji married to Shigeru? I mean, I doubt Shigeru was able to fake the ceremony. Well, if it bothers none of the characters, it doesn’t bother me, as I assume he can always get a divorce :P Also, she has no clothes at all except for what she was wearing, or any luggage. I imagine Shigeru had her stuff on board, so hopefully they are close enough to the same size. Boy, the passengers on that boat will have a LOT to talk about. And hey, last but not least, they are both virgins! How freaking awkward would that be? Well, maybe Akira and Soujirou left a manual :P
So much love.
katranna, you’ll be glad to hear I got really used to the graphics and ended up liking them by the end. One of the things I liked the most about HYD was character change, and it was gradual and believable. Rui became a lot more involved with the world, Tsukushi certainly matured and became more self-aware, and Doumyouji? He started the series as a bastard and while at the end he won’t win any humanitarian awards, he did learn to control his temper much better, and to not reflexively look down on anyone outside his class, and he learned just how much he is capable of caring for somebody. So yay.
I also loved how Tsukushi and Rui ended up as very good friends. Because I ended up loving Rui. I started the show with thinking he was great, then got really annoyed at his aloof withdrawal and ended up loving him again, flaws and all (and not just because of what he did at the end). But I love how the relationship between them worked out: when they are staying in Shigeru’s house, sharing a room, and Tsukushi just wants comfort and she asks Rui “can I hold your hand?” and falls asleep like that? Or when she massages his head? It’s nice. In fact, now that she isn’t seeing him as her Prince Charming but as a nice guy with difficult flaws, her shyness is gone and they interact very naturally, like siblings almost, because both the fact that they tried dating and it turned out not to work for either of them and the fact that Rui will clearly always, ALWAYS love Shizuka, removes any tension from their friendship and just makes it comfortable. And he teases her out of her moping (and I love it when he laughs like a kid), and gives her good, bracing advice about facing her feelings.
So I am so glad for Rui when Shizuka comes back. In fact, it’s one of my favorite moments in the series, Rui and Tsukushi and Shigeru talking on the emergency stairway, Shigeru being oblivious as always and thinking Rui and Tsukushi are a couple and then all of a sudden, Shizuka appears and she’s come for Rui. And she wants Rui to go back to Paris with her and she tells him she’s been thinking of him non-stop since he left, wondering when she is happy or sad or anything “I wish I could share this with Rui” and Rui just stands up and leans against the wall as if he doesn’t have any strength to stand on his own, and Tsukushi (smart girl!) drags Shigeru away, but as she leans back to close the door she sees Rui pull Shizuka into this incredibly romantic hug and awwwww….
I loved when (earlier) Shigeru with Doumyouji bumped into Rui and Tsukushi and Shigeru invited them all to her country house and of course, split up the rooms where she is in the same room with Doumyouji and Tsukhushi and Rui are sharing a room (I love Tsukushi’s indignant “I wish there was another futon in the room” and Rui’s pragmatic response “It’s warmer this way. The house is freezing” :P) And I love that Tsukushi is jealous and can’t sleep because she is imagining Shigeru and Doumyouji together (and hey, she is the one who ditched him, but jealousy isn’t rational) and she is also wondering with Doumyouji kept staring at her (I love the girl, but intuition isn’t her strongest point). And meanwhile Shigeru throws herself at Doumyouji and he tells her he isn’t interested (I love that she tries to do the “fingers in ears, dancing in place, lalalalalala” thing) and he tells her that the only thing he can think of is “why is Tsukushi with Rui? etc etc” and she replies that Tsukushi doesn’t even love him back, she congratulated her (Shigeru) earlier etc etc and doesn’t it bother him and Doumyouji says it doesn’t matter and Shigeru drops all her clothes (girl, come on, get a spine) and Doumyouji is still not interested and there are chair crashes and things and Tsukushi can’t take it any more and runs in to see what’s going on (another exchange I love. Tsukushi (hearing a crash of chair Shigeru threw through a window): Is it a burglar? Rui (phlegmatic): It’s coming from Doumyouji and Shigeru’s room. Tsukushi (getting more and more agitated): Do you think he is forcing her? Rui: With them? It’s likely to be the other way around. At which Tsukushi does not look comforted :P). And of course, in the best tradition of melodrama, she walks in on naked Shigeru on top of Doumyouji and just bolts.
But what I really like is when Doumyouji sees that Shigeru is really distressed, he is very gentle with her, and he comforts her and tells her he is sorry and this is his fault. My, my, this boy is certainly maturing.
And then of course we get more angst with Tsukushi who couldn’t sleep just sitting by the pond in a flimsy kimono, not even noticing the cold (and I love how her little visual keeps replaying in her head) and Doumyouji comes out and finds her and they just sit quietly together, not talking, and they are both so defeated and that’s just sad.
Another little moment I loved? Tsukushi is taking a foreign exchange exam, and if she passes, she will leave Japan and she is zonked the morning of the exam because Shigeru brought a huge bunch of people to her house and had a party. And I love that Doumyouji is right outside the exam room, and he brings her a cup of coffee to wake her up, even though if she passes he loses her for good.
Unfortunately, subtitles for two of the eps went psycho as if the regular translator took a coffee break. One ep was translating everything literally (‘I can fell light’ might be a Japanese expression but it means nothing to me) and the other translated it OK but chopped off the ends of sentences. It made guessing what they said a bit interesting.
Thoughts on the last three eps follow.
But my favorite? When he runs to her house (after finding out his mother fixed scores so Tsukushi would pass and go) and tells her about how nothing happened with Shigeru and tells her she is the only one for him. She tells him she is not brave enough to join his world (with Mama Bitch ruling the roost, I can see the hesitation) and he says “well, I did say I'd follow you anywhere, even into hell, so if you can't join my world, I'll join yours.” And he jokes that he liked her mom's boiled potatoes, so it can’t be that bad. And then he hugs her and she hugs him back and he is kissing her and she slowly, slowly closes her eyes and I am a puddle on the floor. Finally, 49 freaking episodes in!
Of course, there are still two episodes to go. And how much angst can we cram in? A heck of a lot! Because then we get to next to last ep and it made me cry. Boooo. :P With Doumyouji being locked up by his evil mother with bodyguards and bruises (and seeing how everything was trashed in his room, quite a fight, too. That boy is energetic). And Tsukushi hears of it so she decides to go to the house (and she wants to see Doumyouji all day :P) and then she is joined by Rui who quietly says, "I am going too" and then by Akira and Soujirou and then by Shigeru. So they all show up at the house and have a confrontation with Mommy Dearest where Tsukushi is being amazingly adult and tells her that the Mom is afraid that Doumyouji is changing and realizing that normal world can have worthwhile things too and if he does, Kaede will lose him and when Kaede, pissed, says that Doumyouji is too young to know his feelings and when he is an adult they'd go away, Tsukushi replies "Maybe, but shouldn't he find out for himself." And when Kaede slaps Tsukushi, Tsukushi slaps her right back. Yesssssssssssss! I tried not to scream because Husband was sleeping, but it was damned hard.
And she says she wants to see Doumyouji and Kaede isn't so pleased but Doumyouji hears Tsukushi and he breaks the window in his room and manages to get out, with extra bruises and cuts and basically my favorite (and aaaangsty) scene in the series follows as she starts walking towards him, not paying any attention that she is wading in some kind of a pool and he is kinda tottery and she goes "why" and he tells something to the effect of "I told you I'd follow you to your world" and they sit together as everyone just stares and she takes care of his cuts and tells him that she was so happy this morning because everything was beginning but now she sees it must end because it can't go on like that because they wouldn't be able to take it (which is not very typical for fighter-girl, and made me want to shake her because he is fighting for her so hard, so come on, fight for him too. But she has a huge point. His mother is clearly ruthless bitch queen and who knows what she'll do next and Tsukushi is worried for him and wants to spare him further misery. Because she loves him (imagine my inner 5-year old voice saying that)). And she says goodbye and leaves and Doumyouji is too in shock to even run after her.
So much angst. Hey, if it ended right there, I would have beaten on something.
But then we get the last episode. And Charlotte Bronte would approve of Tsukushi because it’s 3 months later and she hasn’t seen Doumyouji since but she isn’t wasting away. She is studying, and coping with living alone as her family has left to work in a village, and has her friends and basically, she will deal with anything, which is really cool. But of course she still wuuuuuvs him. And since this is a fairy tale, after all, she does get him at the end, and I love that it’s their friends: the F3 and Shigeru and the nouveau riche boy friend of Tsukushi that get it all together. And I love that Shigeru (who really is a lovely person and hopefully will find someone who loves her back) ring leads the whole thing and she knows exactly which buttons to push to get Tsukushi involved. It’s not jealousy, or love, it’s her temper. And I love that it’s Rui who forges that letter, supposedly from Doumyouji, that brings Tsukushi in a towering temper on board the cruise ship on which the newly married Doumyouji and Shigeru are about to set sail (and she jumps and catches the rope as the boat pulls off). And then Shigeru takes off her veil and puts it on Tsukushi and tells her about the plot (while Doumyouji and Tsukushi just goggle, hee) and then just jumps off the boat in her dress and is caught into a smaller boat by the rest of the gang. They have good friends. And Doumyouji and Tsukushi are just staring at each other, and still kinda fighting (heh. They will never stop) but she doesn’t jump off and they are so adorable together and she has a veil on and even his mother finally gives up (though I doubt it’s because her daughter is begging her to leave them alone this time, please. It’s probably because she thinks months on a boat, they will kill each other :P). And the best thing is? They are stuck on a boat so she can’t run off :P
But that makes me wonder. Is Doumyouji married to Shigeru? I mean, I doubt Shigeru was able to fake the ceremony. Well, if it bothers none of the characters, it doesn’t bother me, as I assume he can always get a divorce :P Also, she has no clothes at all except for what she was wearing, or any luggage. I imagine Shigeru had her stuff on board, so hopefully they are close enough to the same size. Boy, the passengers on that boat will have a LOT to talk about. And hey, last but not least, they are both virgins! How freaking awkward would that be? Well, maybe Akira and Soujirou left a manual :P
So much love.
