Yukan Club - Episode 4
Nov. 10th, 2007 09:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mecI'll start by saying this might be my favourite episode yet, for various reasons, though I might well be saying the same thing next week because that looks fantastic too!
Yukan Club - Episode 04
Plot: A slight stumble at a party lands Bido a most unlikely girlfriend - the elderly and notoriously frugal Sakuragawa Kinna, who begins romancing the young playboy on the grounds that he looks like her former lover. Bido's just beginning to enjoy the May-December romance of it all when tragedy strikes: Kinna is found dead, fallen from her bedroom window. She leaves everything to Bido but her greedy relatives aren't too happy about this, and when dangerous things start to happen around him, Yukan Club suspects foul play. Or is it that Kinna simply wants her beloved Bido with her in the afterlife? By staying up all night (unsuccessfully) and indulging in a spot of ghostbusting, Yukan Club will solve the mystery and ensure that Kinna can rest in peace! In other news, Miroku is so moved by Kinna's tragic tale of how she lost her lover for want of a mere thirty yen for medicine that he bursts into tears and has to turn away, recovering briefly when the camera's not on him but tearing up again just in time to avoid helping Bido out with the girls. My, how convenient.
The 'let's make fun of Taguchi' theme translates well into 'let's make fun of Bido', as Yukan Club have obviously taken their cues from KAT-TUN well. There's painful, gratuitous back-slapping aplenty (no, really, some of it sounds excruciating), much teasing and even a banner celebrating the love of Bido and Kinna. Teasing aside, it's nice of them to be so supportive. Aww...
Taguchi really got to show his stuff this episode. We started off with the playboy we've come to know and love, blowing kisses and seducing the camera (how much do you want to bet Miroku's right and it isn't actually the principal's *daughter* who loves Bido?), but we also go to see him be clumsily heartfelt and apologetic, distraught, angry, noble, gentle, sweet, scared and a whole bunch of other adjectives that require acting. (Jin, take note. No, wait, that's not fair. I thought Jin was good here too, but I'll get to him later.) Okay, sure, he overdid it in places but I think it worked for his character and the quieter moments were lovely. I enjoyed watching him make the transition from being horrified that an old woman wanted to spend time with him to thinking of her as a person - a kind, desperately lonely person - who he could actually care enough about to want to help.
And if I was going to kill Bido, I would not be at all averse to using the "hairdryer in the bathtub" method. Miroku and Seishiro, no doubt, got an excellent view.
BGM was excellent, as usual. It's a show where you can use classical pieces and they aren't at all out of place, but even the stuff that turns up every episode and will probably be on the OST is fun to listen to. I thought that the music playing in Kinna's house during the "attack" suited the scene well; it didn't seem overdone at all. (Although the sight of Miroku slowly sliding down the wall after having been an unwilling participant in a circus chair/spear/axe/huh?-throwing act did make me giggle a bit.)
Yuri's antics are starting to wear on me a little now. I will say, however, that I appreciated her adorable 'Yuri Holmes' outfit, though I can't help but feel that Seishiro might have been better suited to the role. Karen...is Karen. I like her for what she is but I just can't comment on her because she's not really doing anything. The same with Noriko - of the girls, Yuri gets the most to do, so it's difficult to say that an episode changes my opinion of the others one way or another because they don't have the screentime.
Seishiro, too, is sorely underused, though it looks like he'll have the chance to come into his own with the next episode. He's a sensible, calming presence, to be sure (love it when Yuri yells at him to do something and he, quite reasonably, yells back what is he supposed to do!), he puts up a terrific fight in a wedding dress, he gets some entertaining one-liners and if I had to pick a president he'd be my first choice, but please, give the guy something to do!
Miroku's dad appears very briefly this time, but I guess his interrogations are pretty thorough if he always ends up with a sore waist. (Does his interrogation technique involve copying Jin's dance moves or something?) It does not surprise me in the slightest that Miroku bugs his own father when he needs information. (Welcome reappearance of the 'You Can Cleaning' van. How nice it is to watch dramas with characters who are old enough to drive.)
Yuri's parents also put in an appearance - how very supportive of them. I adore her dad. He and Tokimune can say the most incredibly ridiculous lines with completely straight faces, it's fantastic. I love the way they agreed to stay up with Bido...and went straight to sleep.
Speaking of which...I'm not sure I'd pick Miroku to be the guy I woke up to defend me from a creepy doll. Not if he's going to hit me with his cushion. (I guess only Otokoyama can wake him up and escape unpunished!) And then - throwing a bottle at it? Setting it on fire? In someone else's house? Seriously, boy, what's wrong with you? Not that you can't afford to replace the carpet, but still...
Miroku's Rubik's Cube is very small. Aren't they usually 3x3x3? At least?
How the hell does Karen lift her cell phone? What *is* that cute, pink, fluffy thing? (And on the subject of cute, fluffy things, Miroku needs to be hugging cushions all the time.)
I appreciate that Kinna's love was in another period, but...uh...I did not know he was Elizabethan.
There was sun shining on my television while I watched the episode (yes, even in an English winter - how shocking!) so I was subject to a slight optical illusion involving Miroku. When they all went to Kinna's house for the first time, I was under the impression that he was still wearing that nice black outfit from the party - in fact, that he was wearing an even nicer one. I thought it looked fabulous. Sadly, when I checked on my computer, it turned out to be his school uniform. :-(
Miroku got to be an action hero again, saving Bido from a falling sign (though not from getting stabbed in the leg by a shard of it - which looked like a plastic pen) and generally being very supportive while he chauffeured his friend around.
The dolls were so creepy! (Even when they weren't moving.) I hope they didn't use up the entire SFX budget for the series with this one episode, though. Kinna's ghost was...well...her hair was rather strange, and the stunted version was a bit odd. Liked the shaking and the flying furniture etc., though, and I'm quite glad I watched during the day rather than in the dark!
Mandatory Jin commentary: he's getting a lot better with the facial expressions. He got to play around more this episode, so perhaps that's why, because he definitely seemed more natural. (Even if the crying didn't. Perhaps someone should send him the advice River Phoenix was given for his performance in Stand By Me?)
Favourite moment: While I'd like to say it was Miroku sliding down the wall like a bird that's just flown into the window, I have to admit, it was the moment Bido put the ring on Kinna's finger. That was gorgeous. He knew exactly how much it meant to her, and it wasn't weird to him anymore. I don't expect such compassion and understanding from a playboy type. Thumbs up, guys, you did a great job.
Yukan Club - Episode 04
Plot: A slight stumble at a party lands Bido a most unlikely girlfriend - the elderly and notoriously frugal Sakuragawa Kinna, who begins romancing the young playboy on the grounds that he looks like her former lover. Bido's just beginning to enjoy the May-December romance of it all when tragedy strikes: Kinna is found dead, fallen from her bedroom window. She leaves everything to Bido but her greedy relatives aren't too happy about this, and when dangerous things start to happen around him, Yukan Club suspects foul play. Or is it that Kinna simply wants her beloved Bido with her in the afterlife? By staying up all night (unsuccessfully) and indulging in a spot of ghostbusting, Yukan Club will solve the mystery and ensure that Kinna can rest in peace! In other news, Miroku is so moved by Kinna's tragic tale of how she lost her lover for want of a mere thirty yen for medicine that he bursts into tears and has to turn away, recovering briefly when the camera's not on him but tearing up again just in time to avoid helping Bido out with the girls. My, how convenient.
The 'let's make fun of Taguchi' theme translates well into 'let's make fun of Bido', as Yukan Club have obviously taken their cues from KAT-TUN well. There's painful, gratuitous back-slapping aplenty (no, really, some of it sounds excruciating), much teasing and even a banner celebrating the love of Bido and Kinna. Teasing aside, it's nice of them to be so supportive. Aww...
Taguchi really got to show his stuff this episode. We started off with the playboy we've come to know and love, blowing kisses and seducing the camera (how much do you want to bet Miroku's right and it isn't actually the principal's *daughter* who loves Bido?), but we also go to see him be clumsily heartfelt and apologetic, distraught, angry, noble, gentle, sweet, scared and a whole bunch of other adjectives that require acting. (Jin, take note. No, wait, that's not fair. I thought Jin was good here too, but I'll get to him later.) Okay, sure, he overdid it in places but I think it worked for his character and the quieter moments were lovely. I enjoyed watching him make the transition from being horrified that an old woman wanted to spend time with him to thinking of her as a person - a kind, desperately lonely person - who he could actually care enough about to want to help.
And if I was going to kill Bido, I would not be at all averse to using the "hairdryer in the bathtub" method. Miroku and Seishiro, no doubt, got an excellent view.
BGM was excellent, as usual. It's a show where you can use classical pieces and they aren't at all out of place, but even the stuff that turns up every episode and will probably be on the OST is fun to listen to. I thought that the music playing in Kinna's house during the "attack" suited the scene well; it didn't seem overdone at all. (Although the sight of Miroku slowly sliding down the wall after having been an unwilling participant in a circus chair/spear/axe/huh?-throwing act did make me giggle a bit.)
Yuri's antics are starting to wear on me a little now. I will say, however, that I appreciated her adorable 'Yuri Holmes' outfit, though I can't help but feel that Seishiro might have been better suited to the role. Karen...is Karen. I like her for what she is but I just can't comment on her because she's not really doing anything. The same with Noriko - of the girls, Yuri gets the most to do, so it's difficult to say that an episode changes my opinion of the others one way or another because they don't have the screentime.
Seishiro, too, is sorely underused, though it looks like he'll have the chance to come into his own with the next episode. He's a sensible, calming presence, to be sure (love it when Yuri yells at him to do something and he, quite reasonably, yells back what is he supposed to do!), he puts up a terrific fight in a wedding dress, he gets some entertaining one-liners and if I had to pick a president he'd be my first choice, but please, give the guy something to do!
Miroku's dad appears very briefly this time, but I guess his interrogations are pretty thorough if he always ends up with a sore waist. (Does his interrogation technique involve copying Jin's dance moves or something?) It does not surprise me in the slightest that Miroku bugs his own father when he needs information. (Welcome reappearance of the 'You Can Cleaning' van. How nice it is to watch dramas with characters who are old enough to drive.)
Yuri's parents also put in an appearance - how very supportive of them. I adore her dad. He and Tokimune can say the most incredibly ridiculous lines with completely straight faces, it's fantastic. I love the way they agreed to stay up with Bido...and went straight to sleep.
Speaking of which...I'm not sure I'd pick Miroku to be the guy I woke up to defend me from a creepy doll. Not if he's going to hit me with his cushion. (I guess only Otokoyama can wake him up and escape unpunished!) And then - throwing a bottle at it? Setting it on fire? In someone else's house? Seriously, boy, what's wrong with you? Not that you can't afford to replace the carpet, but still...
Miroku's Rubik's Cube is very small. Aren't they usually 3x3x3? At least?
How the hell does Karen lift her cell phone? What *is* that cute, pink, fluffy thing? (And on the subject of cute, fluffy things, Miroku needs to be hugging cushions all the time.)
I appreciate that Kinna's love was in another period, but...uh...I did not know he was Elizabethan.
There was sun shining on my television while I watched the episode (yes, even in an English winter - how shocking!) so I was subject to a slight optical illusion involving Miroku. When they all went to Kinna's house for the first time, I was under the impression that he was still wearing that nice black outfit from the party - in fact, that he was wearing an even nicer one. I thought it looked fabulous. Sadly, when I checked on my computer, it turned out to be his school uniform. :-(
Miroku got to be an action hero again, saving Bido from a falling sign (though not from getting stabbed in the leg by a shard of it - which looked like a plastic pen) and generally being very supportive while he chauffeured his friend around.
The dolls were so creepy! (Even when they weren't moving.) I hope they didn't use up the entire SFX budget for the series with this one episode, though. Kinna's ghost was...well...her hair was rather strange, and the stunted version was a bit odd. Liked the shaking and the flying furniture etc., though, and I'm quite glad I watched during the day rather than in the dark!
Mandatory Jin commentary: he's getting a lot better with the facial expressions. He got to play around more this episode, so perhaps that's why, because he definitely seemed more natural. (Even if the crying didn't. Perhaps someone should send him the advice River Phoenix was given for his performance in Stand By Me?)
Favourite moment: While I'd like to say it was Miroku sliding down the wall like a bird that's just flown into the window, I have to admit, it was the moment Bido put the ring on Kinna's finger. That was gorgeous. He knew exactly how much it meant to her, and it wasn't weird to him anymore. I don't expect such compassion and understanding from a playboy type. Thumbs up, guys, you did a great job.