You may or may not have noticed that my “watch list” has disappeared! I’ve moved it to —; pretty fancy, huh? I’m also, slowly but surely, chiseling away at the 50 movies challenge in this year… hopefully I can at least break 30 by the end of this summer. Anyhoo…
Linda/Tamayama Tetsuji was EXCELLENT in the fifth episode (and this isn’t me being a biased fan, ha ha ha).
To me he’s the most selfless and puts the problems of others ahead of his own, even over his own pride (eg. Doctor’s earlier problems, Nakaji needing a job and what happens as a result). Keep in mind that this is what I thought when the sixth episode hadn’t been released yet. I promise this isn’t my bias speaking!
A little bit of info if you’re not already caught up: Linda not only suffers from erectile dysfunction, but his boss has kind of blackmailed him into sleeping with her (er, sexual harassment?!) and he’s in love with Nakaji. Love polygons, I tell ya.
In this scene, he and Linda arrange a meeting to discuss having Nakaji as a photographer for the magazine Linda is the editor for. Nakaji leaves (he was on a lunch break) and forgets to take his jacket with him.
Here, he just looks (more like, gazes lovingly) at the jacket and it was some deep stuff, guys. The music was a little grandiose, but I feel like this was almost his one moment of selfishness. /cries
Later on, Linda is at his boss’ apartment to conduct an “interview”. It was tastefully done (a bit cringeworthy for me, regardless)… I never doubted his acting ability – BOSS and Goemon didn’t show me a lot of what he could do – but he has talent!
Episode 6
Can I just take a moment to say what a good guy Nakaji is? I was talking with Emma a couple weeks ago and at that time, Nakaji was being a major douchecanoe. By being there for Peach during her miscarriage, he really redeemed himself in my eyes. What a friend!
Anyway, like I said last post, this was an excellent episode. Yeah yeah, Haru and Doctor start dating but it was just a goldmine of Haru/Nakaji goodness.
Example 1: Nakaji calling Haru’s name. One thing I liked about this scene was the distance (?) between the two and the pretty, pretty lights.
“I was just calling you for fun.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I was just wondering if you’d look back.”
“Of course I’d look back. As long as you call for me, I’d always look back.”
Aw.
Example 2: “Where are you now?”
I can’t even put how much I loved this scene into words. With that phone call, I feel like they’ve developed something powerful. They’ve reached an understanding and they grew up a little bit (compared to two episodes ago). Example 2.5 would be them hanging out at the zoo (his attempt to cheer her up) as friends, talking about their relationships and it wasn’t awkward. Haru and Nakaji really get each other. I LOVE THEM ; A;
Example 3: “This place is… comfortable.” Matsushima (a student of hers who almost got her killed, long story, but I would hope that you’ve been watching the past couple of episodes lol…) calls Haru to apologize for all that has happened. She talks it over with Doctor – naturally, he’s her boyfriend – but he turns out to be incredibly judgmental.
“They tried to attack you… I want to kill them.”
“But he was my student.”
“What are you talking about? Doing drugs… only weak people do that. He’s a failure as a human. You can’t trust what he’s saying. You shouldn’t have anything to do with him. Such trash…”
And even after Kiriko (the woman Nakaji is having an affair with) breaks up with him simply because he just isn’t able to support the lifestyle she wants (ULTIMATE HEARTBREAK AND BETRAYAL), he meets Haru at the convenience store later that evening and is willing to talk because she looks like she needs a good talking to. Excellent dialogue between these two.
Perfect.
I can’t even put the goodness into words, but I have a feeling they’re going to fuck it up and the series will be back to its regularly scheduled CLUSTERFUCK (I would really hope not). I have watched the raw for the seventh episode AND IT WAS AWFUL, so I’m just going to wait for the eighth.
Peach (the least developed character)’s problems tend to be swept under the rug! Second episode, suicide attempt… ???? Fifth episode, miscarriage… nothing. The situations she goes through are pretty major, too, but they take a backseat to everyone’s else’s. And poor Linda, no one knows what he’s going through! Always helping other people. And Doctor doesn’t really have any issues (anymore), but I suppose his is being the most annoying character in the history of humankind…