The One With The Opera Ghost
Apr. 27th, 2012 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tilly_stratfordSo halfway through my train journey I thought "Hey, I still haven't watched that Lupin episode" and seeing as the car was virtually deserted I set up my laptop, hoping the battery would last through half of it at the very least.
It lasted four minutes. Not enough to get any sort of grip on what the plot was about, but just enough time to take in what is pretty much the first scene in this series to genuinely shock me.
Again, pretty much my reaction.
AND I WAS SO PLEASED WITH MYSELF EARLIER, because I thought I'd figured out how the episode was going to go, by way of "Hey, Fujiko's kissed Jigen and Goemon but not Lupin, I bet she's going to kiss Zenigata. YAY NOW I'M PREPARED." and then it all went OH JEEZ THAT ISN'T KISSING OH GOD.
But first off, for what it's worth, I was genuinely delighted they did a Phantom of the Opera tribute! Homage episodes are very old-school.
And speaking of old-school, PENIS ALERT.
I DIDN'T EXPECT MY REACTION TO IT TO BE "AWW". It's just something so essentially Monkey Punch-y, and it's never really been referenced, save in the ho-hum live-action movie. And in the manga itself I've always found it sort of redeeming, charming even, that for all the focus on sex, the act itself is usually reduced to symbols. Had it been hentai it would have been all about veiny manhoods and things but it's not, it's just a matter of a squiggly Mars symbol and a squiggly Venus symbol, and it's just... more fun!
OKAY WOW THAT WAS TOO MANY WORDS ABOUT COMIC BOOK DICKS.
Incidentally, I think we're getting to the point where this series is crossing my line, sex-wise. And Zenigata-wise. I can understand the attempt to rehabilitate Zenigata from the ramen-obsessed pratfall dude, but there's kinda a gap between THAT and snubbing his cigarette in the cleavage of a woman he just fucked in the interrogation room.
Zenigata can be badass, but that stuff's too hokey for me.
I don't know, he feels pretty unfamiliar in this episode. I was actually kind of surprised he got that trapdoor in the face, I thought this iteration would be too GRIM AND GRITTY for that sort of thing.
Speaking of trapdoor-slamming, OSCAR STILL INTRIGUES ME. Seems he's a bit more dangerous than I first had him pegged for. And he's as misogynistic as the rest but at least his adoration of Zenigata seems to be a part of that, so I have a better sense of where he's coming from.
AND LUPIN'S GREAT. Then again he seems to be the only character in this series (apart from Goemon) who gets to be goofy so that might be it. THE BUNGEE CORD. THE IMPROBABLE AMOUNT OF CHILI SAUCE. THE HORSE. Speaking of which, Kurita's galloping noises might be EVEN BETTER than Yamada's, though I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS POSSIBLE.
Anyway. ART AND ANIMATION GOOD. GOSH ZENIGATA'S CHARACTER DESIGN IS SO GREAT.
Also that trippy little scene in Fujiko's mind was really pretty and the audio editing was GREAT but I'm really hoping it wasn't some allegory for child abuse or something. I suspect there'll be answers later.
And random joy: AWW LOOK AT THE LITTLE REDESIGNED BEANHEAD SIGNATURE THING.
Also I had to stop myself from calling this entry something like "The One With Zenigata's Dick." THAT OPENING SEQUENCE WAS VAGUELY TRAUMATIZING FOR ME OKAY.
It lasted four minutes. Not enough to get any sort of grip on what the plot was about, but just enough time to take in what is pretty much the first scene in this series to genuinely shock me.
Again, pretty much my reaction.
AND I WAS SO PLEASED WITH MYSELF EARLIER, because I thought I'd figured out how the episode was going to go, by way of "Hey, Fujiko's kissed Jigen and Goemon but not Lupin, I bet she's going to kiss Zenigata. YAY NOW I'M PREPARED." and then it all went OH JEEZ THAT ISN'T KISSING OH GOD.
But first off, for what it's worth, I was genuinely delighted they did a Phantom of the Opera tribute! Homage episodes are very old-school.
And speaking of old-school, PENIS ALERT.
I DIDN'T EXPECT MY REACTION TO IT TO BE "AWW". It's just something so essentially Monkey Punch-y, and it's never really been referenced, save in the ho-hum live-action movie. And in the manga itself I've always found it sort of redeeming, charming even, that for all the focus on sex, the act itself is usually reduced to symbols. Had it been hentai it would have been all about veiny manhoods and things but it's not, it's just a matter of a squiggly Mars symbol and a squiggly Venus symbol, and it's just... more fun!
OKAY WOW THAT WAS TOO MANY WORDS ABOUT COMIC BOOK DICKS.
Incidentally, I think we're getting to the point where this series is crossing my line, sex-wise. And Zenigata-wise. I can understand the attempt to rehabilitate Zenigata from the ramen-obsessed pratfall dude, but there's kinda a gap between THAT and snubbing his cigarette in the cleavage of a woman he just fucked in the interrogation room.
Zenigata can be badass, but that stuff's too hokey for me.
I don't know, he feels pretty unfamiliar in this episode. I was actually kind of surprised he got that trapdoor in the face, I thought this iteration would be too GRIM AND GRITTY for that sort of thing.
Speaking of trapdoor-slamming, OSCAR STILL INTRIGUES ME. Seems he's a bit more dangerous than I first had him pegged for. And he's as misogynistic as the rest but at least his adoration of Zenigata seems to be a part of that, so I have a better sense of where he's coming from.
AND LUPIN'S GREAT. Then again he seems to be the only character in this series (apart from Goemon) who gets to be goofy so that might be it. THE BUNGEE CORD. THE IMPROBABLE AMOUNT OF CHILI SAUCE. THE HORSE. Speaking of which, Kurita's galloping noises might be EVEN BETTER than Yamada's, though I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WAS POSSIBLE.
Anyway. ART AND ANIMATION GOOD. GOSH ZENIGATA'S CHARACTER DESIGN IS SO GREAT.
Also that trippy little scene in Fujiko's mind was really pretty and the audio editing was GREAT but I'm really hoping it wasn't some allegory for child abuse or something. I suspect there'll be answers later.
And random joy: AWW LOOK AT THE LITTLE REDESIGNED BEANHEAD SIGNATURE THING.
Also I had to stop myself from calling this entry something like "The One With Zenigata's Dick." THAT OPENING SEQUENCE WAS VAGUELY TRAUMATIZING FOR ME OKAY.
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no subject
Date: 2012-04-27 08:33 pm (UTC)HE KEPT GRABBING FUJIKO'S BUTT. AND THE CIGARETTE THING.
WHY IN THE WORLD DID THEY MAKE LUPIN LOOK MORALLY BETTER THAN ZENIGATA?!
no subject
Date: 2012-04-27 09:01 pm (UTC)WHY IN THE WORLD DID THEY MAKE LUPIN LOOK MORALLY BETTER THAN ZENIGATA?!
I KNOW RIGHT. As far as I know they can't claim the characterization from the manga either, because I remember punchlines about Zenigata being super lame for being more interested in work than sex.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-27 10:17 pm (UTC)... ZENIGATA, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MORALLY AWESOME TO ME. AND YOU WILL HAVE YOUR SWAT TEAM.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-28 09:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-28 01:10 am (UTC)ANYWAY, you're totally spot-on that Lupin's just trying to do his thing while just about everyone else is super-duper serious. Especially Zenigata. He is so out of character it's not even funny. They took away all his charming quirks and his emotional investment in pursuing Lupin, and his voice actor isn't even trying to sound at all like Goro Naya. And then the gross sexing and groping of Fujiko happened and I just... don't even feel like it's actually Zenigata when I watch the new show?
But just so I'm not all complaints, I loved all the silly Lupin moments, particularly his galloping noises in the horse costume! I'm kind of enjoying Oscar, too, as strange as that character is.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-28 09:59 am (UTC)Lupin's just trying to do his thing while just about everyone else is super-duper serious.
Hah, excellent summary! I don't mind this show going for "dark" now and then (some of my favourite Green Jacket episodes are pretty damn sombre) but I'm getting the feeling this series is just doing grimdark for the sake of grimdark. Like, I mentioned how before I saw the Goemon episode, I was worried they were going to make him some stereotypical badass with no secondary characteristics, but now I feel like that's what they're trying to do with Zenigata (chauvinism and groping counting for "badass", apparently). And it's not like I hate the thought of Zenigata being an asshole - I like the manga, for pity's sake - but the constant pawing at Fujiko and the thing with the cigarette strikes me as complete overkill.
But I still feel the series has a lot of redeeming things in it, so I'm not going to let a weirdly written Zenigata put me off!
no subject
Date: 2012-04-29 05:38 am (UTC)