The One With The Schoolgirls
May. 10th, 2012 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tilly_stratfordAn actual Fujiko-centric episode in the Fujiko spinoff, by jove!
I'm left with more questions than ever. Except that all Catholic schoolgirls are lesbians, that's apparently a given.
I think this is the first episode since, er, the first one, where I didn't catch any scenes that looked off, visually. I mean, no hands changing size, or eyes where they're not supposed to be, that sort of thing. The distance between Fujiko's leg continues to baffle me (there's a gap even when she crosses her legs), but that's part of the design and not the result of some animation intern making a mistake. So, good thing. No blatant mistakes. Wonderful!
Nothing much offensive on the sex-front this time, though the whole lesbian awakening part of the plot did take up an huge part of the episode. I mean, the first half went by with barely any hint of what the plot or objective was. Fifteen minutes in I was starting to worry there wasn't even going to be any actual plot, but finally the episode got going - which resulted in an AWFUL LOT of exposition dumps in the second half. It was like they'd spent so much time on kissing and heavy petting they had to rush to get the plot resolved at the end.
Anyway, I actually found the flashback to that awful Zenigata/Fujiko sex scene slightly redeeming, since it actually served a purpose in the plot this time, and revealed more of Fujiko's motivation.
Zenigata's character design is still the best thing about him.
Also, those weird Fujiko sequences continue to be look and sound beautiful (I love how gorgeous that font they use for the text in them is) -
- but I'm getting more and more suspicious that it's an allusion to sexual child abuse. I really don't want this show to go there.
RANT AHEAD.
But what's even more problematic is the fans who've jumped on that possibility going "oh of course! It's so obvious when you think about it!", nodding about how there's a "classic link" between abuse of underage girls and growing up to "be slutty" (as several of them have put it). And going on saying how it's obvious that Fujiko has no respect for her own body, no self-respect at all in fact, because otherwise she wouldn't be having so much sex and showing off her body like she does. JESUS. CHRIST. IN HEAVEN ABOVE. And somehow these people have failed to assess Lupin's motivation in the same way, oddly enough. I mean, he's pretty much insatiable sexually, and in the manga there are barely ten pages between every time he has his dong out. OBVIOUSLY he has no self-respect and must SURELY have been sexually abused as a child.
And people wonder why I remain in a such a small clique of Lupin fans.
I'm not trying to defend a fictional character's honour or anything here (Fujiko has always been one of my least favourite characters anyway), and obvioulsy this franchise has never been at the forefront of progressive feministic values, but there are ways to look at a possible plot development like that and there are ways NOT to. So I'm praying the show's not actually going to go there, because implications and ugh.
RANT OVER. (And this was more a rant about the fans than the show anyway.)
ANYWAY. I mentioned questions I'm left with after watching this episode. Let's see:
1) Oscar was in disguise as a girl in love with Fujiko. Why the lovesick, inner monologues in-character-as-a-girl? Inner monologues don't impress a lot, Oscar.
2) And when he has revealed himself he does the same monologue again over unconscious Fujiko. I'm confused, is he nurturing some sort of hate-crush on Fujiko, or was he really talking about Zenigata or something?
3) THE CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRLS HAVE GUNS. Not really a question, just really silly. I keep trying to tell myself Oscar must have arranged it.
4) Seeing the curve of Oscar's naked back made me go right back to questioning his gender. I've been so certain lately he must be a guy, but none of the other guys have curves like that.
5) The flashback to the Fujiko/Zenigata sex scene. WERE THEY REALLY DOING WHAT I THOUGHT THEY WERE DOING? Re: the position and "Y-you can't do it like that there!". I didn't even dare think about it at first.
Anyway, an adequate if a bit "meh" episode. Lupin is still the fun part.
And random joy:
Lupin gets a bit overexcited and HEARTS EVERYWHERE. Another sweet callback to the manga!
I'm telling you, if Lupin ever gets it on in this series there BETTER be hearts bouncing everywhere!
I'm left with more questions than ever. Except that all Catholic schoolgirls are lesbians, that's apparently a given.
I think this is the first episode since, er, the first one, where I didn't catch any scenes that looked off, visually. I mean, no hands changing size, or eyes where they're not supposed to be, that sort of thing. The distance between Fujiko's leg continues to baffle me (there's a gap even when she crosses her legs), but that's part of the design and not the result of some animation intern making a mistake. So, good thing. No blatant mistakes. Wonderful!
Nothing much offensive on the sex-front this time, though the whole lesbian awakening part of the plot did take up an huge part of the episode. I mean, the first half went by with barely any hint of what the plot or objective was. Fifteen minutes in I was starting to worry there wasn't even going to be any actual plot, but finally the episode got going - which resulted in an AWFUL LOT of exposition dumps in the second half. It was like they'd spent so much time on kissing and heavy petting they had to rush to get the plot resolved at the end.
Anyway, I actually found the flashback to that awful Zenigata/Fujiko sex scene slightly redeeming, since it actually served a purpose in the plot this time, and revealed more of Fujiko's motivation.
Zenigata's character design is still the best thing about him.
Also, those weird Fujiko sequences continue to be look and sound beautiful (I love how gorgeous that font they use for the text in them is) -
- but I'm getting more and more suspicious that it's an allusion to sexual child abuse. I really don't want this show to go there.
RANT AHEAD.
But what's even more problematic is the fans who've jumped on that possibility going "oh of course! It's so obvious when you think about it!", nodding about how there's a "classic link" between abuse of underage girls and growing up to "be slutty" (as several of them have put it). And going on saying how it's obvious that Fujiko has no respect for her own body, no self-respect at all in fact, because otherwise she wouldn't be having so much sex and showing off her body like she does. JESUS. CHRIST. IN HEAVEN ABOVE. And somehow these people have failed to assess Lupin's motivation in the same way, oddly enough. I mean, he's pretty much insatiable sexually, and in the manga there are barely ten pages between every time he has his dong out. OBVIOUSLY he has no self-respect and must SURELY have been sexually abused as a child.
And people wonder why I remain in a such a small clique of Lupin fans.
I'm not trying to defend a fictional character's honour or anything here (Fujiko has always been one of my least favourite characters anyway), and obvioulsy this franchise has never been at the forefront of progressive feministic values, but there are ways to look at a possible plot development like that and there are ways NOT to. So I'm praying the show's not actually going to go there, because implications and ugh.
RANT OVER. (And this was more a rant about the fans than the show anyway.)
ANYWAY. I mentioned questions I'm left with after watching this episode. Let's see:
1) Oscar was in disguise as a girl in love with Fujiko. Why the lovesick, inner monologues in-character-as-a-girl? Inner monologues don't impress a lot, Oscar.
2) And when he has revealed himself he does the same monologue again over unconscious Fujiko. I'm confused, is he nurturing some sort of hate-crush on Fujiko, or was he really talking about Zenigata or something?
3) THE CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRLS HAVE GUNS. Not really a question, just really silly. I keep trying to tell myself Oscar must have arranged it.
4) Seeing the curve of Oscar's naked back made me go right back to questioning his gender. I've been so certain lately he must be a guy, but none of the other guys have curves like that.
5) The flashback to the Fujiko/Zenigata sex scene. WERE THEY REALLY DOING WHAT I THOUGHT THEY WERE DOING? Re: the position and "Y-you can't do it like that there!". I didn't even dare think about it at first.
Anyway, an adequate if a bit "meh" episode. Lupin is still the fun part.
And random joy:
Lupin gets a bit overexcited and HEARTS EVERYWHERE. Another sweet callback to the manga!
I'm telling you, if Lupin ever gets it on in this series there BETTER be hearts bouncing everywhere!
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no subject
Date: 2012-05-11 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-11 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-12 04:17 am (UTC)About Oscar, I was starting to wonder if his name and feminine appearance are actually just a red herring to make us believe he's a woman in disguise, but he's really a man? I don't know, I can't tell where they're going with this!
Oh, and I had to stop reading the Lupin forum after the first episode came out, because I really, really couldn't take the way they talk about women and female sexuality. So I'm totally with you there! Ugh.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-12 11:26 am (UTC)I've never gotten involved with the Lupin forum, the milieu there has never suited me. I've lurked occasionally, but after this series premiered I think I've pretty much severed all my ties to that portion of the fandom.