::sniffles::

[fenlings]

I didn't even realize this special ending to Ningen Shikkaku existed until I watched it today. I wonder why/when they filmed it, since Tsuyoshi's hair is different from Makoto's. But of course just watching that tiny clip made me CRY SO MUCH WAAAH. Oh the trauma from that drama. And yet I remember that when a Japanese teacher asked me what my favorite drama was, I answered Ningen Shikkaku, even though I'm sure that if I watched it again (::eyes LoveSong subs warily::) I would cry every single episode. But I really do love Nojima Shinji's dramas, and this one made a big impression on me.

On a more hopeful note, I remembered that I still have the burninated hard drives from my dorm fire 3 years ago, so I think some of my fanvids may be on there if I can figure out a way to get them out again. So all is not lost!

Despite all of paranoid_ninja's pleas and threats, it took onlymesmerized physically sitting down and marathoning BSG with me to get me back on watching it. (Haha, season 2 still!) So that is one western show I've been watching!

Mostly I've just been overwhelmed with the huge amounts of years Kinki stuff I have to catch up on. And then they keep doing new stuff! With other groups/fandoms I can follow them casually (Witness my not tracking down and watching all the British variety shows about DW and TW... or you know, catching up on the shows themselves.) but with Kinki I have that collector's feeling. Gotta catch 'em all! And mostly the huge amount of stuff is a good thing. The main reason I left Starsky and Hutch (and to some extent Due South) fandom was because I ran out of canon (and compelling fannish material). Once Speranza stopped writing Due South, once I'd read every S&H fic online and devoured morganlogan's oeuvre, I was kind of at a loss, so wandered away. In Kinki's case, there's a dearth of English language fannish material (unless you count rumor and speculation haha), but soooooo much canon.

So I've been starting to watch Love Love Aishiteru and Domoto Kyoudai in parallel from the beginning (i.e., 1st ep of LLA, 1st ep of DK, 2nd ep of LLA, 2nd ep of DK, etc.). It's so interesting to see the connections and differences between the two shows and the two snapshots-of-Kinki-in-time. But just with watching variety shows and listening to radio and watching concerts (Only Kinki! Not even Kanjani8 my babies or TOKIO or Arashi or anyone!) I have no time for my huuuuuge list of dramas, not to mention, err, Western TV... And those vids I have to make (Persuaders, Long Vacation, Farscape, S&H, Mars, Once a Thief, Majo no Jouken, Nikita, to mention a few).

Comments

[kireira.livejournal.com]

Hm, not sure if I should be sorry for commenting yet again and distracting you further from your paper? XDD

Eeh, I don't understand Japanese much so I pass on all things radio, except the Tomapi-related, subbed Recomen ones. XD When I watch Shock I would just skip to the awesome dance part -- I'm not into musicals much (the dialogue delivery generally sounds like poem recitals) and I agree with you about the Engrish and black people..

Reality show! It crossed my mind many times too.. seeing all those little kids exposed to media from such a young age, it feels like they're living most of their lives in public eye.

It is only in Japanese fandom that I see so much publicized interaction among the people in the entertainment circle (due to JE-like culture maybe?) and maybe that's why I feel like their private lives are being exposed so much. I don't see such a trend in Western fandom or even an Asian one (Hong Kong that I know of), but I cannot really claim it seeing as I was never really into any non-Japanese fandom. Would love to know what you think. ^_^

[fenlings]

Paper done! Haha. (It doesn't have to be good; it just has to be done!)

Yeah I've definitely only seen this LEVEL of private exposure (or should I say persona/image construction) in JE. Western band and movie/TV fandoms, while interested in the private lives of the performers, usually aren't interested in them PRIMARILY, but in their characters or songs. Even Western idols like David Cassidy (where he himself is the product) weren't exposed so young as like Chinen, for example. But moreover, I feel like JE itself has changed drastically in the last 10 years. I could go into this whole long thing about pre-Kinki and post-Kinki JE, pre-SC and post-SC juniors, and the general sexualization of JE from a number of influences.

Ever since Nakai-kun took JE into the world of television hosting, too, groups have been staying around LONGER. (I always feel a teeny bit bad for like Sato Atsuhiro about that.) So this rash of marriages in active groups is another huge change in JE. PLUS, the undebuted juniors now getting big (Toma vindicating Sano Mizuki). It's just a very interesting time.

[kireira.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the insights! If you ever decide to write about the pre- and post- era you mentioned I'd be very interested to read. =D