Usual babble

[petronia]

Lo is coming back from Japan this month. I am trying to get her to proxy-buy useful Prince of Tennis merchandise for me (by useful I mean, of course, containing data as opposed to cute toys and geegaws), but Lo is a shoujo's shoujo and has never heard of the series. "What's the author and imprint? Wings, Chara, Flower? So I can identify it in the sea of pink and red lettering." *laughs weakly* Sugoi, ano ko. Didn't think one could be a fangirl physically in the Land of the Rising Sun and escape the merest osmotic knowledge of Shounen Jump.

We took care to sl0re her on GB before she left, though, so at least that one is covered. XD

(I'm cursed, she says wearily. What happened to the scanlation site of this wretched thing? OTOH I learnt the hard way with HikaGo that being a mere week behind the Japanese serialisation doesn't actually make me any happier, because I loathe following manga in dozen-page dribblets. So perhaps I should just wait for tankoubon - Chinese tankoubon, for family's sake - and adopt a stoic attitude toward spoilers.)


Artwork. *mad hearts* And after the uber-weirdness of the Kirihara match we return to... normalish-seeming high-level melodramatic fantasy tennis. A sigh of relief is breathed.

Momo and Kaidou. Oooh la la. Post-Rokkaku and Rikkai no one gets to write Momo as a dumb jock again, d'you realise? Will wait for the news to trickle down to fanon.

But they haven't explained why d00d's name is Jackal? That's not a Brazilian name. Marco (say) is a Brazilian name. /inappropriate Miike Takashi flashback/ Maybe it's supposed to be Jacko? XD XD Also, that there is some heavy-duty bubble gum.

Niou and Yagyuu: I... think I get it, but poke me and it might get mixed again. O_O I have half a mind that they should be slashed just for the sake of rampant ensuing chaos. Anyway, I like personality-tentatively-identified-as-Niou, and if you don't already know why you obviously haven't paid enough attention to the cheaply predictable workings of my fangirl hindbrain, props to you.

Okay, now that we've seen pretty much all the Rikkai regulars get put through their paces, I have to wonder even more about Yukimura. I mean, he's the captain. Sanada's the vice-captain. And then there's the rest of these guys, and the sort of team discipline they obviously must keep, and... and I strongly suspect that I should write a pre-emptive rant on how Yukimura's Not A Girly Uke. *g* (And while we're at it, neither are Okita Souji and Fuuchouin Kazuki. Clear? Good. Not that the worst of it won't come from Japanese fanartists anyway - I can't deal with most JuuKa sites no matter how pretty they are, and we're talking real pretty.)

Change of mind. I think Inui's winning this one. Are we taking bets? XD;;; EDIT -- This because if you look at the notebook he tosses down on the bench, it says "Bessatsu Yanagi Notes (Himitsu)". *rotfl* I have to root for him just for that. This match is going to be the apotheosis of data tennis no matter which way it goes down.


In real-life news, bumped into Japanese-class-Dave in the metro car coming home last night (this happens, in fact, at least once every few months ^^;), and got an email from Justin this afternoon, though he'd actually sent it several days ago to an account I check rarely. A slacker in friendship am I, surely; there's a lot of catching up to do on both fronts.

Comments

[petronia.livejournal.com]

How much of it have you seen? This is fanbabble on, like, volume 23 of the manga currently being serialised in Japan. ^^; Seigaku's playing Rikkaidai, in Kantou finals (i.e. the last guys we have to get through before Nationals, though we've qualified in any case because they take best six out of Kantou). Rikkaidai are the National champions, incredibly bad-assed - kinda sexy, really - and Seigaku's getting steamrolled by them. ^^;

Umm... there used to be chapter scanlations up here, (http://celica.caltech.edu/~fet/index.php) but the link ain't working. I wouldn't worry about it too much, though, as there's currently 98 subbed episodes of the anime and AFAIK that still doesn't take you up to Rikkai. XD (I've only watched up to ep.38 myself, but I've read all the manga.) Still the scanlations create the situation whereby Westerners are churning out fic faster than the Japanese can draw doujinshi, which is incredibly wacky.

I have to decide what to write, meself. XD

[petronia.livejournal.com]

You want to write the Fuji boys? ^_^; Err... that's episodes 28-36, and strictly speaking 32-36 will give you all the facts you need. The anime expands it somewhat from the manga version.

Apart from which... now where is that thing, she mutters... here, (http://www.livejournal.com/users/ayatsujik/105504.html) me friend translated Tezuka and Fuji's profiles from the fanbooks, here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/muscatlove/7709.html) for Yuuta's profile (scroll down, it's in the comments), here (http://www.livejournal.com/community/aozu/18406.html) and here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/raikochan/276141.html) for dry number-crunching re the schools. (You can tell I'm a bit of a canon weenie. XD I think the fanbooks are more fun than the actual series, half because I'm a geek and half because said fanbooks are on crack. Funnest, of course, is the musical stage version.)

[vignette00.livejournal.com]

(is sanquinesque's mentioned friend below)

So 98 doesn't take you up to Rikkai? *weeps* That is awful, especially since the scanlations aren't working right now.

As for Westerners churning out fic, I suppose it's payback for all the Japanese fanart that is out.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

*waves hi*

I've been told 116 will take you up to Rikkai. However all hope is not lost, for lo, I have just checked and the scanlations are back up. :D ( http://princeoftennis.tk ) I advise you to grab all of them immediately in case Viz does make that licensing announcement, and let them sit on your computer until you've finished those 90-summat eps. Because otherwise you'd be a bit WTF with regard to plot.

*proceeds to download last couple of chapters herself*

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

I don't see why people assume that Yukimura is so weak and effete. As you say, this is the guy who Sanada accepts as captain above him, and that's probably not because he's prettier.... I'm disturbed that you've immediately decided that he *is* the TeniPuri equiv. of Okita Souji.

BTW, I never thought Momo was an idiot; after all, he managed to beat Sengoku, and I always thought that he was destinied to be captain next year, because the only other candidate is Kaidoh. Who is too scary to be captain, and he wouldn't *want* to be captain because he's too shy. (After all, after this arc, they all will be Nationals levels players. ^_^)

Inui can win...

1. Seigaku has to win at least one match, so that Ryouma can play.
2. Inui is actually really strong. He beat Momo and gave Tezuka more trouble than anyone except Ryouma.
3. He filled up an entire notebook just about Yanagi. Stalker.
4. The Rikkai arc can't end this early, without seeing all the Rikkai players. And Ryouma just chatted with Sanada, so that has to be resolved.
5. Inui can't lose! He never gets to play singles. T_T

Inui can't...

1. Fudomine lost in straight sets, so why not Seigaku? Ryouma played Kirihara already, so it doesn't count.
2. Yanagi isn't a pushover. And Inui himself did calculate Seigaku had a small % chance of winning.
3. Yanagi has Inui's data too, probably.
4. The Rikkai arc certainly can end this early, because we did see Kirihara play and since they're all going to nationals, those two baseball cap wearing guys can match up their attitudes there.
5. Hey, the Golden Pair lost (sad!), so why can't Inui?

Hmm, if the page is down, you should check the IRC channel. That might tell you what happened.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Yukimura, Okita, Kazuki etc: well, when you get down to it they're not very alike in terms of personality. Just that they're pretty, so the first order of BL fanon (Western and Japanese) is to turn them into girls, followed by griping from the naysayers (Western) re how they're annoyed by limp-wristed useless girly uke bishounen. -_-; I mean, you hang around long enough and you eventually start to see it coming before it happens. What annoys me is not so much the fanon as the automatic assumption by both camps that the fanon is the canon. Which it isn't. In canon Okita and Kazuki are cold-blooded killers with gentle exteriors, and I rather suspect Yukimura is as well (tennis-wise). If he's better than Sanada and the rest of Rikkai he may well be the best player of the series.

(I do wonder what he's in hospital for, though. Something that can't wait, or he would've waited, but he's on his feet directly after surgery so it's not a faulty heart valve or shredded Achilles' tendon. ^^; Upper-body injury like Tezuka? It'd be really funny if both teams had lost their buchous for the same reason. ...Actually no, it'd be kinda boring, but whottheheck. XD)

Momo: indeed, but if ficcing fanon doesn't strictly present him as an idiot, it certainly doesn't present him as (according to Marui) the sneakiest and most cunning player of Seigaku. Not to mention as cool and collected under pressure as he's been these past couple of matches. Then again, it really is that Momoshiro's matured a lot during the course of the series, rather than the fans having gotten it wrong from the start. I can see him as captain now. ^_^

Inui: heh, I have to wonder - Yanagi can't be any less of a data-completist, being Rikkai and all, so wouldn't they have been stalking each other simultaneously? XD Maybe they agreed to alternate days. I'd just really like Inui to win because (as you point out) he never gets to play singles, but if the series is going to continue it would be best story-wise to end it here. Incidentally the idea of chibi!Inui and chibi!Yanagi attending tennis camp in Hawaii makes my brain hurt, but no more so than the idea of Sanada carting unconscious!Ryouma back to Echizen Temple. XD;;

Heh, should learn how to use IRC. -___-;; (Used to have it, but last used it a couple of years ago. Am not much of a chatter.)

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Well, Yukimura doesn't have much of a personality because he's hardly appeared in the manga. Wait, did you just contradict yourself here and say that all three of them *did* have similar personalities? Gentle on the outside, cold blooded killer on the inside. ^_~ If he is better then Sanada, then he must be the best player in the series. I don't quite know what it is that he had surgery for either... But wait, I thought in 208 that he was going to have surgery, not that he already had it, because Sanada is rushing to present him with the championship quickly.

Momo: Yes, I think Momo has indeed gone through a lot of character development in the series. You couldn't see his game-maker skills coming, because he sucked at doubles earlier in the series.

Inui: yes, simultaneous stalking. And I like Inui too. Of course if he loses also then we would get to see the scene of Sanada presenting Yukimura with the get well present. (Since Yukimura doesn't like cake very much....) You know, I hope that they do show flashbacks of the two attending tennis camp in Hawaii. (geo shoutout!)

I think the website works now. princeoftennis.tk Occasionally I try to use IRC to download raws, but I end up screaming in frustration. -_-

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Personalities: nah... that would be like saying, I dunno, that Tezuka was like Fujimiya Aya because they're both kind of humourless and goal-oriented. ^^; FTR, PMK!Okita is a genki prankster with a sweet tooth and fragile health, whose killer streak surfaces when he's pushed hard in battle. Kazuki is an insane teenage aesthete warlord in recovery who collects boy adjutants, is keenly investigative and - in manga - only recently decided to stop killing casually, by conscious choice. (Which is a different description of pretty kind-hearted Kazuki-san than you'd get from anyone else, I'll wager. XD) From the four pages Yukimura's been there at all he seems calm, determined but... non-scary. So he's neither the genki-type buchou nor the intimidating-type buchou.

208: I should read the scanlation. ^^; I was reading raw scans dl'ed from penal-tea, and it wasn't clear either way. But it would make more sense if he were just going in for the surgery, yes. (Still not shredded tendon, though, as he's standing...)

I make myself forget that you live in Hawaii, because it's so unfair. XD

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

I guess it's more like a conceit shared than the whole personality? But hidden-killer-streak-in-pretty-boy seems to be a very popular one anyhow. Plus we haven't seen Yukimura in buchou mode. Sanada seems pretty normal in that scene too. (Hmm, looking back on that scene, Yanagi calls Sanada by his first name...)

208: In an earlier chap, we see a calendar that has Yukimura admitted to the hospital on July 17th. Rikkai vs. Seigaku and the surgery occurs on the 27th. So I'm not sure if it really is something nonserious, although the mangka probably isn't going in for realism with the captain-illness angst.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and every time I end up having to rant about how said character isn't a useless girly uke. Funny, that. ~_~ Oh, it turns out that Rikkaidai-tachi actually have profiles in 20.5, so now will have to stalk fandom until someone translates them. Or, y'know, until I break down and get the damn things for myself.

Doesn't Yukimura let Marui eat his cake? XD That doesn't strike me as the reign-of-terror buchou mode. And Yanagi 'n' Sanada play doubles so they must get along. While I'm at it, riddle me this one: are Yagyuu's glasses really just sunglasses, or was he wearing contacts in that match (but then he puts the glasses back on)?

Realism and angst are two quite different things, in this case. XD;;;

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

What? Doesn't this go against your secret rules not to interfere with the democratic opinion of the fangirl mass? ^_~ Don't be afraid, join the daaaaaaark side~~ If they keep doing it, though, it must be because they have a serious jones for it.

;_; Must get 20.5.

Maybe Yukimura is more iron-fist-in-velvet-glove. Yanagi and Sanada definitely must get along, cause we see them first-naming one another (does anyone on Seigaku refer to Tezuka by his first name?)

They must be fake glasses, because Niou either wears contact lenses or has good vision, and even if he were nearsighted, unless they have the same presecription he wouldn't want to have poor vision during a match. So since they went and dyed their hair, they must have just gotten a pair of fake lenses, and Yagyuu just wore contacts while he was masquerading as Niou. The reason he puts his glasses on is the same reason he smooths down his hair and takes it out of the ponytail. He's just more comfy that way (or to be wanky about it, he must reassert his own identity).

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know they have a serious jones for it. Turning characters into sparkly-eyed girly ukes is the cornerstone of fan yaoi. ^_^; And I'm a fangirl at heart, so I have nothing against it per se. Just that I wish people would realise it was fanon, and not squeal/invect over it as if it were canon.

(It is not really interference because no one cares about my opinion, and in any case I only voice it to you because You Are One Of Teh Rare Few Who Understand Me, Sob Weep Sob. XD)

No one calls Tezuka by his first name, and Tezuka calls no one by their first names. ^^; Anyhow it wouldn't make a difference, because his first name is as stiff as he is.

Maybe I should write a drabble about Niou and Yagyuu, that might help me keep it straight... >_> I wonder how long they practiced to pull that one off. Niou obviously had to work on the Laser Beam, but dunno to what extent Yagyuu is copying Niou's techniques, because Niou is a dataless player(!) and we know flat-all about his normal playing style.

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

::shrug:: I've gotten over it by now, but I just find it tedious because the canon is more interesting than the fanon, but since when has anyone except the humorless canonist types (like myself) really cared?

(Heh, no one cares about my opinion either, but isn't it better than as if you had been made a BNF against your will and had tons of ill will thrown against you for everything you said? With no authority comes no responsibility!!! XD )

PoT: It is as I suspected. (whoa! So does that make Sanada officially more friendly-like than Tezuka?) Maybe they should give him a nickname.

I've read some pretty good drabbles on the subject. Here's one here (http://www.livejournal.com/community/quillofferings/8327.html#cutid1) I don't know how Niou managed to remain dataless. Maybe it's because Rikkai is so strong that they've always won in straight sets, and thus Niou didn't need to play?

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Much better that no one cares about my opinion. But yanno, part of that is because I take care not to state it. Even wank is something that one can inadvertently become famous for. *g*

Tezuka: what, Buchou Four-Eyes won't do? XD;;;

In other words we both have the feeling that Niou and Yagyuu are more singles players than not? *g* (Because what you're suggesting is, Niou is singles 2 or 1 except when he's playing doubles. Which makes sense, as that would make him Rikkai's Fuji-equivalent in more than the dataless wildcard sense.) Heh, I'd be very surprised if Rikkai didn't win all matches up to Seigaku in straight sets, considering how they ran Fudoumine over. In which case they probably rotate positions just to give all the regulars a chance to play, as in fact we see them do.

EDIT - am looking at the actual tables. Niou-Yagyuu actually played Round 2 of Kantou Regionals as Doubles 1, in the game against Fudoumine Niou was listed as Singles 1 and Yagyuu played Doubles 2 with Jackal. Marui was listed as Singles 2. (Okay, now we're getting into trading card statistics territory...)

In fact I find the strategizing in the line-ups quite interesting, as none of the important teams seem to have two established doubles combos à la GP. At most they have one, and the other one is made up for the sake of some specific counter.

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Niou and Yagyuu: I get that feeing too, although I think Seigaku putting the strongest players in singles rather than doubles skews things, although that was mostly because of Tezuka's arm, not because he's incapable of playing doubles. From a strategy perspective, though, since doubles goes first, it's more important to have a lot of players who play doubles well, so Seigaku's early doubles weakness was very serious.

I get the feeling that Rikkai makes sure everyone can play in either singles or doubles, and that they do rotate, because they did put Yanagi and Sanada as a doubles pair (poor Kamio and Shinji. Obviously Fudomine does too, because they usually play singles, right?). That includes people like Jackal and Marui, whose skills would seem to peg them as doubles specialists.

Well, you know what happened with the GP: if someone injures themselves, then you have this inexperienced combo. So it's not that great of an idea.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Seigaku's doubles 1 is, like, infamous in Kantou for sucking. XD;; But yanno, it sucks in a completely novel and unpredictable way each time... Seriously, this is perhaps the facet in which the team as a whole has shown the most improvement.

Vague recollection says Kamio and Shinji play doubles several times over the course of the series (against Hyoutei, don't they - Tachibana played singles 3 against Shishido). I think one of Fudoumine's strategies against known strong teams is to put their own strong players in doubles and singles 3, and attempt to take straight sets through surprise underdog factor. Worked with Hyoutei, didn't work with Rikkai.

GP injury: hmm, hadn't even thought of that! A bad fantasy coach am I. (Not putting all one's eggs in one basket, or rather in one team formation.)

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Seigaku doubles: Well, how could they make much more improvement in singles, with Tezuka and Fuji there? :P Although, I thought that Kikumaru and Fuji were surprisingly good in Rokkaku, considering that Fuji has lost in doubles before. Now that Momo has become Mr. Gamemaker, though, that might be changing. I think it's telling that when Inui and Kaidoh talk, it's mentioned that Kaidoh needs to improve before he can get into singles. Of course, that's mostly because of the specifics of Boomerang Snake, but then you get the impression that all of the players except the GP really want to play in singles, especially because it seems that it fits the hierarchy of Seigaku. I don't know if this is really there, because doubles 1 always comes first and thus we need the drama there.

BTW, can Ryouma play doubles? I seem to remember that he has difficulty there. I wonder how well Tezuka does at it.... (So if Seigaku did for once employ that strategy and assuming Tezuka's arm is magically healed, who should be his partner?)

Fudomine: It actually makes more sense, IMHO, because the more wins you get early on, the better chance you have of winning. I don't think Fudomine is much of an underdog anymore. Tachibana is Nationals level, and Kamio beat Sengoku (gee, now Shinji needs to be featured). (Hoo, boy, the screencaps of the anime version of the aftermath of the Kirihara vs. Tachibana match: one of those moments where you wonder if any males are supposed to be watching the show)

[serendip.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is weird. Especially since shounen manga is like gazillion times more popular and prevelant in anime/manga land, innit?

Tho I must admit, I'm a shoujo girl through and through, so I empathise with your friend. I remain firmly in the "never will I touch tenipuri so I remain pure" camp. And if it weren't for eve's icons, I would have no idea what the characters involved looked like. XD~

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Still, you know what the series running in Jump are, no? I do, and the only ones I've followed recently are HikaGo, TeniPuri and some Bleach. Still when a Japanese fan writes "Prince, Pirate, Shinigami, Ninja" as fandom keywords I know exactly what she's talking about, and weep.

I'd ask her for shoujo but I have the latest from the shoujo series I'm currently following - Nana and S to M no Sekai. I've given up all the rest as lost causes. XD;;

[serendip.livejournal.com]

I do know a fair amount about shounen series, but it's not by any effort on my part. My flist gets all the credit. XD I liked Read or Die, and I think that is technically shounen. You do have to give props for a shounen series that makes its lead character a book g33k grrl. <3333 So in other words, I join you in the marvelling over your friend.

Man, what has happened in shoujo lalala-land? I suppose CLAMP returning to its roots and issuing doujinshi as CANON might be the choking gasps of the camel as the straw landed. XD Not that I ever followed the other mega shoujo series, but you know. XD This reminds me. I need to be more serious about working on the WLE novel. The problem is incoporating shoujo schtuffs with uh critiques of gender, sexuality, culture and race. Me? Ambitious? Nevah. XDXD

[petronia.livejournal.com]

CLAMP's latest are pretty good, but I'm suspicious as to whether they can really pull the crossover off in a way that makes sense, or if it's all another cash grab. ^^; Personally I've never been much into romance-centric storylines; so, y'know, not really feeling the Fruits Basket or HanaKimi or series like that. All the shoujo series I was fannish over were dark/supernatural/mystery type things, like Utena or Angel Sanctuary or Petshop of Horrors. Well, all those have wrapped up, several others have run out of steam rather badly (X, Count Cain, Yami no Matsuei), leaving me with only a couple of interesting manga to follow.

And anyh00 nowadays all the pretty boys are in shounen manga. XD

[serendip.livejournal.com]

Or on the OC. It airs in Canada. You know you want to watch it, cos ohmigod, Adam Brody so cuuute. And Rachel Bilson, even though I don't think she's pretty, but that is besides the point. XD Do you SEE the pretty?

I like romance-storylines because of the romance but also because of the side characters. Usually without the side characters, I get bored. (I've never watched Utena. I always thought I'd find it too twee and end up walking away from the screen in irritation/disgust.)