James: You can skate?
Alesha: Oh yeah.
J: What are you doing Saturday afternoon?
A: …Watching you fall flat on your ass.

—James Steel and Alesha Phillips, L&O:UK ep 2×05

Gonna miss the flirty interaction between these two so much now that Ben Daniels is gone.

OOO episodes 11-12

“I’m just trying to do what needs to be done.”

—Hino Eiji

Firstly, yes, that is what Eiji does, and that’s why he’s effective, he just does what he needs to get shit done. And that’s why he’s a hero, even though he doesn’t think of himself as one. He doesn’t do it for any other reason, other than someone has to.

Gotou finally understood. Up until he’s looked down on Eiji because he doesn’t behave or measure up to the idea that Gotou has of what a hero should be. He doesn’t think on a grand scale, of saving the world, just of helping in the here and now.

Gotou has finally realized that he’s spent all this time wanting to save the world without actually getting much accomplished, and he’s opened himself up to being used by Dr Maki because of a desire that he’s not actually doing anything about. He also realized that in the meantime Eiji has actually done more with his simple approach of helping whoever needs it, however he can.

So this leads two things. The first being that he’s only going to make a difference by doing whatever he can, whatever “needs to be done”, whether it is shooting Greeds with bazookas or just bringing new candroids to Eiji. I think that he’s come to accept that, and that he’s okay with it (which, by the way, I imagine is what opens the door to him actually becoming the man he needs to be in order to be a hero in his own right). The other is that he has let of his resentment of Eiji, and is willing to stand with him, and have his back. The moment Gotou holds out his hand to help Eiji get up after the fight was awesome, because you know that’s the moment that another great rider partnership is born.

“Brofists forever” and all that.

ETA: Just watched 13-14 and it was a bit premature to think Gotou had goten over all his issues :D;

A Game of Thrones

Spent the weekend reading A Game of Thrones… no, I hadn’t before now, and yes, I decided to do it because I want to know the story before the HBO series rolls around in April. Like it a lot, actually. I’ve always liked fantasy that was more intrigue and politics than sorcery.

My favorite characters are Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow. That’s probably extremely predictable of me. :D

And so, Operation OOO Catch-Up is on stand-by.

OOO eps 9-10: In which we find out Eiji’s backstory in full

1. Ankh is being pwned by both Hina and Chiyoko, in very different ways. And by Satonaka, actually. So basically by any woman he meets.

2. Like I already posted, Eiji and Hina are adorable together. Him being instinctively protective of her is cute, obviously, but there’s also the way she’s coming to understand him, in particular how she realizes that Eiji is the man he is because of what happened in the village. And because of it, there’s understanding and support growing there… it reminds me a little of Natsumi and Tsukasa before Hibiki world, before Yonemura made her more damsel in distress than supportive friend and partner.

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OOO’s supporting characters in eps 7-8

So I’m thinking I’ve reached the point in OOO in which it hits its stride and characters and dynamics start to get interesting.

I still don’t really OOO‘s various suit designs, I’m not really into the whole props during battle aspect of the action (particularly the mantis appendages/weapons), but the underlying Buddhist theme makes it very interesting, Hino Eiji is quite likable, Ankh is fascinating, and at this point characters I knew I’d like are starting to get more screentime… and characters I didn’t expect to care much about one way or the other have snuck up on me.

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