“All I’ve got to do is pass as an ordinary human being. What could possibly go wrong?”
“Have you seen you?”
— The Doctor and Amy
OOO 16: Desire drives the wheel of life. No, really.
If Kamen Rider OOO‘s episode 15 was about advancing the plot, episode 16 is about both that and also about advancing the mythology and the ideas behind the story.
Read more “OOO 16: Desire drives the wheel of life. No, really.”
Kamen Rider OOO 15
Catching up on blogging about OOO. About damn time! (I’ve actually watched beyond this point, but hadn’t goten around to blogging).
So episode 15 was basically set up for the events of 16. Notable (to me, anyway) things from this episode:
Perfect Harmony
It’s interesting how much of a difference perspective makes. I never really appreciated Yaguruma as TheBee until he was no longer TheBee.
I just rewatched the original 3 episode arc in which Yaguruma and Kageyama are introduced for the first time in a long time. It’s really interesting to me to think back on my original reactions to the things that happen in this arc and contrast them with my reactions now. Originally, I kind of watched the whole thing with a gleeful sense of shadenfraude, waiting for the moment Yaguruma would inevitably snap; but now when I watch there is none of that, and although I do think Yaguruma was in large part responsible for his own downfall, I’m mostly left thinking that Tendou really had it coming, for being a very callous catalyst and for a lot of other things that have nothing to do with Yaguruma, but karma never caught up to him.
Mike Logan in Criminal Intent
I’d never watched any Law & Order: Criminal Intent before today. But since I am two episodes away from finishing my mothership season 5 DVDs, I decided that I should really check out Criminal Intent in honor of my favorite L&O detective, Mike Logan.
So I watched Diamond Dogs, the second episode of season 5. I believe that is Logan’s first focus episode in which he’s a regular cast member. And well, it’s interesting to see the (very stark) change between L&O!Logan and CM!Logan. It’s not as simple as him being older. He was always sarcastic and known for his short fuse, but in Criminal Intent he’s just so jaded. Jaded and somehow sadder. There was always a cocky amusement behind the smart aleck snark in L&O. That spark seems to be gone in CM. The snark is more self-deprecating, or more cynical, or both. As for the short fuse, it seems now as if Logan himself has resigned himself to idea that he is the “cop with an asterisk next to his name”, prone to violent outbursts that he can’t control, and that this makes him a potential liability. Which is sad, in my opinion. Not that I condone impulsive violence obviously, but Logan didn’t used to seem like he felt he needed to apologize for his temperament. And frankly, it didn’t seem that bad to me.
All of this isn’t really a complaint about Mike Logan’s characterization in Criminal Intent. At this point, at least, it seems to me that it’s a logical consequence of what Logan has been through. Demoted due to his temperament, being stuck for years in what he conisdered a dead end… It’s sad, but it’s realistic. Like I jokingly told a friend, it must be the result of all those years in the barren wasteland of Staten Island. I can totally see him evolving from the cocky smartass to the more jaded, more bitter version of himself. And it’s certainly interesting.
And on a different note, I loved the reference to Lenny…
You know, I had a partner… oh, what a great stickman he was.
Logan and Briscoe. Best Law & Order detective partners ever.
Regarding Kageyama Shun
This is an old LJ post from a couple of years ago. I’ve been thinking for awhile of bringing some of my (less sparkly-texty) posts over here, and I was thinking about the Hoppers today, and found this while going back through my old Kabuto posts, so I figured why not…
And just in case: SPOILERS LIKE WHOAH
So, Kageyama. It’s really interesting how much he enjoys pulling the rug out from under Yaguruma. I mean… here’s a guy who pretty much worshipped the ground Yaguruma walked on, and he is just so satisfied that he gets to betray Yaguruma. Specifically that he gets to tell him, “you can’t a part of Shadow at all, you’d just bring disharmony”. He’s just gets so much glee over basically destroying Yaguruma… or maybe, over destroying the fiction Yaguruma built about himself.
I mean, the thing about what Kageyama is you either believe he’s just a total snake, with no real sense of loyalty at all, in order to turn around and betray his captain so completely (because it would be one thing for him to take over, what he did was quite something else), or you think there’s more to him than that and you try to figure him out. And what I think about it is that it’s all because of how disappointed and disillusioned he was. That’s the only thing that I think can explain Kageyama’s change in attitude towards Yaguruma.
Because that’s what pirates do!
…We’re just going to pretend that I haven’t blogged about Gokaiger because I was purposely waiting to be two episodes in so I could have more informed opinions about the show and characters. :D