Conversations did not start with Tezuka; conversations went to Tezuka to die.
AHHAHAHAHAHAHAH.
the long descriptive passages about tezuka and ryoma in the beginning of this story are so amusing that they outweigh the silliness (thus far) of the plot1.
ps: watched ep 22 "the troubles of kaoru" and it was almost as inexpressibly wonderful as 71 "it's a date" (and, indeed, belongs directly to the same arc). also, i'm extremely squeeful now about shinji too. i wish there were more fudomine fic. ♥♥ fudomine!
eta 1. but then it gets worse.
(no subject)
Date: 5 Apr 2006 12:26 pm (UTC)okay, i've figured out that the obsession is the focal point of the series. aölskdjfaösklj how great is it that this show is all about puberty and growing up and like, uh, feelings, and your soul pouring out of your body (or whatever they say in the chorus) and other soul-related things like being deeply passionate and honest and becoming the pillar of seigaku... and the whole plot built with the brilliant little prodigy and his crazy dad and then this painfully shy and weird and reserved guy who becomes a role model after deliberately shouldering his way in but, of course, all only for his own good. there's so much symbolism and stuff about puberty and things in this show that my head swims, and then they hammer home like with a hammer that playing tennis because you want to beat your dad isn't enough so what's left then? what else is at the end of the tunnel, huh? TEZUKA, OF COURSE. but of course, tezuka is the foremost example and the symbol of a whole different approach to tennis: playing because you love it instead of just to beat your opponent.
wow, that was a lot of babble.
and i didn't even get into the part about how wonderfully and brilliantly and delightfully sneaky it was the way he gradually introduced the tezuka/ryoma obsession up until this episode, and then sort of, well, slammed it home. again and again and again. in slow-motion, tinted gold, after switching to the left hand for the first time.
(no subject)
Date: 5 Apr 2006 12:47 pm (UTC)Also, I was going to remark this on some other comment you left but now I can't keep up - every season except for the Kantou Tournament ends with some sort of deliberate Tezuka/Ryoma match. They play each other three times over the course of the anime (well, four if you count a spoiler during hyotei). Their first match ends the first season, their second match comes in the middle of the third season, and their fourth match is the very last episode. Their relationship literally bookend the series and serve as huge giant benchmarks along the way.
Gah. I need to go to work and I can't stop talking to you about PoT. :))
(no subject)
Date: 5 Apr 2006 12:59 pm (UTC)across the netby the end. but it's so mind-blowingly great that that really is the whole point. aösldkjfaöslfakls. it's really the deeply meaningful, moving, and emotional story of tezuka and ryoma and tezuka's tennis and ryoma's tennis, guest-starring ryoma's dad's tennis.Their relationship literally bookend the series and serve as huge giant benchmarks along the way.
which makes sense because ryoma totally returns the obsession and he's the pov character more or less, but STILL, IT'S STILL INDESCRIBABLY WONDERFUL.
i hunger for pot discussion, but i should not prevent you from working. or myself for that matter.
(no subject)
Date: 5 Apr 2006 01:01 pm (UTC)