Midtown 2007-09-12

My attempts to make caps failed miserably. Blame the file format and my pathetic lack of IT skills. Well, it's more of the latter (haha). Still, I have to do a review on it; too much goodness to share.

Note: I'll skip parts which I find uninteresting.


The show starts off with some survey.

- The girls are asked what other special talent they have. Konkon says she owns a brown belt in Karate while Korenaga is good with the soccer ball. She can do ball lifting continously and her highest record is 340 times.

- Although the Gatas members have asked Korenaga to call them by their nicks, Korenaga still finds it hard; it makes her nervous. She tried to by practising calling their nicks in the privacy of her room, it has been four years since and she still can't overcome the barrier. She thinks Yossi and Satoda are very much her senior and thus finds it rude to call them by their nickname.

- Konkon admires Yossi and Rika for their 'challenge spirit' (fighting spirit?), praising Rika especially who is always in 'high-tension' during matches, practise games or meeting-the-fans sessions. And Rika and Yossi often appear fearless. Mari agrees with Konkon, then asks Yossi if she is afraid of anything? Yossi says of course there is like being on a live recorded show, example the one they are on right now. But Mari starts to laugh her ass off.

- Next they play a game which involves passing a waiting-to-explode toy soccer ball around and answering questions at the same time. The person who still holds the ball when it 'explodes' will get a punishment. Frankly speaking, it's a silly game. I don't mind if the girls were playing among themselves but why had they included an obscene-looking guy? And it is the guy who really gets on my nerves. Who wants to see him acting 'scared' when he is holding the ball? Not to mention he looks big, 'dirty'-looking, oily and smelly (not that I could smell it from tv) alongside five cute girls...

Anyway, Konkon gets the first punishment and she has to do a funny face. She does it, not funnily - expected though. Then she turns shy and runs into Yossi's arms (now I find her cute for that). Mari tells everybody she thinks Yossi could do better. Then comes the funny part when Yossi, despite dismissing Mari's praise, steps forward and asks the cameraman if he's ready (to film her). Such a good sport.

The new Gatas member, Notchi, gets the second punishment, and here is why I think most Japanese guys are sick and hentai. Perhaps knowing Notchi isn't as well-known and looks the type he can bully, the sicko guy asks Notchi to do a gesture that depicts sticking something longish into her throat and retching later. Get the picture? It is gross and catch Yossi's reaction here. You could see she knows what it implies and she has a disgusted look and even looks away when Notchi's doing it. Yes, it is offending (to girls)...

Then it is Mari's turn to get punished. Perhaps boasted by his previous success, the guy wants Mari to be on all fours and mimic something, like a reptile. It's dangerous because Mari risked getting exposed on screen, but well, she is game enough and does it. When she's done, she, too, runs up to hug Yossi. It is funny how girls in h!p always run for cover when they're embarassed.

- Finished with the game, another guest comes into the show. She is some kind of spiritual reader and she's here to talk about the girls and their luck with love. As she has done her observations before the results will now be revealed. She ranked the girls from 1 to 4. 3rd goes to Notchi, 2nd to Konkon, then she has everyone guessing who takes first spot, Yossi or Korenaga?

Surprisingly, the studio becomes relatively excited and everybody starts guessing. I think it has to do with the fact that Yossi's among the guessed. Anyway, the guy host asks Mari to make a guess and she is in a dilemma. It is difficult to choose since both Yossi and Korenaga are sporty girls type. So the guy comes up with a moot scenario and asks Yossi and Korenaga what they will do. He asks if they would sneak into their boyfriend's home to do clean-up? Yossi rebukes quickly saying she will never do such a thing and also because she thinks it's not right to sneak into ppl's home. So the host asks, what if it was your boyfriend who asked you to help clean up? Yossi answers matter-of-factly, I'll tell him 'you mess it up, you clean it yourself'. The whole studio cracks up. When everyone has stopped laughing, Korenaga says she is ok with the cleaning, and the guy host is quite impressed with the answer.

So, the result is revealed and Yossi ends up last in the ranking. She starts protesting. The clairvoyant goes on to display a flipboard of a drawn figure covered wholly in green aura with red aura around the head and shoulders. She explains it is what she sees in Yossi. Green aura represents 'thinking' and people with lots of green aura are rational and comprehensive thinkers. The guy host asks if that meant Yossi could easily tell if a guy was suitable? The clairvoyant nods her head. Yossi then says, It's good then, isn't it? Undaunted, the guy then asks the mystic lady when will Yossi meet her special one. The lady scrutinizes Yossi again and then shakes her head. She has no idea since Yossi's green aura is too strong. Since red aura represents 'career' and Yossi has some of it, she thinks Yossi may be too concentrated on her career now than to be thinking of love. Perhaps not wanting Yossi to feel bad, she later tells Yossi that her luck will improve if she changed her thinking. So Yossi starts acting cutesy and demure and the studio starts laughing again. The show ends.

I like this episode, especially the end segment which is the climax. I see how Yossi is not as bothered with her love life as other girls, in the show, do. It shows what the mystic said might have some truth. To me, Yossi shares a guy's mentality, one who knows a steady career is the foundation where love can strive on. Saying which she must be the rational type and rational people find it hard to fall in love. They think/worry too much and thus have reservations about committing themselves in a relationship. They can't love by trial and error. If they can't be sure, they rather be alone by themselves.