Why Kyuu and Ryuu Stand By Each Other
Tantei Gakuen Q was originally a manga and anime, as so many dramas start out. A live action special was produced in 2006, followed up by a full 11 episode drama one year later, with most of the same actors reprising their roles. I watched the drama about a year after it aired, after becoming a fan of the Johnny’s boyband Hey! Say! JUMP (though that was one of my more short-lived fandoms). Yamada Ryosuke was one of my favourites in the group, so I was willing to watch pretty much whatever he was in, but TanQ also starred Kamiki Ryunosuke, who I’d been aware of since watching The Great Yokai War a couple of years prior. I was definitely down for this.
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I can’t stop comparing Chuck to Smallville.
I probably really should stop, but comparisons are fun for me! It’s like when people make graphics on Tumblr showing parallels between shots on shows, only more wordy and annoying. But it’s fun for me, with my sudden urge to acquire as many TV show fandoms as possible and ultimate loyalty to Smallville as my greatest small screen pleasure of the moment. (Not that I won’t be completely loyal to The Office and Chuck from now on, too, because I totally will.) So here’s what I’ve got.
1. Chuck always has to lie to his friends and family in order to protect them. So when he accidentally lets them down because he has to run off and do a mission, he can’t tell them why and winds up hurting them, and he can’t explain himself to make it better. This exact situation is one of the most painful things to watch on Smallville.
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Why I Can’t Get Into Chlollie
I’ve been needing to get this out of my system.
I was kind of iffy about Chlollie before, but I was willing to accept them. I think I even teared up a little when they said “I love you” in the season 9 finale. When I began to lurk the Smallville fandom this fall, though, I discovered that there are lots of hardcore Chlollie fans, and lots of Smallville fans who actually hate Chlollie – or at least, just aren’t into it. Discovering the latter group made me feel validated in my iffiness on the pairing, and that validation kind of led to me beginning to dislike it more. I guess it just got me really thinking about them and the problems I have with them.
On Oliver’s side, I don’t really have a problem with his feelings for her; yes, he did try to get back with Lois earlier in season 9, but that was just him trying to jump on lingering feelings for an ex after he’d been through emotional turmoil and she’d stuck by him. That’s very different from moving on to someone new very quickly after a previous relationship. He accepted Clois with dignity and moved on once and for all. Discovering feelings for someone else soon after doesn’t come across as particularly odd or problematic to me. I mean, sometimes I’m kind of like, “Wait, he just tried to get back with Lois and now he’s ZOMG IN LOVE with Chloe?” But when I actually think about it, it’s not really that weird.
It’s Chloe’s side that bothers me. Yes, she and Jimmy separated almost right after they got married in season 8, and yes, they pretty much only reconciled minutes before Jimmy died. But they’d obviously always loved each other and had Jimmy not suddenly, tragically died, they’d still be together. Right after they emotionally reconciled, he died in her arms, and she grieved him. The beginning of season 9 showed her almost hysterical, pleading with Clark to go back in time and save Jimmy even though she MUST have known deep down what an unreasonable request that was, based on both history (Clark bringing back Lana and losing his dad) and common sense (about time travel). She was obviously heartbroken.
And yet, only months after Jimmy’s death, she fell in love with Oliver. I know you can’t really judge other people’s timelines and that there’s no right or wrong way to grieve or to love. But really? She moved on to be in love with Oliver that quickly? It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The Chlollie shippers kind of made it worse for me. They’re as into Chlollie as I am into Clois, they ship it, see it as true love, whatever. How do none of them have a problem with the fact that Chloe moved on from Jimmy so quickly? I’m not saying she has to be single forever because her husband died, but the fact that everyone is billing this as her true love and the ultimate Chloe OTP when she was grieving her dead husband like A YEAR AGO really bothers me.
So basically, this is why I can’t get into Chlollie. It really bothers me. Seeing other people counting down the days until Chlollie’s reunion in the next new episode, being that hardcore about them, weirds me out. And I can’t help but agree with the people who are annoyed by Oliver talking about how much he misses her nearly every episode. It bugs me because Chlollie bugs me.
I haven’t really blogged here in awhile, but perhaps I’ll get back into it over the Christmas break. I might need to blog more about Smallville just to tide myself over until January 28th.
Super Junior ’10
In 2010, I’ve drifted apart from Suju fandom. It may sound like I’m abandoning one of my groups when they need me the most, but I can’t help but chalk it up to the changes in the group’s lineup. Ten members just isn’t the same. At the very least, I’d have understood it if the changes were all unavoidable – Kangin really couldn’t come back right away, and Hangeng was gone and we all had to make peace with that. But Kibum? Come on. Anyway, while my loyalty to Heechul has never wavered, I’ve seen myself become less and less attached to Super Junior as a whole this year. Last night, however, I felt the urge to listen to Suju during dinner, and suddenly found myself feeling painfully nostalgic for them. And that got me to thinking about where the group is at right now, and where I’d like to see them go.
I’m going to get to the SJ-M members in a moment, but first I’m going to focus on the thirteen members of what is officially considered Super Junior proper. I essentially see this current Suju as having eleven members: the ten who promoted the fourth album, and Kangin. Kangin has demonstrated that he still wants to be and still is a part of the group; he participated in that song on the repackaged version of the fourth album, and the other members have stated that they stand by him and await his return. He showed up at a fan event, and if my memory serves me, some if not all of the members showed up to wish him farewell when he left for his military service. Two years may be a long time, but Kangin is coming back.
Hangeng left the group and SM behind, and I’ve made peace with that. SM wasn’t treating him well, so he stood up for himself and did what he needed to do. I’m proud of him for that. Of course I’m really sad that it means he had to leave Suju behind – and especially Heechul, since they’re so close, and Heechul has made it clear how much he misses him – but I understand why it had to happen, and I respect that. I haven’t been following his solo career, but I do support him and the decisions he’s made.
Kibum is a different story. Technically, Kibum is still in Super Junior; he’s just doing a really bad job of actually being a member of the group. Look, Kibum. I get that you want to act. Heechul started out as an actor, too. At first, Heechul has stated, he didn’t know what he was doing in Suju, and in the past he considered leaving the group. But then he realized how much of a family they’d become, and that they needed him. He came to love the group and accept it as his home. So tell us, Kibum, why can’t you? Heechul is a member of Suju while continuing to act. You can do both, too. You’re barely even active as an actor, anyway, so why the hell can’t you perform with the group once in awhile? No, seriously. Why would you just ditch the group like that?
By continuing to officially be a member of Suju but never actually participating in group activities, Kibum has put himself in a kind of limbo. Personally, I don’t think that’s fair to the fans, or the other members. Of course I want Kibum to come back to the group, but honestly? I’d rather see him leave the group once and for all than stay in limbo like this. It’d give us some closure and allow us to move on with the Suju we’ve been left with.
So, eleven members. What I would like to see happen now is Henry and Zhou Mi being added to Suju proper. I accept Super Junior as being a fifteen member family, and Dong Bang Junior a group of twenty boys. I’ve never paid a whole lot of attention to SJ-M activities, but I’ve always supported them, and I support the inclusion of Henry and Zhou Mi in this family. The more the merrier, as far as I see it. The “Only 13″ bullshit always made me really, really angry back when it started. Super Junior – including members who are not a part of SJ-M – has a bond with these boys, now. Considering everything that’s happened, I would be thrilled to see them be officially added to the main group. Even if Kibum comes back and the number would get bumped up to fourteen, I’m okay with that; I would have been okay with fifteen, anyway. I think that at this point, with everything Suju’s been through over the last year, officially expanding the family and strengthening their bonds would be the best thing SM could do for the group.
But of course, no one’s asking me. I really want this will happen, but I have no idea if it’s even possible. After all of those Only 13 protests, maybe it wouldn’t even be for Henry and Zhou Mi’s own good to be added; crazy “fans” might start threatening them (again, I’m sure). But in an ideal world, Suju could be one big, happy family like this.
I really miss the days when all of Suju’s members were together. It’s going to get harder and harder in the next few years, as the older members inevitably start their years of military service. I’ve spent a lot of time wondering how I’ll deal with Heechul being in the military for two years, separated from his friends and cats and hair and computer games. And well, obviously I’m thinking of myself, here – I don’t know how I’ll handle being separated from Heechul in this way. But those years will pass, too, and Suju will do the best they can. I need to believe in that. Or should I say, 13elieve.
I will keep on 13elieving in my w15h to see them together again.
