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bengiyo · 9 months

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Tokyo in April is... Ep 8 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Before we begin, I am leaving timestamps for potentially triggering content. To skip all of the potential depictions, jump to 2:34 of the episode

Triggers include homophobia, physical abuse, attempted sexual assault,

00:22 - We pick up with Ren on the floor. There is a nighttime pan of the city before the intro music. Sanada is not visible.

1:20 - Sanada kicks Ren, looms over him, and begins to unbuckle his pants before Kazuma grabs him from behind and throws him to the ground.

1:50 - Sanada says homophobic things about Ren

2:34 - Ren has run away from the scene.

5:07 - After falling, Ren threatens to kill himself.

12:45 - Ren asks Kazuma to remove the wristband, but we are not shown the self harm scars.

Last week, we had a lot of flashbacks, but the core was Ryunosuke revealing the true extent of the horrors Ren suffered to Kazuma. We left with Kazuma running to their office. He doesn't know that Sanada is trying to harm Ren. I am certain he will intervene.

I feel vindicated in my trust. Kazuma got there in them and recorded incriminating evidence.

Oh, Kazuma. I'm glad you finally confessed and said what needed to be said.

I'm glad the mom is talking about this with someone else. I didn't like her talking about this with the guys in the manga. I still don't like her forcing them apart once she understood how much they liked each other. It was played as kind of a joke in the manga and I didn't like it. It feels cruel here.

Kazuma is very responsible, and I'm glad they confirmed that they went to the police to file a report that night.

I think it's so tasteful of the show to not show us Ren's scars. That reality is for them, not us.

I'm glad they're leaving the company. They knew who Sanada was all the time and even now want to silence the matter.

Oh my god. They are wearing a ring in this scene with the mom.

I'm glad she explained her real issues earlier and plays it softer here with them, and focuses instead on their mother-son relationship.

This resolution with the mom feels imperfect in a way I find really enjoyable.

I'm glad we saw them see Hido together. He also clearly loved them.

Not Kazuma saying Ren is also a sunshine boy who's light was just dimmed. He said miss me with that heteronormativity fear.

Ope, said the name of the show. FINISH YOUR DRINKS.

Not them ending us where we started!!!

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. This is a smart adaptation with some tactful changes to the packing and depictions of the source material that handles a lot of difficult themes decently. I think the flashbacks are overused, but can be forgiven for a piece about nostalgia. I think the handling of queerness was interesting, but a little too sub-textual. This was a solid experience, if a little heavy at the end.

#tokyo in april is...#shigatsu no tokyo wa...#japanese bl #bl series #Ben watches

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whatsabriard · 2 years

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Watch With Me: Hart to Hart 1x04

Episode Title: Jonathan Hart Jr

Original Airdate: October 6, 1979

Why this one? A 9 year old boy shows up claiming to be Jonathan's son? WHY WOULDN'T I PICK THIS ONE. Also, Jennifer gets real real fighting mad - madder than we ever get to see her before or since. It's just a lot of good stuff going on.

Favorite Quote: "I love you, you know that. And you would never ever leave a woman with a child. I know you."

First thing's first, she looks familiar because she was the mom from E.T. You're welcome.

Little trope-y, bad ex comes back to start some shit. But as far as threats go, he's probably right that getting arrested would be enough to get her son put into the system and that is no bueno.

"I love it when you wake me in the middle of the night." No, not that.

Look, it was pretty common for the dudes to be portrayed as horn dogs but they gave Jennifer a healthy sex drive that she's not ashamed of and that's a win for all of us.

"I'm jonathan hart jr."

Max is all of us.

Technically this episode is about Jonathan, but it's Jennifer who really comes in at the clutch. She takes care of that kid, and tries to make him feel comfortable, while Jonathan is sorting through his feelings.

They would have been good parents, but I do not long for them to procreate and am glad they never did.

Like even when Jennifer is all "this scheme isn't going to work" and Jonathan is like "I can't hurt that boy" she's all OK, I guess he's ours now.

Max is me when dealing with kids. What do we do with them?

Asking a child in los angeles how far they live from school - 5 to 10 minutes could be literally ANYWHERE. I would have said that at his age and you could have found 5 different elementary schools within that distance.

this woman really went around calling herself "Mrs Hart". Lady....LADY. it's weird enough that she lied to her kid...a lot. But that seems another bridge too far.

they find out the mom gave a fake address and the kid is like "hey can we go to the zoo now?"

I used to go to the LA Zoo a lot when I was little. You could get these wax animals made in vending machines and to this day the smell of hot wax transports me back there. I definitely had the lion.

12 hours later, JJr is kidnapped by his shitty real dad. This makes JSr really mad.

So JJr's mom shows up at the house.

This lady has some balls. "You must be Mrs Hart" And Jennifer is sitting there chewing the inside of her cheek and actually compliments the kid instead.

Personal proof in the form of a scar and Jennifer's like OK THAT;S REAL PERSONAL.

Jonathan is doing a good job of keeping his cool but he's Big Mad.

Small Jonathan is a chip off the fake block "My dad is gonna beat you up like crazy" lmao. But kid is right and he should say it.

"Be on time. No tricks, no cops."

Ooh, Jennifer aboutta fuck a bitch UP.

She admits she's having trouble with this particular excitement mostly because there's a kid who's in trouble and worst of all, Jonathan is wounded over this child. He has no idea if he's been kidnapped because they're related and he's in agony and Jennifer is Not About It.

I am TELLING YOU. this is a Jennifer ep.

Stanley Freeson is married with two kids? The fuck he is. He's a swinging single, show. It would have been in their best interest to have a show bible but nobody knew that 40 years later we'd be able to watch these on loop and pick it apart.

Man, Jonathan just gave her a 20% agent's fee and it was the single most devastating move. Then he drags her ass about her lies and Jennifer is in the front seat attempting not to look vindicated.

'member when I said Jonathan was big mad, though?

The Bad Dad starts beating up ET mom and Jonathan comes flying in like an avenger.

I'm not crying dad! FUCK KID. I AM.

"You know you're really beautiful when you're angry." LOL jennifer.

this guy is a real douchenozzle. Like he's for real a bad guy. He doesn't get to keep the $20k, does he? I don't remember.

"This little prince got lost in the middle of the nigh. And he couldn't find his way home. So some people took him in, and he stayed. They liked him a lot. They loved him. So he decided to stay. Would you like that Jonathan?"

The next day Jonathan the tech genius can't put together a swingset with Max. And the kid is like "I just need a rope, a board and a tree."

So then Jennifer puts on her Reporter had and goes beating the pavement to find ET mom and there's bad guy Vince following her because he's just the Worst.

And when Jennifer finds Connie, she doesn't kick her ass to the middle of next week. Which is just...classy.

"Listen to me, I said we'd help you and we will."

"Feeding the giraffes is a pain in the neck." she got JOKES.

This is when we find out that Jonathan is also at the zoo in a very convincing undercover costume.

They'll never recognize you, Clark!

"You mean that you're not really my father. If you were my father, you never would have waited so long to see me. Not you. But I wish you were, because next to my mom I think you're the neatest people in the whole world."

I talk mad shit about this show because it's mine and I love it. But it's also just... so sweet and gentle and it heals me.

I for reals mean to only hit my favorite of favorite episodes with this but I am obviously having a tough time whittling them down. I will be skipping Death in the Slow Lane (jonathan buys jennifer a vintage car for their anniversary but it's a piece of spy equipment? meh on plot, but features so killer costumes) and going straight for the absolute madness of "You Made Me Kill You". Something to look forward to, right?

#hart to hart #Jennifer Hart #Jonathan Hart #Stefanie Powers #RJ Wagner #80s tv #you should watch this show #life ruiners the original recipe

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