[REVIEW] One Pound Gospel - Round Two
The second episode was even crazier than the first, but just as fabulous. ^_^
One Pound Gospel - Round 02
Plot: Desperate for another encounter with his beloved Sister Angela, Kousaku goes through another run up a leafy hill and pretends to collapse. Alas, he doesn't meet any nuns but he does get the idea of striking a bargain with one courtesy of a couple of ankle-biters with a flyaway ball. It's simple: if he wins his next match, Sister Angela will go steady with him. At least, that's the plan, and when the chairman confirms that Kousaku has another match all lined up, he thinks it's a good time (late at night) to go to the convent and tell the Sister all about it.
Meanwhile, the power is out at the convent, resulting in nuns creeping round with candles while Sister Angela gets a cute grease smear on her face from messing around with the breaker. But help is on its way - Kurusu from the electrical shop has been called, and everything will be all right. Or it would be if Kurusu wasn't a) Kousaku's next opponent and b) a complete coward who only wins fights because he's afraid his girlfriend will leave him if he doesn't. The bitchy boxers back at the gym are well aware of the rumours about Kurusu (I wonder what kind of rumours they know about Kousaku? That he has a secret alter ego who likes to wear heavy eyeliner and paint his nails?) but Kousaku himself has no idea as he ran out of the chairman's office without waiting to hear the name of his opponent.
In fact, they don't even meet until Kousaku is spotted lurking round the convent by the nuns, and Kurusu makes an aborted attempt to arrest his flight. Kurusu ducks out at the last minute; Kousaku goes flying but as his recovery shows, not even a crash like that can dent his high spirits and athletic soul. Being something of an airhead, Kousaku has no idea how inappropriate it is to ask a nun to go steady with him, even if she is hot.
Kousaku throws himself into his training with way too much enthusiasm for the other guys at the gym, especially since he keeps yelling "SISTER!" at the top of his lungs and drowning out their gossip sessions. But for Seiko, it's all good. It doesn't really matter what Kousaku's motivation is, just so long as he's got some and it stops him from pigging out every five minutes.
Back at the convent, Sister Angela receives some not-so-carefully-veiled threats that if she gives in to temptation and falls for Kousaku, she'll have to leave. Apparently, men are selfish creatures and very scary. (But nuns can be scary too! Watch The Blues Brothers!) The director, bless her inner chorus-girl heart, is on the watch for signs that Sister Angela might be slipping - but unlike the other nuns, she's obviously cheering her on.
Katsumi is doing anything *but* cheering Kousaku on, since he continues to be a jerk, taunting him cruelly with food all the while lecturing him on how you should go on a few dates and see how it works out before you go steady. What Katsumi would know about it, I have no idea. Sister Angela could drop him with one good slap, I'm sure. He's obviously been hanging out with the bitchy boxers too long, because he's got their attitude down to a T.
Kousaku, who is happily insensitive to women's emotions, accidentally leads a co-worker on by asking for her opinion on what she'd want for a date and proceeds to act on it, eating a record number of dumplings to win a luxurious cruise overseeing the night view at Yokohama. What follows is a ludicrous but tremdously entertaining scene in which Kousaku, pursued by the chairman on her bicycle, runs to the convent to tell Sister Angela about their "date". Before the nuns can recover from the shock, Kousaku, terrified that Seiko will catch up to him, grabs Sister Angela and scurries into Kurusu's van. Kurusu is panicked into driving off, and Seiko stops her bike just in time to avoid being trampled by a herd of stampeding nuns.
The van eventually stops at Kurusu's shop, where we meet his girlfriend. The two of them have a violent relationship - he cowers, she hits, but they care for each other very much. Sister Angela phones home and then settles in for a cup of tea with Kousaku, because she has to have a meal of sorts with all his opponents. Here they learn about Kurusu's problems, and Kousaku explains that he needs to win the match so Sister Angela will go steady with him.
Oh dear. Kousaku gets well and truly dumped by his beloved nun, and when Seiko and Mitaka get back to the gym after being chatted up at the convent, they find him comfort-eating noodles, haunting the building like some sort of starved spectre.
Next morning, Kousaku has renewed determination: he doesn't need women, it's all about the boxing. Sure it is. That's why when they pretend Sister Angela is there, he nearly goes crazy trying to see her. (And pouts so cutely when he learns they were just kidding!)
Sister Angela walks her bike past Kurusu's place just in time to see him getting chased off by his girlfriend for wanting to quit boxing, and the two women have a sort of heart-to-heart. Clearly, it is good to be a little strict with boxers, and though Sister Angela vows not to help Kousaku anymore, she breaks her word immediately (and apologises to God for it) by throwing a baseball at him when she sees him start to stray from his training in the direction of food. Kousaku is confused as to where the ball came from, but not nearly as confused as the couple of kids who had their baseball stolen by a nun.
Despite his newfound resolve to forget about Sister Angela, Kousaku is slipping, and when the chairman catches him trying to drink water in the middle of the night, the poor boy breaks down altogether. Seiko explains the point that Kousaku just can't seem to grasp - for Sister Angela to date him, she couldn't be a nun anymore. His tears stop immediately, and the moment Seiko - who seems half in love with Sister Angela herself, sometimes - takes her eyes off him, he vanishes. Kousaku can only be sneaky when there is no food involved.
Kousaku earns a slap from his beloved Sister when he asks her to leave the convent and live with him if he wins his next match, horrifying the crowd of orphans who are watching them and sending both boxer and nun into a spiral of doubt and misery that results in them having words with the director and - uh, which boxer is it? Ueda? - respectively. Incidentally, the latter is reading a volume of Ranma 1/2 as he talks to Kousaku - which, as I'm sure you'll all know, is also by Rumiko Takahashi, author of 1PG. Kousaku gains an understanding of the religion of boxing, so to speak, and feels reinvigorated, despite Katsumi's best attempts to put him down. The kid just gets brattier every second he's on screen, I swear.
Kousaku passes the weigh-in and everyone breathes a sigh of relief...all except Kurusu, who is scared off by the strength of his opponent's handshake. He runs away just before the match, but luckily everyone in the series knows exactly where he's gone and he's found in the chapel. Using a combination of push and pull tactics, Kousaku, Sister Angela, Seiko and Kurusu's girlfriend talk him into fighting, and it's back to the ring.
Now for perhaps the most unlikely event ever to occur at a boxing match. All the nuns go to watch, bearing a banner that cheers for Kurusu. Kousaku, completely oblivious to the fact that the love of his life is cheering for his opponent, is absolutely thrilled to see her there and throws himself into the fight with everything he's got.
Kurusu spends most of his time guarding, only lashing out with a vicious uppercut when he needs Kousaku to get away and stop threatening him. Kousaku's hitting a lot but he's not connecting, just wearing himself out. And if you want running commentary on the match, the boxers can do it much better than I can. Kousaku goes down once but a quick reminder that he wouldn't want to lose before the woman he loves has him springing back up again.
However, lose he does, and rather painfully, even though Sister Angela abandons her fellow nuns in spirit and starts cheering for him instead. Kousaku winds up in tears in the locker room, but no one from the gym has any patience with him, not unless he reflects on why he lost, and they all vanish for food.
A downcast Kousaku waits outside the convent gates the next morning to apologise for his loss to Sister Angela. She's relieved that he lost, since it means she doesn't have to move in with him (and really, who would want to? He'd cost a fortune to feed!), but she thinks he did his best and he's pretty happy with that. Sister Angela walks away from the lovestruck boxer with an apology to God for all the commotion, and that's it for this week!
Music: I didn't take much note of it this time round. There was less rock than in the first episode but the BGM was nice in general, and less video-game like. There was also the expected "gospel with the beat of 'We Will Rock You'" when anyone has some sort of magical moment with a nun.
Obligatory Kame commentary: If I thought Kousaku was nuts before, now I believe he's a complete and utter lunatic! Kame sells it so well, from the cute, little boy-ish moments to the more serious ones, and he doesn't care how stupid or ugly or stalker-like he looks while doing it. Very expressive face, though the mock-tears didn't quite convince me. But he's so darned bouncy and fun that I just don't care!
Best scene: Possibly the nuns walking into the match with the banner, all looking like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. Or when Kousaku tells Kurusu that he wants Sister Angela to hit him - meaning, hit him with affection, of course, but he does still get his slap later! And hit with a baseball! Or Kousaku randomly hugging poles and punchbags and anything else he can get his arms round.
Conclusion: Kousaku crossed the line into serious stalker territory and has terrible trouble understanding reality - nuns cannot date, end of story. Luckily, Kame makes this all seem cute and funny as opposed to incredibly disturbing. And he does have quite a few people cheering him on, even if other people are determined to discourage him and undermine his confidence. There wasn't so much of an issue with Kousaku's weight this week, since he managed to lose even the results of his contest and comfort-eating without too much trouble, and there was a much greater focus on his odd relationship with Sister Angela. But I have to say, I like it whatever happens. The characters are all great fun (still can't tell the other boxers apart, though, except that one guy looks like he's from THnK) and despite the OTT-ness of the series, it does work. Crack doesn't come much more appealing than this.
One Pound Gospel - Round 02
Plot: Desperate for another encounter with his beloved Sister Angela, Kousaku goes through another run up a leafy hill and pretends to collapse. Alas, he doesn't meet any nuns but he does get the idea of striking a bargain with one courtesy of a couple of ankle-biters with a flyaway ball. It's simple: if he wins his next match, Sister Angela will go steady with him. At least, that's the plan, and when the chairman confirms that Kousaku has another match all lined up, he thinks it's a good time (late at night) to go to the convent and tell the Sister all about it.
Meanwhile, the power is out at the convent, resulting in nuns creeping round with candles while Sister Angela gets a cute grease smear on her face from messing around with the breaker. But help is on its way - Kurusu from the electrical shop has been called, and everything will be all right. Or it would be if Kurusu wasn't a) Kousaku's next opponent and b) a complete coward who only wins fights because he's afraid his girlfriend will leave him if he doesn't. The bitchy boxers back at the gym are well aware of the rumours about Kurusu (I wonder what kind of rumours they know about Kousaku? That he has a secret alter ego who likes to wear heavy eyeliner and paint his nails?) but Kousaku himself has no idea as he ran out of the chairman's office without waiting to hear the name of his opponent.
In fact, they don't even meet until Kousaku is spotted lurking round the convent by the nuns, and Kurusu makes an aborted attempt to arrest his flight. Kurusu ducks out at the last minute; Kousaku goes flying but as his recovery shows, not even a crash like that can dent his high spirits and athletic soul. Being something of an airhead, Kousaku has no idea how inappropriate it is to ask a nun to go steady with him, even if she is hot.
Kousaku throws himself into his training with way too much enthusiasm for the other guys at the gym, especially since he keeps yelling "SISTER!" at the top of his lungs and drowning out their gossip sessions. But for Seiko, it's all good. It doesn't really matter what Kousaku's motivation is, just so long as he's got some and it stops him from pigging out every five minutes.
Back at the convent, Sister Angela receives some not-so-carefully-veiled threats that if she gives in to temptation and falls for Kousaku, she'll have to leave. Apparently, men are selfish creatures and very scary. (But nuns can be scary too! Watch The Blues Brothers!) The director, bless her inner chorus-girl heart, is on the watch for signs that Sister Angela might be slipping - but unlike the other nuns, she's obviously cheering her on.
Katsumi is doing anything *but* cheering Kousaku on, since he continues to be a jerk, taunting him cruelly with food all the while lecturing him on how you should go on a few dates and see how it works out before you go steady. What Katsumi would know about it, I have no idea. Sister Angela could drop him with one good slap, I'm sure. He's obviously been hanging out with the bitchy boxers too long, because he's got their attitude down to a T.
Kousaku, who is happily insensitive to women's emotions, accidentally leads a co-worker on by asking for her opinion on what she'd want for a date and proceeds to act on it, eating a record number of dumplings to win a luxurious cruise overseeing the night view at Yokohama. What follows is a ludicrous but tremdously entertaining scene in which Kousaku, pursued by the chairman on her bicycle, runs to the convent to tell Sister Angela about their "date". Before the nuns can recover from the shock, Kousaku, terrified that Seiko will catch up to him, grabs Sister Angela and scurries into Kurusu's van. Kurusu is panicked into driving off, and Seiko stops her bike just in time to avoid being trampled by a herd of stampeding nuns.
The van eventually stops at Kurusu's shop, where we meet his girlfriend. The two of them have a violent relationship - he cowers, she hits, but they care for each other very much. Sister Angela phones home and then settles in for a cup of tea with Kousaku, because she has to have a meal of sorts with all his opponents. Here they learn about Kurusu's problems, and Kousaku explains that he needs to win the match so Sister Angela will go steady with him.
Oh dear. Kousaku gets well and truly dumped by his beloved nun, and when Seiko and Mitaka get back to the gym after being chatted up at the convent, they find him comfort-eating noodles, haunting the building like some sort of starved spectre.
Next morning, Kousaku has renewed determination: he doesn't need women, it's all about the boxing. Sure it is. That's why when they pretend Sister Angela is there, he nearly goes crazy trying to see her. (And pouts so cutely when he learns they were just kidding!)
Sister Angela walks her bike past Kurusu's place just in time to see him getting chased off by his girlfriend for wanting to quit boxing, and the two women have a sort of heart-to-heart. Clearly, it is good to be a little strict with boxers, and though Sister Angela vows not to help Kousaku anymore, she breaks her word immediately (and apologises to God for it) by throwing a baseball at him when she sees him start to stray from his training in the direction of food. Kousaku is confused as to where the ball came from, but not nearly as confused as the couple of kids who had their baseball stolen by a nun.
Despite his newfound resolve to forget about Sister Angela, Kousaku is slipping, and when the chairman catches him trying to drink water in the middle of the night, the poor boy breaks down altogether. Seiko explains the point that Kousaku just can't seem to grasp - for Sister Angela to date him, she couldn't be a nun anymore. His tears stop immediately, and the moment Seiko - who seems half in love with Sister Angela herself, sometimes - takes her eyes off him, he vanishes. Kousaku can only be sneaky when there is no food involved.
Kousaku earns a slap from his beloved Sister when he asks her to leave the convent and live with him if he wins his next match, horrifying the crowd of orphans who are watching them and sending both boxer and nun into a spiral of doubt and misery that results in them having words with the director and - uh, which boxer is it? Ueda? - respectively. Incidentally, the latter is reading a volume of Ranma 1/2 as he talks to Kousaku - which, as I'm sure you'll all know, is also by Rumiko Takahashi, author of 1PG. Kousaku gains an understanding of the religion of boxing, so to speak, and feels reinvigorated, despite Katsumi's best attempts to put him down. The kid just gets brattier every second he's on screen, I swear.
Kousaku passes the weigh-in and everyone breathes a sigh of relief...all except Kurusu, who is scared off by the strength of his opponent's handshake. He runs away just before the match, but luckily everyone in the series knows exactly where he's gone and he's found in the chapel. Using a combination of push and pull tactics, Kousaku, Sister Angela, Seiko and Kurusu's girlfriend talk him into fighting, and it's back to the ring.
Now for perhaps the most unlikely event ever to occur at a boxing match. All the nuns go to watch, bearing a banner that cheers for Kurusu. Kousaku, completely oblivious to the fact that the love of his life is cheering for his opponent, is absolutely thrilled to see her there and throws himself into the fight with everything he's got.
Kurusu spends most of his time guarding, only lashing out with a vicious uppercut when he needs Kousaku to get away and stop threatening him. Kousaku's hitting a lot but he's not connecting, just wearing himself out. And if you want running commentary on the match, the boxers can do it much better than I can. Kousaku goes down once but a quick reminder that he wouldn't want to lose before the woman he loves has him springing back up again.
However, lose he does, and rather painfully, even though Sister Angela abandons her fellow nuns in spirit and starts cheering for him instead. Kousaku winds up in tears in the locker room, but no one from the gym has any patience with him, not unless he reflects on why he lost, and they all vanish for food.
A downcast Kousaku waits outside the convent gates the next morning to apologise for his loss to Sister Angela. She's relieved that he lost, since it means she doesn't have to move in with him (and really, who would want to? He'd cost a fortune to feed!), but she thinks he did his best and he's pretty happy with that. Sister Angela walks away from the lovestruck boxer with an apology to God for all the commotion, and that's it for this week!
Music: I didn't take much note of it this time round. There was less rock than in the first episode but the BGM was nice in general, and less video-game like. There was also the expected "gospel with the beat of 'We Will Rock You'" when anyone has some sort of magical moment with a nun.
Obligatory Kame commentary: If I thought Kousaku was nuts before, now I believe he's a complete and utter lunatic! Kame sells it so well, from the cute, little boy-ish moments to the more serious ones, and he doesn't care how stupid or ugly or stalker-like he looks while doing it. Very expressive face, though the mock-tears didn't quite convince me. But he's so darned bouncy and fun that I just don't care!
Best scene: Possibly the nuns walking into the match with the banner, all looking like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. Or when Kousaku tells Kurusu that he wants Sister Angela to hit him - meaning, hit him with affection, of course, but he does still get his slap later! And hit with a baseball! Or Kousaku randomly hugging poles and punchbags and anything else he can get his arms round.
Conclusion: Kousaku crossed the line into serious stalker territory and has terrible trouble understanding reality - nuns cannot date, end of story. Luckily, Kame makes this all seem cute and funny as opposed to incredibly disturbing. And he does have quite a few people cheering him on, even if other people are determined to discourage him and undermine his confidence. There wasn't so much of an issue with Kousaku's weight this week, since he managed to lose even the results of his contest and comfort-eating without too much trouble, and there was a much greater focus on his odd relationship with Sister Angela. But I have to say, I like it whatever happens. The characters are all great fun (still can't tell the other boxers apart, though, except that one guy looks like he's from THnK) and despite the OTT-ness of the series, it does work. Crack doesn't come much more appealing than this.