[REVIEW] Kami no Shizuku - 06
See disclaimer in review of Episode 01.
The short version: Shizuku and Tomine peak at the same time, with different results. You can read that however you want and you'll probably be right.
Kami no Shizuku - le sixième verre (the sixth glass)
Plot: Before the opening credits, we get another recap, just in case we've forgotten why Shizuku might not be so bright and chirpy the next time we see him - or indeed, present at all, as it's time for the clue to the 4th Apostle to be revealed and our hero is nowhere to be found. Maki, quick to capitalise on any opportunity, tries to talk Robert and Kiryu into ending the contest on the grounds that Shizuku has obviously forfeited his rights to the inheritance. Kiryu puts her down. Don't mess with a lawyer, girl.
Kiryu's awesome powers include the ability to detect Miyabi's presence, it seems. Nobody knows where Shizuku is, and Miyabi opts to take notes on Kanzaki Yutaka's next description in his stead. This one involves climbing to the top of a tough, snow-covered mountain and getting one hell of a view. I don't really care, because it's obvious this episode isn't about the wine. No, it's about the angst!
Five minutes in and Shizuku's still nowhere to be found, so Miyabi shares the description with the gang at the office. If the previous episode made me love the Taiyo Beer crowd with all my heart, this episode made me want to adopt each and every one of them, even the guy whose name I never remember. Miyabi tries to explain why Shizuku wasn't at the reading without giving away the earthshattering revelations about the Kanzaki family, but eventually gives in under the relentless pressure of well-meaning meddling.
Meanwhile, Shizuku pays a visit to Chateau Robert to confront the show's resident eccentric about his father. Robert is happy to provide wine (which Shizuku won't touch) but is predictably cagey about what Kanzaki-sensei might've been thinking. He prefers to let Shizuku find it all out from the wine, as it gets him off the hook.
Maki, on the other hand, continues to needle Kiryu about the situation. You can't tell me there's not something going on with this lawyer. There are too many significant pauses and glances for that.
Shizuku finally returns to the office, prompting a flurry of activity as everyone tries to pretend they have no interest whatsoever in his personal life. They fail, of course. It's so adorable watching all of them, including the formerly-hostile Honma, try to cheer up Shizuku without letting on that they know his secrets. They fail at that too, and by Shizuku's knowing little smirk, he knows exactly who to blame. They actually treat him like he's been through some massive trauma but he assures them that he's fine, and not thinking of resigning or anything stupid like that.
Not that they believe him for a second when he says he has work to do outside the office and leaves with a bright smile on his face. The smile lasts as long as it takes him to get out of their line of sight.
Over in Tomine's lair, he's taking the scientific (geographic?) approach, consulting his map of Europe for high mountains. He's trying out wines with high mineral content, or something, but Maki interrupts with premature suggestion for celebrating their victory. There is trouble in paradise, however, and he gives the evil girlfriend the brush-off. Despite his intent to focus on the challenge, he's hurt that he didn't know about his relationship to Kanzaki Yutaka and son, while almost everyone else did.
After a spell spent angsting who knows where. Shizuku bounces back into the office to find his half-brother waiting for him. Miyabi treats Tomine like he's some kind of poisonous spider, which is probably sensible. Tomine wants to talk privately. Awkward! Shizuku has no intention of spending any time alone with his sibling and makes him say his piece in the office, in front of everyone. The Taiyo Beer gang pretend to work. I can see why nobody is too bothered about Shizuku's inability to get any work done - they'd all be hypocrites to complain about it.
Tomine gets mad that Shizuku's daddy issues are bigger than his. Actually, he's annoyed that Shizuku no longer plans to compete and thinks it more fitting that Tomine inherits. I get the impression it's not so much that Shizuku's upset about being related to his rival, but that he resents his father leaving it to them to find out like this, making their first meeting a contest and so on. Tomine doesn't see it that way and leaves, much to the relief of everyone else in the office (who consider him an evil spirit).
Honma, of all people, tries to spur Shizuku back into the fight, even though he's envious of Shizuku's god-given abilities with wine. Miyabi bawls him out on the roof for running away, and doesn't Kame look pretty here? He angsts so well. Shizuku says that basically, all he and Tomine Issei have left as relatives is each other (guess no one told him about Sara), and that it's somehow lonely. I get the feeling he'd be quite happy about having a sibling if he'd found out through a more normal channel than a bottle of wine that makes him hallucinate the Mona Lisa.
Miyabi's also feeling down, which is why she's drinking alone at Monopole, and even a freebie from Fujieda can't make her smile. Her boss and Honma, already in their cups, turn up for another couple of drinks to gossip about the Shizuku Situation. Office gossip is the best, isn't it?
It's never too early in the morning for Shizuku to get in some heavy-duty angsting and flashbacks, and he's the only conscious one in the office when he comes down from the roof. His colleagues have left him some presents! Each one has picked out a wine to help him find the 4th Apostle, based on the description. Shizuku gently lays his coat over the sleeping Miyabi, whose wine has an apology note rather than a theory, and proceeds to try her wine. The wine is like an insurmountable mountain, so guess where Shizuku's going? Why, mountain climbing, of course!
While Tomine's in the lair, narrowing down his choice of white wines, Shizuku's getting wrapped up in some really ugly outdoor gear to tackle a snow-covered mountain. Kame must be loving this one, with his love of dangerous and exhausting outdoor pastimes. It's a tough path to follow, and Shizuku does take a tumble.
As does Tomine. We have a flashback to how he agreed to be Kanzaki Yutaka's adopted son, with a goal of obtaining his collection and eventually surpassing him. Blunt, but honest. Maki's of the view that Issei and his mother were wronged by Kanzaki-sensei and that he's justified in grabbing everything the old man had. That gets her in her boyfriend's bad books, as he holds the opinion that they were not abandoned and in fact formed another nice little family of their own, having Sara with some other chap. He refuses to play the victim, which I find rather admirable.
What follows gives me a flashback to Dreamboys 2006. Hands up, anyone who isn't dying/doesn't have a degenerative disease/isn't susceptible to horrible migraines? Tomine can't see - this time, not because his flashback keeps getting in the way of the Mona Lisa, but because his vision is actually failing him. The lair is growing dark... He collapses, tended by Maki and Sara.
The funny thing is that when he wakes up, he seems to be psychically linked to Shizuku in a way, and predicts that the latter will have gone mountain climbing. (Presumably, this was the one training activity Kanzaki-sensei did not inflict on his young son!) He kicks the girls out so he can be alone with his thoughts.
Up in the snow, Shizuku's having his own problems as he starts hallucinating, seeing (and hearing) his father. It could be worse. He could be hallucinating an entire log cabin too. (Due South fans will know what I'm talking about here.) As Shizuku continues to climb, Tomine sits back in his chair with an empty wine glass and kind of...cheers him on? It's difficult to tell.
That night, Shizuku huddles alone in his small tent (alas, no Jin to keep him warm) and mulls over his brother's words. Can he forgive their father? What is he really upset about? He's all alone on the mountain, out of reach of his concerned colleagues. Tomine appears to have spent the night in his chair, muttering things like "just a bit more and I will reach the summit". I have to be honest: between his body language, tone and choice of words, the whole thing is pretty sexual. It doesn't help matters that once Shizuku reaches the summit and admires the view for a bit, feels the overwhelming loneliness and indulges in some healthy primal screaming, he collapses on his back and heavy breathes for a while. I'm not sure whether or not this was a last-ditch attempt to draw in viewers ("Roll up, roll up, and see Kamenashi Kazuya with his post-coital mountain-climbing glow!").
Tomine has also...uh...reached the summit, but in his case at least he found out which wine it was.
Shizuku staggers back down the mountain to collapse in the ranger station (or whatever it is) for a while. Poor boy's all tuckered out. I guess indulging in psychic hatesex with your evil half-brother will do that to you. (I swear, I'm not kidding about this.) Despite mistaking Shizuku for a student, this ranger chap is very perceptive and knows nothing's really changed for Shizuku - all he felt at the peak was loneliness. Shizuku feels like he doesn't have anyone to return to, but that's not true as he discovers when he gets a call from Honma and receives an earful of love and care from everyone in the office. The number of times I went "Aww..." in this episode is ridiculous. They are all so sweet to him!
Finally, it's time for the showdown. Tomine takes his wine of choice; Maki takes a big risk going out looking like that and Shizuku takes a leave of absence. Yes, he doesn't turn up again, and Tomine is visibly uncomfortable at going ahead without him, though not so much that he can suppress his usual moans and wordy explanations. He reveals his chosen wine, and just as Kiryu is about to reveal the identity of the 4th Apostle, Tomine's psychic abilities kick in again and he asks her to wait - Shizuku has arrived. Talk about a fanfare. Bless Tomine (I never thought I'd say that), he actually looks pleased as punch that his little brother has decided to put in an appearance. I guess he really does want to play fair. Shizuku is the only person involved in this who hasn't messed him around, I suppose.
But the wine Shizuku brings is not the 4th Apostle. It's the wine he drank just before he ran off to climb a mountain, which made him realise that he wasn't alone. He had Miyabi and his other friends to support him, and that gave him the courage to continue. He'll continue to fight with everything he's got - if they'll let him. Of course they do. He's lost this round - Tomine had the right wine, naturally - but there's still time for him to catch up. Tomine's working logically and Shizuku's working on instinct, but they're both brilliant in their own way. Which is more worthy to be Kanzaki Yutaka's successor?
Back at the office, it's glasses all round, though Shizuku would like to argue that he didn't technically lose this round since he wasn't in it! It's not "cheers!", anyway, as Miyabi takes the opportunity to poke a little fun at Shizuku and gets them copying his "Awaken, Bacchus!". Nobody gets it.
The ending isn't all fun and games, however. I will be very disappointed if Kiryu turns out not to be involved somehow, and as for Tomine...it looks like he's saying goodbye to his eyesight. Has he been drinking too much?
Obligatory Kame commentary: The hair just continues to improve, which is why, I suspect, he removed his hat while climbing the mountain, just so we could get a few glamour shots. Kame manages to look amazing when all mussed up with no make-up, so the scenes up and down the mountain were great for him. I particularly liked the little smile when he was on the phone to everyone back in the office. You can't see his lips fully, but you can get the gist of it and the sweetness kills me.
Best Scene: Actually, the scene I've just mentioned, but anything with the Taiyo Beer gang rallying round Shizuku. Watching them trying to cheer him up without letting him know they know about Tomine was priceless. Even Minamoto, who started out as some sort of ice maiden, got in on the act. They let him get away with absolute murder, don't they? Running off to climb mountains, randomly showing up late - or not at all - and making his personal problems theirs. This show might have started out as Shizuku vs. Tomine but it's become about the teams, and I think that makes it much more entertaining.
Conclusion: This episode was even sweeter than the last one, but had more crack, too. Honma still thinks he's Italian, Maki's dress sense has gone out the window in favour of camping it up as a pantomime villain, Shizuku has to climb mountains to discover he's got friends and Tomine's attempting to out-angst him by losing his sight. Not to mention, the whole bizarre quasi-psychic link thing with the sexual connotations. The closer we get to the end of the series, the weirder this show becomes. Can't wait to see the next episode! ^_^
The short version: Shizuku and Tomine peak at the same time, with different results. You can read that however you want and you'll probably be right.
Kami no Shizuku - le sixième verre (the sixth glass)
Plot: Before the opening credits, we get another recap, just in case we've forgotten why Shizuku might not be so bright and chirpy the next time we see him - or indeed, present at all, as it's time for the clue to the 4th Apostle to be revealed and our hero is nowhere to be found. Maki, quick to capitalise on any opportunity, tries to talk Robert and Kiryu into ending the contest on the grounds that Shizuku has obviously forfeited his rights to the inheritance. Kiryu puts her down. Don't mess with a lawyer, girl.
Kiryu's awesome powers include the ability to detect Miyabi's presence, it seems. Nobody knows where Shizuku is, and Miyabi opts to take notes on Kanzaki Yutaka's next description in his stead. This one involves climbing to the top of a tough, snow-covered mountain and getting one hell of a view. I don't really care, because it's obvious this episode isn't about the wine. No, it's about the angst!
Five minutes in and Shizuku's still nowhere to be found, so Miyabi shares the description with the gang at the office. If the previous episode made me love the Taiyo Beer crowd with all my heart, this episode made me want to adopt each and every one of them, even the guy whose name I never remember. Miyabi tries to explain why Shizuku wasn't at the reading without giving away the earthshattering revelations about the Kanzaki family, but eventually gives in under the relentless pressure of well-meaning meddling.
Meanwhile, Shizuku pays a visit to Chateau Robert to confront the show's resident eccentric about his father. Robert is happy to provide wine (which Shizuku won't touch) but is predictably cagey about what Kanzaki-sensei might've been thinking. He prefers to let Shizuku find it all out from the wine, as it gets him off the hook.
Maki, on the other hand, continues to needle Kiryu about the situation. You can't tell me there's not something going on with this lawyer. There are too many significant pauses and glances for that.
Shizuku finally returns to the office, prompting a flurry of activity as everyone tries to pretend they have no interest whatsoever in his personal life. They fail, of course. It's so adorable watching all of them, including the formerly-hostile Honma, try to cheer up Shizuku without letting on that they know his secrets. They fail at that too, and by Shizuku's knowing little smirk, he knows exactly who to blame. They actually treat him like he's been through some massive trauma but he assures them that he's fine, and not thinking of resigning or anything stupid like that.
Not that they believe him for a second when he says he has work to do outside the office and leaves with a bright smile on his face. The smile lasts as long as it takes him to get out of their line of sight.
Over in Tomine's lair, he's taking the scientific (geographic?) approach, consulting his map of Europe for high mountains. He's trying out wines with high mineral content, or something, but Maki interrupts with premature suggestion for celebrating their victory. There is trouble in paradise, however, and he gives the evil girlfriend the brush-off. Despite his intent to focus on the challenge, he's hurt that he didn't know about his relationship to Kanzaki Yutaka and son, while almost everyone else did.
After a spell spent angsting who knows where. Shizuku bounces back into the office to find his half-brother waiting for him. Miyabi treats Tomine like he's some kind of poisonous spider, which is probably sensible. Tomine wants to talk privately. Awkward! Shizuku has no intention of spending any time alone with his sibling and makes him say his piece in the office, in front of everyone. The Taiyo Beer gang pretend to work. I can see why nobody is too bothered about Shizuku's inability to get any work done - they'd all be hypocrites to complain about it.
Tomine gets mad that Shizuku's daddy issues are bigger than his. Actually, he's annoyed that Shizuku no longer plans to compete and thinks it more fitting that Tomine inherits. I get the impression it's not so much that Shizuku's upset about being related to his rival, but that he resents his father leaving it to them to find out like this, making their first meeting a contest and so on. Tomine doesn't see it that way and leaves, much to the relief of everyone else in the office (who consider him an evil spirit).
Honma, of all people, tries to spur Shizuku back into the fight, even though he's envious of Shizuku's god-given abilities with wine. Miyabi bawls him out on the roof for running away, and doesn't Kame look pretty here? He angsts so well. Shizuku says that basically, all he and Tomine Issei have left as relatives is each other (guess no one told him about Sara), and that it's somehow lonely. I get the feeling he'd be quite happy about having a sibling if he'd found out through a more normal channel than a bottle of wine that makes him hallucinate the Mona Lisa.
Miyabi's also feeling down, which is why she's drinking alone at Monopole, and even a freebie from Fujieda can't make her smile. Her boss and Honma, already in their cups, turn up for another couple of drinks to gossip about the Shizuku Situation. Office gossip is the best, isn't it?
It's never too early in the morning for Shizuku to get in some heavy-duty angsting and flashbacks, and he's the only conscious one in the office when he comes down from the roof. His colleagues have left him some presents! Each one has picked out a wine to help him find the 4th Apostle, based on the description. Shizuku gently lays his coat over the sleeping Miyabi, whose wine has an apology note rather than a theory, and proceeds to try her wine. The wine is like an insurmountable mountain, so guess where Shizuku's going? Why, mountain climbing, of course!
While Tomine's in the lair, narrowing down his choice of white wines, Shizuku's getting wrapped up in some really ugly outdoor gear to tackle a snow-covered mountain. Kame must be loving this one, with his love of dangerous and exhausting outdoor pastimes. It's a tough path to follow, and Shizuku does take a tumble.
As does Tomine. We have a flashback to how he agreed to be Kanzaki Yutaka's adopted son, with a goal of obtaining his collection and eventually surpassing him. Blunt, but honest. Maki's of the view that Issei and his mother were wronged by Kanzaki-sensei and that he's justified in grabbing everything the old man had. That gets her in her boyfriend's bad books, as he holds the opinion that they were not abandoned and in fact formed another nice little family of their own, having Sara with some other chap. He refuses to play the victim, which I find rather admirable.
What follows gives me a flashback to Dreamboys 2006. Hands up, anyone who isn't dying/doesn't have a degenerative disease/isn't susceptible to horrible migraines? Tomine can't see - this time, not because his flashback keeps getting in the way of the Mona Lisa, but because his vision is actually failing him. The lair is growing dark... He collapses, tended by Maki and Sara.
The funny thing is that when he wakes up, he seems to be psychically linked to Shizuku in a way, and predicts that the latter will have gone mountain climbing. (Presumably, this was the one training activity Kanzaki-sensei did not inflict on his young son!) He kicks the girls out so he can be alone with his thoughts.
Up in the snow, Shizuku's having his own problems as he starts hallucinating, seeing (and hearing) his father. It could be worse. He could be hallucinating an entire log cabin too. (Due South fans will know what I'm talking about here.) As Shizuku continues to climb, Tomine sits back in his chair with an empty wine glass and kind of...cheers him on? It's difficult to tell.
That night, Shizuku huddles alone in his small tent (alas, no Jin to keep him warm) and mulls over his brother's words. Can he forgive their father? What is he really upset about? He's all alone on the mountain, out of reach of his concerned colleagues. Tomine appears to have spent the night in his chair, muttering things like "just a bit more and I will reach the summit". I have to be honest: between his body language, tone and choice of words, the whole thing is pretty sexual. It doesn't help matters that once Shizuku reaches the summit and admires the view for a bit, feels the overwhelming loneliness and indulges in some healthy primal screaming, he collapses on his back and heavy breathes for a while. I'm not sure whether or not this was a last-ditch attempt to draw in viewers ("Roll up, roll up, and see Kamenashi Kazuya with his post-coital mountain-climbing glow!").
Tomine has also...uh...reached the summit, but in his case at least he found out which wine it was.
Shizuku staggers back down the mountain to collapse in the ranger station (or whatever it is) for a while. Poor boy's all tuckered out. I guess indulging in psychic hatesex with your evil half-brother will do that to you. (I swear, I'm not kidding about this.) Despite mistaking Shizuku for a student, this ranger chap is very perceptive and knows nothing's really changed for Shizuku - all he felt at the peak was loneliness. Shizuku feels like he doesn't have anyone to return to, but that's not true as he discovers when he gets a call from Honma and receives an earful of love and care from everyone in the office. The number of times I went "Aww..." in this episode is ridiculous. They are all so sweet to him!
Finally, it's time for the showdown. Tomine takes his wine of choice; Maki takes a big risk going out looking like that and Shizuku takes a leave of absence. Yes, he doesn't turn up again, and Tomine is visibly uncomfortable at going ahead without him, though not so much that he can suppress his usual moans and wordy explanations. He reveals his chosen wine, and just as Kiryu is about to reveal the identity of the 4th Apostle, Tomine's psychic abilities kick in again and he asks her to wait - Shizuku has arrived. Talk about a fanfare. Bless Tomine (I never thought I'd say that), he actually looks pleased as punch that his little brother has decided to put in an appearance. I guess he really does want to play fair. Shizuku is the only person involved in this who hasn't messed him around, I suppose.
But the wine Shizuku brings is not the 4th Apostle. It's the wine he drank just before he ran off to climb a mountain, which made him realise that he wasn't alone. He had Miyabi and his other friends to support him, and that gave him the courage to continue. He'll continue to fight with everything he's got - if they'll let him. Of course they do. He's lost this round - Tomine had the right wine, naturally - but there's still time for him to catch up. Tomine's working logically and Shizuku's working on instinct, but they're both brilliant in their own way. Which is more worthy to be Kanzaki Yutaka's successor?
Back at the office, it's glasses all round, though Shizuku would like to argue that he didn't technically lose this round since he wasn't in it! It's not "cheers!", anyway, as Miyabi takes the opportunity to poke a little fun at Shizuku and gets them copying his "Awaken, Bacchus!". Nobody gets it.
The ending isn't all fun and games, however. I will be very disappointed if Kiryu turns out not to be involved somehow, and as for Tomine...it looks like he's saying goodbye to his eyesight. Has he been drinking too much?
Obligatory Kame commentary: The hair just continues to improve, which is why, I suspect, he removed his hat while climbing the mountain, just so we could get a few glamour shots. Kame manages to look amazing when all mussed up with no make-up, so the scenes up and down the mountain were great for him. I particularly liked the little smile when he was on the phone to everyone back in the office. You can't see his lips fully, but you can get the gist of it and the sweetness kills me.
Best Scene: Actually, the scene I've just mentioned, but anything with the Taiyo Beer gang rallying round Shizuku. Watching them trying to cheer him up without letting him know they know about Tomine was priceless. Even Minamoto, who started out as some sort of ice maiden, got in on the act. They let him get away with absolute murder, don't they? Running off to climb mountains, randomly showing up late - or not at all - and making his personal problems theirs. This show might have started out as Shizuku vs. Tomine but it's become about the teams, and I think that makes it much more entertaining.
Conclusion: This episode was even sweeter than the last one, but had more crack, too. Honma still thinks he's Italian, Maki's dress sense has gone out the window in favour of camping it up as a pantomime villain, Shizuku has to climb mountains to discover he's got friends and Tomine's attempting to out-angst him by losing his sight. Not to mention, the whole bizarre quasi-psychic link thing with the sexual connotations. The closer we get to the end of the series, the weirder this show becomes. Can't wait to see the next episode! ^_^