#I made this a bit ago so excuse the lack of comic quality I swear I do better stuff now

[athunderstryke]

early 2000s scene leon and Ashley

(yeah based on Ashley's in game casual outfit option(except I added Leon "makes sure his hair is perfectly straightened and combed over all emo style before going to save the presidents daughter" Kennedy))

[ghosthunthq]

Familiarity

For: @samantha-girlscout

From: @frenchcirce

The lovely Sam asked for something fun and fluffy, if possible about minor characters. I hope I won’t disappoint with this little story about a blooming friendship (or more hehehe). I’m rusty and it shows, but I did my best!

“Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research… Oh Masako! What a surprise, we were not expecting you!”

Masako watched with hidden amusement Mai’s expression change from her perfunctory professional smile to wide, surprised eyes to a happy welcoming grin in less than two seconds.

The girl really was an open book.

“Good evening,” she greeted back in cool politeness, eyeing intently the door Mai was still holding half-closed. “May I come in?”

“Ah sorry, of course!”

Mai had the decency to look ashamed while opening the door in full and making way for Masako to step in.

“But what brings you here exactly?” Mai asked with furrowed brows. “Because if you’re here to see Naru–”

Masako shot her an annoyed glance. Was that a proper way to welcome visitors?

“What do you think I came for?” she interrupted, determined to mirror Mai’s level of rudeness. “Work of course.”

“Ah, but–”

Masako ignored Mai to greet Yasuhara, who was coming back to his desk with several folders in hand. He stopped and saluted politely, and Masako shot Mai a significant glance. At least someone here had manners.

“Yasuhara-san. Good evening.”

“Hara-san,” the young man answered.

“Hara-san,” echoed a sharp voice behind her.

Naru.

Masako smiled despite herself. She turned to greet him back, but Naru passed her without stopping, his features set in this focused look he only sported when he was absorbed with this work.

“Mai, get ready, we should be on our way already.”

The smile on her lips fell as suddenly as it had appeared, and Masako thought it wiser to hide her treacherous mouth behind her kimono sleeve.

She regretted stopping by the office already. It was obvious Naru had other plans and would only see her presence as a bother.

“Geez Naru, we’re not even a minute late!” Mai scolded.

Naru put his coat on with a little more determination than necessary and glared at his assistant. Mai didn’t flinch, too used to being the aim of his death stares.

“Plus Masako is here for a case, it may be important, you know?”

That made Naru pause.

Mai let out a triumphant huff and Masako tried to ignore the pang of disappointment in her stomach.

Work. Of course. She only existed in his eyes through work..

“Is it an urgent matter, Hara-san?”

Even the way he was addressing her was ever mindful of putting a respectable distance between them. The very professional Hara-san.

She despised the honorifics in his mouth.

Masako bit her lip, tempted to lie and say the case needed his immediate attention. But the bitter reminder that deceiving Naru had proven to be a poor choice, always, made her reconsider.

She shook her head. “No, it can wait.”

The flicker of interest in Naru’s gaze died immediately and Masako could only watch him forget her presence altogether. He went back to glaring at Mai who took too long to get ready, and Mai, of course, was glaring right back at him while haphazardly throwing things into her purse and berating him for his lack of manners.

The situation was nothing out of the ordinary, really. If anything it should have been comical, the way those two were arguing. But Masako caught herself clenching her jaw.

Surprised by the surge of jealousy she forced her muscles to relax, grateful for the secrecy her sleeve was providing.

She had thought she was over it, over him.

Yet the intimate, almost fond way Naru called Mai, just Mai, had made her yearn for the level of closeness those two were sharing.

Why couldn’t she just be Masako?

Masako willed herself to smother the embers of longing in her heart. It was just a stupid name, it was no reason to feel inadequate and lonely. She knew where Naru’s affections lay, and she had made peace with the situation a long time ago.

She couldn’t let herself get troubled over this.

She schooled her features and allowed her sleeve to drop, revealing her best neutral expression. Thankfully Mai and Naru were too busy bickering to notice her discomfort.

She took a steadying breath, her mind racing to find a dignified way to make her exit. Whatever she had to say about her case could wait until she recovered.

“I see my timing is most inconvenient,” she started, satisfied by the firmness of her voice. “Maybe–”

“On the contrary, your timing is perfect Hara-san.”

Masako bristled, startled. Yasuhara. She had almost forgotten his presence.

“I was about to have a cup of tea and some company would be appreciated, if you don’t mind staying.”

Masako turned her head slowly to face him, slightly panicking.

Did he notice her little display of jealousy?

She found him smiling politely like usual, his penetrative gaze unreadable behind his spectacles.She narrowed her eyes, trying to gauge his intentions.

His intervention did spare her the embarrassment of leaving like the unwanted guest she was, but Yasuhara was known for having his own agenda. What exactly did he want her for?

She hesitated a moment, but the option he was offering was less mortifying than being shooed out so she gave her assent with a graceful nod.

“That would be my pleasure,” she muttered

Yasuhara grinned widely, his gaze leaving her for Mai. Who had stopped putting her coat on to look between Yasuhara and Masako, an insufferable knowing smirk blooming onto her lips. Masako refrained an exasperated roll of her eyes. For someone supposedly so instinctive her friend could be quite oblivious.

“I’ll let you enjoy some quality time together, you lucky ones–” Mai smiled, the teasing light in her eyes soon disappearing as she remembered the actual reason why she was heading out “–while I do Naru’s biding. Can you believe it? He is using me as his henchman to carry his heavy stuff!”

“And I pay you for it, so you have no ground for complaining,” the young man tersely countered, his hand tapping the door handle impatiently.

Mai stuck out her tongue at him but obediently followed nonetheless when he kept the door open for her.

“Yeah, yeah I know. See you later guys! ” she waved.

“Yasuhara, you can close the office when you’re finished, I won’t come back.”

“Understood boss. See you tomorrow, Taniyama-san!”

After a brief nod en lieu of a goodbye Naru shut the door, leaving Masako alone with Yasuhara in a silent office.

Masako realized with a start it was the first time she had to deal with Yasuhara without Mai or the SPR extras around. It was somehow unnerving.

The awkward atmosphere drew for a few moments before Yasuhara dispelled it with a practiced host smile.

“Please take a seat Hara-san. I’ll be back immediately.”

He then disappeared in the little kitchen, the sound of of clattering cups soon filling the void Mai’s chatter had left.

Masako let herself drop on the nearest sofa with a tired sigh.  

She shouldn’t have come.

It had been a mistake using this case as an excuse to see Naru. She should have just called, but she had been looking forward to chatting with Mai, too.

Mai. If only she hadn’t shown this stupidly genuine smile when she had recognized her at the door. If only she could hate Mai and blame her for the heartache.

Of course she couldn’t.

Because of the happy way she called her Masako. That was what had started their friendship, the unaffected way Mai was treating her, calling her by her first name. Like she had done with Naru.

“If only she wasn’t so familiar,” she sighed out loud.

“I suppose you’re talking about Taniyama-san?”

Masako almost gasped. How come she hadn’t heard Yasuhara approaching? She was starting to believe he was making a point catching her off guard.

The young man was standing right in front of her, a tray in hand and a slightly amused smile on the lips. He didn’t wait for her to confirm and carefully put their two mugs on the table.

“Speaking of whom, she’s the one who made the tea, so it is safe drinking.”

Masako took the cup wordlessly, trying to hide her blush with the motion. She hoped he hadn’t hear the resentment in her voice.

“She does act too familiar,” she defended meekly.

Yasuhara sat on the couch, putting the empty tray next to him.

“It is what makes her so easy to befriend–”

Or to love, Masako thought wryly. But didn’t dare say it out loud.

“–Let’s say that’s part of her charm.”

Yasuhara’s voice was even and light, but Masako could swear there was something in the undertone. Something deeper and darker.

It was as if…

Oh. Oh.

She put her cup back on the table, her full attention now on him. It was time to ask about something that had bothered her for quite some time, and to confirm her little theory.

“Is that why you keep calling her by her family name? To avoid falling pry to her charm?”

The question was asked in a mundane manner, but the atmosphere shifted as soon as the words left her mouth.

She watched Yasuhara’s reaction closely. His easy going smile tightened and his back straightened imperceptibly in a rare display of discomfort.

Touché.

He recovered at an impressive speed though, flashing a playful grin.

“Would you believe it if I told you it is out of pure politeness?”

Masako arched doubtful eyebrows.

“No.”

The unexpected bluntness of the answer had Yasuhara laughing out loud. He sighed in mock defeat and looked at Masako with something akin to appreciation.

“I figured.”

Masako should have felt relieved. She had the upper hand in their conversation since she had confirmed what she suspected about Yasuhara’s inclinations. However it was sympathy instead of triumph that was creeping into her chest.

Funny how sharing a similar pain could make you feel closer to someone.

In the meanwhile Yasuhara had engrossed himself in the thoughtful contemplation of his mug. It was the one Mai, Ayako and Masako had bought him right before Naru had left.

“You know,” he mused with a half-smile, “you’re the first one to ever ask.”

His gaze was unexpectedly honest behind his glasses, and Masako’s scruples about having wrangled this secret out of him vanished at the sight. How lonely must he have been, bearing the weight of his feelings by himself?

“That doesn’t surprise me,” she said softly, ‘they’re all idiots.”

That earned a chuckle from Yasuhara, and his lips turned into a boyish grin which spoke of mischief.

“How dare you call big boss an idiot!”

Masako couldn’t help a laugh at the mock offence. If felt good to make fun of Naru after this disastrous evening.

“He deserves it,” she huffed. “He and Mai are two peas in a pod in that regard.”

The memory of Mai teasing them about having tea together had Masako wrinkle her nose in distaste. There should be a limit to obliviousness! Poor Yasuhara.

“And the rest of them are no better,” she resumed after a thoughtful pause, “You never denied you liked Mai but you never made any fuss about it, so people just assumed your feelings weren’t deep. That was actually a really clever way to hide it, provided you didn’t give her special treatment calling her Taniyama-san, of course.”

Yasuhara raised falsely scandalized eyebrows.

“That’s a flawed argument, I call you Hara-san too.”

Masako pressed her lips together in displeasure. Everyone was putting her at a distance with these stupid honorifics. It made her feel left out somehow.

“You do,” she admitted, ignoring the sting of the comment. “You give almost everyone else a nickname though, even your elders. As you junior and your closest colleague it would be normal you called Mai by her given name. Especially since everyone but you does.”

Yasuhara put his hands up in surrender.

“I can’t hide anything from you, Hara-san. You’re far too observant.”

Masako shook her head, a wry smile on her mouth.

“No, I’m just another victim of Mai’s familiarity. I tried to keep my distance from her the same way. And now I call her Mai and can’t help thinking of her as a friend,” she grumbled. “How am I supposed to compete against someone like her?”

Yasuhara took a sip from his mug and leaned into the couch.

“You think you have it bad?” he asked in a joking tone. “I was doomed from the start! Having big boss as an opponent was terrible, he put my good looks and intellect to shame!”

Masako put her finger on her chin, falsely pensive.

“You’re right, I can at least console myself thinking I’m the more beautiful of the two. You don’t have such a luxury I’m afraid…”

Yasuhara made a face and clutched his heart as if mortally wounded.

“Hara-san, have some mercy!”

Masako couldn’t help but laugh at the theatrics. It reminded her of the Yoshimi’s case, when Yasuhara had raised everyone’s spirit just by joking with Bou-san. Making fun of himself for the sake of others.

“It’s better to admit the hard truth,” she deadpanned. “By the way,” her tone softened, “I owe you some thanks for today.”

A flash of understanding passed in Yasuhara’s gaze. Masako wondered if today’s scene had been painful for him, too.

The man really had a good heart, it was a shame he got it broken.

Did Mai even know what she was missing?

“Not at all. Actually, I’ve wanted to talk with you for quite a while. I never got the chance to ask before today, I figured it was now or never.”

“I-Is that so?”

Masako couldn’t determine if Yasuhara was trying to spare her feelings or if he was sincere, but she appreciated he made it look like he really wanted to get know her better. She had had enough of feeling unwanted for the day.

“Thank you for asking then.” She let a sincere, grateful smile brighten her lips. “I’m glad I stayed.”

Yasuhara’s eyes widened like he just realized something, and his own mouth split into a hearty grin before letting a hearty laugh out.

“I’m grateful you accepted my invitation,” he said. “I should have done this a lot earlier. It really cheered me up and I feel up to some competition after all,” he muttered.

He ignored Masako’s questioning stare and flashed his best charming smile.

“What about we do this again some other time Hara-san…”

He hesitated a second.

“Or do you mind if I call you Masako?”

Masako nodded wordlessly, ignoring the blush the use of her name was putting on her cheeks.

Masako.

A word that started a friendship.

And for some reason she didn’t mind the familiarity in his mouth.

[wittypenguin]

King Kong vs Godzilla (1964) [US Version]

There’s a fundamental problem with this film from the outset: the two studios involved are making it for entirely different reasons. Universal International was cashing in on the ‘Big Monster’ / kaijiu craze (The Blob, The Thing, The Creature from the Black Lagoon) by combining RKO’s character ‘King Kong’ with something exciting and foreign in Toho Studios’ property ‘Godzilla.’ Meanwhile, Toho Studios was using its big anniversary as a studio as an excuse to cram all of its popular actors and intellectual properties into one film, scattering logic to the four winds to accomplish it (it’s a wonder we don’t have Toshiro Mifune come strutting through brandishing a katana at some point). While those two driving forces don’t have to be at odds with each other, the US version takes the original, Japanese version and attempts to frame it in some sense of rational predictability, an approach which is inherently flawed. I’m going to try to ignore that part as much as I can here, but a subsequent viewing found me unable to stick with this version past the ½-hour mark, as the ‘framing device’ is so incredibly wooden and clunky. 

Be that as it may; on with the show!! 

COLOUR! WIDE SCREEN!! Questionable use of colour for lettering of credits!!!

We begin with a plate shot of Earth that looks a lot like the Universal International title card background did. While we slowly zoom in, we get… a Hamlet quote…? This seems a bit too much, but, okaaaaay…

Then we get a grainy UN building plate shot which we’ll see a couple of times, because this is also part of the ‘Americanization’ of the film. The UN has a News Service, and it’s telling us all about the various things happening in all the nations which are presumably united now. They beaming their broadcasts to us via the Universe Space Station in orbit around the planet. Shots of the USS are lifted from The Mysterians (1957), so we can also see alien flying saucers arriving at the station, but it’s never explained, so maybe this transfer is better than the film makers expected and we weren’t supposed to see them at all. 

Hey, the Chilean reporter is Victor Millan, the young husband / boyfriend from A Touch of Evil!

There are earthquakes in Chile, plus melting ice floes in the Bearing Straight, so the world is having a rough time of it.

The last time we saw Godzilla, he was buried in an avalanche, so clearly that’s where the big lizard will emerge from here. A recent increase in water temperature in the Bering Straight causes a US submarine with some researchers to be sent to take a look, and they debate their course of action in a large control room on the sub, which comes complete with an “undersea periscope.” I doubt that is an Actual Thing.

Buddy, you can call it any sort of exotic fruit from the Faroe Islands you feel like claiming it is, but it will still be a strawberry. — — — —

Meanwhile: King Kong is on Farou Island, where a berry is being grown which has non-addictive and narcotic properties that a Japanese pharmaceutical company wishes to incorporate into its product line (don’t ask, just accept it [we actually learned about this fruit during Mothra, but this is a different island near the Marshall Island H-Bomb testing range (I think)]). A team of Tokyo TeleVision people are sent to the island to get the berries plus the mighty Kong as a marketing stunt (ibid). 

“Hokkaido” is not pronounced like that. At. All.

Repeatedly, the English dubbing has Japanese characters pronounce it as “hawk-eh-EYE-doh,” not only mangling the name but adding an extra syllable into the bargain. The Japanese UNTV reporter, played by James Yagi, pronounces it properly as “ho-KAI-doh.” You would think someone might think to themselves ‘hey, maybe the Asian guy’s pronunciation is the right one…?’

The depiction of the natives of Faroe Island [above] are creations of racism. Not only are they in blackface, they carry African-style shields with similar markings, yet are South Sea Islanders located just off the Marshall Islands. Plus there is liberal use of feathers in headdresses which look remarkably similar to the people of the North American plains regions. Wow. There may have even been a bone through someone’s nose, I didn’t look that closely. Even allowing for early-60s comedy sensibilities, this is really bad; nearly “Andy Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s” territory. It’s important to view this as a stereotype of the time, as well as a depiction of a non-existent people (perhaps with the defence ‘so how could anyone be offended?’ well… uh…).

I’m stunned that Japanese trains not only do not have radios to receive a warning about Godzilla, they also lack a reverse gear to back away from him. Also, where did these buses to save all the rail passengers suddenly come from? If they were able to corral all of these motor coaches, couldn’t they have somehow got word to… never mind. 

Must so many O-scale model trains be made to suffer?

I want many of these cars. Most of the suits, also. 

There are massive leaps of ‘logic’ here that I’m positive make more sense in the original Japanese version. Then again, it may be like the material above and we should stop looking for that. This is the problem with the American sections: they keep trying to root the story in half-real science and logic, but that should be avoided with every effort! ‘When will the fools learn…‽’ etc.

Kong looks more like an extremely badly made Sasquatch than King of the Apes. For one thing, his arms are (occasionally) much too long and the person inside clearly has their wrists at Kong’s elbows (but this detail oddly comes and goes). Also, he’s covered in some sort of steel wool or matted shag carpeting. His face is an awful excuse for any sort of simian form. It’s an embarrassment. 

Godzilla, on the other hand, is a happy, fun-filled dinosaur who is extra-mobile compared to his earlier appearances. He jumps up and down and claps his… paws? …claws? …hands? …front feet? He’s like a young child! Okay, a 300 foot tall child capable of throwing boulders bigger than houses, but he’s got that playful energy. 

The model work is really uneven: the ships, trucks, earth movers, and so on look ‘good’ to ‘great,’ but the human figures look uniformly like little plastic objects which can only described as ‘human adjacent.’ It’s like you described human form to a blind and stupid person, and they carved a figure out of Jell-O using a spatula. On a warm day. 

Why does the army try catching Godzilla in a pit and exploding dynamite around him when he survived an H-Bomb? They tried that with electricity-conductive nets in Mothra and he worked clear of them. Even with here adding an acid bath and burning gasoline, it seems…

Why does Godzilla now avoid encountering electrical lines when he basically conquered it before? Has he learned that it’s more hassle than it’s worth? Can Godzilla be considered this sentient?

Also, what’s that white guy doing in the Japanese army?

Sorry, I forgot that logic isn’t a part of these things… [:: heavy sigh ::]

When Kong grabs a girl and people shine lights at him, he does what he knows best: climbs to the top of the nearest building. In this case, it’s the Diet (Japan’s Parliament), and the top of the dome is about level with his shoulder, so it doesn’t really count as a huge visual statement or accomplishment. It would be like you standing on a chair: yes, you’re higher up, but it’s not exactly a K-2 level of accomplishment, is it?

Additionally, Godzilla actually destroyed that building in the first film, but they’ve had awhile to rebuild, I guess.

Where’d they get this awful quality of film showing people evacuating Tokyo (Chiba in the Japanese version) via the docks? Answer: Chikyû Bôeigun (1957), and there are a few other bits of footage that film supplies.

I swear the rocky area that’s supposed to be at the base of Mt Fujiyama was modelled on the big rock thing Star Trek TOS used all the time. 

Am I supposed to be rooting for Kong? I’m rooting for Kong here. Godzilla just seems like a real dick, frankly. 

Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya deliberately gave King Kong a semi-comical personality, because he did not want Kong to frighten young children, and wanted the general audience to root for Kong over the more frightening Godzilla.

Ah. Good to know. 

The film features the Davy Crockett, a portable missile-launched nuclear weapon developed by the United States. At the time, this weapon was still classified.

Who would have expected this film to be a source of military secrets?

Late on, we see Kong practicing gavage using a tree! It’s actually a call back to a bit in an early production still from King Kong (1933) showing him doing that to a Tyrannosaurus Rex. 

Between Godzilla and King Kong, no historical monument will ever be left standing. 

Thanks to the English dubbing laying it on with a shovel, dialogue provides a fair few repeated statements about ‘electricity makes Kong stronger’ near the end. Thank goodness they do, as I certainly didn’t remember that from a few scenes ago and missed it the first five times time here. 

Godzilla disappears, presumed drowned…? Kong survives and we see him wading away from Japan, so the people of the Island Kingdom are safe once more! 

The best thing about this version is it leaves one with a strong desire to see the original version. 

★★★☆☆