The Marchers: Number 7

A bit of fun and high jinks for a change. You can't keep a good character down...

Possibly my favourite so far. Especially the last frame. Somehow akes me think I ought to think of a Christmas card or a Special at the very least.

The joys of advertising

It's always a delight when I get a parcel from overseas that has used local newspapers and other ephemera in the packaging. I'm like one of those legedary kids who spend more time playing with the box rather than the Christmas present. This time I got a DVD from Malaysia wrapped in what appears to be a flyer for the local equivalent of Lidl.

This one's my favorite.

It gives an insight into how people in distant places see you. AND THEY KNOW THE TRUTH. Wouldn't you just love some Fat Spread on your burnt bread right now?

The Marchers Number 6

At last a new episode. Slowly dying battery on my old laptop/tablet is part of my excuse. But anyways, here we are.

The Marchers: Number 5

Here at last. The old Trotskite did start out as bein someone specific, but he ended up looking like so many of these wizzened old strugglers. There are just so many about. Could be any of them.

I'm still kind of with Theocritus, too. Praxinoa and Gorgo meet an old crone who makes a cryptic allusion to the Trojan Wars... Plus ca change.

The Marchers: Number 4

Here comes episode 4. It's like how we're put on earth to embarrass our children. I stated out thinking I'd have a thought bubble in the last frame saying "embarrassing..." But I don't think it needs it.

Still pretty much a straight lift from Theocritus, really. My 19th century copy says that people thought Idyll XV seemed modern back then. Still does in a spooky way, I think.

Hitorishizuka

This is another one of the Japanese TV dramas I've got from jpdorama.com. I don't know why I decided to buy this one. The blurb only really refers to episode 1 and doesn't really do the story justice. It must have been the pic of the gorgeous Kaho on the cover.

Hitorishizuka is a kind of shrub, apparently, with small white flowers. But (based on my scant knowledge) I think there might be a sense here of "Shizuka alone" (Shizuka being the name of the protagonist) and also maybe "the quiet one".

Shizuka (Kaho) goes missing after graduating from Junior High and we witness her story obliquely, through a series of murders and untimely deaths that she is implicated in. Over the 6 episodes we build a picture of Shizuka and her motivation. And at the end, she does achieve some kind of redemption. Through love, I guess.

It's a bleak tale, and nobody comes out of it well. There are police who fail to join the dots (wilfully sometimes) and put the organisation before truth. There are petty, cowardly yakuza. Child pornographers and pimps. All human life, as it were.

Kaho puts in a really good performance as Shizuka - I believed in her character's ability to manipulate people to get the results she wanted. She is the only character who appears in all 6 episodes, but she is supported by a whole bunch of really good character actors. I particularly enjoyed Matsushige Yutaka as the vice cop in episodes 3 and 4.

A cracking yarn, and well worth getting hold of if you can.

The Marchers: Number 3.

Doing this as and when I can. I reckon I've got about 20 pages/episodes kind of planned that mostly add up to a story. So I'll keep at it and see if I can get back into a routine.