Tonight’s Experiment: The first episode of Season 2, “Rocketship X-M” is the first episode with TV’s Frank and Kevin Murphy as Tom Servo. (They are both, as you may have guessed, great.) The riffing here is just excellent; I love how Joel and the bots just rip into all the sexist guys on the rocket, and ironically, Lloyd Bridges’ lungs really were aching for air at one point in this movie!
Frank: “I’m the god, I’M THE GOD!!!”
Crow: “Dear Diary. Well, we’re all going to die, and it’s the men’s fault. Our fiery demise is imminent, but at least I have my health, knock on wood.”
Joel: “Thank you, Mr. White Male Reality.”
Tom: “Oh, he’s waking up—quick, tell that story again!”
Crow: “She’s pretending to work so she doesn’t have to talk to you.”
Joel: “I must be tired. I’m almost interested in what you’re talking about.”
Lloyd Bridges: “Moonlight, a convertible…”
Tom: “Dead body in the trunk…bag of quicklime…”
(Grade 7 and up) Magnus Bane never intended to be banned from Peru. Sure, over the course of several centuries, he did at times engage in questionable behavior (drinking and flying enchanted carpets, playing local music very badly, and once he accidentally caused a shipwreck), but as…
(Grade 7 and up) As usual, Sosuke’s hijinks are getting on Kaname’s nerves, but when the guy she liked in junior high asks her out, suddenly it seems that Kaname doesn’t have time for Sagara’s munitions-crazed ways. Will Kaname start dating her old flame, or are her feelings for Sosuke the…
Tonight’s Experiment: a stultifyingly boring TV movie. The riffing’s plenty fun here (lots of jokes about Lovejoy and Hawaii), but jeez, everyone in this movie is so weird-looking, and dull, and did I mention how boring this movie is? (Also, wasn’t that one guy in “Master Ninja” too? It doesn’t actually matter—that boring fact is just more interesting than “Code Name Diamond Head.”)
Crow: “Is it just me, or did nothing happen?”
Lovejoy: “Espionage is such a small community. It’s quite like a little family, really.”
Mike: “In that we all drink and hurt each other.”
Tom: “Acting!”
Crow: “This is such a satisfying conclusion.”
Tom: “Certainly worth waiting for.”
Mike (after nearly 90 minutes of footage of actual Hawaii and fake Hawaii): ”Hey, this was filmed in Hawaii!”
Tonight’s Experiment: Ugh, this one is just…hmm. (Below, I don’t even quote from the actual movie—I quote “Commando Cody” from the beginning of the episode instead. That’s how bad “Project Moonbase” is: I would argue that “Commando Cody” is actually better. :P)
I always think that I like this movie until I actually watch it, because it starts off fairly promising: the first person to orbit the earth, Colonel Brighteis, who two men talk about for several minutes without using any gender pronouns, turns out to be a woman. So at first, I always think, “oh, how cool, that’s really progressive.” Yeah, no. It’s soon revealed that Brighteis was the first person in space not because she’s a good pilot but because she only weighs ninety pounds, and it was more feasible to send a lighter person into space. Then, her superior officer threatens to spank her. :P Also, the ending is lame: you know when Joel and the bots boo at the end that the experiment’s a bit rough…
Crow: “Meanwhile, at the Cody Institute for Deceptive Editing…”
Joel: “Kinda looks like the Upper Dells.”
Tom: “Wisconsin’s a beautiful place to be.”
“Genshiken: Second Season” Volume 2 by Shimoku Kio
(Grade 12 and up) It’s finally almost time for Comic-Fest, and though Ogiue has recruited the members of the Genshiken to help with her manga, it’s still a race against time to finish things before the deadline. Hato-kun’s crossdressing is still a bit of an issue for Yajima, while Yoshitake is just happy to be working on a manga and getting to cosplay with her friends. As always, Ohno-senpai is excited about cosplay too, but when her friend Angela visits from America for Comic-Fest, it soon becomes clear that the buxom foreigner is after Madarame! Why is Angela so interested in the Genshiken’s famous sou-uke, and how will Hato react to his friend being pursued when he’s still in love with Kasukabe-senpai? Will Sue do something crazy at Comic-Fest? And how will Madarame react to the news that everyone sees him as a sou-uke? (Ogiue’s even drawn manga about it…)
Once again, Kio-sensei has delivered a highly entertaining volume about the varied personalities and struggles of the various members of the Genshiken. It seems like the more, shall we say, well-adjusted you are in this manga, the less you appear: Sasahara, who has a job and is dating Ogiue, rarely appears, and Madarame (who’s also graduated and has a job) is only focused on because of the sou-uke stuff, while the quirkiest members of the group, new and old, dominate the spotlight. Of course, that’s part of what makes this series so hilarious. (Of course, all the references to anime and manga are really fun too.)
While the members of the Genshiken are somewhat extreme personalities, if you’re an otaku, they’ll also be pretty familiar to you too. (Even if you don’t share every interest that they do, if you’re a girl who’s into BL, you’ll be unnerved at how much these people are like you—yes, others like you really do exist. There are lots of them actually. :)) Sporting great art, adult humor, and weird characters you can’t help but root for even as their fangirling gets a tad out of hand, “Genshiken: Second Season” is a manga I can’t wait to read more of. (4.5 out of 5 stars)
- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Kodansha Comics; Tra edition (March 19, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1612622429
- ISBN-13: 978-1612622422 (Source of Publication Data: Amazon.com)
(Grade 7 and up) In the late 19th century, Dr. Spencer Black, the son of a doctor (and grave robber) rose quickly to fame and acclaim as a skilled physician and anatomist. But in his early twenties, Dr. Black’s obsession with medical oddities began to consume his life. Though skilled at…
(Grade 7 and up) When Thomas wakes up inside the Box, he can’t remember anything about who he is or where he came from; his name is the only thing he has left. The kids who pull him out of the Box live in a place called the Glade, which is surrounded by a huge maze that seems impossible to…
About me
"What do these children do without storybooks?" Naftali asked.And Reb Zebulun replied: "They have to make do. Storybooks aren't bread. You can live without them."
"I couldn't live without them." Naftali said.
— Isaac Bashevis Singer
