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The Pixel 2 and 2 XL Announcement

Zamfir Waltz
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The Pixel 2 and 2 XL Announcement

The second iteration of Google’s flagship smartphone brand is finally upon us. At their annual developer conference held today, Google showed off its new 5-inch Google Pixel 2 and 6-inch Google Pixel 2 XL. Both of these phones are packing the Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB of lightning fast RAM, and a starting base configuration of 64GB of storage.

Similar to other android devices released lately, the XL’s 6-inch OLED display comes with a 18:9 display format, which promises to deliver a smooth, crystal clear viewing experience for its users. On paper this display sounds fantastic, however consumers in the past have raised questions as to whether these handheld devices can be efficiently powered while delivering “all day” battery life. Google themselves asked a series of questions in recent teaser ads leading up to today’s launch. One of these ads addressed concerning battery problems us as consumers have. Today, Google says the new Pixels will feature “all day” battery life and fast charging—with a claim of 7 hours of juice after just 15 minutes plugged in. Currently we cannot be sure of exactly what that means, so stay tuned for the upcoming reviews of the product

It was only recently that Google announced support for ARCore, the company’s in-house augmented reality platform- this obvious rival to Apple’s HomeKit is touted by Google to be a forerunner in bringing AR content to the mass market. So you must be asking yourselves, is there no Google answer to Apple’s “animojis”? No please, and that in my opinion is a good thing. Also unlike Apple, you won’t be able to unlock your phone with your face using something akin to FaceID. Both Pixel phones will have your typical fingerprint sensors, of which we have grown used to.

The new Pixels are also water resistant (should have been last year as well) and this time around, the devices have front facing stereo speakers, which is a welcomed addition to these premium devices. Unfortunately, Google has decided to follow in the controversial footsteps of Apple, and removed the headphone jack.

Google Pixel

The camera features have once again taken center stage, with the Pixel smartphone brand- Google is highlighting its own version of portrait shots with background blurs, from both the front and back cameras, similar to what Apple promises on the new X. Google says it achieves this feat not with dual rear cameras but equal sensors.

The Pixel camera also can capture a few seconds of video before and after you take a still image, something Apple also does on iPhones through its Live Photos feature.

The latest Pixels can also take advantage of fused optical and electronic video stabilization when you’re shooting video, the goal being to smooth out the shakes.

Google is once again supplying free cloud storage for all the pictures and videos you take with the devices, this is a welcomed feature that Apple should look to copy for its future products. After all, we live in a world where every day, millions of photos are uploaded to the various social media platforms.

Another big talking point this year was Google’s updated AI assistant- they “borrowed” the HTC‘s U11 squeezable sides. You can just give the frame of the device a squeeze and the Google Assistant will launch and start listening. This works even when the phone is off, and hopefully just like the U11, we will be able to customize different pressures in the squeeze, to launch other apps.

At launch, the Pixel 2 phones will be available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, India, and Canada. The 2 XL will arrive in Spain, Italy, and Singapore at a later date. The Pixel 2 starts at $649, the same price as the 2016 model, while the Pixel 2 XL starts at $849, an $80 increase over 2016. Pre-orders start today, and Google says you get a free Google Home Mini with the purchase. Google did not say when the phones would be shipped.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpLVsR8cSFo

 

‘It’ Film Review

K.F. Cumberbatch
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‘It’ Film Review

It is a 2017 horror film, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King, written by  Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman and directed by Andy Muschietti. The film stars Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgard, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Jack Dylan Grazer and Chosen Jacobs. Set in the town of Derry in the midst of the disappearances of multiple children, the Losers Club sets out to find out what happened to the little brother of one of their own. In the process they discover the violent and terrible history of the town and the cause of it and must face Pennywise the Clown in an attempt to save their home.

This film is far more comedic than could have been expected given that it is a horror and judging from the trailers. Perhaps it was carried over from the original novel or the 90’s mini-series, but this reviewer has no experience with either. It is far funnier than films that are actually supposed to be comedies. So much that you forget that it’s a horror and you’re supposed to be scared.

That being said, the humour doesn’t overshadow or nullify the tension and suspense that the film manages to masterfully create. The filmmakers truly did a spectacular job in making the audience feel tension, even in the humorous moments. The two were very well balanced and it’s rare that a film can make you laugh even as you’re gripping your seat.

The humour really comes from the characters, Richard especially, who is easily the best of all of the members of the Losers Club. He’s totally irreverent, constantly making penis, sex and ” your mom” jokes (sometimes in one joke) and talks far too much But it’s all part of his charm and what makes him so very likeable. Although Bill is arguably the main character, the one we are to sympathise with and the catalyst for the Club’s adventure, it is Richie that you latch onto immediately.

Of course, all of the members of the Losers Club are funny in their own way, but he is the one who makes the biggest impression. The others, especially Eddie and Stan, but perhaps except Bill and Bev, are funny because of how they react to things.

Pennywise himself is also a very hilarious character. His dance near the end is probably the best part of the film. It’s an apt thing to say about a clown, that he’s hilarious; they’re supposed to make you laugh. Except you don’t particularly expect Pennywise to be funny because he’s a killer clown. The most distinct thing about his characterisation is that he really likes to screw with people. He has to because [SPOILER; Highlight to reveal] he needs to scare people and consume their fear [SPOILER] but the sheer joy he seems to take in it is amusing, as is the way he goes about it sometimes.

A great deal of credit must be given to the main actors in this film. Those who play the members of the Losers Club (list them) and Bill Skarsgård who plays Pennywise.. Amazing performances all around.

It’s no surprise to anyone who watched Stranger Things that Finn Wolfhard does an excellent job here playing a character so different from Mike. One hardly, if ever, thinks of him as “the kid from Stranger Things” and sees him only as Richie. The rest of the child actors are relative unknowns compared to him, but are just as talented. They are incredibly charismatic for performers so young, give their characters such life and believability, emote very, very well and truly embody their characters. Praise must also be given to Nicholas Hamilton who played the bully Henry.

Bill Skarsgard is excellent in portraying the menace of Pennywise and the humour of him too. He has such a presence on screen and in some ways steals every scene that he’s in. He gives such an enigmatic character, that has virtually no development, a lot of personality. Particularly in his physical performance. The best example of the deftness with which he plays Pennywise, in particular with how he uses his face, is the opening scene.

There is a very clear deliniation between the frist and second half of the film. So clear that the transition between the two felt like the film was winding down in preparation for it to end. I t didn’t help that that happened after a climactic scene. It had really picked up speed which then petered out fairly quickly.

It was, however, somewhat necessary in order to give the audience a moment to breath. The film, perhaps, would have been exhausting without it. Afterward, it gained tranction almost as quickly as it lost it as it went into the climax, which reached greater heights than  the scene prior to the wind down.

Aside from serving a purpose in the pacing of the film, it also worked with the narrative since [SPOILER; Highlight to reveal] the Losers Club was able to regroup, using what they had learned, in order to “defeat” Pennywise by all of them conquering their fears [SPOILER].

It is a fantastic film. After the disappointment that was The Dark Tower, Stephen King really needed a win and he more than got one. The team behind this film truly succeeded in crafting a film that excelled more or less across the board. The sequel can’t come soon enough.

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun (Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun) E11 Recap

Kae-Tan
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Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun (Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun) E11 Recap

Kae-Tan desu~ (*≧▽≦)

Welcome to episode 11! In this week’s episode, Sakai decides to change his hairstyle which ends up being similar to a certain protagonist! Despite being mocked by the other members of the idiot trio, Sakai has noticeably become more popular with the girls and his confidence level has risen so much that his playing has vastly improved as well. This makes the other members, (well, just the other two of the idiot trio really) concerned for Sakai and they devise a plan to bring him back to his senses.

They first try for butt keepie-uppie, that being Sakai’s favorite jokes but he plays it off coolly. Things seem get serious when three girls confess to him at once behind the school, but he decides that he wants the attention of all the women in the school so he rejects all three of them and they don’t hate him for it. When Zaizen tells him to keep scoring goals so that they can get to Nationals, Sakai lets him know that he is clearly not scoring goals in order to go to Nationals oh no! He is just scoring for…..well….because……shut up. It even ends up costing Zaizen his position as forward in the next match.

When his father finds out about it, he threatens to pull Zaizen from soccer altogether, so as a last resort, Zaizen begs Moka to help him improve his playing. As we know from the first episode, Zaizen is weak when it comes to shooting so when she agrees to teach him, Moka doesn’t let up on him, especially when his father talks to him about bribing his way back onto the team.

The next day, things change up a bit as Sakai puts his hair up for a bit, which immediately turns off all the girls, also throwing him off his goal poaching game. The following day he reverts back to Aoyama’s style and begs Moka for help. She is however, not convinced  about his intentions and when the other stooges start to mess about with Sakai joining in, his popularity fades. Yay! Things are back to normal!

See you all next week for the final episode entitled: “The Reason Aoyama-kun Chose”

Bai bai~

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun airs on Crunchyroll every Sunday at 12:30 PM (AST)

The Sinner S01E08 [FINALE] Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
The Sinner S01E08 [FINALE] Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

This was quite the satisfying ending to what has been a compelling thrill ride of a series. I have no real complaints about how this series was concluded, just one or two sort of minor nitpicks. The biggest of which is Frankie’s father’s involvement in the whole saga.

Am I the only one who felt that Frankie’s father being the one who drugged and imprisoned Cora, so that she would forget about what happened at the Beverwyck on the 4th of July…was kind of random? It came out of nowhere and felt kind of deus ex machina-ish. I think that Todd having been the culprit would have fit more appropriately. But of course, he was out of the country during the period that Cora was imprisoned and was dead by the present.

And Frankie knew that his father had been imprisoning Cora. I know that I said this in the last recap, but this new information made the look he gave Cora as she killed him even more loaded. He was complicit in what happened to both sisters.

At least he had tried to save Phoebe. With Cora he did nothing. All he did was call his daddy and ran along home while his father buried Phoebe. In spite of it all, Cora didn’t blame Frankie. I must say that I was impressed with her compassion and ability to forgive him. It wasn’t like Frankie had purposely harmed Phoebe the way his father had Cora.

My other little nitpick was that J.D.’s death really was a case of him being killed by people involved in his drug dealing, because of his closeness to Cora’s case. It would have been nice if it was more directly tied to what happened to Cora and the ensuing cover up. Not just that Frankie’s father was the doctor whose identity he stole to get the pills he sold. Like say it was Frankie’s father who had sent those two men to kill J.D.

Harry’s doubt that that was the explanation behind J.D.’s murder made me skeptical of it as well. Although, it did seem like he was in denial to some extent and chasing something that wasn’t there. And there wasn’t, as pertained to J.D.’s death, but his unwavering persistence is what led to the discovery of Frankie’s father’s involvement. As well as the revelation that Maddie was alive, clean and a mother.

Cora’s  mother actually got me to feel sympathy for her when she visited Cora in prison. She did what she thought was best for her children. Still, she hadn’t at all recognised how she abused Cora and Phoebe and fostered the disdain they had for her. She didn’t think that she did anything wrong. She seemed heartbroken that they were planning to leave her and I don’t blame her for thinking that they had (Although she did say that Cora running away killed Phoebe so…she knew that she was dead? I haven’t figured that one out yet). Even so, she didn’t even try to treat them any better.

Mason finally took his and Cora’s son to see her! I suppose that was because she was going to be in prison for basically the rest of her life (she got a 30 year sentence). Whereas before there was a chance – kind of – that she would get out. He won so many points by refusing to stop visiting her and taking their son to see her like she asked. That was the kind of devotion to her that I loved to see from him. Not the whole chasing J.D. thing.

Cora’s 30 year sentence, in light of everything, was harsh and felt so unfair. Really, her pleading guilty did not help her at all. Thank goodness that she had Harry in her corner. Unlike Captain Farmer who only seemingly cared about getting Cora thrown in prison, he wanted to find the truth and help her. If not for him and, again, his unwavering persistence, she wouldn’t have gotten the lighter, fairer, sentence.

I honestly thought that Cora was going to stay in prison. That despite everything, the truth remained that she had killed Frankie and she couldn’t escape the consequences of that. Not that she should have, but this sentence – that she be sent to a psychiatric facility and have her case reviewed every two years – was so much more fair. She’ll get the help she needs to overcome her traumas and she won’t spend the rest of her life in prison. She didn’t intend to kill Frankie, she just happened to have a knife in her hand.

Overall I really enjoyed watching this series. It was a wonderful experience.

Random thoughts:

  1. Welp. Todd’s dead. There goes that theory.
  2. Good job Caitlin!
  3. Now we get the rest of the story!
  4. Of course J.D. took advantage of the situation.

Outlander S03E03 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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Outlander S03E03 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

This was quite the bitter sweet episode. For much of it, I was somewhat up and down with my emotions thanks to Claire and Frank. Jamie’s story line ended on a decidedly happier note than theirs.

The episode skips forward in time twice in Claire’s story line. The firs time we saw Claire, Brianna was around eight years old, this part of her story line taking place eight years after last week’s episode. And guess what? She and Frank still aren’t happy together. They got along well enough…up to a point. This show loves ripping moments when Claire and Frank look like they found some semblance of joy away from us.

Frank has a mistress. So good for him? He and Claire don’t love each other, nor do they have sex. The man has to find love, affection and sexual gratification somewhere. It’d be a little unfair of Claire to hold him to celibacy when she wants nothing to do with him in that way. And she didn’t. It was her idea that he have a mistress and the two of them live separate lives.

Which is why I found it so strange that she was hurt when Frank said that he had seen the two films she suggested they see together with his mistress already. I suppose that Claire wanted companionship as well, but she never seemed to want even that from Frank. The two weren’t even really friends. She looked to be very disappointed. I just don’t understand why.

I do understand why she was angry and upset that Frank’s mistress showed up on their doorstep. During Claire’s graduation party no less. Am I the only one who thought she was there to confess that she was pregnant? For a split second I forgot that he was impotent. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but when Claire opened the door and there she was, Frank’s asking about her reservation and almost rushing her along to leave made sense. I knew immediately that he wasn’t attending in order to see his mistress.

I honestly thought that the mistress would be staying at the house while Claire, Brianna and the rest of the party were gone. Which would have been highly inappropriate. She didn’t though. Still, her showing up at their house was less then discreet. Even if it was accidental and especially with guest there and, more importantly, their daughter. Hopefully he never did entertain her at their home. They have neighbours. Someone would have noticed a woman frequently turning up at their home when Claire was gone. Claire seemed angry about the indiscretion and humiliation and not much else.

I loved that despite everything that happened between him and Claire, Frank loved Brianna so unconditionally. Wasn’t it adorable how he made them all an English breakfast? He loved Brianna so much that he refused a divorce just because he didn’t want to risk losing custody of her. So I was surprised when he asked for one ten years later. But by then Brianna was eighteen and he wouldn’t have lost custody of her

He did go too far in suggesting that he take her to England with him and the two of them leave Claire in Boston. She’s Claire’s child and he’s not her biological father. He did say that Claire couldn’t look at Brianna without seeing Jamie so perhaps he was trying to hurt her in doing so. However, he said that as a medical student and doctor she didn’t have much of a presence in Bree’s life anyway so it would have hardly made a difference. That had to hurt Claire, as a mother. I do think though, that he just didn’t want to be without his little girl.

When Wil was walking toward Claire as she finished speaking to her patient’s next of kin, I knew immediately what he was going to tell her. I knew that he was going to say that Frank died in a car accident. I’d seen it coming when Frank left after their fight. When Claire answered the call from the hospital, the sound of the car tires screeching as he drove off was audible in the background and I just knew we wouldn’t see him alive again.

He never got to have the happy, loving marriage he wanted and would have gotten if  he’d divorced Claire. He was treated so badly this season. I haven’t read the third book – yet – so I don’t know if he gets it this badly there, but it’s really unfair and sad that a character who is such a good man ended up this way.

It’s like every time Jamie goes to prison he gets the shortest end of the shortest stick of all of the prisoners. At Wentworth he was flogged almost to death and later raped by Black Jack Randall, the same man who inflicted the flogging and at Ardsmuir he’s the only prisoner to be manacled 24/7. Which, given his past prison experiences, is a marked improvement.

I was so happy to see Murtagh alive. I was so worried that he was dead (which he is in the books apparently, having died in the Battle of Culloden). He wasn’t all together well though. He had a bit of a cough and I was worried that he wouldn’t make it to the end of the episode alive. But he did! All of my worries were for nothing.

As much of an improvement as there was pertaining to Jamie’s life in prison, the conditions were certainly still poor. Not only were the prisoners living with rats that tended to bite them, they were the rats eating too (has the plague happened already?). They had to have been seriously underfed.

The obvious solution, of course, would be to feed them better. But I didn’t think that Grey was there for any kind of reform. Stick in the mud that he was, he did want to run the prison as it should be. Although feeding the prisoners properly would have been part of that, he did express a certain disdain for them and I don’t think  he cared about them that much.

I was glad to see that Jamie still had his pride and dignity. His spirit had not been broken. I cheered when he refused to interpret for Grey and even more so when he used his utility to the man to bargain for better resources for the prisoners. In fact, he did that twice in the episode. He only got resources for Murtagh, but it was still a very noble thing to do.

Although the whole reason that Jamie was interpreting for Grey was so that the latter could learn the whereabouts of the gold that Louis allegedly gave to Charles, the rambling old man gave Jamie something far more precious; the possibility that Claire had returned and was looking for him. As the audience, we knew that that couldn’t have been the case. Claire was still seventeen years away from going back through the stones.

So when he escaped from Ardsmuir I thought that he’d done so to go and find Claire. I was very much taken aback by Jamie asking Grey to kill him and that being why he escaped. At least, it looked like that was why he escaped. Although the request didn’t necessitate that he escape. It was weird and didn’t make sense to me but, whatever.

I liked that Jamie and Grey were starting to get along and become friends. It was charming. But my gaydar went off when Grey talked about losing a male companion in the war and even more so when he said that his brother was ashamed because of it. There would be no reason for this brother to be ashamed if Grey wasn’t in some kind of open-but-not-quite-openly gay relationship with the man he was mourning. I did not expect him to make a move on Jamie though.

I suppose, in the moment, he wanted to heal the same way that Mary did. Grey totally misread the situation when Jamie said that he thought of their first time meeting, every now and then. I really can’t imagine what it felt like for Jamie to once again be on the receiving end of affections from a man that was holding him prisoner. I don’t think that it was a mistake that that scene cut to a shot of Frank.

About that more hopeful note that Jamie’s story line ended on, no one died. Thankfully. He got separated from Murtagh (*tears*) but at least he’s free. Kind of. It was good of Grey to secure Jamie said freedom. That family really is honourable and noble almost to a fault. And it was good that their budding, but cut short, friendship wasn’t ruined by Grey’s advance. But now that Jamie is a servant to a man who hates Jacobites…well…we’ll see how that goes.

Random thoughts:

  1. Role reversal! Frank’s cooking.
  2. Jamie learned a few things from Claire. Aww.
  3. Jerry and Millie divorced?! No!
  4. If Murtagh dies in this episode…
  5. Aww, Murtagh thinks of Claire too.
  6. Lol at Jamie describing the dinner to Murtagh and the other prisoners.
  7. Yay! Murtagh’s not dying!
  8. That debt he was owed by Grey was repaid twice over.

Outlander airs Sundays at 10 PM on Starz.

The Sinner S01E07 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
The Sinner S01E07 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

Pretty much everything I thought I knew up until now has been proven wrong. Almost every theory I’ve had so far was false. I think the only theory I had, or rather, the only allowance I made for a theory I had, was right. And that was that J.D. wasn’t a member of the Beverwyck Club but connected to someone who was. Just who that someone turned out to be and how they played into the events of the night of the 4th of July, five years ago, was quite the revelation. But let’s not go there just yet.

Firstly, this episode was one big flashback that detailed that fateful night that just so happened to be Phoebe’s birthday. And as a special birthday treat, she more or less blackmailed Cora into taking her to the bar with her. It was also the night that Cora planned to run away and move in with J.D.

I did like that Phoebe, for once, got to experience life outside of their home and the hospital. It was even kind of cute and charming to see her and J.D. getting on so well…until he offered her drugs. We know that Cora told him about Phoebe, so its not unreasonable to think that he knew she was sick. So for him to offer her drugs is questionable at best. And of course, Phoebe being starved for real life experiences and elated to be doing such, eagerly consumed them despite Cora’s protests. When Cora said that it could kill her, we knew where this episode was going.

I’m not so sure how I feel about the writers of the show framing all of the information we got from Cora thus far as 100% false because she remembered it wrong. Sure, before she started her sessions with Dr. Chang, Chang did say that people create false memories and it does make sense that Cora would have jumbled everything up, but it feels like a bit of a cheat.

Everything that we’d seen her flashback to Maddie saying to her was actually Phoebe. From Maddie saying that Cora wanted her to die, to them being “hunted” and Maddie asking her if she was coming. All of it was really Phoebe. And Cora’s story about getting pregnant by Frankie and throwing herself in front of a car when he rejected her and their unborn child? That was Maddie with J.D. That everything we thought Maddie had said and done was actually said and done by Phoebe changed everything.

As did the revelation that Frankie had been there on the night of the 4th of July. He was the friend of J.D.’s who got them into the Beverwyck that night and met and fell in love with Phoebe. I personally found it very strange that he just fell for her the instant he saw her. This show is a mystery thriller, not a romantic comedy, so that was kind of jarring. But I guess it was because he was higher than high. Her falling for him instantly, though, was understandable.

Phoebe letting go of Cora, freeing her from her obligation to her, felt pretty selfish. Which really isn’t out of the norm for Phoebe. Still, it didn’t much feel like now that she’d found and felt “love” she understood that she needed to let Cora go. It felt like she threw her aside because she found a man. Which was kind of what Cora was going to do to her, to be honest. So it was an interesting reversal. Even so, Phoebe had Cora under her thumb as much as their mother did.

Whereas before I thought that Phoebe had been a bad influence in a good way before, she was a bad influence in a bad way once everyone congregated in the room. Urging Cora to take drugs, kissing her…again, having her kiss Frankie and then J.D…it looked like she was about to lead them in an orgy. And she more or less did.

I didn’t expect Phoebe to die in the way that she did. I actually expected Cora to walk into the building Phoebe and Frankie were in and find her dead, the drugs having made her heart fail. It’s pretty tragic that she died as soon as she found love and right in the middle of having sex for the first time. Then again, her entire existence has been tragic. The very bright side of it all was that she did get to experience life a little and find love and that she got to share that love with the object of her affections.

This episode completely explained the look that Frankie gave Cora as she was stabbing him and why he didn’t fight back. He had been there, he knew what happened and he felt guilty and sorry for his involvement. Perhaps even felt like he deserved it when she stabbed him.

Because of how much he leered at Cora and was very touchy with her. My theory now is that Todd was her captor. I’m also now positive that the body they found was Phoebe.

Random thoughts:

  1. For a second it looked like Phoebe resented her mother for keeping her alive.
  2. It looks like J.D. did come between Cora and Phoebe a little.

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun (Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun) E10 Recap

Kae-Tan
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0
Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun (Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun) E10 Recap

Kae-Tan desu~ (*≧▽≦)

Welcome to episode 10: “Aoyama-kun Has Many Secrets”

At the end of episode 9, Aoyama ran into an old friend Kurata Kozue. This surprises the team as Aoyama never talks about himself so when someone he knows shows up, the idiot trio, while dragging Zaizen along, decide to follow Aoyama to find out more about him, in particular where he lives. Instead, they end up at someone else’s house and that someone turns out to be Ibuki Seigo, who was another member of the national team and was eventually scouted into a Spanish league youth team. Apparently, he and Aoyama make bets using home cooked food on matches, which Ibuki always seems to be winning, much to the team’s dismay.

The next day when Zaizen goes to find Aoyama, he finds him leaving earlier than usual, making himself miss practice. When Zaizen follows Aoyama, he finds him at Oshigami-Minami Academy along with Ibuki, Kozue and Takechi. It would appear that Ibuki is going to be playing with Takechi’s team, but the truth of the matter is that Ibuki loves eating and is ESPECIALLY picky about his food. In short, the his only logical reason for joining them is because of the soba shop near to the school and in general, he missed Japanese food.

When he has another match against Aoyama, Ibuki is too focused on food so they stop the match halfway through, but not before he scores one goal. Later on, Aoyama finds out that Kozue is angry with Ibuki because she has been keeping his athlete frame in mind with seasoning when she cooks for him. That being said, she discovers him drowning her carefully planned meals in mayonnaise and becomes furious with him. It would be good to note at this stage that Kozue is Ibuki’s childhood friend as well as his girlfriend (as much as she gets embarrassed about admitting it)

When Ibuki begs Aoyama to help him make up with her, he sends the two of them on a date. the date seems to  go downhill from the get-go until they reach a futsal court. In case you were wondering, ‘futsal’ is a variant of association football played on a hard court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. (Thank you Wikipedia)

Even though she airs out her frustrations, Ibuki stil doesn’t seem to get it, until his stomach grumbles. Kozue offers him a meal that she brought along which he heartily declares is delicious, but only because he is hungry…..this guy….

See you next week for episode 11 entitled: “Sakai-kun’s Hairstlye has Changed” uh……this sounds disastrous

Bai bai~

Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun airs on Crunchyroll every Sunday at 12:30 PM (AST)

Outlander S03E02 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Outlander S03E02 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

How much longer will it be before we get to see Jamie, Claire and Frank be happy? Especially the latter two. There is so much despair going around in this series so far. Sure, we’re only two episode in, but the endings of both story lines in the last episode gave some hope that joy would return to these three.

Brianna’s birth did not at all give Claire and Frank the fresh start that I thought that it would. Not that I expected her to magically fix their marriage and make Claire love Frank again, but I thought that they’d taken a step toward being happy together. This episode destroyed all hope that that could ever happen.

Firstly, masturbating in bed next to Frank as she thought about Jamie was so bad. I understand that she’s mourning Jamie and she still loves him and it’s him she wants,  but she could have done that in the bath or something. Not lying right next to Frank. I’m surprised that they didn’t cut to him, eyes wide open, back to her, completely aware of what she was doing.

When she literally reached out to Frank and initiated sex with him, I thought that she was taking a step toward getting closer to him and rekindling their relationship. I thought she would say Jamie’s name during and bring the whole moment crashing down, but they were getting somewhere at least. Except that wasn’t at all what she was doing.

Given the stark contrast between Mille and Jerry’s affection and the lack of it between Clair and Frank, I found it incredibly strange when she initiated sex with him the second time. And so eagerly. Especially when she still seemed awkward around him at dinner and uncomfortable with his touch.

It was then that I started to suspect what Frank went on to confirm; that she was using him as little more than a glorified dildo. That he was just a warm body to lay against her as she imagined that it was Jamie that she was having sex with. What made it worse was that instead of admitting it to Frank and even to herself, she pushed the blame right on his shoulders.

I don’t hate Claire for how she is treating Frank. I get why she is. It just hurts me to see her hurting and in turn hurting him. That she and Frank now sleep in separate beds closed the door on them ever finding happiness together to me. I wish that she would leave Frank or that he would leave her. I know that they won’t, given what we saw last season, but I really wish they would divorce. It looks like Claire’s life as a medical student and eventually as a surgeon – despite the prejudice she faces – will be what brings her joy,

Jamie isn’t faring much better in 1752. Despite being without Claire, I thought that his being at home would bring him some contentment, but it didn’t. He can’t even live at Lally Broch with Jenny and the rest of his family because the Red Coats are still after him. You’d think that six years after the rebellion, they’d no longer be an issue.

So he lives the life of a hermit, shabby and unshaved, in a cave not too far from Lally Broch, wallowing in his misery. He was so broken in fact, that Fergus pretty much lost all respect for him. Because of how much the boy – now young man – worshiped the ground Jamie walked on last season, it was disheartening to see that.

Even though Fergus got older, he hasn’t really gotten wiser. He’s just as reckless and disobedient as he always was. So the second that the raven appeared and he was told it was a bad omen, I knew he was going to go for the gun and shoot it. I didn’t expect Red Coats to have been within earshot of the gunshot however. His disobedience put Jamie at risk of being found. If I had been him or Jenny, I would have been incredibly angry with him. In fact, I was.

He was reckless again when he antagonised the Red Coats. I thought that his plan was to lure them into the woods so Jamie could kill them; get rid of them so that they would no longer harass Jenny and the rest of the Murray/Mackenzie-Fraser family. But when the other Red Coats on horses appeared, I knew that that wasn’t the case.

I really thought that Jamie would have jumped in and stopped them, but it wouldn’t have been wise. As Jenny told him later – while he was blaming himself for Fergus getting his arm chopped off – if he had they would have all been killed. The silver lining of the whole incident is that it got Jamie out of his slump and he regained  his resolve. He resolved to turn himself over to the Red Coats, but still. At least Jenny now doesn’t need to worry about explaining to them how she had a baby that was supposed to be dead.

I saw Jamie and Mary McNabb coming from a mile away. I expected her to be his love interest until he found Claire again, however. Not a one night stand. That he’d come to love her in some way and they’d get married. Although his being a wanted man would have complicated things.

I was rooting for him and Mary to become a thing, just like I was rooting for Claire and Frank. Which I found strange because I’m simultaneously rooting for Claire and Jamie to find each other. I guess it’s because I know that Claire won’t go back through the stones until twenty years from now and I just want both of them to be happy in the interim.

Random thoughts:

  1. Fergus’ voice is so deep now!
  2. Jenny’s pregnant? Again?!
  3. Claire: “I miss my husband.” Which one?
  4. Go Mary! Get your man!
  5. Are those tears of sadness? Relief? Guilt? All of the above?
  6. I really feel like Claire’s womanhood didn’t present this much of a problem in the 18th century.

Outlander airs Sundays at 10 on Starz.

The Sinner S01E06 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
The Sinner S01E06 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

With two episodes left the series is really starting to give us more information and context about Cora’s past. We got to see even more of her relationship with J.D. and perhaps what led to her running away. Because of what happened in the beginning of the episode, I’m only that much more steadfast in my theory from the last one; that J.D. is a member of – or at the very least associated with a member of – the Beverwyck Club.

Who else would have had him killed? I don’t think that it’s local or drug related as Captain Farmer would have us believe. Like Harry said, it happened right after his girlfriend was arrested. However, that little detail does conflict with my theory that Farmer works for the Beverwyck; why would she go after J.D. like that? Wouldn’t the Club be trying to protect him to cover up their misdeeds?

In any case, the two men that Mason saw leaving were far too calm and collected to have not been sent there to kill J.D. It’s entirely possible that they were sent by some drug lord J.D. may work for or some such bigger fish, who had him killed because his proximity to Cora’s case is putting too much heat on their operation. Or something like that.

Lucky for Mason that J.D. was killed, thus robbing him of the opportunity to make the entire situation worse. Thanks to his conversation with Cora, we now know what his whole deal wit J.D. was. It wasn’t so much that he anted to avenge Cora, it was that he was insecure in the relationship. And for a long while at that. Then to learn of J.D., a man that he knew of but didn’t know had a relationship with Cora, only made him more insecure.

I’m starting to think that maybe Cora’s relationship with J.D. came between her and Phoebe. Although I’m really hoping that it didn’t. I couldn’t tell if J.D. was actually trying to help Cora by telling her that Phoebe was a parasite living vicariously through her, or if he was just trying to separate her from her sister to make her vulnerable.

There is some truth to what he said though; Phoebe was jealous of Cora to some degree and using her as a means to experience life. Her plan to run away from home also had nothing to do with freedom for both her and Cora. It was just about freedom for herself. Cora was perfectly fine living at home. Cora was just along for the ride as her caretaker.

Crying over the idea that Cora may have been leaving to be with J.D. (which he did suggest) was emotionally manipulative and she used that to get Cora to speak to her about her sex life – something she didn’t want to do – and to get Cora to do to her what J.D. does to Cora. Even going so far as to use Cora’s hand to masturbate. That whole scene made me think that maybe Phoebe is in love with Cora or at least possessive of her in a way that is very unhealthy and twisted, although understandable given her condition.

I was convinced that Cora wouldn’t have found anything when she and Harry went to the Beverwyck. That the Club would have cleaned house and removed anything that could have incriminated them from the basement where the hostess had found Harry. It seemed to be true since I didn’t see the masks when Cora went down there. Also, Harry didn’t take her to the room with the wallpaper.

However, how would the Beverwyck have known to hide the masks? The would have had no knowledge that Cora told Harry about her captor wearing one. She told him that after her second session with Dr. Chang and before Farmer was part of the case. So it wouldn’t really make sense.

This is a hole in my theory that the Club is involved with what happened to Cora. It could just be that it was only one or a few members and not the Club on the whole and they’re absolutely clueless as to what took place there five years ago. After all, the place where Cora was held was far enough away from the main building for her captor to have done what he did in private.

Hell, J.D. may not even have been involved in what happened to her at all. In which case, why did he lie to the police about knowing her? I thought that he and Cora had met on the 4th of July, he drugged and then kidnapped her. But that’s not what happened. They dated. So how did Cora and Maddie go from being his girlfriend to being hunted on or near the grounds of the Beverwyck Club?

Cora keeps flashing back to Maddie asking her if she’s going into the room in which everything happened. We know that Maddie is jealous of her because of J.D. Could it be that she lured Cora thre to get rid of her?

Harry continues to disappoint me when it comes to his marriage. This is the same man that just one episode ago was upset about his wife asking him to move out and here he was sleeping with his mistress/dominatrix. Does he want to be punished for something? Is that what his relationship with her is about? His not telling her when he was losing consciousness makes me think so.

How could he tell his wife that she didn’t have the right to decide when they were over? He was the one who cheated and continues to cheat, even when he said he would be working on their marriage. He claimed he was trying, and his wife agreed, but he really wasn’t. Not by my judgement.

Random thoughts:

  1. Oh…didn’t see that coming…
  2. If Mason doesn’t get out of there and call the police…
  3. I love that Cora continues to refuse this plea deal.
  4. I kind of wish that Cora’s parents had been home. I would have liked to see that reunion.

The season finale of The Sinner airs today at 10 PM on USA.

The Sinner S01E05 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
The Sinner S01E05 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

More answers! And not ones that raised a lot of questions this time, if any at all. We’re diving deeper into the truth of what happened to Cora during the two months that she was missing and I’ve got a couple of theories.

My first theory is that the Beverwyck Club is 100% involved in whatever J.D. did to Cora and Maddie. It’s no coincidence that his lawyer represents the Club as well. Not only that, just last episode Cora remembered that “they” were hunting her and Maddie. And what activity do members of Beverwyck Club engage in? Hunting! And the spot where Cora saw herself being stuck in a swamp, the same spot where she and Maddie were hunted and where Maddie’s body was found, is right behind the Beverwyck Club!

It’s clearly the site she was held at during her missing two months. The wallpaper there was the same as the wallpaper from her memories and there were several masks there just like the one her captor was wearing. But what was with the I.V. and bandages she was sporting when she was under the bed? The bandage wrapped around her head confirms that she got the scar on her scalp while she was there, but what exactly happened in the first place to require said bandage?

The woman who was fired from there, her story is far too similar to Cora’s. The only difference is that her ordeal took place over the course of a night, whereas Cora’s lasted a couple of months. They were both drugged and have no recollection of what happened to them when they were.

My second theory is that the Club engages in the hunting of people and J.D. is a member. It comes off far too much like an evil, secret society that is a place for the rich and powerful to indulge in their most depraved of desires. And if the show goes that way, it’d definitely be a direction I wasn’t expecting it to go in.

My third theory, somewhat connected to the first, is that Captain Farmer works for the Beverwyck Club, just like J.D.’s lawyer.

When she first appeared I was glad that she would be working with Harry instead of replacing him.She seemed nice, but it just came off to me like that was a tactic rather than her being genuine. Particularly in her approach to Cora the first time she spoke to her, when Harry introduced them. She immediately cut the personable act when she jumped right into interrogating her.

I didn’t trust Farmer at all and I knew that she would throw a major wrench into Harry’s investigation. Which she did! Twice! First by asking for transcripts of Harry’s visits with Cora at county and then by arresting J.D.’s girlfriend at Mason’s behest. The latter of which spelled trouble for Mason as well since J.D. attacked his father.

I didn’t think that J.D. would have taken such a round about route in getting back at Mason, but he pretty much did what we all knew he would. And Mason – annoyingly, frustratingly persistent Mason – is only about to escalate things further by going over there with a gun. You would think that he’d back off!

Farmer was far too eager to pin Maddie’s murder on Cora. She offered the plea deal to Cora’s lawyer behind Harry’s back and then went directly to Cora alone, actively trying to coerce a confession out of her. I’m so glad that Cora told her to go to hell. Although it did seem like it had been working for a while there. And I’m happy that Harry didn’t tell her about Cora’s sessions with Dr. Chang

I always figured that Cora “ran away” at Phoebe’s urging. Her being the healthy one who didn’t need to depend on others, she could escape their mother and have a chance at freedom and a normal life. But it was Phoebe who wanted to leave their mother, not Cora. The more we learn about Cora’s past, the more I’m surprised to see how what I expected from Cora was actually how Phoebe felt and what Phoebe wanted.

When Phoebe showed  Cora her profile on the website, I thought it was a dating site…it wasn’t until later, when Cora was going to meet the second man that I realised that Phoebe was pimping her out as an escort. Now, Phoebe is an atheist and doesn’t buy into her mother’s ideas about sin and immorality, but even so, she had a to be really desperate to go so far to get cash so she and Cora could leave even though Cora had a job and was saving toward it.

However, Cora did at the time believe in her mother’s ideas so the fact that she went along with it, even though she wasn’t actually having sex with these men, is just an indication of how much she loved Phoebe and how far she was willing to go to make her sister happy.

Once I made the realisation that Cora was an escort, I theorised that that was how she met J.D. And it was, just not in the way I thought. I assumed that he would have been one of her clients, who hired her and planned for her to be his next victim. Instead, he saved her from an aggressive client.

So she knew him before the 4th of July. I thought that that was the night that they met and that the few months she said she dated him were the two months she didn’t remember. It certainly clears up Maddie’s insistence that Cora wanted her dead. I found it weird that she would say that to someone she just met and barely knew.

Random thoughts:

  1. Leave Caitlin alone Mason!
  2. The body is Maddie’s remains confirmed.
  3. How quickly Mason’s parents turned on Cora.
  4. Why did Cora steal from the Asian dude if he was paying her anyway?
  5. I didn’t think that Harry was a little too close to Cora until that phone call when they tried to get to know each other.

The season finale of The Sinner airs this Wednesday at 10 PM on USA.

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