#I might either do a much higher res animated version of this or like commission a pixel art version because I love the feeling

[segemarldoodles]

[jgfiles]

Re-watching Joker Game: Ep 4 City of Temptation

So, as I proposed a re-watching, here I go continuing on doing the re-watching. Hopefully someone else will join! ^_-

Also, hopefully there’s someone out there that read all this stuff… as I know it’s pretty long… shame on me for analyzing things too in deep…

Mind you, what follows are my ramblings over Ep 4, comprehensive of my impression on how the frames were structured and so on with some occasional reference to the other Joker Game media.

Also, for personal comfort, I’ll use the characters’ names even if the anime hasn’t stated them yet. In short, as this is a re-watching and not a first watching, you’ll also get a telling that’s mixed with my knowledge of the future. Consider yourself warned.

And now, let’s start.

So yes, like in the previous episode I starts with the preview for this episode that was in Ep 3.

Now, we’re again in whatever place the previews take place.

Anyway in this preview we’ve Fukumoto and Jitsui seated at the same table.

Fukumoto is playing with a coin, tossing it in the air and catching it. Jitsui seems to be studying him as he claims Fukumoto has really been into gambling lately, hasn’t he?

Fukumoto agrees and Jitsui asks him why.

Fukumoto replies that it’s to taste the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Although he’s smiling as he says so, it doesn’t seem that much of a happy smile and before he had looked bored. All the D Agency boys are well above the top in matters of ability and intelligence. Sure, although some tend to forget it, they also learned new stuff at D Agency, so maybe some of them didn’t join D Agency being already proficient in self defence, foreign languages, opening safes and so on. We know from the novels that some D Agency students had no experience with self defence, one of the topics taught at D Agency. But what the novels also tell us is that they could pick up skills in an extremely fast manner.

Why all this rambling?

Because when you’re too good, sometimes this end up making you cut out by others and, at the same time, strip you of the enjoyment of your achievements because there was little or no effort in reaching them.

In this tiny exchange with Jitsui, Fukumoto gives me this impression. He was the sort of guy who was so very good everything started to bore him and so he turned toward things that could give him stronger emotions.

Of course, Fukumoto’s ‘boredom’/’emptiness’ might come from other things (*chough* Odagiri left *cough*) but it’s still an interesting speculation how Fukumoto, who seems so emotionless on the outside, might actually feel like ‘something’ is missing in himself and trying to fill it with stronger emotions.

It’s also interesting how it’s Jitsui, who’s notorious from having two faces (the sweet one and the sadist one), is asking him that, as if he’s trying to see if under Fukumoto’s apparently expressionless face there’s actually something else.

And now let’s dig into the episode.

Shanghai’s night view.

As we’re shown a lot of people walking, on better their feet, ‘Tansaku’ [探索 Search] starts playing, immediately increasing the tension. The next shoot shows us the faces of those who were walking. They’re all smiling but, although they’re smiling they don’t come out as friendly. Somehow it’s as if they’re smiling at us, looking creepy, the camera slightly below them so that they also seem imposing.

We see again lot of people walking then… the crowd seem to open up a little to show us a person, likely a boy, looking around himself suspiciously and then entering in a dark alley. Short after someone, a man, follows him there.

While the streets showed us people who were smiling and well dressed as they walked the alley has plenty of dirty people seated on the ground with a vacant expression.

Quite a sharp contrast. The man keep on running, and he’s clearly following the boy who’s turning into another corner. By the way he acts, he’s not just following him or chasing him, he’s trying to shadow him.

Interesting enough so far we weren’t shown the face of either of them, the camera careful not to show them when finally we see the face of the shorter of the two as he made another turn and yes, he’s a boy.

Differently from the other people he doesn’t seem to have marked Chinese traits (though he could be Chinese anyway). Next we see the man in suit. His features are rather standards and not too noticeable as he chases the boy and… all of sudden realizes he has lost him. The camera gives us a close up of his face and yes, he doesn’t seem that noticeable. If we want he vaguely resembles Gamō. He’s looking around, searching for the boy but can’t see him.

We do see the boy though. He’s behind him and he’s raising a gun, pointing it at the man. The gun fires.

We’re again shown the people walking on the streets, well dressed, smiling and totally uncaring of how a bullet has been shoot just now.

The man falls on the ground slowly, the boy having shoot him straight in the back. The boy escapes.

The camera stands above the fallen man, showing us a pool of blood enlarging under him. It then moves to his face. His eyes are wide and unseeing, blood is coming out from his mouth. He’s clearly dead.

‘Kikan’ [機関 Agency] starts and we gets Fukumoto telling us the same shortened version of Sakuma and Odagiri’s explanation of what D Agency is.

Then this ends and we get…

…the opening. Which is the same as usual. Fukumoto is the sever spy that appears in it and he’s tossing a coin in the air. It’s fun how in both the preview and the opening the importance of that coin is remarked yet many ended up on forgetting it.

Anyway the opening ends and we resume with ‘Joker Game’.

Shanghai again, but it’s a sunny day now and we get to see more shoots of the city, which hints at how Japanese people were probably interested in seeing more of Shangai (while they could care less about London, Paris or Berlin of which we only see landmarks or relevant shoots…)

Then we see the building that host the Kosei unit of the Japanese military police (Shangai back then was split so the Japanese weren’t the only one who took care of it).

Just to make us sure we know what that building is, we also see a sign telling us so, with a Japanese Military Policeman standing in front of it, clearly guarding it.

Next we see it’s the inside of the place, a fan moving slowly and, below him, a military policeman.

His expression reminds us of when Sakuma was standing at attention in front of Mutō and his grades identify him as a sergeant. He’s not what we would call aesthetically pleasing, though he’s not ugly and the tip of his nose is slightly reddish even though he’s not drunk.

He’s sweating, though we don’t know if it’s due to the hot weather (this episode takes place in summer, hence that’s why the fan was moving) or due to the tension.

Another Military Policeman, seated on a desk, finishes reading something, probably a report, then set it down and, apologizes to the sergeant, whose name we learn is Honma, telling him he didn’t mean to keep him waiting, smiling to him. Undoubtedly he looks WAY NICER to Honma than Mutō was with Sakuma.

Honma, straightening up further, politely waves away his apology and asks him what he can do for him. Yes, he sounds tense. He refers to the other policeman as Oikawa Taii-dono.

‘Taii’ means ‘captain’, so if he has just said ‘Oikawa Taii’ he would have merely called him ‘Captain Oikawa’ (in Japanese you put the ranking AFTER the name) but then he felt the need to add ‘-dono’. ‘-dono’（殿） is an honorific suffix. Nowadays it’s more respectful than ‘-san’（さん）but less than ‘-sama’（様）and it’s used when doing business, writing letters, and meeting customers or guests, occasionally also employees or for a person who has general authority over others.

In the past ‘-dono’ used to mean ‘Daimyo’ – the leader of Samurai. Japanese is an evolving language so I couldn’t find exactly what ‘–dono’ exactly meant in Joker Game time (I discussed in the past of how ‘Kisama’ back then had a different implication than the one it has nowadays).

In the manga we see that Yoshino too uses ‘–dono’ when talking about Oikawa.

It’s worth to note that Sakuma doesn’t use it to talk with Mutō, who’s just Colonel Mutō (Mutō Taisa) even though a Colonel has a ranking much higher than a Captain, and that when Kazato talks with Akutsu he uses a different suffix (Akutsu-kakka（阿久津閣下）which means ‘his Excellency Akutsu’) forgoing his ranking.

Long story short there’s probably an extra layer of implication in Honma’s (and Yoshino’s) choice to use ‘-dono’ that implies a marked respect for the man, which can go from the fact that he’s the commander of the whole district or to the fact he’s going to marry Lieutenant General Akutsu’s daughter (in the anime, in the novel it’s Lieutenant General Yokozawa's daughter) so he might be someone from a high class family. Or maybe it’s just because, differently from Sakuma who’s a commissioned officer, Honma and Yoshino are merely enlisted officers and therefore need to pay Oikawa an extra dose of respect. No idea but I welcome suggestions and additional info.

Oikawa tells Honma he summoned him because he has a top-secret job for him, then reveals there’s an enemy spy in the Shanghai Military Police and he wants Honma to discover who he is. Honma asks why him, since he has been only stationed in Shanghai for three months. This bit is interesting because, either Honma is pushing his luck and Oikawa is feeling generous or it proves soldiers, or at least military policemen, could ask for explanations.

Anyway Oikawa says that’s exactly why he has chosen Honma and, at hearing this, Honma loses his posture a bit as he lowers his head to finally look at Oikawa in surprise (remember? Sakuma too didn’t look at Mutō when reporting to him… I guess that was the posture in which one did the reports… and the shift in it is meaningful).

Anyway Oikawa explains that since the leaks started a little over three months, and therefore before Honma arrived, this proves Honma couldn’t have been the culprit. The fact that Oikawa has an excuse ready for his choice again proves Honma was allowed to question him. Also, Oikawa adds, he had heard Honma served in the Special Higher Police when he was in Japan.

The Special Higher Police (特別高等警察 Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu), often shortened to Tokkō (特高 Tokkō), was a police force established in 1911 in Japan, specifically to investigate and control political groups and ideologies deemed to be a threat to public order. Its main function was as a civilian counterpart to the Military Police (憲兵隊 Kempeitai) which was not a conventional military police, but more of a secret police and Special Police Corps (特別警察隊 Tokubetsu Keisatsutai or 特警隊 Tokkeitai) the Imperial Japanese Navy's military police, also known as the General Affairs Section which concerned itself with police and personnel work within the Navy.

In short it was the civilian police versus the other two which were the Army and the Navy polices.

I guess the idea here is that Oikawa is implying that, although Honma has joined the Military Police only by three months, he’s not exactly new to police work as he worked for the civilian police before… though there could be more subtle allusions to the Special Higher Police work than what I could figure out.

Oikawa goes on claiming that he assigned this task to another man previously, but the guy was killed just yesterday. He then shows Honma a photo depicting the dead body of the man we saw murdered at the beginning of the episode, which, it turns out, was the Military Police Corporal Miyata Nobuteru.

Oikawa then hands Honma Miyata’s reports. Honma is about to take them when an explosion causes him to fall on the ground.

At this Oikawa scolds him immediately asking him what he’s doing. In fact Oikawa is already at the window, watching what was going on outside.

Honma stands immediately while apologizing and rushes to the window (on which we could see a beautiful reflection of the clouds for a split second), which he opens.

‘Senpuku’ [潜伏 Latent] begins playing.

Oikawa picks up a binoculars and hands it to Honma, telling him to confirm the location. Honma claims it’s the International Settlement. Oikawa, who was also watching the scene with a binoculars, lower it cursing. Honma turns toward him surprised and, at this, Oikawa admits that what had blown up was his house.

In the next scene we see the place of the explosion. There are houses with broken windows, curious people, Indian policemen as well as the Japanese Military Police and bodies covered by mats.

It’s worth to mention that the Indian Police there isn’t working for the Japanese but for the English as, as already mentioned, the Japanese weren’t the only foreigners in Shanghai.

Honma and Oikawa are checking the bodies, now completely burned, under the mats. Honma finds what had happened to them horrible. Oikawa recognizes the first person as the maid who came to his house daily. A new person asks him who are the rest. Oikawa and Honma turns toward the speakers who turns out to be…

…and Englishman, which Oikawa identifies as Inspector James. Oikawa replies that two of the others are beggars who used to sit in front of his home, while the other is a child who lived nearby and who often played behind his house. As for the last, Oikawa claims he has no idea.

James here immediately sets himself up as a ‘bad guy’ as he tosses the butt of the cigarette he was smoking over a mat and claims that the person under it is the most suspicious one before crushing the butt of the cigarette under his shoe and therefore stepping on the corpse under the mat as well.

Oikawa and Honma are surprised by his action, Honma keeping on staring at the foot on the corpse while Oikawa asks clarification about why the beggar would be the most suspicious, wondering if James is saying the beggar is behind the terrorist bombing.

James claims the beggar probably merely had a cook fire going or something and that it must’ve caused the paint can sitting by the wall to blow up. To be honest there’s a pain can, or better what remains of it on the ground.

Honma is furious and complains that was clearly a terrorist making an attempt on Oikawa’s life, especially since the day before… I guess he was about to mention how Corporal Miyata was killed or the fact the day before too there was a terrorist attempt but Oikawa cut him. Honma silences himself but it’s clear he’s restraining himself.

The camera moves on James, smiling smugly and cruelly.

In case we hadn’t got it by ourselves Oikawa tells Honma it’s pointless to insist as James never had any intention of investigating this incident. In fact for the English side it was rather convenient if act of terrorism were committed against the Japanese so they’ve no interest in investigating.

In all this it’s worth to note how Oikawa keeps calm and polite. He seems an admirable person who even felt sorry for the kid who died. His good looks also help to make him look like a good person. By contrast, while James isn’t outright ugly, he’s not good looking and his behaviour is extremely rude and unsympathetic, which helps Oikawa to stand out more as an ‘apparently good person’.

James then claims that settles it and leaves.

Oikawa admits he left early in the morning because he had to talk with Honma, but if he had left to his usual time… he trails off but the implication is that if this had been the case he would have died in the bombing attempt. Honma is sweating, differently from Oikawa. Again this is likely because he feels the heaviness of the implications and not due to the heat.

Oikawa adds this might mean his schedule was leaked and add he’ll leave what they had discussed (the investigation) to Honma.

‘Senzai’ [潜在 Potential] begins playing.

The two salutes each other then Oikawa leaves. Honma looks around to the bystanders and, as he does so, he notices that the only other Japanese military policeman on the scene is staring to a corpse with a sad expression on his face without moving. He is Private Yoshino and Honma asks him what’s wrong. Look well at Yoshino’s expression. The close up lasts a second but he’s clearly suffering here.

Yoshino is surprised and straighten up. Honda asks him if he knows the deceased but Yoshino denies it. The two salutes and Yoshino as well leaves. Maybe it’s just an animation mistake but normally so far we saw that when guys in uniform wearing a sword walk, they hold their sword still. Yoshino doesn’t. As said before it could be an animation mistake or a hint he’s so shaken he forgot doing so.

Honma, just to make sure, looks at the corpse below the mat. It’s too charred to be recognizable but we can see it has a butterfly tattoo on its chest.

p>Again Honda looks around and sees among the bystander a man waving at him, a big smile on his face.

Honma is surprised. The camera moves on the waving guy’s face but he would look unknown to us viewers as well and not just because we can’t really remember Fukumoto that well considering his small role in Ep 1 & 2 (after all we saw him in the preview which gives us a nice close up of his face, we could use that as reference) but because Fukumoto is well disguised, even better than Hatano.

First of all he has tanned up his skin then he’s wearing glasses that also change the shape of his eyes, pulling their corners down and making them look more droopy than they are. This is a huge change to normal anime disguises, in which usually wearing glasses would be enough.

We go back to the Military police station and the waving guy, whose voice sounds much more friendlier and livelier than what we heard of Fukumoto claims it has been a long time from the last time they spoke to each other and that he’s in debt for all that Honma did for him. This gives us the impression that Honma should know that guy and therefore that he CAN’T be a D Agency student as they sort of left their past behind them. Of course the fact he’s handing his card to Honma hints at how he’s not Honma’s close friend or something, more like a casual acquaintance.

In fact Honma first read his card to discover his identity and see that the guy in front of him is supposed to be Shiozuka Hajime, a writer from Shanghai Nichi-Nichi News…

…he then stares at him and finally remembers he investigates him on charges of operating a left-wing magazine because, remember? Honma previously worked for the Special Higher Police, whose duty was to investigate and control political groups and ideologies deemed to be a threat to public order. Left-wing ideas were deemed as threats at the time.

Shiozuka confirms it was three years ago. Mind you, the novel will clear up that yes, a Shiozuka Hajime exists and Honda investigated on him… but that one isn’t Fukumoto. Fukumoto just disguised himself as Shiozuka Hajime. This makes contacting Honda easier for him, as he can claim to know him and to be on his side since he’s indebted to Honda but also makes easier for Fukumoto to disguise as Shiozuka as Honda didn’t know him well and last he saw him was three years ago. It also provides Fukumoto with various advantages we will see soon.

Honma expresses his hope Shiozuka has turned over a new leaf and started working a respectable job and Shiozuka confirms he did, claiming it’s more respectable than anything he did before and, to prove it to Honma, shows him a newspaper article claiming he wrote it and that, in it, there’s not a single word that would paint the Japanese army in an unfavourable way, hinting to us that this is what previously got him in troubles.

A break here to point out how cool it was the idea to give Shiozuka’s role to Fukumoto since its behaviour contrasts so sharply with Fukumoto’s usual one I would bet not even his mom would recognize him.

So, as I said, presenting himself as Shiozuka gives Fukumoto advantages. One of them is placing a newspaper under Honma’s nose so as to remind him that the day before, when another terrorist attempt happened, the building attacked was destroyed by MORE THAN ONE ROUND, and, just in case the reminding by showing him the newspaper article wasn’t helpful enough, Shiozuka/Fukumoto also verbally pointing that out.

In short Fukumoto can start with telling Honma how odd it is that this time there was only a round.

Honma though seems to be feeling only the pressure of the gravity of the situation and so, as he resumes sweating, he tells Shiozuka he already knows about this. Fukumoto smoothly pulls back, claiming he sees he’s preaching to the choir but still tries to nudge Honma further by reminding him that the target of that last bombing was Oikawa. In short he’s trying to force Honma to connect the two incidents and notice the differences.

‘Suiri’ [推理 Reasoning] starts playing and we can see it works as, while Fukumoto speaks, Honma thinks back at when the incident happened… but can’t quite connect the dots. I love the way Fukumoto watches him as Honma is thinking, as if trying to gauge how much further Honma’s reasoning is going. At the same time though, his gaze seems kind, as if he understood how hard this is for him.

As he realizes that Honma is not quite placing together all the pieces Fukumoto offers him a bait by claiming there’s no need to get too serious as everything can end up being resolved before Honma knew. Honma asks him what he means and Fukumoto claims that, while investigating for that article, he caught sight of someone unexpected.

A flashback of Shiozuka taking photos on the place of the previous terrorist accident starts and we see him recognizing among the people someone he calls Kusanagi (Yukihito).

Now… We could actually realize that Fukumoto is Kusanagi as the guy isn’t tanned nor he’s wearing glasses that change the shape of his eyes… but he’s dressed in Chinese clothes and this gives him a different feeling, although the hat might help us to connect him to Fukumoto. Also, please look at the smart choice of showing Shiozuka and Kusanagi together so as to enforce the idea whose two are different people.

Back to Honma he asks Shiozuka who Kusanagi is and here the anime differs from the novel. In the novel Shiozuka claimed Kusanagi was a D Agency spy. In the anime he claims he’s the ringleader of that left-wing magazine Shiozuka took the fall for. In short, if you’ve no knowledge of the novel and you aren’t good at recognizing Fukumoto, you might wonder where are the D Agency boys in all this, as the hero is Honma, who’s clearly not one of them, Shiozuka doesn’t seem to be one of them and maybe you can suspect Kusanagi, but it’s still hard to connect the dots.

On the other side, if you manage to connect Fukumoto to Kusanagi you might think Shiozuka was actually someone who knew him prior to him joining D Agency.

Still, I’ll be curious to know how many people who hadn’t read the novel had recognized Fukumoto in this episode.

In fact Shiozuka goes on claiming he and Kusanagi were classmates at the imperial university and that the previous month, when he returned to Japan, he went out drinking with another former classmate who’s with the Home Ministry Police Affair Bureau and the guy told him there’s a rumour about Kusanagi being a Japanese activist who joined an overseas anti-Japan organization.

I guess this change is also due to Joker Game wanting to differentiate itself by the novel. In order of transmission we saw how the previous episode changed the novel plot quite a bit by having Marie as the collaborator instead than Jean, and for reasons that differed from his own quite a bit.

Here they resume on reminding novel readers that the anime isn’t a mere flat transposition of the novel but things can and will go differently, creating a certain suspense even for novel readers who, at this point, might be wondering ‘hey, wait, is the culprit going to stay the same of the novel or we’re going to have another surprise?’.

Anyway at this point Honma summarizes the situation asking Shiozuka if what he’s saying is that his old friend as snuck into Shanghai to carry out anti-Japan activities. Shiozuka confirms claiming this is an enticing information. Honma then asks him what Kusanagi is trying to accomplish to which Shiozuka claims he has no idea (and LOL, Honma’s expression in this moment is rather fun as he probably realized he made a stupid question…)…

…but, to make sure Honma is still hooked into the story, he claims Kusanagi made contact with the late Corporal Miyata. Honma is appropriately surprised as this could mean Kusanagi killed Miyata or was in some ways involved in his dead. He then asks Shiozuka if he has a picture of this Kusanagi and Shiozuka is delighted as this obviously makes clear Honma is now interested in Kusanagi. Of course Shiozuka has a picture, even if sadly it’s just a class picture from their university days. Shiozuka hands him the photo, points to the one who’s supposed to be Kusanagi then rushes to leave, asking him to only make sure this is a give-and-take (as in he implies he wants information in exchange). I wonder if that’s in case Honma were to realize that the Shiozuka in the photo and the one he was talking with aren’t exactly the same person.

Chances were low, of course, but it could happen… though it’s also possible that the photo is completely fake. Honma is in Shanghai after all and can’t really check all the info Shiozuka is giving him… so he returns to stare at the photo and, more specifically at Kusanagi. Shiozuka is probably the one next to him. There’s to say that, although each person in the photo is slightly different from the others… they sort of feel all the same, all dressed the same, all looking straight at the camera in the same posture, almost all wearing the same expression… as it used back then in school photo. In the novel they say despite this Kusanagi managed to stand out. Well, they placed him in front of the others but I wouldn’t say he stands out in a special way… though yes, we can see how he resembles Fukumoto… if we manage to remember Fukumoto’s features.

Honma mumbles his name then the scene switches.

‘Tansaku’ [探索 Search] is playing as we see that it’s night and that Honma is wearing a suit as he moves through Shanghai city streets. Evidently Honma is better equipped compared to Sakuma in regards to suits but I guess this means that since he’s from the Military Police while Sakuma is from the Army he’s merely more prone to use civilian clothes to disguise himself. After all Miyata too was walking around in a suit.

As Honma walks he starts pondering on the situation in a way that reminds me of how Sakuma did the same when going to the General Staff Headquarters. I guess them both are men who needs to move to better think things over.

Honma wonders if there’s a link between Miyata’s death, the bomber attempt on Captain Oikawa and the intel leaked by the spy. As he walks we see scenes of ordinary Shanghai misery, meaning a poor guy approaching two well dressed men and those two starting to hit him violently while no one of the other well dressed people notices.

In a way it’s so clever how the situation of Shanghai is presented in this episode, how they depict the contrast between luxury and misery and the total lack of care of the other people.

It’s not just Oikawa, everyone in Shanghai is horribly selfish, the people who didn’t turn when they heard the shoot that killed Miyata, James who doesn’t care about the bombing attempt and steps over the beggars, the people who walk past those two guys beating a poor guy… and everything is presented as more or less ‘natural’. No one cares and no one is overly surprised about this. When Honma tries to protest about James’ lack of care Oikawa tells him to give up… Oikawa has his own interests of course but this is how Joker Game depicts this city working. No one cares. It’s not worth it.

We tend to forget it because the episode really brushes over it quickly but Oikawa originally wasn’t the monster he became. It has been his five years of permanence in this city that has broken him. He was a honest person before, one that wouldn’t have done what he did in the end but then he snapped and everything went downhill. While this is no excuse for what he did is sad to think how a good person could be turned into a horrible one in the time span of five years (probably much less as Fukumoto started this investigation some years ago).

Anyway back to Honma. Honma thinks he has to find Kusanagi quickly, believing this is the only way to stop anti-Japan terrorism… only the situation is a bit ridicule because he only has a photo about Kusanagi so… how exactly does he expect to find him in such a hugely populated city whose streets are always crowded?

Honma keeps on walking and I guess the idea is that he’s moving in the red district or something as we’re shown women trying to approach him and other men. Honma doesn’t seem to notice them busy as he is in thinking that if this situation continue no one could trust anyone else and the whole group would collapse from within. Think whatever you want about Honma but he clearly cares about his duty, his country and his companions. He’s meant to be a good boy.

Now Honma makes the one million dollars question, ‘how is he going to find a lead?’ as probably even he could realize how walking aimlessly for the city would lead him nowhere. It’s in this moment Fukumoto comes to his help by dressing up as Kusanagi and deliberately slamming against him while Honma is deep in his thoughts so that Honma will have to notice him.

Yes, yes, I’ll say that, with a little effort, we could recognize that Kusanagi is Fukumoto. Anyway Kusanagi/Fukumoto makes an apologizing sign with his head in Honma’s direction making sure Honma would take a good look at his face then resumes walking.

The fun part is that Honma was about to walk away (picture Fukumoto’s inner frustration here) when it suddenly dawned on him that the guy that just slammed into him looks like Kusanagi a lot.

He stops in his track as Kusanagi walks away slowly, then Honma turns in his track and starts shadowing Kusanagi… rather clumsily if I’ve to be honest. Kusanagi keeps on walking looking straight away and now he has Fukumoto’s typical expression on his face.

He slips in a dark alley, Honda following him in a scene that reminds us of the initial one in which Miyata chased a boy in an alley and ended up being killed… because, just so you know, Fukumoto is going through the same dark alley the boy took when Miyata was chasing him and yes, they basically go through the same ways.

To increase tension Honma also loses sight of Kusanagi/Fukumoto and looks around in a way that mimics the one used by Miyata… and I think he could have possibly realized this is where Miyata was killed. And then you hear what suspiciously looks like shoots and think someone shoot Honma too only this time that’s not the case. It’s just boys with firecrackers… though Honma also risked a heart attack here.

As Honma breathes in relief Kusanagi/Fukumoto appears again in the background.

‘Suiri’ [推理 Reasoning] starts playing.

Fukumoto is still walking and I bet he organized this just to make sure that Honma would remember this is where Miyata was killed. Honma catches sight of him and resumes chasing him until… they end up on much better lighted streets and to a Dancing Hall Night Club.

Yes, Fukumoto really wanted Honma to go through the way Miyata also walked because I’m sure there were better streets to reach that same place than the dark alleys he used.

Anyway Honma sees Kusanagi entering in the Dancing Hall and tries following him.

Inside there’s music playing (it’s ‘Kikyō’ [帰郷 Homecoming] which was written purposely for this scene) and people is dancing. Back then it was popular to dance the Swing so I wonder if that’s what they’re dancing (I can’t distinguish a dance from another to save my life). Honma is surprised which is sort of fun because what did he expected to see in a dance hall? But then he notices that Kusanagi is going through a curtain that covers a door guarded by two Chinese guards. He tries to go there as well but one of them raises his hand and tells him ‘no’ in English.

Honma frowns as he realizes he can’t get in for free then searches in his pockets in hope to bribe them and… find a coin he previously didn’t have.

It’s a peculiar coin and it’s the same one Fukumoto had in the preview. One of the Chinese guards bend down to check that coin and the next we know is that Honma is allowed in… because that coin works as a pass and Fukumoto slipped it in his pocket when he bumped against him. Fukumoto is a really clever and manipulative boy, isn’t he?

Anyway Honma walks through the forbidden door and a lot of curtains after he sees the light. Meaning he finds himself in a well lighted room without music but with a bar, tables at which people are seated casino tables and a young maid in Chinese clothes serving him a free drink.

He accepts it and when the young maid walks away and he sees her from behind he realizes she is actually a boy.

Honma then hears a woman laughing and turns toward there, his eyes widening as he sees ‘something’. That ‘something’ is reflected in his pupils, to better deliver home how the sight impressed him, but we can’t really see it well, so it’s hard to say what Honma saw.

Someone seated and dressed in white… but really, I can distinguish it this far because I actually know what he saw and I’ve stopped the video otherwise for the short time the camera was on him and without prior knowledge of what he was meant to see he wouldn’t manage to distinguish it.

‘ Senzai’ [潜在 Potential] is playing.

Honma is frozen to his place, he can’t manage to turn away his gaze but he can still find the strength to ask to someone who’s walking past him if he ‘know him?’ him being the person Honma is looking at.

The other turns, look toward where Honma is looking and in a disinterested tone tells him that person is a regular customer who knows how to make a scene when playing around and who makes him jealous. The guy then leaves while Honma is still frozen in his place.

The camera is now high over Honma as Honma lower his head. Remember this visual? It implies that Honma received a bad blow.

In the next scene we’re back in the police station and Oikawa’s office. Honma is still standing at attention and Oikawa is still reading. It seems as if they’re recycling footage from the first time we saw Honma here and again Oikawa apologizes for keeping Honma waiting.

He then let us know that Honma is there because he had something to report on the truth behind the incident.

The truth Honma is going to say now… is going to be a big blow and the whole setting should be terrible for poor Honma. In fact, he confirms he’s there for that reason and claims that the entire incident in question is a cover-up that Oikawa engineered. Now… think at yourself going to tell to your boss that you actually believe he’s the culprit. Back then things weren’t as they’re now… this had all the potential to end up in a disaster for Honma.

And now admire Oikawa. He doesn’t blow up, he calmly asks Honma what’s his rationale… and since Oikawa is so calm (opposite to Mutō who immediately blew at Sakuma when the guy said something he didn’t like and panicked when Sakuma discovered what he did) we sort of question the whole situation. Can it be that, if it’s true that Oikawa orchestrated this, maybe he had a good reason? Can it be that maybe he there’s a motive for all this, a noble and good one? Maybe Miyata was corrupted but it couldn’t be said openly because, who knows, maybe he was actually related to someone important? Or is it maybe due to the political situation? Maybe Oikawa is trying to do something good… or maybe he couldn’t confess for some reason so he wanted Honma to ‘discover’ things so as to make them public… or maybe it’s just a test for Honma?

Because really, forget what you know about Oikawa and think at how you saw him so far in the episode. He was calm, friendly, compassionate, polite, reasonable, he really seemed a good person… so why should a good person orchestrate all this if not for a good reason?

The problem is, of course, Oikawa stopped being a good person long ago and what remains of his is only a façade.

‘Senpuku’ [潜伏 Latent] begins playing.

Honma explains his reasoning. How the day before the bombing there was an attack where a building was destroyed by multiple mortars therefore it would have been natural to assume there would have been a second on third round when Oikawa’s house was bombed yet Oikawa didn’t, moving straight to the window because he knew this wouldn’t be the case.

Honma claims Oikawa blew up his own home using the frequent anti-Japanese terrorist acts in Shanghai as a cover to conceal his own crimes causing the dead of multiple innocents.

Oikawa is still calm as he comments ‘innocent, you say?’ and we can still hope that actually he had a good reason to do what he did, maybe he actually had to kill all those people because they were guilty of something horrible? Yet, Honma looks down at him and his expression is a shocked one. We can’t see Oikawa’s face yet as he says Honma couldn’t possibly talk about the beggars or the old maid who came to his house who constantly pilfered little things from him… and at this people start seeing any possibility for Oikawa to have good reasons start shaking… because yes, those were beggars and maybe the woman stole from him… but that’s no good enough of an excuse to blow them up.

Oikawa goes on and although his talk is horribly cynic is also true. He asks Honma where in this city he can find anyone who’s innocent… and we saw how people in the streets turned away their eyes when crimes were committed. Even if they weren’t directly guilty… they became accomplices by turning away their heads.

Oikawa goes on, cruelly telling us no one anywhere is going to care that they’re dead and we know it’s probably true by how the people’s behaviour was depicted.

Still this is no excuse and it doesn’t matter to Honma who asks him if he admits being the culprit… and maybe it’s just me but I think that Honma too wanted to think Oikawa had better reasons than those.

And here Oikawa reveals his true colours as he asks Honma ‘what if I did?’ with a smug and uncaring expression and posture that somehow almost deforms his face and reveals him for the monster he is.

No, Oikawa didn’t have some noble reason. Those people were in his way and he killed them. It’s as simple as that.

It’s meaningful though that behind him there are the photos of him, his promised bride and Akutsu. It’s the stark contrast between the person he could have been, a respectable man married with a noble woman and connected to a high ranking officer, versus the selfish guy who did all he could to further his goals and satisfy his pleasure, including murdering an underling, sleeping with a young boy who was forced into prostitution and selling military secrets and opium to the Chinese mafia… and we’ll discover he was actually planning to shift the blame on Honma.

It’s even worse than what Mutō did. Mutō did a mistake by investigating Gordon’s house and being unable to find proofs, and another by tattling everything out to a geisha while drunk but, so far, there was no intention to sin. Sure, he has set up as culprits Sakuma and D Agency but he genuinely thinks D Agency to be a liability for the Army, something they would do better to get rid of and he’s not trying to have Sakuma blamed for murder. He couldn’t anticipate the D Agency boys would set him up for Hara-kiri. Mutō is a horrible guy… but Oikawa tops him big time.

Even though Honma clearly had pondered a lot over his accusation and made himself sure of them before barging there and blaming Oikawa, his eyes widen in surprise at the confirmation, to lower themselves sadly.

‘Gyakusei’ [虐政 Oppression] begins playing.

It sadden him that Oikawa could do such thing. Even though it was obvious that Oikawa did it… he didn’t want to believe in it, he truly thought that there could be another explanation. It seems that in the D no Maou manga it’s stated Oikawa was a person Honma really respected, to the point he didn’t want to believe he could have done such things. I think we’re supposed to assume the same for the anime as well.

I think Honma honestly believed Oikawa was a good person, a good officer, very likely the man had been one in the past but now Honma is forced to face the fact Oikawa isn’t anymore.

With a flashback we’re informed of what Honma had seen in the dance hall that had shocked him, Oikawa, dressed as a Chinese and seated at a poker table with two women having fun while betting a lot of money.

As we see this Honma comments that Oikawa’s five years here in Shanghai had been too long for Oikawa.

Many of us don’t know much about Shanghai history at that time but it was really a time that put a lot of pressure on people in Oikawa’s position. The following flashback tries to summarize how hard that time there was for Oikawa.

We see him standing straight as, behind him the corpse of another Military Policeman appears. Then, always behind him, we see another policeman being shoot. Then, always behind there’s Oikawa answering at the phone and learning of something shocking… as the Oikawa that was standing straight begins to lower his head. Word of God says he learned of the death of a colleague. Then, behind him, we see a policeman on the ground, dead, policemen crouched around him, apparently crying. Then, always behind him, appear a man drinking happily among two women and a Chinese counting money he had received, which I guess symbolize the corruption of the city.

As those memories appear on the screen Honma comments that Kosei is the most chaotic district in Shanghai and that Oikawa, with his earnest and fastidious personality dedicated his whole being to carry out his mission perfectly. In short yes, Oikawa was a good guy in the beginning, someone like him or Sakuma, who did all he can to carry on his job well…

The next we see is Oikawa in a bed, sleeping and painting hard, possibly having a nightmare. There are a lot of bottles on a table, a hint he likely got himself drunk to try to overcome all that.

Honma’s voice comments that in the end Oikawa snapped…

… and as Honma says so we see him waking up abruptly. He brings his hands to his head and messes up his hair, as if he’d gone insane, then starts to laugh madly. Yes, he has broken down.

The next scene shows him tossing a lot of money on a gambling table, a woman next to him while he’s laughing as Honma saw him doing. A boy dressed in female Chinese clothes approaches him, bringing him a drink He takes it carelessly but then turns to stare at the boy, and we can see that on the boy’s chest there’s a butterfly tattoo. The boy is expressionless but Oikawa, staring at him, grins.

A Chinese man, the casino owner, approaches Oikawa, claiming they appreciate his patronage and asking him if the opium that’s in the police vault could be given to them. At first Oikawa seems honestly surprised by the idea, as if he’d never thought he would sink so low, but then the Chinese man suggests that, if this were to happen, he could introduce him to even more enjoyable forms of entertainment. The implication is that Oikawa could end up being allowed to sleep with the boy.

To better portray how, accepting this proposition turns Oikawa in a monster, Joker Game does his best to turn him as ugly as possible when he smiles to the Casino owner. His teeth are showing and ugly wrinkles appear as he smirks unpleasantly.

Oikawa, whose character design was of a relatively handsome man, now has been turned into a rather ugly being because Joker Game is taking advantage of the classical trope that exterior ugliness symbolizes interior ugliness as well.

Honda goes on in his reconstruction and points out that someone should have noticed that the amount of opium in the vault didn’t match anymore with what was in the record book. Another flashback shows us this someone was Miyata who was never trying to uncover a spy but was merely pursuing the opium missing from the vault.

In a new flashback we see a gun and young hands counting money. It’s the boy who killed Miyata. Oikawa moves behind him as he’s counting the money while Honma comments that the bombing was a farce Oikawa engineered in order to hide the boy’s body. As Honma says so Oikawa unlatches the shirt of the boy then his hands wander around the boy’s neck. It’s possible in the end he either broke his neck or strangled him but, as of now, we see him bending down on the boy with a predatory look and crazy eyes. Again Oikawa is depicted as ugly in his cruelty.

At this point Oikawa asks Honma what does he wants. Honma is a honest guy. He wants Oikawa to admit the truth behind Miyata’s death and what happened to the boy who shoot him.

Oikawa remains absolutely calm and confident at this, claiming if he were to do so, in the best case he would be dismissed and in the worst court-martialed. The anime decided to cut a line Oikawa was meant to say, that his marriage talks with Akutsu’s daughter would also become void.

Personally I think it’s a pity they cut them. It’s true that, by then, we had no idea who was Akutsu, but it would have still be interesting once we were to learn who the guy was.

Honda claims Oikawa has no choices and Oikawa asks him how he will make the others believe him. Oikawa is raising a legitimate point. Honma is saying Oikawa set up everything but which are his proofs? He has none and if Honma were to die here his accusations would die with him.

At this point the visual shows us, in a very clever manner, Honma’s back and a gun being pressed against it. Honma is shocked and realizes there’s the concrete chance Oikawa, who had an accomplice, will have him killed.

What I like of Honma is that he refuses to let himself be intimidated. He knew he could die there so he states that if he were to die the letter he wrote containing the truth would be sent to the Ministry of War. In short, although Honma wasn’t asked to pull out his sword and commit Hara-kiri, he came there knowing there was the HUGE chance he would die.

A break here. Let’s remember for a moment that’s Fukumoto who put Honma in such position and, as far as we know, he had no back up plan to pull Honma out of this. It can be he has the letter that Honma wrote, so that if Honma were to die he would sent it to the Ministry of War and put Oikawa in troubles… but either he didn’t anticipate that Honma would put himself in a potentially lethal situation or accepted Honma could be sacrificed. I like to think that Fukumoto merely didn’t anticipate this. Maybe it’s just me.

Anyway there’s a moment of silence as the camera is high over Honma and Oikawa. We, the viewers, are the silent observers and judges of this moment. It’s worth to point out that, although we can make out the figure of a policeman behind Honma, we can’t see who he is. So far Joker Game still hadn’t shown who’s this person. We didn’t see his face nor hear his voice. He just seems a nameless accomplice.

Oikawa’s gaze is calm. Honma’s gaze is determinate. I love this exchange of gazes that well define them. In the end Oikawa concedes. He raises his hands and claims he gives up and agrees to do what Honma said.

Honma, thinking he still has some bit of honour, asks him if he’s going to try and commit suicide.

Oikawa is genuinely surprised at the suggestion and then starts laughing.

In present day committing suicide is a foolish act but, back then, if Oikawa has done so, he would have spared people a lot of troubles and shame and I don’t mean just in terms of not having to put him through a trial.

Oikawa will clear up this for us in case we missed it. He says he will never commit suicide. He asks Honma what does he think dismissals or being court-martialled are. He then proceeds to tell him that what Shanghai taught him in those five years is that no matter what crimes people commit or what kind of disgrace they suffer they can survive. Oikawa claims he doesn’t care anymore if he kills others, or destroys the Military Police unit he’ll do anything and everything to continue feasting at this banquet and live, live, live enjoying every moment until the bitter end. The old maid, the beggars and the kid, he won’t care how many of them die.

He then states that the cheapest commodity in Shanghai is the human life.

Now… in a way this can be considered an… inspiring quote against suicide and the importance to go on living despite hardship. On the other side this is the most selfish declaration ever as Oikawa basically claims he doesn’t care about the others as long as he can keep on living and, possibly, living well. Whatever we choose to see it… it’s still an interesting quote and the way Joker Game delivers it to us is good. It’s an extremely long quote but Joker Game managed to keep things moving so that we don’t just get an almost still shoot of Oikawa doing this long speech.

As he talks Oikawa’s expression wavers from insane to cruel to pathetic back and forth though it remains ugly and aggressive…

…with large showing of teeth (we discussed about teeth in Ep 1)…

…and insane yet determinate eyes. Honma is depicted as still and absolutely shocked while Oikawa, despite being seated, is always on the move. The camera moves to take him at different angles, his teeth are represented as pointy as if they were the ones of a shark, his grin his cruel and his eyes insane as he seems to push himself forward as if he planned to bite Honma.

As he spoke though we see the photo of the deceased Miyata but also the memory of his deceased colleague, in short a death he cause but also a death that had pained him. His hair gets slightly messy, a curl falling on his face which deforms slightly, the eyes now too wide and the same can be said for his mouth.

There’s a really clever idea when they show us the scene in which the victims of the bombing he enjoined are covered by mats as the image chose to show this depicts him, Honma, James and ANOTHER JAPANESE MILITARY POLICEMAN, remember? Yoshino who was also there and was staring at one of the victims with a sad look on his face. To help us refresh our mind in a not too obvious way Joker Game shows us again the burned body of the boy while Oikawa asks Honma why should he care how many people died.

The scene moves back to Honma but it takes care to also show the arm of the policeman who’s behind him, the one who had been pointing a gun against Honma and whose face so far was always kept hidden.

It’s in this moment that Oikawa says that in Shanghai the cheapest commodity is human life and as the camera now focuses on Honma who seems utterly feed up but unable to stop him we hear a shoot.

Next we see is that the gun that was aimed at Honma is now not aimed at him anymore and it’s smoking, a clear sign it has shoot.

Blood starts spreading on Oikawa’s chest. It’s obvious he was the one who got shoot but no one was expecting it, not even Oikawa, eyes still wide open and hair a little crumpled who looks down at his own chest in confusion. The next bullet hit him in the head, the strength of it horrible and it’s followed by a second one and then many others.

Honma at this point yells at the policeman to stop, calling him by his name, Yoshino. We still hadn’t seen him but the name should ring a bell. In case it does not, as Yoshino stops shooting, we’re finally shown his face.

Honma asks him why did he shoot Captain Oikawa. He sounds outraged. Maybe he hoped to still bring Oikawa to justice or maybe, despite everything Oikawa did, a small part of Honma still couldn’t believe he, a good person, had turned into such a monster. Hard to say.

Yoshino turns toward him as tears starts dripping from his eyes. He’s calm and firm as he says it was revenge for his lover.

At first Honma has no idea what he’s talking about, then he reminds how Yoshino was looking at the charred corpse of the boy with the tattoo.

It’s worth to mention that the manga added a scene in which Yoshino met the boy before he went to kill Miyata. He realized that the boy was up on something and that something could have been orchestrated by Oikawa but couldn’t stop him and, before the boy were to leave him, he told him that same sentence Oikawa just said, that in Shanghai the cheapest commodity is the human life. I guess the idea is that sentence worked as a trigger to push Yoshino into action. The man deeply regretted not managing to stop the boy.

‘Aitō’ [哀悼 Apologies] begins playing.

Yoshino then smiles and point the gun to his head.

Honma tells him not to but we hear another shoot a clear hint Yoshino shoot at himself.

The camera then shows us an utterly shocked Honma standing in Oikawa’s office among the bodies of Oikawa and Yoshino.

The camera then focuses on Oikawa’s face.

His eyes are still wide open in an insane way, and the same can be said for his mouth but tears are trailing down from his eyes even if he’s clearly dead by now. He’s creepy and horrible, a monster… or a destroyed person turned into a monster. Do your pick. Oikawa can’t be excused even if it’s horrible how those circumstances ruined him.

The scene switches to Shiozuka reading a newspaper while seated on a bar or something like that.

The fun thing here is that we probably had forgotten about him due to all that had happened. We hear Fukumoto’s voice (Okay, it’s also Shiozuka’s voice but he talks in a different way) claiming he learned two years ago (therefore in 1939) that classified info were being leaked from the Japanese Army in Shanghai. If the author of the leak was Oikawa he didn’t quite snap in the last few days but it happened at least two years ago and he had a lot of time to worsen to the point we saw him.

Anyway Fukumoto explains his investigation led him to the discovery of a casino frequented by Oikawa. Of course viewers might still not be able to connect the voice to Fukumoto, a D Agency spy, and thinks the one who’s talking is just Shiozuka, the reporter.

The camera focuses on the newspaper Shiozuka is reading whose titles sadly didn’t got translated in the subs but it seems they say ‘Smuggling gangs in the French Concession were reported’, ‘Behind the event there is a tough background?’ ‘The residents of the concession are discussing countermeasures with authorities.’ The photo shows people from the casino being arrested.

In short there’s no direct mention of Oikawa in the newspaper.

Fukumoto goes on and says that Oikawa wasn’t selling just opium but also secret intelligence. The camera now shows what can be viewed from the window next to Shiozuka. Standing outside, wearing a suit and looking at the blue sky, there’s Honma.

Shiozuka looks at him as Fukumoto’s voice says that Oikawa was planning to accuse Honma. Yes, in a way the story has many common elements with Sakuma’s.

Fukumoto goes on claiming that now the Military Police will be able to save face. I guess this means they either covered the incident or used the death of Oikawa and the suicide of Yoshino to silence it.

As the camera moves behind Honma we can see that what Honma was actually staring at was the dance hall high tower.

Fukumoto comments that as a result of this Yūki forced the Army to recognize what was going on in Shanghai (the Army was often rather reluctant to admit that there were leaks among its lines so I guess that’s what Fukumoto is talking about).

Honma looks like he is startled and turns toward the place in which Shiozuka was but Shiozuka isn’t there any longer.

We see that Shiozuka is now in a dark alley, Fukumoto’s voice commenting he’ll probably end up sticking around here a little longer…

…before he removes his glasses and his eyes take their usual shape.

We can finally realize that Shiozuka was wearing a disguise and that he has the same face as Kusanagi and Fukumoto and therefore the three of them are the same person. Fukumoto smiles then resumes walking and continues saying he’ll remain a little longer in this city of temptation where betrayal and solitude intertwine.

The solitude is a clear reference to how, if Oikawa snapped, it was because he was left too face something too big for him all alone. This episode only hinted at it but the Kosei district was really a hellish place to stay for Japanese and they left Oikawa, who was supposed to be a delicate and quiet person unsuited for such a job prior to breaking up, there for a too long time because, ironically, they were greatly appreciating his efforts, causing him to break down.

What I also found interesting though was how Honma was looking at the dance hall with an empty gaze. Of course it can be that he felt regret for what that place has caused but the novel ended with Honma watching over the bodies of Oikawa and Yoshino while a question was being raised ‘Will you be able to handle situations like this?’

This incident put a lot of pressure on Honma, who saw a person whom he had admired break down and even go so far as to orchestrate the murder of Miyata, one of his underlings and attempt to pin the blame on Honma. In short Honma has all the potential to break down as well and the empty gaze with whom he watched the dance hall can hint just at that. How, like Oikawa, Honma might be breaking as well… though I want to think that the fact he turned to look at where Fukumoto was hints at how something pulled him back from breaking. I want to think Honma will manage to hold on and not break. Maybe it’s just me being hopeful… but well, can you blame me?

Ending theme.

This episode… was particularly complex due to the historical background and it probably mostly glossed over it to avoid problems with international relations.

As a result for a western who’s not aware of how things were in Shanghai, although the episode hinted at them, is hard to grasp the full extent of the situation and understand why Oikawa broke down. We’re left with the impression he was just a monster and we end up on losing sight of the way that lead him to become such a monster.

On another note, although this episode had lot of elements in common with the first and second ones, I’ve to say they handled it well so that it gave a different feeling compared to Ep 1/2.

The downside of it though is that while this episode deliberately did all it could to stop us from realizing Shiozuka, Kusanagi and Fukumoto were the same person, it ended up on covering them up so well that D Ageny almost slipped past the viewers radar… which I guess was the point as that’s the sort of spies D Agency has, not MAIN CHARACTERS but barely visible side characters that investigate in secret and influence the actions of everyone so as to get a certain outcome.

From this perspective Fukumoto was an amazing spy as many viewers couldn’t recognize him or overlooked his role… when he basically lead Honma all the way till the conclusion, manipulating him perfectly while always remaining in the dark.

On the opposite side we’ve him leading Honma to a situation that could potentially end with Honma’s death. I stand my case, D Agency spies, Yūki included, do not understand the mentality of honest Army soldiers/policemen so they can’t anticipate when they’ll get themselves deliberately in suicidal situations. And, of course, I go with this theory because the other one would be that they wouldn’t care to lead people to death, which okay, in some cases might fit with the novel, in which D Agency was a lot less ‘no killing’ prone, but since in the anime those deaths wouldn’t/didn’t benefit D Agency… well, I still think they weren’t planned/anticipated and that it was just miscalculation from our beloved spies.

Last but not least something interesting. In the official web they confirmed that Yoshino and the boy with the tattoo loved each other and slept together. The anime again glossed over this, and over the fact that Yoshino, despite this, was Oikawa’s accomplices in his crimes regarding selling info and opium in the black market, which is why he can stand in Oikawa’s office and point a gun to Honma as the latter is accusing Oikawa of such crimes. So, the fact that Yoshino was involved in Oikawa’s traffics made him feel even more guilty the boy he loved died (apparently he had no idea Oikawa killed him, even if he had his own suspicious) and that he didn’t manage to stop him from being involved.

Yes, that poor boy is way too young to be in a relation with either of them nowadays but, back then, I guess no one would be too impressed. Other times and other sensibilities and not enough care for children. Which is terrible really. -_-

Last but not least… FUKUMOTO IS A MASTER AT DISGUISING! I mean Shizuoka was so far as a character from his usual behaviour and yet he pulled it out perfectly. Really, I’m impressed. Go, Fukumoto, go.

And this was Joker Game Ep 4. Thank you to everyone who was brave and patient enough to sit through my long, long ramblings for the whole episode. I hope other people will feel like sharing what they had observed while watching it!

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Movie Preview 12/6/2019  - PLAYMOBIL: THE MOVIE!

You may have noticed by now that I didn’t have a Box Office Preview over at The Beat today, but that’s only because there wasn’t much I had to say about the sole new wide release, PLAYMOBIL: THE MOVIE (STXfilms) which is clearly trying to capitalize on the success Warner Bros. Animation has had with its LEGO movies. Playmobil is a pretty known brand, and this one features the voice of Daniel Radcliffe as secret agent Rex Dasher, as well as the voices of Anya Taylor-Joy and Jim Gaffigan. The movie looks fun for sure, and it is the only release this weekend, although the weekend after Thanksgiving is notorious for bombs, and STX dumped this here into 2,300 theaters after moving something else.  STX’s UglyDolls movie earlier in the year also bombed with just $20 million and with a much bigger push, so I’m not sure I can see this making more than $6 million this weekend either. It won’t help that some theater chains are only charging $5 for ALL tickets… we’ll see if that helps or hurts.

Also, Focus Features will expand Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters nationwide, though I’m not sure into how many theaters, plus Amazon Music will push Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy, starring Shia Labeouf, into significantly more theaters this weekend. The former seems like a better than the latter, since Honey Boy – which is great, mind you – averaged just $2,101 theaters in 186 theaters this past weekend.  Even if it expands to 500 theaters or more, I can’t see it making more than a million this weekend. Dark Waters did better in about half as many theaters, so it’ll be interesting to see how wide Focus will take it. Either movie will only need to make about $2.2 million or more this weekend to get into the top 10, but Haynes’ film starring Mark Ruffalo will really have to be VERY wide (2,000 theaters or more) to stand a chance.

LIMITED RELEASES

There are a LOT more limited releases this week, as we get into the month where studios try to get all of their “awards-worthy” movie theaters for enough time to be eligible for that year’s Oscars.

Amazon is releasing the historical drama THE AERONAUTS (Amazon), reuniting Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne from the latter’s Oscar-winning The Theory of Everything. This time, she plays balloon pilot Amelia Wren and he plays scientist James Glaisher who go on an adventure to take a balloon higher than ever before so he can do weather-related scientific experiments. Sounds pretty exciting, huh? Actually, it isn’t bad, directed by Tom Harper, whose previous movie Wild Rosecame out earlier this year. This is a perfectly fine historic drama with lots of exciting shots up in the air since most of it takes place in the balloon as the two try to survive against the odds. This is definitely a movie I’d check out a second time but it will also be on Amazon Prime in a couple weeks in case you miss it in theaters or it’s not playing near you.

Fortunately, there are also a number of semi-cool genre films this week, some better than others.

Opening at the Metrograph in New York and L.A.s’ newest Alamo Drafthouse and the Frida Cinema is IN FABRIC (A24), the horror film from Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy), who will be at the Metrograph for most of the weekend to do QnAs and introduce the movie. It stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste as a lonely woman who starts dating again and is coerced into buying a red gown at a London department store which might be cursed with an unstoppable evil force.  It’s another fantastically original film from Strickland that will probably be lumped into the current wave of “elevated horror” that so many filmmakers hate being lumped into, but it’s also good to know that it’s actually a movie in two halves (kind of like Trey Edward Schults’ Waves), as Ms. Jean-Baptiste only features in the first half and then the second half is another person who encounters the dress. And boy, that department store is one freaky place with Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie as what could only be described as a creepy mannequin come to life. In Fabric will be On Demand starting Tuesday, December 10. My latest interview with Strickland will be up later today over at The Beat.

There’s also Jessica Hausner’s sci-fi film LITTLE JOE (Magnolia), starring Emily Beecham as a single mother scientist who is working on developing a new species of plant at a company that will offer therapeutic qualities if fed properly and spoken to. As the plant grows, she realizes that it’s also creating different emotions in those that encounter it. The movie also stars Ben Whishaw, Kerry Fox asnd Kit Connor and will open at the Quad Cinema in New York, as well as in Philadelphia and other cities this Friday.

DANIEL ISN’T REAL (Samuel Goldwyn) is the new film from Adam Egypt Mortimer, starring Miles Robbins (Halloween) as Luke, a college Freshman who had an “imaginary friend” named Daniel as a kid who his mother (Mary Stuart Masterson!) forced him to lock up. As Luke starts dealing with a world away from his mother, Daniel returns, this time in the form of Patrick Schwarzenegger, who has deadly intentions for Luke and those around him, including a wild artist named Cassie (played by Sasha Lane). It opens in select cities.

Jennifer Reeder’s teen thriller KNIVES AND SKIN (IFC Midnight), which premiered at this year’s Berlin and played at Tribeca is an attempt to create a modern-day River’s Edge based around the disappearance of a teenager named Carolyn Harper. It stars Marika Engelhardt, Audrey Francis and Tim Hopper and will open in select cities and On Demand.

James Frey’s controversial 2003 novel A MILLION LITTLE PIECES, which was once sold as a “memoir” but then, like the work of JT Leroy, turned out to be more fiction than fact, except that this was learned about Frey’s novel after it was made a part of Oprah Winfrey’s prestigious Book Club. Anyway, Frey’s novel has been adapted to the screen by the husband-wife team of Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, as the latter plays a young man dealing with his addiction. Haven’t had a chance to watch the movie, but it should be interesting going by the Johnsons’ previous together.

Getting a one-week Oscar-qualifying run is Céline Sciamma’s critically-praised drama PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (NEON), which has been playing a number of festivals since Cannes. It’s about a painter who travels to a remote island, commissioned to paint a widow still in grieving for her dead husband, but without her knowing.

Also opening at the Metrograph is Luke Lorentzen’s Midnight Family (1091), a film set in Mexico City where there aren’t nearly enough ambulances for the city’s population of nine million residents. The Ochoa family runs one of the city’s privately-owned ambulance services, taking nightly calls while trying to beat rival EMT crews to the scene.

I’ve heard good things about Naomi Watts’ performance in Alistair Banks Griffin’s thriller The Wolf Hour (Brainstorm Media) set in New York City in 1977 where a citywide blackout is causing fires, looting and the Son of Sam murders are plaguing the city. Watts’ June shuts herself inside her grandmother’s South Bronx apartment but someone keeps ringing her doorbell as visitors keep showing up to make her even more paranoid and fearful. The movie also stars Jennifer Hele, Emory Cohen and Kelvin Harrison Jr. (who co-starred with Watts in the excellent film Luce earlier this year.)

Pantelion Films will release En Brazos de un Asesino (Pantelion) this Friday. Directed by Matias Moltrasio, it stars (and is co-written by) Cuban-born actor William Levy (who appeared as himself in Girls Trip!) playing Victor, the “world’s most handsome man” (not too much ego there, Señor Levy!) who is also a cold-blooded assassin, killing for money. When he goes to collect from a drug lord, he encounters the beautiful Sarai (Alicia Sanz) who has been held captive for years and uses  Victor’s arrival as a chance to escape. This actually sounds kind of fun, even though Pantelion rarely screens their movies for critics sadly.

Beniamino Barrese’s doc The Disappearance of My Mother (Kino Lorber) follows model-turned-activist Benedetta Barzini, a muse to Warhold, Dali and others in the 60s, who now in her ‘70s just wants to get as far away from the camera as possible, only allowing her son Beniamino to film this deliberate journey into obscurity.

This week’s film from Bollywood is Ashutosh Gowariker’s Panipat (Reliance Entertainment), a film set in 1761 as the Maratha Empire has reached its height and the Commander-in-Chief of the Hindostan army, Sadashiv Rao Bhau (Arjun Kpoor) has to fight  off the invading forces of Afghanistan king Ahmad Shah Abdali (Sanjay Dutt) leading up to the Third Battle of Panipat.

Other movies out this week and mainly on VOD that I don’t have time to write more about include:

Code 8 (Vertical) Grand Isle (Screen Media) Beyond the Law (Cinedigm) A New Christmas (Cinedigm)

This week also sees a couple re-releases including the excellent doc APOLLO 11returning to IMAX theaters and the Anime Promaregetting a “redux” release into theaters on Sunday, December 8 (the subtitled version), and then on Tuesday (English dub) and Weds (English dub in 4DX).

LOCAL FESTIVALS

Not really a festival but not exactly repertory either, Film at Lincoln Center will debut a new one-week series called Veredas: A Generation of Brazilian Filmmakers, running from Friday through December 11, which features a lot of work from this year and a few years back from Brazilian filmmakers, many which haven’t really been giving much U.S. distribution.

STREAMING AND CABLE

On Thursday, Netflix is debuting its new sci-fi thriller series V-Wars, based on the books by Jonathan Maberry, starring Ian Somerhalder (Lost, Vampire Diaries) as Dr. Luther Swann, a geneticist who is trying to put a stop to a virus that’s creating mutations across the planet. You can read my interview with Somerhalder over at The Beat.

Also, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story will hit the streaming network on Friday with its fantastic performances by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern and Alan Alda. This is a must-see... in case you don’t ever planned on getting married... or divorced.

The third season of Amazon Prime’s Emmy-winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will also debut on Thursday, while HBO will release the season finale of Silicon Valley on Saturday, making it the next HBO series to end this year after Game of Thrones and Veep, giving people even less reason to subscribe. You can watch the Seth Rogen-Charlize Theron comedy Long Shot on HBO this Saturday so there’s that.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

This week’s Noah Baumbach in Residence offerings are his 2013 film Frances Ha, starring Greta Gerwig, and then Gerwig’s own movie Lady Bird. Both are already sold out. This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph  is a good one, Fritz Lang’s 1953 movie The Big Heat, while Playtime: Family Matinees  will show Henry Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). The Academy’s monthly series continues on Friday night with Kryzysztof Kieslowki’s 1991 film The Double Life of Veronique with a conversation and “musical discussion” with the filmmaker and Oscar-nominated composer Nicholas Brickell, who also scored the recent Netflix film The King.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Just one week after many people will have seen Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman on Netflix, Film Forum is putting a spotlight on the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s documentary work with “Scorsese Non-Fiction,” running from Friday through December 17, including some of the filmmaker’s better-known work like The Last Waltz (1978) and the Rolling Stones movie Shine a Light through some of his lesser-known documentary work.s If you really want to spend some time with Scorsese than maybe check out 1995’s A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese through American Movies, which runs longer thanThe Irishmanat just under 3 hours! Scorsese’s 1974 short doc ItalianAmericanis also playing quite a number of times with 2001’s The Neighborhood. Personally, I’m kind of interested in seeing his 2011 doc George Harrison: Living in the Material World (also about 3 hours long), because it was recently the anniversary of Harrison’s tragic death. (The Film Forum will also use this as an opportunity to play some of Scorsese’s non-doc work like Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, Baby Dol land more.) This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is the 1956 musical The King and I, starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner… that’s a good one!

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Weds “Afternoon Classics” matinee is Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter (1955), starring Robert Ludlum, while Friday’s “Freaky Fridays” offering is Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic The Shining (1980). The Weds and Thursday double feature is On Dangerous Ground(1951) and Jacques Tourneur’s Nightfall  (1956), and then this weekend’s “Kiddee Matinee” is Joe Dante’s Gremlins. Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs screens Friday at midnight, while Saturday’s midnight offering is 1983’s Lone Wolf McQuad, starring Chuck Norris and David Carradine. The Monday Matinee is Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential, and then Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut will screen Tuesday and Wednesday night.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Friday will be a special Brian De Palma double feature of Sisters (1973) and Blow Out (1981), while Saturday will be a screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia (1999).Sunday are two MORE double features, an afternoon pre-CodeJoans Crawford/Blondell double feature of Our Blushing Brides (1930) and Footlight Parade (1033) and then in the evening is a TERRY GILLIAM NIGHTS OF KNIGHTS double feature of Monty Python and the Holy Grail(1975) and Jabberwocky (1977).  The Aero will be showing the excellent Varda by Agnès for the next week or so, which is all the repertory you’ll need!

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The Terrence Malick retrospective continues with a preview screening of Malick’s latest A Hidden Life with actor Valerie Pachner (who I met last night and she’s wonderful!) appearing to give an introduction. Friday is the “Brad Pitt version” of Voyage of Time and The Tree of Life: Extended Cut, while Saturday is Malick’s Song to Song and Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey as well as To the Wonder. In other words, all of Malick’s most recent films with multiple screenings through the weekend including Knight of Cups on Sunday. On Monday night you can see Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas as part of “Martin Scorsese: Four Tales over Four Decades.”

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1993, sadly already sold out, then “Weird Wednesday” is something called Blue Vengeance from 1989. Also next Wednesday is this month’s “Out of Tune” musical, Adam Sandler’s animated Eight Crazy Nights from 2002.

MOMA  (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Iris Barry’s History of Film continues this week with a few more screenings from the 1920s including Walt Disney’s early film Plane Crazy from 1928, plus Robert Wiene’s classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari on Friday afternoon. Vision Statement: Early Directorial Works finishes on Thursday afternoon with Bong Joon-ho’s first film Barking Dogs Never Bite from 2000. (Plus there will be a screening of Parasite with director Bong in attendance, so who knows? Maybe he’ll pop in to say a few words after this one, too.)

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: Spy Games will screen Brian de Palma’s Mission: Impossible while Late Night Favorites: Autumn 2019 is David Lynch’s Eraserhead. The IFC Center also begins its annual theatrical run of Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life, playing three times a day with Donna Reed’s daughter Mary Owen introducing a bunch of the screenings.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Continuing the Roxy’s “Nicholas Cage-athon” with David Lynch’s 1990 film Wild at Heart, co-starring Laura Dern,

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

This Friday night’s midnight movie is Penelope Spheeris’ 1985 movie The Boys Next Door.

Next week, we’re back to normal with three or four wide releases including Jumanji: The Next Level, Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell and the horror film Black Christmas. Plus the Box Office Preview will be back at The Beat!

[zdbztumble]

I’ve reviewed all the movies...why not review the hour-long specials too? And why not start with the 10th anniversary in the lead-up to the 20th?

I was actually advised against watching this. Not one person I’ve come across has said that it was good. But I’m a sucker for the Mew Duo, and this is Misty’s last major appearance to date. With those two things going for it, it can’t be that bad, right? Right?

...Right?

Let’s get this out of the way first - 4Kids didn’t exactly start their dub as a breathtaking example of quality voice acting. It took a while for them to find their groove. This being the first thing that the TCPi cast ever did, there’s a limit to how harshly one can judge them when you divorce the performances themselves from the fact that an anniversary special commissioned for the American audience is a poor choice in venue for testing out a new cast brought in to make things cheaper. And they did eventually re-dub the thing for DVD, an acknowledgement of their initial mistakes.

I’d be curious to see the re-dub some day; the copy I had to watch was the original. And, cutting them some slack for being first-timers...it’s bad. Anyone who’s ever tried to watch a Godzilla film with the international dubs Toho prepares in Hong Kong will have seen worse dubbing, but this is still bad. The fact that TCPi’s improvements over the years have been marginal at best is also a limit on the slack I’m willing to cut them. Professor Oak’s is probably the worst voice here, emotionally flat and often sliding more into Gary territory. I’m not surprised Jamie Peacock was replaced as Ash, either. Her voice might bear more resemblance to Veronica Taylor’s Ash than what Sarah Natochenny eventually did, but there’s no energy to the performance. Whether Bill Rogers improved as Brock over the years or not is an open question; he was never that good IMO. And Misty’s voice is weak, and probably the most frustrating. Michele Knotz has done a fair Jessie over the years, and her stab at Misty comes very close to Rachel Lillis in timbre, but without any of the temper, teasing, sweetness, or life that Lillis brought to the character. Like Professor Oak’s, it’s a flat performance emotionally.

Another technical problem with this special is the animation. I cannot for the life of me figure out why an anniversary special seems to have been given such a low budget. The Mirage Kingdom episodes of AG (to name just one example) had much higher quality than this. I would critique this animation if it popped up in a regular episode; in a special like this, it feels like a cheat. The bright backgrounds and almost pastel color palette also undermine any sense of threat or menace that Yung might have possessed.

The pacing is off as well. If the pokefilms after a certain point lost a truly cinematic feel (for the most part), they did at least try to present their material with a bit more flair and scope than the average episode. Hell, certain episodes try to have a bit more flair and scope than the rest. The way the story is laid out here is so...mundane. Nothing is given any sort of weight; the threat posed by Yung isn’t treated any more seriously than something a CotD or even the TRio would pull. The story itself has the glaring flaw that there’s no good reason for Yung to have invited anyone except Professor Oak to his castle. There isn’t anything in the way of a plot or an arc for Ash or anyone else; they’re basically there to witness what Yung is up to, and they don’t even stop him. Several of the films have the same problem, but not to this degree IMO, and this special doesn’t even have a CotD as a de facto protagonist. Not unless you count the Mirage Mew, which...give ‘em a point for originality, I guess.

And the character work is irritatingly lame. Misty’s guest appearances throughout AG all made more out of her initial reveal and the group’s reaction to her. Things never went overboard in that regard, but all those moments were treated as special events. In this special, her turning up is just tossed aside. Seeing her alongside Ash and May is fun, but it doesn’t amount to anything thanks to the virtual non-existence of a role for any of them in the plot. The unique dynamic between Misty and Ash, or Misty and Brock, or Max and Brock, or Ash and Professor Oak - the well-established and entertaining dynamics between any two characters - aren’t made use of, and Max and Brock individually aren’t made use of at all.

And then...there’s that one bit...

So, remember how, back in the early Kanto days where Ash and Misty were just barely friends, we had “Here Comes the Squirtle Squad,” where Pikachu is sick and the Squirtles threaten to dye Misty’s hair (or kill her, if you go by the Japanese version), and Ash is super concerned for both of them, and urges Jenny to get him back to the cave faster because he’s worried about Misty, and when he reaches the cave he imagines her screaming and falling and gets all frightened? Remember that?

Fast forward hundreds of episodes, eight movies, an hour-long special, a couple of Chronicles adventures, and lots of character development that saw Ash and Misty become best friends, with the latter definitely crushing on the former and the former possibly subconsciously doing the same. Given all that, what is Ash’s reaction to Misty falling to her apparent death?

“Misty! Oh, wait, they’re taking Pikachu away. Pikachu! Oh, wait, there’s a not-Mew I need to talk to. Good luck, guys!”

Bullshit.

I might give that moment more of a pass in other circumstances; the TRio have taken falls and been blasted off in ways that would result in certain death in a literal reality countless times. Those falls are played as cartoon comedy, and had Misty taken a plunge from a great height in that kind of a situation, I wouldn’t be so bothered that Ash didn’t have more of a reaction. But this is meant to be a dramatic moment. The possibility that Misty could be in real danger at the least is (nominally) present. Why does Ash have such a muted response?

This special isn’t even the only instance of this problem. Such a lack of emotion regarding human jeopardy has become a chronic flaw of this anime, and it’s maddening to me that the staff doesn’t seem to regard the bonds between people and their human loved ones as being of equal importance for the characters - and the audience - as the bonds between people and their Pokemon.

All of that said, is there anything good about Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon? Well, Professor Oak having a sweet-ass Dragonite was cool. And the basic concept of an evil scientist creating Mirage Pokemon wasn’t bad. It could easily have made a movie, and perhaps it should’ve. Executed with better animation and more emotion and scale to the storytelling, this could’ve been an excellent pokefilm, much better than Temple of the Sea IMO (which I assume it would’ve replaced). It’s just such a shame that almost everything was done wrong in the execution of this idea, and in an anniversary celebration no less. Alas, it seems TPC has made the same sort of mistake (in different aspects of production) on their next anniversary...

So...yeah. Like I said, I watched this against advice. I can only hope the next person in line takes my advice, skips this special, and reads @theroadyouchoose‘s re-write of it instead. It skews darker than the show would go, you’ll feel compelled to read the rest of her series, and you’ll spend the rest of your life thinking that the BW theme is literally titled “The Road You Choose” and was written specifically for her fics, but it’s worth it.

[wasilewskitbfrostzn64insura-blog]

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24 Little Known Ways to Earn Money on Fiverr!

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Fiverr is a great place to earn some extra cash if you have some wicked tech skills? But what if you don't?

If you are looking to make some extra income freelancing without the hassle of looking for clients and promoting your services all over the place? Then you should check out Fiverr. If you haven’t already heard of it Fiverr is a platform for freelancers to sell their services starting at $5. Let me say that again, starting at $5. You can make A LOT more, even a full-time income, by offering upsells and add on services. If you have shied away from Fiverr because you think you are going to make much cuz all the services are only $5, then think again! There are people that have made hundreds and thousands of dollars on Fiverr.

But what kinds of things can you do on Fiverr? Do you have to be a techie person?

The short answer is just about anything you can come up with, and no, you don't have to be a tech guru! People use Fiverr to outsource work they either don’t know how to do, don’t want to do, or don’t have the time to do. There are tons of techie type things that you can do on there, like website development, programming, SEO, graphic design, etc. So first let’s take a look at some of the categories and see what we come up with. The categories displayed at the top of the Fiverr homepage are: Graphics and Design Digital Marketing Writing and Translation Video and Animation Music and Audio Programming and Tech Business Fun and Lifestyle Upon first glance, it might look like you need a business or developer degree to make anything off of Fiverr. But let’s take a closer look and dive into some gigs that you as a non-techie (or novice techie) can do to make some extra side cash. You don't need a business or developer degree to earn money on Fiverr! Click To Tweet

Voice over artist

Do you have a nice voice or just like to talk? A sexy accent? Perhaps you should try your hand...I mean voice...at voice-overs. Tons of people are making instructional videos online and are not comfortable with using their own voice or are looking for a specific type of voice to put into their videos. Simply upload a voice clip to your Fiverr profile and let people know you are a voice-over artist. Bonus, it helps to have a pretty good microphone so you don’t have to worry about static and feedback. Check out the Yeti microphone this is recommended by many podcasters as an inexpensive and good quality microphone.

Website tester

Companies pay big money for this type of thing.  Being able to see a website, landing page, or whatever platform from the customers' perspective can vastly help to improve the customer experience. Plus if you already know how to browse around online-which if you are here, I am assuming you do -this is a super easy way to get started.  You are simply checking to make sure the website is easy to navigate from a user perspective, it doesn't take too long to load, links work, the design is aesthetically pleasing, etc.   To do this effectively you will need a screen recording software. You can download Jing for free, which lets you record up to 5 minute videos. Or if you are looking for a something that you can make longer recordings and throw editing in the mix, Screencast-O-Matic is what I personally use. There is a free version where you can record 15-minute videos and save as a video file. Or a very reasonable pro version for $15/yr. Which allows you to make longer videos and edit the videos. Once you are done making the recording simply upload it to an email, Google drive or Dropbox folder for your client to access.

Human billboard

I promise this is not as sketchy as it sounds! This can be a fun one to try, especially if you have a certain "look." When companies are working on branding campaigns, they want their logo, slogan, or message in as many places as possible. Can you draw the companies logo on yourself? Or wear their t-shirt and take a photo of yourself? This might not be for everyone. Some companies also might look for a specific “image” that they want to portray to their customers. So if you are loaded with tattoos and the company is looking to promote their products to that demographic, you just might be a perfect fit.

Article spinning

This is one for the writers out there. Article spinning is basically taking an original article and re-writing it so it can be redistributed on the web for SEO purposes without being dinged as duplicate content. So why would someone want an article spun? Maybe they have multiple websites that overlap topics but don’t always want to consistently come up with new content. Or they want to redistribute the same content on their website without duplicating it. This is a particularly popular strategy in small niche sites mostly used for affiliate marketing.  This is another pretty easy job if you are a halfway decent writer. If you can paraphrase other people’s work-remember English class-without plagiarizing it, then this might be an option for you. You can also use Copyscape’s free comparison tool to check your writing against the original piece of content to make sure it’s not too similar. Or you can get CopyScape premium and do checks for other people to make sure no one is stealing their content or it is not already copied.

Social media promoter

This is not as technical as it sounds.  If you have a large following on any of your social media accounts you can use that as a promotion tool. This is great if your followers are in a certain niche-like raw food, breastfeeding, or gourmet coffee. You can write a short post, or be seen using a product and link back to their page. If you don’t have a super large following, starting at $5 is good. However, if you have a pretty large following and super active and engaged users you can command higher prices. Try to put together a little media packet that shows how many followers you have, when you normally post, the type of engagement you get, if and what you have previously promoted and how it did. For example, each tweet gets an average of X# of retweets within the first 4 hours, etc… The more specific you can be with how the client will benefit from your following, the higher the prices you can command. Also, there might be the option to develop a recurring relationship with that customer to promote their products. Then you could charge a commission percentage of what your followers buy. 

Meal plans

Are you great at meal planning?  Offer your services on Fiverr to those that might not have the time to do meal planning themselves. You can offer plans for specific dietary restrictions-vegetarian, vegan, paleo, gluten free, etc. There is also the option to offer upsells for those wanting personalized meal plans or add ons like a grocery list.

Microsoft office services

There are many people that are not great at doing things in Microsoft office-excel formulas, word formatting, just gives them a headache and makes them want to cry. If this is something that comes as second nature to you, then put it to use! Excel formulas are really not that complicated-whenever I can’t figure one out, I turn to my trusty friend Google. And it’s not just Microsoft office, this includes Google sheets, docs, etc, and Mac apps like keynote and pages. They are all very similar, and if you have a PC you can access Mac apps in iCloud. But if what I just said is making your head spin, stay away from this one ;-)

Social media cards/images

Another one that sounds more complicated than it is. Remember that image you clicked on in Pinterest that brought you to this post? Yeah, super easy and FREE to make. Simply go to Canva and make one. You can add company specific colors, logos, or create your own thing. Play around with it. This can be used for Pinterest images, Facebook headers, Instagram quotes, Twitter images. You can even branch out and create greeting cards, infographics, posters, and tons of other stuff on the free app. There is also a paid version that gives you access to more stock images, the ability to upload fonts, create templates, and save brand color and a couple other things for $12.95 a month. You can also take a look at PicMonkey, which is another free app with a paid upgrade where you can do similar things. Although if you do ease into it, you can create some super awesome stuff that people are willing to pay bookoo bucks for!

Creative writing

Another one for my writers out there! Do you love to write stories about fictional characters and their quests? Is Wattpad your favorite app? Then creative writing on Fiverr may be just the thing for you! But you don’t want to write a whole short story for $5, well maybe if you are just starting, beggars can’t be choosers, right? Maybe you could develop a character profile, or perhaps the writer is having difficulty coming up with a beginning or ending to the story. You could write just that one section. It is common that $5 pays for about 100 words, which is really not a lot-hello upsells!

Transcription

This is a pretty easy gig and in high demand considering everyone and their brother is podcasting. (I don’t have anything against podcasters, I just prefer to write rather than talk, thank you for reading ;-) ). Podcasting has blown up in the past few years and although it is great to listen, some people still prefer to read. You can transcribe a podcast or any type of audio. I have seen anywhere from $5 for 5 minutes of audio to $5 for 60 minutes of audio. It is really up to you how much you want to make on an hourly basis, and how fast and accurate you can type. If you are doing 60 minutes for $5 and the typing is horrible and it needs to be proofread and edited before anyone can read it when you hand it over to your client, then that might be worth it. But if you are doing $5 for 5 minutes and the grammar is impeccable, and it is perfect, then people will pay more. Just make sure you are putting in the description that is it manual transcription and what kind of quality the customer can expect (edited, proofread, formatted, etc). Just make sure you are putting in the description that is it manual transcription and what kind of quality the customer can expect (edited, proofread, formatted, etc). You want to make sure your clients are happy and you are getting good reviews.  You can even offer an upsell to load the transcription into a template the client already has for all their show notes or something similar. Check out an example of how Pat Flynn from SmartPassiveIncome has his transcriptions formatted-beautiful! Or upsell to put time stamps on the transcript-which can be especially useful for podcasters.

Profile writing

Have you ever set up a new social profile and go to write your “about you” section and draw a blank on what to say about yourself, well then you need a profile writer! Maybe you are a new business owner and you are struggling to write a profile description of yourself or your company that really stands out and describes who you are and what you can offer. Not everyone is great at writing and people can be afraid of sounding too braggy or arrogant when they are writing about themselves. So why not help them out? If you are pretty good with words and can make someone sound amazing, then try your hand at profile writing.   

Translation

Do you speak another language? If you can translate already, why not make some money from it?! Obviously not for everyone, but if you do have this skill monetize it! You could translate peoples, videos, audio, written word or even offer your services over skype. If you can translate already, why not make some money from it?! Obviously not for everyone, but if you do have this skill monetize it! You could translate peoples, videos, audio, written word or even offer your services over skype. You could translate peoples', videos, audio, written word or even offer your services over skype.

Gaming

Are you an expert gamer? Do you pick on the noobs while playing Call of Duty cuz they can’t level up? Can you beat the boss level with ease every time? People will pay you to get them to the next level or help them earn that platinum trophy.  People will pay you to get them to that next level in their game! Click To Tweet Yes, you heard that right, so if you happen to have a teenager (or husband) who spends hours gaming, rather than yelling at them to go get a job (or do the laundry), have them read this!

PLR article writer

If you are unfamiliar with PLR, it stands for private label rights. Selling PLR content can be big bucks. Essentially what you have to do is write short articles about pretty much any niche topic and you can resell it. People often sell hundreds or thousands of articles for very low prices. They might even buy them from other PLR sources (with resale rights) and resell them. People use PLR content to populate blogs and websites with content quickly rather than sitting down and writing it all themselves. I have personally done this for small niche sites I own. Although I do not use the PLR content “right out of the box” so to speak, I rewrite it, mostly because I’m kind of anal when it comes to writing and I think a lot of PLR stuff sucks as far as the writing style. BUT, this is a good way to write and do the work upfront and have a bit of more residual income.  

Pet modeling

Remember the walking billboard idea before? Well, apply that to your pet. Again, brands that are looking to cater to a certain demographic or look for specific people, or in this case animals, to help with their marketing message. This is not just limited to dogs and cats, oh no, get your goldfish, horse or monkey involved. They gotta learn some financial responsibility too, don’t they?

Blog images

This goes right along with the social media cards/images I mentioned earlier. So head back over to Canva and check out their blog images. Blogs with images are more fun to look at and easier to share. If you have a pretty good eye for design, you can help struggling blog owners up their game with amazing images that draw readers in.

Singing

Do you have a good singing voice? Can you rap or beatbox? Then offer to sing songs that people write or do a beatbox like you would a voice over recording. Just make sure you have a halfway decent microphone to record it on. I had seen this done for someone (not from Fiverr) where the client wrote about their perfect day and had someone make it into a song. It was pretty cool, kind of like a singing vision board.

Editor

Editing can be a pretty easy gig for someone who has an eye for detail and good grammar. Or maybe someone just needs a second pair of eyes to look at their work before they publish or submit it. You can edit just about anything, blog posts, academic articles, school papers, e-books. If it has words, it can be edited. Gigs can start at $5 for proofreading and editing of 5000 words. If you are a little more tech savvy, editing also covers photo and video editing.

E-books and other info products

In an experiment to sell on Fiverr, Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation sold an e-book for $5, and had 4 different $5 up-sells for this offer! When it comes to info products and e-books, either people are looking for the information to solve their problem, or they are looking for shortcuts to content creation. So you could either write a specific e-book on a subject and sell it, OR you would write e-books and create info products for people-the latter you can charge a lot more for!

Tutor

If you have looked on any online job boards for virtual positions lately, you may have noticed a need for online tutors. Specifically tutors for Chinese students looking to learn English. This is different than translation in the fact that you don’t need to speak the other language. You do, however, need to have a good understanding of the English language and grammar. I have seen people on Fiverr charge $25/hour for a Skype session to teach English-not to bad. Although as a brand new seller you can not start out at $25/hour, read about the different Fiverr levels and what you can offer as a brand new seller here. Also, if that is a little outside of your comfort zone and you would rather stick with native English speakers. Try tutoring in a different subject to English speaking students. Know a thing or two about advanced calculus? You can charge $30/hour for that. People are looking for tutors in Microsoft office, microeconomics, finance, different languages, research papers, and just about any subject you can think of. This would be an especially good gig for those already in college looking to earn a little to pay their tuition.

Market research

Market research is something that a lot of people either don’t understand or they just find it too tedious. I personally enjoy it-I know, I’m weird, isn’t the first time I’ve heard that. If you know how to conduct market research for online or offline businesses this is definitely a skill you can market. I have seen Fiverr gigs on market research for researching 2 specific competitors for $25, up to $100 for a comprehensive market research and suggestions and improvements on a business. You can also charge by the hour for market research. This works well if someone is looking for research for a book or article. Just make sure you are providing detailed information, citations, and links back to what you find. You don’t want to have to worry about accidental plagiarism on the author’s end.  

Virtual assistant

So if you’re not sure of a specific service or talent you can offer, or if you want to do a little bit of everything, you can offer your services as a virtual assistant. This is good for people looking for a bit of extra help and to get their lives organized. Not just entrepreneurs, even busy moms and dads need a little bit of virtual help here and there. Got a bunch of photos of the kids online you want organized but don’t have the time to sit down and do it, hire a VA! A virtual assistant can handle just about anything. The main plus side to this gig, there is a very high possibility of recurring clients, especially if you are good at what you do.   

Product review video

Do you love talking in front of a camera? Well then maybe you should try out this gig. Companies that are just starting out and need reviews for their products can hire individuals from Fiverr to create a short, normally 30-60 second video to talk about how great their products are. I have seen this done for both digital and physical products. Also, a fun little side project for couples. Just make sure you are being realistic in the video and not overly excited and fakey. Nobody likes that and it totally looks staged. Plus, you might be able to get some free products out of it :-)

Creating a stock photo

Do you have adorable kids? Cute pets? Can you take nice nature photos or can set up snazzy flat-lay photos? Try creating stock photography images to sell on Fiverr. Or perhaps create custom photos for people that are looking for specific types of images that may be more difficult to find. Like a goat wearing a bowler hat. Stock photography can be big business, seeing the same old images online every day can get old. *Bonus-do you already have a software that you use and pay for monthly or yearly that you could use to get gigs on Fiverr? Have a premium subscription to CopyScape-charge people $5 to check their site for plagiarism. Find out how to make money off of the things you already pay for.   Don’t be afraid to get creative when it comes to offering gigs on Fiverr. Try making a list of things you have done, in school, at work, on a volunteer basis that you could turn into a Fiverr gig. Ask your friends or family members what you have done for them that they found helpful that they would have had to pay someone else for. Obviously, it has to be deliverable online though. Although I have seen gigs where someone creates something and ships it to the client. You might want to wait on something like that until you “level up” and can charge more to cover shipping charges. Related post: 9 Little Known Ways to Start Working from Home

Have you done some Fiverr gigs? What has worked for you? Are there any other non-techie gigs you can think of?

*Keep an eye out for a future post on random and crazy gigs I have found on Fiverr* Read the full article

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Art F City: The Shape of Indoor Space: An Interview with GIPHY Artist Peter Burr

Detail from “The Shape of Indoor Space”

Since visiting Peter Burr’s “Pattern Language” last September, flashes of imagery from his installation will occasionally come back to me. There’s a sticky quality to the work, so memories appear in the same way they might for a character in a sci-fi movie—suddenly and without warning.

Burr’s art conjures the future—projection screens picturing high density structures that resemble malls populated by people who move in slow motion; text by Porpentine that describes opinionless cultures; undulating black and white patterns designed to mesmerize the viewer. Unlike movies, though, which tend to center around heros and villains, there’s no morality attached to this environment. It’s not good, or bad. It just is.

Now, thanks to a commission by GIPHY, a section of that installation has been further developed for the online environment. “The Shape of Indoor Space” is a browser-sized 12 GIF maze depicting a near-infinite interior made for humans. While the grid structure of the building doesn’t move—the floors stay put—pretty much everything else does. Backgrounds made up of blinking lines, pulsating squiggles, and flowing wave forms create a complex patchwork of patterns. Figures congregate in groups and walking alone navigate the building—some even sprint through it. There are no children.

I spend far more time looking at this maze than I do most other art. Part of it has to do with the virtuosity of Burr’s craft. When Burr talks about the technical specs of his work, it’s with the precision of a painter who grinds their own pigments and stretches their own canvas. His hard-edged animations don’t look native to any one software, but evoke a retrofuturist sense of “computer art” that predates Photoshop or 3D rendering.

But mostly, it’s the meditative aspect of “The Shape of Indoor Space” that keeps viewers engaged for long stretches at a time. For an environment in which nearly every element is in constant motion, that’s a bit strange—like a puzzle without solution.  

It’s this quality that compels me to reach out to Burr to discuss the commission with him. We touch on everything from crispy pixels to Arcosanti and building utopias.  

Detail from “The Shape of Indoor Space”.

Tell me about The Shape of Indoor Space. What are its origins?

I’d describe the GIPHY project as a generous version of what I did with Electric Objects back in 2014. I reached out to Electric Objects when my project was in development—I was interested in turning my work into an object without compromising the formal continuity. Their hardware seemed like one way to do that. I was their first artist in residence and was given $500 to develop an artwork for their screen. Ultimately, though, this body of  work is beholden to the crispy pixels found in the GIF compression format, so I wasn’t able to fully develop the art until this commission came along.

What is a crispy pixel?

The short version is that a crispy pixel describes an aesthetic that privileges a visual delineation of each pixel. The screen of any computer is a matrix—a grid. When you are using a modern day Apple and you go into system preferences they don’t give you screen sizes by pixels any more—they give you a simple choice between small, medium and large now and that’s part of a cultural trend that privileges “invisible” resolution. (ie, The fact that Apple calls its screen “retina display”, a metaphor of our own optical mechanisms with a system of cones and rods we can’t detect ourselves.) My work pushes against that because it reads as low res. If you look at the history of GIF technology, it was developed with the understanding that the file would be small – friendly to a 56k modem. The strategy it employs to shrink the file size acknowledges the screen matrix as a consequence of its limited color pallette. While more contemporary display technology allows for much finer resolutions and higher framerates, I’m attracted to the speed and coarseness of this older format in its ability to simplify very complex pictorial spaces to point towards a more legible emotional focalpoint. There’s some real power to yoke from the infinite fill patterns found in old computer graphics applications like MacPaint. As the Artist Ben Russell once said about my work with this technology, “you find yourself learning not what looking feels like (as Bridget Riley painted) but what feeling looks like”.

Popular video compression techniques today tend to use a different strategy – one that employs heavy reliance on blurring and smearing between bits of information.The reason my work looks so different, is because a GIF is never going to smear between bits to interpret a black and white pixel as grey because I’m telling it not to create grey.

GIPHY saw this and I think it motivated them to work with me. They are interested in the way I am working with my formal purity and I was commissioned to make these GIF loops.

Ideally how do they get viewed?

Well, GIPHY’s main website lays out a grid of images, so that’s how they get seen on their site. I thought about how I wanted my GIFs to be seen in that environment, and I thought ideally the layout would resemble an infinite scroll so the GIFs look like a small section of an infinite plan of an infinite living space. It can function like a desktop background or, as GIPHY is thinking about it, a wallpaper.

One way I think about it, is that these GIFs give you a window into a larger picture plane—a little like Nicolas Sassoon’s “The Studio Visit” – a sprawling portrait of an artist’s studio that extends beyond the confines of a computer display. In a way, this work functions as a proposal to get people thinking outside the presets of technology (like the common 1920×1080 display formats of most consumer-grade monitors, for example) into new display shapes with different technical impingements.

How so?

The ideal display settings for my work don’t exist yet. THE SHAPE OF INDOOR SPACE, for example, doesn’t work as a background because it’s not practical – it is too busy to be a functional wallpaper since your desktop icons would get lost in the background noise. It talks too much. It’s not meant to be in a browser either, as I made this space to be looked at slowly and passively. Because most of the internet is used as a space for active ‘information-gathering’ it becomes a strange context for meditative contemplation. I know GIPHY just released a big set of stickers that are fun to use when texting. This work isn’t going to do well that way either.

When GIPHY proposed this commission, they reached out a week before Pattern Language opened. I had generated a ton of material from that show. The installation and subsequent film illustrates the philosophy of an imagined community living in a sprawling labyrinth., When GIPHY reached out it seemed a perfect avenue to explore the formal architectural aspect of Pattern Language. The commission allowed me to focus on this one section for three weeks. So it gave me the ability to get make the GIFs super dense.

Detail from “The Shape of Indoor Space”.

When you add visual layers to GIFs like yours how do you know they are done?

It’s never going to be done. It’s a modern day labyrinth. Last month I went to Arcosanti, an urban laboratory in the middle of the Arizona desert – the only living arcology that Paolo Soleri ever started to build. The place exists primarily to demonstrate the principles laid out in Paulo Soleri’s “Arcology: In the Image of Man”. An Arcology, as Soleri defines it, should be a super dense, lean, self-supporting architectural structure built in the image of a living organism. The book is beautiful and describes the human body as simply as an organism that self regulates. Of course, thinking about that concept in its totality—it’s untenable. But I do like how he thinks of the current trend towards urban sprawl and suburban expansion as a body spread out into a veneer of guts, gooey and inefficient.

Anyway, when I visited, Arcosanti was by definition flawed in the trappings of any utopic ideal. Construction has slowed down and only 4 percent complete. But it occurred to me that maybe this is a really important metaphor. If you have this thing that’s hanging out around 4 percent of its total completion, it will always be charged with the potential of its flowering. In a way, this GIF project embodies the same charge towards building an infinite labyrinth.

How does this relate to the game you and Porpentine are working on or does it? I know that’s still in the works.

Haha! Well, we are going to finish the game. And people do live at Arcosanti. The difference between a home and a video game, though is that we’re not being quite as ambitious in scope. There are different stakes and that makes the game easier to bring to fruition in its idealized form. It’s something I can just do with a small team and release on a screen with a finite set of variables. Building a utopia to inhabit off screen is just so much more feral.

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