#geez my journal blog actually got some original art going on lately!

[funarisjournal]

Tsukutabe Comic and Drama: Compare & Contrast [Opinion]

This was an idea inspired by something @poisonbat said to me on Bsky. Think of it as a bonus to the Superlatives from the past three days~

...Am I really pitting Comic against Drama here? Well, not quite. This essay is more about my opinion on each version of "She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat." Specifically, what parts do I like more from each iteration and if there's one that seems to edge itself as "Best Version?" Well, let's find out, shall we? Oh, and this essay will just focus as far as the drama got, that is, Chapter 40 of the comic. I won't take anything past that into consideration (even if I have been up-to-date with the Japanese releases lol)

Woah...w-waitaminute, VERSUS?! This was just supposed to be the meeting of universes! What's going on???

The Basic Story

So, this is a story about two women. Neighbors, in fact. One loves to cook as a hobby (Nomoto) while the other really enjoys eating as a deep experience (Kasuga). However, both have some issues with their passion. Nomoto keeps getting pressured by societal standards of what it means to be a woman who loves to cook while Kasuga's love for eating does have an unfortunate side effect of being judged by others, especially her large portion sizes and how emphatic she eats. These two women are completely different in personality and overall vibes and yet...food brings them together. So together, in fact, they even start falling in love with each other! Their first experiences in romance, navigating that while also dealing with a society that definitely gives women the short end of the stick, even more if you're lgtbq+. And yet, there's always a glimmer of hope, an appreciation for "The Small Pleasantries" in life. They even befriend two other gals and form a sisterhood! Such a wonderful story...

And Here's the Fork in the Road

Two paths now stand in front of you - one path leads to the comic universe's specific traits while the other leads to the drama's. This split happens basically upon Episode 1 of the drama, as we see both Sayama and Fujita be silently introduced there, two characters only in the drama. The split is more spread out the farther you go, too, especially once we start Season 2 of the drama. That's definitely where things begin to be adapted into their own interpretation of the world. Perhaps having 20 episodes to play with this time played a part? Who knows~

And yet, the paths still lead to the same location.

Okay, so let's break this down into segments - story arcs, supporting cast, and then, the personalities of Nomoto and Kasuga themselves

STORY ARCS (or, how each version tackled certain things)

In the comic, the arcs are a little vague. Many of the in-between chapters have a general slice-of-life thing going on until you realize, oh wait, there's this theme again from the last chapter. From what I can tell, there's about six story arcs (that I can cover here): Introductions, Friendship, Christmas/Nomoto's Self-Discovery, Kasuga's Family, Valentine's/Confessions, Apartment Hunting. And at least two of these are blurred together in the comic! (Valentine's stuff starts in the middle of the Kasuga's Family arc). There are also two subplots once we hit Vol 3, in order to learn more about the ladies' new friends, Yako and Nagumo.

These arcs are more well defined in the drama, as the schedule helped kind of keep some of the arcs within a week's worth of material. The drama also did some unique things to create their own weekly arcs - use the source material, yeah, but they padded it out with some fleshed out scenarios and even two completely original stories (like, the Setsubun episode did have some of the Nagumo backstory in it from the comic, but Episodes 25-26 have completely new material). It also helped that it was airing during certain holidays (Christmas/New Year's, Setsubun, and Valentine's) so they took advantage of that. Of course, they moved some chapters around to fit this set-up, but they still managed to make it work in their new spots (ex. Curry Party now takes place after Confession).

As I said, S1 is pretty much a Christmas movie and is faithful to Volumes 1 and 2 of the comic (with a few improvisations), but Season 2 has 5 different arcs going on!

Week 1: Reacquaintances and Some New Faces (and Voices) Week 2: Orientation Journey/Kasuga's Family Week 3: Valentine's/Confessions Week 4: New Couple Baby Steps Week 5: Apartment Hunting

In regards to subplots, they are much much smaller compared to the comic's insights into Nagumo and Yako's lives, but they help flesh out Nomoto and Kasuga's journey. More emphasis is put into Nagumo's subplot compared to Yako's, but then we also have subplots with Sayama and Fujita, the two new characters I mentioned. They are both straight cis women - Sayama is basically the "straight ally" character for Nomoto to be able to talk to, back when the drama staff were unsure if they'd even get picked up for a second season (where Yako would appear). In Season 2, she gets a personal development via the pressures of dating and getting married as she is still young but of course, that lingering pressure still exists to this day. Fujita is less prominent, but that's due to Kasuga's work habits. She is a woman who works at one of the supermarkets Kasuga is assigned to and just kind of forms a positive acquaintanceship with her. She actually bridges a gap regarding Kasuga's family situation, providing proof that she's not alone on her thoughts about being restricted to old-fashioned family roles. Her particular story ends in a divorce, but she views it as the next page in her life's journey, which Kasuga thoroughly respects and provides vocal support.

Oh, and I guess there's also that overarching subplot of Nomoto helping with the development of that app with her colleagues. It's a very quiet thing going on throughout the season, though, just giving us chances to see Sayama's journey since she is just a coworker and that's the only way we'd really see the development.

The comic has a more comedic vibe than the drama, though the drama does have its funny moments. On the other hand, the drama is very subdued...gentle. This is probably a result of its time slot - night dramas tend to be "winding down" stories for folks as they settle down for bed. This does affect how some of these stories get told. The confession scene in both are so drastically different! And it really comes down to what you just find more relatable or what vibes with you the most (for me, the comic's take on the confession is best, but then in terms of the "consent" theme, aka when they have their First Kiss...I love the drama's take more).

SUPPORTING CAST (interpretations and what purpose they served in the story)

The comic has a very small cast. The idea is to focus on the sisterhood that has developed over time. These are four queer women who never fit in anywhere else and found a family of sorts through the power of food (yes, even Nagumo! She doesn't have to eat with these ladies, but she can still hang out with them in her own way, and they understand her limitations). This of course, creates a more queer/found-family-focused story, which may alienate some people who came in thinking it was literally going to be a tale about food. But it didn't alienate me~ I just love it even more lol. But it tries to keep it simple, too, so cishet readers can begin to understand these ladies and what they've gone through (or are going through). If they want more info, actually, Vol 4 provided a list of sites for further reading, which was really neat.

The drama, on the other hand, decided to double down on the Women's Experiences in Society aspect. So we got the four from the original story, but then we also have Sayama and Fujita, as stated before...then we even get tertiary characters like the Chinese employee, Ko, who actually got a brief spotlight in one episode via an interesting lunch convo with Nomoto and Sayama... and we even have a calm and understanding/respectful guy named Mikami who never belittled Nomoto and Sayama as they worked with him with that app project...Just to remind folks there are some good men out there.

One downside, though, was how Nagumo and Yako were portrayed in the drama. Nagumo is anxiety kitten, yes, but she is really subdued in the drama. So meek, so shy. She doesn't even evolve to address everyone else by their first names! And Yako's passionate rage moments? Gone. But I always figured that was due to, again, the type of show this was built to be. Maybe if it was a primetime drama instead...

NOMOTO AND KASUGA (There are differences!)

This is probably the big reason why I personally draw for both versions of Tsukutabe: There really are slight differences in the main ladies themselves, and I don't mean just by their physical appearances alone! Though you gotta admit, the live-action versions are pretty dang close (and honestly, I think Yuzaki-sensei saw something in Kasuga's appearance in the drama that she has even tweaked Kasuga's design in the most recent chapters, heh)

At their core, Nomoto is a woman who is ambitious yet anxious, she's an ambivert (definitely prefers to focus on herself at work but can talk to friends in a very extroverted way) with her heart on her sleeve. We know if she's happy, sad or worried and has trouble hiding anything for long. Kasuga, meanwhile, is introverted, tends to keep her thoughts to herself but is a very kind and considerate woman (like when she reminds Nomoto to eat/don't just drink and listening to Nagumo about her own situation). It really feels like she doesn't have a mean bone in her body.

The basic personalities are still there in the drama, but, again, as we move into Season 2, stuff starts to shift. I personally think it's due to the chemistry Higa and Nishino had been developing ever since Season 1. Just from stuff I've read, they would say they'd start to talk to one another more often to see how they should tackle a specific scene, and I'm pretty sure there's a decent amount of ad libbing involved in the show. Like, I even saw it in the foreword from the scriptwriter from the S1 DVD - some of the script is just vague enough that it's all about how the actresses end up reacting to the general directions. The commentary Nishino had over Episode 18 also implied that Kasuga was probably NOT supposed to really cry, but it happened anyway, but she only fought back enough where she thought Kasuga herself would and let it out in front of someone she trusted (Nomoto).

It's a really interesting thing to watch - it's still Nomoto and Kasuga, but somewhere there, we ended up with a more nurturing Nomoto who tends to take the lead conversationally (and is even more social than her comic counterpart since she has coworkers she voluntarily mingles with), and a Kasuga who is withdrawn a little (because her history with her family was brought out more and it's clear it really had affected her all this time), prefers to take the backseat, and has to learn how to open up and be (positively) selfish more often.

THE VERDICT

Again, this whole thing is just based on my thoughts and observations, and I still love both very, very much. But, I guess as I look back at what I wrote, there's definitely a clear "winner" here, and that is...the drama! It is definitely an amazing adaptation of the source material that expands the world of Tsukutabe without messing things up, like many adaptations accidentally do (or intentionally. There are some BAAAD ones). I think it helps that both the producer (name escapes me, though) and the scriptwriter (Yuri Yamada) were already fans of the comic, so they wanted to do it justice. And they definitely did~

But this isn't some beat-down. Nah, in this "match," the winners simply prepare the meal! (the losers missing out on an opportunity to do so, get it?)

[justmegawatt]

Journal Day 171 – 172 WPM, 176 WPM and First Place Twice

Wednesday, April 12th 2017

Pretty awesome start to a good day so far. I got first place on typeracer this morning after a few attempts. It’s been forever since I last went on this website. However, I wanted to troll a bit, and get more views on my YouTube channel, so I went ahead and recorded a video of me becoming first place at something I knew I was good at. I also put “Vegan” next to my name to represent veganism. The fastest person on the website right now as I type this, is me, and I am a vegan.

I wasn’t even trying when I got 172 words per minute. My fingers felt slow, I felt slow. And yet, I got first place beating the hundreds if not thousands of other people online on that same website at that same moment. People that were trying their best to beat me, but couldn’t.

Alright so I am really good at typing. Can I earn money from this? I’m not sure, but it’s probably a lot better to be the ‘best’ at something, rather than be a normal person at something. And everyone types. I just happen to be one of the fastest typists in the entire world. I mean yeah, I can play Tetris, I can play a video game like Warcraft 3 and become a pro, but in terms of worldwide attention, typing is something everyone does and it is something everyone can relate to. Not many can relate to a Tetris pro or a Warcraft 3 pro.

I would like to thank DurianRider for inspiring me to make a YouTube video about this and to troll in the video a bit. DurianRider is one of the best cyclists on the planet, he got first place on a lot of different tournaments and competitions many times, and he himself is a vegan. So that inspired me. I am one of the fastest typists on the planet, why don’t I make a YouTube video series about this very topic?

I haven’t uploaded the video yet so I have no idea if it will pick up steam or not. But the recording is done, I just have to do some editing work and then upload. I’m getting excited.

--

I don’t have unlimited time to just dedicate everything to typing and YouTubing. Unfortunately I have a full-time job. Unfortunately I am studying at a university. Unfortunately I am paying $300 a month for online computer lessons (separate from the university). Unfortunately I have a life, and I can only dedicate so much time to typing.

I try to exercise every day (except I rarely do), I try to update my journal every day, I try to get straight A’s in my courses, I try to do my best at work which can get stressful sometimes, I try. I’m also writing a book with Obs. I just texted her actually to wish her well this morning, because I’m grateful for having met her. I hope she doesn’t see that as weird or anything. I wrote a pretty weird entry last night because I was extremely sleepy, and I made a pretty weird video to go along with it, she has every reason to dislike me now.

So anyway, my point is that I don’t just have unlimited time in this world to dedicate to typing. I’m a normal person going through normal things, and I just happen to be one of the best in the world at something. That doesn’t mean that I’m good at anything else. I’m not as great in art, I’m not as great in video editing, or audio production. I’m just ‘good’ at this one thing.

--

I’m pumped and excited. I’ve just spent the past hour or so listening to DurianRider YouTube advice and tips. Man. He makes it sound so easy. I think I can do it. Right now I have 7 subscribers in the channel that I’m going to upload my videos to, and a total of 214 views. Right now I have 13 videos that are publicly displayed. 4 of those videos have less than 5 views, like 2 or 3 views, I mean, wtf. I’m planning on privatizing those videos since no one watches them anyway and they’re not all that great.

Okay so here’s my YouTube to-do list for tonight: - Update YouTube wallpaper background - Create new ‘outro’ video that I will use in all my videos - Edit and create YouTube video from typing footage this morning - Create thumbnail for the above video - Get 1st place again on TypeRacer (gonna be freaking hard at night time) - Upload first video again trolling everyone on TypeRacer

Hell yeah. I can’t wait. Freaking DurianRider is the man. He gave me the tips, I will use those tips. My videos will be focused around computers, mainly typing, programming, and so on. I can’t wait to troll and wreck it online. I’m still at work at the moment, pretty much done with everything that needs to be done.

--

I have a ton of things that I need to work on outside of work though. I have a few homework assignments due tonight, some more due tomorrow. I am nearly 100 journal entries behind on my Tumblr, my Medium, my blog website, and my livejournal. Fuck. How am I going to catch up? Do I need to ask someone a favor if they can manually upload 100 of my entries to each one of those websites…? Sigh.

Someone new at work apparently found out that I had a website today, she said that was cool. There are actually quite a few people at work that know I have a website, I think pretty much everyone does, I think. I’m not too sure. But on this website, I also keep my journal entries on there. But so far I have only uploaded until journal entry day 70. Shit. So I am actually over 100 entries behind, as of today. Today is day 171.

I always thought that LG2MT would finish the task for me and catch me up to date, but I haven’t worked on LG2MT in a while. Instead, I have spent a lot of my time and hours trolling around on YouTube, Reddit, Imgur, and other websites. Who really cares about those things? I don’t need to reply to every comment poster or person that replies to me on YouTube when I have a life to live. I made a mistake of taking chunks out of my life to reply to people and that was one of the biggest mistakes of all.

--

Alright I’m home now. It’s 5:34 PM. Let’s get cranking on that YouTube to do list. First up, the YouTube wallpaper background. Mine is blank right now, so let me go ahead and make one.

Done. The time right now is 5:45 PM. I also used the bathroom for a bit, so yeah. Not bad, and it didn’t take much time at all.

Next up is to create the ‘outro’ for my videos. Okay. Okay. This one is a bit more complicated.

54 minutes later…

Alright the time right now is 6:39 PM. It was 6:39 PM when I finished and started rendering the video, and then after a while I also started to upload the video. The time right now is 6:53 PM after I finished all of that. The video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhhyPzwdScs

Freaking awesome!

Time right now is 7:02 PM and the next step is to edit and upload the footage of me getting rank #1 to YouTube. Alright.

22 minutes later…

Alright, I just finished the video! It’s rendering now which will take a while. This video is super awesome. I freaking love it. Next task is to create a thumbnail for it… Oh man, that is going to be tough.

6 minutes later…

Wow it took me 6 minutes? Geez. I thought it took like 2 seconds, but apparently it took 6 minutes. Anyway, the thumbnail is done, and it wasn’t that hard at all. The video is still not done rendering, and the time right now is 7:28 PM. The video is at 42% rendering, so nowhere close. The next step is… Oh shit, get first place on TypeRacer… Fuck me.

If there is some guy with like 180 WPM or above, then I stand little chance. Okay. First place is 217 WPM, the second place person is 192 WPM. Kathy Florentine is destroying it with freaking 217 WPM. Shit. Cameron is next with 192 WPM. Third place is by some random guy that has a Star as a symbol with 163 WPM, and 4th place is 155 WPM.

I can probably get to 3rd place with difficulty, but to get 2nd or 1st, that is a near impossibility. I’ll go for 3rd as my most, and then give up afterwards. I don’t want to even try to get more than that.

Time right now is 7:41 PM, I have been trying, but the fastest speed I have gotten so far is 140 WPM.

2 minutes later…

153 WPM. Not even close. Kathy is now at 222 WPM, and Cameron is at 210 WPM. I have never breached 200, so this is already an impossibility for me to get 1st or 2nd. I can get third, yes, but not first or second. Not at this level. Fuck. My fingers are getting confused.

This is why I’m fine with watching high performers perform, but doing it myself? That’s really difficult. I can’t reliably rely on myself to not screw up. Typing is one of those skills where you have to have full control of every single finger movement, and at really fast speeds, it’s hard to grab control of them, so typos are abound. I think it’s because it’s late in the day right now, which is why my fingers are having a much harder time than this morning. I don’t know exactly what it is, it’s just that I am having more typos right now for some reason.

I uploaded the video, keep in mind I curse a few times since I’m roleplaying a controversial character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfCyJse8NO0

--

However many minutes later…

The time right now is 8:22 PM and a low level league of people just appeared. The 1st place person right now is 135 WPM, the second place is 111 WPM, and the fourth place is 108 WPM, the 4th place downward have not even gotten anywhere. Holy shit. This is going to be really easy. I still want to get a really high score though, nothing below 160 WPM.

Finally. Some dude just got 160 WPM. I thought that low level of skill was going to be around for a while.

A long time later!

The time right now is 8:43 PM and I finally got first place again.

--

I recorded another video doing commentary while I got 176 WPM. So before I set my record for the night, some other guy got 175 WPM. I bet he was disappointed I beat his score after just 4 minutes. Well 4 minutes after I beat his score, another person beat me. Then 4 minutes after that person, another person beat that person. And then 3 minutes later, the person I beat originally, he came out of nowhere and became first place again.

So my final position right now is 4th place. Oh well. I actually went online to one of the people’s livestreams, and it turns out they were only doing 1 line typeraces. Wow. Just one liners. The one I did 172 with was 3 lines, and the 176 one was also 3 lines. That’s probably why I have never gotten over 200 WPM, because I have never consistently stayed at 1 line for that long. This guy just kept on doing it and doing it. I don’t think you get better at typing that way. You set records, but you don’t improve.

I think that is the first time I have completed all the tasks in my to-do list that I write here. That is the first time. Impressive.

 Selfie for the day