Tomfoolish Terms and Tasteful Tumbling

WHOA. That has got to be the hardest alliteration that I've ever come up with. There are no good words that start with 'T'! :P

I really just wanted to talk about Tumbling (タンブリング), but I really did make up a stupid word today. It was 'conspirating'. I was trying to say 'conspiring'. Yeah, embarrassing.

SO ANYWAY. Back to Tumbling! :D
Tumbling (or タンブリング) is a new Japanese drama I'm watching (which is why I keep writing it in katakana) and it's about a men's rhythmic gymnastics team. I know what you're thinking: GAY. Well, yes. At least, one of them is. But it's really not that bad...
...
...okay, it is that bad. It's worse. It's pretty terrible. It has every single cliche of a sports-related all-male-cast drama. WAY too much testosterone, lots of shouting, fighting and crying, and the one, perfect-but-not main character that somehow makes every problem disappear or be okay. But there's a lot of GREAT actors in it, almost everyone in this drama is attractive (especially the boys :9) and it's oddly addictive once you get past the first few episodes.

So here's the general synopsis:
There's this main-character ruffian type (played by Yamamoto Yusuke) named Wataru. He's arrogant, likes to fight a lot, and he's kinda really stupid. Some dramas are cast just so perfectly, am I right? So anyway, Wataru is this stereotypical yankee (a lot of people translate 'yankee' as 'gangster' but it's not--a japanese 'gangster' would be a part of the yakuza. Yankees are just ruffians who behave something like American 'gangstas' and may be a part of a gang, but are not yakuza) who spends his days fighting huge, choreographed battles with other gangs alongside his side-kicks: the blonde playboy and the young goofball. He is going happily through his life being rebellious, with his red hair--scandalous!--and his M.C. Hammer pants. Then, all of a sudden, there's a stereotypically really pretty and super-sweet new student who transfers into his class! So he obviously instantly falls in love with her (this is Mari-chan, by the way) and of course she is completely oblivious to his feelings and the fact that his personality goes through a complete 360 when talking to her, as opposed to when he talks to (read as: "threatens") other people. So he quietly and comedically pines for her for a while, until we find out that Oh My Good-Golly-Gosh! Our dear hero Wataru is missing a few credits from his 2nd year in high school, which can of course be fixed by joining a club.
OH BY THE WAY, while all of this is going on with Wataru, we've also been watching the comedic patheticness of the school's Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics Team, which JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE A CLUB. OH, I WONDER HOW THAT WILL TIE IN WITH THIS STORY? So to summarize their situation: the captain of the team, Yuuta (played by Seto Koji *LOVE*) is desperately trying to get together a sufficient Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics Team so that they can enter a team competition, which has stereotypically been his dream since childhood. They have had to go through lots of hardships: they don't get very much funding, they kind of suck, they have a bumbling comic relief on their team, they wear the gayest costumes imaginable, they have to live in the shadow of the effing gigantic and way-super-cool, award-winning Girl's Rhythmic Gymnastic Team, and they don't have a noisy red-haired guy to yell at them until things go oh-so-conveniently right.
Gosh, I wonder how this is going to play out.
So, after Wataru goes comedically through every single club on campus, ending up fighting in every single one, he winds up watching Hino (played by Nishi from AAA) who is the only one who is actually really talented on the whole Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics Team, do his routine and is really impressed by it, despite the fact that it is probably the gayest thing I've ever seen in my life. Seriously, the ending pose? Come on, now. He might as well print the word 'HOMOSEXUAL' on his leotard. Anyway, Mari-chan (remember her? Don't worry, I forget about her all the time, too) also was watching Hino do his routine and was also very impressed by it, and says that guys look really cool when they do gymnastics. Conveniently, at the same time, the rest of the Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics team walks into the gym. Just in time for Wataru to make a huge, noisy scene, and to join the team. Yaaaaaay. Wasn't expecting that!

Overall, it's kind of a ridiculous drama. Everything is INSANELY over-dramatic--someone cries in every single episode, somebody gets in a fight, and there is some huge 'We accept you for who you are!' after-school-special moment in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE.

But it's strangely addicting. The first episode was really hard to get through, first because it was a really long starter episode, and second because it was so ridiculous, but after that all the episodes have been pretty okay. I really loved Episode 5, because I WAS EXPECTING THAT and this guy always plays the gay character.
OH NOES, SPOILERS!!! Come on. It's a Men's Gymnastics team. I'm sure you were expecting SOMEONE to swing another way, too.
But I won't spoil anything else for you--you'll have to watch it! Get through the first episode, and it's bearable, trust me.

So there you have it! My review of the new drama Tumbling! I hope you think it's as charmingly ridiculous as I do. Now, off to be productive! :D (I wish)

<3miso>