Love Stage episode 2

Anime post 2 of the night. I say ANIME post because I know not everyone loves Duffy as much as I do. In fact most people don't love this cute little bear as much as I do. But there are some crazy people out there like me who have even more Duffys than I do. Yeah think about that for a minute. Do these people eat ramen noodles every night for dinner or something?!

It is super hard being famous ya'll.

While Duffy keeps me company on the couch though I will finish up posts and blow up blog rolls. Up now is holy crap on episode 2 of Love Stage? Dang I got behind on this show. Spoilers for Izumi accidentally kissing a boy and not liking it.

Ryouma and his love of 10 years X____X

Episode Summary: Izumi is late to school so he takes off with his piece of toast. As he rounds the corner he runs into a young girl also with a piece of toast. Their eyes meet and it is wonderful. It turns out she is LalaLulu, a new transfer student who has an IQ of one million, is beyond rich, and the best at all sports ever. She is very popular with the girls and the boys stare at her. The boys then turn their attention to making fun of Izumi as his manga drawings are crud. Izumi gets super sad but LalaLulu tells everyone that Izumi will be a great manga artist one day. Izumi thanks her after school and before they have a moment...these little fuzzy things come and attack. LalaLulu then changes into a magical girl to fight the baddies and rescues Izumi. She leans in for a kiss and...Izumi wakes up to Ryouma kissing him. Izumi pushes the man off him and runs at the speed of fast down the hallway leaving Rei, Ryouma, and the rest of the people everywhere confused. Mom starts whispering to Dad that was Izumi's first kiss and since they were sitting the first row Ryouma hears that. He goes into MOG pure girl land while his agent worries over the actor. While Izumi locks himself somewhere Shougo arrives to the hotel to see how his little brother's commercial is going. Rei is busy pounding on the door, demanding that Izumi come out and finish what he has started. Rei has to calm himself down as he is growing angry with the situation. He feels bad as there wasn't a kissing scene in his script but feels as if Izumi has to continue on. When Izumi won't exit the room Rei decides to call Shougo for help. He thinks the man can talk his brother out of the room but SURPRISE Shougo is in the same hallway. Rei is upset as Shougo should be in London making music and what not. Shougo claims he just took a quick step out to clear his head and think of lyrics and decided...well to just see Izumi instead. Rei tries to be mad but figures Shougo would be the best bet. Dad appears in the hallway and needs Rei to buy him coffee since he has no change. As they drink Dad explains that 10 years ago Izumi was scarred for life by doing the first commercial. Rei had no idea since he started working with the family a short time afterwards. He noted the kid seemed kinda shy....Dad explains that Izumi is an introvert but very expressive. He probably wants to be a manga artist for that very reason but there is no denying he seems to have on screen chemistry. Rei is touched as he thinks the Dad did this all for Izumi to grow as a person...but it was really just for Mom to be happy. Dad also removed the kissing scene so Rei wouldn't find and say no to the commercial. Inside his dressing room Izumi explains why he has the tears. After Shougo gets over the fact that Izumi is the cutest thing ever....he doesn't see the big deal about kisses. Izumi is so sad that his first kiss isn't going to LalaLulu like he thought. He refuses to do the commercial and Shougo gets sad. He got this special edition LalaLulu hug pillow for Izumi but only if he did well at the commercial. Since he is quitting.....

AW so adorable, even without the kiss.

After Izumi cries all the tears ever he decides to finish the stupid commercial if only for the pillow. When they return to the set the director explains that Ryouma talked it over and they are deleting the kiss from the WEDDING COMMERCIAL to keep the couple looking pure. Oh okay. Izumi is happy as this means Ryouma is a good person. The commercial goes on as planned and it is adorable and cute. Things wrap up and Izumi thanks Ryouma for his help now and 10 years ago. Ryouma is caught up in the current cuteness and the adorable Izumi from 10 years ago. Izumi tries to walk away but blushy face Ryouma still wants to talk. He is cut off by all his crazy fans surrounding the group. Rei gets Izumi out of the fray and gives Izumi complicated directions back to his room. Rei goes back to save Ryouma and Izumi gets lost in the many hallways of the hotel. He accidentally drops Ryouma's good luck charm which helps him find the dressing room. Izumi thinks how lucky this charm is as Ryouma rounds the corner having escaped the crowd. Izumi tries to give back the charm but Ryouma says he doesn't need it anymore. Ryouma kept the marble thing around as it reminded him of Izumi's eye color. Now that Ryouma has found Izumi again he doesn't need the marble. Also Ryouma loves Izumi. Izumi is in slight shock but then realize Ryouma thinks he is a girl and it's no big deal. Izumi tries to think of how to fix this situation when Shougo appears. He is not handing over his little brother to Ryouma unless defeated in battle. Ryouma starts to argue but stops at the brother word. Shougo physically demonstrates that Izumi is a dude and Ryouma is in shock. Ryouma has angry tears in his eyes as he has a crazy attack going on and on about perverted brothers and how dare they confuse him. He stomps out and Shougo confirms that man is the real Ryouma. Izumi seems slightly disappointed that the man isn't the same lovely boy. But then he gets his LalaLulu pillow and all is well. He won't see Ryouta again anyway right? THE END!

Izumi...this was a WEDDING commercial....

Everyone saw AWWWW. Or....err? Oh HMMMM! Something. Something happened in this episode causing people to explode into some feeling right? Still on the fence about how I feel about Izumi looking so cute as a girl. He doesn't want to be portrayed as one...but he looks so cute. I hope that if he is forced into showbiz he isn't forced into more rows he doesn't feel comfortable in. I mean he doesn't feel comfortable ANYWAY but being a girl when you want to be a boy isn't anyone's idea of a dream.

You can't possibly be LalaLulu. Your hair looks completely the same but in a different style...

Speaking of dreams...I was totally suckered into that dream for half a second. Not going to lie. Going to blame it on the toast and cute little birds. But then the exchange student turned into LalaLulu and I was like oh...oh I see. Since all I know about that show within a show is she has an annoying name and she is a magical girl I am going to imagine that Izumi was dreaming he was in her universe. That she is totally that amazing and of course this is why he loves her. So to be clear Izumi wants to be a manga artist AND he is in love with LalaLulu. Like they are two separate issues inside of his head. That might make Izumi a bit...well...sad I guess? XD I mean most of these anime characters are too perfect to live anyway. I guess it is nice to dream. People do that with real life actors and actresses too. I wonder if Izumi will meet the voice actress one day and have his hopes and dreams smashed on the ground.

His idea of a first kiss was really not in the realm of possibilities anyway...

Speaking of smashed on the ground...Izumi was thinking of how his first kiss would happen and the reality is he didn't get kissed by magical girl LalaLulu. He was kissed by a famous actor named Ryouma while dressed as a young bride. I am not sure how much from his dream it could have been. While it was revealed the kiss was removed from the script on purpose I would have questioned why it wasn't there to begin with. You may now kiss the bride? Does that ring a bell to anyone? No? I mean that is the big romantic moment! To me it is anyway. So yeah I would have been all HMMM why isn't this scene here? Izumi didn't see it that way and was too busy being nervous about life to remember to question in. Instead the kiss happened and Izumi ran off like a spaz, causing everyone to worry.

That means...this is the most romantic thing ever!

I sorta want to make fun of Ryouma for assuming why Izumi ran off. He makes it so easy. But given what Ryouma knows, overheard, and what he doesn't know I think that he made the most logical conclusion. Sometimes one assumes it is a horse and it is the rare zebra instead. Perhaps Mom and Dad should keep their mouths shut about private moments. Like maybe not blurt out in front of others oh that was so and so's first kiss. I guess parents exist to embarrass their kids though right? In any event Ryouma probably has kissed a few people in his line of work already so he thought it was no big deal and didn't really understand why the Izumi moment. But then mom planted the idea of a first kiss in his mind and it was all romantic and magical. Although that is a bit messed up. Ryouma wanted to get with girl Izumi after the commercial. Going a bit backwards in terms of dating right? But yeah Ryouma entered the land of romantic and flowers and this is fate. Hang onto that feeling Ryouma. Hang onto it tightly.

You do when you are super star Shougo!

As Ryouma thinks about how he and girl Izumi will spend the rest of their lives together Izumi had made it to his dressing room and has closed the door. Ain't no one is coming to rescue him. Or kidnap him again. He will never agree to a commercial or whatever. Keep your LalaLulu crap to yourself. Since Izumi ran at the speed of fast Rei had no chance of catching the boy before he locked the door. And breaking down the door would be bad for business. Of course Rei could have tried OPENING the door. But you know that would make sense. Or maybe Izumi did have it locked the whole time and magically unlocked it when Shougo got closer. Oh Shougo? Yeah he is here too folks. Him and his little brother complex is going to be his main characteristic for this series. I love Izumi and his cute face so much I would do anything for him. Even miss recording in Paris to fly home quickly to watch Izumi's commercial. I think they should have rescheduled the recording so Shougo could have seen either Izumi's first or last commercial debut. That or you know...record in Tokyo like a normal person because really you go across the world to get inspiration and lyrics and not record. But that wouldn't have made Shougo look as insane if he just took a bus to see Izumi right? Rei seems appreciative that Shougo is there even if it makes him a little sad since it is his job to take care of the whole family. I wonder if Rei wants to take care of Shougo more, that he wants Shougo to pay attention to him more...

You are a really bad dad....

Rei leaves Shougo to work his magic on Izumi IE open the door he goes to get some coffee with Dad as Dad only walks around with 100 dollar bills. Or yen that equals 100 dollars. That is how he rolls. Dad talks to Rei about everything Izumi because in the last 10 or so years that Rei has worked for this family he has never though to ask about Izumi and Dad has never thought to talk about Izumi. He was just going to turn 18 and magically want to belong to the entertainment family despite the fact that being famous usually starts young in most countries. Dad was all over the place in this conversation. I am surprised that Rei was able to keep up. All Rei wanted to do was feel bad for himself and Izumi as he didn't know about the kiss and he genuinely feels bad about it. Dad wants to talk about how expressive Izumi is thus the manga. That Izumi was scarred for life during the last commercial but clearly he has it in him to be a great actor. And that Dad made all of this happen even though he knew about the kiss. Yeah folks Dad knew about the kiss and kept it from Rei and Izumi as that would have been a deal breaker for both of them...even though it was obvious it was going to happen. Side eying you dad. Side eying you all the way to the bank.

Not really helping here dude.

I thought the Shougo and Izumi conversation was going to go down a little differently. Especially since Shougo has such a brother complex. Is this just a made up Japan thing? Thinking your sibling is the best person in the world that borders on incest? In manga and anime obviously. I hope this isn't what happens in real life. But yeah I thought that Shougo was going to blow his lid that some random dude was kissing on his brother. Sure they were acting and getting paid for it and maybe it should have been obvious since it was a WEDDING event but still...where is the angry Shougo who wants to protect Izumi? All I saw was a brother who was like meh.....I have to kiss people for work too suck it up. Izumi was like screw you, I will sit here and pout about not giving my kisses to innocent girls like LalaLulu. Nothing you say can make me go out there and finish the commercial. Nothing. No bribes at all. Except...you know...a limited edition LalaLulu hug pillow. That might do the trick. I wonder if Shougo has a bunch of rare merchandise in his room in case of emergencies...

At least Izumi nice piece of merchandise out of it.

Izumi takes a deep breath and hugs his LalaLulu body pillow and slowly oozes himself back to the wedding hall. Only he finds out that Ryouma is the best person on the planet. Or a man in love. He talked to the director into taking out the kiss from the commercial. This is the biggest display of anime magic that I have ever seen in my life. This is a WEDDING commercial. One that is to make someone want to sign up with the company putting up the commercial. I would say that the most romantic part of the ceremony is the kiss at the end. Like yes dreams come true kinda moment. So....how can we take out the most important part? I have no idea. I guess the previous commercial had no kiss and it was cute. Either was Izumi was beyond grateful and I am sure it would have looked like crap if Izumi had to kill Ryouma again. Maybe they could have used the previous footage.

Um I am trying to seal the deal here do you mind?

So because Ryouma is a nice guy Izumi is able to get through the commercial without handing out more kisses. Success for all. Despite really not wanting to do with and probably never wanting to do it again Izumi really appreciates how Ryouma helped him today and 10 years ago. This thank you was interrupted by all the extras losing their minds and misunderstanding the situation between Ryouma and Izumi. Surround the hottie. Maybe Ryouma thought he could woe Izumi easily since girls are always throwing themselves at him? Izumi is able to escape the chaos as Rei pulls him from the crazies. Go on without us, I will save Ryouma. Instead of asking someone for help in the hotel back to his room Izumi attempts to follow Rei's overly complicated directions. Lost in a big dress and uncomfortable shoes. Welcome to being a girl Izumi. Well not for me since I once owned a pair of high heels that I wore for about 2 hours of my life. Once. Izumi eventually finds his way back to his dressing room thanks in part to a runaway marble. Ryouma's good luck charm. Wait Ryouma's? Oh snap he needs to return that pronto.

Everyone say AWWW because there is about to b e a broken heart.

Oh look who it is. Ryouma has made it from the mob of fan girls. He is missing a few pieces of clothing and his hair is a bit messed up but maybe he is sexier that way. He is a man on a mission and it isn't to get his magical lucky charm back. Izumi seems confused as this lucky charm has helped him through both commercials now. Ryouma is quick to explain that all these years Izumi has been his good luck charm. For 10 years he has looked for the girl but she never crossed paths with him in the tiny entertainment field. Woe was his tiny heart. But now Izumi is right in front of him and Ryouma won't let this opportunity leave him again. I LOVE YOU IZUMI!

Check out the package on this bride!

Izumi handled this situation well. As well as the situation could have been handled I guess. He didn't go off on a homophobic rant though. You can not be into dudes and be sensitive about the situation. Like oh okay so thanks but no thanks. Izumi rationalized that Ryouma has been in love with female Izumi for 10 years and wanted to let the guy down as gently as possible since his hopes and dreams of his first kiss were ruined. He doesn't want to ruin someone else's hopes and dreams. Because Ryouma is such a nice guy that wanted to help him through both commercial. But before he could think of a good lie to get out of this situation Shougo emerges from the dressing room. Why didn't he watch the filming if he loved his cute little brother? Jet lag. Anyway he was okay with acting kisses but not real kisses. If Ryouma wants him little brother there must be a battle. A fight to the death. My precious brother is not for the likes of you!

And then they never saw each other again. THE END!

Brother? Brother? You must mean sister right? I think that Ryouma was ready to sweet talk Shougo into dating his sister and probably would have continued on that train of thought but the word brother stuck out in his mind. Something is not adding up in his ting and probably frazzled brain. So Shougo decided to help out the best way he could...by flashing either Izumi's underwear or lack of underwear. Izumi thought that he could delicately get his way out of this situation and Shougo was like nope shutting this down now. After a moment of silence from Ryouma and Izumi freaking out because he is hating all this attention today...Ryouma morphed into angry man. Izumi assumes this is the real Ryouma. I am not sure about that. The man thought he was in love with a cute girl for 10 years and found out he was having wet dreams about a dude. He was...upset to say the least. We could have done without the crossdressing pervert parts and I am not sure why they are hanger oners, not real show biz people but Ryouma feeling stupid and having a moment...that is understandable. I think that Ryouma and his tiny brain can only handle so much as a chest shot was not enough to prove to the man Izumi was a man...although that makes Ryouma really sweet for still being interested in a girl that flat chested. XD Go Ryouma!

Remember this moment Izumi. The moment you realizes your family is full of jerks.

Shougo and Izumi sorta....blinked at this incredibly insane outburst...and then went on with their daily lives. Well I guess maybe. If a ground man having a hug pillow of LalaLulu is normal. Yes yes I am judging. I have Duffy and about a million other stuffed animals in my house (one day I will count them) but a hug pillow? I mean if it is was a pillow pet or those rolly polly pillows that I have it would be okay. XD But LalaLulu? I guess since Izumi is cute it's acceptable. That is usually how society works. So to sum it up Izumi was forced to cross dress by his family (and bribes), lost his first kiss to someone super famous/nice, and then was called horrible things by that super famous/not nice guy. Izumi must be pretty comfortable with himself because he shrugged his shoulders and went to the car with his LalaLulu hug pillow. I will put this all behind me and move on with my life. Now I am guessing since most animes are not 3 episodes long this is not going to be in the end of things. Ryouma and Izumi are destined to meet up again and from the looks of things it will not end well for Izumi. Quick! Signal the big brother. He has some skulls to crack!