Love Stage episode 8

Super glad this episode and DRAMAtical murder episode 7 were already on the blog waiting to get published and not lost in cyber space. X__X That would have been upsetting given how far behind I am already. I have priorities in life clearly people. Once I knew all my Disney pics were saved I went all NOOOOOO about the blog. XD Maybe this will be a sign....to get things done as fast as possible because technology can't be trusted. Maybe. Who knows with me. Thank you Love Stage episode 8 for being protected. I would like to point out my Lappy downloaded Love Stage episode 9...and then died. I SEE HOW IT IS!

I am sure Izumi is used to being in the shadows. Probably wants to go back to them....

So Love Stage episode 8. Almost one big recappy episode. Maybe that is why I have very few screenies of this episode since it was all the same crap from before. If you are tight on time just watch the last three minutes of this episode. Or ready my post. XD Because you know...that is why I am here. XD

Rei will cut a bitch. Into tiny little pieces!

Episode Summary: It is finally the day of the press conference....or so a narrator tells us. Rei is on stage introducing Ryouma to the crowd despite him not being the one in charge of Ryouma's agency. Ryouma seems to be the star of the show but in the wings Izumi waits in the wings. He is dressed in his Happy Wedding outfit and trying not to be nervous for his debut. The narrator tells us that Izumi comes from a super showbiz family so this is the natural course of things...even if it took a while. Two days before all of this took place Izumi was having a moment in his room. He can't be in love with Ryouma. Why would he say that to himself after the kiss? Is this really a BL manga after all? Izumi tries to convince himself he has LalaLulu and can't be in love with a man. This doesn't seem to hold water as Izumi squeals when he gets a text message from Ryouma. He throws a fit and his parents and Rei in the dining room are like.....is he having a moment? Oh well he will get over it. Rei seems to think the boy is worried about his showbiz debut. This debut was probably supposed to happen years ago but when Izumi filled in during his mother's commercial he sorta got way too nervous and peed himself, traumatizing him from attempting anything in showbiz again. Even though he has a super showbiz family he sorta got left in the dust. The parents march off to play golf and Izumi emerges from upstairs long enough to tell Rei he doesn't want to do the debut after all. Rei tries pointing out Izumi agreed to this and he has to go through it. Rei decides to show Izumi a tape explaining why he is the way he is. I mean...everyone else is famous and super. Why isn't Izumi? Well maybe Izumi is an otaku shut in because Shougo spoiled him his entire life. The family must have walked around with a video camera taping every single one of these moments. Shougo in his studio complaining that he isn't the only one who spoiled Izumi his entire life. Flashbacks show Izumi coming home from school one day and Rei basically waiting on him hand and foot. Izumi also told Ryouma recently how Rei acted like a second mother to him on the ride back to his house after running away. He goes on and on about what Rei does for him. Izumi seems to think that this protectiveness started when he was 9 and went off with a stranger than had candy. A younger Rei came out of nowhere and beat the man silly for trying to steal the family's Izumi. Ryouma slowly starts to realize if he wants to date Izumi he needs to please this man too. So yeah...Izumi's growth has been stunted.

Guess Rei didn't always use to be so clean cut.

The next day, the day before the debut Izumi is still having doubts and Rei is walking around the city. Earlier in the day (or week) Rei met with the President of Ryouma's agency. Despite the press conference also being about Ryouma Rei wants to be the emcee as he thinks it will help Izumi deal with the stress. The President is okay with these and the two men take turns thanking each other for getting out of this mess. President offers Ryouma a job at his agency as there is no room to grow at Father's. Rei respectful says no and leaves. President is okay with that because it makes Rei all the more valuable. As Rei is walking away from this encounter he passes a street and has some memories. Apparently something bad happened to him when he was around 18 years old and he was left all beat up in the alley. Everyone passed him by but a younger Father who took him in. Now all these years later Father is telling Rei that they need to get Izumi to spread his wings and fly, that he has great potential. Rei relays to Izumi that his father really believes in him which makes Izumi pumped and full of love. He can this! The day of the press conference arrives as well as the magazine release of Ryouma and the mystery girl. Everyone is jealous and what not of this girl and the press is eating it all up. Izumi sees all this attention and loses his cool on going through with this. Rei is banging on the door demanding that Izumi go through with it. Ryouma sending a text saying he is waiting on the boy makes Izumi brave enough to walk out the door. For some reason the parents don't go with Izumi and Rei to the hotel. Ryouma is already waiting there with the glam squad and his manager. Rei and Izumi arrive with Shougo in tow. Izumi is being nervous so Ryouma checks his temperature via forehead. This leads to Shougo and Ryouma having a pissing contest while Izumi is taken away to become a pretty girl. Izumi comes out looking adorable and Shougo and Ryouma almost fight again but decide to join forces to help Izumi out. While waiting to go on stage Izumi starts to get super nervous again. Since Ryouma no longer has his good luck charm...he kisses Izumi instead. XD And he offers up more kisses in the future if Izumi needs more good luck. Ryouma goes on stage and Izumi realizes his heart is beating fast for different reasons now. The narrator informs us this is the start of a new life for Izumi. Rei introduces Ryouma first on stage and he apologizes for all the commotion he has caused recently. He would like to explain his relationship with the person they saw in the magazine. Ryouma seems to falter a bit but Rei gets Izumi introduced and on stage in the wedding dress. Everyone is like MOG Happy Wedding girl you must be engaged right?! Ryouma says they are just friends and no one believes them. So Izumi rips off his clothes and reveals he is a boy. Shougo joins the stage and says that TADA this is his little brother and his show biz debut. It is flashing lights time for Izumi. THE END!

But first...lets recap how Izumi came to be.

Hmmmm.....this episode was super odd. Isn't this series really short? Well season anyway. Like 10 episodes? So why are we wasting our time on a half recappy kind of episode? Ain't nobody got time for that. Maybe since the manga is ongoing we do have time for that? Especially if we are going to stretch this out to another season. I don't know, it just felt super odd to me.

Because I might have forgotten...

Maybe because of how it was narrated. Instead of just showing the recaps and allowing the other characters tell us all the recappy stuff we have these random voices telling us what is going on. In a very dramatic fashion. Like let us tell you the dramatic story of Izumi, the boy who lived...and fell in love with Ryouma. I don't know, it just felt odd. Maybe that was the point, to poke fun at recappy episodes and to build this all up? The thing is....we saw the end of the episode at the beginning and Izumi being all nervous wasn't all that dramatic. More like expected. Just.....a bit off the norm and it made everything seems silly, forced, and odd. But I guess something different is always good right?

Oh that Izumi...so crazy...

While Izumi's debut is quickly approaching (or already here) Izumi has other concerns going on in his head. Can't really blame the boy. Just a short week ago Ryouma was scaring the crap out of him on his own couch. Now Ryouma is helping him with his manga, hiding him from real life, and giving out romantic kisses that will stop at kisses unless Izumi really wants it. And this time...Izumi felt something. Unlike the other two times where he was crying his eyes out and hating the world. Ryouma kissed him and informed him that they are not siblings. Ryouma loves Izumi. And Izumi felt something inside of him that might be love. Love? Is this a Boy Love manga after all?! But what about his unhealthy obsession with LalaLulu?! That has to count for something right? He doesn't like boys at all. Just girls. All is well in the world. So when Ryouma texts Izumi and a smile hits his face with a little squeal....yeah denial folks. Denial.

Izumi is a little slow on the uptake.

Izumi screams in frustration as he kissed a boy and liked it. His parents and Rei overhear the boy as they go about their day and go...yeah that is just Izumi freaking out again. He must be worried for his show biz debut that is a long time coming for this family. This leads to a walk down memory lane and a reminder that Izumi is from a super famous show biz family. I think Izumi gets it by now. Everyone in his family is famous but him. I would argue that probably has to do with why Izumi is the way he is. Yes the other things they talked about later have something to do with it too but when you are born into a super star family things usually go two ways. You either want to bask in the spot light as well or hide away from it all in the darkness. So everyone being so talented and successful probably played a part in why Izumi is the way he is. Because no matter what he is wearing he is adorable. Just...you know the shut in aspect of Izumi. So thanks for reminding us again how famous everyone really is.

Maybe Izumi wanted to be where he was?

After the parents leave for golf (because why would they parent their own kid when Rei is on their pay roll) Izumi comes downstairs and is like I really can't do this Rei, please don't make me do this debut thing. Well Izumi....you made this silly promise that if you awful manga flopped you would agree to make your entertainment debut. Because you have enough talent to smile in a commercial. I would be super nervous too but whatevers. Rei is like um no. Mainly because he already promised. I do think that this is rather special and full of anime magic as Izumi could flop and that would make the family look bad wouldn't it? Like oh no that black sheep has tainted the entire family. So yeah insisting that Izumi has this debut seems to be the focus of all. There will be a time after the debut where Izumi will have to do actual work. He might get some jobs based on his family connections alone which I am sure will make Ryouma super happy but then he will have to shine on his own. Without a good luck charm.

Too cute for words!

The best way to make Izumi go through with the debut is to apparently show him a home video of how everyone in his life is a contributor to why he is a shut in otaku. Yeah I am not sure how that helps. Maybe like hey Izumi don't feel bad about being this way...we did this to you. Also we are going to overlook the fact that people were running around taping these seemingly boring and not tape worthy moments. Well maybe not the Shougo ones. Izumi was pretty adorable when he was a kid so I can see the parents taping him all the time. Most of the blame seems to be given to Shougo and it seems obvious why. I think it would be more obvious if Izumi was a giant baby unable to do anything for himself (like...oh house work) than a shut in but you know. Shougo was such a doting brother. I will eat all your veggies and buy you ice cream and do your homework. All so cute. So it was stuff we already knew but expanded with new adorable scenes of baby Izumi cuteness.

Rei, can you bring me some tea? I have some major squeeing to do and can't be bothered to get my own.

Despite the fact that Rei was telling/showing this to Izumi about Shougo...apparently he needs to be watching where the fingers are pointed. Because there are going to be some fingers pointed back at him. Shougo sorta....dots on his little brother to the point of overload. Like whatever you want I will give you. It appears that Rei is doing the same thing too but in a different sense. Rei does everything for the boy. Izumi comes home from school and Rei is immediately on him. You need some snacks? A back rub? Your bath is drawn. Here let me get you your slippers. Yeah...Rei does every little thing for Izumi and Shougo gives him whatever he wants. Sounds like Izumi should be a lot more spoiled than he is. At least the kid goes to school!

But I want Izumi kisses, not insane Ryouma!

This all transitions into a funny flashback between Izumi and Ryouma. You know from the other day when Izumi decided he wanted to come back home and not run away anymore at Ryouma. I guess Izumi was talking about how he was scared of Rei. How apologizing to Rei was going to be scary. This lead Ryouma who wants to actually be apart of Izumi's family to ask questions. Instead of sounding scary Rei ended up sounding like a helicopter parent. He does everything for me indeed. Ryouma seemed to not understand the point. Izumi thinks that Rei became over the top protective because once a stranger gave him candy and he was almost kidnapped. Oh Izumi.....candy is so lovely but don't go off with strangers because of it. I am going to assume that Rei was new to this assistant gig and was still a little rough around the edges. Because he came out of nowhere and manhandled that kidnapper. Don't touch my Izumi no matter what!!! So now Ryouma dreams of getting with Izumi are being smashed into ground even more. He has to convince Izumi...he is a lover not a rapist. He has to convince Shougo not to bash his head in for kissing cute little brother. And now he has to convince Rei to not channel his younger self and beat Ryouma silly. So Ryouma is all nervous while present day Izumi is like see Rei you are a scary person too.

Stare at me all you want, I ain't joining you.

But Rei is also loyal. Super loyal. And there seems to be a reason behind this loyalness. I am going to guess when Rei was a younger person, a teenager, he was in with a bad crowd. Maybe he didn't even graduate high school or he did and became a bum. Someone a bit dodging. He got into fights all the time and he seemed to have given up on life. Suddenly Izumi's dad found him and I am going to also assume took him in. Come live with us and we will take care of you if you do a few things for us. Rei was probably in shock such a famous family wanted him. And while Shougo is a bit...out there baby Izumi was too cute to not to help. So this fast forwards to Rei talking to the President of Rei's company. They are working together for this press conference even though it is really is only Ryouma's issue. Rei wants to help make Izumi less nervous and both guys are like many thanks for doing me a favor when in reality the other party is gaining from this as well. President seems a lot calmer today, not when he was losing his crap all over Ryouma. He seems to want Rei to work for the company, impressed by his work to deal with these crazy situations and turn them into positives. This all probably sounds good to anyone else in Japan, moving to a bigger company. But Rei has memories and loyalty with this family and he isn't going nowhere. 

Finally it is the day of the press conference. The reason this press conference is going on is because the magazine is releasing pics of Ryouma and Izumi. Talking. In the park. It must be a really slow news day in Japan because this isn't even interesting. Call me when Ryouma is leaving a love hotel with a half naked girl. But yeah the magazine is released and everyone loses their mind. Who is this mystery girl?! Why isn't he with me? Why does this pretty girl look exactly like a boy? The President is enjoying this attention and probably wants it to be bigger and better. His Assistant calms him down and things keep on trucking. Ryouma is slightly nervous but gets his happy but to the hotel to wait for his lovely Izumi. All is going well. 

Except Izumi gets nervous. Of course Izumi got nervous. Was someone expecting it to go a different way? He woke up that morning and realized what a big deal it was because nothing else was going on in the news. I really love how Rei is the one there for him as the parents are nowhere to be seen. Since Shougo is there obviously the family ties are meant to help Izumi along. So why not make it a family affair? Craziness I tell you. Izumi has his moment in his room where he thinks he can't do this and Rei has his moment of thinking the best course of action is busting down a door and dragging Izumi to pee himself silly on stage. That sounds like great fun. I like how Izumi ends up going to the press conference not for himself but for Ryouma. They got to clear that man's name. Ryouma is counting on him. Look the text messages!

Oh NOW Shougo wants to act like a big brother....

I like how Rei has this all planned out to a dramatic degree. Like Izumi is going to come out in drag and shock people. We can't have Izumi coming out looking like a dude. No one would believe us. To hair and makeup now as Ryouma and Shougo take their penises out and duel each other to see who gets to take care of Izumi. Seriously Shougo has a problem with Ryouma checking Izumi's temperature via the forehead. He threw more of a fit over than then the fact that Ryouma and Izumi's elephant were friends on the couch at home. Shougo is insane. Ryouma and Shougo come to a decision that they need to work together for Izumi and support him in all his cross dressing ways.

A kiss for good luck?

Rei leaves to go introduce people and get things started which leaves Ryouma and Izumi alone. Once again the jitters take over Izumi and his nonready for showbiz self. Like cannot concentrate. I like that Ryouma took a moment to think how he could calm down Izumi before actually kissing the boy. There was a bit of thought behind it. Not like whelp gotta kiss Izumi now, I have no other choice. XD Because the good luck charm was murdered. I am not sure how Ryouma thought that was going to calm down Izumi. It sorta just transferred the jitters over to Izumi having the feelings for Ryouma. Like thanks I am supposed to be a star right now and all I can think about is you and your lips.

See. This is totally less scandalous.

The entire episode revolved around the press conference and it lasted about 5 seconds. Rei brings Ryouma on stage who falsely apologizes for people being in his business. Ryouma wasn't as cool as he usually is. Maybe because he actually likes Izumi and saying the boy is just his friend isn't really the truth either. Rei pulls it together and brings cross dressing Izumi out so more people can gossip and what not. Then...the big dramatic reveal. Izumi is a boy. OF COURSE THEY ARE JUST FRIENDS NOW! Because....we can't dwell on the fact boy on boy action might be more scandals. Then Shougo comes onstage to WISH us or what not and introduce his little brother who is going to be a super star now. Izumi...well he looks out of his element and overwhelmed. A look that he will be wearing for a long time to come now. YAY Izumi! Thanks recap episode for about 5 minutes of new footage. On with the show now.