28 May / UPDATE

2.50pm I discovered where I’ll be living in Osaka after getting my host family’s information. It’s a small, pink apartment complex in the middle of the Osaka Ghetto (if such a thing exists).

Where did I go?

Honestly, I disappear for ages. This is really due to the fact that I’ve been studying for my sociology final during intersession, and haven’t really had the time to log on and leave an entry. But I’m finished with intersession now. So it’s just a waiting game to find out who my host family is for when I go to Japan in two weeks. And something about online orientation. Should probably jump on that, too.

The final series of Big Brother UK begins on 9 June. The launch twist has also already been confirmed. “More hopefuls than the house can hold” will be entering the house, and only so many of them will get to become actual housemates. I don’t know how I feel about this. If they let the viewers decide, it could really be disastrous, considering that the viewers have a horrible reputation for kicking the most controversial interesting housemates out much too early.

And who is the Executive Producer for this series? Please god, tell me it isn’t Sharon Powers. I loved series six as much as anyone else, but if the past few series have taught us anything, it’s that the poor girl is just plum out of good ideas. And as long as she’s working hand-in-hand with Phil Edgar Jones, it’s going to be a mess. Shirley Jones managed to save the celebrity edition from ending on a horrible note; perhaps ironically, she also managed to save the regular series from being canceled after producing series five.

The advertising campaign this year is also a step up from previous years. It’s just a damn shame that the producers are only putting in the effort once the show has been canceled.

Also, in Power Rangers news, a casting side was posted recently on Rangerboard. I like that producer(s) are trying to match up American counterparts with Japanese ones – this way, we don’t have another scenario with Ronny trying to be tough and independent in shots of the Japanese footage with Natsuki acting like an imbecile. But there’s a little bit of controversy, you see. But is this really surprising? I mean, any fan community is going to have some strong opinions about, well, everything that happens in relation to their show/product. In this case, it has a lot to do with the race of the red ranger.

The casting side reads as follows:

[ RED RANGER - REESE ]
Caucasian male, 18 – 23 to play 17-19 years. Reese is an attractive young man with super hero looks and a slim athletic build, approx 5’10″. Natural leader, reserved quiet and mysterious.
Martial arts a plus.

You may have noticed the word “Caucasian”. Well, that’s causing quite a bit of a stir, because, after all, we’ve never, ever, had a red ranger that is any color other than white, or any ethnicity outside traditional European.

But people are upset, it would seem, because it appears, from the mindsets of many fans, that the producers are being unfair in their insisting that the red ranger be white in the upcoming series. This is all being blown out of proportion, in my opinion. If the producers are looking for a white ranger to be the leader this year, it doesn’t mean that they are racist/unfair/prejudiced/uninformed/insane, etc. etc. (pick your poison). They’re just sticking to the norm this time around – after all, it’s their return to television with Haim Saban at the helm (so to speak; he isn’t actually a producer). We shouldn’t mark all those in charge for crucifixion simply because they want this particular ranger to be white. Trust me, if this season succeeds, there will be many more to come. There will probably be many chances for a ranger that is of another race that is not Caucasian. Let’s not get our tits in a wad just yet, fans.

And a quick comment on the other casting sides:

[ GREEN RANGER - PARRY ]
All ethnicity. Male, 18 to 23 to play 17-19. He has good looks and a strong slim build. He is approx. 5’6″ – 5’9″, he is a rebel, street smart. He is very creative and not afraid to think outside the box.

So it’s Chiaki 2.0? That’s fine. I loved the character, and as I previously mentioned, sticking to certain sentai counterparts can be a good thing in the long run. I also like the word “rebel”. I suddenly have a mental image of some sort of rebellious starving artist in some kind of bohemian outfit.

[ BLUE RANGER - BARON ]
Could be any ethnicity. Male, 18 to early twenties to play 16-19 years. He is a handsome athletic man with honorable intentions. Approx. 5’6″ – 5’10″ with a slightly thinner build. Extremely disciplined, punctual, ‘military’ square. *Martial arts ability is required.

This is the one character that I do not want to resemble his sentai counterpart. I like that they are going from crazy-obsessive-compulsive/stuck-up-the-red-ranger’s-ass to someone with more discipline. It won’t interfere with the sentai footage either, because anytime the blue ranger is fighting, he’s just being more or less obedient to the red ranger (not so romantically). I see a gorgeous, skillful Asian blue ranger. Quiet, stoic, but trained and confident, and willing to follow orders while simultaneously whipping them out when necessary.

[ PINK RANGER - SADIE ]
Any ethnicity, 18 to 23 to play 16 to 19 years. 5’4″-5’6. She is beautiful, sophisticated, intelligent and confident. She tends to be the older sister type. Motherly. She is very intuitive and genuinely cares about others.

An academic with a maternal side, too. That’s what I’d like to see out of this. A pink ranger who is brilliant with planning and strategy, but can also cheer up her teammates when they’re down.

[ YELLOW RANGER - AVA ]
Any ethnicity, 18 to early twenties to play 14 to 16 years of age. 5’2″- 5’5″. Very cute, sweet, positive and very naïve small town girl. She is the baby sister that everyone looks after.

Kotoha with a southern drawl. Nice.

More questions arise around whether or not we’re going to get a cast that oddly resembles iCarly, or if we’re going to get an older cast. Considering the casting sides, it looks like they’ll be quite young. Really young. But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Younger cast members could be refreshing for the audience. And if the cast is aesthetically-pleasing (and they usually are), I’m certainly not going to complain.

家に帰る

今日は、2010年5月15日。

今日、僕は家に家族と会いに帰りました。来週、社会学の授業の後にもまた家に帰りますね。家族と会うのが大好きなんです。家族と会えますけど、今週末は宿題がたくさんあるんです。社会学の先生は、とても楽しいと思って、授業中にはみんなが笑います。毎日、社会学の授業に行くのは、とても楽しいです．．．

だけど．．．

宿題があるんです。（。＿。）p

だれが宿題が好きですか。だれか？