Picspam: 'Deka Wanko' (or: an excuse to post awesome dresses & teeny tiny hats)

[piecesofalice]

I can't sleep, so I was going through my caps folder (a task that may suggest I'm a masochist) and noticed I'd never done a full post about the jdrama Deka Wanko. Which is a crime unto its self, for reasons you're about to discover.

Deka Wanko first crossed my path after we saw these bizarrely ambiguous posters around Tokyo - was it about a frilly ninja who has a gang of dogs in suits? Is a bleak look at our the future? WHAT DID IT MEAN?!

Thanks to the internet, I soon found out and put to sleep any theories I had about genetically modified dogs coming to rule the world via Japan. The show is actually about a police officer named Hanamori Ichiko (the adorable Tabe Mikako) who is the only female in the all-male Section 13. This would be all in good, normally, but -





You can see why I was drawn to this like a moth to a frilly flame, right?

She's nicknamed 'Deka Wanko' - meaning 'Police Officer Dog' - because of her sense of smell and because it's apparently Bloke's Law to have a nickname when a detective. Fair enough. Probably would have chosen something else, but let's just go with it.

(Apologies for the caps - I only have a hard-subbed version that's very low quality. If anyone has soft-subbed RAWs, I'll happily take the links from you.)


She often has trouble convincing people she's a detective - and how - but her spunk and enthusiasm carry her forth with her rag-tag team of gentlemen cops.


At a crime scene, ain't no thang.


Arresting criminals, ain't no thang.


Hat with a biscuit on it, ain't no thang.


Oh, the hats. When was the last time you got to wear a teeny-tiny top hat to work? Exactly.


Sometimes she likes to shake it up with a giant rosette...


...or a head bow you could see from the moon.


Her headgear is such an intrinsic part of her that when her colleagues find this particular hat abandoned at a convenience store, they automatically know she's in trouble. It's serious if she's sans hat, guys. (It's worth putting here that, although she does get kidnapped and the show does have an over-arching "I must prove myself" thread, Ichiko is very capable and kicks ass - even with two layers of bloomers and petticoats.)


Her clothes are often brought up - naturally - and her unit head eventually gets her to dress down. (Make under?) (Why isn't that cardigan mine?)


It lasts for about fifteen minutes. Why? Because a crime takes place in a gothic-lolita cafe and?


There's only one girl for the job. And she's armed with THE BIGGEST BONNET KNOWN TO MAN.


It's hard out there for a lolita.


On her off days, she dresses as a bunny and cutes me to death.


Her extraordinary nose solves more than a few cases and she finds her self in a semi-battle with Michael, the police's top sniffer dog. They end up BFFs, of course, but only after they have a sniffing competition to see who has the best nose at MPD. She wins, but only by a nose. Ba-dum-tish!


Occasionally she hallucinates him as a white guy. Ain't no thang.


Interrogatin' in a union jack dress, ain't no thang.


Putting her gun under her dress, ain't no thang. (The best part is how she hangs phone charms and stickers on it. A girl after my own heart.)


Despite a tentative start, she soon wins the hearts of her Section 13 boys. Hell, they even come over and cram themselves into her room to apologise for being jerks! Her relationship with the boys is sweet and well-realised - it's cheesy in a feel good, aw shucks way. The words "Section 13 is love!" are uttered more than once.


They even go on holiday with each other and pick strawberries, amongst other things. It's on this trip she's kidnapped and that hat has lollies on it I can't even.

Random Dress Spam!


From what I've read, she's wearing a mixture of a lot of the major lolita brands, and I'm informed I can buy this dress if my heart desires. Even though I would never fit into it, I'm tempted. Very tempted. Just to keep and pat occasionally in a creepy fashion.


Rock 'n' lace!


I made an inappropriate noise when I saw this coat for the first time.


And this one.


And this entire outfit. Oh, hell - I considered being a lolita for about fifteen minutes. It passed, but it was close, guys.


I just couldn't pull of a big fuck-off bonnet, to be honest.


She's pretty great, all in all. And makes the best faces known to man.



All in all, Deka Wanko was fun, frivolous and full of teeny-tiny hats. What more could you ask for? (Her to make out with her older colleague)

Fashion 70's tomorrow! Spoilers: Jang-Bin forgets shirts exist and this happens:


This cap is named 'yep.jpg' because. Yep.

Comments

[skygiants]

j;slkdfjd;lsI MUST SEE THIS SHOW

(new costume poll candidate?)

[piecesofalice.livejournal.com]

COUGHhttp://ourhour.livejournal.com/tag/deka%20wankoCOUGH (apparently I didn't look too hard for raws. Good job, PIeces)

(Oh, definitely. Teal tights! Vaguely Victorian bodice dresses! Pink leather jacket!)

[genarti]

WHAT IS THIS SHOW EVEN. *___________*

(I am now convinced that she's secretly a Haninozuka transported from Ouran High School Host Club's universe. Without even having seen the show at all. How else could she afford all those outfits on a detective's salary?)

[piecesofalice.livejournal.com]

Embrace the Wanko.

...that sounds odd. Now! Ouran High School Host Club! The question is: should I watch it?

[genarti]

Um! Well, I love it, and as a general rule I heartily recommend it. (The anime, I mean, and also the manga. There's a new jdrama, which is only a few episodes in; I find the couple of episodes I've seen ALSO UTTERLY HILARIOUS, but I have no idea how it'd work for someone who hadn't already seen the anime, because that has so utterly shaped my view. I came into the jdrama prepared to find everything endearing.)

For more details: it's basically a lampooning of all the cliches of high school shoujo, while also managing to be a really sweet and fluffy high school shoujo. The basic premise is that Fujioka Haruhi, scholarship student at the super-wealthy elite Ouran High School, is hardworking and full of common sense and does not at all care about her gender presentation. Naturally, therefore, she ends up (through complicated macguffiny circumstances) accidentally joining the high school's host club, full of completely ridiculous guys who simultaneously embody various bishounen tropes (the eyeglasses character, the sparkly prince, the vaguely incestuous brothers) and play up those characteristics to make ladies swoon. Naturally, also, she ends up cross-dressing, while the guys earnestly PROTECT HER SECRET!!! and she goes "Guys, I don't even care if people know I'm a girl...?" and facepalms a lot.

She facepalms a lot in general. It's usually justified. I don't think I'm doing justice to the RIDICULOUSNESS of this show. The Haninozuka character I mentioned, for example, is Honey(-sempai); he's 18, looks about 12, loves bunnies and sparkles and cake and bounding about, and is a secret martial arts master. And has a devoted stoic cousin/BFF/babysitter. He is NOT THE MOST RIDICULOUS CHARACTER. (There are many contenders for this title. Personally, I would opt for either the club's designated fangirl-and-manager who rises from the floor on a high-powered motor to cackle at people, or the allergic-to-light bishounen who skulks in the shadows, runs the black magic club, and always has a cat puppet on his hand.)

There's a lot of blurring of the line between reality and persona in this show; there's also a lot of stomping up and down on the fourth wall. And it's only 26 episodes!

(Fair warning: there's a scene in one episode that involves a threatened sexual assault. Nothing actually happens, and the potential victim isn't at all traumatized, but if such things make you uncomfortable, it's there.)

[piecesofalice.livejournal.com]

So you'd recommend the anime/manga first? This is where I hang my head and admit I have never watched an anime in my life, so tips/hints/slaps to the head are much appreciated.

And is a secret martial arts master pretty much had me at "secret". And "high powered motor to cackle at people" and "gender wtf" and, oh, "HOST CLUB". THEY HAVE A HOST CLUB AT HIGH SCHOOL!? And, and...I think you sold me.

(HOST CLUB)

(JAPAN I LOVE YOU)

[genarti]

People in the show are like, "You want to start a club, okay, but you want it to be a host club??" in one flashback. The club's founder is VERY DISTRESSED every time people fail to take his plan seriously! HE IS BEING A NOBLE SOUL. WHEN YOU ARE AS BEAUTIFUL AS HE IS, IT'S YOUR DUTY TO GIVE BACK TO THE WORLD BY MAKING GIRLS HAPPY.

The hilarious thing is, he's totally earnest about this. (He's totally earnest about EVERYTHING.)

>:DDDDD

For anime versus jdrama -- uh! I recommend the anime because it's what I know best, and the one that's finished. I have no idea if the jdrama will stick the landing, or if the quality will fall apart after the first couple of episodes or what. But if you want to try starting with the jdrama, go for it! If you bounce off it, though, I would recommend going back and trying the anime. (I like the manga too, but, um, I have a much easier time following anime than manga -- I like the addition of the colors and motion and voices. So this is not a case where the manga sucks, but I always sort of forget about it even though it came first.)

[firthgal.livejournal.com]

Sorry, sorry, interrupting this convo just to mention that not too long ago I was very "Ick! Anime! What am I supposed to do with that?" and for the most part I still am that way, but the one anime that I sat down and watched all the way through and got completely sucked into was an anime called Toradora. It stars a heroine that I'm pretty sure you'd adore, and the romance is both subtle and obvious and kind of fluffy and kind of angsty and the entire anime is just so darn beautiful and it managed to make me laugh uproariously one minute and then cry the next. So, for a first time anime watcher, I definitely rec Toradora! To this day it's still the only anime that I've actually enjoyed and watched all the way through. Haven't tried Ouran High School Host Club, though (honestly, once I saw that a live action version was being made, I was like, "Pfft, no need to watch the cartoon now.")

Oh, actually, I also highly enjoyed Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I don't think that really counts as anime. But it does sort of? Westernized anime, I guess.

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

ok, that was a pretty amazing array of dresses and hats! :D

[piecesofalice.livejournal.com]

They are all so teeny-tiny! And inappropriate for work!

[nixwilliams.livejournal.com]

IDK, i would wear them to work if i could get away with it! :D

[piecesofalice.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted to try. I bet when you're in the UK they won't even look twice. YOU COULD WEAR A MONOCLE TOO

[firthgal.livejournal.com]

Great. Great. GREAT. Now I'm downloading this lolita detective show. And plan on watching it tomorrow during my lunch break. GREAT.

[piecesofalice.livejournal.com]

*nods sagely*

You better be on the Ichiko/Older Colleague train with me, just sayin'.)

(I MISSED YOU FIRTHY <3)

[firthgal.livejournal.com]

Okay, so, two episodes in and I am already shipping them like crazy. It's probably mostly your influence, but they pretty much had me when Ichiko complained that no one ever remembers her name, and then Older Colleague said that he always remembers. Also, he was the first (and only) one to call her a detective. He was the only one who had respect for her right off the bat, and I can't resist that. And then in the second ep he was worrying about her. And she kind of seems to idolize him a little bit. So... yeah, they've got me. It also helps that Older Colleague is super handsome.

[firthgal.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaand now I am in complete love. Just saw the ep where she helps him interrogate the suspects. She totally has a crush on him by the end of that ep. She even got jealous when her friend switched her crush from the mustache guy to him! And then the restaurant scene, with them sitting so adorably close, and him telling her cryptic things involving a bed, and them being sexy and adorable together at the same time. HOW DO PEOPLE NOT AUTOMATICALLY SHIP THIS? I mean, I get that the show is kind of pushing Ichiko/Boy Band Kid, but no matter how often they pretend to be newlyweds or people ask them if they're a couple, I just don't see any romantic feelings there. At all.

[piecesofalice.livejournal.com]

*GRABS YOUR HANDS, SPINS YOU AROUND*

I KNOW RIGHT?! I just find Ichiko/Boy Bander so inherently boring. There's no chemistry what-so-ever, although I love the idea of them as bickering sibling-types. And it's all the small things between Shigemura and Ichiko that I love, and you've mentioned ALL OF THEM.



I dunno if the actor had a crush on her, but, damn. My whole Deka Wanko caps folder is a) her clothes and b) them looking at each other.

Where are you up to?

ASDHJASJFFGHASJDHASKL!!!!

[firthgal.livejournal.com]

THEY ARE THE BEST! THE BEST! I am now up to ep 8. I predict that I will have watched the whole series before I go to bed tonight. And will probably spam you with incoherent squee and screencaps that you already have.

Re: ASDHJASJFFGHASJDHASKL!!!!

[piecesofalice.livejournal.com]

THIS IS YOUR OFFICIAL BLESSING FOR ME TO WRITE FIC, RIGHT?

RIGHT?!

_{omg them <3}

Re: ASDHJASJFFGHASJDHASKL!!!!

[firthgal.livejournal.com]

YES!