One can be a fangirl without being a shipper. Or a shipper without being a fan. One can be both. One need not be both. Does that make sense?

It makes sense to me. I was a shipper once, without being a fan of the individuals I was shipping. I was a shipper for their coupling, but on their own, they did not mean anything to me. Harsh and strange as that may sound but that was how it was. It’s true.

But it’s easier to ship two people you like individually. Because truth be told, why would you want two people–whose weaknesses and bad sides you are very well aware of–to be together? Unless you think they deserve each other? So yes, it does make more sense to be a fangirl of the individuals you are shipping. By liking them individually, it entails supporting and watching their work without the other, and still liking them even without being in a pair.

Like, ahem, Jo In-sung and Song Hye-kyo (yeah, yeah; it’s another excuse to blog about the O₂ couple, so sue me). I’ve liked JIS since THE CLASSIC and SHK since FULL HOUSE, though I never really followed their careers assiduously just like I do with Arashi.

So when I watched them together in THAT WINTER THE WIND BLOWS, I was bowled over. I’m glad that I did not let the melodrama plot turn me off from this drama.

And now… here comes another pair that I like individually:

 

 

Yes, them. And after that long introduction and argument about being a fangirl against being a shipper, the point of this post really is… HIDAMARI NO KANOJO (translated by fans as SUNNY SPOT GF but dramawiki translates it as THE GIRL IN THE SUN).

 

 

Yes, Nodame meets Domyouji.

The film is based on a novel by Osamu Koshigaya about two schoolmates who meet again, fall in love and get married. But the girl has a secret… and I hope it’s not that she’s the moon or something since this has something to do with the sun.

These photos were the first I saw of the film and they were too small to really appreciate and evaluate if Matsujun and Ueno Juri have chemistry. But by today, the photos are everywhere on Facebook, tumblr and Twitter.

 

 

It was very interesting to read the reaction of fans and one in particular caught my attention (from FB):

“They really look good together and it’s the first time I like someone for Matsujun.”

I wanted to raise my hand and say “Me too!” but since this was on FB, I went ahead to like the comment.

I may have been baited to Arashi by HANA YORI DANGO but I never shipped the pairing in that drama. Not because I like Matsujun for myself, ayt, but it just didn’t float my boat.

There are a lot of factors why a pairing would sell a fantasy and people vary with their preferences for their OTPs. I’m a fan of both Matsujun and Juri (SWING GIRLS, anyone?) but it’s still too early to say I ship them. They do look good together. Now if they have onscreen chemistry, we will know in October.

 

 

 

Ueno-san seems to be brewing tea. YELLOW tea, onegaishimasu.

 

 

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