fencer_x | "Omee-tachi naaaaa~!!!!"

So, I was so excited about Wonderbox, had been looking forward to it the moment I heard Sano Mizuki was going to be in it. THE SANO BROTHERS. IN A SHOW TOGETHER. WHAT. Not to mention I'd never even really SEEN Mizuki in anything before, had no idea how he acted, what he really sounded like now, and if he really had that Johnny's Boy look to him.

So when Wonderbox came in the mail the other day, I popped that baby into the DVD player so fast I left the plastic wrap dangling in the air cartoon-style ♥

But truth be told, people, it kind of let me down.

I loved Treasure Box for so many reasons. It was the epitome of what a *pnish* show should be: amazing sets, kickass costumes, tons of great guests that really contributed to the storyline, and *pnish* themselves, there at the center, stealing the show. It was wonderful, I loved everything about it.

I expected Wonder Box to just give me another fun adventure with these guys ~~and more MoriDaiki slash 8D~~ with 500% more Randy and the Colorkages and Mizuki Mizuki MIZUKI.

What I got was a big disappointment: sets that amounted to little more than a few revolving staircases on the stage, a significant lack of the awesome facial makeup I loved on Randy and Rie in Treasure Box, and a main character that was very much NOT a *pnish* member ;_;

It was Monster Box all over again. A cast of guests that overwhelmed the Pani guys in ways Treasure Box didn't, a main character I had no reason to love, and sets and costumes that betrayed how rushed the whole performance had been.

Summary of the Show

The plot centers around an ancient treasure of some sort that has been guarded by Rie's (Eiji) family for centuries, and this collector (played by Kitamura Eiki) is trying to get his hands on it. He needs a key, though, which Rin (Daiki) had half of, while the treasure guard Mizuki had the other. The collector hires Mizuki to keep watch over his piece, and Randy (Tuti) to steal the other piece. When they get the other piece from Rin, the collector joins them together and kidnapps Rie to unlock the door hiding the treasure (because Rie's blood is needed to unlock it). Rin rides in to the rescue with Wanizuka (Wasshi) hellbent on rescuing Rie (why they weren't still together since TB ended with them going off together is beyond me o_O I guess they needed some way to keep Wasshi in the picture XD) Randy lends a hand as well, and in the end--as with most *pnish* stuff--the bad guy repents and turns good, all is good~

Throughout all this, though, there's a subplot that somehow turns into an overplot involving the treasure guard (Mizuki) his sidekick/bestfriend/~~love interest~~ (Kawamoto Naru) and some weird white-70's-disco-clothing-wearing floofy singing bad guy bent on getting the treasure for himself.

Randy's little underlings were gone, though the three actors were still there. Now they'd become Rie's underlings. Why Rie needed underlings was beyond me--they served absolutely NO purpose, and I missed the banter and hilarity they brought about in their interactions with Randy in Treasure Box. Instead Tuti was a one-man-show, which was still funny, but just not the same.

Treasure Box ended with Wanizuka and Randy going their separate ways, leaving Rin and Rie together, which even their words indicated that a new friendship had formed between them, leaving ~~MoriDaiki shippers~~the audience to assume they'd be partners now.

Apparently not since Rie's off on his own in China and Rin and Wanizuka are treasure hunting together at the beginning of Wonder Box _o_ That, plus Randy's underlings are gone, and the main character isn't even a *pnish* member makes this a not fun play for me >_>

There were lots of fun scenes in the show, though, so I definitely hope people download it and watch and post their own babblings about what they loved and didn't love about it. Randy riding a bike half the show, his display of "ninja stealth" (see: the recent icon batch on

sexygaju 8DDDD) and Mizuki becoming his new underling, complete with a "insertcolornamehere"kage name changing more often than Dr. Cox comes up with new girl's names for JD. The closer-than-friends friendship between Mizuki's and Naru's characters was really cute, too, and Eiji's Sword Dance of Sexiness turned me on more than anything Eiji's ever done in the past o__o

So yes, go watch it, but if anyone likes Wonder Box better than Treasure Box they better have a damn good reason >_> RARGH! I'LL EAT YOU IF YOU CHOOSE IT OVER TREASURE BOX!