drama babble || random Japanese question

I think I figured out why I'm having (or had once) funny dreams about Nino. It's because I've been watching a bunch of his dramas/specials. Non-stop. In the past week I watched Ryuusei no Kizuna (I cried), Sukoshi wa Ongaeshi ga Dekitakana (I cried), and Minami-kun no Koibito (I should have cried, considering how dissatisfied I was with the ending). I also have Yasashii Jikan, Namida wo Fuite, and Marathon queued up to watch. Those are the last three Nino dramas that I haven't yet seen that are available on the interwebs (as far as I know), but since they're all fairly heavy (or at least they all fall into the "human drama" or "kandou" category), I've decided to hold off for now and switch to something lighter and a little more adorable: Yoiko no Mikata.

So far, Sho is two for two in the "crying at the end of an episode" department. Reminds me of Nino in Yamada Tarou Monogatari. But this time there are dozens of adorable children and annoying mothers (instead of six adorable children and one mother who isn't that annoying), so the atmosphere's a little different. "Tension up" or something.

Also. I've been thinking about this... what's a good way to translate "tension" (that is, the Japanese slang term テンション, which doesn't actually mean "tension")? "Excitement" doesn't quite catch it all, I think. Our favorite and sometimes useless Jim Breen says it means "spirits", but I connote "getting your spirits up" with the process of being sad and then feeling better, which isn't quite it either. Any thoughts on this?

ALSO. Waiting in anticipation for the last episode of UtaOnii. It's been a good run; I hope it's a happy ending.

ALSO ALSO. I've been inconsistent with the italicization/quotation (respectively) of titles. I hate that.