mechazushi

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NEW KN8 EP MY PRECIOUS YAOI MOMENT FINALLY ANIMATED EEEKJDSFHKDS clasping my hands together so hard while they sparred like guys theyre in love dont u SEE

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Has literally no one else noticed the significance of each number the characters have?

Look up the superstition japan has around certain numbers, i won't elab why because it kinda actually spoils a few things once you get it

Ooh you have a good point!

I know 4 is considered an unlucky number because one of the ways of pronouncing it (“shi” I think?) is the same way the Japanese word for “death” is pronounced and knowing Hikari was the only other known user for Numbers Weapon 4, that does feel very fitting

The number 8 is considered a lucky number which does seem like it’s also really fitting, all things considered!

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Bark like you want it

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He's just standing there.... MENACINGLY 😭😭😭

Will forever be my fav photo of these two 😭 husbands fr

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Gotcha.

You know what's really annoying,

When you make a post and tag a mutual in it, but it's during a time where you posted other things and the mutual you're looking for likes and maybe even comments on all the other post EXCEPT the one you specifically tagged them in...

So now you're just sitting there seething like-

*heavy breathing* come on fucker, I know you see it. I know you can see the post, I know how the tag system works fucker. Come ooon, look at the post.. look. at. it motherfucker.

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You know what's really annoying,

When you make a post and tag a mutual in it, but it's during a time where you posted other things and the mutual you're looking for likes and maybe even comments on all the other post EXCEPT the one you specifically tagged them in...

So now you're just sitting there seething like-

*heavy breathing* come on fucker, I know you see it. I know you can see the post, I know how the tag system works fucker. Come ooon, look at the post.. look. at. it motherfucker.

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rephrasing a sentence to avoid having the same word twice in a row literally feels like adjusting yr stride so you step on the pavement cracks the right way

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Hoshina: * realises he's being followed by third division recruits *

Hoshina: I have the opportunity to do something REALLY funny.

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Kaiju No. 8 isn't exactly high art or absurdly complex as far as shonen goes but I'm so absolutely fascinated by Kafka Hibino and what the story says about dreams, self-sacrifice, and growing up.

Kafka when we meet him is by all accounts a failed shonen hero. He had all the basic tropes built into him: The tragic past and the childhood promise and the indomitable will and everything, but in a world where there exists people simply built different and optimized for combat and destruction, it didn't mean anything and he lagged behind in all his attempts to try and join the defense force against the Kaiju that destroyed everything he loved. Kafka is in his mid 30s where basically every other main character is in their late teens to early 20s, and they're all individually monsters in their own right who have the same type of special powers and narrative gravitas that would have individually made them the shonen protagonist of the series if only one of them existed in this story.

But despite his circumstances, the story opens with him saving Reno, whose so unfathomably grateful because he didn't believe in the concept of heroes until Kafka saved him. In a world where power is the only truth, it was someone powerless who saved him even if it would cost him everything.

Kafka even as a washed up bum is still believing that he can achieve his childhood dreams, and that's what inspires every character he meets.

But where a different story might just run with this, Kaiju No. 8 actively challenges this idea of endless self-sacrifice because of ideals.

The story doesn't reward this behavior, and Kafka gets his ass rightfully kicked all the time because his kindness and drive isn't born out of some innate protagonist goodness: It's born entirely out of self-loathing. No one understands just how powerless Kafka was more than Kafka himself.

Kafka's trauma at losing everything he ever had or knew is what made him perpetually smile, if he could just bury those feelings, if he could just inspire someone else with his words and attitude, then maybe his own life was worth it, maybe he would then and only then have deserved to survive. Maybe then he wouldn't be such an absolute failure who couldn't do anything.

It's why so many characters want to get stronger specifically for Kafka's sake, because they all recognize that even as far as he's come, he's still in an awful self-sacrificial depressive spiral where he can't hide just how much his dreams being dead hurt him. All his 'adult wisdom and advice' for the younger cast rings hollow and bitter to them not only because his life is on the clock, but because he truly can't believe his own words. The characters constantly have to remind him that he shouldn't be doing everything on his own because he's not just someone expendable, he's someone important to them as a person and it genuinely hurts them to see Kafka doing this to himself.

Kafka inspires hope and drive in everyone he meets even if he himself can't see his own value, and he carries a tragic self-sacrificial streak so deeply ingrained that I believe is why the Kaiju bug chose him. The Kaiju bug made him inherit the regrets of countless warriors because they were just like him, normal people entirely powerless in the fights between gods and monsters, who despite all their efforts still fought and died. It was the manifestation of powerlessness in a world where power rules everything.

All the warriors before him, despite the presentation, were just normal people like him who resented themselves for being powerless, and that grudge persisted well beyond death to continually empower a Kaiju of vengeance against the Kaiju that continued to slaughter powerless people. He's meant to be an avatar of rage, the embodiment of vengeance for the suffering of the countless people who fought and died the Kaiju, cursing their powerlessness because they couldn't protect anything.

But Kafka's response to them?

He doesn't consider them powerless. The countless grudges and regrets of those warriors were akin to unfulfilled dreams still being fought for. He thanks them and says that he'll take it from there because Kafka, by the end of the story, properly understands how cruel being self-sacrificial can be.

Kafka could only be strong by relying on others and letting them help him so he doesn't have to shoulder the weight of the world. He only succeeds when he cedes responsibility, when he matures and grows up in his thinking. He's taking up the torch, but he isn't burning himself alive with it the way those before him did.

Kaiju no. 8 is ultimately, I feel, a story about dreams and the power of childish dreams. The story makes a point to constantly show Kafka as a child because you can't build a future without dreams. Kafka might not be the strongest or the most skilled or the most intelligent, but holding onto his dreams even well into adulthood is what lets him keep moving forward.

Kafka grew up, but he kept his dreams. Even if Kafka's reality as an adult is not something he ever expected, that doesn't mean he betrayed the dreams he once held as a child. You can grow up, even right down to your childish dreams.

It's why the regrets of the countless warriors who fought and died powerless were finally laid to rest, why he's still the heroic Kaiju of the modern day, and it's why the Kaiju bug stays with him, no longer languishing in agony but peacefully sleeping.

He's dreaming again. The reality of growing up couldn't destroy his childish dreams, and he's no longer destroying himself for it.

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THEY PLAYED BEAUTIFUL COLORS ON MY LOCAL RADIO STATION LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

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Iharu Furuhashi everyone.

@iceclew @famouslysleepy @quinowskie @tamsywindsup @iharusidianpls @chodzacaparodia because sometimes when I post a video like this i feel like no one sees it so now you HAVE to see it... plz

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A little thing I've noticed about very specific certain multiplayer games where the players are supposed to inhabit a "blank slate" player character to act as their vehicle of interaction it usually comes in one of 3 flavors.

1) completely generic white guy.

2) a person fully garbed head to toe showing absolutely no skin and they tell you isn't gendered but is still given a fully masculine body with no option to alter its shape

3) something not even really recognizable as a human. More of a approximation of something with two arms, two legs, a head and (maybe) a face.

All of them will generally share the trait that differentiated your blank slate from other players is done via dressing them up with clothes colors or accessories.

Generally this doesn't get remarked upon at all by people playing the game.

And then there's Satisfactory where there are numerous people on the community page saying that they loved the gameplay but are bothered by the fact that unlike other games the devs of this one made their "blank slate" player-character models all explicitly women but also not super femininely rail-thin.

And a bunch of guys don't know how to cope with being not only "forced" to play as a girl but also one that isn't really designed to be sexy.

I dunno, I just think it's neat.

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Ihareno as THE ship in kn8

Shipping will always happen between any 2-or-more characters. However, I'm among those (rare?) people who go about it based on canonic chemistry (who the characters are to each other, what they do for each other) & personalities & lacks (how compatible they are + how they help each other out by making up for the other's lacks); not based on personal preference. Treating the characters as "if they were real, what would likely happen?".

Fulfilling romance & real romantic love develop on the basis of deep platonic love, which comes from compatibility & support for self-actualization (so a balance of similarity & one having traits/etc the other lacks in order to be more psychologically balanced), as well as from mutual respect and support. Not on the basis of - unfortunately the very common misconception of - "opposites attracting".

After analysing Iharu and Reno (& kn8 dynamics in general), I've noticed a few things that suggest (if not prove. I try to be objective & therefore unattached, as much as one can) they might in fact be THE ship. Because looking at all the relationships that have any chemistry whatsoever in canon (and I'm looking at this w/o the sexual orientation factor (including what the author would have in mind. Since the only thing authors ever have in mind is "everybody's into the other sex" = they lack realism in their character & relationship management); solely w/ the actual dynamics in mind):

• Kafka & Ashiro: the main ship in the fandom. Childhood friends w/ a flat chemistry in their current stage of life, shipped so ardently only bc they're the main character's opposite sex something-remotely-intimate-in-any-way (whereas if they were same-sex, you'd see ~0 fan support. Btw, I'm aware how popular Hoshina x Narumi is on AO3; I'm talking about the full breadth of kn8 fandom spaces). Fulfilling romance potential seems very low, looking at their personalities and dynamic, even if some official content makes them canon. It'd be this "I mean, they're opposite sex, so they'll work regardless because yeah :D". If I were to make a bet on who Kafka would be most compatible with based on personality etc, I'd say Iharu or Hoshina, maybe Shinomya; and genuinely no hard feelings about any of those ships.

• Kafka x Reno: if one doesn't ignore stuff just because the characters are same-sex, they'll easily notice how deep the feeling runs on Reno's side. There are those archetypes in shonen of mentor-junior, but even then, Reno's dynamic to Kafka stands out.

It could very plausibly be romance, however it seems more a crush of sorts, a deep affection inspired by Kafka's selfless heroism which shattered Reno's worldview [in a good way] and resonated with his seemingly natural protective tendencies. Fulfilling romance potential is a little doubtful just because, looking at his personality & human psychological needs, Reno needs somebody to rely on, to balance out his stubbornness & workaholism, to loosen him up & be his sun, his smile, not somebody to babysit. The latter is the primary dynamic he has with Kafka. It's entertaining to watch, but not enough for a fulfilling romance. Reno needs somebody who'll take care of him just as much as he takes care of others. We see glimpses of that care from Kafka, glimpses of that reliability Reno is so needing, but at least based on canon, it appears far outweighed by the "okay, /I/ need to be the one /he/ can rely on" for Reno - and not just in combat (which /is/ Reno's ambition, as a gesture of that deep loyalty for being the hero he never believed exist) but emotionally (which is therefore a predominantly one-sided type of support, and that's not sustainable).

They're my 2nd favourite ship, as it's the only other one after Ihareno that feels real, but it nonetheless feels much more one-dimensional (saving life, being one's hero), seems to lack compatibility of personalities, etc. But if you disagree, I sure don't mind exploring that. Reno's chemistry to Kafka IS beautiful.

• Iharu & Reno: they're not all over the story, unlike Kafka & Reno or Kafka & Ashiro, they're very compact (still, the only other relationship Reno has, outside of that with Kafka) - but they're all the more deep. Iharu is exactly the kind of person Reno needs (see above). Reno is aware of that - especially of how he's always there for him to help him push forward - & loves him for it (ch 63 & 64).

Their chemistry is modestly explored in canon (really, the only relationships explored in canon are Kafka & Ashiro and Kafka & Reno; then we get a bit of Iharu & Reno; and, in a far less intimate tone, a bit of others, like Haruichi & Aoi (expanded in the anime) or Kafka & Shinomya or Shinomya & Isao). But it speaks for itself when one looks at those chapters & their personalities: similar in many ways (though most explicit ones are those pertaining directly to their job, and they're not unique because it is shonen after all) while providing the other with what he lacks (especially Iharu to Reno - see above). Iharu is sharp & unapologetic enough to pull Reno out of his stubbornness + caring enough to actually be there for him (in fact, he's the only one who does that. As in, Reno actually has a friend; and a heart-of-gold one, too. A parallel to Reno & Kafka). Their chemistry isn't based on just one pillar of being the other's hero, instead it's based on multiple pillars: Iharu's unwavering support & how their personalities click but also how they make up for each other's deficits. They do have the "saving the other's life" thing, too (s1ep7; idr which ch in the manga that is), but it's far from their main pillar. Kafka is Reno's hero he hoped for & finally found. Iharu is Reno's support, a friend he needed; the spring to his winter (Iharu's name supposedly even refers to spring, which is a cool foreshadowing of sorts), the sun to his ice (bright, upbeat; fiery; warming Reno out of his closed-off, loner type, overly stiff tendencies), somebody with whom Reno doesn't have to feel like the adult looking over a kid, while still goofy & crazy enough to not let Reno fall into his stiffness. The most fulfilling romance is built on that kind of friendship (as mentioned earlier).

As they rub off on each other, so to speak, their compatibility further increases. E.g. Iharu, inspired/touched by Reno's selflessness & care (s1e7, and that feeling is later acknowledged & fleshed out in ch 63/s2e7), becomes more emotionally mature & caring in turn, less driven by competition & jealousy.

Obviously in canon, Reno is a bit unresponsive to Iharu's warmth, as he's all about Kafka. He does appreciate Iharu deeply (again: ch 63, 64) and it's the only relationship he canonically has outside of that with Kafka (with others, he's polite & collaborative for the sake of his job. Though they warm him up a bit in the anime, so he doesn't come off as the low-key animositious he does in the manga; e.g. he comforts that kid in e1, whereas in the manga he doesn't say anything), but his devotion to Kafka dominates. However, if we look at his psychology beyond his devotion to Kafka, it's undeniable (not to be overly confident; but also unnecessarily apologetic) he would develop deep romantic feelings towards Iharu. We don't /need/ more Ihareno (though we want it, & they deserve it), because the potency & potential of their bond shines even in the little attention the author gives them. When you have characters who are the "made for each other" vibe Iharu & Reno have going on, you don't need dozens of pages to sell their relationship.

It seems the sole reasons why in the broader kn8 fandom they're not the main ship (or one of the main ships) are:

Iharu himself is underrated as he's not this cool, powerful another Narumi or Hoshina.

they're same-sex. And obviously, most will automatically shove romance onto characters with no chemistry just because they're different sex, while passionately denying chemistry between same-sex characters because they're offended at homosexuality.

many ship based not on what's there in canon but on personal preference.

Otherwise, I think it's fair to say Ihareno would dominate the fandom. Obviously no one ship is ever everybody's ship; but nonetheless.

(Might add sth later or organize it better. Also new to Tumblr, hence the wonky formatting.)

(Excuse any weirdness; eng isn't my 1st.)

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Provider

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Tumblr pillow fight

Reblog to hit the person you reblogged this from with a pillow

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WE'RE FINALLY GETTING TO SEE OTHER COUNTRIES IN KAIJU NO.8!!!

NEXT STOP! LONDON!!

I really always wanted to see what the other countries in the world of kaiju no. 8 are like or what their anti-kaiju defense forces are like.

Even though the manga has ended, we finally have the opportunity to explore the world of Kaiju No. 8 further.

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GOD, YES, FUCK! I FINALLY DID IT!

@iceclew look i know you told me to try meme redraw a while ago and I've had SEVERAL memes in the backlog I've wanted to do for a while now but people (INCLUDING MYSELF) and life and personal obligations have been getting in the way but today there was a slow moment in my D&D campaign where all I could get away with was doodling and HERE YOU GO.

For the record the only reference I could work with was the meme on the right, I didn't have any time to look up Reno and Iharu to reference what they looked like so their faces are basically from memory. Which is why they look like shit is what im saying.