#[ GOD I can imagine Shuuji becoming like ];

[kodapi]

He's like a cat in wait the way he stares, shamelessly, at the dangling adornment on this man's bag. "That fan..." It can only be ONE fan! Yet, there is something quite unique about this particular piece of merchandise. Miles raises a fist to perch his chin atop as he studies the keychain intensely. "Limited edition, correct? Only a certain number were produced."

'Tis mere fact spitting, tone hardly a reflection of just how excited he actually is to be in the presence of something like this. Had he ears and a tail, they would likely be wagging something fierce. "Are you... a fan?"

He won't say of what... not yet. The rare times he does entertain his own, somewhat well hidden passions, he ends up making himself look a tad silly. A lesson learned and one he now moves cautiously as a result of, but the vibrancy in his gaze is far too obvious, even still, to deny. Once he gets that confirmation he awaits with bated breath, then he shall allow the flood gates to open.

     [ Promptless Asks || Always Accepting ]

     ‹ Choosing which bag to bring this morning was surprisingly hard; it was less so the space they boasted he was concerned with and more so the adornments upon them that twinkled like little stars in the light. Yes... today he would bring the bag that carried some precious merchandise on it, something that held value to those who sought it — and its allure soon brought someone forth to comment on it. The questions posed from a certain magenta-wrapped prosecutor made Shuuji's grin widen until it was ear-to-ear, bag shifted to bring the charm into a better view. ›

    ❝ One better than just a limited edition, ❞ ‹ Came a voice of pride from the detective as he used gloved fingers to gently flip the fan keychain over. It revealed that on the other side was a special engraving of two signatures, a name that belonged to the original creator of the series himself and one that was of the new designer that had taken up the helm to usher in a new era. ›

    ❝ One of a kind. It takes a fairly discerning eye to catch a prize from a special fan celebration event. After all, you had to attend every single showing in the year and show proof of all your tickets in order to even have a chance at it, let alone the next steps that challenged fans' knowledge to their extremes. ❞

     ‹ Those eyes of Shuuji's glanced up to Edgeworth now, a knowing look crossed over them as he let those words sink in for a moment. It was only after he let those thoughts stew for a moment that he did finally answer the question posed. ›

    ❝ Ah, but I am quite the fan. It's such a wonderful world to immerse yourself in! I don't want to make any assumptions, but you seem at the very least familiar with the show itself given how you recognized this piece, am I right to guess that much? ❞

[thaisibir]

Hey, it’s been a while!

I was reading through your Survive stuff again and I had some thought, specifically regarding the kids and possible Kemonogami partners.

If Ellie/Yuki had lived, I could see her with two possible partners: Salamon or Lunamon, though leaning towards Lunamon since she hasn’t been partnered up with anyone in official media outside of Sayo from Digimon Dusk.

Plus, it could partner with my pick for Richard, which is Coronamon. Not only would Lunamon and Coronamon eventually evolve into two of the Olympus 12 like Labramon to Plutomon, but Apollomon and Dianamon can jogress to Gracenovamon. If Ellie had lived, I can see her and Richard being close and it could reflect in their partners.

As for Gavin, Owen and Liam, there are three partners that come to mind though I don’t know who would have who: Liollmon, Gaomon and Gomamon. And why not give Caleb a possible partner in Bearmon, who can also become an Olympus 12 Digimon in Marsmon or Merkurimon.

The others haven’t had kids yet, but if they do biologically or adopt:

Ryo’s possible kid could have Wormmon or even the new bug Digimon in Fanbeemon or Morphomon.

I do like Kaito and Takuma together, tbh, and if they adopted, I could see their kid having Guilmon, which harkens to the free Guilmon you get when you download Survive. Plus, Guilmon is a dinosaur like Agumon but a virus type like Dracmon.

Shuuji’s kid would be easy as I believe they would get Terriermon to match his Lopmon.

If Saki ever adopted, I could see Lalamon being a viable partner, or perhaps a more unconventional partner in Mushroomon, who can become Bloominglordmon as a Mega.

Finally, with Minoru, if he ever did have a kid, I could see Hawkmon being an option, or the lesser used or known Rookie of Hyokomon.

So yeah, I’ve thought about this a lot😅

Hey there, good to hear from you, especially after a while!

I’ve actually thought about this a lot too, ever since September of last year. Admittedly I have a bias for Aoi and Saki since they're my favorite Survive characters, so I went a lot further into the future lives I imagined for them than the others. I really like what you’ve thought of for the other Survive kids though. Your headcanons for them end up being mine too! I never had concrete ideas for the others having kids, but I can see them being good parents and now after seeing your headcanons, I can’t imagine anything else.

As for Aoi’s four sons, however, I already have had character bios and partners for them in mind for months now. I got a fic I’ve been wanting to write and everything. The gist of it:

-Aoi and Labramon become Plutomon and join the Olympos Twelve -the Olympos Twelve (especially Jupitermon) are the big bads -her kids grow up to become teens with partners of their own -they follow their mother’s footsteps in fusing with their partners to become Royal Knights -they’re forced to fight their own mother in order to save both worlds

I just haven’t yet had the time to start it yet. I’m currently writing an Aoi x Saki fic, The Dog In Her, that focuses on their evolving friendship when they’re teens, will lead to how and why Aoi’s in England throughout her adult life, and foreshadows her future transformation into Plutomon. The fic where Aoi has kids and becomes Plutomon, Gods Arise, is going to be a sequel that takes place many years later. I love tragedy and family drama, so I really look forward to working on it someday.

So, alas, while I have had a different direction in mind for Aoi’s kids, I absolutely love your idea of her firstborn son and daughter having Coronamon and Lunamon, so they could jogress into Grandnovamon. I don’t know how I could incorporate that into Gods Arise; maybe I could do an alternate universe storyline or something that has a timeline where Aoi’s daughter didn’t die shortly after birth. Or maybe you could write it! I’d love to read it if that’d be the case.

More detailed notes for the sequel fic and character bios for Aoi’s family are under the cut, in case if you’re interested at all in reading further. I’ve been keeping this to myself for many months, since it’s still very much in the brainstorming stage, and I wasn’t sure if anyone would want to read it all honestly, but now you got me eager to share.

Digimon Survive: Gods Arise Summary: [Survive sequel, 15-25 years after Truthful Route] Aoi's oldest child has run away, lured to a place where unpartnered monsters roam. At her plea for help, old friends reunite and embark on a rescue mission. Saki knows she shouldn't pine over a newly widowed woman. Still, old buried feelings rear their head. Gods begin their ascent to power and conquest, but it's not the boy they're after.

Aoi Shibuya Age: 30, 40 (post 10 year time skip, but continues to appear 30) Partner: Labramon Family: Caleb (husband), Richard (son), Gavin (son), Owen (son), Liam (son), Ellie (daughter, deceased), Tatsuo (father), Hana (mother)

(See previously written headcanons in separate notes for full details)

Additional details: Since her first venture into the Kemonogami world, Aoi has grown a lot more confident and competent due to her career in law enforcement, though she never lost her kind nature and maternal side. She hates resorting to violence, preferring negotiation, but if it comes down to that, her skills in combat and firearms are far from lacking. Having spent the first 18 years of her life in Japan, and the rest of it in England, she is comfortably situated between the two cultures. She does her best to keep her UK-born kids in touch with their Japanese heritage. She also strives to stay close to her friends who remain in Japan. Until recent events in the story, she has been unaware of Saki’s unrequited love for her (through no fault of her own, since Saki had kept her feelings hidden when Aoi got engaged and married).

Labramon Partner: Aoi Since coming to the real world with her human partner, Labramon had moved to England and joined the MI5 with her. She works like a police dog, helping Aoi with her tracking abilities and defending her in dangerous situations. Despite her animalistic appearance, she’s treated as a valuable member of the family Aoi and her husband had made together. She adores their kids and would always be entrusted to watch over them.

Caleb Shanahan Age: 33 (at death) Aoi's husband and fellow MI5 agent three years her senior. He is a tall, well-built and handsome man with cropped dirty blonde hair and a trimmed beard. He was born and raised in England, though he is well-traveled due to his father being in the military. Caleb and Aoi met at work and grew closer as they were assigned cases together. He is the object of admiration and attraction among the women at work, though it's the kind and quiet Aoi he falls in love with. Their common love for reading and cooking made him even more fond of her. He learned about the Kemonogami world through Aoi, and by becoming romantically involved with her he came to regard Labramon as extended family. Toward his sons with Aoi, he is a doting, loving father who likes to take them fishing, his favorite hobby. He was killed in the line of duty, and his death sets off the events of the story.

Richard "Richie" Benjiro Shanahan Age: 8, 18 (post 10 year time skip) Partner: Dorumon (Alphamon) Birthday: September 25 The oldest child of Aoi and Caleb. After Aoi became Plutomon, he was taken to Japan to be raised by his maternal grandparents. He has a special place in his parents’ hearts for being their first surviving child after the death of their baby daughter. Driven by grief at his father's funeral, he was the one who ventured into the Kemonogami world on his own, prompting Aoi to pursue him in an effort to bring him back home. He believes he's responsible for his mother's downfall and transformation into Plutomon. For 10 years he has carried a tremendous amount of guilt and the need to save her from the darkness that binds her. Reckless and impulsive in his youth, he has since inherited his mother's sense of responsibility. He is always trying to take care of his younger brothers, making sure they are safe and well.

Gavin Eisuke Shanahan Age: 6, 16 (post 10 year time skip) Partner: Veemon, Ulforceveedramon Birthday: April 10 The second son of Aoi and Caleb. After Aoi became Plutomon, he was taken to Japan to be raised by his maternal grandparents. Of the four brothers, he is the most intelligent and level-headed. He takes after his mother's studious nature and academic prowess. He's a good student and abides by the rules, deferent and reserved to a fault. His practical and analytical approach sometimes makes him seem cold and insensitive.

Owen Isamu Shanahan Age: 5, 15 (post 10 year time skip) Partner: Huckmon (Jesmon) Birthday: February 3 The third son of Aoi and Caleb. After Aoi became Plutomon, he stayed in England to be raised by his paternal grandparents. He inherited his mother's kindness and sweet nature. He doesn't like fights and takes a pacifistic approach to almost everything. He is notoriously gullible and can be too trusting. Though raised in England, he tries to stay in touch with his Japanese heritage by talking often to his older brothers and maternal grandparents.

Liam Daiki Shanahan Age: 3, 13 (post 10 year time skip) Partner: Dracomon (Dynasmon) Birthday: December 24 The second youngest child of Aoi and Caleb. After Aoi became Plutomon, he stayed in England to be raised by his paternal grandparents. He was only 3 years old when his father died and his mother became Plutomon. Because of this, of the four he has the weakest recollection of his parents and is the most bitter about being orphaned. He bears resentment toward his mother for being an absent parent for most of his life, as well as for the destruction and terror she inflicts on the world as Plutomon. Growing up hating his mother and everything she represents, he has the most antagonistic view of his Japanese heritage and clings to his English side. Ironically enough, he physically resembles his mother the most. Unlike her, however, he is prickly and foul-mouthed with a short fuse.

Dorumon Partner: Richard Evolutions: Dorugamon, Dorugreymon, Alphamon Has a “fight first think later” mindset, which often gets him into trouble. He can be selfish and immature, and has a hard time making friends, but he’s working on changing his ways.

Veemon Partner: Gavin Evolutions: Veedramon, Aeroveedramon, Ulforceveedramon Sly and mischievous, enjoys a good prank. He scoffs at the rules and likes to stir up harmless trouble. He’s always telling Gavin to relax and not be such a stick in the mud.

Huckmon Partner: Owen Evolutions: Baohuckmon, Saviorhuckmon, Jesmon Brave and adventurous, fearless of the unknown. He tries to keep an upbeat attitude and have a positive outlook on life. The most mature of the four Kemonogami, he serves as the grounding voice of reason for Owen.

Dracomon Partner: Liam Evolutions: Coredramon (Blue), Wingdramon, Dynasmon Proud and stubborn, tenacious in battle. His arrogance often makes him overconfident and he is just as unwilling to admit he had made mistakes. He is obsessed with shiny things and would hoard as many as he could carry.

Plot: Aoi’s husband, who’s in law enforcement like his wife, is shot and killed in the line of duty. During his funeral, his and Aoi’s oldest child Richard runs away to the Kemonogami world. She beseeches the rest of the Survive gang to help find and bring back her son. For the first time since the end of the Truthful route, they enter the other world with their partners together. Meanwhile, Richard meets Dorumon, who claims that he was “sent by the gods to find a hero.” Richard lets Dorumon lead him deeper into the Kemonogami world, trying to bury his grief amid the wonder and awe from exploring the world he had heard so much about from his mother. As the Survive gang try to track down Richard, Saki struggles with unrequited feelings for Aoi she thought she had buried long ago. Aoi, fresh with grief from her husband’s death, struggles with holding herself together as she tries to find her son.

The “gods,” the Olympos Eleven led by Jupitermon, had indeed sent Dorumon to meet Richard, but it’s not the boy they want. They need the god of the underworld to fulfill their ambition of rising to full power and conquering both worlds. To this end, they indirectly lure Aoi back into the Kemonogami world. Committed to her family as a wife and mother, she had no reason to go there otherwise. When Aoi and her friends finally find Richard, the Olympos Eleven come out of hiding and threaten Richard’s life. Already wracked with grief, and not wanting to lose another member of her family, in desperation Aoi says she would do anything to have him set free. They bind her in chains, force her into servitude, and in a violent, bloody ritual, make her and Labramon fuse to trigger the rise of Plutomon. Saki, with her partner who can evolve into Ceresmon Medium, joins the Olympos Eleven to accompany Aoi and save her from the worst of Jupitermon’s unhealthy pleasure in subjugating her. With the addition of Plutomon and Ceresmon, the prophesied circle of gods is complete. The rest of the Survive gang are allowed to bring Richard back with them to the real world, though the ascent of the Olympos Twelve plunges both worlds into chaos. Kemonogami and humans alike are subjugated under tyranny and fear, with Plutomon being the unwilling emissary of death and execution to anyone who tries to resist.

Over the course of ten years, Aoi’s four sons are divided between the grandparents who become their legal guardians, with Richard and Gavin living in Japan while Owen and Liam stay in England. At the ages of 18, 16, 15 and 13 respectively, they reach the point that they can join the Resistance (led by Aoi’s friends) and fight back against the Olympos Twelve. The other three boys gain partners as well: Veemon, Huckmon, and Dracomon. With partners of their own and destinies to become draconic Royal Knights, only they can match in power with their mother to defeat her and set her free. Controlled and commanded by Jupitermon to oppose her own children, Aoi is willing to face even death if killing her is what it would take to save both worlds. At the same time, over the years Aoi and Saki’s relationship grows into mutual love as Saki has been a constant comforting presence when Aoi is torn away from her family, and she finally confesses that she has loved Aoi all this time.

[recentanimenews]

Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun – 01 (First Impressions) – Don’t Blame the Game

“You cannot lose if you do not play.”—Marla Daniels, The Wire

“I’m not fucking crazy … I’m just goal-oriented.”—Annie Landsberg, Maniac

Our protagonist Tomozaki Fumiya (handle nanashi) is teen with a dearth of social skills and friends and seeks solace and contentment in the world of gaming. In the first of a veritable festival of metaphors this show dishes out, he’s a god-tier player of the popular fighting game Tackfam, but a bottom-tier player in the Game of Life. As such, even though he splashes the popular Nakamura Shuuji in Tackfam, it’s Shuuji who leaves school flanked by two pretty girls.

This leads Fumiya—who is not a refugee from a war-torn nation—to declare “The game of life is garbage”, followed immediately by an establishing shot of his family’s above average-sized detached home in a quiet neighborhood, thence to his spacious bedroom with hardwood floors, a Mr. Slim, and his own entertainment center.

I actually laughed out loud at this juxtaposition, even if it wasn’t quite the show’s intention. Then I couldn’t help but think: This guy is a whiny loser and I don’t like him. But hey, that’s the point: I’m not supposed to! In stories like this, something or someone becomes a catalyst for positive change.

In this case, it’s a someone—a fellow gamer (handle NO NAME) who is second only to Fumiya in the Tackfam national rankings. Fumiya respects NO NAME a great deal, and when he plays him he can tell how much effort and dedication he puts into training. When NO NAME suggests they meet up IRL, Fumiya doesn’t hesitate.

Little does Fumiya know that not only is NO NAME not a guy, but she’s someone he already interacted with at school prior to their meet-up, as she extended him some obligatory class-rep friendliness upon learning he and Shuuji played. NO NAME is Hinami Aoi, the “it” girl at his school: top grades, top athletes, loved by all. He considers Aoi a god-tier player of the game of life, like Shuuji.

Thankfully, Aoi’s reaction to Fumiya being nanashi is spot-on: “This sucks,” she declares, quickly losing her interest in further interaction. Her reason is plain: just as Fumiya is in awe of her as a player of life, she was in awe of nanashi as a player of Tackfam. To learn the real nanashi is a “rock-bottom loser” who has “given up on life” is deflating, and in turn reflects poorly on her, since she pegged nanashi to be a better person IRL.

Voiced by the wonderful Kanemoto Hisako, in with a feminine strictness that had me wondering if Aoi was really Nakiri Erina with dyed hair and contacts, Aoi brings legitimacy to “polite rudeness”—a term I may have just made up—in her takedown of Fumiya. She also has just the right response when Fumiya protests that the game of life is unbalanced, and her “high initial stats” imbue her and those like her with baseless confidence.

What’s so satisfying about her response, and can be tied to the tightness and cleverness of the dialogue throughout the episode, is that she repeats to Fumiya the very same words Fumiya said to Shuuji when he called Tackfam trash: There’s nothing more shameful than blaming the game, especially when you’d barely played. Fumiya goes on to argue that you can’t change characters IRL…and that’s when Aoi takes his hand, and before he knows it, he’s sitting in her bedroom.

It’s at this point in the ep when I began to develop a measure of concern about the emergence of a somewhat unpleasant subtext: Aoi seemed to be going extremely out of her way to be this dude’s archetypal “guardian angel”. After all, what does she get out of helping him? You can say she’s simply being every bit the “good person” and “perfect heroine” Fumiya saw her as to this point: helping those in need help themselves.

But there’s more to it than that, which justifies the extent of her effort vis-a-vis Fumiya, which we learn when she invites him to her room…her very similarly-sized and appointed room:

They’re practically mirror images of each other! Whether this was intentional or the creator/producers simply drew up some normal high school kid rooms, I appreciated the symbolism. There’s common ground between Aoi and Fumiya: their passion for the games at which they excel. Aoi happens to be good at both Tackfam and life, but she shows Fumiya the latter success isn’t due to high base stats.

She does this simply by being who she is—someone Fumiya didn’t know—by appearing before him in cozier clothes and without makeup. She assures him he can attain normie-level looks just fine by practicing better expressions and proper posture. When Aoi watched Fumiya play as nanashi, she saw the same serious effort she applied IRL—in fact, she thought him more capable of effort than she!

So yeah, from where Aoi stands and how hard she’s worked, Fumiya doesn’t get to say the game of life is unbalanced garbage. He just needs to start applying the same effort of which he’s already proven more than capable in Tackfam. She’ll prove he can—and validate her ideals—by helping him out. Fumiya is initially dubious because he assumes Aoi ranks life higher than Tackfam, but when she reveals her belief that life is tied for first with Tackfam, he’s moved.

He’s moved because while he’s always gotten online recognition for his online efforts, those same efforts have netted him precisely zero friends and recognition…until he met NO NAME, who bridged the divide between games. In Aoi he finally has someone IRL who recognizes and moreover values his efforts.

As flawed as Fumiya is, he still recognizes his own hypocrisy and has a sense of honor, and is thus motivated to put more effort into “playing” life as Aoi suggests, so he can find out for himself if the game is actually good. This, along with Aoi using the Fumiya Reclamation Project as a means of continuing to grow herself, goes a long way towards making their budding relationship both balanced and compelling.

As for what form Fumiya’s training will take, well here’s where we must suspend disbelief in Aoi having a half-hour to spare in her clearly packed academic, athletic, and social schedule. They meet at the school’s deserted sewing room (where I thought for a moment she’d teach him how to make better clothes, LOL) and Aoi lays out an aggressive plan composed of large, medium, and small goals. The primary goal is “to be as satisfied with offline life” as she is.

Fumiya can see by the structure of the plan that it’s not all that different from how he trains for Tackfam, a realization Aoi was both counting on and appreciates as it will save some explanation time. She’s already given him a facemask behind which he must constantly smile behind in order to improve his expression (this leads to an awkward scene with his imouto, who asks him not to be more creepy than he already is).

But like Nakiri Erina, Aoi has no intention of going easy on Fumiya; considering she knows the effort he’s capable of online. He must acquire a girlfriend before starting his third year. Before that, he must get a third party to notice his appearance/vibe has improved, which has already started with the smiling training, but also means he must actually talk to at least three girls at school.

That’s no mean feat for a bottom-tier character in a game he’s barely played to this point, but part of improving one’s character involves occasional stumbling and ass-kicking (figuratively, of course). I notice there are four girls in the middle ground of the promo art, so I imagine Fumiya will start with one of them. So begins a long, fraught, but hopefully rewarding journey towards not thinking life is a garbage game. And as you can tell by how many words I’ve written about it, I’m game!

By: sesameacrylic

[inazuma-eleven-translations]

Prince Animage 2012 Sanpei Yuuko (role of Afuro Terumi) Interview

Let Your Wishes Ride On The Wings of a God

Kidokawa Seishuu’s new coach is the owner of a regal beauty. As he’s become an adult he’s calmed down a lot (apparently?) but his actions are still unpredictable. Of course, it’s our Aphrodi-sama!

Aphrodi’s adult self caption: He wears a gray suit and his arms are folded. His hair is tied with a red ribbon and hangs over one shoulder. His hair is still as long and beautiful and blonde as his younger self but now the ends are streaked with blue.

In the third round of the national competition Holy Road the opponent is last year’s champions Kidokawa Seishuu. Not only are they a very strong champion team, but the new coach leading them is Afuro Terumi ‘Aphrodi’! ‘I can’t believe Aphrodi is appearing again. I never thought I’d get to see his adult self,’ his voice actress Sanpei Yuuko tells us. Up until now, all of the reappearing members have had some connection to their school in some way, but doesn’t Aphrodi have no relation to Kidokawa?

‘Isn’t that fact that he’s so mysterious one of his attractive points? He can grow wings and fly through the air and stop time - because he’s a god! (lol)’ If we look back to 10 years ago, he’s called himself a God as a member of one of the strongest teams of the Football Frontier, he’s battled against aliens, and been a striker for the team of his mother land, Korea. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere is his specialty and his GO appearance is no exception.

'Thanks to everyone’s support, even four years later I can return to Inazuma! Everyone! Don’t forget about Terumi-sama!’

‘Even though he’s ten years older, everyone still calls him Aphrodi!’

Q How did you find playing Aphrodi for the first time in a while?

A He really has become an adult! He was a pretty chill kid, but now he’s become even more chill. He’s become like a big brother. I feel like his way of speaking is kinder than before. As an adult, it would be good if he can act as a guide for the kids.

Q In his debut scene, Kidou exclaims 'Aphrodi!’ which makes fans wonder, does everyone still call him that?

A Ahahaha, that’s right. Even Ishido Shuuji-san called him Aphrodi.

Q We thought it was only something he called himself from back when he thought he was a god.

A Speaking of which, Burn and Gazel became Nagumo and Suzuno in the FFI arc. All of them chose their names for themselves. Afuro is an unusual surname in the first place. It would be funny if he had an afro, along with his name being Afuro (lol).

Q Sanpei-san, what kind of person do you think Aphrodi is?

A I think he’s a very diligent kid. In Inazuma everyone is very passionate about soccer, but in the first season his desire to become stronger was so intense that he resorted to Kami no Aqua. All because of that bad man (bitter laugh). But he met Endou-kun and the others through this and through their love of soccer he realized their’s was a different kind of strength. So when he appeared again in season 2 he repays the favor, doesn’t he? He’s faithful. To the extent that it put him in hospital (laughs).

Q How do you feel about his relationship with Endou?

A I feel like Aphrodi really likes Endou kun as a person. He calls him 'Endou kun’ a lot. So this time it was a pity I couldn’t say his name at all. Instead, when Someoka-san appeared and Aphrodi called him Someoka without a suffix, everyone burst into laughter. His voice actor even said, 'Since when were Aphrodi and I such good friends that he doesn’t use -san?’ (lol)

Q Aphrodi and Someoka haven’t really interacted much until now.

A Yeah. I thought it was funny as I wondered, just what kind of relationship do you two have? I guess they crossed paths by chance while they were active in the pro leagues. I guess they became friends.

Q How do you feel about Nagumo and Suzuno who he invited to the Korean team?

A I get the impression they’re both quite childish. They’re always arguing with each other, and were even confrontational with Hiroto - I think they’re really like quarreling brothers. I wonder did Aphrodi reach out to them because of Endou’s influence? 'Come with me?’ (lol)

Q What do you think they’re saying in the picture below (Aphrodi, Burn, Gazel, Midorikawa and Hiroto)?

A I feel like Aphrodi is trying to ease any tension between them. 'You two, look at the camera!’ He’ll say. And to Suzuno 'Don’t scowl so much like that,’ (lol) This time he appears as the coach for Kidokawa Seishuu and I was easily able to imagine Aphrodi teaching soccer to kids.

Q The situation at Kidokawa is kind of complicated. What are Aphrodi’s intentions?

A I think he definitely wants to get the kids who love soccer so much to leave their arguments behind. Kidokawa are under the control of Fifth Sector and but I think I would be better if they won with their own soccer. The most important thing is that he helps the kids.

Q What impression do you have of Kidokawa’s players?

A I feel sorry for the Taki brothers. Yoshihiko’s abilities are yet undeveloped and he can’t use a keshin but he really loves soccer with all of his heart and he’s very courageous. His older brother Sousuke is proud of his power in a way that reminds me of Aphrodi’s old self. And the captain Kishibe is in a tough position. Aphrodi is familiar with the scheme of 'Children being controlled by a big organization’ so I think he wants to help in any way he can.

Q Are there any characters from the original series whose GO version you like?

A He hasn’t appeared in the anime yet, but how about the person who looks like he earns the most money - Hiroto? Haha. I saw a picture from his game appearance and with his glasses he looks like he’s working the hardest! He’s probably financing the Sun Garden? Hiroto’s voice actor said to me 'Thank goodness, doesn’t Hiroto look like he’s doing well? And no matter how you look at it, Someoka looks like a mafia gangster.’

Q Are there any characters that haven’t appeared yet that you’re interested in?

A The ones I’m most worried about are Suzuno and Nagumo. They seem like they’ll have a hard time becoming normal productive members of society. I think they’ll always be naughty kids (lol). And I want to see the other Zeus members too. I wonder how they’ve grown.

Q What kind of things do you think Aphrodi himself has been doing these past ten years?

A I hope he continued with soccer. After he lost in the Asian preliminaries, I think he’d definitely do his best to train himself. Even though it wasn’t shown in the anime, he’s definitely won a lot of matches, haha. Oh, and he appears on TV as a star player! TV commercials for shampoo and beauty products would suit his pretty face.

Q This time Aphrodi didn’t have any winning matches either.

A Yeah! Every time he appears he’s on the losing side. I think that in the last ten years he’s definitely had both wins and loses which make him who he is today. Wouldn’t his special moves have evolved too? Fly even higher with your fluffy wings! I’m waiting to see that Aphrodi (lol).

Blast from the past!? Aphrodi’s junior high self!

The '12.23 Inazuma Eleven GO’ between the commercial break is the only time Junior High Aphrodi appears. After we finished recording and I played him as an adult I decided 'Okay, now please make him be a middle school kid again.’ (lol) Since it’s been a year and a half since I played young Aphrodi, it was a bit difficult. If you didn’t catch it live, definitely check it out on the DVD. (Sanpei Yuuko)