#'futatabi' also takes me out

[stillwanderingflame]

Oh look, it's crying over Joe Hisaishi's music o'clock. Listen, this live version of "Ashitaka and San" changed me as a person the first time I heard it and sometimes you just have to give it a listen and weep once again.

[trigunbookclub]

i'm a little late to join the party, so i'm doing my best to catch up! but i was taking a look at the schedule, and i see that it's sepearated into volumes. would you happen to know the schedule by chapters?

Hello! Not too late at all--anyone's welcome to join at any time! I had to dig a bit, but they have the chapters listed on Wikipedia! I'll copy and paste here in case it helps someone navigate it easier, but I'm throwing it under a cut because it'll be long. I also recommend checking out @trigun-manga-overhaul for the most accurate translations, and it's all separated by volume there :D (I've been reading their browser version since it's easiest for me to take screenshots) Okay, chapter masterlist:

Trigun 1

00.High Noon

01.The $$60 Billion Double Dollar Man

02.Looney Tunes

03.Hard Puncher

04.Popo

05.Assault

06.Die Hards

07.Rem

08.Duelist

09.Then, Between The Wasteland and Sky

10.Little Arcadia

11.Son

12.River of Life

Trigun 2

13.Blood and Thunder

14.Diablo

15.Fragile

16.Scars

17.Slaughter Cafe

18.Gathering of the Devils

19.Eye of Invisibility

20.Fifth Moon

Extra: Day In Day Out

Extra: Trigun Pilot

Trimax 1

01. "Hero Reborn"

02. "Lina" (リィナ, Rina)

03. "Bravo, Girls!" (ガールズ・ブラボー！, Gāruzu Burabō)

04. "Hero Returns"

05. "Dancing Revolver"

06. "Sin" (罪, Tsumi)

Trimax 2

07. "Return of the Blue Wing of Death" (死を運ぶ 蒼き風 再び, Shi o Hakobu Aokikaze Futatabi)

08. "Resume our Business"

09. "Samurai Showdown" (サムライショウダウン, Samurai Shoudaun)

10. "Wolfwood" (��ルフウッド, Urufuddo)

11. "Desperado"

12. "Home Sweet Home" (ホーム・スィート・ホーム, Hōmu Su~īto Hōmu)

13. "Darkness" (暗闇, Kurayami)

Trimax 3

14. "Reservoir Dogs" (レザボア・ドッグス, Rezaboa Doggusu)

15. "Cement" (セメント, Semento)

16. "No Escape"

17. "Emilio the Player" (エミリオ・ザ・プレイヤー, Emiro za Pureiyā)

18. "Long Goodbye"

19. "Families" (ファミリーズ)

20. "His Life as a..."

Trimax 4

21. "Countdown"

22. "Bluesy Killer Horn" (ブルージィ キラー ホーン, Burūji~i Kirā Hōn)

23. "Bottom of the Dark"

24. "Den of Thieves" (魔窟, Makutsu)

25. "Crying Wild Bullet" (クライング ウイルド ブリッド, Kuraingu Uirudo Buriddo)

26. "Those Who Stood Idly By" (かたわらに たたずむ ものたち, Katawarani Tatazumu Monotachi)

27. "Doomed Sinner" (絶望の罪人, Zetsubou no Zainin)

Trimax 5

28. "The City And Then The Banquet of Dogs" (街 そして犬共の宴, Machi Soshite Inudomo no Utage)

29. "Breakout" (ブレイクアウト, Bureikuauto)

30. "Loss" (喪失, Sōshitsu)

31. "Villain" (凶人, Kyoujin)

32. "Death Deal" (デス ディール, Desu Dīru)

33. "Let Us Walk the Path to Redemption" (せめて歩ませよ我が購いの道を, Semete Ayumaseyo Waga Aganai no Michi o)

Trimax 6

34. "The Gunslinger" (ザ·ガンスリンガー, Za Gansuringā)

35. "double team"

36. "Cross X Assassins" (クロスXアサシンズ, Kurosu X Asashinzu)

37. "Death Omen" (死兆, Shichō)

38. "Colorless Expression" (色無き相貌, Ironaki Sōbō)

39. "Seeds Voyaging to the Stars, A World Inside a Pod" (星を往く種子 莢の中の世界, Hoshi o Yuku Shushi Saya no Naka no Sekai)

Trimax 7

40. "happy days."

41. "Separate Ways" (セパレイトウェイズ, Separeito Uizu)

42. "The King of Loneliness" (孤独の王, Kodoku no Ō)

43. "Good For Nothing and the Blues" (ろくでなしとブルース, Rokudenashi to Burūsu)

44. "When They Arrived, It Was Already the Beginning of the End" (辿り着けばそこはすでに終わりの始まり, Tadoritsukeba Sokowa Sudeni Owari no Hajimari)

45. "Conflict" (コンフリクト, Konfurikuto)

Trimax 8

46. "Invasion" (侵攻, Shinkou)

47. Silent Ruin

48. "Counter-Attack!! (カウンターアタック！！, Kauntā Atakku)

49. "Escape (脱出, Dasshutsu)

50. "Separate Paths (それぞれの道, Sorezore no Michi)

51. Wolfwood Spin Off - Freed Bird ([外伝] FREED BIRD, [Gaiden] Freed Bird)

Trimax 9

52. Home

53. Gale

54. LR

55. Battle to the Death

56. Prostrate Demon

57. Fortitude

Trimax 10

58. Reckless Conduct

59. Sworn Friend

60. Sudden Change

61. Death Omen

62. Final Battle

63. Homecoming

64. Wolfwood

65. Final Farewell

Trimax 11

66. Zero Hour

67. Slap Sticks Days

68. Thunderstruck

69. Return of the Wicked

70. Get Ready, Get Set

71. Someone to Defend

Trimax 12

72. The Journey Ends - But Heavy Breathing Still Echoes

73. Corrosive Thunder

74. The Interceptor

75. The Gunslinger

76. + - 0

77. resonance

78. Run Livio Run

79. Lantern

80. Their Own World

Trimax 13

81. False Doppleganger

82. Double Duel

83. Demon Fire

84. Black

85. Battle of the Mystics

86. Tag in a Person

87. catch-as-catch-can

88. Apex Wings (尖翼)

89. VS

Trimax 14

90. When Conflict Comes to An End (相克果つる刻, Sōkoku hatsuru toki)

91. overkill

92. Side by Side (サイド・バイ・サイド)

93. Never give up! Never surrender!

94. Ticket to the Future (未来への切符, Mirai e no kippu)

95. Mind Games

96. Double Wings (双翼, Sōyoku)

97. Never Ending Song

[lurkingshan]

The End of the World With You

I’ll include my watch notes under a cut since I binged it and it’s long af, but the TL;DR: I really loved the first half of this but it kind of fell apart in the second half for me. On the one hand, I found the initial conflict very compelling, thought the actors had good chemistry, the show was beautiful to look at, and as @bengiyo has highlighted, it was really nice to see a show featuring an explicit queer sexual relationship leave the characters on a happy, hopeful note, if not a straightforward HEA. Ultimately though I came down agreeing with @waitmyturtles that the emotional arc just didn’t ring true. In particular, it felt like Ritsu became a totally different character in the last few episodes and it didn’t work for me despite my appreciation for some of those scenes.

I also just could not get into the whole side story about Madoka, which might be my own discomfort with stan culture and parasocial relationships getting in the way. But it took up a lot of story time and we ended up with some shortcuts in the main narrative as a result. I think a version of this show that focused more narrowly on Ritsu and Masumi repairing their relationship and finding peace with each other in their final days might have worked better.

All that aside, I am very curious what people are making of that weird ending and Yuma’s magic powers. Do we think he stopped the meteor?

Episode 1

* I like how they set this slightly in the future to give us a sense that this could be happening to us any day now, very strong doom vibes.

* Trying to imagine what I would do if I found out the world was about to end. Masumi wastes the day away playing on his phone and then heads to the library to spend his final days in quiet solitude. I think I’d probably gather up my friends and buy a ton of food and drinks and just hunker down to ride it out together.

* I love that the moment of recognition between Masumi and Ritsu was not when they first looked at each other, but when their hands touched. That’s when they both froze, like a sense memory took them over.

* Ritsu is gorgeous and he has read and enjoyed Masumi’s writing. How could anyone resist?

* This may just be me benefiting from hindsight since I already know some stuff about how the show progresses, but Ritsu does seem to sincerely connect with Masumi. He will turn out to be a horrible boyfriend but it’s not because he doesn’t like him.

Episode 2

* I remember reading some commentary toward the end of the show airing about how intensely Ritsu is focused on Masumi during sex, and it’s here too in their earlier scenes. He’s watching him closely and seems to enjoy making him feel good. Whether that’s because of any feelings he has for Masumi or his own ego remains to be seen.

* “I feel like you’re special” and “I really love you” and kissing him publicly at school and when Masumi catches him with a girl Ritsu just says “sorry that was rude”?? Jail for this man.

* Poor Masumi. Trying to get a fuckboy to love you never works (barring an apocalyptic event, apparently). But I get it, it was the first time he felt comfortable with his sexuality and it’s hard to let go of someone you’re that compatible with.

* Masumi is being pathetic but Ritsu threatening to out him is truly so vile. Back to jail!

* Ritsu trying to act like they’re old friends after things ending like that… I want to reach through the screen and slap him.

* I like this song playing at the end of the episodes, it’s pretty. (ETA: I found it - Futatabi by HIROBA feat Ai Otsuka)

* Help him with a what now??

Episode 3

* Okay I had memory-holed the corpse thing, yikes.

* Now why exactly is Ritsu running around with euthanasia drugs?

* If I was Masumi I would simply not follow my cheating ex boyfriend when he says he is going to take me to a corpse.

* The corpse is alive!! And says Ritsu told him they would die together? He truly is a POS, phew.

* This kid wanted to die because his favorite idol died by suicide? That is too unfortunately believable.

* Masumi convincing the kid to go on living only to be immediately reminded that the world is ending is so darkly funny.

* Yuma! He has a name.

* Is Ritsu really trying to get it in in this situation?? The AUDACITY of this man.

* Masumi yelling at Ritsu about how traumatic their relationship was for him is great and also unflinchingly honest. I think most people in that situation would try to keep a little pride and pretend to be unaffected.

* Damn big of you to promise a whole week of fidelity, Ritsu.

* Masumi immediately getting horny when surrounded by Ritsu’s scent. 💀

Episode 4

* Ya know I suppose if we were all about to die and I had convenient access to the best sex of my life I might just go for it, pride be damned.

* Masumi grew up abused and neglected with a hateful mother. Yep, that tracks.

* “My personal philosophy is for people to prioritize themselves.” Yeah we know, Ritsu.

* I like the energy Yuma is bringing to the story. Masumi and Ritsu are so gloomy.

* Oh fuck this. What we’re not going to do at the end of the world is waste time tending to our abusive parents.

* I don’t believe Masumi’s mother regrets what she’s done to him. She only regrets that she’s dying alone. Hoo boy, feeling a bit trigged tbh!

* Masumi, IMO this is a great time to adopt Ritsu’s personal philosophy.

* Ritsu is an asshole but he saved Masumi from himself in this moment.

Episode 5

* Why are we still paying for hotels during the apocalypse?

* Does Yuma know this girl? Looks like yes! And she knows Ritsu? Who is Rikkun?? What is happening!

* The creepy music and weird lighting - what is is trying to tell me about Meguru? Is it just that she’s trans? That doesn’t seem worth the mystery doom treatment.

* So Ritsu actually was suicidal for some reason he is not yet disclosing.

* Kido! Here to play another POS, no doubt. That escalated quickly, what a creep.

* I, too, thought Yuma might be controlling the weather.

Episode 6

* I’m sure all of this talk about the idol sister is supposed to be touching but I’m too distracted by the implausibility of this group of people with all these convenient connections to each other’s traumas just happening to meet up while running around in an apocalypse.

* This whole emotional thread hinging on Yuma’s parasocial fixation on an idol he’s never met… mmm, I don’t know, fam.

* I don’t know that I am buying Ritsu’s tears over Masumi getting hurt and his sudden epiphany that he’s a POS. Seems kind of abrupt? And Masumi immediately responding with a kiss and forgiveness? I think the characters could be convincingly taken to this place with more time and development but this feels unearned.

* The Madoka stuff really isn’t working for me. In a show with such a short run time I’d rather they kept a tighter focus on the main pair’s relationship rather than diverting to this side story. And I really don’t buy Ritsu feeling guilty about not saving her. It just doesn’t track with anything else we know about him.

* Sidebar: Baka here is translated as “you ass” but I know this word from We Best Love when Shu Yi keeps calling Shi De an idiot (affectionate).

* This might be the episode where the show lost me. I think they skipped important beats in the emotional arcs and took some narrative shortcuts that didn’t really work (maybe due to the short run time) so I’m not going to fully buy anything that happens from here.

Episode 7

* Ritsu is a romantic now! Okay.

* Surprised to learn Ritsu was with Masumi for six months. How did they make it that long before Masumi realized he was fucking everything that moved?

* Ritsu’s reaction when Madoka called him an asshole for cheating on Masumi felt more genuine. That kind of rye amusement - yep I’m the worst - felt more like him than the guilty crying and suicidal ideation.

* This scene at the waterfall is really beautiful. I like it despite not fully buying some of the underlying emotions.

* Yuma just now realizing they’re “like that” is sending me. His sexual tension detector is clearly faulty.

* Meguru really didn’t think it through when she decided to appear in front of her parents suddenly looking like her dead sister.

Episode 8

* I really wish Yuma and Meguru’s connection was NOT based around Madoka. I think I’d be more into it if they’d scrapped the idol thing and just had them be two kids who met by chance.

* Okay but for real what is with Yuma’s magic powers? It feels so random.

* So after all that Yuma just leaves?

* The fogged up car windows were a nice touch. Kept waiting for Masumi to slap his hand against the glass like Rose.

* Wait Ritsu’s reason for wanting to die was his business was in debt? That’s it??

* I would have liked some flashbacks to Ritsu’s perspective in college. I think it would have made this “I loved you all along and always wanted you back” thing more believable.

* I like that Masumi wants to live on but I also don’t actually believe Ritsu would be faithful if the world wasn’t ending. 😶

* Was that a bare hip bone I spied in this final sex scene? Goodness.

* Dude what the hell. Is Yuma the meteor? Did Yuma magically stop the meteor? What am I supposed to do with this!

[pikahlua]

MHA Chapter 338 spoilers translations

This week’s initial tentative super rough/literal translations under the cut.

Tagline No.338皆がヒーローになるまでの物語（１） ナンバー338みんながヒーローになるまでのものがたり（１） No.338 minna ga HIIROO ni naru made no monogatari (1) No.338 The story of how everyone became heroes (1)

1 待って緑谷くん まってみどりやくん matte Midoriya-kun "Wait Midoriya-kun"

2 三茶 さんさ Sansa "Sansa"

3 青��の口を塞いでおけ あおやまのくちをふ��いでおけ Aoyama no kuchi wo fusaide oke "Cover the Aoyamas' mouths"

4 拘束中だ手は取れない こうそくちゅうだてはとれない kousokuchuu da te wa torenai "He's restrained and cannot take your hand"

5 事情はどうあれ じじょうはどうあれ jijou wa dou are "Whatever the circumstances"

6 AFOに加担した罪は消えない オール・フォー・ワンにかたんしたつみはきえない OORU FOO WAN ni katan shita tsumi wa kienai "Their crimes complicit with AFO will not disappear"

7 それに sore ni "Additionally"

8 状況から安全と推測しているだけで じょうきょうからセーフとすいそくしているだけで joukyou kara SEEFU to suisoku shiteiru dake de "We're just guessing he's safe because of the situation but"

9 まだナガンのような仕掛けが無いと言い切れない まだナガンのようなしかけがないといいきれない mada NAGAN no you na shikake ga nai to ii kirenai "we still can't say there is no explosion mechanism like with Nagant yet."

10 セントラルの検査結果が出るまでーー セントラルのけんさけっかがでるまでーー SENTORARU no kensa kekka ga deru made--- "Until the Central [hospital]'s test results come out---"

11 これ以上彼に喋らせるのは良くない これいじょうかれにしゃべらせるのはよくない kore ijou kare ni shaberaseru no wa yokunai "it's not good to let/make him talk anymore than this."

1 君たちが捕まっても辿られないように……かならばあの戦いは きみたちがつかまってもたどられないように……かならばあのたたかいは kimi-tachi ga tsukamattemo tadorarenai you ni......ka naraba ano tatakai wa "He made it so that even if you're caught he can't be traced...and if so, that battle..."

2 塚内さん…！ つかうちさん…！ Tsukauchi-san...! "Tsukauchi-san...!"

3 AFOは見つからない オール・フォー・ワンはみつからない OORU FOO WAN wa mitsukaranai "We won't find All For One"

4 それが…今の見方でしょう…⁉︎ それが…いまのみかたでしょう…⁉︎ sore ga...ima no mikata deshou...!? "That's...don't you see it now...!?"

5 ………あ… .........a... ".........ah..."

6 恐らく後手は必死 おそらくごてはひっし osoraku gote wa hisshi "They probably will get the initiative"

7 だからこその今のヤケクソ人海戦術なんだよ だからこそのいまのヤケクソじんかいせんじゅつなんだよ dakara koso no ima no YAKEKUSO jinkaisenjutsu nanda yo "That's why our current strat is to throw a ton of people at the problem."

8 ああ…！ aa...! "Yeah...!"

1 「だからせめてーー "dakara semete--- "'That's why at least---"

2 出方を誘導できたら…」ーー！ でかたをゆうどうできたら…」ーー！ dekata wo yuudou dekitara..."---! "if we can choose how we enter [the battle]...'---!"

3 そっか…！ sokka...! "I see...!"

4 見方を変えれば… みかたをかえれば… mikata wo kaereba... "If we change our perspective..."

5 現状ただ一人ーー げんじょうただひとりーー genjou tada hitori--- "Currently, there's only one person---"

6 なんで彼は なんでかれは nande kare wa "Why are they"

7 こんな僕をーー こんなぼくをーー konna boku wo--- "for someone like me---"

8 青山さんだけが あおやまさんだけが Aoyama-san dake ga "Only Aoyama-san"

1 彼の心の内を救い取れなかった かれのこころのうちをすくいとれなかった kare no kokoro no uchi wo sukui torenakatta "I couldn't reach and save within his heart."

2 俺たちの責任でもあります おれたちのせきにんでもあります ore-tachi no sekinin demo arimasu "It is also our responsibility"

3 だからこそ dakara koso "That's precisely why"

4 今 いま ima "Now"

5 泣いて絶望しているクラスメイトを ないてぜつぼうしているクラスメイトを naite zetsubou shiteiru KURASUMEITO wo "our classmate crying and despairing..."

6 友として手を取りたい ともとしててをとりたい tomo to shite te wo toritai "as his friend, I want to take his hand"

1 [...]を取って[...]いたい [...]をとって[...]いたい [...]wo totte [...] itai "[...]take [...] want"

2 [...]れが…彼と[...]たちが [...]れが…かれと[...]たちが [...]-re ga...kare to [...] -tachi ga "[...] who...he and [...] they"

3 再び対等になれる ふたたびたいとうになれる futatabi taitou ni nareru "again can become equal"

4 唯一の方法だからです ゆいいつのほうほうだからです yuiitsu no houhou dakara desu "Because it's the only way."

1 …ひでー目には遭ってっからなァ… …ひでーめにはあってっからなァ… ...hideeme ni wa attekkara naA... "...right in your terrible eyes..."

2 ５発くらいハウザーぶちこんでトントンだな ５はつくらいハウザーぶちこんでトントンだな 5hatsu kurai HAUZAA buchikonde TONTON da na "About 5 Howitzer rounds in rapid succession['ll do it for me.]"

3 つっこみ辛すぎるか[...]やめろ… つっこみづらすぎるか[...]やめろ… tsukkomi dzura sugiru ka [...] yamero... "That's a little harsh [...] knock it off"

4 どうだぜ dou da ze "How about it?"

5 青山はAFOに勝てねぇと思ったから あおやまはオール・フォー・ワンにかてねぇとおもったから Aoyama wa OORU FOO WAN ni katenee to omotta kara "Aoyama, because you thought AFO can't be defeated"

6 従っちまったんだろでも今は違ぇから「止めよう」って親御さんに言ってくれたんだろ したがっちまったんだろでもいまはちげぇから「とめよう」っておやごさんにいってくれたんだろ shitagacchimattandaro demo ima wa chigee kara "tomeyou" tte oyagosan ni itte kuretandaro "you obeyed, but now it's different, so you told your parents 'Let's stop' [for our sakes], right?"

1 緑谷を止めに行った時 み��りやをとめにいったとき Midoriya wo tome ni itta toki "When we went to stop Midoriya"

2 誰か一人でも”無個性”をせめたかよ⁉︎ だれかひとりでも”むこせい”をせめたかよ⁉︎ dare ka hitori demo "mukosei" wo semeta ka yo!? "Even if only one of us was quirkless!?"

3 涙こらえて隠し事してた奴嫌いになったかよ⁉︎ なみだこらえてかくしごとしてたやつきらいになったかよ⁉︎ namida koraete kakushigoto shiteta yatsu kirai ni natta ka yo!? "Did you come to hate the guy who was holding back tears and hiding!?"

4 青山‼︎ あおやま‼︎ Aoyama!! "Aoyama!!"

5 まだ mada "We still"

6 一緒に踏んばれるんだよ俺たち‼︎ いっしょにふんばれるんだよおれたち‼︎ issho ni funbarerunda yo ore-tachi!! "would have have stood firmly together with you!!"

7 盛り上がってるとこ悪いが… もりあがってるとこわるいが… mori agatteru toko warui ga... "I know everyone's excited, but sorry..."

8 青山一家に捜査協力を頼むとしてーーー あおやまいっかにそうさきょうりょくをたのむとしてーーー Aoyama ikka ni sousa kyouryoku wo tanomu to shite--- "To ask the Aoyama family to cooperate in the investigation---"

9 嘘は通じないと先程聞いてる うそはつうじないとさきほどきいてる uso wa tsuuji nai to sakihodo kiiteru "I heard earlier that you cannot lie."

10 君たちの気持ちは分かるがここは冷静にーー きみたちのきもちはわかるがここはれいせいにーー kimi-tachi no kimochi wa wakaru ga koko wa reisei ni--- “I understand everyone's feelings, but keep calm---"

11 (next page) 緑谷… みどりや… Midoriya... "Midoriya..."

12 (next page) 塚内さん つかうちさん Tsukauchi-san "Tsukauchi-san"

1 青山 あおやま Aoyama "Aoyama"

2 俺はまだおまえを除籍するつもりはない おれはまだおまえをじょせきするつもりはない ore wa mada omae wo joseki suru tsumori wa nai "I do not yet plan on expelling you."

1 A組担任として エーぐみたんにんとして EEgumi tannin to shite "As Class A's homeroom teacher"

2 俺に考えがある おれにかんがえがある ore ni kangae ga are "I have an idea"

3 塚内さん一応青山たちには聞こえないようーー… つかうちさんいちおうあおやまたちにはきこえないようーー… Tsukauchi-san ichiou Aoyama-tachi ni wa kikoenai you---... "Tsukauchi-san, for now keep the Aoyamas from hearing---..."

4 (next page) 君たちはこの事を決して他言しない[...] きみたちはこのことをけっしてたごんしない[...] kimi-tachi wa kono koto wo kesshite tagon shinai[...] "You all, don't say anything other than this[...]"

1 うん un "Yeah!"

1-2 ……とりあえず準備だな ……とりあえずじゅんびだな ......toriaezu junbi da na "......in the meantime we should prepare."

3 コスチュームをどうにかせねば COSUCHUUMU wo dou ni ka seneba "Gotta do something about my costume"

4 バラバラになってしまったからな BARABARA ni natte shimatta kara na "because it's falling apart."

5 僕も… ぼくも… boku mo... "Mine too..."

1 次の戦いに備える為に つぎのたたかいにそなえるために tsugi no tatakai ni sonaeru tame ni "In order to prepare for the next battle"

2 万全を期す為に ばんぜんをきすために banzen wo kisu tame ni "To be on the safe side"

3 直しておかないどいけない装備がーー なおしておかないどいけないそうびがーー naoshite okanaido ikenai soubi ga--- "My equipment must be repaired--"

4 デジャブ… DEJA BU... "Deja vu..."

5 いたたた… itatata... "Ow ow ow..."

1 お久し振りですね緑谷くん！ おひさしぶりですねみどりやくん！ ohisashi buri desu ne Midoriya-kun! "It's been a while, hasn't it, Midoriya-kun!"

Tagline 発目現わる‼︎ はつめあらわわる‼︎ Hatsume arawaru!! Hatsume appears!! 

[aestheticallyholland]

lost in japan | s. mendes

a/n: basically a girlfriend! reader x on tour! shawn mendes. hope you like it! as usual, play the song on the queue. also, i used google translate for the japanese sentences because i have no idea how to japanese huhu.

song lost in japan | word count 2.3k words

"Thank you, Macau! Have a great night!"

Shawn bowed down to the wild crowd as he ended his show and exited to the backstage with his guitar. He was soaking wet due to the sprinklers they put up in every concert they do.

"Great job, Shawn!" Most of the people who worked backstage told him as he walked going to his dressing room. He smiled at them and mouthed thank you to them.

He opened the door to his dressing room and found his friend, Brian, just sitting and reading some magazines. Shawn placed his guitar down and sat down for a while to breathe properly.

"Man, what a night," Shawn said and got a bottle of water and drank it until it was empty. That was how exhausted he was after the show.

"And we will travel again tomorrow early morning to Japan for your last tour in Asia," Brian said.

"Yep. Can't wait." Shawn answered and got a towel for his hair.

"You know who else you can't wait to see?" Brian asked and Shawn looked at his friend and grinned.

"Yep, I definitely can't wait to see her. Damn, it's been months or almost a year, man. I miss her." Shawn said and can't help but think about his high school girlfriend.

"Will you tell her ahead or you want to surprise her?" Brian asked.

"I'm still thinking about it," Shawn answered. "Right now, I need some sleep." Shawn got the magazine from Brian and covered his head to sleep.

"Whoa whoa, you can't sleep right now. You still have to see your meet and greet session in the backstage." Brian got the magazine off Shawn's face and he groaned.

"Five minutes, mom." Shawn joked and got back the magazine.

"No. You should go." Brian scolded Shawn then he removed the magazine once again from Shawn's face.

"Fine. You come with me." Shawn pulled Brian's arm as he stood up and almost made Brian fall.

play song

The rest of the night, Shawn spent it hanging out with his fans and taking photos with each one of them. He was genuinely happy with his career right now but the only person that he can't wait to see was his girlfriend who he hasn't seen personally in like forever.

❝ all it'd take is one flight we'd be in the same time zone looking through your timeline seeing all the rainbows, i ❞

Shawn and his crew finally flew off to Japan the next day and he could not wait to visit the place and have a little tour a few days before the show.

"Did you tell her that you're in Japan now?" Brian asked who was seated next to Shawn in the car that was going to the hotel that they'll stay in.

"Not yet," Shawn answered. "Luckily, I contacted one of her friends here that was acquainted to me during high school who is also working here in Japan near her."

"You're lucky then." Brian teased that made Shawn chuckle. "You have like, two days before the show to have fun a bit in Japan."

"Yep. I am so going to make the most out of it." Shawn said.

❝ i got an idea and i know that it sounds crazy i just wanna see ya oh, i gotta ask ❞

Y/N has been working in Japan ever since she got off college. She worked as a translator, especially in businesses or events. She studied different languages since that was her passion since high school and Japanese was the first language she studied.

"Kaigi de futatabi watashitachi o tasukete kurete arigato, misu Y/L/N." (Thank you again for assisting us in this meeting, Miss Y/L/N.) A Japanese CEO said and shook his hand to her.

"Dou itashimasite." Y/N replied 'you're welcome' in Japanese with a smile and made a small bow as respect before leaving the building.

She walked with a big smile on her face as she did a great job today, unlike the other days. She suddenly felt her phone rang and quickly got it from the pocket of her coat. She took a look at who it was as she smiled when she saw her friend's name on her phone.

"Y/F/N?" She answered the call.

"Y/N! Meet me at the hotel later night at seven. I'm going to text you the address later." Her friend suddenly said which made Y/N so confused.

"Wait what? Why-"

"Don't ask any more questions. I promise you, you are gonna love it. See you!" The call suddenly ended and Y/N was still dumbfounded.

"Okay?" She mumbled under her breath and place her phone back to where it was.

That was weird. She thought.

❝ do you got plans tonight? i'm a couple hundred miles from japan, and i i was thinking i could fly to your hotel tonight 'cause i can't get you off my mind can't get you off my mind can't get you off my mind ❞

Y/N changed her clothes before she could go and meet her friend in the hotel. It was already past five in the afternoon and she was getting ready.

Will Y/F/N treat me dinner in the hotel? She asked herself and thinking about dinner just made her a bit hungry.

After walking and riding trains, she finally got off the place that was near to that hotel. As she was walking, she noticed flyers in the streets with a very very familiar face on it. She stopped walking for a while and focused on reading what was on the flyer until her eyes widen.

"Shawn is having a concert here?!" Y/N asked to herself with her eyes completely open. How could she not notice it?

❝ i could feel the tension we could cut it with a knife i know it's more than just a friendship i can hear you thinking 'bout it, yeah ❞

She looked at the date on when it was going to happen and was more shocked that it will be showing after two days.

Does this mean that he is already here in Japan? She asked herself.

"I should contact him." Y/N said to herself and got her phone but she realized that she had to go and meet Y/F/N first since it was almost seven in the evening.

"I'll do it later then." She groaned and kept her phone away and walked fast towards the hotel. A few minutes of walking, she finally reached the hotel and quickly went inside.

She looked at the lobby to look for her friend but there was no sign of her.

Is this some sort of prank or something? Y/N asked herself in confusion while looking around.

Until she heard that voice that hasn't heard in months, personally.

"Y/N?" Her eyes widen as she heard his voice behind her. She felt everything stopped around her and her thoughts were mixing on her head.

Is that him? Is it really him? She asked herself before turning around to really confirm who it was.

❝ do i gotta convince you? that you shouldn't fall asleep? it'll only be a couple hours and i'm about to leave ❞

She turned around and saw her tall, muscular and perfectly toned body, curly-haired boyfriend in front of her eyes. She smiled at the sight of him and quickly walked closer to him.

"Shawn." Y/N called out and Shawn opened up his arms for a hug.

"Come here," Shawn said and Y/N ran up to him and gave him a big hug and he quickly closed his arms around her and snuggled his head to her neck. "I missed you so much, baby girl." He mumbled to her.

"I miss you too." Y/N replied and pulled away to get a good look at him. "Damn, your hair grew so curly, babe." She said and he gave a chuckle.

"I like it that way," Shawn answered with his arms still around her.

"How come you never told me that you're already here? I could've prepared something for you." Y/N said and placed a hand on his cheek.

"I wanted to surprise you. Thanks to Y/F/N." He said.

"That's why she called me to go here." Y/N said and Shawn nodded. He cupped her face with both of his hands and kissed her forehead.

"I have two days to spare and I want to spend it with you," Shawn said and Y/N giggled. "I'm glad I don't have work in those days." She said.

❝ do you got plans tonight? i'm a couple hundred miles from japan, and i i was thinking i could fly to your hotel tonight 'cause I can't get you off my mind can't get you off my mind can't get you off my mind ❞

They decided to stay in Y/N apartment first later that night. Shawn already told Brian about this who didn't argue back about the idea because he knew how Shawn misses Y/N so much.

Y/N prepared him dinner full of Japanese cuisines that Shawn never tried before and he absolutely loved it. They spent the night together talking, watching movies and even ended up making out until they eventually slept in her bedroom.

"Come with me to the concert. You are gonna love it." Shawn said as he sat down in front of his girlfriend who finished making their breakfast.

"I am so tight with money right now, Shawn—"

"What I mean was." Shawn started. "I'm taking you backstage with me." He said and her eyes grew big.

"Really?" She asked and Shawn nodded excitedly. "Do they even allow that?" She asked him again.

"I can convince them, don't worry. Besides, you are the most important person in my life right beside my family." Shawn said and Y/N giggled on what he said.

"Come on, eat now. Don't want your food to be cold." Y/N said then grinned before she took a piece of her food and chewed it. Shawn just gave her a big smile before eating.

❝ let's get lost tonight let's get lost tonight baby, you and i can't seem to get you off my mind ❞

They basically spend the next two days together as what Shawn promised her ever since they met again. Y/N was the one who toured him around Tokyo and the nearby places around them. Although there were so many paparazzi around, Shawn tried his best to protect her from those but that didn't stop them from having fun.

On the day before his concert, Y/N took an overnight in where Shawn was staying since he would be busy before the concert tomorrow.

The day of the concert came and Y/N was so hyped to experience one of Shawn's concerts. Never in her life has she been to one of his concerts or any concert at all because of her work. She was just staying in the backstage before the concert began and looking at her handsome boyfriend who was wearing his usual white sleeveless shirt and black pants. His curls were on point and his biceps were showing off. He really worked out a lot. Y/N thought to herself.

"Like what you're seeing?" Shawn interrupted her thoughts that made her smile for him. He went closer to her to wrap his arms around her before the show starts. "You are so handsome." She complimented her as he kissed her nose which made her giggle. "Only for you, babe." He replied and leaned his forehead to hers.

"Shawn! It's showtime!" One of the crew said that made Shawn pull away from her.

"Just stay somewhere where I can see you, okay? Let Brian go with you." Shawn said before leaving to go to the backstage. "Love you!" He said and ran towards the stage. "Love you too!" Y/N shouted back. Seconds after, Y/N could hear the crowd went wild, mostly girls, then the lights started to show up.

Brian assisted Y/N on where to stay that Shawn could still look at her from time to time. The show went on and Shawn was singing most of his popular songs to the audience. All Y/N could do was look at him and sang the lyrics with him. Basically enjoying herself.

❝ do you got plans tonight, baby? i was hoping i could get lost in your paradise the only think i'm thinking 'bout is you and i and i can't get you off my mind can't get you off my mind can't get you off my mind, yeah ❞

Y/N saw Shawn glanced at her while singing those lyrics and playing his guitar. He smiled when he saw her and she smiled back at him.

Even though after this they won't see each other again for a long time, she will never ever forget the days that she spent with him.

"I love you, Japan!" Shawn said as the song ended and he then looked at Y/N's direction and said,

"I love you, Y/N!"

She looked at him with a big smile on her face from the distance and gave him a flying kiss in return which Shawn 'receives' it with his hand and place that hand on his chest.

From that moment on, she will do whatever she can to not let go of him. And neither will he.

❝ let's get lost tonight let's get lost tonight baby, you and i can't seem to get you off my mind ❞

see more of my stories here

[tigerintokyo]

Stella by Fling Posse (En, romaji, kanji)

English translation, romaji, and Japanese after the cut.

English translation:

(Gentaro) Somewhere, a star shoots across the sky As though being pulled, it traced the edge of the night A king of the planet of the burned sword, A thief from the planet of crystal on the right and sand on the left, And a scientist from the star that lost its light in the far off corner of the universe… By chance, they looked up at the same shooting star A ship loaded with fragments of their story Took off in the blink of an eye

(Dice) The rest of the countries are destroyed, a gate to the undone rule of might I left but I’m still surrounded by smoke and the leftover scent of defeat The tragically ignorant people said they believed in something like a miracle A fugitive chased from the planet while burning in remorse and regrets A monochrome window to a distant throne Is sticking to ideals a fatal poison? If that’s the way it is, then it’s like playing to a crowd The lifeboat is set down, headed towards an unfamiliar planet Venez m'aider (come and help) [1] Meditate the meaning of why I was left alive, and dream of the day I can rebuild

A played back verse I reached out to the shooting star The universe that extends to the beginning Connects to the future with the ending in mind That one unwavering star, deep inside, And repeat again and again Step out into orbit Eternal reincarnation A true shooting star Dancing across space “Stella by Starlight” Its distorted path is luminous

(Gentaro) Strangely, it seems a visitor crashed here, tonight He’s fallen here, but it’s like the moon has also fallen A former king? You don’t know anything, but know that a thief has to live as a thief I can’t have my head dancing around in space The world is a jigsaw puzzle created by sadistic priests, wherein Without reason, history has been hypnotized to look like people live and die with their social status (i.e. social class based on wealth) [2] Ah, because I want to kill this boredom that is creeping up my throat Take me with you, Messiah

A played back verse I reached out to the shooting star The universe that extends to the beginning Connects to the future with the ending in mind That one unwavering star, deep inside, And repeat again and again Step out into orbit Eternal reincarnation A true shooting star Dancing across space “Stella by Starlight” Its distorted path is luminous

(Ramuda) It’s quite a story of a lot of hardships from far away This place is covered with ice, and I’m the only thing living To attend to my research, I separated myself from a moral life (way of people) [3] Like paper scraps of a love letter, but the recipient is forgotten Like material left at the end of a labyrinth Like a white camellia that blooms forever [4] In the face of truth, things like ethics weigh you down In my pursuit, I stopped aging For a fragment of the life that I desired, but it was all a daydream I lament in a nocturne that I am already too late

Noise from between the stars Steal the night sky Like a ephemeral collage, starlight starlight

Ramuda: Why do you bother with me? Dice: You seem to be similar to us. Gentaro: Something like “birds of a feather”? [5] Dice: Maybe. Ramuda: It doesn’t matter. [6] Dice: You’re a slave to a wish. Ramuda: How can you tell? Gentaro: You can tell by looking. It’s like you lost something Gentaro, Dice: Like a glass bead. Ramuda: If I could, someday I would want to see my homeland. Dice: Then it’s decided. Ramuda: I don’t know if it’s even there. Gentaro: If you stay in this place, nothing will change. Dice: Then, about where this empty ship will end up… Dice, Gentaro: Why don’t we place a bet?

The universe is blocked off Shut in darkness The feint light of a falling star Lights up this strange connection Only the will to try again is firmly expressed Adding heat to the fire Emerging from the cocoon

Keep your feet facing forward Don’t make a mistake even if you pause on your next step Keep your feet facing forward With only a single focus, let’s cherish the mistakes we make sometimes Step out as far as possible So that your own shadow can’t catch you when you look back Keep your feet facing forward Asking at the end of dawn This is a story of stumbling as a means to fly

A played back verse I reached out to the shooting star The universe that extends to the beginning Connects to the future with the ending in mind That one unwavering star, deep inside, And repeat again and again Step out into orbit Eternal reincarnation A true shooting star Dancing across space “Stella by Starlight” Its distorted path is luminous

-

Romaji:

(Gentaro) Dokoka de hoshi ga nagareta Sore wa tagurare you ni yoru no fuchi o nazotta Yakeochi ta tsurugi no hoshi de ousama ga Migi gawa ga suishou, hidari gawa ga suna no hoshi de sanzoku ga Hikari kata o wasureta sumikko no hoshi de kagakusha ga Futo onaji ryuusei o aoida Monogatari no kirehashi o noseta fune wa Mabataki no sukima no nutte tobisatta

(Dice) Yo no kuni wa horobita, hokorobi ta hadou e no tobira Tachinoku mi wo naomo torimaku shouen to haisen no nokorika Kiseki no tourai nado wo shinji ta higeki no moumai to tami wa iita Jiseki to koukai ni yakare nagara hoshi o owareru toubousha Monokuro na mado no mukou toonoku ouza Shi ni itaru moudoku to wa risou no shuchou ka Naraba koso, hito wo toku you da Koukashi dasu kyuumei tei mishiranu hoshi ni mukeru Venez m'aider Ikasareta imi o meditate, saiken no hi wo yumemite

Saisei no Verse Ryuusei ni te wo nobasu Hajimari ga tsuranaru universe Tsunai de iku mirai with the ending in mind Yuruginai hitotsu no hoshi ga deep inside Nan do datte kurikaesu Kidou ni sotte fumidasu Itsu made mo reincarnation Utsuwari no nai shooting star Chuu ni mau “Stella by Starlight” Kiseki wa ibitsu na hou ga Luminous

(Gentaro) Myou ni shareta nari no kyakujin da na konya wa Ochita saki ga koko jya tsuki mo ochi ta you da na Moto ousama ka nanka shiranga touzoku ni wa touzoku no ryuugi ga aru to shire Kubi ga chuu ni mau to ike nee Sekai wa sadisuto na Priest tachi ga egaku jigsaw puzzle Riyuu mo naku hinpu no sa de shinu you na Hypnotize sareta Histoire Naa nodo moto o haizuru kono taikutsu wo koroshitain da Ore mo ubaisatte kure messiah

Saisei no Verse Ryuusei ni te wo nobasu Hajimari ga tsuranaru universe Tsunai de iku mirai with the ending in mind Yuruginai hitotsu no hoshi ga deep inside Nan do datte kurikaesu Kidou ni sotte fumidasu Itsu made mo reincarnation Utsuwari no nai shooting star Chuu ni mau “Stella by Starlight” Kiseki wa ibitsu na hou ga Luminous

(Ramuda) Harubaru gokurou na koto taisou na hanashi da ne Kouri ni oowareta koko de seimei wa watashi dake Kenkyuu wa ki ga tsuke ba hito no michi wo hazureta Dare ga tame ka mo wasure ta kamikuzu no you na love letter Meikyuu no hate ni aru material Eikyuu no kate ni saku shiroi camellia Shinri no mae ni wa rinri no sakebi nado kase ni naru Oi moto metakute oi wo tometa Koi kogareta inochi no kakera, subete wa haku chuumu Mou osoin dayo to doukoku suru Nocturne

Hoshi no aima kara Noise Yozora o sarai Utsusemi no collage mitai na starlight starlight

Naze watashi ni kamaun da Niteiru ki ga shitan da Onaji ana no muji natte ka Sate na Kudaranai Negai ni torawareteiru Naze wakaru? Me de wakaru sa. Nani ka o ushinatte glass dama no you da

Kanau nara itsuka furusato ga mitai na Nara kimarida Aru no ka mo wakaranai Kono ni ite mo kawaranai Dewa utsuro na kono fune ga doko e yuku no ka Kakete minai ka

Sora wa fusagari Tojikomotta kuragai Hoshi ga otosu usu akari Terashi dasu fushigi na tsunagari Futatabi wo nagau kokoro dake ga jitto tsutawari Netsu wo kuberu kagari Uka shite iku sanagi

Tsuma saki wa mae ni mukete oku Tachi domatta tsugi no ippo me demo machigaenai you ni Tsuma saki wa mae ni mukete oku Tada ichizuna me de itsuka ayamachi sura me de you Tsuma saki wa dekiru kagiri tooku fumikomu Furi kaeru toki jibun no kage ga oitsuke nai you ni Tsuma saki wa mae ni mukete oku Akatsui no hate ni tou Kore wa tsumazuki wo kate ni tobu story

Saisei no Verse Ryuusei ni te wo nobasu Hajimari ga tsuranaru universe Tsunai de iku mirai with the ending in mind Yuruginai hitotsu no hoshi ga deep inside Nan do datte kurikaesu Kidou ni sotte fumidasu Itsu made mo reincarnation Utsuwari no nai shooting star Chuu ni mau “Stella by Starlight” Kiseki wa ibitsu na hou ga Luminous

-

Japanese (kanji):

どこかで星が流れた それは手繰られるように夜の縁をなぞった 焼け落ちた剣の星で王様が 右側が水晶、左側が砂の星で山賊が 光り方を忘れた隅っこの星で科学者が ふと同じ流星を仰いだ 物語の切れ端を乗せた船は 瞬きの隙間を縫って飛び去った

余の国は滅びた　綻びた覇道への扉 立ち退く身を尚も取り巻く硝煙と敗戦の残り香 奇跡の到来などを信じた悲劇の蒙昧と民は云った 自責と後悔に灼かれながら星を追われる逃亡者 モノクロな窓の向こう遠のく王座 死に至る猛毒とは理想の主張か なればこそ人を説くようだ 降下し出す���命艇　見知らぬ星に向ける Venez m’aider 生かされた意味を meditate　再建の日を夢見て

再生の Verse 流星に手を伸ばす 始まりが連なるユニバース 繋いでいく未来 with the ending in mind 揺るぎない一つの星が deep inside 何度だって繰り返す 軌道に沿って踏み出す いつまでも reincarnation 偽りの無い shooting star 宙に舞う“Stella by Starlight” 軌跡は歪な方が Luminous

妙に洒落たナリの客人だな今夜は 堕ちた先がここじゃツキも落ちたようだな 元王様か何か知らんが盗賊には盗賊の流儀があると知れ 首が宙に舞うといけねえ 世界はサディストな Priest 達が描くジグソーパズル 理由も無く貧富の差で死ぬような Hypnotize された Histoire なぁ喉元を這いずるこの退屈を殺したいんだ 俺も奪い去ってくれメサイア

再生の Verse 流星に手を伸ばす 始まりが連なるユニバース 繋いでいく未来 with the ending in mind 揺るぎない一つの星が deep inside 何度だって繰り返す 軌道に沿って踏み出す いつまでも reincarnation 偽りの無い shooting star 宙に舞う“Stella by Starlight” 軌跡は歪な方が Luminous

Ramuda 遥々ご苦労なこと大層な話だね 氷に覆われたここで生命は私だけ 研究は気が付けば人の道を外れた 誰が為かも忘れた紙屑のようなラブレター 迷宮の果てにあるマテリアル 永久を糧に咲く白いカメリア 真理の前には倫理の叫びなど枷(かせ)になる 追い求めたくて老いを止めた 恋い焦がれた命の欠片　全ては白昼夢 もう遅いんだよと慟哭する Nocturne

星の合間からノイズ 夜空を攫(さら)い 空蝉のコラージュみたいな starlight starlight

「何故私に構うんだ。」 「似ている気がしたんだ。」 「同じ穴のムジナってか。」 「さてな。」 「くだらない。」 「願いに囚われている。」 「何故わかる？」 「目でわかるさ。何かを失ってガラス玉のようだ。」

「叶うならいつか故郷が見たいな。」 「なら決まりだ。」 「あるのかもわからない。」 「此処にいても変わらない。」 「では虚ろなこの船が何処へ着(ゆ)くのか賭けてみないか。」

宇宙は塞がり 閉じ篭った暗がり 星が落とす薄明かり 照らし出す不思議な繋がり 再びを願う心だけがじっと伝わり 熱をくべる篝 羽化していく蛹

爪先は前に向けておく 立ち止まった次の一歩目でも間違えないように 爪先は前に向けておく ただ一途な目でいつか過ちすら愛でよう 爪先はできる限り遠く踏み込む 振り返る時自分の影が追い付けないように 爪先は前に向けておく 暁の果てに問う これは躓きを糧に飛ぶ story

再生の Verse 流星に手を伸ばす 始まりが連なるユニバース 繋いでいく未来 with the ending in mind 揺るぎない一つの星が deep inside 何度だって繰り返す 軌道に沿って踏み出す いつまでも reincarnation 偽りの無い shooting star 宙に舞う“Stella by Starlight” 軌跡は歪な方が Luminous

—

T/N:

“Venez m'aider” is French for “come and help,” but also the distress signal “mayday” is a shortening of this phrase.

The nuance is that people are stuck in their financial or social status, more lit. “and die with the difference in wealth”.

Lit. “way of people,” but the meaning is meant to be a life led by morals.

I interpreted these three examples as related to Ramuda’s “pursuit” as metaphors. (paper scraps -> have to be gathered, but recipient is forgotten; material in labyrinth -> as in a game, you have to journey to find it; a white camelia that blooms forever -> a certain kind of “scientific” pursuit, parallels that Ramuda “stopped aging”).

Lit. “Badgers from the same hole,” an idiom for same type of people, usually applied to “bad guys,” but since Gentaro is saying it about himself, he’s using it in a self-deprecating way.

More lit. “How worthless,” but based on his character in this song, it seems Ramuda would find anything outside of his personal pursuit worthless.

The song often uses the structure “you ni” which is a common structure used at the end of making a wish (to a star, at a shrine, etc.). I like how the lyrics use this structure continuously throughout the song as well as the similar structure “you da.” 

–> The bridge part with it’s “you ni” is kind of playing on this structure as well, but with “keep your feet forward” as a way to make the wish come true.

There are a lot of interesting lines in which homonyms are used though they have different meaning, so I think it’s interesting to see the pronunciation and the kanji as well.

—

Extra analysis (subjective, updating):

French lyrics point to two references with French sources –>

A Trip to the Moon (silent film) by Georges Méliès: a science fiction film about finding new horizons. Also, Dice’s line *monochrome window* as this film is in black in white as well as the film rollng sound at the beginning of the song. (Note: in Gentaro’s verse, “moon” is actually written in katagana, and by nature left open to interpretation.)

The Little Prince, a picture book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: the planet hopping as well how the planets are described in general, as well as finding “ridiculousness” at each planet. The prince also longs to return home. (Additionally, a flower, in this case a camellia, at does not age, i.e. does not die –> In The Little Prince, the prince wants to protect a rose he has fallen in love with. I think there are more meta connections in general to the Little Prince/Saint-Exupéry, but I’m going to stop here.)

Other references

Peter Pan: Ramuda’s “stopped aging” as well as stepping far enough out so that your shadow can’t catch you.

“Stella by Starlight” most famously known as a jazz standard by Victor Young (Lyrics by Ned Washington) and featured in the film The Uninvited (1944), a horror film, but I think the reference is more to the standard itself which was revived in the 1960′s, performed by many famous jazz musicians, and sung by many famous singers. The lyrics are about a woman who is the object of affection of the songwriter. More recently, “Stella by Starlight” was also referenced in Hozier’s song “Almost (Sweet Music)” earlier this year.

Stella by Starlight: 

The song a robin sings Through years of endless springs The murmur of a brook at evening tides That ripples through a nook where two lovers hide That great symphonic theme That’s Stella by starlight And not a dream My heart and I agree She’s everything on this earth to me That great symphonic theme That’s Stella by starlight And not a dream My heart and I agree She’s everything on this earth to me

(Please do not use copy and paste my song translations. Do not use them in ways in which you can gain monetary value. Thank you.)

[goingfalmouth]

Virus Holiday 2: Osaka, hiking, a planetarium

School are still closed, and my holiday was extended by a week! Here are three highlights from the last eight days.

We have Osaka at the start. I’ve been there a few times, but I finally found my favourite place, I think – the Nakanoshima Park. Lying on an island in the Tosahori River, it has everything from lovely well-kept gardens to open lawns perfect for picnics or, in my case, a quick snack. You can follow the edge of the island past the Osaka City Hall all the way to the Nakanoshima-shikinooka Park and the National Museum of Art, which is such a nice walk.

I also met with my friends for a lunch afterwards and finally visited the Umeda Sky Building with its amazing view– thanks to the guys for taking me there!

(Turns out I didn’t take pics in the park. Whoops.)

Next up, hiking. I finally figured out how buses work around here (and what an amount of nerves it cost me!) and went back towards Futatabi, this time from the other side. It was Friday morning and not a soul walked in the woods except me until the Mt Nabebuta observation point, which was just incredible.

In the Futatabi area, there’s also the Kobe Foreign Cemetery. You can’t really visit anything but the viewpoint, but it’s the calmest place I’ve seen in a while. It’s a basin surrounded by hills, full of trees, and when I’m gone, I want me a place like that (I don’t have pics, it seemed disrespectful to take any).

(View from Mt Nabebuta; for more, see my Instagram story.)

Finally, the city of Akashi and its planetarium. I love the space so not going wasn’t an option – they even had a show! Everything was in Japanese so I understood, like, 10 %, but hey, the pictures and night-sky projections were cool, I can say Jupiter in Japanese (mokusei!) and the observation deck was awesome. 

Cookie points go to the Akashi Park as well – it kind of looks like the Hyde Park, actually, what with the lake. There are wilder, very forest-y parts, quaint little nooks and a castle ruin. Brilliant.

And that is it for now! Look out for the end-of-holiday update – unless they extend it again!

[mitsuhasnolifebutwatchesanime]

Top 5 Anime of 2017

Why only top five? I’m hoping my previous post will explain, but for those who won’t see it: 2017 has not been a good year for me and anime. In the first half of 2017, the anime was scarce, and I had nothing to do, then the past 6 months, I’ve been overloaded with work and illness, and the anime got out of hand. While I watched, but didn’t necessarily finish, 40 shows this year, it was getting hard to pick from the list. Most of the shows, I either can’t or won’t be able to do reviews for months. Some of the shows I watched just because I needed a laugh or something to stare at or listen to while I was working. This year kinda sucked all around, but you’re here for my anime recs for the year, not my life summary of 2017.

Now, for the top five. This list is cleaved down to my personal favorites of the last year, shows I was excited to see every week, have finished, and would like more people to see.

5. Recovery of an MMO Junkie ( Net-juu no Susume)

It was nice to have a few soft anime this year. While gag shows are fun and all, a lot rely on gross humor to get along, so it was good to see something candy-colored and enjoyable every week. Nettojyuu is a sweet show with a great cast of characters. I was so happy to see it update every week as I got more and more invested in the main romantic plot line. If I had one complaint, I think it’s I didn’t want it to end. The general plot got solved, but I wanted to see more of the side characters fleshed out, and perhaps a longer, more heated romance between the main couple.

It’s also nice to have a show that’s not an MMO/Isekai, wherein it’s written very genuinely and doesn’t rely on stupid, worn out gimmicks to get by.

4. Made in Abyss

Meanwhile, I love dying and being dead. The winner of this years’ “Watch with the friends at game night and suffer together” show is Made in Abyss. This anime was intense. So very intense. I’m glad I didn’t watch it alone because it not only was comforting to have others suffer with you, but then it would generate a lively discussion among us when each episode ended. Seeing a season two announcement was exciting, because otherwise, with where this anime left off, it would not have been on this list.

In addition to just being gorgeous and having a great soundtrack, Made in Abyss also did an excellent job world building, not having to do many info dumps, and excellent character writing and design. It was painful to watch Riko and Reg go through what they went through, but they were likeable, sympathetic characters, which carries your interest all the way through.

3. My Hero Academia

TOURNAMENT ARC. No, but seriously, Heroaca has been one of my favorite Shonen anime in a long time. I’m in love with the character designs, the pacing, and definitely the fight choreography. It’s just a good Shonen beat em up anime. Last season it felt like we really didn’t get to go many places, but this season, character development and plot advancement went through the roof. It was almost hard to keep up with the pace and I was so glad to see more of the hero class get fleshed out. This is hopefully going to be a staple in the Shonen category for a while, at least until it’s run is over. It’s rocketed its way into my heart, for sure.

2. Eccentric Family 2 (Uchouten Kazoku)

The last three shows on this list are sequels, and honestly, the whole list could have been sequels. This year, the shows I loved the most were ones that were carrying on. Many of those shows, I didn’t start until too late for them to get into the top ten before, but now, these shows are shining bright.

By the same author as the Tatami Galaxy and Yoru wa Mijikashi Aruke Otome, the eccentric family takes a great, modern spin on traditional Japanese lore. The first season of this anime was cute, funny, and intense. I’m very glad I got the first season on DVD now so I can rewatch it, but the scope of this world only widens this season with new characters, new settings, and some incredible drama.

1.   Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Sukeroku Futatabi Hen

Hi, I hate that many people ditched the first season of this show based solely on the fact it was “too Japanese.” While yeah, I’ve taken my love for anime and extended it to learning the language, history, and culture, I think I would have loved Rakugo just as much, even if I hadn’t had all of my history classes. The reason being is because I love the performing arts and this show carries itself on it’s characters. The first season’s massive flash back was a hoot to watch, with wonderful full rakugo sequences, strong relationship dynamics, and the backdrop of history unfolding. This season carried on, connecting the dots between episode one of season one, to episode one of season two. I think the most important thing about this anime is just how human it is and how strong the characters are. My favorite part was watching them age, and I did something I hardly ever do when I finished it. I started back from the beginning and watched the whole series in one sitting again. There are things you notice that you didn’t notice before, and it was such an emotional watch. I’m really glad the manga got licensed here, but now I’m waiting anxiously for the whole series. This anime concludes with a bang to rival many classic series.

Lastly, I want to give a huge honorable mention to the movies of 2016. Yes, 2016! Because everyone sucks at their job, all of the HUGE hits of last year have just recently hit the western market. I waited patiently and got to see a couple in theaters, on DVD, and one even online because I’m a horrible goblin and this movie won’t get licensed for another year or two since it’s so miniscule in the west.

Your Name/Kimi no Na wa, Yoru wa Mijikashi Aruke Otome,  Koe no Katachi, and In This Corner of the World/ Kono sekai no katasumi ni

Each of these movies were heartwarming/heartbreaking, visually stunning pieces of art which I’m so glad I finally got to watch. They’re all so different, but I think each is very important. I was lucky to get to see Your Name in theaters and my wonderful friend bought me the blue ray AND the soundtrack for Christmas. If you have the means to, I HIGHLY recommend you watch these movies that got left in the dust by western companies unable to simulcast movies.

[alloftimeandspacetosee]

Adventure in Space

This one is massively shorter lmao and also comes with a soundtrack I think? hang on

yeah, Futatabi from the Spirited Away soundtrack! we vibe with that here

[Adventure in Time]

~

Aurora stepped into a pink realm and stuck her hands in her pockets. “Well hello! Fancy meeting you here.”

<What are you doing here?>

“Going to stop a comet from crashing into Nimbasa. Surely you’ve talked with your brother?”

<Yes… we are not best pleased with those upstarts>

“You going to do anything about it?”

<I cannot>

“Well… can you point me in the right direction?” Aurora turned, looking around. “It all looks the same here.”

The ground rolled under her feet and flipped, leaving Aurora in the air near the ceiling. With a yell, she fell, and curled into a ball as a rip opened between her and the ground.

Then she was floating and it was dark, with no sign of pink anywhere. Aurora straightened herself out and looked around, a smirk playing on her face.

“It’s lonely out in space,” she sang – or tried to sing. The words formed, but never vocalised.

Aurora frowned and then shrugged before turning with a flick of her tail. Her face brightened and she looked over her shoulder, seeing the long black tail patterned with silver and pink scales spread out behind her.

For a few moments, she just flew in complicated movements, her body slowly getting longer and thinner until she resembled a ragged rayquaza of pink and black.

Then she saw a thin light that wasn’t the sun in the distance, just around the curve of the world. And it was slowly getting closer. She shot towards it, body undulating like a ribbon made of waves.

It was moving fast, faster than she could catch up with, but Aurora opened another rip and slipped in front of the meteorite. It slammed into her body and she roared silence as she rippled away from it, scales glowing with embers. And still it moved on, caught in the planet’s gravity and pulled in.

Aurora narrowed her eyes and shot in front of it, opening a rip to send it shooting in a different direction.

Something flashed nearby it, and the meteorite changed direction to head for the planet again. Aurora twisted to look for this new threat, opening another portal for the meteorite as she did so.

<Why will you not allow it to land?> A slim deoxys hovered in front of her, arms outstretched.

<Because it is heading for a city>

<There are too many humans>

Aurora snarled, a black ruff sparking electricity.

<I cannot change its trajectory now. It will hit the planet no matter what you do>

<I am space blessed> Aurora reared up. <I can send it away>

<It will come back, and you will not be alive to stop it>

Aurora sent the meteor through another portal while she thought.

<Will it affect much? It is only one town. Meteors land all the time>

<Not in Nimbasa>

<Nimbasa?>

<It is a good city. A fun city> Aurora shook her head as the base of her skull itched.

<I see> The deoxys considered her, eyes glowing a little.

Aurora glared at the deoxys and chased after the meteor again, spinning her length around it. <Then help me stop this!>

<I cannot. It is destined for that planet, one way or another>

Aurora snarled and flicked her tail. Then she tilted her head. <Come with me>

<And why would I do that?>

<Because if you don’t> Aurora bared her teeth as they shimmered yellow, <I will rip you to shreds. Now hold to my back and help when I call>

The deoxys took a careful hold just under the base of Aurora’s crystalline wings, and Aurora ripped another portal under the meteorite. It fell through, and she followed it.

Again and again, down through the atmosphere and away from Nimbasa, away from the towns to the swamps between New Tork City and the Village Bridge.

When they were still so far above the ground, Aurora split open another portal and landed on the ground before the meteor.

<It is headed for us. Do you intend to kill us?> the deoxys shrieked, the sound suddenly deafeningly loud.

“Slow it down,” Aurora said as the deoxys let go of her. “Slow it down, but do not divert its course.” Then she flung herself back into the sky to meet the meteor.

The deoxys threw up its hands and changed to its attack form, blasting psychic energy upwards. Aurora wove herself in front of the meteor, beating it backwards with blasts of air. She was careful not to let it crash into her again – her scales had lost some of their gleam where it had before – but coiled and dived, slowing it down and making sure it stayed on target.

When they weren’t far from the ground, Aurora shot out of the way and the deoxys assumed its defence form, sheltering itself.

The meteor hit with a deafening explosion, shattering back trees around it. The water hissed up, creating a wall of steam.

Aurora roared back at it and circled, slowly descending.

“Deoxys!” she roared. “Deoxys, are you alright?”

She landed in the crater and used her nose to push aside hardened river mud and shattered rocks and twisted tree roots in her search.

<I am here> The deoxys stood up, assuming its normal form. <That was a brave plan> It was holding back the water from rushing in on them, and Aurora worried what that would do to the Village Bridge.

“Thank you for helping.” Aurora touched her nose to the deoxys. “Please released the water.”

<What do you intend to do with the meteorite?> it asked instead, turning aside to let Aurora see the still glowing thing.

“What would you have me do with it?”

<Do not leave it to be found by those scavengers> The deoxys spoke with hatred, its eyes going bleak. <They have killed many of my kind>

“This is one of your kind?” Aurora asked, leaning over the meteorite.

<No. But it should not be left for them, all the same>

“Then… I will take it.” Aurora opened her jaws to pick up the meteorite.

<It is too hot> The deoxys held out a hand to stop her. <Let me cool it off for you>

It let the water back in, jet by jet, and it hissed and sputtered and the water boiled back up. Aurora kept close to the ground and the water soothed her scales. She could feel it, sort of, in the back of her mind. This was something she almost could have controlled, through Palkia, if she hadn’t focused elsewhere.

When the water stopped hissing and had all but returned to its usual paths – no usual paths, really, when the trees were this broken – the meteorite was only slightly glowing in the mud.

The deoxys lifted it out of the water and offered it to her. <It is safe to touch now>

“Thank you.” Aurora took it carefully in her jaws.

They appraised each other, and then the deoxys stood back.

<You were right, about that town. I will see what I can do with future meteors>

“Not all humans are bad,” Aurora said, putting down the meteorite to talk. “Some of us – the majority, I think – we try not to damage the world.”

The deoxys was silent for a while as it surveyed the sky. <What is your name?>

“Aurora NightGale.”

<I… I will remember that name. Aurora NightGale> It crouched down. <You are welcome to join us any time>

“What is your name?”

<Irfan of the Stars>

“Irfan of the Stars,” Aurora repeated carefully. “I will remember. And maybe I will see you again.”

<Maybe> Irfan nodded and shot into the sky, and Aurora craned her neck to see him disappear.

When the deoxys was out of sight, Aurora picked up the meteorite again and took to the sky, flying north.

[bizarrequazar]

Considering I watched a frankly ridiculous 58 anime from last year, I thought I would put it to somewhat good use, so

My Top 10 Anime of 2017 with comments on each:

10. Onihei

A bit of a dark horse for the year as I actually don’t think I saw ANYONE so much as mention this show. It’s definitely one of the darker titles on my list, bringing up torture, murder, and rape very early on, but overall it was very enjoyable. Being an episodic show, it was interesting to see what it would bring each week, and the historical setting and style of narrative filled the hole in my heart left by my #1 show having ended in the previous season.

9. Children of the Whales

I loved this show right from episode 1, with its very intriguing world building, very likable characters, and absolutely gorgeous art style. The show only got better as it went on and was extremely interesting all the while. I’ve also talked a bit previously about how, despite having very different plots, the themes and narrative style reminded me quite a bit of No.6. This was definitely an underrated show for the year and the only reason it’s not higher on my list is due to its “wait for season 2” ending.

8. Inuyashiki

A bit of a surprise entry. Despite my general love of sci-fi, I really didn’t expect to like this show due to my knowledge of the author’s previous works and I initially completely wrote it off my watch list entirely. This wasn’t helped by most of the opening episode being VERY depressing, but the show quickly picked up, taking the story in a much more hopeful direction. The morally grey antagonist was really interesting to watch and all of the action scenes were fantastic. The only things really lowering this were that the characters felt one-dimensional, the plot was a bit predictable, and the CG used for the mechanical scenes was quite conspicuous, but those didn’t hamper the show from being really fun overall.

Also I fucking love the opening.

7. ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka

Another mostly episodic show, ACCA was largely really fun due to how varied the episodes could be. There’s not a lot to say about it as it was quite simplistic, but the characters were all wonderful, the overarching plot was interesting to watch unfold, and everything came together very nicely at the end. As well, the show had a great soundtrack and was just very fun and relaxing to watch.

6. Seikaisuru Kado

I wanted so so so much for this series to end up higher on my list, I really did, but unfortunately it suffers from a frankly horrible last episode, ye be warned. It had some of the best 3DCG animation we’ve seen in anime thus far (emphasized by the fact that it aired on the same day as the butt ugly Berserk 2017), stunning visuals, and an EXTREMELY well done plot... except for the ending. I LOVED this show while it was airing, constantly marveling at just how pretty and thought provoking it was and also just how much I loved Yaha-kui zaShunina as a character. I really do recommend this to anyone who enjoys sci-fi. Even with its unfortunately glaring flaws, it’s a masterful little piece of work and one of the best of its kind.

5. Net-juu no Susume

The only comedy on this list, but possibly one of my favourite comedy anime period. Net-juu was INCREDIBLY enjoyable and every week I jumped to watch the new episode as soon as it was out. The characters are absolutely lovely and I’ve talked a bit in the past about how I love the show’s very “gender doesn’t matter” approach to romance, featuring not only a married gay couple as side characters but also the protagonist being heavily implied to be bi. The only thing placing this below my next entry was the somewhat lackluster final episode, which was by no means bad but didn’t feel quite as grand as I would have liked. I really hope to eventually see a second season of this, I would love to see more of these characters.

4. Girls’ Last Tour

A very understated show, Girls’ Last Tour didn’t really lend itself to a lot of big moments but instead was more about appreciating the small things. Despite being an apocalypse story, it was very peaceful, cute, and relaxing to watch, with the two lead characters being a joy to see bounce off each other. Ironically, this felt more like my much loved 2003 Kino’s Journey anime than the Kino remake we saw in this same season. The ending as well was phenomenal, closing things very nicely and honestly bringing me to tears.

3. Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season

Honestly need I say more, HeroAca was easily the biggest anime of this year. What I will say was that this season definitely brought the series into its own for me, as I enjoyed the first season but didn’t really think much of it. THIS season, however, grabbed my attention and demanded it hold my interest. I’m heavily looking forward to season 3 and I fully expect it to make me emotional.

2. Houseki no Kuni

MY LOVE, MY LIFE, currently one of the series I am absolutely obsessed with. I love all of the characters to pieces (pun not intended), I love the series’ handle on the topics of trauma and mental illness, and the animation is absolutely stunning, being hands down the best 3DCG anime PERIOD, only aided by the beautiful hand painted backgrounds and excellent cinematography. Even after reading the manga and knowing what was going to happen, I was constantly refreshing the page every Saturday just YEARNING for the new episode to be available. The anime as well did a great job bookending what is hopefully only the first season of what is undeniably a masterpiece.

1. Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen

I’ve been saying it since the first season came out two years ago and I’ll say it again here: PLEASE WATCH SHOUWA GENROKU RAKUGO SHINJUU. I absolutely ADORE everything about this show, from its premise to its characters to its cinematography to its music to its absolutely heart-wrenching ending. The first season was my best show of 2016 and, after how much I loved that, I really didn’t expect this second season to not only meet the same level of quality but to surpass it. Every single episode of this show left me a crying mess, actually AFRAID for the next week’s episode to come out because I knew how much it would kill me emotionally and how much I would love every second of it. One of the best shows I have ever watched, anime or otherwise. Please watch Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu.

[catpella]

Tagged by  @pyrrhesia​

rules: answer these 85 statements about yourself

last 1. drink - iced chai 2. phone call - my doctor’s office 3. text message - to a friend asking when she’s coming over to watch Aggretsuko 4. song you listened to - Futatabi/Reprise, Spirited Away 5. time you cried - earlier today

ever 6. dated someone twice - yes I have (we’re still dating) 7. kissed someone and regretted it - yes (it was a few years ago) 8. been cheated on - yes (it was a decade ago) 9. lost someone special - yes  10. been depressed - yes, including today 11. gotten drunk and thrown up - yep

fave colours 12. midnight blue 13. silver 14. teal

in the last year have you… 15. made new friends - absolutely! mostly from the Ships game, a few from fandoms. some great new friends 16. fallen out of love - no but i’ve done the opposite 17. laughed until you cried - this happens a lot  18. found out someone was talking about you - which way does this mean, because there’s the “talking bad shit behind your back” and the “people talk about you like you’re awesome”. either way both have happened to me.  19. met someone who changed you - discovered parrhesia​ and i are drift-compatible 20. found out who your true friends are - you know this phrase “true friends” has always bothered me. but I have had changes in who is just acquaintances and light friends and who turns out to be ride-or-die for me, so, I guess so 21. kissed someone on your facebook friends list -  hmm - only use my FB for convention group matters and my FB friends list I think only contains convention people and I’ve kissed some of them so, yeah i guess so

general 22. how many of your facebook friends do you know irl - see above about them being people I’ve met/know from Mysterium, so like, all of them? 23. do you have any pets - one! bailey the cat 24. do you want to change your name - I have already done this legally! it cost like $300 and was worth it! 25. what did you do for your last birthday - cake was brought to me! hung with friends! ships game and gay flirting IC! 26. what time did you wake up today - like at 11:40am and i hated it. I was briefly awakened at 8am for drains drainage.

27. what were you doing at midnight last night - probably talking to people on discord! 28. what is something you can’t wait for - short term: the drains to be out. medium-term: surgery recovery to be over.  30. what are you listening to right now - a music box album of Bee Gees music 31. have you ever talked to a person named tom - yes 32. something that’s getting on your nerves - fucking surgery recovery 33. most visited website - I really don’t want it to be Reddit or Tumblr but odds are it might be one of those. 34. hair colour - it varies, it’s like a light brown normally but I also dye it a lot 35. long or short hair - it’s shaved right now down to a 1/4″ so very short.  36. do you have a crush on someone - it is a known fact that i am often in the state of “i am ambiguous if i have a romantic or a friend crush” (so, crush or squish), and that that state can vary in intensity. right now i have two crushes of the absolutely-sure-it’s-a-crush kind, and both are of strong intensity. 37. what do you like about yourself - i think i’m real good at connecting with other people and being an emotional support for them because i’m such a strong Feelings type, maybe i’m not your best for logical advice but i’m gonna be great for you if you wanna have emotional talk 38. want any piercings? - thinking about the ears but I’m a coward 39. blood type - AB+ 40. nicknames - Cat, Cap, Cappy 41. relationship status - in a co-habiting long-term relationship, am in a state where i am open to additional relationships 42. zodiac - Aquarius Sun ( Capricorn Moon, Pisces Rising if you wanna get complicated) 43. pronouns - they/them or he/him. he/him are the ones i use at work and legally. 44. fave tv shows - Star Treks! Battlestar Galactica (1978 only). Sailor Moon (original or Crystal). 45. tattoos - none but I think about it someday 46. right or left handed - right 47. ever had surgery - a hysto and top surgery, which was last week so i’m still recovering from the latter 48. piercings - none yet because I’m a coward 49. sport - I don’t play any now but I used to do synchronized swimming. i follow the Rochester Americans in AHL hockey because they’re local, cheap to see, and hockey has great fights 50. vacation - I love to go to the beach. so please take me to a coastal city! I also unironically love going to Disney but am so over going with people who aren’t legitimately excited to go. I really wanna fucking leave the country at some point. so ideal vacation would be a coastal city in another country? 51. trainers - uh like...shoes? i have a pair of sneakers and multiple pairs of those vibram toe shoes cause they’re super comfy.

more general 52. eating - sweet things. french fries. love french fries

53. drinking - also super sweet things

54. i’m about to watch - nothing atm, but probably more Sailor Moon Crystal later this week 55. waiting for - I feel like 28 answered this? “drains to come out” and “surgery recovery” mostly. 56. want - finally fucking having a crush on someone who is interested back. (if i can’t have that, i really want to do the thing where you’re having a nice quiet intimate voice-chat with close friend at after-midnight in a dark room.) (i guess i just want reciprocated-intimacy) 57. get married - in the case it’s useful as a legal construct then yes 58. career - i kinda like this IT support gig. a writer would be a great career but then i’d have to learn to carry through with something so i’d need focus. if we had UBI and i could meet all my needs otherwise i’d love to go back to being in a coffee shop.

which is better 59. hugs or kisses - hugs! i find kissing a little weird but if the person i like wants to do it i will do it 60. lips or eyes - eyes for sure 61. shorter or taller - taller! 62. older or younger - either? i’m open to a flexible age range but all my recent dates have been younger than me... 63. nice arms or stomach - arms are a turn-on, but i don’t find stomachs a turn-off, they can be great to pillow on 64. hookup or relationship - i want to have both of these things in my life. so, which i want always depends on the specific person i’m thinking about 65. troublemaker or hesitant - i usually go after the hesitant types, so i’d love to date the troublemaker kind for once! but i’m such a sucker for the shy hesitance

have you ever 66. kissed a stranger - yes 67. drank hard liquor - yes 68. lost glasses - no 69. turned someone down - yes 70. sex on first date - yes (well, we’d been dating online for awhile but had sex the first time we met IRL) 71. broken someone’s heart - yes 72. had your heart broken - yes (multiple times) 73. been arrested - no 74. cried when someone died - yes 75. fallen for a friend - all. the. fucking. time. this is a thing i do a lot. see above about my difficulty distinguishing between squishes and crushes. 

do you believe in 76. yourself - not really, which is tough. 77. miracles -  I’ve had enough weird life coincidences that I’ll say sure 78. love at first sight - i believe in meeting someone and knowing that they’re going to play a significant and meaningful role in your life, and then having that feeling pan out as a reality. sometimes it’s been meeting someone who i wind up dating (so love), once it was meeting a random stranger who helped me on a train who turned out to be my mentor in college for the next year. sometimes i just click with someone and go “i know you’ll be my best friend”. so i’d generalize this to “i believe in recognizing a significance” 79. santa claus - no 80. kiss on a first date -  yes 81. angels - they might exist?

other 82. best friend’s name - man i can’t have just 1 best driftmate! don’t ask this :( 83. eye colour - Green 84. fave movie - Pacific Rim 85. fave actor - Idris Elba

am tagging: anyone who wants to, as idk how many of you have patience for all of these  questions! but it’s fun!

[whisperandmantra]

My Favourite Shows of 2017

Happy New Year! It’s time again for my list of favourite shows of the year. Here’s to another year of good anime. Thank you for following and I hope you are enjoying the good anime we had this year. I present the list, in no particular order.

ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka

Political intrigue, double crossing, and a secret coup. This show was excellent at world building and making the world seem like a real and interesting place. It’s rare to find a nicely wrapped up show in one cour especially when there were so many different plot lines going on with the characters.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen

Continuing off a few years after the first season ended we get to hear the rest of the story. Focusing more on Konatsu and Yotaro, we see the story of Yakumo taking on an apprentice and trying to keep rakugo alive. The second season was a roller coaster of emotions and had some of the most beautiful scenes.

Little Witch Academia

Trigger back to save anime again! This time making a series out of an OVA. This show is charming and adorable. Akko is a genki girl with so much spunk and the supporting cast is just as awesome. In typical Trigger fashion the show amps up the stakes in the final arc and we get a grand finale that is both wonderful and sweet. The animation is great as expected in a Trigger production, and the various little Easter Eggs always make me smile.

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon / Miss Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon

An otherworldly creature takes up residence in a office worker’s home and decides to live with her. Hi-jinx ensue. This show is full of warm fuzzies and Kana is the cutest. Plenty of jokes to be had here and the animation is very smooth, as expected of Kyo Ani.

Re:Creators

Take the isekai trope and reverse it, that’s what you get with Re:Creators. Fictional protagonists get transported to the real world.Add a dash of Sawano and you have an entertaining series with quite a few twists and turns. I enjoyed that they pulled in different types of protagonists from different genres of shows as well. A mech pilot, a chivalrous knight, a magical girl, and a mage to name a few. I was thoroughly amused by this series and it was good fun. The antagonist was a little too much for me at times with their over powered abilities. But just a minor annoyance in an otherwise great show.

Uchouten Kazoku 2 / The Eccentric Family 2

The long awaited sequel to a show I never thought would get a sequel, but I am so glad that it did. Rejoining the antics of Shimagomo family we get introduced to a few new characters. I love the colours in this show and how vibrant everything looks. Yasaburo is also a babe <3.

Made in Abyss

Wow, this show took me by surprise having heard virtually nothing about it before watching the first episode. The world building is fantastic, and the character designs are so unique. The creatures living in the abyss are also terrifying. Also the soundtrack is PHENOMENAL and inspired. Do yourself a favour and watch this show. The suffering depicted throughout their journey into the abyss was pretty gut-wrenching as well.

Mahoujin Guru Guru

Where do I even begin with this show. I think it was one of the most consistently funny shows that I watched this year. Every episode has me laughing out loud at one joke or another. The gags don’t get stale even when re-used. Kukuri is so precious and her smile must be protected. The animation is really smooth and consistent and they occasionally use 16 bit animation. It actually feels like I’m watching an RPG, they even have status bars that show up throughout the show that sometimes show their levels. It’s really quite hilarious.

Princess Principal

Female spies in an alternate universe steampunk-London. If you can handle a non-linear story progression then you should take a look at this show. The soundtrack is done by one of my favourites, Yuki Kajiura. The episodic nature of the show allows some of the side characters to really shine and I actually like a side character as my favourite character because of their backstory. It’s rare that an original show like this manages to be so captivating so early on in it’s run.The artwork and character designs are nice and Victorian England makes for an exciting setting for spies.

Garo Vanishing Line

I know this show is 2 cour and will spill into 2018, but the first cour was excellent and warrants it’s inclusion on my list of faves. I really am getting into the Garo franchise and Mappa is doing an incredible job of showing their strengths with this franchise. It’s got plenty of action and an interesting plot line. The first cour was mostly episodic in nature, introducing the characters of the series and now the second cour I think will delve into more lengthy story arcs. But so far it has me entertained.

Houseki no Kuni / Land of the Lustrous

OMG this SHOW!!! I think I can say that it is my number 1 favourite show of 2017. Everything about it is so stunning and gorgeous. The choice of using CG has some people divided, but I love it. I’ve been a fan of CG shows since Knights of Sidonia and Ajin, and Houseki no Kuni demonstrates the epitome of awesome things you can do with CG. The camerawork is stunning for fight scenes and you can do things that you’d never see in 2D animation. I think CG is the perfect format for a show like this. The colours are gorgeous and the characters are so endearing and full of life. The show’s universe is mysterious and I desperately want a season 2. I could literally talk about how much I love this show for hours, but I’ll just tell you that you have to watch it. It’s criminally under-watched in my opinion. Story wise, you have these genderless gemstone characters who fight against the Lunarians who are trying to kidnap them, break them into fragments and use them as weapons to capture the remaining gemstone characters. There is also an air of mystery going on and you barely scratch the surface of the truth behind this universe. I love this show it’s a masterpiece of art.

Inuyashiki

Well this show was a pleasant surprise. Not only does it have a complete adaptation, but it’s a pretty badass show. So this old man and teenager get turned into super powered robots. Then you see how different they react with their new found powers. They mix a little CG in when they use their robot powers. It’s a bit clunky at times but the story is compelling enough to make me not notice it. Also the OP is sung by Man With A Mission, one of my favourite Japanese groups so that’s a bonus.

Kekkai Sensen & Beyond / Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond

I didn’t think it was possible to top the first season of Kekkai Sensen because it was so cool. But this second season is WAY better. Now you have to be a fan of the episodic format as each episode is pretty much standalone except two two-part arcs. We get a lot more time with side characters and learn more about the background of my favourite character, Chain. <3 <3 Also Steven (total DILF) gets a lot more screen time which is great. It has the same humour and upbeat zany atmosphere as the first season but it really feels more like a labour of love where the characters are given time to shine. And the characters are the strong point of this show. The OST is also really great as it mixes jazz, RnB, rap, hip hop style songs as it’s supposed to be a take on New York. It also has some amazing sakuga scenes because it’s got the BONES people working their magic.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou / Girls’ Last Tour

This show really surprised me. It was so comfy, yet melancholy. Two girls are just travelling around in a tank in what appears to be a post-nuclear/apocalyptic Earth. The background and atmosphere is really great, it reminds me of Blame or the city of Sidonia with layered city structures and industrial almost steampunk type environment. It’s kind of a lonely show with just snippits of their lives together roaming the wasteland. The OST is glorious and relaxing though. I’d say it’s kind of like a slice of life except not heavy handed with the jokes. You really feel that they are the last few remaining people on Earth. The voice actors also have excellent chemistry as it’s just those two girls talking to each other essentially the entire episode, yet the show remains engaging.

[bunnyadvocate]

Gender differences in anime ratings

Have you ever wondered about the taste differences between male and female anime fans? What kind of content most appeals to each? Which anime most divides them? Using the public profile and rating data on MyAnimeList, me and /u/purplepinapples sought to find out. We downloaded the rating data of 3,000 male identifying and 3,000 female identifying anime fans on MAt and analysed the results to get a glimpse at the differences.

This was done just for fun, the results shouldn't be treated too seriously. We're fairly confident in the general trends we found given that we got the same result when we processed an additional 2,000 profiles, but it isn't definitive. Hopefully it'll result in some fun discussions~

Average anime rating

We all have our own ways of rating anime, what an 8/10 means to me is different to what it means to you. But is there a consistent difference between the genders? We plotted the average rating distribution for males and females.

Both genders overwhelmingly use only the upper half of the rating scale (91% of ratings are between 6 and 10), but women tend to be more generous with their 10s. I initially suspected this might be because the average female user had watched less anime than their male counterpart (the average female user rated 78 anime vs 144 for men), but even if we restricted the results to only those who had watched 100+ anime, the distribution maintained its shape. I also checked to see if there were more female users who rated all their anime a 10/10, and while it was higher at 1.52% of users vs 1.19% for males, it was still rare enough that it didn't make a noticeable difference on the graph.

One surprising result was how smooth the score distribution was. If you check the ratings for computer games on metacritic or films on imdb, you'll drown under the wave of partisan 10/10 or 1/10 ratings, but that isn't the case on MAL. Users seem to take their ratings more seriously and are less inclined to troll vote.

Genre preferences

By tracking the ratings of all anime with a particular genre tag, and splitting those ratings by the gender of the users, we can get a rough indication on the kind of content each gender prefers to watch. However because we limited our data to make sure we had an even number of male and female profiles, the exact gender ratio might be skewed, but the ranking should be correct.

First we looked at which genres skewed most towards one gender with the number of ratings they got.

PosGenreMale fanbaseAvg male rating (total ratings)Avg female rating (total ratings)1Cars86.4%8.14 (1230)8.00 (192)2Ecchi80.3%7.32 (62434)7.27 (15232)3Harem78.0%7.34 (49504)7.22 (13956)4Space76.9%7.79 (7955)7.83 (2382)5Mecha74.5%7.74 (25641)7.88 (8772)6Martial Arts74.0%7.54 (13221)7.88 (4630)7Game72.0%7.67 (14967)7.87 (5806)8Military71.7%7.96 (21636)8.14 (8507)9Sci-Fi71.4%7.70 (81838)7.84 (32622)10Seinen70.2%7.71 (41545)7.84 (17576)11Super Power69.2%7.76 (43691)7.99 (19446)12Hentai68.9%6.77 (2145)6.09 (966)13Action68.8%7.71 (187171)7.94 (84512)14School67.5%7.67 (120415)7.79 (57855)15Shounen66.4%7.81 (103158)8.07 (51986)16Adventure65.9%7.77 (86193)8.06 (44424)17Comedy65.7%7.65 (210383)7.85 (109460)18Fantasy65.3%7.66 (115732)7.94 (61367)19Kids65.3%7.11 (6707)7.65 (3550)20Magic63.9%7.71 (38771)7.88 (21868)21Samurai63.9%8.12 (5193)8.26 (2927)22Parody63.8%7.78 (12990)7.85 (7349)23Supernatural63.6%7.81 (112613)7.99 (64298)24Yuri63.5%6.65 (295)6.35 (169)25Thriller63.2%8.20 (19128)8.30 (11118)26Dementia63.2%7.86 (3125)7.72 (1818)27Romance63.1%7.62 (130163)7.78 (76011)28Psychological62.4%7.93 (31912)8.07 (19229)29Horror62.1%7.50 (23750)7.66 (14476)30Slice of Life61.5%7.76 (59942)7.90 (37383)31Police61.2%8.02 (8225)8.22 (5202)32Mystery60.1%7.89 (46776)7.99 (30969)33Vampire59.3%7.67 (11730)7.46 (8036)34Drama59.1%7.90 (100843)8.05 (69514)35Demons58.5%7.63 (17519)7.99 (12421)36Sports58.1%7.93 (12603)8.20 (9058)37Shoujo Ai58.1%7.21 (3052)7.28 (2198)38Historical54.0%8.01 (15641)8.13 (13299)39Music53.8%7.75 (9852)7.84 (8439)40Josei32.8%7.87 (2433)7.82 (4969)41Shoujo27.8%7.62 (12188)7.85 (31541)42Yaoi14.9%4.89 (310)6.57 (1765)43Shounen Ai8.30%7.18 (468)7.71 (5106)

Given that the male profiles tended to watch more anime than the female ones, most of the genres have a majority male fanbase.

Generally the boy/girl stereotype plays out, with male fans watching more violent, sci-fi, and superhero content, while female fans tend towards more demons and vampires. Romance content that plays to each gender's tastes seems to be the most polarising, with ecchi and harem anime for males, and gay romance for females. Although women seemed more willing to try male pandering content than the other way around. The one exception was yuri content, which appealed to both genders, although the small sample size for yuri makes such a claim unreliable.

While ranking by the audience gender ratio tells us what they watch, it doesn't tell us what they *like*. If we compare the average rating each gender gives anime of each genre, we can get an impression of what they enjoy.

PosGenreRating differenceAvg male rating (total ratings)Avg female rating (total ratings)Male fanbase1Hentai0.676.77 (2145)6.09 (966)68.9%2Yuri0.306.65 (295)6.35 (169)63.5%3Vampire0.217.67 (11730)7.46 (8036)59.3%4Dementia0.147.86 (3125)7.72 (1818)63.2%5Cars0.148.14 (1230)8.00 (192)86.4%6Harem0.127.34 (49504)7.22 (13956)78.0%7Ecchi0.057.32 (62434)7.27 (15232)80.3%8Josei0.057.87 (2433)7.82 (4969)32.8%9Space-0.037.79 (7955)7.83 (2382)76.9%10Parody-0.067.78 (12990)7.85 (7349)63.8%11Shoujo Ai-0.067.21 (3052)7.28 (2198)58.1%12Thriller-0.098.20 (19128)8.30 (11118)63.2%13Mystery-0.097.89 (46776)7.99 (30969)60.1%14Music-0.097.75 (9852)7.84 (8439)53.8%15Historical-0.118.01 (15641)8.13 (13299)54.0%16School-0.127.67 (120415)7.79 (57855)67.5%17Seinen-0.127.71 (41545)7.84 (17576)70.2%18Sci-Fi-0.137.7 (81838)7.84 (32622)71.4%19Mecha-0.137.74 (25641)7.88 (8772)74.5%20Samurai-0.138.12 (5193)8.26 (2927)63.9%21Slice of Life-0.147.76 (59942)7.90 (37383)61.5%22Psychological-0.147.93 (31912)8.07 (19229)62.4%23Drama-0.157.90 (100843)8.05 (69514)59.1%24Horror-0.157.5 (23750)7.66 (14476)62.1%25Romance-0.167.62 (130163)7.78 (76011)63.1%26Magic-0.167.71 (38771)7.88 (21868)63.9%27Supernatural-0.177.81 (112613)7.99 (64298)63.6%28Military-0.177.96 (21636)8.14 (8507)71.7%29Game-0.197.67 (14967)7.87 (5806)72.0%30Comedy-0.207.65 (210383)7.85 (109460)65.7%31Police-0.208.02 (8225)8.22 (5202)61.2%32Action-0.227.71 (187171)7.94 (84512)68.8%33Super Power-0.237.76 (43691)7.99 (19446)69.2%34Shoujo-0.237.62 (12188)7.85 (31541)27.8%35Shounen-0.257.81 (103158)8.07 (51986)66.4%36Sports-0.277.93 (12603)8.20 (9058)58.1%37Fantasy-0.277.66 (115732)7.94 (61367)65.3%38Adventure-0.297.77 (86193)8.06 (44424)65.9%39Martial Arts-0.337.54 (13221)7.88 (4630)74.0%40Demons-0.357.63 (17519)7.99 (12421)58.5%41Shounen Ai-0.537.18 (468)7.71 (5106)8.3%42Kids-0.537.11 (6707)7.65 (3550)65.3%43Yaoi-1.684.89 (310)6.57 (1765)14.9%

It's curious that we see many genres flip their position, with anime targeted at women (josei and shouji ai) being higher rated by men, and those targeted at men (shounen) tending to be more highly rated by women. Perhaps it's only the more dedicated genre fans that are willing to ignore the target demographic.

Women don't seem much less interested in lewd content than men are, but it seems that hentai content in anime just isn't catering to their tastes. Yaoi is in a league of it's own for its dislike by the male fanbase, perhaps because much of it doesn't depict gay relationships accurately (as it's targeted more to women) and so doesn't appeal to gay men, just as some yuri content doesn't appeal to many lesbians for the same reason.

There aren't just differences in which genres the genders prefer, there's also differences in the anime within each genre. So here are the anime in each gender that have the highest male or female audience ratio.

GenreLargest male audience ratioLargest female audience ratioActionBoku no Hero Academia 2nd SeasonKino no Tabi: The Beautiful World - The Animated SeriesAdventureNanatsu no Taizai MovieGensoumaden Saiyuuki Movie: Requiem - Erabarezaru Mono e no ChinkonkaCarsInitial D Final StageTailendersComedyBoku no Hero Academia 2nd SeasonDetective ConanDementiaFLCL 3Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Adolescence MokushirokuDemonsHoozuki no Reitetsu 2nd SeasonHarukanaru Toki no Naka de: Hachiyou ShouDramaKimi no Koe wo TodoketaiSkirt no Naka wa Kedamono Deshita.EcchiHajimete no GalSkirt no Naka wa Kedamono Deshita.FantasyFate/Extra Last EncoreCardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen - Prologue Sakura to Futatsu no KumaGameNana Maru San BatsuHaikyuu!! Quest Picture DramaHaremTrinity Seven Movie: Eternity Library to Alchemic GirlStarrySkyHentaiMenkui!Skirt no Naka wa Kedamono Deshita.HistoricalFate/ApocryphaHarukanaru Toki no Naka de: Hachiyou ShouHorrorJigoku Shoujo: Yoi no TogiYami no MatsueiJoseiShouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-henKarnevalKidsPokemon XY: Koukoku no Princess DiancieYume-iro Ptissire: Mune Kyun Tropical Island!MagicFate/Extra Last EncoreCardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen - Prologue Sakura to Futatsu no KumaMartial ArtsBoruto: Naruto Next GenerationsFushigi Yuugi OVA 2MechaFLCL 3Mobile Suit Gundam: The OriginMilitaryFull Metal Panic! Invisible VictoryMobile Suit Gundam: The OriginMusicHibike! Euphonium Movie: Todoketai MelodyKaikan PhraseMysteryKakeguruiDetective ConanParodyFLCL 3Hyakujitsu no Bara: Jinginaki Nikukyuu-henPoliceInferno Cop 2nd SeasonDetective ConanPsychologicalKakeguruiDRAMAtical Murder OVA: Data_xx_TransitoryRomanceReLIFE: Kanketsu-henSkirt no Naka wa Kedamono Deshita.SamuraiDrifters 2nd SeasonFuyu no SemiSchoolBoku no Hero Academia 2nd SeasonStarrySkySci-FiGinga Tetsudou 999KarnevalSeinenKeppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kunOtome Youkai ZakuroShoujo AiRe: Cutey HoneyCitrusShoujoSabage-bu! SpecialsCardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen - Prologue Sakura to Futatsu no KumaShounen AiRobotica*RoboticsSuper Lovers OVAShounenBoku no Hero Academia 2nd SeasonGensoumaden Saiyuuki Movie: Requiem - Erabarezaru Mono e no ChinkonkaSlice of LifeKonbini KareshiYuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Yuusha no ShouSpaceGinga Tetsudou 999Mobile Suit Gundam: The OriginSportsKeppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kunPretty Rhythm: Rainbow LiveSuper PowerBoku no Hero Academia 2nd SeasonMahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: ReflectionSupernaturalFate/ApocryphaHarukanaru Toki no Naka de: Hachiyou ShouThrillerGolgo 13 (TV)Imawa no Kuni no Alice (OVA)VampireKekkai Sensen & BeyondDiabolik Lovers OVAYaoiBoku no PicoZetsuai 1989YuriBikini Warriors SpecialFushigi no Kuni no Miyuki-chan

Favourite anime

Next we tried using the rating data to determine which anime have the biggest gender differences. To prevent the list being filled with obscure titles, it only lists those with at least 50 ratings from both genders, and is categorised as an anime series (so no OVAs or movies).

First is the list of anime that males rate higher than females.

PosAnimeRating diffAvg male score (total ratings)Avg female score (total ratings)1Seto no Hanayome0.648.02 (251)7.37 (79)2Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai0.587.50 (299)6.91 (59)3Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!0.578.21 (1204)7.64 (189)4Love Hina0.537.33 (234)6.79 (129)5Ookami to Koushinryou0.538.51 (626)7.97 (276)6Campione!: Matsurowanu Kamigami to Kamigoroshi no Maou0.537.41 (446)6.87 (65)7Ben-To0.537.51 (360)6.98 (72)8Serial Experiments Lain0.498.21 (285)7.72 (176)9Aa! Megami-sama! (TV)0.477.64 (131)7.16 (66)10School Rumble0.468.20 (210)7.74 (143)11Shuffle!0.427.26 (272)6.83 (92)12Ookami to Koushinryou II0.428.52 (488)8.09 (162)13High School DxD0.427.66 (1093)7.24 (210)14School Rumble Ni Gakki0.408.22 (153)7.81 (65)15Overlord0.388.1 (783)7.71 (103)16Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri0.377.97 (706)7.60 (105)17Minami-ke0.377.73 (101)7.36 (58)18High School DxD New0.357.82 (816)7.47 (100)19Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri 2nd Season0.358.00 (563)7.65 (66)20Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu0.357.98 (732)7.63 (397)213-gatsu no Lion0.348.67 (190)8.32 (71)22Bakemonogatari0.348.52 (992)8.17 (323)23Prison School0.347.97 (746)7.62 (172)24Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.0.338.11 (988)7.78 (229)25Kimi ga Nozomu Eien0.337.36 (100)7.02 (71)

Given the male genre preferences for ecchi and violent content, it's not surprising to see such anime as Konosuba, Gate, or Prison School listed; but the inclusion of more serious stories like Spice & Wolf and Serial Experiments Lain was unexpected.

Next is the list of anime rated higher by females.

PosAnimeRating diffAvg male score (total ratings)Avg female score (total ratings)1Diabolik Lovers1.034.94 (50)5.97 (447)2No.61.007.20 (128)8.2 (538)3Nabari no Ou0.916.95 (72)7.87 (139)4Michiko to Hatchin0.877.59 (74)8.46 (71)5Fukumenkei Noise0.866.93 (59)7.79 (64)607-Ghost0.836.91 (93)7.75 (201)7Glasslip0.815.40 (147)6.22 (86)8Chrno Crusade0.777.50 (126)8.28 (167)9Prince of Stride: Alternative0.756.69 (99)7.45 (116)10Vampire Knight0.756.74 (223)7.49 (833)11Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R0.717.35 (68)8.06 (221)12Tsuritama0.717.6 (53)8.31 (159)13Orange0.707.45 (322)8.15 (289)14Kamisama Hajimemashita0.707.64 (177)8.34 (612)15Yuri!!! on ICE0.697.77 (200)8.46 (424)16Karneval (TV)0.686.93 (62)7.62 (300)17Seirei no Moribito0.668.04 (107)8.71 (73)18Vampire Knight Guilty0.656.93 (173)7.58 (631)19Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon0.657.50 (117)8.15 (358)20Tiger & Bunny0.657.84 (107)8.49 (138)21Ghost Hunt0.657.58 (132)8.23 (205)22Free!0.657.28 (252)7.93 (862)23Tenjou Tenge0.646.91 (151)7.56 (50)24Kuragehime0.637.75 (69)8.39 (295)25Tenkuu no Escaflowne0.637.48 (89)8.11 (84)

What most surprised me was how many of these anime I hadn't heard of before. I mostly use reddit’s /r/anime for news, so perhaps it's a reflection of the demographics there (at around 90% male), that those anime preferred primarily by women aren't discussed as often.

Next is a list of those anime whose fanbase is most made of men.

PosAnimeMale audienceAvg male score (total ratings)Avg female score (total ratings)1Shinmai Maou no Testament91.4%7.2 (555)7.01 (52)2High School DxD BorN90.8%7.72 (643)7.55 (65)3Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru90.1%7.23 (468)7.07 (51)4Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri 2nd Season89.5%8.0 (563)7.65 (66)5Motto To LOVE-Ru89.4%7.53 (433)7.68 (51)6Trinity Seven89.3%7.52 (674)7.30 (80)7Grisaia no Kajitsu89.1%7.86 (545)7.57 (66)8High School DxD New89.0%7.82 (816)7.47 (100)9Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 288.7%8.38 (938)8.19 (119)10Gakusen Toshi Asterisk 2nd Season88.5%7.4 (387)7.52 (50)11IS: Infinite Stratos88.4%7.05 (688)7.21 (90)12Overlord88.3%8.1 (783)7.71 (103)13Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records88.2%7.47 (519)7.46 (69)14Freezing88.2%7.20 (398)7.28 (53)15Tsukimonogatari88.1%8.26 (411)8.23 (55)16Sora no Otoshimono: Forte88.1%7.77 (440)7.69 (59)17Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Zoku88.1%8.27 (766)7.95 (103)18Date A Live II88.0%7.49 (635)7.39 (86)19Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?88.0%7.19 (502)7.11 (68)20Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry87.9%7.82 (685)7.65 (94)21Hanamonogatari87.8%8.10 (419)8.17 (58)22Sekirei87.4%7.26 (439)7.69 (63)23Eromanga-sensei87.4%7.10 (564)7.49 (81)24Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next87.3%7.63 (710)7.54 (103)25Campione!: Matsurowanu Kamigami to Kamigoroshi no Maou87.2%7.41 (446)6.87 (65)

And lastly, here is the list of those anime whose fanbase are mostly female.

PosAnimeFemale audienceAvg male score (total ratings)Avg female score (total ratings)1Diabolik Lovers89.9%4.94 (50)5.97 (447)2Skip Beat!86.6%7.77 (61)8.32 (397)3Love Stage!!85.1%7.38 (57)7.85 (328)4Amnesia83.3%6.03 (90)6.63 (452)5Karneval (TV)82.8%6.93 (62)7.62 (300)6Fruits Basket82.6%7.44 (136)7.91 (648)7Bokura ga Ita82.5%7.22 (58)7.53 (275)8Kuragehime81.0%7.75 (69)8.39 (295)9No.680.7%7.20 (128)8.20 (538)10Nana80.1%8.51 (95)8.69 (383)11Ouran Koukou Host Club79.4%7.92 (308)8.54 (1190)12Vampire Knight78.8%6.74 (223)7.49 (833)13Vampire Knight Guilty78.4%6.93 (173)7.58 (631)14Free!: Eternal Summer77.9%7.6 (140)8.15 (496)15Kamisama Hajimemashita77.5%7.64 (177)8.34 (612)16Free!77.3%7.28 (252)7.93 (862)17Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R76.4%7.35 (68)8.06 (221)18Kamisama Hajimemashita76.3%7.96 (100)8.39 (322)19Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S76.2%7.78 (60)8.17 (193)20Itazura na Kiss75.8%7.89 (108)7.73 (339)21Kuroshitsuji II75.6%7.35 (239)7.61 (741)22Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon75.3%7.5 (117)8.15 (358)23Special A75.2%7.35 (146)7.85 (443)24Tsuritama75.0%7.60 (53)8.31 (159)25Romeo x Juliet74.0%7.93 (62)7.85 (177)

I hope you guys liked this small analysis, I had a lot of fun making it. A big thank you goes out to /u/purplepinapples for collecting the MAL voting data. I hope to do some follow up posts in the weeks ahead, delving a little deeper into the ratings to see whether there's a difference between younger and older anime fans, trying different ranking algorithms, and finding out which anime are the most contentious. If you like this kind of thing, I post updates on my twitter account as well as here.

If you have any suggestions for other ways to analyse the data, or would like a copy of our data, please let me know via ask me anything, twitter, or reddit (:

[supergenial]

[translation and lyrics]聖魔剣ヴァルキュリアス by Dragon Guardian

The eponymous final song in the album. The version above is from their best of album, I thought it was amazing as soon as I first heard it but something was missing among all those long instrumentals. Turns out that’s where the narration goes, which makes a lot of sense. Anyway, Claudia finally faces off against Uriel, Raphael, and of course the Pope Schneider, finally releasing the godslaying seal on her sword. Amazing song, also long as heck at 9:40 minutes. Overall I’d say this album is at worst a strong 9, I’ve listened to it back to back just too many times by now. As for how it compares to Dragonvarius, that’s a tough one, but this one certainly tries to be much more epic, which I like. Dragonvarius felt like it was on a much smaller scale despite the musical range being much larger. Anyway, lyrics down below and see you all next time.

聖魔剣ヴァルキュリアス

(Seimaken Valkyrias, Holy Demon Blade Valkyrias)

saigo no chi kami no nemuru eden arayuru mono ga kikaikasare saisho no chi hakobune ni noritsuku hai ni somaru shi no seichi tenshi no hoshi

The end of the land; God's sleeping Eden where all has been turned into machinery the first land, which was reached by the ark the holy ground covered in the ashes of death, it's the realm of the angels

isekai no shinryaku ni aragai mamori tsutsuke ima koso shuushii wo uchi shikkoku no yoru wo mukaeru

To guard us from their invasion, our struggle to protect continues We'll now put an end to them, and finally overcome this pitch black night

tenmei ni idomi tatakau sore ga saigo no yakusoku mirai no nai kono chi de kuchihatetemo hakai wo tsutsukeru tenshi no itsuwari no tsubasa kiri kagami ni utsusareta jaaku na kuroi kage

A battle challenging god's will, so that we'll fulfill our last promise even if this land has no future and is already rotting away we'll cut the wings on the angels of destruction as the mirrors show reflections of evil black shadows

yukute wo habamu nitsuu no datenshi ga tenjou he no tobira no mae ni mai oriru

Closing off our path are two imposing fallen angels falling like petals from the gate to the heavens

kodaiyori mamorinuku shinryaku no ma no te kara seimei no rekishi ni futatabi iki wo ataeru

With our own power in hand we'll tear apart their rampart and breathe life again into the history of the living

tenmei ni idomi tatakau sore ga saigo no yakusoku mirai no nai kono chi de kuchihatetemo hakai wo tsutsukeru tenshi no itsuwari no tsubasa kiri kagami ni utsusareta jaaku na kuroi kage

A battle challenging god's will, so that we'll fulfill our last promise even if this land has no future and is already rotting away we'll cut the wings on the angels of destruction as the mirrors show reflections of evil black shadows

hakai no tenshi doryoku ushinaware akai hitomi kara hikari ga kieyuku shikabane wo tsumi kikai no yama to kasu seijaku ni tsutsumareru shinpi no seiiki

The efforts of the angels of destruction are in vain the red shine in their eyes is finally fading away their corpses pile up into a mountain as we strike through the sacred land

>From here on it's better if I stay back and guard your backs, you two go on to the Pope >but- >I hate to say this but I can't really go on any longer >... I get it -Claudia and Bell march on through the living-machine-labyrinth, they're closer than ever to their goal of defeating the Pope Schneider who awaits them >Hoo... I see the fallen angels Uriel and Raphael were not enough to stop you. To be fair, I never expected much from them, they were always nothing but damaged goods. >Soon enough you'll be able to tell them that personally. >I see, so you really think you can stand before the ruler of all creation, I guess you won't mind then if I have some fun and go all out. >This fucking guy... Bell let's get him >Affirmative, LIMIT BREAK! -With the power of the five, the holy blade emits a powerful blast, but reality is cruel sometimes, the end of despair has yet to come. -Responding in kind, the Pope's blade clashes with the blast and the bells of The End can be heard. Rising from the destruction, the one who brings about that melody is the unfazed Black Angel that emerges from the debris. >As if there was ever such a thing as a godslaying blade, you heretics really thought you could stop me? >Dammit... >Now, release it for real, the blade’s godslaying seal >How can you ask that of me? We can still fight him >Claudia... I want you to know it's been a pleasure being your friend until the end. Th-... Thank you. Now, call my name! >But- >It's about time you take a hold of your own destiny >Really... what a selfish request. I'll never let anyone but you say anything about my destiny. In the name of this very Claudia, release your true form, oh Heavenrending Blade!

mezame no toki otozure seinaru tsurugi to kasu goryuu no maryoku hitotsu ni atsumari kagayaki hari sakeru kodou no naka nikushimi no kanjou osae kono omoi wo chikara ni kaeru yasashii koe ga suru

The time has come for the blade to truly awaken the power of the five dragons makes the blade shine ever bright as it's heartbeat is cut, the hatred dwelling in it is freed let these feelings turn into power, as a kind voice joins with it

shiro no hikari kuroki yami to majiri hai he to kawaru hajimari no chi ni nita fuukei toki ga tomari jikuu yugami zero no sekai ima koso hajimari korega saigo to kokoro ni negau

a white light mixes with the darkness and turns it all to ashes the land of beginnings is thorn apart and reborn all over again time comes to a halt, space distorts, like the world is starting anew it's time to start over again, this is what that heart pleaded

kami wo sabaku tenbin dochira ni katamuku no darou unmei no kusari kirisaki seija wa tabidatsu

god's scales of judgement, which way will they lean towards? to break the chains on fate and have the saints depart

kikai jikake shosen kami ni mihanasareta otoko wa moetsuki hai he to chiriyuku hitosuji no hikari sora he to takaraka ni mabayuku shoujo koso kami dato iu shijitsu

the mechanized god abandons the man as he is reduced to ashes by the light of salvation that inundated the sky from it's highest point on the moment where the girl was godlike

So yea, that’s pretty much it. What goes on in the epilogue is more or less:

Once the heavens fell, the sun sprung up again and life carried on. >Well, now that we’re done with the angels there’s a lot you gotta do, let’s go back home, Claudia >Eh? Why me?? >Well you’re the only one left for me to order around >cheh... well, ok I guess I have to

Charlotte briefly ponders on how much Claudia must hate to have lost Bell, but the first thing Claudia does is go back to that hill once again where she’s received by a fortuitous surprise.

>Welcome back home >Shut up And so, the promise of those two girls was protected.

[lia-nikiforov]

Winter Anime Final Impressions

I was supposed to do this like two weeks ago but with Gundam ending so late and me getting swept up with many things, I didn’t have the time, but here’s a quick rundown of the best and worst of the Winter season. I’m gong from best to worst and also since I watched very few shows this season, I ‘m not gonna break them down in best/meh/worst

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen

A masterpiece to the very end, as heartbreaking as it was full of joy and love. There was this weird insinuation at the end that didn’t sit well with me at all and I’m not sure why they felt the need to do it, but I can overlook it because the rest of the picture is so wonderful and special and heart-wrenching. When Konatsu asked Yakumo to make her his apprentice, I actually cried. What a beautiful show. Don’t let the obscure antique Japanese art keep you from experiencing one of the best anime of this decade.

Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto-hen

I was a bit worried about this one because lately, when an “old” show gets a sequel many years after it last aired, said sequel turns out underwhelming and poorly done. See D.Grayman HALLOW (which also adapted my favorite arc from that manga) and Berserk (production values aside, the decline of this is due to Miura’s gross storytelling, so I guess it was inevitable). But I was more than surprised and ecstatic to see this rendition of the Kyoto arc did justice on the source material, with excellent production values, a good pace and wonderful emotional and action scenes alike. AoEx is one of the finest examples of the battle shonen genre and that translated wonderfully to this new iteration of the anime. I can only hope we’ll see Izumo’s and Shura’s arc eventually too.

ACCA-13-ku Kansatsuka

I was a Little on the fence on this one at the start, but once they laid down all the cards and tied all the loose threads, it became absolutely amazing. I’m sorry I ever doubted you Natsume Ono, your ability to craft smart and fascinating adult stories shall never be questioned again. Definitely worth checking out if you want to try something different to your usual anime genres. Helps that the visuals are really interesting and that Mauve is such a bae. I still feel Jean was the weakest link with his absolute nonchalance, but even that somehow worked at the end. Definitely worth going through the somewhat slow initial episodes.

Yowamushi Pedal: New Generation

NGL i’m not a fan of Kaburagi, he’s so much like Naruko I don’t feel he adds anything to the team. But this is now officially the Teshima show and that compensates for the snooze that is Kaburagi because Teshima has become so fabulous and cool I’m just excited every week to see what he’ll do next. Also the First-year race was a true highlight and I’m very disappointed Sugimoto didn’t make the cut, they did a fantastic job in making him likable, so it was sad to see him lose. Hopefully he’ll get to assist Imaizumi when they’re 3rd years.

Little Witch Academia

This show’s a lot of fun, with really sweet animation and it also sports the Best Girl of the season, Sucy Manbavaaran, although I gotta say there were a bit too many fillerish episodes and it was frustrating to see them take so long to get the plot going. I’m not hating on the show, it is in fact extremely entertaining, but it’s a little lacking on the plot department. Hopefully we’ll get more of that on the second cour.

Classicaloid

I’ve never been happier of not quitting a show as I am about Classicaloid. By episode 3 I was on the verge of giving up because it wasn’t what I had expected, but I kept going and I ended falling so hard in love with this show I’m ecstatic it’s getting a second season. Once I embraced the absurdity, it became the best comedy of the season, and I honestly would watch Schubert’s fishy misadventures for 52 weeks a year. It’s an acquired taste for sure and not easy to recommend, but if you’re willing to let go of all reason, you’re sure to have a good time.

All Out!!

I have a lot of love for this show and its characters (and Sekizan’s ridiculous hair), but I’m afraid the pacing they chose basically doomed them because with the abysmal sales, it seems unlikely we’ll ever see a second season and therefore we’ll never get to see if Jinko does get to Hanazono. It’s a perfectly competent sports series, that does a really good job of developing its huge cast, definitely much better than the likes of Prince of Stride or DAYS, but its inconclusive ending is quite frustrating. I really do hope we get to see more of these boys, but Madhouse’s never been all that good with the whole getting-sequels-done so…

Kuzu no Honkai

In spite of its low ranking, this is actually a really good show and a unique take on teenage female sexuality that you wouldn’t normally see in this mostly sexist medium. Hanabi made for a truly interesting protagonist and I liked seeing her explore herself and her relationships. I was however quite disappointed by how little focus we actually had for Hanabi and Mugi’s relationship. I felt there was more telling than showing in that regard, especially in the latter half of the show. The ending was pretty good and mature in spite of everything, and as always, I’m just really fond of all the vaginal imagery in the ED animation. Could’ve done without Moca though.

Gundam: Tekketsu Orphans

At the end of the Fall season, I expressed my concern about pointless, meaningless deaths. Clearly the Gundam writers thought I wasn’t concerned enough because the amount of characters that died pointless deaths went on to, I think, the double digits. I wouldn’t have minded the carnage if there had been some sort of payoff to the sacrifices. For example, if Shino hadn’t stupidly and conveniently missed his one shot because the show couldn’t afford to kill Rustal yet. I always felt Orga, Mika and Akihiro had a ton of death flags looming over their heads, but I certainly didn’t expect all three of them to get to the chopping block. Orga’s death was particularly random and pointless, but then again, what they did with Orga in general was very confusing. That he agreed to McGillis’s sketchy propositions to become “king of Mars” never made a whole lot of sense to me and that’s the result we got. I’ll also never get over how creepy and weird the whole Atra giving Mika a baby thing was. In short, I have very mixed feelings about it.

Hand Shakers

I could write thousands of words for everything that was wrong with this series but I think it wouldn’t make justice to the absolute experience that is watching this amazing trainwreck. Go watch it to see a masterclass of how not to anime. Honestly I had such a good time hating this show, it was so horrible in every possible way. Good job GoHands, even animate, who sponsored this show, won’t give it any publicity.

Super Lovers

I’m not sure of how this production team managed to put out 20 episodes of nothing actually happen. Like you just have to give kudos to the writers for managing to simply not do anything over the course of 6~ hours of content. No drama, no decent comedy, no character development, not even relationship development in a BL romance. It’s kind of amazing how pointless the whole thing is. The dog’s still cute and the relationship is still creepy and gross and that’s about all there is to say about this.

Although most of the shows I watched turned out great, it did feel like a weaker season because there wasn’t that much that was interesting (my Wednesdays were literally empty). Or maybe everything looks lackluster in this post-Yuri on Ice world D: But there was Rakugo and rakugo is good and I’m glad we live in an age in which such a niche, quiet and adult artistic show could be made and tell a complete story.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga 5 | SGRS: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen 5 | Nanbaka 18 | ACCA 4 | Classicaloid 17 | Morose Mononokean 1 - 2

The idea from now on: Once all 2016 shows are done (rewatches or not), expect the 2016 ranking.

Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga 5

You could see Shura’s pink phone in her back pocket. Hopefully, she doesn’t bum dial anyone…

One of the problems of this (part of the) show is its heavy reliance on flashbacks, since the original series was in 2011 (or 12?).

That’s what happens when you have an impulsive guy like Rin, I guess. Custody. (Partially joking.) Sometimes a pep talk is all you need to get back up though.

I can make out some of the hiragana and (maybe?) a minami (south), but otherwise I’m pretty lost on that cursive script too.

With a proper look at the right side of the letter, I can indeed make out “Okumura Rin”.

I just realised – Torako (tiger child) and Tatsuma (judging by the “tatsu”, it likely has something to do with dragons). It’s tiger vs dragon!

How is this letter even relevant to the current day, aside from the tale of Ryuji?

You subbers make me sic! (LOL.) The word is “disastrous” – remember that.

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu: Sukeroku Futatabi-hen 5

Whoa. Sukeroku’s eyes were red!

I thought it was Yakumo’s ashtray Yota was talking about. Turns out it’s his bento.

Ah, the magic of technology. Yota knows it.

The Amakentei from season 1, episode 1. It’s still here after all these years.

There’s a creepy picture of a man in the back. Probably a photo.

Noxy stereo, LOL.

Note for later: Kajikazawa was the name of the story Yakumo did when he got enraged by Yota.

I thought Yakumo would be furious about the carp. Turns out he’s not. The Yakumo name bit made me laugh because that’s such a Yota thing to do.

“Atashi”? Did I hear Yota say “atashi”?

Hangon-ko is so spellbinding…

Hikobayuru is beautiful as always.

I-I’m crying right now. The preview basically is implying Yakumo’s…dead.

Nanbaka 18

Was that hit really that hard?

I think they skipped a line of the subs?

Oh, “the tall guy” is Qi.

What’s the name of this black/blue haired guy in the first place?

…but the staff was broken before…?

Ruka is apparently a kappa according to earlier comments, so him in the water makes sense somewhat.

Wow. Futamata-sensei really likes Chinese stuff.

Strangely, Uno has a point.

The Gojyousan underground cell. Of course it had to be called after Ruka. Plus the goroawase would definitely mean it has 5 levels.

How did Uno identify Trois and Honey by one middle finger? The nail polish and style of the nails, I guess.

*cue dramatic music* It’s a cliffhanger! (Dangit.)

ACCA 4

Walnut…cookies? Can’t tell what that “walnut” really is since it only appears for a second.

Seriously, who is Nino calling?

I think a captain’s hat like the one that guy was wearing makes people look silly.

There’s a lot of English in this theme song. Except for the autotune, the song suits this show perfectly.

I only just realised Jean has some buttons shaped like the letter H.

Man, having the freedom to decide your own schedule is nice.

Pentagonal table, eh? Not even “Knights of the Round Cross” exist here?

Jazz sounds and xylophones really suit this show.

Satsuei? I forgot what that means. Update: It means “to take a picture of someone”, although it appears to be a noun.

There’s even ACCA desktop wallpapers. I want one.

Interesting to note Beurre uses the word kuni (country) for Suitsu, which was subbed as “place” (“It’s a wonderful place!”). This just shows exactly how much autonomy there is for ACCA’s districts.

I don’t think I questioned it yet, but why is this guy called Biscuit? By the audio, it sounds like he’s called “Bisuke” and not “Bisuketto”.

Keitai denwa = mobile phone.

It’s like the French Revolution. Not that I’ve studied anything on that revolution, but eh. Coldplay’s Liberty Leading the People and all that.

Gag rule. I didn’t know what it meant specifically, but it kind of explained itself.

Jean has such a baby face and gangly neck that it’s easy to think he’s an example of what TV Tropes call “Noodle People”.

Classicaloid 17

I think the word Motz uses is oishii, but I’ve never seen it translated as “delish!” before.

It’s grilled mikan, technically. Didn’t I say that last time?

I got no Google hits on “yaki mikan” or “grilled mikan” that were relevant.

Welp, this seems to be set in Japanese winter. Or else you wouldn’t be seeing mikan (or colds) at all.

Did Cho-chan just do an extensive burn on Sousuke? That’s gotta hurt!

The hallways in blue light at that angle…it’s kinda creepy, due to what the staff put in the next ep preview…I’m actually so scared, I have a lump in my throat…

How did you communicate with Hasshie, Cho-chan? *laughs anyway*

The fact the subs go (verb verber verbing verb!) is hilarious.

It’s a flippin’ zombie apocalypse! I tried to do one of those (not as crazy as this) in one of my stories and needless to say, I utterly failed! *weeps* *stops weeping* Well, back to work.

What would Cho-chan say if he got infected?

Aloe vera? (Why and how did I know that pot contained aloe vera?)

What? Okay, that’s (Schu and Beethes having citrus heads) just plain weird.

O-Okay. So they basically made “Thriller” to the tune of a march…?! *bursts out laughing* That’s the most ridiculous they’ve gotten so far. I don’t love it because it made me sick to the stomach, but honestly, that’s the most original idea I’ve seen in ages!

The prospect of a pineapple zombie invasion though…urgh. I do not want.

I see no Google hints whatsoever about mikan being grown in Turkey.

Wasn’t it Einstein who said “success is 1% talent and 99% perspiration” or something like that?

(Morose Mononokean ep 1)

Why did I pick this show, you ask? It’s pretty obvious, right? It’s appealing to the eyes.

There’s something extremely iyashikei about this show, even if it’s also a supernatural show.

Why is no one wearing yellow except Ashiya?

…and the ol’ “problem with buttshots” comes right back from Bungou Stray Dogs. What is it with people and butts?

“I can’t stand it!” – Considering you’re not able to stand, it’s pretty obvious, Ashiya.

Why a giant fuzzball acts like a dog? Beats me.

My allegiance for the lil’ fuzzball started from episode 1, as you can probably tell. One episode is all I need sometimes.

“…to collect your debt.”

Hanae is a feminine name, normally.

His face when he saw that it was Abeno was…hilarious!

Is that youkai a (subtle) 4th wall breaker?

The ED is so pretty. It evolves too, which must be a pain in the butt for the animators but it’s pleasing to the eyes.

(ep 2)

“I can totally see them now.” – Okay, not many boys speak like that. Girls, maybe, but boys? No. (That is, if we’re talking about the phase where suddenly speech is littered with at least 20% more “like”s than usual.)

Of course, nobody questions the spraying of spontaneous flowers in the OP.

ESP doesn’t do that.

Being possessed by mutant pine cones really does take its toll on Ashiya.

Cyclops pine cones? Probably creepy if they’re all staring at once.

Turtle emblem, even though the maker is a newt.

Mutant pine cones never looked so adorable, especially when picked up by the “scruff of the neck”. Abeno basically tossed the little guy he held.

Doesn’t make much difference regardless of if you call the parasite shrub “incurable disease” or “curse”.

Notice how formal both Abeno and the big Scree are.

It’s not quite explained how the Screes learnt the guys’ names.