#(Humanity's Optimism) : Fuuka

[epitomees]

~ Aigis' Tags ~

More will be added as needed!

[neni-has-ascended]

Persona 4 Fanfic: “You Wouldn’t Expect” [Commissioned by spiralstorm]

Characters: Teddie, Labrys

Type: Romance

Description: Teddie takes Labrys out to the beach.

Read on Fanfic.net: HERE

Read on Ao3: HERE

Author’s Note:

A commission piece. Since I personally love this pairing to bits, I had a lot of fun writing it, though it took me a lot longer than anticipated... Mostly because I had trouble deciding what to do with the requested setting.

If you want to commission me as well for art, writing or translation, please check click here.

I also have a tip-jar.

Most people considered him an extrovert. Most people thought of him as a person who was incapable of taking anything serious, regardless of the situation. Most people had trouble imagining him with anything resembling a sense of shame. Most people would also assume that such a shameless, unserious extrovert would not experience any sort of anxiety going to a social outing they, themself, had suggested and set up in the first place.

Most people were wrong.

There Teddie stood, drenched in a mixture of sweat and some overprized body spray he’d snuck from the hygienics department (on Yosuke’s tab). His bike stood angled and leaned against the wall right next to him. Ever since the incident with the pine tree and the rubber tape he wasn’t allowed to use the rollerblades anymore, so fixing up Yosuke’s old ride was his only way to get out here on his own. Probably a good idea anyway; he was well aware of the enticing properties these fabled ‘rides’ were supposed to have on cute girls. Though, didn’t the bikes he’d seen in Yosuke’s magazines look quite a bit different from that bicycle next to him? Not to worry unnecessarily, but this distinct aura of lameness he could feel radiating off the beat-up thing now that he wasn’t on it seemed a bit… troubling.

Ah! Focus, focus! Teddie clapped his hands onto his face and took a deep breath. Now was not the time to lose his nerves! Not here, not today! No, not when this was the moment, the one, his irreplaceable and very special, very first… date.

His breath stopped even just thinking the words. M-Maybe the air was just especially thin today? Who would be surprised, geez, with how unbearably hot and humid it was, good thing he hadn’t come in his beautiful fur, all the moisture would just have ruined his shine, but now his poor head-hair had to deal with these conditions, and his skin was all wet and his foundation was dripping, and his clothes were wrinkled, and the flowers were wilting, and he couldn’t stop biting his lip-

“Hey. Sorry, did I make ya wait?”

-He snapped to attention and froze up like a popsicle in a straight jacket.

Without him realizing, he’d been approached by a slender figure dressed in a light, flowing summer dress, a pale-yellow ribbon holding her long, azure hair together in a ponytail. Fuuka had really done amazing work in restoring those cloaking features. If he hadn’t known better, Teddie would have assumed it was a regular human girl that had just greeted him so kindly. However, he was sure that the face and voice he saw and heard could only belong to one person in this big world.

“O-O-Ohhhh~~!! L-Labby-chan!!”

He could force melodic inflections into his words all he wanted; it didn’t keep him from stuttering. He found it so hard to not stumble over his words whenever Labrys was around. This, too, he wanted to blame on the infernal heat today. It dried up his tongue and made it so hard to articulate! Yes, that was what was going on here, clearly, without doubt.

“‘You okay, Ted? You lookin’ kinda frazzled.” Labrys’ head tilted slightly as she spoke. Oh no, now the hot weather had gotten her worried for him, too! Not that he minded being cared for, of course, but… No, no! Today was not a day to be anxious and worried. Not for him, and definitely not for her! With a hearty shake of his head, Teddie tried to throw off the many oppressive feelings weighing down on his poor little head and laughed.

“Oh no, mon ami, what are you talking about? I’m doing just bearfectly fine! Especially now that I am in such stunning company~!”

“…If ya say so.”

She rolled her eyes a little, giving a slight sigh. While Labrys wasn’t necessarily the best people-reader, she did consider herself fairly perceptive, and the fact that Teddie right now didn’t appear to be at the height of tranquility was obvious to everyone but himself. Then again, hyperactivity was barely out of the norm for the little guy, now, was it? Giving Teddie a gentle pat on the head, Labrys began to scan the area around them a little.

“Whoa, it sure is packed. You sure it was a good idea to come today? Maybe we shoulda rescheduled, huh…”

The doubt in Labrys’ voice was like a lightning strike to Teddie’s motors, and at once he was bouncing along eagerly in front of the young gynoid lady, shaking his head in utmost denial.

“Nonsense! Don’t you know that getting lost in the crowd is part of the charm of this kind of event? Walking down the beach together, hand in hand, in a sea of blissful couples, gazing at the night sky above, and then--!”

“I… I was kinda hoping we’d be going for a swim.”

That sentence killed the scenario in Teddie’s head quicker than Yukiko could kill a man’s self-esteem. Labrys continued talking, her hands tugged away behind her back as she considered her surroundings. When had she ever found herself stood in a large gathering like this before?

“Y’know, since that whole Beach Party thing we were talkin’ about in spring didn’t end up happening yet, ‘cause everyone got busy, when you said we were meeting at Shichiri Beach, I just kinda… assumed.”

His face went through at least 5 different emotions upon the realization that whatever miscommunication he had allowed to happen had caused Labrys to come here with wildly different expectation from him. Teddie eventually settled on a boisterous laugh that came out more awkward than intended, trying to right the wrongs of what he had suggested.

“Ah… AHAHAHA! Of course, of course!! Swimming, at the beach, what beautiful maiden wouldn’t want to swim at the beach, it’s bathing suit time after all!! Summer, sun, pin-up poses! Never you fear, I always carry an emergency bikini just for cases like this, right on my-“

“…Going swimmin’ in a crowd like this would kinda blow my cover. My cloaking device can’t project into water, y’know.”

“-Oh.”

Well, that was quite unfortunate. And though she tried to hide it, a certain sense of disappointment on Labrys’ face couldn’t be denied. Teddie, for some reason, felt put on the spot by this. Embearrassed, even. And there he’d been mapping out this whole, unforgettable evening in his head already. What a debacle.

“Em… Should we…” he didn’t mean to, but he ended up having his head sink in between his shoulders on him. “Should we go home?”

Fast, unusually quiet and short was how Teddie’s question came out sounding. Still, Labrys seemed calm.

“Nah, let’s stay. It’s sorta my own fault for not researching the event before sayin’ I’d come. ‘Sides, I’ve never been to a ‘festival’ before. Maybe it’s gonna be fun.”

Teddie’s enthusiasm was restored.

“Of COURSE it will be fun! You’ll love it! We’ll buy snackies and weird thingie-dings, and write wishes on tiny sheets of paper, and catch goldfish and watch the fireworks and the stars…”

A young, gold-blond boy was excitedly jumping around in front of his azure-haired friend, continuing his descriptions in such a manner that it was hard to believe he was ever going to stop. Labrys chuckled. As nervous as it made her to be around these many strangers, as long as she had Teddie just being Teddie, she knew all was still right in the world. She took a deep breath of salty beach air mixed with the scent of fried meat and Takoyaki and looked out to the festival site stretching out before them.

“Shichiri-Tanabata Festival, huh.” she mumbled to herself. “Let’s see…”

★

Teddie hurried to drag Labrys along to every little point of attraction that grabbed his attention, his excitement unbroken even as the hours marched along. Calling his way of selecting the booths they’d spend their time at ‘erratic’ would have been flattery. In a hurry he jetted from one site to another, from a saleswoman selling star-themed charms to an ice cream stand, to a pair of performers, to a fishing game, to a stand selling cold drinks, and so on. It definitely helped that Labrys didn’t mind his guidance, much to the contrary. She was glad to have something resembling a line to navigate along this chaotic gathering of people, whose countless voices constantly threatened to overload her sensors. Her 5th generation hardware simply wasn’t optimized for complex social situations like this one. Following Teddie’s lead and focusing on his voice helped drowning out the noise. Holding his hand to not lose track of him kept her from getting distracted. Eventually, she found herself sitting by a table put up next to a little tree with lots and lots of colorful papers hung on it, sipping from a plastic cup of iced tea (her systems could handle tasting and excreting liquids; it was only solid foods that caused problems.)

“There sure is a lot to do here,” she said with a sigh, gazing at the mass of people she’d been walking through all afternoon and wondering how she’d survived it. She turned to Teddie. “You’ve been to a festival before, haven’cha?”

“Yes, but never to this one,” Teddie admitted, still a bit flushed from the excitement of all the games they’d been playing. “The one in everyone’s town is very different from here. It’s a lot smaller and a lot less romantic. This one here makes me feel like I’m being swept off my feet!”

“Hm…” Sip, sip, sip, Labrys worked her way through her drink, considering Teddie’s statement. For someone who had never been to this festival either, he sure seemed to sure his way around. There was a lot she could learn from him, especially considering that he hadn’t been living in this world for that much longer than her. It probably paid to be as wide-eyed curious as him when it came to this sort of thing. It was then that a small stack of tourist brochures on the table next to them caught Labrys’ attention. She reached out, took one and began to read it. Of course, Teddie looked over her shoulder.

“Ohhh, English! Fancy.”

“It’s frickin’ broken as heck tho,” Labrys frowned at the grammatical mess before her eyes.

“You speak English, Labby-chan?”

“Came pre-installed with ‘nuff to read most of it. Can’t exactly speak it tho. Well, not withoutta soundin’ like an, um, y’know. Robot.”

It took Labrys some mental effort to stop her language processing programs from going bonkers trying to deal with the monstrosity presented to them. Eventually, however, she had processed the text enough to read out some of it.

“Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, originates from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the stars Vega and Altair, who’re thought to be embodied by the deities Orihime, the Celestial Weaver, and Hikoboshi, the Celestial Cowherd. According to legend, the two lovers were forbidden from meeting by the Sky King, who thought their relationship prevented them from performing their duties. Only once a year, when their stars meet on the 7th day of the 7th month, the two can meet, and it is said that wishes written down and bound to bamboo or branches on this day will come true.”

“Ohhhhh, that’s so romantic!!” Teddie almost squeaked hearing the story, making wide eyes at the paper in Labrys hands. She laughed.

“Sure, you’d like that. You’re into mushy stuff like that, aren’cha?”

“Hm. It would be even better if Ori-chan and Bosshy got to meet whenever they want,” Teddie declared after taking a few seconds to process the story. “I mean, it’s so sad! I thought true love was supposed to be forebear! Not giving them a happy ending when all the other fairytales get one just screams of discrimination, if you ask me! They should complain to the management!”

Somewhere halfway through Teddie’s critique had stopped making logical sense, but Labrys didn’t mind that. She’d expected as much. In fact, she kinda found it cute. She ruffled his hair.

“It’s probably a really old story, ya know. I reckon’ by now they’ve long got it worked out,” she suggested. “Like, maybe they quit their jobs and moved in together? That’s what I think woulda made sense, at least.”

“Mhm…” Teddie replied surprisingly half-heartedly as Labrys stroked his hair. Lowering his head, he mumbled. “If it were me, I’d do everything, so-“

“Hm?” Labrys tilted her head. Teddie’s voice had been too low for her to pick up all of what he’d said. However, he wouldn’t repeat the words. Instead, he swung his legs and leapt up from the bench the two of them were sitting on.

“Aaaaaalright! Where shall we go next, milady!?”

A 180° turn to the tree next to their table gave Teddie his answer.

“Oh, I know! Let’s write some wishes!”

★

It wasn’t Teddie’s first time writing wishes on Tanzaku paper. He’d done it the year before with Yosuke’s family, though then he hadn’t known the legend. However, it was Labrys’ first time, and she was struggling a little. To her it felt awkward trying to put any wishes she might have into words, especially knowing how many people there were around that could possibly be looking over her shoulder. The fact that Teddie kept loudly vocalizing every single thing he wrote down, proudly announcing his wishes to the world (he was up to tying his 10th Tanzaku to the tree now) didn’t help. Just how was it so easy for him to come up all these things to say? Maybe she just ought to stop thinking and just write down the first thing that came to her?

Eventually Labrys found a wish and wording she was happy with and put it on the paper in neat, clean handwriting, tying a perfectly symmetrical bow as she hung it to the branch. Yeah, this was okay. It reflected her hopes for the future, and she didn’t feel weird about the fact that someone else might read it. She was satisfied.

“Oookay!!”

Hands on hips, Teddie looked over his army of 27 Tanzaku Papers merrily fluttering on the tree, Labrys’ sole wish mixed right in with them. He seemed proud of the image, miming the hand-gestures of a photographer looking for the perfect shot again and again, though never actually taking a picture of the scene. The one to really take a photo was Labrys. The way Teddie was hopping around in front of that tree was just too cute.

“Careful, ya gonna tear ‘em down with all the wind you’re makin’ wavin’ ya arms ‘round,” she laughed.

“Wind? My lady, I will have you know, this is no orbearnary wind I’m kicking up here! It’s the cosmic shock-wave that will carry our wishes to the heavens! HMMMMMMM!” And he threw his finger up in the air and struck a pose, yelling. “ORI-CHAAAN! DID YOU GET ALL OF THIS!?”

Teddie’s display of unabashed confidence drew the attention of bystanders. A pair of college age girls could be heard chatting.

“Whoa, that kid’s Japanese is pretty good… And he’s kinda cute, too, isn’t he? Hee hee.”

“Careful what you say, I think he came with his big sister. You see that foreign-looking girl next to him?”

“Whoa, she’s pretty good-looking as well, check out that figure! How come foreigners get to have all those curves, huh?”

“Calm down, you’ll bother them. Hey, let’s move on, alright?” The girl took her friend by the hand and walked away, though she could still be heard adding. “It sure is nice, seeing that some siblings don’t feel like they need to ‘grow out of’ being cute together…”

Labrys and Teddie waited until the college girls were out of earshot. Then, they turned to each other, a little stunned.

“…Big sister?” Teddie asked, tilting his head a little. “Whatever did she mean by that?”

Labrys shrugged. “I guess we looked like siblings to them?”

“Oh, sort of like how Yosuke always says that all foreigners look ‘the same’? Geez, how rude!”

He didn’t look offended at all.

“We ain’t really foreigners though,” Labrys pointed out.

“So, we look the same to them because we’re both not human? Hmm, people are weeeird sometimes.”

“Yeah, can’t argue with that…”

“I mean…” Teddie put his fingers on his chin pondering. “It’s not like we should come across like siblings! After all, you are my fair Princess! And I am your Royal Knight, Sir Teddie, coming to your aid in shining armor.”

“Well, I dunno a lotta stuff ‘bout knights. But some of them were princes, right?” Labrys said. “And a prince can be a princess’ brother, I think.”

“Wha—No, no, no! None! That’s not it at all!” Teddie stomped one of his feet in the sand a little, not hard, just enough to kick up a dramatic dust cloud. “I mean… I maaaay be quite princely in just bearly all aspects, but! That’s not the nature of our relationship at all!”

“I mean. Yeah.” Labrys didn’t know what there was to get dramatic about, but on a purely factual level, she had to agree. “I do got some siblings, but last I checked, you weren’t one.”

“Right!?” Teddie seemed vindicated by that statement. He crossed his arms. “And… And anyway! If anything, I’d definitely be the older brother!”

At that, Labrys could only snort. “Really?”

“But, of course! In fact, ever since Sensei has gone back to the big city, I’ve done my beary best to stuff that sad, bro-shaped hole in Nana-chan’s life,” he told her. It’s not like I could ‘replace’ Sensei. Not even moi could ever do that. But! I’ve been visiting her lots and lots! We’ve been going shopping and watching TV and playing in the park and making music…”

Teddie’s mood went from high-strung to almost tranquil as he talked. His face visibly relaxed.

“Actually, you know, I wanted to bring Nana-chan here too! But… She was busy with school today, so she couldn’t come.”

“Why didn’t you just call me to reschedule then?” Labrys asked curious. “I wouldn’t of minded comin’ a day later so we can bring her, y’know.”

“No, it’s okay.” Teddie shook his head. “I’ll come with her another time! Besides… I thought it might be nice to come, maybe… just with you.”

Labrys accepted that statement, though she wasn’t quite sure what he meant by it. Generally, she found him rather unreadable at the moment. His expression, the way he didn’t really look at her but more at the ground behind her, that slightly pink tinge on his cheeks… Was he okay? If he was human, she would have guessed that he was showing early signs of a fever, but…

“Hey, hey, Labby-chan, look, over there! I wanna try that!”

And thus ended a brief, quiet moment.

The ‘that’ Teddie was referring to turned out to be a large stretch on the beach without booths, where people were currently gathering to perform some sort of folk-dance. Onlookers were evidently allowed to join in. Labrys was hesitant, after all, who’d ever heard of a dancing combat device? However, it didn’t take much coaxing for Teddie to get her to join. Despite their exotic appearances the two of them didn’t stand out among the dancers nearly as much as they could have. The crowd was diverse, some people having come in Yukata, while others were in casual clothing like Labrys and Teddie. There were even a few westerners, probably tourists, mixed into the bunch. Chaotic as it was, nobody noticed how many steps the two of them missed in their attempts to follow the shrine priestess and middle-aged man leading the dance. It was all in good fun. Some parts of the dance were performed in pairs and these were the parts that made Labrys most nervous. The idea of having to synchronize with the moves of a total stranger in order to not disrupt the event sent her logic circuits into disarray. However, Teddie kept close to her and immediately paired up with her whenever he heard the musical cue to, and though Labrys knew he probably had his own reasons for doing so, she was thankful. ‘He’s always been pretty clingy around girls, huh?’ she thought to herself. ‘Well, I’m glad he’s having fun.’ It was only fairly late into the song that it occurred to Labrys how many other good-looking girls her own age actually were in the crowd of dancers. Yet, throughout the entire song, Teddie hadn’t strayed from her side even once. When she realized that fact, Labrys fell silent.

“…”

“Labby-chan, what’s wrong? The music isn’t over yet.”

“Wha—O-Oh right.”

Labrys had been so lost in her thoughts, she’d stopped dancing on the spot. Now it was just Teddie and her standing still in the mass of dancers, small wrinkles forming on his forehead as he looked at her in worry.

“Are you tired? Should we take a break?”

“…Yeah, maybe. Thanks.”

Holding her hand gently, as if taking extra care to not hurt her, he led her to the edge of the beach’s waters, a little off from all the music and commotion. It was here, where the crowd was thinner and the noise less prevalent that, for the first time, Labrys could take a moment to breathe and process the events of the day so far. Her sensors registered a high content of sodium-chloride in water vapor in the air… Sea salt. A nice scent. In the distance the sun had begun to set, dyeing the sky and ocean in a dazzling red color. Carefully, Labrys stretched out the bottom parts of her legs to let the waves splash them a little. What appeared to be her ‘feet’ wasn’t real, of course, those parts of her body were a pure projection of her cloaking device, but it still was nice to pretend.

Watching Labrys stretch her legs out to the water like that, Teddie began to pout a little. He buried his face between his legs. “I’m sorry I didn’t take you swimming. You’re probably beary disappointed still.”

Labrys laughed at that. “What’cha even talking about? Today’s been great! I’ve been havin’ a blast.”

“O-Oh!” Surprised, Teddie looked up. “I was just thinking… You’ve been looking so nervous ever since we’ve come here, so maybe you weren’t actually having any fun.”

“Mhm… I’ve never really been ‘round this many people before. So, it’s a tad strange still, ya know?” Labrys admitted. “But a gal’s gotta get out sometime, right? I’m thinkin’, I wanna make friends that ain’t Persona Users too, some time. So, I’d better get used to seein’ more people around like this... You’ve already got that part of livin’ down to a tee, don’cha?”

Labrys grinned at Teddie as she said that, which he visibly took as permission to feel pride. Wearing her statement as a badge of honor, he puffed up his chest a little.

“Weeeell, if you ever need anybody to show you how to bring ALL the hot studs in town to the yard, you can come to me! I’ll be your wise and powerful mentor in the art of socialization and bearing it all to the world!”

“I’m sure ya will,” Labrys pet his hair a bit, partly to get him to dismount that high horse of his for a while. “Look. The stars are comin’ up.”

★

As the day drew to a close, the scene was lit by lights, both around and above them, all reflecting colorfully in the ocean before them. Labrys and Teddie spent the time talking, about themselves, the time they’d known each other, their friends. There was so much to say, the minutes seemed to pass much too quickly, and by the time Labrys had googled and pointed out the locations of Vega and Altair in the sky to Teddie, the festivalgoers had gathered around where they were sitting to gaze up at the stars as well. The fireworks began.

They were were even prettier than the last time Teddie had seen them, painting the sky in all possible colors, lights raining down above them in this pleasantly warm summer night. There were so many people around them, and – Labrys recalled – there were endlessly many more watching up to this same sky right now in this world. It was a concept hard to understand for someone who’d spent so much of her existence isolated from people, so why did she feel so at peace right now?

“I woulda never expected looking at some lights in the sky could be this beautiful,” she said quietly, almost a whisper.

“…Me neither,” Teddie said in much the same tone. And, whether he realized it or not, his hand was on top of hers.

In this moment, regardless of all the people and voices all around, it almost felt as if nobody but the two of them existed in this entire world. It was just like how, during the dance, Teddie had stayed only by Labrys’ side, like she would have never expected him to. That thought on her mind, Labrys found it easy to move closer to the boy next to her, her fingers intertwining with his, before she slowly drew him into a kiss.

“Next time, I’ll take ya out swimming,” Labrys told Teddie, breaking their lip-lock to bop his nose.

Stunned as he was, even if Teddie had had something to reply, he wouldn’t have known how to say it.

[tacitusauxilium]

Unforeseen Circumstances // Chapter 12 // Reunion

Unrequited love is the most painful thing to feel, and yet, Fuuka is persuaded to try her hands at getting Junpei’s attention, no matter what. However, after multiple failed attempts, what will she do when she catches the eye of the boy with the maroon peacoat? The heartache that comes with falling in love might even be more than she bargained for. But, would her sacrifice be in vain?

November 3rd

The final Dark Hour was upon the members of SEES—their backs turned towards the humans transmogrified and walked towards the Moonlight Bridge with their heads…low. Minako and Minato looked at one another, knowing they had to bring up the excitement and optimism, even if that was more of a Minako idea than Minato one. This was their final fight—and yet, the word final sat heavy on their mind.

“This is the final battle—we have nothing left to worry about!” Minato stated, noticing Ken shrugging and Junpei ignoring him by just walking ahead, his sword dragging behind him. Minako frowned and turned to the others, hoping that she might have a chance this time around.

“We know Aigis can do this. Fuuka wouldn’t do this to us and leave us on this important date!” Minako added as Akihiko and Mitsuru nodded, where as Shinjiro stopped and crossed his arms. “What’s wrong with you, sour puss?”

Shinjiro turned to Minako and looked at her with worried eyes. It didn’t help that he was tapping his foot impatiently. “Wasn’t Aigis suppose to get back to us when she has Fuuka? What is taking her so damn long?” Then his eyes went to Mitsuru. She was still cool and collected whenever Shinjiro wasn’t. It seemed to be in her nature to do so. Or perhaps it was Penthesilia’s weak sensing power that she knew Fuuka would be back. Maybe her motherly instinct played a small part, too.

“Aigis is not backed up with a communication device compatible with mine on my motorbike. I, er, was going to let Yamagishi fix that for me. If this is our final battle, perhaps that won’t be needed anymore.” Mitsuru explained, wishing she thought of it sooner. Then again, Fuuka had the ideas, and brain power to think like a scientist or a tech guru. “Yamagishi stated the idea the same month Aigis joined. I just didn’t get the parts until last week.”

Shinjiro tried to rub his temples and not let anything get to him. Even though he knew everything would be fine—perhaps a lover’s instinct?—but the fact that nothing was confirming his suspicions worried him a bit. They still continued to climb up towards the apex of the bridge until something was thrown towards them. Minato eyed it carefully as he gasped and turned towards everyone.

“Watch out! It’s a grenade!”

He yelled as everyone moved accordingly out of the way as they knew only one type of person who made and created those. Out of the smoke, Takaya and Jin emerged as Shinjiro gripped his axe tighter and gritted his teeth. Minako and Akihiko, as well as Mitsuru, kept close to Shinjiro as the others moved towards Minato for safety reasons. Everyone already knew who to expect tonight, even if no one was in the mood to deal with them.

“Ahh. You are still alive, Shinjiro.” Takaya uttered as he flipped his gun with his finger and frowned. “I guess I didn’t damage you too much.”

“You still talk too much. I’m here to get revenge!” Shinjiro called out as Takaya was doing a head count of everyone. Jin pushed his glasses up—he already knew the answer he was looking for.

“There are two heads missing—the robot and the navigator.” Jin mentioned as Takaya devilishly grinned and a laugh escaped his lips. Shinjiro could feel the anger seeping out of him. He knew that with Jin’s extensive knowledge, he knew Fuuka, and Aigis, possibly wasn't going to be there. But where were they--it seemed he had no clue at all.

That's good.

Shinjiro thought to himself as Takaya eyed the group carefully. “I guess she bit the dust. Too bad—I would have liked her to be alive so I could make sure she can taste death again.”

Takaya’s words made Ken and Yukari flinch as the others tried to stay calm and collected. Minato put a hand up in front of Yukari as Junpei clenched his weapon. “Shut up! Shut up !” Junpei cried out as Minako moved towards Junpei, putting a hand up on his chest. She leaned towards him and whispered in his ear, “We cannot let him know she’s alive. I know you want to tell him, but be strong, okay? She’s our ace.”

Minako backed away carefully as Junpei nodded and still showed some anger in his face. Takaya huffed it off as he rolled his eyes. “You know today’s significance, correct? That you all claim to hunt shadows to prevent any disaster they bring. And yet, many lives are lost, each and every day withOUT intervention.” He stated as he eyed up Shinjiro and Akihiko. He cross his arms and continued on with his speal. “You cannot deny that our power is evil. Why not just admit you don’t want the Dark Hour to end? You are just simply deceiving yourselves.”

Minako gripped her nigatama and lowered her eyes. She shook her head in disagreement. “That is not true!”

“But look deep inside of yourselves. You are pitiful children who are foolish. To eliminate the Dark Hour means eliminating yourselves. Can you even comprehend that!?” Takaya spat at the group as he rolled the revolver’s barrel and pointed it towards the group, especially at Shinjiro. Everyone felt themselves moving into their battle positions as Takaya grinned. “Fate shall decide who should prevail. Come.”

----------------------------------------------------

Fuuka gasped as she wrapped her arms around Aigis’ neck. Passing by everyone’s coffins, being transmogrified, she could sense how close Strega was to her and how much stronger they have gotten. The anger Shinjiro was feeling, the frustration that Ken felt, as well as everyone’s apprehensive nature towards those two were enough to send Fuuka off the deep end.

“A-Aigis… how much longer?” She asked, nervously, in between breaths as Aigis turned a corner swiftly, shooting shadows away in the process. She could have sworn she was going to get ill from all the twists and turns.

“Only another minute. We are making good time—I will be sure to get you there with no issues.” Aigis stated, knowing that Fuuka might not be able to get Aigis to talk more about anything else.

They are battling them. Th-they don’t know how much stronger they have gotten. A-and Shinjiro is frustrated, and attacking without a care in the world. If he keeps letting his anger get the best of him, will I be able to help him?

Fuuka could see the bridge as she tried to get the others to focus, but she’s been out of battle for a month. She was having some problems doing stuff without Lucia protecting her. She gulped as Aigis jumped over shadows and landed on the bridge. She could smell the gunpowder from Takaya’s gun and Jin’s grenades—it wasn’t a pleasant smell. It brought back bad memories--Fuuka shook her head, knowing she had to rid herself of those thoughts tonight. Aigis continued to bring Fuuka towards the top of the bridge as she suddenly stopped her. “Wait—drop me here.” She suggested as Aigis nodded as Fuuka pulled herself off of Aigis’ back. “I need you to create a distraction so I can get to Shinjiro and the others. You will have more energy and I can try to heal everyone.” Fuuka explained slowly while Aigis nodded.

“This sounds like I will be coming in guns ablazing.”

Fuuka wondered what new words Junpei taught her while she was out. She nodded as she gulped, pulling her evoker out. Putting it to her head made her nervous—she had to get use to the feeling again. “Go now—!” She called out as Aigis jumped into the fray as everyone’s eyes focused on her, especially Jin and Takaya.

Fuuka sent out an Oracle, healing everyone up as she could feel the happiness pouring out of everyone’s minds. It was like a breath of fresh air to her lungs. Everyone gasping in relief and turned towards Fuuka, encased inside of Lucia. Fuuka took a deep breath in and out as she kept her eyes shut tightly, and then opened them slowly and watched as everyone looked at her.

I apologize for being late, everyone. I have to make a grand entrance, don’t I?

“Yamagishi!”

“Fuuka-chan!”

“Fuuka!”

“Fuu-tan!”

Takaya gritted his teeth and spoke under his breath, “It seems I get to give her a chance to die again after all.” Fuuka watched as Shinjiro started to walk towards her, but then he stopped himself. She knew they had work to do. Even so, it brought a small smile to her face—it was written all over his face as his expression was soften. As if all the pain and anguish on his face washed away. And it pained Fuuka that they would have to wait, but she knew they could do this.

Everyone’s moods turned straight into strength as they were rejuvenated. Minato turned to Fuuka, their eyes eyeing the other side of the bridge. The Hanged Man shadow was awaiting them, as if a dark and heavy rain cloud looming over the whole group. “Fuuka, could we split the group up? That way we can get started on the Hanged Man shadow?” He communicated telepathically to their navigator. The full moon shadow was roaring over in the background. "I know you just came back and giving you a lot of work, but...can you do it?"

It took her less than a second to respond.

But of course—I’ll be here to help!

Minato nodded, turning towards Junpei, Yukari, and Ken. “You three come with me. We are going to take the shadow down!” The three nodded and began to run towards the shadow as Jin threw a grenade at them, attempting to stop them.

“No you don’t!” Jin yelled as Aigis got in front of the grenade and shot it in the air so as no one got hurt. Jin frowned and began to summon his Persona, Moros, attacking the others, knowing Aigis wasn’t going to be in a battle she would lose. Koromaru stayed near Fuuka, which she didn’t know if it was just maternal instinct or just Koromaru missing Fuuka entirely. Fuuka didn’t object as she hoped she can split her attention evenly between the two groups.

Takaya evaded Shinjiro’s axe attack as he let out a bellowing laugh. “To think our powers are not so different from one another. Perhaps I misjudged your strengths.” He stated as Fuuka put her hands to her chest, knowing Minato would be fine—it was Minako’s group she was worried more about. With two stubborn knuckleheads, she knew she had to keep an eye on Akihiko and Shinjiro. If Mitsuru and Minako didn’t beat her to the punch, that is.

“Erasing the Dark Hour is the same as erasing yourselves.” Takaya called out as Jin took another Bufula to the body as he gritted his own teeth in pain. “Tch—is that even beyond your comprehension?”

Akihiko threw a right hook punch at Takaya’s face, which missed, but the left hook aimed for his chest. It made Takaya stumble back as a loud “oof” left his lips. “No, but we know the difference between right and wrong. And we don’t want to put any more people through this hell.”

Fuuka bit her lip, as she could see the sparks flying with bullets clashing off their weapons and Ziodynes and Agidynes being thrown everywhere. She turned her attention towards Minato’s group. She closed her eyes and focused. Yukari was healing up Ken and Junpei, Minato was debuffing the shadow, and Ken used some Zionga spells on the boss as well.

Junpei? Are you okay?

Junpei wiped the sweat from his forehead as he nodded. It took him a moment to collect his thoughts and breath. “Y-yeah, just exhausted. Is there anyway to get those statues down?” He asked Fuuka as she already had an answer ready for him.

Each statue is weak to a certain spell—garu, agi, and zio—but the shadow is putting up a fight with my sensing. It’s as if it won’t show its weaknesses. But, she took a deep breath and looked up at the shadow hanging up from above, once those statues are down, you will get the shadow down and vulnerable for an all out attack!

Junpei nodded as he called out Hermes and casted an Agilo spell at the statue as the others, Yukari and Ken casted Garula and Zionga, respectively, at the other statues. Fuuka made sure they were fine before turning back towards Minako’s group. She let out a gasp as she saw a grenade heading towards her.

Before she could call out for help, Shinjiro ran quickly to her side, took his axe, and began to swing the grenade back towards Jin, as if it was a baseball.

“Not so fast!” He grunted as he saw the grenade making contact with the axe and it began to be thrusted up in the air, exploding high above the air. For a brief moment, she could see a small grin in the corner of Shinjiro’s lips.

Okay, that was cool.

Jin frowned as his plans to hurt their navigator was becoming moot. He wondered if it was just futile knowing that Shinjiro and the others would defend her. Fuuka felt her cheeks heating up as she focused, noticing that Jin got a nasty uppercut by Akihiko, which knocked him out.

“Good job distracting him, Shinji!” Akihiko called out, as Fuuka noticing Takaya trying to pick up Jin, even trying to wake him up. Fuuka released Lucia as she made her way towards the small group. She knew they were weak, their spirits and health were lower compared to the others.

She could easily sense that Takaya could barely handle another attack, and with his ally down, there was no way for them to defeat SEES as of now. Fuuka put a hand to her chest and kept an eye on those two for now. Takaya laughed as he and Jin moved closer to the barrier of the bridge. They were clenching their stomaches as Jin cursed underneath his breath.

“Is their powers THAT different from ours?” Jin spat at the group as Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. To say she was curious, as well as the others, was obvious.

“Different?”

“Our Personas have to be forced out. Didn’t Shinjiro tell you that?”

All eyes went up to Shinjiro the moment he was brought into the conversation. Shinjiro crossed his arms, his head turned as Akihiko was able to connect the dots to one another. “You were the ones giving him the suppressants.” He turned towards the members of Strega, his fist clenched tightly in anger and frustration.

Fuuka bit her lip, not knowing all of the details and yet, it felt like a punch to the stomach.

Suppressants? ...wait. The medicine I was given a while back... ...was that his?

She thought and wondered how long this has happened to him. She wondered why she didn't connect the dots herself. There could be a couple years of damage, but…what would be the long term effects? She showed worried in her eyes as she looked at Shinjiro, up and down, as his shoulders went slack. This was something he wasn’t looking forward to talking about at all. Especially with Fuuka.

“You guys really don’t know what’ll happen if you get rid of the Dark Hour. Normal people won’t have the slightest clue, but for us—!”

“That’s enough.”

Everyone’s eyes went towards Takaya as he took a deep breath in, removing his arm from his stomach and glaring at SEES with anger. “Ordinarily we would withdraw, but not tonight.” He reaches for his gun, flicked it towards the ground as the barrel turned inside. Shinjiro instinctively went in front of Fuuka as she subconsciously grabbed his arm. Jin looked at Takaya with wide eyes as everyone kept their eyes on Takaya. He drew in his attention, since he was the one with the weapon that could actually kill someone. “This body, as superb that it is, is useless without my power.” Takaya brought the gun to his head, cocking it. “Therefore, only one choice is left for me. To prove that I exist, here and now !”

Jin reached for his arm, pulling it down and away from him as his head was low. Takaya’s eyes grew with anger. “What are you doing!?” Takaya growled as Jin shook his head in disagreement.

“Don’t be such a reckless dumbass!”

“Jin!”

“…sorry.” The two went back and forth, knowing that if the other dies before the other, would their mission have been futile? “You win…looks like you will get your wish.” He looked up at half of the members of SEES, as he walked away from them, Takaya following his footsteps as they backed up towards the edge of the bridge. “Go and do what you want.”

Minako gasped as she could see what they were going to do. “Wait!” She cried out as Jin shook his head and gritted his teeth.

“I would rather DIE than surrender to you.” He spoke to them, looking more at Shinjiro than the rest of the group, as he yelled: “Take a good look! This is how WE live!”

And with their final breath, they fell over the barrier as Minako and Akihiko looked over, unable to distinguish their bodies from the bright red pool of water underneath. Fuuka gulped as she gripped Shinjiro’s arm a little tighter. “Th…they jumped…!”

“What in the hell were they thinking!?” Akihiko gripped the barrier tightly. He wasn’t mad, perhaps more frustrated that they cheated out on their death.

Shinjiro shook his head and ‘tch’ while closing his eyes. “They decided on their own fate. Don’t let it faze you, Aki.”

Akihiko let out a heavy sigh as Minako rubbed his back, trying to soothe him. Fuuka turned her attention to the other half of the bridge. She could sense that the others needed help. She turned on her heels towards the couple at the bridge. “Minako-chan, Sanada-senpai? Can you go help the others? They need healing and are hurt badly, especially Junpei with him being reckless.”

Both of them nodded as Mitsuru and Aigis turned to face Fuuka. “What about us, Yamagishi?” Mitsuru asked.

Even if Fuuka was their navigator, she wasn’t their leader. After mentally communicating with Minato, she replied to them what he had to say. “Go substitute with Ken-kun and Yukari. Please, that is per Minato’s words.”

“You got it, Fuuka-san!” Aigis called out as they ran towards the full moon shadow on the other side of the bridge. Fuuka removed her hand from Shinjiro’s arm as she began to walk towards the shadow, but felt something pulling her back. She was a bit surprised that Shinjiro pulled her back towards him, his eyes locked onto her own, and felt their hearts pounding quickly. Shinjiro was at a lost for words, unsure of what to say. He didn’t mean to grab her, but he loosened his grip on her a bit.

“Fuuka.”

“Shinjiro—I-I know you probably want to talk to me, hug me, and—“

Without warning, he leaned down, cupped her cheeks gently, and just felt tears rolling down his face. He had no idea what made the tears fall—perhaps it was the relief and seeing Fuuka alive that just made his body collapse with overflowing emotions.

She didn't die. She didn't DIE. She's alive. Alive. It's not like Miki--!

Fuuka felt her heart breaking in two as she truly was not prepared for this. She was ready to finish the Dark Hour, and wanted to focus on that—and yet, here is the person she adores, crying right in front of her. Her breath was taken away—Shinjiro even tried to wipe the tears away, albeit sloppily done.

Shinjiro…

Fuuka was beyond speechless as she carefully reached up and wiped the tears away from his eyes. It was as if her touch on his lashes made the tears magically disappear. “I’m here. No one will take me away again. I promise .” It was odd seeing Shinjiro so vulnerable. She always believed he was the stoic one, someone who would have a brick wall put up around him that needed to be taken down by dynamite or like a wrecking ball. And yet, she was the first to see this in her group of friends—minus Akihiko, she thought. Coming from a lover’s perspective, and not from a friend’s.

“I just thought—and don’t think it’s stupid before I say it—but,” it took Shinjiro a moment to think of what he wanted to say to Fuuka, “I felt something, deep inside of me— here —“ and he reached for her hand and placed it where his heart was, “—that told me that you would wake up and come back to us. Like, I don’t know if it was your Persona talking to me, or just an instinct, but when I saw you here, out of the blue, I didn’t think it would come true. But it did .” Shinjiro explained, his eyes roaming the whole place, as he finished his last sentence with his eyes on Fuuka. He knew he was rambling—unsure if that was something he started to do only because Fuuka did it sometimes. “I still feel like this is a dream. Could you pinch me or something?”

“I think I could do you one better.”

Fuuka leaned up towards Shinjiro, which she gripped his pea coat’s collar to pull him down and have him meet her half way, as she used her other hand to cup his cheek and kissed his lips chastely. A soft, quick kiss. But, then as she was backing away, Shinjiro brought her back towards her and simply whispered to her: “I never thought dreams would come true. Today, you showed me that they did, Fuuka.” And then he cupped her cheek as they began to kiss again, with a bit more passion.

Minako jumped up in the air, relieved that after all the crap they both put her through, that everything was working out. She had to wipe the sweat out of her eyes to double check what she was seeing was happening. She even hugged Akihiko out of happiness, hoping it was contagious. “See? I knew they would be together! It’s so beautiful!”

“I see it. Do,” Akihiko turned to Minako and frowned, “do we look like that when we kiss?”

“Well, if you get rid of the 10 inches of a height difference, then more or less, that is accurate.”

“Oh. Okay.” Akihiko uttered. He crossed his arms and titled his head back and forth. “He looks so weird kissing like her. Then again, never thought I’d see Shinji kissing someone other than his teddy bear when he was little.”

Fuuka frowned slightly as Shinjiro removed his lips from hers first. Shinjiro could hear his snide remark as he reached for his evoker and began to hold it above his head, ready to chuck it at Akihiko. “You know I can hit you with this, Aki! My aim isn’t that bad!”

Akihiko chuckled as Minako and him went into the fray, after watching Shinjiro and Fuuka hugging and kissing. Fuuka stifled a laugh, relieved that everything seemed to be back in order. She took a deep breath in and out, as she laid her head on his chest. Shinjiro’s eyes darted down to Fuuka as worry clouded his eyes.

“I’m fine.” Fuuka looked up at him, a small smile on her lips. “I promise, Shinjiro. I think the adrenaline just wore off after everything and I feel a bit exhausted and sore.”

“Will you be able to assist in battling?” She nodded her head. “Do you need me to help you?” It took her a moment to respond, but she nodded. “Will I fit inside of Lucia?”

Fuuka almost had another laugh escape her lips. “I think a couple more people could fit inside of her. She’s small, but can expand if need be. Let’s just hope I don’t have to summon. I can just sense she’s gotten stronger, maybe I will, too.”

Shinjiro led Fuuka to where the others were. They eyes were filled with determination, their smiles were filled with warmth—Fuuka being back renewed and refreshed them, as if nothing could stop them from anything.

---------------------------------------------

Once the Dark Hour was over and everyone was back at the dorm, the members of SEES all went back to their rooms, filled with excitement over Fuuka being back and that this whole Dark Hour bull was finally over. The relief flood Fuuka’s senses as she collapsed onto her bed—a small smile creeping up on her lips.

They…kept my bedroom clean and organized… I couldn’t ask for a better set of friends.

She took off her shoes haphazardly, not caring if they hit the floor loudly, and turned to lay her head on her cool pillow until she felt something on said pillow. Fuuka reached for her desk light and saw a letter on her pillow. “Who…?”

Carefully, she began to open it, only with her name on the envelope, and began to read it slowly.

Fuuka,

I was told to write my feelings out, and well, I blame Mitsuru for this stupid shit. She said it would help me communicate to you or something.

God this is ridiculous—

Every day that you were in a medically induced coma, I saw you. From 30 minutes to half a day, hell sometimes a whole day, I came to see you. Not because you risked your ass to save Amada and I, but you actually opened my eyes. I felt it was my fault that I let another girl, in my life, die. If you never woke up, I don’t think that I would not be able to move on—I’d probably still be attached to your hip.

Even if you do awake, I probably will be attached to your hip still, ridden with fear and anxiety of losing you. I don’t know why, but ever since we really talked and had our Personas interact with one another, everything seemed a little bit… brighter and I don’t know how or why.

Fuuka never knew that her Persona really did that much for him. She never really put herself in anyone else’s shoes—there really wasn’t a need to do so. Whatever anyone was going thru, she didn’t want to evade their privacy. And yet, everything changed once Shinjiro became a member of SEES again.

She bit her lower lip and put a hand to her chest as she continued to read the letter.

I will promise to stay alive. I have so much to look forward to--going back to finish my last year of high school, per Mitsuru's request and nagging, seeing Aki gradute (I HAVE to see that), and well...a future with you.

Fuuka covered her lips as she was a bit speechless. To read something so sweet, honest, and real from Shinjiro was a bit heartwarming to her.

I really can't wait to see what next year holds for us. I promise to do more for me and for you.

I love you.

Her eyes grew as she got up from her bed, exhaustion pushed far from her mind, and still had a hold of the letter as she had to make sure Shinjiro meant what he wrote. She dashed down the stairs, jumping off the last step, and almost running into his door as she caught herself on his door frame. She took a second to catch her breath and began to knock on his door gently. Even if her hands were shaking from anticpiation and apprehensiveness.

Shinjiro's messy head peeked out of his door as Fuuka was about to say something, but seeing him without his beanie did throw her off. It had been a month since she saw him and she felt like a bashful child again. "I... ...I got your letter."

"Well, yeah, I left it on the bed for you to read."

"...how long has it been there waiting for me to read it?"

Shinjiro closed his eyes, thinking for a couple seconds. "About a week. Why?"

Fuuka waved the letter in front of him, her cheeks a bright red as she pointed to the last sentence he wrote and used the letter to cover up her face. "You wrote I love you so casually--...you have loved me for that long?"

He opened his eyes slowly, opening the door to his room a bit more, as he smiled softly towards her.

"Fuuka, I think...ever since you sacrificed your life for me and Amada, I think... ...no. I think it was the moment when we were upstairs working on the computers for Mitsuru. I think we both felt the sexual tension for a while." Shinjiro pointed out, making Fuuka's cheeks heat up more at the memory--she wouldn't lie she wanted more to happen up there.

"We are teenagers, Shinjiro. I blame our hormones for that moment."

A soft chuckle left his lips as he ran his fingers thru her hair gently, using the other hand to lower the letter that was covering her face, and looked at her with soft eyes. The moment she came back, it was as if Shinjiro was born anew. "I mean what I wrote. Every word."  Fuuka locked eyes with Shinjiro's, gulping softly. "And if you don't believe what I wrote, then let me say them back to you outloud: I love you, Fuuka. And even if it takes you months to say it back--"

"I-I love you, too, Shinjiro!"

Shinjiro's mouth stopped moving the moment Fuuka interrupted him as he was not expecting her to say the words back so quickly. So, he felt his cheeks changing to a light pink in embarrassment and while loosing his cool.

"I...I know this might be so soon and so out of the blue, but you've been the one who has picked me up when I've fallen. A-and, well, they do say third time's the charm, so maybe..."

"You think that nothing will go wrong with me? I didn't realize I was your third choice."  Fuuka gasped as she whacked her free hand at his arm, smacking it gently, as Shinjiro let out a hearty laugh. "I kid, Fuuka! I kid! Don't waste any more energy on me tonight--I know you are tired, right?"

She frowned for a moment, but then pulled her hand back to her side and nodded. "I am so easy to read, aren't I?"

A chuckle escaped his lips as he pulled her into a tight hug with his arms around her back. Fuuka lowered her arms to her side, but then moved her arms around his back and hugged him back. "Of course, but that's not a bad thing." He stated matter-of-factly as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

Fuuka's cheeks were still a bright pink color as she closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest. The exhaustion of tonight, as well as their small confessions of love to one another, was enough for Fuuka.

"...I still love you."

"I know, Fuuka. I know."

"...could I stay with you tonight? I don't think I have the energy to walk back up the stairs to my room."

"If Mitsuru found out--"

"--right. Forgot about her for a moment. Could you carry me up to my room? For a compromise?"

"As long as you let me come to your next appointment for your heart, then... ...yes."

"Good. Because I don't feel like arguing anymore tonight."

[thenichibro]

Winter 2017 Anime First Impressions

The first season we’re really feeling the effects of more anime simulcast services. Yellow subs, torrents not being under the CR/Funi umbrella - dark times. Due to the fact I can only DDL at college, I am choosing not to watch LWA or Onihei because I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. I’m definitely going back to LWA after the season’s over though. Regardless, this season has the usual ups and downs, but initially I’m seeing a lot of ups - Maidragon is fantastic, Demi-chan and Urara are cute as hell, and Scum’s Wish is almost emotionally draining to watch, it’s so enthralling. Here’s what I’m watching, with MAL links: Fuuka (MAL) Starting off, we have an ecchi almost-harem manga that I didn't like. Great. Fuuka has the original plot elements of a shut-in guy that popular on the internet, who also has a super-popular girl as his childhood friend and soon gets to know another cute girl. Also his three sisters never wear clothes. Cool. Fuuka wasn't really that shit until the truck-to-the-face level plot twist that occurred in the manga, which I hope they will reach in the anime just for the reactions to how bullshit it is. Other than that, Fuuka is a less-than-stellar sort of harem about a whiny, bland main character. Fuuka even falls on the MC twice in the first episode for good measure. Oh, I guess also the plot involves playing music, but that's basically just a way for more random good things to happen to an unlikable character. OP and ED are nothing special, either. If anything, Diomedia's art style is usually good. Otherwise, avoid. Masamune-kun no Revenge (MAL) A story of a fat kid who got ripped and now wants to get revenge on his former crush. It's something new, for sure. The completely worthless perfect-in-everything trope is now supplied by both the female AND male leads. What a show. At the very least, Masamune-kun tempers the trope by giving both mains embarrassing reasons to keep up airs. The girls we've met aren't half bad, and I for one support a peppy class rep rather than the standard strict, megane type. The princess-complex is so tiring every time it happens, so lets hope that the show moves more toward Makabe/Aki in their real selves rather than putting on airs. Masamune-kun's plot actually strikes me as similar to Last Game, if anyone's read that manga. While I doubt this show will carry far enough into the future to deal with marriage, the story of a guy trying to ruin/outdo a girl and falling for her is definitely there. I have no strong feelings one way or another about this show, at least not yet. That will probably depend on how much princess Aki vs. normal Aki we see. Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu (MAL) I thought Long Riders was last season? Anyway, here we have a slice of life about a girl in a biking club. Relaxing enough premise, for sure. First impressions are that this show takes it pretty slow, judging from the fact that it takes 14 minutes before the main characters get to school at all. That is not a complaint, just an observation. Another is how different the landscape art is from the character art. The show opens with some amazing nature stills, while the character art is, for lack of a better term, "old." As in, it almost has the feel of an earlier 2000s show. I did wonder how much into biking the show would get, like Long Riders did, and the end of episode 1 answered that for me. The last two minutes or so are a live action segment where two of the seiyuu learn about getting into biking by talking to a guy running a bike shop. While the super serious stuff is what kind of made Long Riders fall flat for me, maybe it won't be as serious. We’ll see. Nyanko Days (MAL) I guess since I can't get my Teekyuu fix, I'll have to find a different two-minute show. Nyanko Days is about Tomoko, a girl who has three personified cats. For a two-minute show, that's about how far episode 1 got. She was depressed about being lonely, but cheers up upon arriving home to her three cats, Maa, Shii, and Rou. For a show this short the animation is surprisingly clean, and the 30sec ED was suitably full of "nya" and various words combined with it. It's cute, and it's two minutes long, so why not? Seiren (MAL) I came into this show knowing little more than it was a school romantic comedy, and overall I think it benefited my first impressions. The show focuses on three main girls and their relations with the male MC, and dedicates a few episodes to each of them out of the 12-episode cour. I'm immediately wary of this, only because it gives me flashbacks (read: PTSD) to Photokano, where they focused on a different girl each few episodes and then reset time the next section. I do enjoy the lack of the transfer student trope, at least for the MC. The first moments successfully give you the sense that there is already a school community, something I prefer over having to sort out relationships individually following a transfer. Overall, the MC is pretty standard and the current girl has a tiring personality. As long as this show stays far from resembling trash like Photokano, I think this show will be defined by the personality of the current girl, whether you like that or not. Chaos;Child (MAL) Because we needed more of the Chaos;Head storyline. I don't remember much about Chaos;Head, other than the incredibly shit voice of the main character and the incredibly shit everything else. I watched the first episode in a 1-hour combination with "Episode 0," which is a recap of Head. If you get the HorribleSubs release, that's what the file will be. Anyway, Child itself takes place six years after Head, in which the main character of that show causes some event or something. The recap doesn't help at all. Child follows a school's newspaper club investigating murders similar in strangeness to those during Head. Initially, Takuru seems like a person interested in the depravity and bizaare level of the murders, but that personality gets completely dropped when he tries investigating the newest murder - he completely loses all cool after seeing a body. While that otherwise may be a fairly normal reaction, it goes at odds with the Takuru that had looked at pictures of previous murders and called them "juicy" and interesting. He also regains the first personality after the event is over. Just seems way too abrupt. I will say Itou Kanako returns as she does for everything semi-colon related, and her voice is as good as ever in the OP/ED. I'm thankful for the lack of the otaku protag, but otherwise this seems just as nonsensical as Chaos;Head but with better art. Not looking forward to more. One Room (MAL) The second short show of the season, from famed artist Kantoku. That's the only reason I'm watching this, anyway. This show makes the initially strange choice of being shot in POV, with a voiceless male protagonist. The first episode sees him meet his new high-school girl neighbor, then grow close enough to her that she asks him to help her study. The show is billed as series of shorts focusing on three girls, so I would expect something like four episodes for each one. The most noticeable part of the show is the art, and damn does it look good. Closeups of the girl, fluttering cherry petals, everything is beautiful as a still and smooth when in motion. The POV part is less of a problem for me as I see it as similar to a visual novel, and with the girls being cute and the art being great, this will be an enjoyable watch each week. Kemono Friends (MAL) An all-CG mobile-game show, and a full 24 minutes at that. Why am I watching this? One of the things that stood out immediately was the grating sound of the first two characters's voices. Kemono Friends involves Japari Park, in which anthropomorphized animal girls live and have to deal with aliens called Ceruleans. While the show is clearly projecting a light-hearted tone, it was strange to hear heavy techno during a battle with a big Cerulean. This show looks like no more than a walk around the different areas to see different animal girls. I'd be satisfied with that if it wasn’t just so boring. The OP is suitably bouncy, but even if this show doesn’t get serious, 24 minutes of bad animation is a serious slog. Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon (MAL) Ah Kyoani, the true saviors of anime. Kyoto Animation's production budget meets the artstyle and writing of Danna ga Nani's creator. I'm on board. A working adult who drunkenly invites a dragon-girl to be her maid. A unique premise, to be sure. Right off the bat, the contrast between the Tohru's unfazed optimism and Kobayashi being done with her shit all the time made me laugh my ass off. The sequence with Tohru getting more scared of humans when Kobayashi and Takiya are drunk was also top-tier. Art-wise the show looks great, animation is smooth, and Tohru is cute as hell. Always a plus. In addition, I think Kobayashi is a grounded character with a few weird tastes, which is somewhat more relatable than a totally “normal” person, if I'm being honest. Regarding the OP/ED, I will do anything for more fhana, and Maidragon's OP does not disappoint. No ED in episode 1. Overall, I was surprised at how much I liked a show with such an ostensibly strange premise, but I am wholeheartedly excited for the next episode. Kuzu no Honkai (MAL) I was immediately drawn in by the brutally emotional premise of Kuzu no Honkai, or Scum's Wish. Two students dating, only using the other as a physical replacement for an impossible emotional love. Wow. I was almost shocked when the episode ended, because I had been enthralled the entire time. Even through the intimate scenes, there was a heavy air, one punctuated by wells of emotion that kept me breathless. Something has to be said for the sound design too - the crescendos of music match Hana's emotional ups and downs to a T. Flawless. Likewise, the art throughout, especially with the black watercolors clouding white paper, the choices of camera angles during the intimate scene - it brings out the regretful and simultaneously indulgent feelings that the scene evokes. The fact that sexual encounters in anime are almost always moments for comedy rather than real emotion just makes Kuzu no Honkai's scenes more unique. Just the very idea of feelings so strong that two lonely people would come together to physically try to stave them off is both depressing and greatly intriguing at the same time. Even the general atmosphere of episode 1 enriched the painful introspective Hana was going through, culminating in the titular wish. With the courage to take a darker look at high-school romance, I want to see more. Watch this show. Demi-chan wa Kataritai (MAL) I didn't think I had a thing for something as specific as "blonde vampires," but there you go. Man, does this show make me feel good. A world where racism towards demi-humans has calmed down to the point where it's a normal part of life. No serious, overbearing issues, just a fun, light-hearted look at the concept of a demi-human living a modern life. I think I find the epitome of that in Takahashi, who doesn't really want much more than to just know more about demi-humans - he has a genuine desire to get to know the subtleties of their lives. Soft-spoken and laid back, he is the perfect foil for the quirky, bubbly Hikari, the aforementioned blonde vampire. Funny exchanges with a few heartwarming moments combine to form one hell of a great first episode. The ED fits the relatively calm tone perfectly, but I'm partial to the OP by TrySail after they caught my eye doing Classroom Crisis' OP. Give it a listen. While there are some noticeably harem-esque undertones, if this show stays relatively away from Monster Musume ecchi and carves its own niche, I will enjoy it to the fullest. Urara Meirochou (MAL) [To get this out of the way first, FUCK Anime Network - who the hell thinks yellow subs, and hardsubs at that, still look fine? At least with the CR/Funi deal I would think we would have some consistency for once, damn.] I saved this for last because it looked like the most healing show this season. That, and midriffs. I'm a sucker for the traditional Japanese style (Mushishi, Katanagatari, Uchouten Kazoku), and Meirochou's art and architecture do not disappoint. Thus far, this is a heartwarming tale of four girls working to find themselves through their style of fortune-telling. The four girls are quite cute, even if Nono's voice is pitched just a bit too high. Also, midriffs. I hope that stays. I also like Chiya's wild-person-new-to-society personality, and I think it meshes interestingly with three other girls that, while adjusted to society outside of Meirochou, are otherwise just as new. Overall, this is a show that takes an interesting setting and premise and aims to tell a story through four cute girls. What's not to love?