#ANYWAYS seiyuu rant over

[jhwens]

Okay so I just finished watching Donten ni Warau and I’m going to read the manga pretty much right now, but can I just say that seiyuu cast though ♡u♡

[taichikun14]

After the sudden ending of the P.S. genki radio show, I was just holding my breath til some big news came out. It was either going to be a sudden illness or a scandal, and frankly I'm relieved it turned out to be the latter.

Cheating is terrible, yes, but...it is happening everywhere. Don't be naive. Not just in "celebrity world" but yes, in our very own "real world." I can't count how many friends, relatives, coworkers, and their extended circles have been cheated on/the cheater. Did all of them get shamed publicly and lose their jobs over it? No, cuz it's part of their PERSONAL lives. They just kept going to work as usual while dealing with this very *personal* matter on their own *personal* time. This is not a case of murder, violence, r***, etc....it's fuckin cheating, guys. The parties involved will figure out how to proceed with their lives. It is their business. It will be okay.

Not saying I'm not annoyed that it was done rather...boldly, on the radio show or on their trips for the DVDs. I wasn't even a regular listener but the times I did tune in or watch their travels, I was kinda like...HMM this is unusual for a female staff to be so...forward...like, so present...? I remember on Hinocchi and Tachi's kunitori show, their female staff person was there, but she kindaaa kept as low profile as possible and just did her job or answered if they reached out to her. Anyways, it is annoying if the show was/became sort of a vehicle for this affair, but it still has nothing to do with how I feel about his work.

Oh and I'm not buying this, "she didn't know he was married" talk. PLEASE lol. If I dated someone for 10 years, I think it'd get suspicious if we could never go over to his place, or spend major holidays together, or meet his family with me as his significant other. Gimme a break y'all.

I feel a little rambly now but I guess what made me wanna write this was all the comments on Twitter and here on tumblr. A lot feel similarly as I do, but I also saw a lot of comments calling for his roles to be changed, or things on the lines of, "how can I listen to his voice again when it makes me think of what happened," etc....but it's like...CHILL. He's NOT *your* husband!! The one who should be feeling butt hurt enough to not be able to stand his voice is his wife or the mistress. If you don't wanna support people you don't like, then sure go ahead. But I know if I had to go through and check every actor, artist, etc to see if any of them have ever cheated (and let's not even get into more serious offenses like violence, drugs, etc!), then I'd probably have nothing left to watch or listen to.

Anyways. Let me try to bottom line this. I'm just annoyed hearing about people wanting to outcast and recast Sakurai. He is a talented seiyuu. He went through a scandal before in the 2000s, but that was actually related to his actual work, for which he left the spotlight, "repented", etc. Quietly. FOR YEARS. And now this happens in 2022 and here's all this social media to blow it up. I'm pretty annoyed at all the "cancelling" going on in general with other celebrities/personalities, but in this case, such love life issues have nothing to do with these seiyuu's work. Probably just on him as a husband, but that's something that has nothing to do with me or his fans. And it's happened with Noburin , Tattsun... and more I'm sure but these were the only blowups that I was paying attention to as they happened and...yeah it annoyed me. Anyways, it's crazy. Rant over.

[rainstormfes]

30 Questions about Seiyuu (2022 Edition)

Day 1

"Your favourite male seiyuu?" @natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk (tagged bc they asked :3)

江口拓也 Eguchi Takuya

If anyone knows my blog by now or just took a glance at my bio, it wouldn't be a surprise that I chose him for this 🥰💛

No idea where to begin with him. I've voiced my opinions about him and love for him over the past 5 years so I honestly have no more words to say other than I love him as a seiyuu and as a person. His talents know no bounds be it voice acting, designing clothing, live acting, modeling, professional writing, music writing, singing, live music performances, dancing,,, the list goes on.

As a senpai, he's one of the sweetest and kindest in the industry. In the past, I've said how I love that the way his kouhais show affection and appreciation and love for him is heavily teasing him,, borderline "bullying" him 💀 but truthfully, just joking around and being sarcastic with one another. And I resonate with that. That's one way to show just how close you are with another person. And being able to playfully poke fun at someone shows just how much you know about them and how close you are to them.

As a kouhai, he's still the punching bag, too 😂 ,,, maybe it's worse? Honestly, I don't keep track. His relationships with his senpais are strong because he knows how to take care of them and have fun with them while also maintaining his respect for them (and let them tease you nonstop)

HIs personality is one that I've come to love a lot too. I just love his dorky, clumsy self a lot. AND HIS LAUGH.

I remember when I first heard it I was like '...that's not real, is it?' and then as I kept hearing it, it just became a part of him that was very endearing to me. Don't ask me why,, that's just how it is. It's just another part of him that makes him him and that alone makes me love it and him all the more. Also it's an indication that he's happy and having a good time, which then makes me happy and have a good time with whatever I'm watching/listening to like a radio, seiyuu event of any kind etc etc.

ANYWAY enough of this sappy rant 😅

All in all, I love Egu very very much. He'll forever be my seiyuu oshi until the day I die 💜

[la-nightraine]

Hello, bird app refugee here.

To be fair, this was already semi-active (?) with my rants and writing pieces. But due to whatever hell broke loose over there because of melon husk, I thought I should use this more.

Anyway, hello everyone! My name is LA.Nightraine; I used to be Larraine, that's why I wanted people to call me Raine, but it's fine to call me LA as well! Other than a writer, I'm also a massive multi-fan. I could share a list which would be too long, but basically I fangirl majorly over select musicians, streamers, and Japanese media.

Musicians include Taylor Swift (I've been a Swiftie for more than a decade!), 5 Seconds of Summer, GRANRODEO, and Owl City to name a few.

Streamers include Sykkuno and his friends (Amigops, OTV&F, Cleanbois, etc.), and VTubers.

As for Japanese media, I have certain anime and manga titles that I like (which change a lot, so I won't list them) as well as seiyuus/voice actors and music (mainly J-Rock but recently I've been opening up to Vocaloid).

I'm very shy and awkward with a chance of weird but I genuinely hope I can still make friends and/or be part of communities here! And I apologize for any cringe post I made/will make. orz

(to be clear, i'll still be active on twitter, but just in case the worst of hell really breaks loose over there, say for example a massive data breach in which melon husk's solution is to delete the site, i'll be here to find!)

So many tags below lol 👇

[skyhopedango]

State of the Season pt 1 - the rotten ones

Huh, it's already November. :( When did time get so fast? Years just fly by... Anyway, we're knee deep in the fall season, and I've been watching stuff. And frankly, it's mostly a letdown? Yes, I still miss Night Head 2041 but it's not just the raging fangirl in me that finds the fall season a letdown.

Dropped

Sakugan

I kind of hate this.

I've seen people praise it to high heavens and I just don't get why - like, it's more boring, derivative anime that feels like it had been designed by a committee specifically to pander to American anime viewers, and it's not even a particularly entertaining one at that. All the same tropes, all the same character archetypes without any particularly interesting spins or extras... the jokes are stale, the "banter" is annoying people shouting at each other, it's not heartwarming or sweet, the action is boring, and the worst of it all, the main girl. I can't stand Precocious Anime Kids and running out of patience with Cute Anime Girls, and she's both, also she's obnoxious and annoying and NINE YEARS OLD.

I just can't get over this. We're meant to see a father-daughter bond where the father needs to learn to trust his daugher more with her skills and ambitions and wish for independence, and on paper that sounds amazing, except - SHE IS NINE YEARS OLD. I know this is anime but it's still ridiculous, you can't expect me to suspend my disbelief that much! I'd be OK with it if she was a bit older, but NINE?! Why couldn't they make her at least a teenager - rhetoric question, it's because in a show like this, created mostly by dudes for a mainly male target audience, this is the only way for her not to be sexualized and given a romance subplot. A non-sexualized teen girl?! We can't have that!!

Also, her voice acting is terrible. I don't buy her as a young girl, I don't buy her as cute, I don't buy her as badass, I don't buy her as anything really. Apparently the seiyuu had to pass some special audition to get the role... well, whoever chose her, had strange ideas about how this character should be voiced.

.

Takt op. Destiny

If Sakugan feels like it had been designed by a committee this one feels like it was written and created by AI. It's so completely soulless and lacks any kind of ambition other than "looks good, has cute/sexy girls".

The story is contrived. (How come the big bads didn't even know about Cosette? also if she's so amazing and rare why are they just letting her go instead of taking her? and so on and so forth...) The action makes no sense - in theory one of the pair "conducting" the other in a fight is a nice idea but the way it is actually presented makes literally no sense, it's just a flimsy excuse to set the characters up in teams. And while I'd called its animation flashy before, past episode 2 it's not even that! Also, the characters are bland and lack any charm whatsoever.

Damn, what a waste of time and money this show is.

.

Sankaku mado no sotogawa wa yoru

I'd already ranted about this one - well, it didn't get better past episode one, and so I'm dropping it and lamenting about what could have been. It's one of the most baffling adaptations I've seen, it's like the people who made it either a) read the manga and didn't understand it at all, or b) read the manga and said "that's cute but Imma do it my way". It feels like its own parody, in a way that's vaguely offensive to the manga, really.

Also, wtf is Hatano Wataru doing?!

Such a pity because ridiculous premise aside the manga is good - it would've deserved so much better.

.

Blue Period

Oh yes, I remember why I stopped following the manga at the time - honestly I'm just too old for these "springtime of youth! young people finding their true calling!" type stories. Especially ones where the presentation is just... not really interesting, really.

Also, I fully admit that Paradise Kiss and Honey & Clover pretty much ruined me for these stories (ParaKiss is amazing from first chapter to last, Hachikuro has its issues but overall it's really good, too), but also it's like... none of the stories I'd read since then showed anything new or unique? Sure, it's always a different kind of passion, but in the end it's nothing new. And here not even the characters, the relationships, pacing, etc. are particularly interesting to me.

I'm not saying the show is bad, it's fine for what it is, I'm sure many people adore it, but as for me it's just not interesting.

[natsunoomoi]

Nezha Reborn

Finally got around to watching this one. I have very low ability in Chinese as an ABC, so I actually have to watch it with subs and be able to pay attention enough to read them, which means background streaming while gaming is out of the question. It was in my queue for awhile, and I saw that not so many people liked it that much on review sites, but for me I loved it. But I'm probably a weird exception because when I was in high school I got obsessed with the original novel the film is based off of, so when there's things happening I just like smiled and nodded and was like, "Oh yeah, that totally makes sense" because I already know the background info.

And like, I know the original novel it's based off of, but like I also was crazy obsessed specifically with Nezha. So all of the references and everything I already understood and knew, but other people coming into it cold complained in their reviews about how there's a bunch of things that aren't really explained. I actually didn't notice because I already knew them, so I think the film really makes a lot of assumptions that the audience already knows the mythology, which means it's best suited for the mainland China audience and specific diaspora like me that decided to look up their heritage. For everyone else, it's probably confusing.

There was a reference I needed to look up though, which was the Six Eared Macaque cuz I couldn't remember who that was, but it was the fake Sun Wukong from that one very annoying period of Journey to the West. When I read the description I was like, "OH, THAT ASSHOLE." But I totally didn't remember who he was cold.

All that said though, it's a pretty faithful and very well done reimagining of the Nezha story. It's not like a perfect 1:1, but for me it's enjoyable, but I was also a Nezha fangirl from my Senkaiden Houshin Engi days.

Hakyuu was so disappointing. Such promise, but bad pacing toward the end and like why like so many episodes focusing on Youzen and his master...? It got repetitive and I even got confused whether I was watching the same episode over again. I really liked Miyata Kouki back in the day, and often people don't really warm up that much to the new seiyuu playing a beloved character, but I actually really liked Furukawa Makoto's performance. I wish the script was written better so that I could have seen more of it. Like Miyata is like much more soft-spoken, so Nataku comes off as such a sweet boy even when he's kind of murderous. He's just mostly silent at those times, but Furukawa kind of actually has a better balance between his Mama's boy persona and like the battle ready paopei ningen.

But anyway, just including that whole rant to kind of illustrate how much of a Nezha obsessive I am, so the problems with the film that probably bothered other people really, really, really did not bother me.

That said though, I thought it was interesting they gave Ao Bing a spine and that Nezha ripped out his spine 3,000 years ago. I don't have my copy of the book with me in Japan because I needed to pick and choose what I wanted to pack in my luggage and that wasn't one of the things I brought cuz of weight limit, but I thought I remembered reading that what Nezha pulled out was his intestine....? And then after that he like went and made a belt out of it like a cheeky little punk. XD I suppose a spine would make a better belt, but that part got left out too. Just the ripping out part was enough I guess.

Still though, I can really understand how Western audiences or audiences not familiar with the lore would score it lower. It really requires prior knowledge to enjoy, but if you have that knowledge it is very enjoyable to see how they adapt the different mythological bits into a steampunk/cyberpunk retelling/rehashing of the story.

[m4tsuk4ze]

Naoyuta and why I can't stop thinking about it

Naoyuta ( Naoyuu / Yuunao ) is the ship between Naoya Kido and Yuta Matsukaze. Now this post will just be me ranting about Naoyuta and why people in the community should talk about it more.

[ Quick warning : I AM Yuta so I will be referring to myself in the first person during this whole post. Also, if you reply, please do not mention anything about Kosu/Yuu because I can literally explain how that's never going to happen and why I'm so uncomfortable about it ]

Part 1 : A Pair of Nerds

I ( Yuta ) am a surfer from Shōnan who was born and raised at my parent's surfing shop. Naoya is a surfer from Oita. Through dialogue, it's revealed that I've known Naoya longer than he's known me. Our first meeting was either at the cafe where he got Miruru merch from [ WAVE!! 4-koma ], where he met both me and Kosuke twice, but never had a proper conversation, we only told him that he can have our coasters and cards. Or at my surf shop, where Naoya came in to check out a necklace he saw [ Yuta Matsukaze - Analysis During Shop Duty ].

Our feelings towards each other are unknown, as the full relationship chart only says "?". Meanwhile, the character relationship charts have our opinions on each other. Though, from the mmm relationship chart, me and Naoya are shown to be confused with each other, "Miruru...?" "Megane character...?".

Part 2 : Next to each other.

As the 5th and 6th characters in the roster, me and Naoya are constantly paired together in promotional works and songs. Though, that's not as important as our actual relationship to each other.

We don't get to see much in the anime, though there have been a lot of interactions outside of it that shows that we're not as far apart as we seem.

From the [ WAVE!! 4-koma ], it's shown that me and Naoya has spent a couple of days together. In one comic, I was spending my whole day with him to figure out how he's so amazing at surfing. We ended up only watching anime, which made my notes fill up with data about Miruru. That databook was then given to Naoya. Something interesting is how the narrator said "There was no data collected, but the distance between their hearts did shorten."

On the game story [ Yuta Matsukaze - Analysis During Shop Duty ], I said a line that could be interpreted as falling in love or gaining interest, "At first, I was just supposed to guard the store. But before I knew it, I was..." In the same story, I also told Naoya that I've been watching him for over a year ( to which he called me a stalker, but that's fair i guess ), though it was Naoya telling me that he didn't mind me talking so much.

Naoya, meanwhile, doesn't give us much. He's said I was different on multiple occasions, on the character relationship charts ( which we will get to later ) and in the story [ Naoya Kido - The Secret of the Notebook ], where he said "…… Hinaoka-senshu is not ready yet. But Matsukaze-senshu is different." when it came to names for techniques. Naoya has also became really enthusiastic when I told him that I would probably move to Tokyo after high school [ WAVE!! 4-koma ]. We also got a close up shot of Naoya being worried for me during my heat with Fuke----

Also, a friend of mine theorised that the promotional SURFDAYS illustrations, the ways we're holding our surfboards are the way we'll hold our significant others...... So in terms of being next to each other,,,

Part 3 : Annoying?!

Now on to those character relationship charts.

On my relationship chart :

Y -> N : "He gets really excited when we're in Tokyo"

N -> Y : "I'd rather watch the latest Miruru episode than listen to your data."

On Naoya's relationship chart :

Y -> N : "His Miruru fan-ness gets annoying."

N -> Y : "He's a little different from the megane characters I know."

So yes, not that positive.... Though, despite me finding his love for Miruru a little annoying, it doesn't stop me from looking out for him. On the game event story [ Chocolate Securing Plan ], Nalu reveals that I've been telling him about Naoya. Nalu said that I told him not to touch the truth about Miruru, or basically, not to reality check him. This came up when Sho almost told Naoya about how fictional characters can't make real life chocolate.

Part 4 : Trivia and Hints

Me alerting Bill as to why Naoya isn't going to participate in the Forest Cup [ WAVE!! 4-koma ]

Me being the first to try and help Naoya after seeing him sad because the anime isn't going to stream in his city [ WAVE!! 4-koma ]

Me saying that I need Naoya in Shōnan after finding out how Naoya could actually make Kosuke take a break [ WAVE!! 4-koma ]

Me falling more into interest with Naoya after finding out how he is towards 2D and 3D girls [ Naoya Kido - 2D and 3D ]

Me itching to talk to him after seeing him at the beach [ Naoya Kido - The Secret of the Notebook ]

Me being the most worried when mine and Masaki's plan to give Naoya Miruru Dried Sweet Potatoes failed [ Naoya's Birthday Post 2020 ]

Naoya saying he doesn't mind that I talk a lot and that I'm just enthusiastic [ Yuta Matsukaze - Analysis During Store Duty ]

Naoya actually laughing and blushing at whatever the fuck I'm showing him [ WAVE!! Surfing Yappe!! Vol.2 DVD Cover ]

Part 5 : Yuta's Thoughts

Yeah so far it seems somewhat one-sided. I've shown a lot of interest towards Naoya in multiple different stories. Though there's much on him towards me. It's not something I mind though. In the stories, Naoya has shown to be kind towards me, though sometimes sarcastic and straightforward. He's a really interesting person and I'm glad that I could figure him out piece by piece. In the end, we still feel very far apart.

Yet, despite our distance and somewhat distaste for each other, we also have a lot of similarities. First of all, we're both described as nerds. But we also have shown to be the most perceptive out of the whole group, other similarities is that we can't seem to fucking shut up about our interests, and we also treasure our friends very much.

Part 6 : Final Thoughts

Anyways Naoyuta is a great ship, fuck you nerd x nerd is superior I don't want to hear anyone say shit about it. Also pink and green literally amazing, the colour palette is just spectacular, I cannot shut up about it.

This is dedicated to the first showing of Shonan the WAVE!! which will be streamed on the LOVE&ART official YouTube channel featuring both mine and Naoya's seiyuus, Yusuke Shirai and Shunichi Toki, on Friday 21st of May at 21:00 JST

Manifesting a Naoyuta drama but who knows.

Also WAVE!! Wonderful Party has a clip,,, It might be from a drama featuring the both of us or it could be something else. If it's the former then WHAT THE FUCK WHY DID I FUCKING MOAN AFTER NAOYA SAID SOMETHING ABOUT LAUNCHING SOMETHING [ CONTEXT PLEASE ]

Anyways have a great day, this was Yuta Matsukaze ranting about his own relationship and being gay as fuck so I hope you enjoyed reading it.

To leave off this post, I'll be sharing some art. And that's it, thank you for reading, goodbye for now!

- m4tsuk4ze || Yūta

Part 7 : Naoyuta so true

[littlepurinsesu]

V Watches MagiReco - Episode 9 Review

*Spoilers for Magia Record Anime Episode 9*

I... have mixed feelings about this episode O___O While some parts were definitely well-done (like, REALLY well-done), there were some others that left me a bit underwhelmed and wanting something more?

Don’t get me wrong, by no means was it not a good episode, because it was. But I’m gonna try my hardest to pinpoint why I felt that while some parts were amazing, others really could have been done better.

The phone conversation with Iroha and AI had some top-notch imagery going on in the background. As expected of a PMMM spin-off, every single frame probably has some deep and profound symbolism if you really wanted to pause and analyse each one. There’s never a dull moment on screen; even when all that’s happening is a phone conversation, they know how to hold your attention by giving your eyes a feast with that amazingly trippy and surreal kind of art style that PMMM is known for.

I, too, was a bit disappointed that Madoka and Homura didn’t show up, and by the looks of it, they probably won’t be making their appearance during Sana’s arc at all, which makes yet another major deviation the anime has made. But it’s not that huge of a deal to me because I know they’ll appear at some other point and I’m sure they had their reasons for making this change (hopefully for something better!). I’m happy to let the new characters take the spotlight; I actually think it’s a better choice than constantly relying on the Holy Quintet to build hype and satisfy the fans, which could actually draw attention and focus away from the main plot sometimes. This is how I personally feel, at least ^^;;

That being said, although I didn’t mind Madoka and Homura not being there, I did have some issues with Iroha’s entrance into the Rumour. It just happened... way too quickly and suddenly? I expected a bit more dialogue between the characters, especially since Yachiyo’s expression and comment about jumping off the tower not killing magical girls should have been a big indicator that she knows something (wink wink). I think that might have been a good chance to foreshadow the reveal that comes with Chapter 6, and maybe add a bit more mystery to Yachiyo’s unrevealed past. But the biggest problem I had with this scene was the way Iroha jumped lol. She just... jumped. Like it was no big deal. And it was even weirder because she technically “fell” while reaching out to catch Lil’ Kyubey, but there was hardly any reaction xD She also happened to be in the middle of a sentence while talking to Yachiyo LOL clearly that “jump” wasn’t a planned or prepared one xD I just really felt like the dialogue wasn’t finished or something was cut somewhere in there? They were talking and suddenly down she goes. I know I probably sound extremely nitpicky and this is just a minor detail that doesn’t really make much difference to the story (none at all, in fact), but I just found her apathy somewhat unrealistic and strange, which broke the immersion for me during what should have been a very crucial and heart-pounding moment. Unless Iroha’s just super brave and isn’t afraid of heights at all? Maybe? xD

Anyway, back to the positive stuff! Sana’s backstory was depicted really well. Again, absolutely amazing visuals (I especially liked the use of shoes and dinosaurs). And Sana’s bond with AI was portrayed even better than in the game, in my opinion. It was the most heartwarming and bittersweet relationship, and it’s amazing to see how AI slowly changes in Sana’s company. By the way, their chess game with little puppies and kittens was adorable omg x) I’d love to write more on Sana and AI, but I don’t really have anything specific to say except that I just really, really loved how their relationship was portrayed. Definitely the best part about this week’s episode.

And now comes my biggest complaint: Alina’s debut. As one of the most popular and interesting MagiReco characters, I’m sure the entire fandom was looking forward to how the anime would go about introducing her. I don’t know if I just set my expectations too high or anything, but her entrance was extremely underwhelming for me. And a lot of the reasons were exactly the same as my dissatisfaction with Iroha’s jump: too rushed and too many missed opportunities. She just kind of appeared out of nowhere, and while I do appreciate the “shock value”, what annoyed me was the lack of of a proper “introduction” she got. AI stated her name, and Iroha questioned if she was a member of the Wings of Magius, but we didn’t get any answers. There was no explanation on who she was or what she was doing there, how she got in and what her relationship with AI was. Game players would know, of course, but I’m concerned that anime-only viewers will have no idea what’s going on and probably also have no idea that they just met one of the most important and popular characters of the franchise right now. Essentially, they’re just gonna be seeing a very flamboyant and crazy girl enter and wreck havoc but with no explanation about why she was doing what she was doing or what her connection was with the current situation and the bigger picture of the plot thus far. She just comes in and steals the spotlight, and while game players know that she definitely deserves the spotlight given who she is, anime-only viewers are probably going to be left wondering why this random green girl just came in, who the heck she is, and why everything is about her all of a sudden.

Another crucial piece of information that got lost in that very rushed and chaotic introduction was the fact that Alina actually used the word “Doppel”, which is the first time the term has been dropped in the anime. But again, no one even responded or reacted in any way (at least do the cliche thing where the protagonist repeats “Doppel?” or something LOL), but no she just keeps rambling on and yet another crucial piece of information is lost in the shuffle. What makes it possibly even more confusing is that her Doppel really doesn’t look like the Doppels we’ve seen so far; it could pass as her shooting random bits of paint-like oozy stuff instead, so I’m really struggling to see how anime-only viewers are going to make that connection and put the pieces together.

And if her entrance was underwhelming, then her “exit” was probably even worse lol. She just... disappears xD It’s quite anticlimactic considering how it looked like we were gearing up for Sana vs. Alina, and then she just suddenly gets kicked out lmao. I get that she’ll be back really soon, but it still felt way too abrupt? I think my main gripe about everything to do with Alina’s debut can be summed up in two words: too rushed. There’s so much about her character that’s interesting and vital to the story, but everything either gets glossed over really quickly or just dropped here and there with no response from the other characters. Even if they didn’t want to get into details right away, which is also fine, they could still have slowed down and built up some mystery and tension so that we’ll want to find out more about her because we’re interested and curious, and not because we have no idea what’s going on. Her appearance should have brought some answers to the questions raised throughout the story thus far, but instead she just brought more confusion and chaos lol.

But her entrance wasn’t all negative! They absolutely nailed her mannerisms. Basically everything that makes her so infamously crazy was delivered flawlessly. Her expressions, her movements, her voice, her speech, her word choice... she definitely entered with a BANG and she’s no doubt going to leave a deep impression on viewers, whether they understand her deal or not lol. The voice-acting was also top-notch, as expected of her seiyuu. Alina’s one of those characters where you really need to hear her speaking and see her moving to experience the full extent of her "charm”, and I’d say the anime definitely delivered in that respect and portrayed her uniqueness in a strong and memorable way, so props to them for that :D

^ I really wanted to use this image for this week’s review, but it’s technically Sana’s episode so I stuck with Sana xD Oh, and another thing I definitely loved about her entrance was hearing her saying so many of her lines from the game battles ^^

... Wow I just rambled and ranted for four whole paragraphs about Alina’s introduction, sheesus... Onto some other stuff now, shall we? ^^;;

One of the most interesting things to me about AI was how her appearance changes to become more and more like Sana. This is another example where the anime is able to illustrate things that the game isn’t capable of, and while I’m not sure if it’s a change or I simply missed it in the game because of the static AI sprite, I definitely liked this little detail. It not only shows how AI slowly becomes more and more human, but also highlights the fact that her form resembling Sana implies the influence that Sana has had on her. Sana is all AI has really ever known about humans and the “real” world, and all the human feelings and emotions she gains are because of Sana. It makes perfect sense that when she takes on a more human-like appearance, it’s going to resemble Sana in some respect. The little detail with the crown near the end was also really sweet ;___;

I really do think “mixed feelings” is the best way to describe my overall impression of this week’s episode xD Sana’s backstory and her relationship with AI had me in tears, but Iroha’s jump and Alina’s debut definitely had me raising my eyebrows a few times. I can overlook the Iroha part as just me being nitpicky over a trivial detail, but I really do hope that they step up their game with Alina next week. They definitely did her justice on a surface level, but in terms of her significance and relevance to the plot, not so much. She’s such an important character and her appearance marks a major plot point, so I hope we get the explanations and clarifications needed soon.

I have even higher expectations for next week, since not only is the showdown with Alina something I’ve been looking forward to for a while, but I’m also hoping that they “rectify” some of the issues this week lol. Fingers crossed that Alina gets some better writing, and they continue doing the amazing job they’ve done so far with Sana’s story! ^^

Sorry I’m so much more “negative” this week compared to how I usually am with my reviews, but I was looking forward to Alina’s appearance so much and was really sad to feel any ounce of disappointment :( Hopefully next week’s review will be back to just me fangirling throughout hehe~

[marui-bunta]

idk if this is a rant or wat but whatever

So I made a post a while ago on how Yamamoto Kotetsuko is one of the best mangakas of the boys' love genre, because of her fluffy, cute and funny af stories/plots/characters, and somehow I really feel like I'm being a bit hypocritical because I really despise rape/abuse/pedophilia/etc in any genre of story, but somehow I became really interested in Ogawa Chise's work.

Who's Ogawa Chise? This mangaka is probably one of the most twisted writer I've ever read, because I'm a pussy and don't read that much so I don't have any other writer to compare. Going back to Ogawa Chise, this artist, apart from twisted af, is really versatile.

I came upon their work on youtube, there was a channel for a while uploading some short BL mangas with their respective BLCD, which I enjoy very much, because I'm obsessed with seiyuu-san; I saw first Gousan no Heart or Miscalculation of Heart, which is actually really fluffy (that's how I was deceived into this artist in particular), if you haven't read it, the story goes like this: Miki is a playboy and one day at school he listens to Udou, a honor student and all that crap bocchama gentleman bullshit, talking with a girl, more like the girl begging him to give her a chance to have him like her, which he refuses and Miki goes to the rescue and meddles in saying Udou is dating him, and you can guess what goes on later on. This story has a spin off that's about Udou's older brother and his friend from middle school and their story also develops blah blah blah and they are cute and fluffy, there's another one that's reaaaaaaally fluffy, it has a huge ass name so I'm gonna mention the characters' names (or last names....?) they are Okachimachi (the top) and Fujima (the cute lil bottom) and also there's one that's like Arabian themed which I can not remember much, but it's really soft and cute all over

I haven't read all of their work, but I've read quite the amount? and Ogawa Chise's work IS VERY TWISTED, like be careful if you read their work because it includes sexual/physical abuse, rape, incest (both between siblings and a dad and his son), there's this really weird one shot about a demon at the stairs of a certain window at a certain high school, I can't recall much because I was almost sleeping while reading it AND what I think is their longest running work, Caste Heaven, it does include all of the above themes, except, I think, incest/pedophilia idk.

I'm not gonna go much into detail about it, because I might trigger anyone and I don't want to, but it's weird. I got really trapped in the plot, more like I want Azusa to live in peace and Karino to stop abusing him, and I don't want them together, I want anyone with Azusa but Karino, but smh the latest ch was actually kind of........ They resembled an actual couple?????? i'm very confundida, like a part of me wants them to be in a healthy relationship like Atsumu and Kuze (they sort of areeee...? idk anymore, Atsumu grew up a lot throughout the manga tbh and it's like the most rational character of this manga?......) but my rational half of my brain knows it won't be that way and they'll come to terms BUT their past relationship will be seen through anyways.

I usually read fluffy ass mangas, and avoid these ones the most, because if they get too psychological I have to go back and read all over again and I get bored.

I read Killing Stalking til the end and it made me sick, I couldn't stand reading more than a few pages in one go because it made me feel really bad, tense and really anxious. I just read it out of curiosity because EVERYONE was like read it read it you won't regret it, and boi i regret it.

Caste Heaven is really tense too but it's a well thought plot, in despite of all of the disgraces that happen in the book, AND the mangaka usually includes a few bonus pages with some hilarious shorts in order to lighten up the mood a bit (the artist says so in those pages and they do actually cheer you up), it's usually Azusa bickering with either Karino or Kuze.

It's not like I'm freaking obsessed with this manga, I don't find a word to replace 'enjoy', because I don't completely enjoy reading it, but I'll continue reading it because it is an interesting plot, and it's well developed and I want Tatsumi and Senzaki back together, like I'm sad for them and for Inukai and Anji, their ending made me REALLY REALLY sad I actually cried and for the crybaby I am (which I am, I cry while listening to SNSD's Into the new world, because of my S♡NE ot9 big fat ass), I don't usually cry with manga.

[ryouverua]

Trial 5 - Post-Execution

Investigation 1 / 2 - second half is where I put my own theories that I penned before playing the trial.

Trial: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Pre-Execution

;’’’) That’s a good look on you, Monokuma.

what this no i’m not crying you’re crying shUT UP

Have any other executions ended with the corpse literally landing in front of them in the trial room? I feel like this is a first???

uUM

K.... K1-b0? Buddy? Are - uh - are you okay? You’re looking a bit.... ?????

A-ARE YOU THOUGH -

Uh, okay??? So I want to go over Kaito’s execution and be upset about his death and everything but suddenly, this? This came out of nowhere??? also skldfj they took the ahoge off his sprite too omg

Crap I badly want to mourn Kaito for a while and yeah this is taking away from that but I don’t exactly want to not address K1-b0 literally BSoD-ing in front of us -

Oh! Gloating! I’m good for gloating too. Rub it in his face, Sweetcheeks. You’ve got my full backing here.

Normally I’m against kicking someone while they’re down but KICK HIM! KICK KICK KICK! I’m so down for this collective group smack-down.

Man, this Monokuma has been so much less in control and emotional than the previous Monokumas. I mean, the competition is pretty stacked - last Monokuma was literally the god of his world and an omniscient being that pervaded their entire ecosystem with one exception - but between throwing up a second motive in the first chapter, getting ‘overthrown’ by Monodam ** (even if he ‘went on vacation’ and this entire chapter, this ^ guy is barely hanging on by his teeth.

** I just realized the whole ‘Monodam takes over the killing game’ may have been bloody foreshadowing for this chapter sdlkfj

Monodam even got pushed to his limit for all of a whole chapter/killed two Monokubs and even though Kokichi didn’t directly kill them, he does have Gonta and Miu’s aka two classmate’s blood on his hands even with the most charitable look at chapter 4′s events before both Monodam and he ultimately take actions to end their own lives

this has been another mini-episode of ‘I read into things too much’

ANYWAY quietly skips over everything but the most pertinent Monokub dialogue, don’t mind me ~

Who would though, at this point? .... K1-b0, depending on what’s going on with him right now?

Shuichi is so pumped up thanks to Kaito and Kokichi’s teamwork! This has to be what Kaito was hoping for. Kokichi probably wanted to win the trial in its entirety, though...

Something about him saying ‘you’re certainly entitled to your opinion’ is incredibly grating and hilarious. It’s so.... passive-aggressive and banal? So un-Monokuma? I feel like behind the plushie, someone is pouting with their arms crossed tightly and just grumbling to themselves. They can’t even muster up a whole ~despair~ rant right now.

SWEETCHEEKS SWORE :O

I want to make a fun reference to Saimota but then I remember Kaito’s corpse is still warm on the ground a few feet away from them and I cry

LMAO IT SWITCHED TO A SILENT K1-B0 IMMEDIATELY AFTER....

K1-b0 isn’t about to like... become a killing game enforcer or something??? Like, completely flip his switch? fml this silence is dangerous

blah blah blah monokubs do their ‘cute’ schtick and I get tired of it, anyway -

oh great, it’s the sprite I blocked out of my brain up to this point

DID MONOPHANIE JUST DRAG ME

Please put away the tongue when they leave ffs

Aaah damn it, here comes the hammer. D:

Participant......... and then he mentioned about it going on for a long time, so.... a cycle...??? If Rantaro is repeating it, does that mean they’re all repeating it...??? The same sets of personalities/memories/talents, in new bodies every time or something - ? Is that an idea I should follow -

FFFF DID MONOKUMA JUST FLASH US

YES, PUN FULLY INTENDED SOMEONE HAS TO MAKE THOSE JOKES IN MIU’S ABSENCE

yeah hilariously while I was starting to think more about his statements Monokuma literally surprised me just like he surprised Shuichi and the rest of them lmao

Meanwhile Sweetcheeks is just twitching beside her, possibly even foaming at the mouth -

YEAH WHERE’S THE NEXT SET OF MEMORIES, BUDDY

anyway he talks about despair and hope again, I glare at the yellow text with tired resignation, etc

It really does sound like it’s something that’s repeating when he puts it like that, right??? And with Rantaro’s video - what is this, a test simulation of the gopher project or something?

Another wild theory appears - the original students with the talents Makoto/Hope’s Peak wanted to preserve, or for whatever reason digitized their memories/personalities/talents (think Gonta Alter-Ego) died - or were ‘hunted down’ aka the Ultimate Hunt - and in their place they pick up 16 ordinary kids to give them to, possibly by force. Or hell, maybe not, if Rantaro remembers and said something like ‘you wanted this’, though wasn’t that in regards to the killing game???  And then... they set up a simulation? Maybe? To test their viability? .... The question is who introduced Monokuma to the whole thing. Is that part of the test, or was that the cult sneaking in... and if the students really are ‘easily replaceable’, are they just picking up new ordinary kids as replacements? Are they looking for an outcome where they can defeat Monokuma? If this is a simulation, does it operate under the same rules as the NeoWorld program, where they die in real life?

Eeh... not sure how I feel about this. It feels like it has holes still. 8′D

ffffffff

!!!!!!

Aaaaw....

I mean I think we knew after the deductions in the first chapter but yes, mastermind confirmed - ! And -

WHAT

NO

WHAT

NO

WHAT

N O

W H A T

please go away

I-I MEAN... YOU REALLY DON’T.... HAVE TO...

BANGS HEAD AGAINST WALL

asdlkfjsdl why junko WHY MUST YOU BE BACK

So I was going to put this at the end of the post but then A LOT OF STUFF happened at the end of the chapter and it... doesn’t really fit there....

Okay... t-there is a second option. I mean, Junko could really be back for the third (fourth? do Shiro/Kurokuma in UDG count?) time and I really hope that isn’t the case fff - but ‘Junko’ facing away from us for a reason, right? Which means it could be someone dressed as her, right? Even if it did sound like her seiyuu...

But out of everyone left, assuming this isn’t happening at the exact same time/immediately after the trial... well, I mean, out of everyone alive, two people could be in Junko-dress right now, right? Both Maki and Tsumugi could fit, and considering we haven’t gotten to look at Tsumugi at all and her talent... I’m heavily leaning towards her.

..... except.................. cospox though. Crap. Hmm....

I think... I could maybe follow up on some of the speculating I made in this post? About Junko being elevated to a larger-than-life figure in history? Maybe there’s some leeway in there, in the same way that we have historical figures that end up being featured prominently in fiction, or even become warped/satirized in various ways because they’re so removed from us in our current time... and perhaps Junko has become more than a person in that same way, or even more than that, a title/role that can be inherited and passed down? Is it possible to get around cospox that way? It would fit in with her early Chapter 1 comments - let me see if I can dig them up from my old posts - ah this one, here, if you want to look at it. i also am totally into what she’s saying if you’re wondering why I remember this so well lmao

If she is from the cult... and this is a parallel to Angie, who constantly spoke about being a conduit for Atua’s message, Korekiyo, who was just a vessel for his sister according to himself, and Kaito, who literally acted in Kokichi’s place............. maybe....... this could work........... ????

...... except I don’t know if it’s enough of a stretch to get around this. I MEAN. MAYBE IT IS. MAYBE. I could just be stretching reeeeeeally far in order to avoid an inevitable Junko returning. maybe i just want to see the power of the ultimate cosplayer since it’s a hobby so dear to my heart idek

Whelp it doesn’t matter the scene is moving on without me anyway so 8′D

FUCK NO MORE TRAINING TIME OR TRAINING JOKES OR STUPID TITLES FOR THE TRAINING POSTS THIS IS THE WORST TIMELINE

Man I really love the close connections Shuichi has to people in this game. Maybe that’s why I’ve been enjoying it so much? He recognizes his classmates and what they have to offer, sure - but he’s a regular kid. He’s got his favoured connections, and the people whose deaths he feels more powerfully than the others, and the reactions he has to everything around him... well, maybe that’s my own bias because they really resonate with me. I don’t usually have much of an interest for audience surrogate characters (I don’t dislike them, I just, you know, don’t adore them or anything) but - and I know now that this is a divisive topic - I really like Shuichi’s personality. I really do. And I think he has one. He’s a quiet guy - he keeps most of his thoughts on the inside - and I get that for a lot of people, quiet = no personality, but the way he has responded to a lot of the situations that have come up previously have both been different than what I’m used to seeing from ‘protagonist’ characters and, erm, pretty... familiar to me personally and that has been a bit of a shock tbh. seriously what’s with this - same birthday, same blood-type, same hobbies, likes and dislikes, same Best Boy, etc....

I’m not sure where this tangent is going tbh, but I guess I’m sorta gearing up for next chapter? We don’t have many people left to work with. 8′D Kaito’s gone, Kokichi is gone, and all we have left are a collection of differing quiet personalities. It’s going to be very, very different, that’s for sure.

“Oh yeah I forgot this turned into a group activity like, three sessions in.”

“I mean, you did too by poisoning them both, but that’s neither here nor there.”

I am being a bit harsh on her though - to her credit, she seemed initially confused about why he was blaming himself (despite him repeating all the things she said to him during the beginning of the trial). There’s no one left to connect them now and she seems to have realized that - they’re going to have to finally do the heavy work themselves.

Like Chapter 4 Maki, I feel like she’s speaking in that same roundabout way she did when asking about Shuichi’s interest in Kaede. “Are you lonely too?” or even, “do you need someone to talk to/be with who understands how you feel?” She still has a lot of trouble being forthright but it’s great that she’s taking the initiative, especially after her earlier confession.

I hate to say it, but I think Shuichi may have ended up in a similar state as Ryoma after Chapter 1 if he was left spinning his own wheels...

Solidarity. 8′/

!!! 

For all the things that he did... fml I can’t think of anything better. He spent so much of his time trying to bring you both out of your shells!

I wonder if Shuichi is including his entire class in there. It was only a few days ago that Kokichi said he considered them all friends too. Also Korekiyo hilariously enough

omg they’re still so painfully awkward but it’s so sad and relatable and they’re trying to start building a bridge without Kaito acting as their support...

Ooh! This is the first time they’ve been approached aside from Tenko in Chapter 3, right?

Aaaw he’s so happy to see them. 8′)

YES!!! New team training! New team training!

Yes this is exactly what they need to do after the trial! They need to stick together! ... Now where the hell is K1-b0???

quietly skips over Tsumugi telling us we won’t lose to despair because I am stubbornly clinging to the time before hope/despair was brought back up -

- Sweetcheeks why

so much goddamn hope

But I’ll allow it because it’s leading to an overdue cheesy friendship speech and after the tragedy of chapter 5 I need that right now.

Though... hm. I was sort of hoping Shuichi and Maki could hash out some of her actions in the last trial, or Maki would offer some kind of apology. Would that have happened if they weren’t interrupted?

Yeeessss new image! I love it! Also lmao Himiko maybe you’d manage to finish one if you took the big bulky hat off...

Good - a commitment to keep living is important, especially from Shuichi. Now the majority of you are carrying someone’s wish, huh... except Tsumugi, unless you count Gonta maybe. I figure Miu could count for K1-b0, though I guess that’s a bit of a stretch too?

fuck my heart had been ripped out and stomped on, especially with the flashback to third chapter training:

.... See you, Space Cowboy.

Now fade to bla -

..... Huh.

I’m glad one of you is concerned after what happened. 8′/ I’ll excuse Shuichi and Maki because they have every right to be distracted by grief but between you and Himiko you couldn’t keep an eye on him?

Because seriously, none of them know where he is. And there is no way that’s a good thing.

BUT SOLIDARITY!!! also robophobic!!!

Well that’s an ominous way to end the chapte - oh never mind it’s not over??? What, three ‘epilogues’ this time? Not that I’m complaining because I’m happy to extend the trial for as long as necessary but jeez -

K.... K1-b0???

It was lost after the accident??? So it wasn’t just programming... a... a transmission then? So it really was some sort of antenna...

Wait that makes it sound like you weren’t just using it for guidance but actually being controlled by it?!

More hope and despair references -

Music change???

Wait, dude, what do you mean by that -

What

WAIT WHAt ARE THOSE TURBOBOOSTERS

HE CAN FLY?!?!

UM EXCUSE ME WHERE DID THIS COME FROM

Kokichi was dying to see all of these cool functions and only now when he’s literally dead do you show them off? RUDE

WAIT WHAT THE FUCK K1-B0 THERE ARE STILL LIVING STUDENTS DOWN THERE

MISSILES TOO -

OH WOW UM OKAY THIS WAS NOT THE QUIET CONTEMPLATIVE END-OF-CHAPTER SCENE I THOUGHT WE’D BE GETTING DEAR LORD

dON’T YOU ‘END TITLE’ CARD ME, GAME

a;sdlkfja

i

i forgot this

happened at the end of the

chapter

oh god

skldfj

ugh, ghghhgh

cool thanks sweetcheeks and I will cherish this forever,,,

...

assuming he survives long enough to

[amisbro]

A “Kind of serious” UtaPri Q

“If there was one thing you would change about UtaPri what would it be?” Content distribution Allow me to explain this for you UtaPri ,as we know it, as almost been around for 10 years.  Its official “start date” was back in 2010 on June 24th and in that time there was a lot of content that came for the STARISH members and also later for QUARTET NIGHT especially when you consider they have now been in a game since the Debut and All-Star. Now you think about THAT and then you think about where this post is about to go and I promise you some people are gonna get mad...not my intention but let’s discuss this

So Uta no Prince-Sama started as a franchise officially in 2010 and as an Anime in 2011 when Maji Love 1000 came out (Henceforth called “ML1K”) and it was basically the season long story of how STARISH was formed and then later in 2013 they were given Maji Love 2000 basically where they again were the main focus (and that’s fine) but we also met the trio that would gum up things for the STARISH in HEAVENS and we know their story.  They were a “Trio of Amateurs” as Shining put it that would face off against STARISH at the UtaPri awards and there would be more on the line than JUST an award as Shining and Raging put up the futures of the groups in which STARISH wins but as we know HEAVENS gets saved and comes back as a 7 person group at the end of Season 3. NOW...here is where we start to talk about the idea of “content distribution” By the time that Season 2 came out there had been (and I checked this) 2 games that featured QN in some way:  Debut (which was their intro into the series) and then All-Star Now I have stated before that I think if you wanted to do the idea of a “rivalry” with STARISH and QN it should have been around here (considering at this point there was at least a game or two of content for QN) so the idea of having to “create” the group to be the rival for STARISH from a “Made up” Agency (i.e. one not in the game canon) to me was kind of “Huh?” (and this mind you comes from me when I never read the stories for any character in any of the actual games). But alright now STARISH is going to beat HEAVENS the first time...fine and as some might not be aware I was happy about that cos I assumed (and I found out I was wrong seconds later) that HEAVENS was going to go away and then NOW we would get on with the STARISH/QN rivalry. Looking back on this here is what I was kind of hoping would have happened Okay you want to give an OVA for the Shining Agency..I’m fine with that.  The issue comes with HEAVENS For some reason after they wrote it where HEAVENS would lose the thought enters your mind (or it does mine anyways) “What did HEAVENS losing accomplish?” Here is why I say that HEAVENS losing makes sense IF  - They are going to disband OR  - We are going to get an OVA or some kind of content chronicling them on the road to going to face off against STARISH again.  I think I once made the suggestion of an idea where what you would do is have STARISH win but HEAVENS gets saved and then simultaneously have something where they have an OVA/Season to chronicle the formation of the 7 person group for HEAVENS.  The issue if you did a season for it would be I dunno how many people (especially those on the STARISH side) would have watched it BUT it could have made them very sympathetic characters for Season 4 (not that Season 4 didn’t succeed on some level but it also caused a great divide too). This is where I get a little bothered What I would like to know is this How many people in the fandom AFTER the UtaPri Awards season wanted to see something related to the content to develop HEAVENS as characters?  I’m not saying your a “bad person” if you didn’t care one way or the other but it would have helped if you had a way to get to know at least the Trio BEFORE Season 4 started so that you had them and then we could intro the other 4 characters...would work right? The other thing that could have been done was to create a Drama CD just of the Trio so that you could really get behind HEAVENS and start to cheer them on if you wanted to...it wouldn’t have been a bad idea and it would have worked out I think..they didn’t though and that is kind of a bother. Like the point I am getting at as far as getting to Season 4 is that HEAVENS could have had some content wrote for them to make them more appealing and likable and I know that might not have been financially viable but it could have been a very interesting revenue stream if they just THOUGHT about it! NOW...I’ll hear this argument (and its not wrong) “Broccoli didn’t know what they were going to do with HEAVENS at this time” This isn’t wrong because you ARE right!  Broccoli didn’t know they were going to add HEAVENS into Revolutions or Legend Star so their loss in ML2K would have been a perfect ending and then if you wanted to go with STARISH and QN then its perfect! NOW...I’m going to tell you the biggest flaw about not just the content distribution but also the way the story was wrote. I have heard this argument when it comes to HEAVENS “Their role was to make STARISH better” Here is why I have had an issue with this logic Putting QN to the side for a second...in the context of the timeline between STARISH and HEAVENS whom is the senior group? While you are pondering that allow me to then bring this into the equation QN is the Senior group of all three of them in storyline.  No matter how you write it or want to believe it QN’s role should be (and kind of was) to make STARISH better.  THAT made sense because they (again in theory) are the Senior group to STARISH NOW...get back to the question How the hell is a group of Amateurs (”HEAVENS”) supposed to be in the position to “Make STARISH better”?  It doesn’t make sense from a STORY perspective because of the fact that HEAVENS became the “up and comers” but for some reason Broccoli panicked come Season 4 and didn’t want to tell that story.  That is why most of the Duet singles really sold like s**t because they didn’t do the job to make BOTH PARTIES in the duet likable and they REALLY F***ED IT when they botched the Mighty Aura episode which was the first one in the set!  How the hell do you get one part of the fanbase to like HEAVENS when you take arguably the most popular Seiyuu in STARISH and f**k the story so damn bad to make it look like something that DIDN’T FUCKING HAPPEN! Like I have ranted about this before but the story SHOULD have been wrote so that STARISH helped get HEAVENS to look better in the public eye (both in the Anime and in the real world) so what I would have done is okay you have the drama parts for each episode and that’s fine BUT if the HEAVENS member went to the STARISH member (or vice versa) to find out what was going on with them that would have helped greatly...it also would have made it to where I wouldn’t have literally had my blood pressure go up every week wondering how the STARISH fans were going to take to each member.  Eiji ,Shion ,Kira...they were gonna be the easy ones in my head...Van was a wild card (turned out to be a dork) and then you had Nagi ,Yama and Eiichi...we know how the last one went! Going back to the original point of this post “Would more content have made HEAVENS more sympathetic to STARISH fans?” I think yes because...especially with Eiichi we could have SEEN that there was not a lot of happy times going on with that household and Raging being a shithead to Eiichi...I can only imagine what he was like to Eiji! We would have gotten to SEE the struggle between Kira and his family in a flashback and we might have gotten to see why Nagi had the complex he had...now sadly if we were to get THAT someone would accuse the series of biting off of another idol series everyone knows (And I’ll say this now...I have no issue with Tenn as much as I did but I’ll still take Nagi over him if you pressed me). Like I could list the # of things that Broc could do but trust me that would take me for fucking ever!  Okay NOW they are getting a radio show and NOW they are being put in as “side characters” to the STARISH/QN show but what is that going to accomplish for the western fans? When it comes to Dolce they’ll be the “forgotten group” because we know when they were announced to be in the game I can PROMISE you that I was more hype than probably a lot of people on this site!  Fine but try to act like you are happy for those that might not fall into the “Main 2″ fandoms (and I say this with me also being a QN fan). People wonder why some of us get annoyed with Broccoli and I will repeat it that its a whole thing about “content”. Whenever Broccoli announces most new goods or when show some art it HAS to be HEAVENS attached to QN and STARISH.  They COULDN’T have done just something for HEAVENS for Halloween it HAD to be with those two for promotional stuff that had to do with the Movie that no one knows fuck all about yet!  You want me to get happy about the Halloween art cos...why?! Then you just have to face this reality} STARISH fan will never get why HEAVENS fan is pissed off and some (not all) don’t give a f**k...you’re lying if you claim you do. You don’t HAVE to worry because you got the ENTIRE story basically to be centered around you and you got your two big wins...meanwhile you want to claim HEAVENS are equals?  HOW?! HEAVENS will NEVER be equals to STARISH or even QN as long as they are tied to them...FACT!  If QUARTET NIGHT wants to do the job that STARISH should have done I will be all for it but I can’t see Broccoli allowing QN to do that because they (Broccoli) still plug their ears and act like everything is fine.  Maybe for STARISH and QN fans because they got their cute little MVs...anyone remember what the fuck they did to promote HEAVEN SKY? THEY DID A STILL FUCKING IMAGE! You mean to tell me the company that has a franchise that probably prints the most money for them right now COULDN’T AFFORD TO ANIMATE SOMETHING FOR HEAVENS TO NOT MAKE THEM LOOK SECOND F****ING RATE?!  HOW THE F**K DO YOU ACCEPT THAT?! It just blows my mind on a personal level and people can say I make a mountain out of a molehill...I just care alright?  I care about as much about HEAVENS if not more than most people would THINK to put out content on here for UtaPri and that is a FACT!  I probably get more people pissed off and annoyed because I go off like this but you know why you get mad at me?  Cos you know deep down there is a little bit of truth in what I say and in gnaws at you that someone that has only been around the franchise for 4 years is more annoyed with HEAVENS treatment than most that have been around for the entire eight and that pisses you the f**k off! To that I say this GOOD...now you can know what its like for someone like me and also what it was like for me to watch Eiichi get snatched up by his daddy and no one in the UtaPri fandom on the STARISH side gave two shits! If you’re mad its cos I got through to you...if you aren’t then maybe you SHOULD BE!

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple [My Thoughts]

I can’t guarantee that there are no spoilers, so I will just put the “keep reading” line. With that being said, this is in no way a deep analysis of any kind. Do not take this seriously. I’m just an idiot running my mouth. This is just a stupid thing that I’m writing because I just finished the movie.

If you’re Canadian, just know that they did not prepare a special message for us. The voice actors who appeared in the message before the start of the movie (Uemura Yuuto, Ono Kensho, and Taniyama Kishou) and the Crunchyroll staff prepared the message for Americans. I’m Canadian, but I guess that’s close enough (still a little disappointing though).

Whether you ship Atsushi x Kyouka as a sibling relationship, a friendship, or anything else, it was quite nice. Personally, I do support this ship despite the age gap of four years, but I wouldn’t be angry about any ships that aren’t... illegal let's say. Their relationship was done in a way that it wasn’t forced to make you think that they were in any specific kind of relationship which I liked because I had a feeling that audiences would’ve criticized it if they hinted any tiny bit of a romantic relationship. I think that kind of thing should be saved for the future if they decide to act on it. Let’s just say... I’ll preorder that ship.

Chuuya x Dazai (or Soukoku) is a ship that I don’t mind. It’s okay, but I personally liked Oda x Dazai. Too bad... well that ain’t gonna happen. Unless you believe in the afterlife... I guess. Was it forced? A little. Was I bothered? Not that much. I don’t care what you ship. If this is your ship, embrace it. I’ll sit here with my popcorn routing for you.

Was the story predictable? Yes. I didn’t feel that bothered by it though. I understand that they didn’t want to surpass or reveal anything that the manga has or anything that hasn’t been explored yet. This was made in a way that you wouldn’t feel really lost if you didn’t watch this and just continued with the manga. It was more of a side story. Plus, as a person who is constantly anxious, predictability is great. Don’t judge me.

The pacing was a little bit fast, but as an anime movie, it would be a bit crazy to have any expectations. Just be glad it wasn’t a complete recap. I think this movie would’ve benefited from being an OVA instead of just a movie, but that would’ve changed so many things in production. I will take what I can get.

I won’t get into the details of everything that was predictable. That would take too long, but the little things like the pill that Dazai took, why Ranpo put the snacks into a safe, the abilities attacking, how that would all work, everyone surviving (because as I said, this movie would not interfere with the major overarching story), etc. Also, I think we all know that Dazai and Ranpo know everything that’s going to happen. There’s no way that they can lose, and not for a single second did they convince me that the agency or anyone was in a pinch. The entire time felt as if it was under their control. In that sense, it almost belittled the villains slightly. Fyodor probably knew that and backed off to make another more prominent appearance later. Shibusawa was disappointing. For a villain that is so hyped and with an ability so outstanding, he was one of the biggest letdowns about the movie. The dragon was also disappointing just because I feel like it was meant to represent the “Tiger vs Dragon” cliche, but I was not too hyped about that. Just everything about Shibusawa and his actions I felt were not as well thought out as I wanted them to be. I knew that the “good side” was going to win, but his final form looked kind of like a joke (comparing to their usual high-quality character designs), and he didn’t put up as much of a fight as I thought they would have. The other ADA members barely make any appearances until the end, and I feel like they missed an opportunity with that. I understand that they were pressed for time though so I will let that slide... (begrudgingly)

I was pleased with the music and animation. Studio Bones did a pretty good job. The music did a wonderful job complimenting the visuals, and my attention was captured by the changes of tone and texture (if I can use that word) of the music. I was really surprised by the sophistication. I mean, it wasn’t the best anime music OST by any means, but it was good enough to suffice. Nothing extremely extraordinary. But GRANRODEO made a great inserted song that was placed in some reused visuals (too bad they didn’t animate all the visuals new) and some new visuals (mostly just the characters with a caption to describe their abilities) was good for hyping the audience. It was well-written and perfectly set the mood up for epicness. The ending by Luck Life was to be expected, and I loved it. I all the BSD endings, so the fact that they got back into it with a nice song addition to this movie was amazing. They reused the second OP during the final fight. I’ll be honest, they didn’t do as great of a job with this, but that was for one reason: the sound mixing made everything else drown out the song. I understand that everyone has probably heard the song beforehand, but I wish there was more balance.

Now onto voice acting... Bungou Stray Dogs has a great cast. None of the cast is really “newcomers” except for Atsushi’s seiyuu Uemura Yuuto whose role was one of his first major ones. I believe he was a student beforehand though. I think he’s getting a lot more roles now. 

I think I’ve finally gotten used to Kensho Ono playing Akutagawa. At first, I didn’t think he would fit the role too well. I thought they just did it to put in a big name, but I don’t mind it now. He does bring a certain tone to the character that is unique to him. 

Fyodor was a mixed choice for me in terms of how I liked it. I know that Akira Ishida is definitely not new. He has so many roles under his name that range in character type and personality, but I almost felt as if they could’ve done better. I would’ve appreciated it if they opened the cast to more new voice actors. Maybe this role would be too big for someone who is new, but as much as Ishida’s portrayal wasn’t bad by any means, I would’ve been open to other interpretations of the complex and witty character.  The reason why I think Akira Ishida fit (despite him being Katsura in Gintama) is because he still brought the tone of the character to life. He still had the charisma of the character. He was good; he just wasn’t great.

Now for the choice of Shibusawa... I wasn’t really pleased. Kazuya Nakai is definitely talented as a voice actor, but his voice just didn’t resonate with me well. Shibusawa was disappointing for me as a character. I expected him to be more sophisticated, but that voice just didn’t do it. It’s one thing for the writing, but I know Nakai for voicing quirkier thugs and goofy samurai (just look at him in Gintama. You’ll get what I mean). Alternatives for this role? I wouldn’t know who would fit. Here are some alternatives off the top of my head: Satoshi Hino, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Hikaru Midorikawa, Tomokazu Seki, Nakata Jouji, Shinichiro Miki, etc. These are all veterans who I know have the range for this. 

Character development in this movie wasn’t bad, but be sure that you have the popular opinion because if you don’t like Atsushi, Kyouka, Akutagawa, or Chuuya, sorry, but you can just sit your butthurt baggage over on the side. I know. It sucks, but they only had so much time. I already said that they would’ve done better with an OVA for the proper development and pacing, but just be glad that we got this for now. BSD doesn’t do the best job with their side characters, but that’s a rant for another time. 

Atsushi was a little bit annoying in this film. He was constantly having to get himself together, and I felt like Kyouka was carrying him along half the time. I didn’t entirely mind this though because Kyouka is my favourite, and her strength and resilience was nice for me to watch. But Atsushi really came through (a little rushed) at the end. His backstory was a little shallow. I expected more out of it. I understand that they had limited time, but I felt as if they have a gold mine of development there. They had so much potential and the timing was perfect. They just decided not to really touch it.

Dazai got enough screen time. Was he the main character? Not really. But let’s be real, Dazai gets more than enough the rest of the time. You knew that he was pulling strings the entire time anyway. The Oda recap was really sweet though. That moment where they shared a flashback conversation was beautifully done and stood out to me. They didn’t beat it to death either. Nicely done.

Chuuya. Not going to lie, he’s a little overrated by the fandom, but he adds a good amount of vulgarity to add to the comedic factor. I’m not sure how I feel about him having such a big impact everywhere. I wanted to see some of the others. But I don’t hate him. He relies on Dazai a bit much for my liking, and he did play a major role in the final fight which I still have a mixed opinion about. His voice acting at that point in the final fight was not living up to expectations, but Kishou Taniyama provided that amazing opening, so he gets a pass automatically.

Akutagawa got quite a bit of screen time, but I felt like they didn’t develop him with any of it. We didn’t get to see any more depth than we already had. We didn’t learn anything about him. We were just shown same old Akutagawa. I didn’t mind it. He was epic. He did provide enjoyment.

Kyouka. This made me so happy. I saw a newer side of her that I already knew existed. She was such a badass that I couldn’t complain. I would’ve loved to see more about her and her backstory. We saw a brief visual of her mother. That was about it. The manga explores her past a little more, but I thought the movie would’ve touched on that a bit more from what I saw in the trailer. I am still extremely happy with her appearance in the movie. It was one of the most enjoyable things for me because she is my favourite character.

Fyodor got screen time. Not much. His presence was slightly brought to the side. You could tell that he was held off for later though. I think he’s going to be more involved in the manga, so let’s give this one a pass too.

I’m not going to talk about anyone else because there isn’t much to talk about when it comes to anyone else. They all stayed pretty much the same. I don’t think we expected anything though. This is kind of just a side story after all.

Did I enjoy this movie? Absolutely. Of course. I enjoyed it. There’s no doubt about that. I would push aside problems with the movie in a heartbeat. Those cute Atsushi x Kyouka moments are enough to keep me going for weeks. Kyouka getting screen time made me so happy.

NOW TIME FOR THE LINKS!

Music:

Want to listen to the BSD Dead Apple OST? https://bsd-bibliophile.tumblr.com/search/music You’ll most likely be able to find it here! The OST is nice to listen to. I highly recommend listening to it and following this account (you probably do already though)

For additional music recommendations, I highly suggest you check out the artists connected to this movie including: - GRANRODEO - Luck Life - Taku Iwasaki (the score writer) Iwasaki is known for a lot of other anime as well. He’s really talented!

Studio Bones (animation):

Want to know what other anime Studio Bones has done? Check out this video: https://youtu.be/Y1-i1sbDNLQ Noragami, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, My Hero Academia? These people are top-tier animators.

Seiyuu Recommendations for Shibusawa:

Curious about why I thought of these names? Here are some compilations of their other roles: - Satoshi Hino: https://youtu.be/B5gVmf0zwus - Morikawa Toshiyuki: https://youtu.be/INiLyrlRCmY - Hikaru Midorikawa: https://youtu.be/EAU4Fu49Yz0 - Tomokazu Seki: https://youtu.be/8iN0f7bHy0Y - Nakata Jouji: https://youtu.be/YAMJqU_3480 - Shinichiro Miki: https://youtu.be/yteyBKbVRIc These might not fit since this about personal preference, but it is food for thought!

Shibusawa’s seiyuu (Nakai Kazuya) other roles: https://youtu.be/7GV5vYhLMAw And if you’re curious, this is what I heard when I saw Shibusawa: https://youtu.be/7GV5vYhLMAw https://youtu.be/6x7_1GJ3F8w (He’s the guy with the black hair) ^ His role in Gintama is iconic, and I find a lot of these scenes funny.

Miscellaneous Videos:

This is a hodgepodge playlist of BSD-related content. You have the crack videos and hand-animated content and parodies, the seiyuu songs, their other roles, and some anime snippets. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGH6abWmUXgPnoHTOHyeeXyG6s_WINyzB

Shameless Self-Promo!

Tumblr: https://nsisbest385.tumblr.com (main) https://natsspammityspamspamham.tumblr.com (...spam if you didn’t sense that)

YouTube: BSD-Inspired music: https://youtu.be/sfnN6eqUfEs Reason Living (Cover): https://youtu.be/-rlSxB6CZrE Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRETNNIpCqiarbeuJoGrjBA

[muthaz-rapapa]

Precure Movie “Reincarnations”

With KiraPre’s coming out in a little under two months (second cue to start anticipating next season), I thought I’d go through all the ones I’ve watched so far to see how many seiyuus who starred in the movies ended up coming back to voice characters (main or supporting) in later seasons.

So there’s one rule to this: it has to go from movie –> tv anime. Hence the whole calling it a “reincarnations”…thing.

Left out the All Stars movies cuz I don’t want to deal with those.

Oh, and these are in order by the movies’ corresponding season.

Warning: Image heavy. Also, crappy editing because I’m too lazy to make it look nice. :P

1) Shadow (Yes! Precure 5 Kagami no Kuni no Miracle Daibouken) –> Syrup (Yes! Precure 5 GoGo!) {CV: Park Romi}

I’m pretty sure this is the strangest one on the list. But it’s the legendary Romi Park we’re talking about. She can voice anything.

So not so strange, I guess……no, it is. It’s quite bizarre just thinking these two even have one thing in common. xD;

2) Dark Dream (Yes! Precure 5 Kagami no Kuni no Miracle Daibouken) –> Aoki Reika/Cure Beauty (Smile Precure!) {CV: Nishimura Chinami}

By far, my most favorite “reincarnation”. I love Dark Dream so much as a villain and a baddy-turned-good. That she “returned” as the lovely and badass Cure Beauty… it just made me appreciate Cure Beauty even more.

And I always get so gleeful when their connection shows up in fanart, too. ^^

3) Dark Lemonade (Yes! Precure 5 Kagami no Kuni no Miracle Daibouken) –> Madoka Aguri/Cure Ace (Doki Doki! Precure) {CV: Kugimiya Rie}

Can’t say I’m surprised that Rie Kugimiya came back. Even less surprised that she’d be voicing a Cure because she is a famous veteran.

What I didn’t expect was getting two variations of her voice in one character. Which isn’t a bad thing. I like Cure Ace’s voice. More than Aguri’s/Dark Lemonade’s anyway.

4) Dark Mint (Yes! Precure 5 Kagami no Kuni no Miracle Daibouken) –> Flora (Yes! Precure 5 GoGo!) {CV: Minaguchi Yuko}

Not surprised here either.

I don’t have much to say about this one. Yuko Minaguchi was the voice behind Hotaru/Sailor Saturn from the first SM series, after all. So whether she’s playing an antagonist or a holy-goddess-like figure, she always makes it sound so natural. And her voice is so pretty. She’s so gifted. ^^

5) Princess Chocola (Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!: Okashi no Kuni no Happy Birthday!) –> Chypre (Heartcatch Precure!) {CV: Kawata Taeko}

I’m very fond of this one because I love both of them. <3

It actually took me a while to realize Chocola had the same voice as Chypre (cuz I watched Heartcatch before I watched Yes!5) and when I did I was like “Ohhhh……”

Anyways, it’s nice that a cute character came back as another cute character. Only a very few on this list kept that consistency.

6) Dry (Yes! PreCure 5 GoGo!: Okashi no Kuni no Happy Birthday!) –> Cologne (Heartcatch Precure!) {CV: Ishida Akira}

Let’s just go with the fact that none of these surprise me, lol.

I’m always going to be expecting the veteran seiyuus to show up sooner or later, movie-exclusive or not.

7) Toymajin (true form) (Fresh PreCure!: Omocha no Kuni wa Himitsu ga Ippai?!) –> Hanasaki Kaoruko/Cure Flower (Heartcatch Precure!) {CV: Sakamoto Chika}

I don’t even remember if teddy!Toymajin ever talked at all but according to MAL, he did.

*shrug*

To be honest, what really surprised me (lol, yea, I spoke too soon \D;) was running into Chika Sakamoto again. I remember her fondly as the memorable voice for Nuriko from Fushigi Yuugi. To the mahou shoujo community, you’ll probably recognize her as the voice for Yaten Kou/Sailor Star Healer from Sailor Moon Stars.

8) Olivier (Heartcatch Precure!:  Hana no Miyako de Fashion Show…Desu ka?!) –> Candy (Smile Precure!) {CV: Otani Ikue}

P-I-K-A-C-H-UUUU~!!!

8D

Ok, but seriously, I really loved Olivier so when I think of this, I can’t help but feel there’s been a bit of a downgrade. There’s nothing wrong with Candy. It’s just that I think of her more strongly as a mascot than as a character, that’s all.

9) Howling (Suite Precure♪: Torimodose! Kokoro ga Tsunagu Kiseki no Melody!) –> Emperor Pierrot (Smile Precure!) {CV: Genda Tesshou}

Apparently.

Almost all of Precure’s Big Bad Bosses sound the same to me. I really can’t tell the difference.

10) Flat (Suite Precure♪: Torimodose! Kokoro ga Tsunagu Kiseki no Melody!) –> Close (Go! Princess Precure) {CV: Madono Mitsuaki}

Second case where the villain comes back as another villain.

Close is hard to forget (because he’s so annoying) but Flat barely had any character to him that if I didn’t look him up, I wouldn’t be able to tell who’s who in the Trio de Major.

11) Dog (Smile Precure!: Ehon no Naka wa Minna no Chiguhagu!) –> Puff (Go! Princess Precure) {CV: Toyama Nao}

This shouldn’t even be on the list but it’s so amusing that I just had to. Does it literally, right next to Nao Toyama’s name, say “Dog” in the movie credits? xD;

Well, unlike the others who do sport noticeable differences between them, there’s hardly any for these two. That one just got upgraded to a cute maid three years later.

12) Momotaro (Smile Precure!: Ehon no Naka wa Minna no Chiguhagu!) –> Aihara Yuuki (Go! Princess Precure) {CV: Abe Atsushi}

Alright, this can actually be a real reincarnation. I mean, they look alike! They even seem to have similar temperaments!

…Or is that just me?

13) Purple Buggy (Doki Doki! Precure: Mana Kekkon?!! Mirai ni Tsunagu Kibou no Dress) –> Glaive (Kira Kira Precure a la Mode) {CV: Egawa Hisao}

Hey hey~! Somebody from the current season!

But the more important question…when is Glaive going to be relevant in KiraPre again? ^^;

14) Orihara Tsumugi (Happiness Charge Precure!: Ningyou no Kuni no Ballerina) –> Izayoi Riko/Cure Magical (Mahou Tsukai Precure!) {CV: Horie Yui}

Easily my second most favorite of this bunch and frankly, there’s no need to go into extensive explanation about it. HaCha’s movie wouldn’t have been half as interesting without Tsumugi.

Then, bless our luck, we get to hear Hocchan again! Not only as an MC but also as an adorable tsundere! Riko~!!! X3

Man, I really love it when they come back as a Cure. The tones are obviously going to be different between a role they voiced in the movie and a role they voice in the tv series but it’s fun observing just how different they are, y’know? The key is really the acting, yup. ^^

15) Princess Pumplulu (Go! Princess Precure: Go! Go!! Gouka Sanbon Date!!!) –> ??? {CV: Hanazawa Kana}

I can say with confidence that a good percentage of us is waiting on bated breath for the day when Kana-chan will finally be assigned a Precure title. And it’s going to happen, I tell you. IT MUST.

I don’t care if they make her one of the first regular Cures or a latecomer Cure as long as she is a one of the main Cures. Because wtf, Go!Pri’s movie was one the most unfavorite things I’ve ever came across in this franchise that I need to be compensated for sitting through it! If they didn’t split it into three parts, I think we could’ve gotten a hell of a better story.

Especially on Pumplulu’s part. She had such a nice personality and her character had so much potential for expansion. Like, oh I dunno, turning her into a movie-exclusive Cure maybe?! Because technically, a lot of that movie should’ve been about her. AND she had all the qualifications to become Precure. She’s kind and beautiful and strong enough to resist the bad guy from brainwashing her (which is why he had to lock her up because he couldn’t use her like he did with her parents)!

Why wasn’t she made a Cure?! Why’d we have to focus on Haruka dancing around making pudding and CGI stuff I don’t care about?!

*rants for the next few hours*

Not to mention, @rona67th‘s gorgeous fanart of her in Cure form and Mode Elegant just makes me want it to be official even more! *sobs* I’d die to see that animated. I’d give up all the others’ Mode Elegant Halloween forms just for Pumplulu to be made a real Cure. T_T

(Btw, check out @rona67th’s Cure Zephyr, too! Her design is really awesome! ^^)

*SIGH*

Well, there’s still that hope that HanaKana will be cast in one of the seasons after KiraPre is finished. I’m actually glad she wasn’t put in KiraPre. I need a season with a deeper concept and theme and overall, stronger story for any role she plays. Because it’s HanaKana and I love her so obviously I would want her to get the roles with the better everything. <3

And that’s it, I suppose. Anyone I missed, feel free to add. Though I’m pretty sure I covered all the major ones.

Guess I’ll do this again when the 2nd Precure Generation is over.

[darkangelanddemonempress-blog]

Persona 5: Take your Heart~

Persona 5 is the sixth game in the Persona series and it’s a role-playing game developed by Atlus. (P-Studio) So, if you’re into cool RPG stuff, then playing this game was definitely worth your time.

This game is all about a group of high school students who were facing trouble thanks to the corrupt society they have. Because of the twisted adults, they came to encounter, they realize that they’re living in a world equivalent to a prison full of slavery and injustice.

It’s kind of relatable to our society since many civilians suffered from greedy grownups who only kept on bragging their power, fame, and wealth instead of helping people. Especially those who work for the government, and we kind of know how people in the politics play their games.

It’s sad to think that there are only a few people in the government whom can be trusted. But of course, I’m not only talking about politicians, my goodness I feel like I’m stereotyping, I’m sorry. It’s just a sample but it’s applicable to all civilians, be in higher or low class, who has distorted heart. How I wish I can steal my crush’s heart too…oh, did I just said that? Oops? I mean to change the corrupted hearts of those people blinded and consumed with the seven deadly sins. Am I making any sense? But I think you get it. Lol.

Anyways, *ahem* go on me, continue.

Wanting to reform the society and gain their freedom from the shackles of the unfair world of doom, the alter ego that was born inside them plays as the rebellious team called Phantom Thieves of Hearts. With the use of a mysterious eyeball application on their phone, they traveled into the other universe which allows anyone to go into a person’s heart, (I wish I can do that!) especially those people who have a vastly distorted desire, to change its cognition and reformed it.

The story all started in a huge Casino and the protagonist will find a route to escape but failed miserably when he got apprehended by a horde of police officers and got drug and beaten to a pulp when he’s in their custody. And when a prosecutor came and interrogated him, memories from half a year ago flash in his head and that’s where your adventure will start, inmate.

Back to my endless rant we go.

When I heard about this game, I’m so excited. I have played Persona 3 portable in PSP before, too bad I didn’t get to play Persona 4 and the others. Even though I heard from my friend that P4 is a beautiful game as well, my heart still soars for P5.

The protagonist has his own charm and he stole my heart, I mean just look at that photo of him, he’s so cool~ he didn’t even need to go into the other world since he took it effortlessly. My mind, soul, and heart. 

Okay, that’s just me being dramatic. Apologies.

And base on my observation when I played both games, P5’s protagonist’s dialogue have more traits than the other, he can be indifferent, straightforward and heck, he can be cheeky too. You can choose options where he can be playful, flirt, snarky and sometimes cocky. Considering in the prologue, he even manages to show-off even though he’s in the middle of a dangerous escape, much to his friend’s amazement.

Also, the dubbing in this game, be it in English and Japanese are so good and on point. The emotions are there, be it annoyed, angry, or for some comedy lines and stuff. I mean, they all put their efforts in it and I applaud them for that.

In the English version, I especially like Ryuji and Sojiro’s the most. I like all of their voices, it’s just this two’s voices stood out to me the most. And I don’t really know why, lol. And in Japanese…well, I’m a sucker when it comes to that language so I like all of their voices with no exception, also just to share to you, I dream to become a Seiyuu one day if life will give me the opportunity.

Anyways…

So as your daily life in the game, you are living in the attic of a café called Leblanc and you can go to various places in Tokyo using subways or you can just use shortcut since it will be provided in the game. You can go to restaurants, church, mall, even in the red light district and to your school of course. The protagonist can also have part-time jobs, hang out with his friends, play games, study, go to the gym or you can just exercise in your room, make infiltration tools, etc.

If you’re thinking it’s all insignificant, nope, it will help you to raise your stats such as charms, knowledge, guts, proficiency, and kindness. This will easily make you maximize the social links of your confidants since every rank has their own benefits for battles. And some activities can help you to increase your HP and SP, it’s helpful huh?

There’s also have a system which allows your team/friends to messages you about some sort of stuff as the story progress. The design of it was so cool, I even downloaded it on my phone and I feel like I’m one of the Phantom Thieves.

And as per usual, before starting the whole game, you need to choose difficulty. Are you going for safe, easy, normal or hard? If you choose safe, you can’t change it anymore but if you choose one of the other three, then you can just go into settings to change it anytime. It also has the most difficult level which is the ‘merciless’ as a free DLC. So if you want a really challenging experience, you can go with that.

For the battle, you will be using a strategic turn-based combat. It’s now also easy to use since they provided us shortcuts to the different types of commands we can choose from, like the melee attack, use of guns, items, guard, for tactical orders and to call forth your Persona. It will be easy once you exploited the enemies (Called Shadows) weakness, and what’s more, there will be a one more chance for you to strike again and I suggest using the ‘Baton Pass’ (a new mechanics in the game) to another character to heighten up their stats in that turn.

Another feature in the battle was the ‘Hold-Up’ and it will appear when all of the enemies got knocked down. You can negotiate with the enemies with that or if you don’t want, you can just choose the ‘All Out Attack’. If you choose the former, you can make the shadow become your Persona, ask for money and also for some rare items. And your answer will be based on what kind of personality they have, there’s timid, irritable, upbeat and gloomy. So be careful choosing your response, but don’t worry the game will explain how to answer their questions so I know you’ll be alright. You can do it! Don’t be like me who always fail in negotiations.

As for finishing the story, you can get different endings in this one. A Good Ending and Bad Endings, yes Endings, with ‘s’.

It’s easy to get the Good one, just meet the deadlines of the main mission and to choose a wise answer to the options in some conversations to make you advance in the story even further.

As for the Bad one, you can get it to any missions if you happen to fail one and you can also be assassinated here, or more stuff and I won’t go through on that, I don’t want to spoil the others who are still about to play the game.

I already finished the game and I’m in the New Game Plus, am I right? I think that’s it. You can unlock it once you finished the whole game on the first run. It’s the same, except for the fact that you won’t be needing to raise your personal stats since it will be carried over in this, as well as some items that your max confidants will give you. And I like it since here, I have more time to do in my free time and I won’t be having a problem raising my stats since it’s max already.

You can also date some of your confidants, all of them if you want. Although please no, avoid that. Me? I choose not to because I don’t want to, simple as that. I want Joker for myself, just kidding...not, and I low key ship him with Yusuke. Yeah, I’m into yaoi, so what? You don’t need to care about that, we have our own opinions and likes, alright? I respect yours so you respect mine. Lol, why am I saying to you guys anyway? XD Peace to all of you~

Another thing I like about this game is the music. It really fits in the game. I like the one that always played when you send the calling card after securing the treasure’s route. I think the title of it was ‘Life will Change’, both instrumental and with lyrics are so awesome and the ‘Last Surprise’ too, this two are my favorites! Try listening to them and you won’t regret it. You can also enjoy cut scenes in here and the twist in the story is superb.

And I heard they’ll be making another anime called ‘Persona 5: The Animation’ and will be aired in 2018, while the ‘Persona 5: The Animation The Day Breakers��� was released last 2016. Not only that, they’re also going to release a dancing game entitled ‘Persona 5: Dancing Star Night’. Ohhh~ I’m so looking forward to it. Are you guys feels the same? If you are, let’s wait patiently together for it and enjoy the game~

Have a nice day!

- Umarumiko~

Credits to the owner of the pictures~ (Special mention to you guys)

I don’t own it (and I’m not planning to) as well as the game.

Persona 5 belongs to Atlus.

Thank you~

[skyhopedango]

State of the Season (OMG IT’S ALREADY MARCH???!)

So... yeah. Time really does fly, huh. :O I’ve been so swept away by work and politics/activism and trying to rock an undercut that is the surprisingly fortunate result of trying to cut my own hair, that all these months just kind of passed me by. Holy shit, it’s almost summer. And covid is still here.

Anyway, so the shows I’ve been watching, or not watching as the case might be.

Dropped: 

SK8: I ranted about it a while back - I tried watching a couple more episodes, but nah, sorry. The show is trying to do one thing and another completely different thing, and it just fails to do either well, missing the balance by a shot so long it fades into infinity. It doesn’t lean fully into just being crazy and OTT fun, but it leans into it enough that there’s a tonal dissonance between the crazy OTT parts and the “real” and “drama” parts, which result in neither parts working for me. The “adults trying to write cool kids” factor and the really dated visual design doesn’t do it any favors either. It’s 2021 guys! If you want to be “hip and cool” come up with something that doesn’t smell like moth balls.

As for the rest: 

Osomatsu-san S3: This is... kind of a pity. I talked about this before, but it really feels like the writing has lost its touch, and its sight of who/what the characters are. Also, the extended cast just doesn’t work. Totoko and Nyaa are just not interesting enough to carry so much of the show, and the AIs are perplexing and not in a good way. They feel completely pointless, characterless and boring. 

It’s not like the show is bad though. The voice work continues to be absolutely amazing (why is this cast so good), it’s still mildly entertaining, and there are flashes of brilliance every now and then - the pizza skit is one of the Osomatsu-san greats, as is the entirety of episode 22, with the detective show spoof and the crazy hide-and-seek skit. Even the AIs had an unexpectedly fun and relatable moment, the skit with the shitty senpai you kinda pity but also don’t really want to associate with. Overall though, this season is a miss, which is a pity.

Jujutsu Kaisen: This has been precariously teetering on the edge of being dropped, but eh, I might as well finish this season. Like, the show is mostly harmless, really, mostly inoffensive, but also 90% of why I’m still watching it is so I can listen to Nakamura Yuuichi, Shimazaki Nobunaga, and a couple more seiyuu. It’s bogstandard WSJ action stuff. But also, it’s at the “let’s have a tournament arc, and introduce tons of new characters and their super special powers and angsty backstories!” part where these stories always lose me. Like, I don’t really care about all the power wankery, yes, the character is super strong, but if that’s all then I don’t care about the details, let’s move on. Also, I just want to spend time with the main cast, y’know? I don’t need two thousand characters, and OK, we can have a huge cast but flesh out your main people first? 

Aside of the cast, the animation continues to be its saving grace, but even there some things grate on me - things I wouldn’t care about normally, but since the show is clearly an animator wank fest, these things stand out. Like how the composition is often kinda dodgy, with the characters not integrating fully with the background? Or how there’s the "telling not showing” thing where they have characters telling us things that could be so easily conveyed by animation. Yes, that’s necessary in manga where the images are not moving, but here, especially with all the animation wankery, it just feels like the director just wanted to show off, and didn’t put a lot of effort into actually creating a good and complete translation of static to dynamic, manga to anime.

Back Arrow: This one is... well, it’s entertaining. It’s a bit of a letdown in that it doesn’t really go as hard as it could and should. Like, the jokes are good in theory, but in practice more ofthen than not the punchlines don’t quite land. Still, I’m being entertained so I’ll keep watching. (Mostly, I just like what a terrible, stupid bunch the characters are. :D) Will I remember this show a week after the finale, though? Not likely, but hey, I don’t need all shows I watch to be unforgettable masterpieces.

Beastars: This is, well, good. It’s really good, actually, it’s a great show! It’s just that I kind of lost my enthusiasm for Beastars so I just can’t get hyped. And without the hype, my brain just starts thinking too deeply about things I’m not supposed to think about, like... yes, I understand the allegories and whatnot, but also isn’t it just awfully convenient that like all of herbivores we see on the regular are the “small, soft, prey” type? Where are all the tough, often aggressive herbivores that predators think twice (three times, four times) about messing with? Where are the African buffalos, the bisons, the elephants, the rhinos? I’m just saying, it’s really convenient for the story that those are out of the picture. Also, what with all the focus on size and strength, it’s kind of dodgy how the show just handwaves away the fact that there are small carnivores and large herbivores, and the latter could kick the formers’ ass any day, like come on, a horse vs a cat? Yeah. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

But anyway, yeah, show is good. I’m enjoying it a lot. I hope they won’t adapt the rest of the manga.

Tenchi Souzou Design-bu: This is just tons of fun. :D It takes an issue that I very often think about (namely, “why is this creature like that? what the hell, Mother Nature?”) and puts it in a context that makes complete sense (”oh I see, it was created by overworked designers based on vague and arbitrary instructions, gotcha, I can relate to that” :D). And even though it’s just basically the same settings and jokes over and over it doesn’t get old. :D

Kemono Jihen: This one is fine? It’s not mindblowingly amazing, but not bland or mediocre either. It’s just a solid, good show, although I really hope that Aya is not a permanent addition to the cast because I really hate the “jealous girls fighting over a guy” trope. That aside, I actually started reading the manga for this, but... well, this is one of those cases where the anime format just works better for me. I hope it will get a second season.

But most of all I really really look forward to the spring season, partly because there’s quite a lot of shows I’m interested in, and also it’s one step closer to the summer season and Night Head 2041. :D

[persephone-damnedqueen]

Final Thoughts on Spring Anime Season 2017:

Spring Season has finally ended, and with that, I can honestly say I’m left feeling very . . . disappointed.  For anything not a sequel, this season was just average at best, and nowhere near as strong as Winter was for anything.  With only a handful of shows worth watching this season, I’m actually fairly glad it’s ended.  That being said, here are my final thoughts about shows I watched/dropped this time around.  Please keep in mind I did not watch every show airing this season, and these are merely my own thoughts and opinions, and if your opinions differ or if you agree, please let’s chat.  Anyways, without further delay, here are the shows I watched and dropped.  

Renai Boukun:  EMT^2

Annnnnnnnd dropped.  I mean really, I don’t think I dropped a show faster than this.  I actually managed to make it to episode two of this awful show!  Can you believe that?!?!  I’m just as shocked.  What made this show so just terribly bad you ask?  The god awful art style and animation, and the freaking annoying as hell characters.  The voice acting was alright, but I preferreed the dubbing to the subbing, but even that wasn’t enough to save this trainwreck.   What started out as an interesting premise, a magical notebook only instead of the power to kill people, it has the power to make people fall in love.  Cool concept right?  Too bad it turned to shit.  I probably might be a little biased on the art style since I’ve been watching the Monogatari Series the last few weeks, and that is like crack for your eyes, but whatever.  I wouldn’t even recommend this show to someone I hated.  

Eromanga-Sensei:  A-1 Pictures

Dropped.  “But Persephone, how could you drop Eromanga?!?!”  I know right, it’s shocking, I am not on the Eromanga Hype Train.  Usually, I’m all up for a moe-blob where I can just sit back and turn off my mind while watching something pleasant. add in some incest shipping, even if they aren’t technically blood related, and I’m all in; but in this case, I was left feeling bored and just slightly annoyed.  I ended up hating the main girl so much in just a few episodes that I had to drop it.  I honestly am just left feeling “blah,” about this series, and this series is just going to be dropped into the pit of “Oh yeah, that,” alongside most of this season anyways.  

Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii desu ka?:    C2C and Satelight Studio

World’sEnd, because fuck that long title.  Also, Dropped.  Why Dropped?  Simple.  It bored me, much like the majority of this season.  The dub was also better than the subbed in my opinion.  I really have nothing more to say about this other than it was pretty bland, so moving on.  

Quan Zhi Gao Shou:   G.CMay Animation & Film

This series is fucking unique.  It’s honestly a must at least try from this season, since it’s so different.  It’s a Chinese animated series, about gaming, with main characters who are actually adults, and no harem! Shocking right?!  Honestly, the only bad thing about this series is that because it is Chinese, the dialogue takes a bit to get used to, but even that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Either way, it’s worth it.  

Oushitsu Kyoushi Haine:  Studio Bridge

“But Persephone, how could you drop Eromanga, but keep watching this show?”  I know, I know, I kept watching this show.  Why right?  Well, what started off as some bad Ouran High School rip off, quickly turned into something more by episode three and four, and boy am I glad it did.  I started watching it fairly late in the season, so I was able to binge the first five or so episodes in one go, and before I knew it, I was hooked.  How?  I honestly have no idea.  The only thing I can say is that it’s entertaining.  Yes, the art style is pretty generic, and the plot isn’t exactly riveting, but hey, if you’re looking for something to watch while you kill some time, then give it a shot.  Also, Kai is best boy of the series, and the Seiyuu Live Action Singing Ending in episode 7 was freaking amazing.  

Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records:  LIDENFILMS

Eh.  It was entertaining.  Alright, in all honestly, had this show aired last season, there is no way it would have gotten as much attention as it has now.  The show has its very obvious flaws; from it’s generic plot, it’s generic plot armored badass, with a generic look, the generic tsundere like love interest, generic villians and just a whole fuckton of generic, but with how weak this season was, this show quickly became watchable and entertaining for the lot.  I mean in my case, this was one of the few shows that was actually watchable, despite being so generic.  At the end of it all, I can say two things: one, at least it was entertaining, and two, Re=L is best girl.   

Shingeki no Kyojin Season 2:  Witt Studio

Second Best Thing To Air In Spring.  What’s first?  We’ll get there.  Honestly, this season was just good.  The animation was good; they followed the manga very accurately, except the bit with Ymir.  The voice acting, both subbed and dubbed, was great; everything about it made it just a very strong season.  I have very little to complain about.  Well, except two major things.   First thing, are we really going to just pretend that the Colassal Titan’s animation was good?  Really?  Second, NOW THAT THIS SHOW IS OVER, LET BOKU NO FREAKING HERO ACADEMIA SHINE LIKE IT WAS MEANT TO ALL SEASON INSTEAD OF BEING OVERSHADOWED BY STUPID SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN.  

Little Witch Academia: Studio Trigger

Literally the best thing Trigger has made since Kill La Kill.  This show is literally Trigger at its finest.  The animation is amazing and screams Trigger at every corner, making it literally the only studio capable of producing such amazing work.  The tributes they do throughout are so well done and make the anime just that much better; everything from the Gundam moments to hell even the Star Wars moments were just so well done.   If the awesome animation wasn’t enough to convince you to watch, then the characters are surely enough.  Watching every character, even the minor ones,  get not only wonderful development, but even episodes were dedicated solely to them.  Watching Akko’s journey from Episode one all the way to episode 25 was honestly endearing, and I could rant for hours about Diana and how she’s Best Girl, or honestly about how amazing any character is because that’s how good the series was.  The plot twist around episode 22 and 23 were amazing and so well done.  Without a doubt, this is my favorite from this studio, and one of my favorites from this season.   

Boku no Hero Academia - Studio Bones

Hello, Best Thing of Spring 2017.  Psssht you thought SnK was good?  SnK ain’t got shit on BnHA this season.   Damn, Studio Bones has outdone themselves truly.  Right from the start they brought it with Episode One of Season Two.  Flawless.  Perfect.  Stunning.  I mean hello, the animation alone is fucking breathtaking, and that TodoDeku Fight?!  A fucking Masterpiece.  Go Ahead and Try to find something wrong with it because I can promise you, you won’t be able to.  I never realized how much I needed a good ol’ classic Shounen Tournament Arc until it was given to me in the form of this masterpiece.   I could go on and on about why this is fucking amazing, but instead I’ll sum it up with one thing:  

That’s still relevant right?  Oh well, whatever, regardless, Thank You Studio Bones.  I love you.  You’ve Gifted Us With This.  We Are Not Worthy.  

Ending Thoughts:  Honestly, I’m fairly glad this season is over, and I’m looking forward to the Summer Season and the around 14 shows I will be at least trying out.  But, once again, these are purely just my opinions, and I was not able to watch everything this season; so if I missed a show this season, and you think I should go back and watch it, or if your opinion differs than mine (and I’m sure it will), please tell me!  So yeah, thoughts?