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maserati-yokota · 5 years ago

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AJW We Are Running Thru Korakuen Hall 5/26/91 Commercial Tape

This one has links! So you know I'm not making this shit up!

Suzuka Minami & Takako Inoue & Cynthia Moreno vs. Bison Kimura & Mika Takahashi & Miori Kamiya part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb9L6-ybHoc part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7Ok-L8g3Jc Kamiya gets to work tossing Suzuka around before getting piledriven into pudding. Moreno tags in and man it's a shame she was perpetually disrespected by this company. Moreno was a treasure, you rubes. Bison is in full beast mode and she doesn't even have the leopard-print yet! Takako is young and gets stretched a lot. Whatever happened to Kamiya you say? She's Cooga, ya dingus; the dullest part of any late-90s card. Takahashi gets tagged in, puts Takako in an upside down double-underhook STFU WITH A BRIDGE and goes back to her corner so Bison can dropkick some more. The 70s Miles Davis solo of tag-ins. Incredible. Suzuka does a gorgeous vertical suplex to signal to all of us watching that though this is a heatless spotfest, the spots are in season. So dig in. Suzuka's dropkicks are so snappy it's a wonder she didn't get CTE from them. Kamiya must've just been spent by the Cooga era because she busts out tons of fun stuff here. Youth is young on the wasted. Bison, sensing the lack of Classic Tag Match Heat, throws Moreno into the bleachers. Good on her. Takako wants revenge but eats a Bison Chop. This is an interesting era for a spotfest--ie the pre-CTE era--despite it still being built off of the video-gamey idea of "strong attacks wear down more HP". Everybody busts out the weirdest shit they can come up with in the hope something--anything--will do it. But I shouldn't complain much. This is heavy on action, light on pointless near-falls, the screwups are minor, and there are some really fun and odd spots I haven't seen before. And Kaoru Ito is there to moisturize the losers!

Toshiyo Yamada vs. Yumiko Hotta part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfHqj7TdoTY part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtYiI8pb5hQ Q: And kicks?

A: And kicks.

Yamada is as spry and bland as ever and Hotta is still pretending she isn't a violence pervert. But the crowd knows The Truth so Hotta gets 1000000 streamers. Yamada, mad at her comparative lack of streamers, comes out swinging, only to get swung. Hotta brings the UWF realism but Yamada is convinced the puroresu will WIN. One thing they can both agree on is KICKS. The first notable one busts Yamada's nose and we are off to the races--which is to say, we are witnessing the suffering of women who work for men and therefore are never encouraged to have healthily competitive relationships with their peers. Healthy competition comes from camaraderie and a sense of community. Bull Nakano spoke in interviews about how brutalized and casually despised she was by the other wrestlers when she started. The Crush Gals fucking hate each other irl. Aja Kong was made into a monster heel literally because she was biracial. These things and this match dynamic (hardway blood in basically a TV taping) are all symptoms of the same disorder: misogyny and the market sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Yeah, there's a ton of great work and powerful drama in this era, but how much of it was the inadvertent by-product of an unhealthy working environment? We'll never really know, since there was practically no other game in town--and what game there was (LLPW and JWP) was so consumed by the battle for market dominance, they could only mimic this model. AJW begat Rossy Ogawa which begat Arsion’s weirdly disjointed breed of misogyny which begat Stardom. “Send the girls out there and make them murder each other for the love of the fans! And fuck it! They're somehow also responsible for shilling all their merch, too, just to survive! And they’re little a nude sometimes! As a treat!” This match is pretty fun, don't get me wrong. But it's sometimes hard to distinguish a legitimately competitive match from all of what I just described. Did Hotta bust Yamada's nose cuz she was pissed about jobbing and there was no other outlet in the context of the company to properly express that frustration? Was that frustration even really directed at Yamada? Or was this more of a "Yoshiko shoot"-type situation, in which a wrestler makes a public display of frustration? Hotta turns the shoot into a work for good measure by attacking Yamada post-match. 1991 was 4000 years ago.

Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI746sByB-g part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnKy0Kp5_MU part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gdv67lFa5M Two of the most compelling figures this era produced--both of whom took the weird and bigoted roles they were given and turned them into powerful characters that transcended that small-mindedness. Aja set out to be a fan favorite despite the booking and it fucking worked. Manami didn't want to just be a pretty baby-face; she wanted depth and conflict. She also trained Tsukasa Fujimoto and Tsukushi, who carry on her legacy of being weirdos with pin-straight hair who love punishment. Aja still sells at this point and Manami is such a string-bean it looks like her boots are weighing her down. Apart from that contextual novelty, this is pretty classic Kong/Toyota. Toyota gets tied in more knots than those catalogued in Moby Dick; eats every kick ever and even takes a headbutt to the lower back. But contrary to their later body of work, Toyota's hope spots don't pop the crowd as much since they're not yet sure she's capbable of fighting from underneath. They like it when she fires up, but they don't yet believe in it. In defense of Aja and Toyota, their work is just as compelling as in 93, 94 or 95, the bookers just didn't believe it yet. It would take the hair vs hair match and Aja's teary performance at the end of Big Egg to convince them of what everyone else on earth already knew. It's as thankless to be out-of-step with the times as it is to be ahead of the times. If you haven't seen this and you're familiar with their higher profile matches, you should. It's more than just a curiosity or a template for later and "greater" things; it's a sign they already knew who they were and how prepared they were to transcend management's expectations. Wild finish and a moving post-match moment, too.

Akira Hokuto & Sakie Hasegawa vs. Bull Nakano & Bat Yoshinaga (2/3 Falls Match) part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En6sdmXeMAY part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ2crxtgZhY Hokuto's legacy is equally massive but differently complex. Hokuto was never really given an explicit role other than asshole. An early injury earned her a reputation with fans as a wrestler who refused to lie down--despite the fact that breaking her neck and refusing to abandon the match was probably due more to how toxic the work environment was in AJW. Can't blame her, or really anybody under these circumstances. Christ, they all started training when they were barely teenagers; what other reality did they know? But because she was picked by the fans long before management knew what to do with her, she had a far different arc. In the ring, she worked from underneath, but as an asshole. Imagine if Muta was somehow Cactus Jack: a being who existed outside the bounds of normal human morality but also took such a colossal beating it made you feel bad for them. Only a tremendously charismatic, well-drawn performance could carry that off. Hokuto is so hard-headed in every sense it's impossible not to root for her; she refuses to know her own limits and, subsequently, refuses to acknowledge the limits of any of her opponents. Anyhow, AJW was hoping Bat Yoshinaga would be Lil Bull, even though that never panned out. Sakie is comically timid in the pre-match promo and Hokuto seems doubtful but down to clown as usual. Bull comes out in a feathery gown only to reveal a tattered tie-dyed Grateful Dead shirt to let everyone know she a) likes to party and b) is ready for a call from Vince whenevs. Hokuto is fully on her Maeda shit: aloof yet nervy. She's still in her Marine Wolves colors, too. A woman without a country. Sakie looks literally terrified about what she knows is coming. Ten seconds after the bell, Bull clotheslines them both and powerbombs Sakie for the first fall. THAT'S how Bull do. Hokuto is having none of it and top-rope dropkicks Bat's clavicle into a billion pieces for the second fall. THAT'S how Hokuto do. Now it's Bull vs Hokuto, what the crowd was thirsty for. Hokuto gets thrown over the ropes onto the bare floor but rallies and comes back with a suplex and the same dropkick she gave Bat--proving her contempt for Bull. Double underhook driver for good measure, but Bull gonna Bull. Sakie gets a huge pop on the hot tag despite being the obvious Kikuchi in this setting. Bat kicks and stretches Sakie back into her place. In some ways its hard to tell if Sakie's time in AJW is compelling because she is obviously better than how she was booked or compelling on its own merits--and due to her repeated injuries and transition to trainer we'll never know. But either way, Sakie whips. Hokuto helps her get some good licks in on Bull to drive home that despite her crankiness she believes in this young upstart after all. Sakie capitalizes on this heat by delivering a gorgeous flying headbutt to Bat, following by a pair of god-tier heel-kicks. The crowd is SHRIEKING. Bull senses Bat is gonna whiff it, so bum-rushes Sakie to get Hokuto to tag in. Hokuto is rewarded with a German suplex to the base of her skull and a double-team. A few dozen harrowing exchanges later, Hokuto is back on top and Sakie is ready to die for her. Unfortunately, the moment Bull comes off the top rope with a legdrop, we all know the credits gonna roll. Bull leads the crowd in chanting "Bat-o, Bat-o, Bat-o" and it's a shame that never got legs. Bull feels bad about how things ended, so gives them another chance at a fall. Sakie and Bat slap each other instead of kissing.

Weird but fun card full of all your faves before their prime. Have at it!

Wait . Hang on. Plum Mariko vs Chigusa Nagayo (JWP, 2/11/94) is tacked onto this tape! Fuck YES. Lorefice: the beef been squashed. THANK YOU. (jk jk you're still a bigot)

Watch it here, with glorious pre-match training footage cut from the commercial tape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQLWwEHP4FQ Plum comes out HOT and bloodies Chigusa early. Never seen Plum this vampiric and fired tf up. Chigusa is having none of it and Hulks out because she's deeply cynical about joshi audiences at this point in her career. She also doesn't mind getting blood in her eyes because, of course, she is still Chigusa Nagayo~! (*DVDVR shout-out interrobang) I've talked a ton already about how much Plum rules and how wistful I get seeing any of her matches. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable saying "the business killed her" so instead I'll say "the business let her die." (The business has let many die but few so blatantly.) Chigusa has yet to enter her dom stage so instead inhabits a kind of quasi-Dynamite Kansai persona appropriate to JWP. She kicks less often but smushes necks just the same. She also is 1000x better on the mat. The announcer mentions, in English (?!) this is a full house at Koruken Hall. Chigusa hits pause to talk shit and Plum is OUTRAGED. Chigusa is also rocking a tan that says "yeah, I took some time off to chill tf out, what of it?" Plum thinks she can restart the match with a respectable test of strength (this is Chigusa, she of fightingo-spiritu, after all) only to get immediately clowned by The New Chigusa. The Post-Crush Gal. Plum says "oh fuck that" and throws on the Stretch Plum and DDTs Chigusa thru the earth's mantle. Chigusa is takes a breather outside then demands Plum give her enough room to get back in the ring, thus going full southern heel. Plum caaaan't quiiiite sink in the Stretch so does a quick German for good measure. Chigusa fights from beneath but gets shut down QUICK. Weird that this legitimately feels like anyone's game, given Chigusa's legendary status. Chigusa sets the record straight by soccer kicking Plum's head into the Mir space station (topical). The crowd now hates her. Plum squishes her back to the mat where she feels safe and torques Chigusa's legs until she looks like Brian Yuzna's seminal critique of capitalism, Society. Despite the contortions, Chigusa chinlocks her way to a victory we all kinda knew was coming.

#joshi #joshi puroresu #all japan womens #ajw #1991 #jwp #toshio yamada #aja kong #manami toyota #akira hokuto #plum mariko #chigusa nagayo #vhs #wrestling tapes #sakie hasegawa

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greed-the-dorkalicious · 5 years ago

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not to send u, another ask so soon but i read hikaru no go like, years ago and i did not know there was an anime adaptation! how does it compare if you don’t mind my asking?

OH??? ANOTHER HIKAGO FAN? EXCELLENT...

The anime is... I mean, it’s good, in that it’s HikaGo. It’s not the worst anime adaptation ever, but it does definitely suffer from poor animation quality at times (low budget, I assume), and it doesn’t cover the Hokuto Cup arc. (There is an OVA that covers the qualifier prelims, but that’s it.) It also suffers from poor pacing, which tbh isn’t entirely the anime’s fault- Go takes a long ass time to play, and in the manga it’s easy to look at a panel and move on, but when you’re doing it in real time it takes way longer. So there’s a lot of games that last several episodes.

Also, for some reason the animators have NO concept of color theory, so Akira’s formerly fairly reasonable fashion sense is now... well.

Because you know, what colors could possibly go together better than forest green, hot pink, lavender, and vomit yellow?

Other than the Hokuto Cup, though, it’s pretty faithful to the manga. It also has probably one of my favorite anime OSTs of all time! So all in all, I do highly recommend it. It’s not as good as the manga for sure, but it’s not necessarily bad either, and since you’ve already read the manga it’s not like you’re missing out on anything.

#clericjester #Asks

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hellopopculture · 3 years ago

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Top 20 Female/Joshi Wrestlers of 2021 (Part 1)

Description: We're a long way away from the "Women's Revolution" and in some ways the treatment of female wrestling talent in the West has reverted back to the "Diva Era". In contrast, Joshi Wrestling at companies like STARDOM, has not only been able to stay afloat but grow during the pandemic. Not to be outdone though; the women's divisions of WWE, AEW, Impact & ROH still put up and good fight and overall made it a competitive year for women in Pro Wrestling.

4. Britt Baker D.M.D.-When AEW first started and Britt Baker was their first female signee, I was underwhelmed. I just didn't see it in her. I hadn't seen many of her matches, she seemed kind of pedestrian as a performer. She had a strong showing at what would be sort of a test show for AEW called, All In but as a babyface she didn't seem to connect all too well. When she adopted her heel persona, we started to see the better, Britt Baker. Although the women's division in AEW was in pretty bad shape when she started her rise to the top, she was able to make the most out of her rivalries with everyone including Big Swole who was relegated to AEW Dark before leaving the company. It's interesting that Britt admits that she studied Sasha Banks when she was training because they have a similar approach to their feuds and finding their chemistry with their peers.

In May of 2021, Britt Baker won the AEW Women's Championship. She scored major victories over Nyla Rose, Kris Statlander & Ruby Soho and also built a stable around herself with Jamie Hayter & Rebel. While she definitely stepped up in terms of in-ring performance and pretty much controls the momentum behind women's wrestling in AEW...I don't think we've seen the peak of this run she's on.

3. Syuri-Syuri is a relatively new name to STARDOM but not to Joshi Wrestling or Women's Martial Arts in Japan. Her name has held a lot of weight on that front for years. I was first introduced to her in SMASH Wrestling during her rivalry with Kana (WWE's Asuka). She only has one win in the UFC against Chan-Mi Jeon but boasts an impressive Kickboxing record of 13-1.

If you're a Western Wrestling fan, you probably saw her name or heard it the most after she was awarded a 5.5 out of 5 stars by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for her match against Utami Hayashishita in June of 2021. This would be the first in STARDOM company history but also the first Joshi match awarded 5 stars or more since 1995 which was awarded to a match between Joshi GOATs Manami Toyota and Akira Hokuto.

With Syuri's extensive rap sheet and list of accolades you would think she's not only close to veteran status or already there, but you would expect her to be nearing the end of her career but actually she's only 32. To put it in perspective, she's the same age as Bayley, Bianca Belair & Nikki Cross. She has so much more career, to go, so much she can do.

Syuri was trained by "The Japanese Buzzsaw", Yoshihiro Tajiri and with her background in combat sports became a notable figure for in Joshi Wrestling right away. Feeling that she had been overlooked and not receiving the credit she deserved for what she had done in the wrestling business or, Syuri kept working and eventually made her way to STARDOM where she joined Giulia's Donna Del Mondo faction.

Syuri had an incredible 2021 by winning the 5★Star GP, and winning the World of Stardom Championship at the end of the year. I think she's more than proven her value to Joshi Wrestling.

2. Sasha Banks-Looking at other "Best of 2021" lists it seems that everyone has kind of forgotten what type of year she had. While she wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders for the entire year the way she did in 2020, she still main evented Night 1 of WrestleMania against a rookie, they became the first two black people to not only main event a PPV together but also the biggest one of the year. They also won an ESPY for that moment. I don't care what anyone does for the rest of the year, nobody in 2021 aside from Bianca put up that level of accolades. Most of the women on this list will chase those accomplishments for the rest of their career and not hit those marks, let alone in just 1 year.

1. Bianca Belair-The EST of WWE had clear star potential from the start. Before she had a televised match in NXT, I saw footage of her that people had taken of her with their phones from dark matches. You could tell she was a natural for Pro Wrestling despite not growing up a fan. She was one of the first people WWE picked up that made their developmental process seem like it was actually for a professional sport and not a TV show. The moment the world fell in love with her is during her feud with Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women's Championship in 2019. She never won a title during her time in NXT but until the time she was called up to the main roster, she was kept in the mix as one of the top women on the brand.

When Bianca graduated to the WWE Raw, she had a pretty pedestrian first year. She didn't really do much. She didn't have any big rivalries, no memorable matches. It wasn't until she was moved to the SmackDown brand in the draft that she started to pick up steam. At the start of 2021 she began her ascent toward superstardom. She won the Royal Rumble and chose to challenge Sasha Banks instead of Asuka. She won the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania as the main event of Night 1, which is maybe the biggest leap in accomplishments for a wrestler so new to the big stage. She and Sasha Banks won the ESPY for Best WWE Moment and then she moved on to have high profile feuds with Bayley & Carmella before she met Becky Lynch at Summerslam. The rest of the year for Bianca was kind of a bust. Becky beating her killed her momentum cold, but she had accomplished so much by that point that she's in the mix now. She's a top woman in this company. They can't deny her.

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maoam · 2 years ago

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First of all that interview sounds fake as hell. Unless someone gives me 100% certain original source I doubt it. I have seen fake interview made of Togashi where he apparently told people to stop making bl fanart of his characters because “they’re not gay”, made by some homophobic HxH fan. Even when him and his wife have both created gay characters. And as you said it it wouldn’t matter anyway because the story itself is so clear about it.

As mentioned in the post above, Miura seems to have a thing for feminine men. Also the thing that is often talked about in the fandom is that when Guts leaves Griffith after their fight where Griffith tried to keep Guts by his side but lost, Griffith goes into Charlotte’s room and has sex with her. Charlotte has feelings for him, but Griffith hadn’t so far shown any interest in her, she was merely a pawn in his plans. When he has sex with her, he’s thinking of Guts while he also has this manic expression on his face. I won’t add the panels because they are a bit too explicit. Who the hell thinks about their male friend when they’re having sex with a woman? Even plenty of male Berserk readers can admit that at least Griffith is gay. And what’s more is that after they have had sex, Griffith is doing this.

Self-harming by clawing himself. Something he also did when Casca found him after he had sold his body to Genon as younger.

This is clearly Miura’s way of showing “Griffith did not enjoy this”. Whether it’s some old pervert or this woman. Especially when his mind is thinking about someone else.

Also, it’s not just “obsession”

It’s being POSSESSIVE.

Casca also thinks Griffith is in love with Guts. And we know Casca had feelings for Griffith. Funny how when it comes to both of these women trying to win Griffith’s affections, Guts always comes in the way. Miura wrote this with intention. There is no reason to make Casca this jealous and bring it up this hesitantly, and leave it in the air (because he can’t make her say the word). In story wise Miura makes it as Casca can’t bring herself to say it, because of her own feelings towards Griffith. She’s shaking at the thought of it.

And of course, even Griffith is shook by the depth of his feelings towards Guts, because it has never happened to him before, even if he cared about his comrades. And he brings this up many times, just like Casca.

There are more examples but I don’t think it’s wise to start explaining the whole plot of Berserk. But another thing to point out is that Miura has mentioned some of his influences for Berserk, and while some are more typical male targeted manga like Hokuto no Ken (very manly, very brutal), some of them include gay characters. Rose of Versailles has a lesbian character who has feelings for this androgynous female protagonist (that funnily enough resembles Griffith when it comes to looks), Devilman as we know has feminine gay antagonist Ryo who has feelings for the male protagonist Akira, and Kaze to ki no uta is literally a tragic old BL manga from the 70s-80s. He said he wanted to use works like Rose of Versailles and Kaze to ki no uta in order to be able to write strong feelings and such, while using works like Hokuto no Ken to bring out the more straightforward epicness. But I’m sure all of this is just a coincidence. /sarcasm

I’d also like to say something about the “kyun” panel mentioned in the post. Something I have talked to op about privately before, but that would add to the point. I looked up some discussions in Japanese forums about Naruto’s gayness, and this panel is one of the panels that was often brought up (among with some of our favorites like the ‘don’t talk of Sasuke as if he belongs to you’ and others). Male fans thought it sounded wrong, like Naruto is getting too excited about Sasuke, if you know what I mean. He is feeling tingly in his lower abdomen, lol. One of them even asked what was Kishimoto thinking when he wrote it like that. Another said he had seen this abdomen kyun in hentai for arousal. Haha. We know what Kishi was thinking though… But again, this claim how only westerners think they’re gay is nonsense as many Japanese notice it too. Many of them also said if Sasuke was a woman it wouldn’t even be a question they would be officially together. Some of them were homophobic and asked why did Kishimoto have to write Naruto the character “that way” since he’s the main character. What they mean is they are used to gay characters being merely jokes or creepy or villains, and seeing the character we are supposed to root for, sympathise with and relate to acting gay makes them uncomfortable and confuses them. But even they are able to see the gayness, so what does that say about those who aggressively deny it as not possible…

It was mentioned in the post as well but it will never cease to amaze me how people keep ignoring Naruto telling Hagoromo “Sasuke and I aren’t siblings, but we are great friends” and “I’m not Ashura, and Sasuke is not Indra”. The whole point of their story is that they are NOT their predecessors and that’s the reason why they are able to make peace and understand each other. This point goes right over many readers heads, somehow.

Another thing is something that even some SNS are guilty of, which is lumping all Japanese people together, or thinking they can’t know of something. I have seen videos where Japanese people are asked of their opinions on homosexuality, and they vary. This interviewer stopped two old men, friends, and asked their opinion. One of them was negative, he didn’t think it was a good thing. But the other one was very firm that if his grandchild was gay, that he would be supportive and accept them as they are, and that there is nothing bad about homosexuality. Even these two friends had different opinions. And old man had a positive and firm opinion on homosexuals, yet people think Kishimoto can’t have it or even know homosexuals exist because homosexuality is apparently a western invented capitalist trend or something. The fact op mentioned Kishi being a fan of a guy who has worked in gay movies is one good example. The idea that Kishi lives in a barrel where the notion of homosexuality just never comes up is ridiculous. Many shonen mangakas bring it up, but usually as a joke, or something offensive, because these stereotypes are still strong. But Kishi did not bring out negative stereotypes. He just wrote a careful gay love story.

Hey, thank you so much for answering my previous ask. I love reading your blog and what you have to say. Also I forgot to mention the person who thinks Sasuke fucked Karin also talked about what you said on your blog with someone else, https://dushman-e-jaan.tumblr.com/post/663748673413464064/i-saw-a-post-where-anyone-who-says-that-sasuke-and I'm pretty sure that's your post bc I read it. They're basically making fun of the whole thing and again slapping the "brothers" label onto practically everything you said 😭 What are your thoughts on this?

Hello.

Woah, yeah, that is my post. I wrote it a long time ago, I had no clue that they got this triggered by it, that they went through it line by line, as a response to me, replying to every statement I made in second person and didn’t even tag me. If it weren’t for your ask, I would never have found out about it. Well, I am going to take it as a compliment, whether they like it or not. Lol.

I don’t generally write my content to defend my takes, I give all the reasoning and cite evidence within my posts, and if someone has a problem with it, I generally reply to them in the comment box. But since this aforementioned post seems like it has gone some way into the anti SNS fandom, and because I wasn’t even aware of it, I will address some of these issues.

Okay. Gear up, this is going to be long.

First things first. They are offended because they don’t agree with my statement :

“Well, at least you are being consistent. Because people who think Sasuke and Naruto are brothers are the same people who think Sakura and Hinata are feminist role models.”

And they want to make it clear that there are other fans who don’t think highly of Sakura and Hinata, but still consider Sasuke and Naruto brothers. Well, I will give them that. I am aware there are additional fans who consider them brothers, CASE IN POINT. My bad.

Honestly, there’s a lot of stuff here, that just doesn’t require my response. Like my mention of Tarkovsky. It was used as a figure of speech by which I wanted to say that decoding Sasuke and Naruto’s romance wasn’t rocket science, it’s a straight statement, I don’t know why they gotta twist it. I think the mention of Tarkovsky threw them off, because they feel that only they have the authority to talk about more brainy things. Lol. So I am going to sidestep all the fountains of their insecurities and come to the point.

Okay so, they insist that Sasuke and Naruto are spiritual brothers, mainly because their chakras are reincarnation of Indra and Ashura’s chakras who happen to be biological brothers. And they take great offence to my statement that people who think of them as brothers are heteronormative and homophobic. I will come to that part later, I will address the reincarnation part first.

I honestly thought we were past this non-sensical and juvenile non-argument of them being brothers for the aforementioned reason. These antis use such big words and cite academic papers and articles and then, flip right over to say something so counterintuitive and irrational, without even considering any alternative understanding, it hardly seems like an argument and more like intellectual masturbation. Which it is.

Okay. This is their argument to support their stance.

“However, this story includes chakra, Indra, Ashura and is very much tied to spirituality. Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism deal with that. Kishimoto took his inspiration from there.Hindu scriptures exhort spiritual people to lead exemplary lives, control their sexual desires and abstain from sex, just as they are expected to control all desires and practice renunciation and detachment with their minds absorbed in the contemplation of God or the Self.”

And it doesn’t stop there, this rambling goes on and on and on…phew. I appreciate the amount of effort they have seemed to put in their arguments. Sadly, it's all as misguided as it can be, lol.

While I agree that one can see the myriad influences of various philosophical schools of thought and spiritual belief systems in Kishimoto’s work, NONE of it proves their brother argument. Why? Because it’s all out of context. I see this a lot, the pitfalls and trappings of sticking to one’s projection in one’s favourite piece of art/literature and bending text and context to their will, with citations, whether it’s relevant or not.

Such mental gymnastics, lol. I have seen this kind of response by student film theorists when they analyse Ozu's films. Oh why did he put that vase in the centre of the frame, what did he want to say by showing that vase? Did he mean to depict loneliness or does it indicate the effects of capitalism and consumerism in an insular, collectivist, traditional Japanese society of the times, or is it about the soul that is trapped in the material prison of flesh etc etc etc. Over analyzation. Which they apparently have accused me of, hahaha.

Unfortunately, that’s not how storytelling works. And it definitely doesn’t work in Naruto’s case. They would do well to remember that writers are not out to con you. Any writer worth his salt uses a combination of narrative tools to tell his story. Sad thing is most fans in this fandom just don’t understand how stories are written, the specific tools that a writer uses and the narrative devices that guide and lend a certain flow and approach to the story. Kishi is just like any other writer, in that context. So when he wants to give a certain narrative or visual information to the audience, he will use these common tools to drive his point home. For example, foreshadowing. What is foreshadowing?

Sourced from Wikipedia :

“Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and it helps the reader develop expectations about the upcoming events. A writer may implement foreshadowing in many different ways.”

And do we see this foreshadowing in Kishi’s plot? You bet, :).

And this is Chapter 3. Lol.

If Kishi wanted to depict Naruto and Sasuke as brothers, he would not have made them kiss. Even if accidentally. This scene, right at the start of the manga, indicates the very romantic nature of their relationship. I wonder why these stans don’t find it suspicious that even though this kiss is supposed to be accidental, both Naruto and Sasuke think of this kiss as a precious memory, not as a joke, but something significant, something that contributed to develop their dynamic in the manga. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of films in my life, but I have never seen anywhere where two likely brothers were made to kiss like this, for the sake of developing their dynamic. Only in romantic relationships.

Let me state it out in as clear words as possible. - In a macro sense, the overarching narrative of this manga includes a clear intention by the author to push the characters of Naruto and Sasuke to give an appropriate name to their relationship, continuously harping on defining and redefining their relationship with plot points strategically appointed to affect their dynamic that further propels the central narrative of the story.

Simply put, Kishi forcefully insists on weaving this story in a way that forces the protagonist to think and rethink the meaning of what he feels for Sasuke, as instigated by Sasuke himself, who every time they meet, insists Naruto answer his question as to why Narutio is so hell bent upon following him, why does he care so much so that he is ready to leave his training and the people he loves behind, just to bring Sasuke back. And everytime Naruto even breathes the word ‘friends’ or ‘brothers’, Sasuke’s either annoyed or surprised or displeased, never satisfied, never convinced. The satisfaction comes at the end of the manga, in chapter 698, when Naruto finally gives some explanation as to what he means by it. Shippuden didn’t end with the war arc, it ended with Sasuke and Naruto’s reconciliation. It didn’t end on the note of an ideological conflict and its eventual resolution, it ended on the note where Sasuke asked Naruto : But what does being friends mean to you?

And Naruto said with a clear sense that he understands what Sasuke is asking of him and so after thinking for a very pregnant pause, says : Even if you were to ask me that, I don’t think I would have an answer. But when I see you carrying your burden, it hurts me, so much so that I just can’t take it.

You really don’t need a PhD to see the nuanced significance of this text.

Point is, this going back and forth trying to define their relationship is not an isolated incident, it basically makes the backbone of the story. Which is why the aforementioned dialogues make sense, as they form the conclusion of this story. If they were brothers, why would this element exist?

Everything in the story serves to contribute to the central narrative and for the sake of character development of its main players.

That Kishi saw a need to even discuss why they were not friends, and that they were not brothers, but that Naruto feels immense hurt at seeing Sasuke hurt, is indicative enough that Kishi was definitely not trying to portray them as brothers. That these stans consider them brothers, when this art made by Kishimoto himself exists, is proof enough that they are highly indulgent of their self projections.

They are so motivated, for their own projections, to ignore the nuanced characterization of Naruto’s closeted gay self, or Sasuke’s oft pointed disinterest in women, that their understanding comes off as extremely lacking.

Ask yourself, why would Kishi even write these nuances in the way of visual imagery and strategic scenes where Naruto is made to react so strongly to even mild and unintentioned homoerotic moments? Why would Naruto be written to overcompensate to cover these moments up with something distinctly heterosexual? Why would Kishi even put so much effort in writing these characters this way if Kishi only wanted to portray them as brothers? What would even be the point of it?

Every single chapter goes through multilayered scrutiny by editors after it’s written, which means anything that is unnecessary or extraneous to the narrative is taken out. It’s supposed to be concise, and yet have the desired effect on the readers. Why keep those texts or panels that don’t serve the story? Instead, why do these elements serve to develop the characters? They obviously mean something, don't they? They are there for a reason, and anyone who has seen the portrayal of homosexuality in media will instantly recognise it. Those who haven’t can at least wonder why and venture to find out instead of giving their relationship names that are incongruent with their actual dynamic.

No other brotherly dynamic in the manga itself is even close to Naruto and Sasuke’s. Honestly, I have seen so much Japanese media outside of manga and anime in the last year, and I didn't see two men or boys depicted as brothers who make kissy faces at each other, or stand side by side looking like they are giving each other hand jobs and orgasming, or where one man’s mouth is deliberately drawn over another man’s crotch. To say that this indicates they were depicted as brothers, is not only counterintuitive, but downright ridiculous and plain stupid. It’s some real heavy duty denial.

If Kishimoto meant for them to be brothers because their chakras were reincarnation of Ashura and Indra, he would have made some character say it out loud in some context. Like I said, writers are not out there to con you. They will make sure that their intent is clearly shown to the audience, through text, subtext and visual language. And everything about Naruto and Sasuke, everything that contributes to their dynamic, whether it be dialogues, orchestrated situations, plot points, visual imagery, some of which exudes sexual tension, in no way indicates a platonic relationship. Those who have the presence of mind to pick it, will pick it, those who don’t would spout non-sense like our antis here. Lol.

Kishimoto knows how to use foreshadowing. Case in point.

He gives us an advance hint of what’s to come, and the narrative takes its twists and turns, being developed with this thread in mind, and then the arc ends with a conclusion of the underlying idea foreshadowed earlier with the hint. NONE of this is accidental. It’s all part of writing, it’s a literary tool, a narrative device. Hell, it isn’t a coincidence that Kishimoto keeps repeating this element over and over and over again, where Naruto goes through a whole range of situations and emotional upheavals in order to understand his feelings for Sasuke. First, he wonders if Sasuke is like a brother, or a friend, or more. Kishi can’t say it explicitly, but honestly, he doesn’t need to. These antis look for all sorts of reasoning and proof OUTSIDE the manga. If they were a little more honest with themselves, they would see that one really doesn’t need to do that, all the pertinent information that one needs to decode the nature of their relationship is inside the manga, in panels, visual imagery, dialogues, narrative development and notes.

Like I always say : First rule of deduction : Work with what you have. Facts, use what’s is available to you in the source material.

It is absolutely valid to look for outside source if you see a solid and legitimate reason to, which is congruent with the source material, like in the case of Chikamatsu. It’s already established clearly that Kishimoto is his fan, he has put a lot of effort to pay tribute to him in his own manga, he makes sure that this element is clearly present in the context and text, and the editors have talked about it in the notes. And ALL of that makes it a legit link, for one to connect it with Shinjuu.

The antis talk of irrelevant sources such as Jainism and Hinduism and whatnot, lol, it honestly looks like a super desperate attempt to twist and deform and bend the narrative to their interpretation where they conveniently ignore all the relevant panels where Naruto clearly says that him and Sasuke aren’t really brothers to Hagoromo, where Sasuke makes it a point to say to Sai that he only has one brother, clearly implying that he doesn’t consider Naruto a brother. All these extra interpretations that antis force upon the narrative is a result of their own projection. It's as simple as that.

If Sasuke was satisfied with the explanation that they were brothers, why would he keep asking Naruto the same question again and again? Doesn’t that indicate that he isn’t satisfied with Naruto’s understanding of it? And he is only convinced of it at the very end, when Naruto is bleeding out, about to die, when he finally, with much visible reticence, admits that he doesn’t know how to explain it?

Think about it, if they were just brothers, why would there be this hesitation? Being brothers is not a controversial thing, it’s not a taboo thing, it’s not abnormal, opposite in fact, given how much the characters of this story are shaped by their familial bonds. Instead of thinking of the most obvious things, these antis round up obscure and entirely irrelevant articles to sound smart and intellectual, as if that’s gonna make a difference. How is this extraneous intellectual regurgitation gonna help your case if your basic premise is wrong? That’s not how dialectics work. Lol.

Then they said this.: “(Considering Ino to be a closeted queer who only went for Sasuke to gain Sakura’s affections would be another one of these hilarious mishaps.)”

I honestly don’t know who they are referring to, because I have never said or implied anything even close to it. Maybe they are just assuming things. It’s not the only time they assume things. They also think I am some Western Man with my capitalistic and consumerist takes on Naruto. hahahaha.

Damn, I can't help but notice that whenever someone disagrees with them, they instantly label them as Western. Well, they are wrong on both counts, because neither am I western, nor a man. In fact, my socio-cultural understanding of the world is pretty close to Japan’s. I would also like to mention that my community practises the same religion that happens to be the official religion of Japan. But of course, I have never needed to flex on that, because it’s just not needed. The information that I got from the manga itself, plus my own experience of media is enough for me to make my points. I am able to qualify my content with the evidence found INSIDE the manga, and if I see clearly delineated references to outside material in it, I point them out. Like I have done here.

Honestly, it’s as simple as that. No need to twist your head at a 180 degrees to prove your point, if you are trying that hard, it becomes clear you have no legit leg to stand on and you are making shit up, just to validate your headcanon.

Don’t act against intuition, don’t act against text and visual language, don’t act against what is both explicitly and implicitly given in the manga because that is the opposite of examining something objectively. But well, people do worse to keep sticking to their denial.

Anyway, this foreshadowing can be seen in the first arc, where the central theme is ‘protecting one’s precious person’ and how one can unlock special hidden strengths when one is motivated to protect the person most dear to them. This element is foreshadowed in the relationship between Zabuza and Haku and through twists and turns, is finally concluded at the end of the arc, where Sasuke almost dies to protect Naruto and both unlock special powers for each other. Not rocket science. Kishi is a generous author that way, he wants this reader to know what he is saying and what he means by it, and so he will supply enough textual and visual information to make sense of the overarching story and themes. To simply ignore that for one’s head canons is a gross injustice to the story and the artist. If you have to ignore what he is saying explicitly or drawing explicitly, why even bother to engage with this manga? lol. What a waste.

It is not a complicated thing at all, in fact, it would have become a lot easier for Kishimoto to write this story if he could just have explicitly written them as brothers, a lot of effort would have been spared, no? And it would have all been believable, because it makes total sense that Naruto would want to save and protect his brother. The story would not change at all. Then why the hammer like insistence on having this whole brother or friend or comrade dialectic? Why? You know why?

Because they are NOT brothers.

Next, they said this : The problem with a lot of western readers is that they discard any and all relationships, familial and platonic, in favor of their romantic obsessions and delusions of “freedom” in a capitalistic society,................... ... the widespread consumption of amorous rituals constitutes the core of contemporary romantic love, reinvigorating capitalism and lovers alike.”

And this goes on and on….I am not going to put the entire thing here, it’s basically unnecessary blathering and intellectual masturbation.

Snickers, Delusions of freedom in a capitalistic society. Bwahaha. Where is this even coming from? Entirely irrelevant. Reminds me of my younger self when I would deliberately attach esoteric sounding citations to my papers to impress the professor and would still get a B. Lol.

I have written enough on the subject of the importance of familial bonds which shape the characters in this manga, so they are definitely wrong on that count. But well, they think they are the authority on Japanese media, what can I say? Sidestepping what’s actually in the manga and supplementing your argument with entirely disproportionate and irrelevant pointers only indicates that they are floundering. When you have no legit foundation for your argument, this happens. Lmao. I am no stranger to it, thankfully I got over it in my teens.

Then they claimed this : (Remember, Kishimoto comes from a very small village and is from a different generation altogether; so the odds of him penning anything even close to the “sexual categorizations” of the post-modern western sexual-domains are less than the second coming of Christ.)

Hahahahahaaha, I know you can’t tell, but I am literally wheezing here.

These stans literally talk like Kishimoto is a hundred year old man. Like…the lack of reason and logic in this statement is so apparent, I am surprised that they thought it would be worthwhile to make this comment. Lol. Sexual categorizations of the post-modern western sexual-domains??? What crap!!! Hahahah. Just say you are a straight homophobic woman who wants Sasuke’s dick and go!

So what if Kishi comes from a small village and a different generation? Does that mean he doesn’t know what homosexuality means? He doesn’t know sexual categorizations of the post-modern western sexual domains? What a bunch of hooey, lol. These stans talk of homosexuality like it’s some kind of western propaganda. Go ahead, tell me it’s not homophobic, heh. PoSt mODerN WEsteRn SexUal DomaiNs. Lololol.

Truth is, pre Meiji era, Japan was perhaps the most progressive of all cultures when it came to sexual categorizations. Here, this post is educational. Funny how these stans call SNS western and then do the same thing that most western fans do, who know absolutely nothing about history of sexuality in Japan. Here, they should maybe learn about it before sounding this ignorant, the video is pretty self-explanatory.

Edo period Japanese culture accepted homosexuality as the purest form of love that could exist between two samurais. Young men were allowed and even encouraged to have young male lovers, and after a certain age, they were expected to get married to women. A lot of men chose not to. And even though it was frowned upon, it wasn't a punishable offence.

Hell, one doesn’t even have to go there, check out Edo and Meiji period art, you will find lots of peculiar, very creative art with homosexuality as its subject. I would put those pictures here, but it would make this post x-rated, lol. The sexual imagery is off the charts, like Japan’s imagination is mind-boggling, like woah. They might be a small country but the scope of their imagination is huge. With the advent of Meiji era, that changed, as homosexuality became illegal, but this art was still produced underground.

Hell, a lot of the most celebrated artists in Modern Japan have created art about homosexuality. Film makers such as Nagisa Oshima, Takashi Miike (Shinjuku Triad’s Society, Big Bang Love, Juvenile A), Toshio Matsumoto (A funeral Parade of Roses), Akira Ogata (Boy’s Choir, a film about two orphaned boys who study at the same institution, and eventually fall in love with each other), have made excellent cinema on the subject matter. And these aren’t your run of the mill commercial yaoi creators, these are serious film makers whose films have done their rounds in national and international film festivals, earning awards and accolades from critics and audience alike.

The film, ‘Funeral Parade of Roses’ is a story about a young, gay, cross dressing boy who is in love with his father, a modern day adaptation of Oedipux Rex, only flipped. And this film was released in the 60’s. A product of the Japanese new wave cinema, it is considered to have influenced Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’. It was considered quite a controversial film for its time in the west. It took over forty years for ‘Hereditary’ fame film maker Ari Aster to make a film on the subject, ‘The strange thing about the Johnsons’ in 2011, and the audience was shocked to their core with it. Japan was doing this shit in the 60’s. Lol. Oshima belonged to a small region in the southern Okayama prefecture called Tamano, founded in the 40’s. So? What, people from small villages remain ignorant throughout their lives? They can't learn? They can’t be exposed to stuff?

Oshima was a pioneer of Japanese New Wave cinema, going forward to become one of the most celebrated film makers in the world, with a beautifully distinct voice. He made films on themes of homosexuality, and his stories were inspired by real life events in Japan. He made Gohatto, a Jidaigeki film (which basically translates to Japanese period drama, usually set in the Edo period) which is about Samurais lusting after a bishonen boy, training at the Shinsengumi, school for Samurais. People of Japan are more than familiar with the tales of Shinsengumi, they grew up with it. He made ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence’, which also features homosexual themes, starring David Bowie btw.

Kishimoto wasn’t even born or was of legal age when some of these films were released. Japan was experimenting in the fields of cinema and various subject matters, including unsimulated sex in a legit film.

They think he wouldn’t be aware of these films, Kishimoto who happens to be a film buff himself? Honestly, how insular do these stans think the Japanese are?

These people talk like the Japanese are some dumb, ignorant group of people, who don’t know shit about what’s going on in the world. Honey, that’s you, not them. Kishi is a well read, well exposed, well rounded writer.

Like yes, Japan was quite insular at some point of time, but after the second world war, they were forced by the allied nations to open up their borders. And the influence of western elements and themes can be seen in their art. And it's not like this is some well kept secret. Kishimoto’s manga is definitely very much Japanese, but it has a cross cultural appeal as well. I don’t think one is doing their due diligence when one simply ignores that factor.

Okay. Let’s talk of Kishimoto’s influences.

These are a few excerpts from Kishimoto’s interviews, the Western influence is pretty clear. Does this look like some dude who doesn’t know what he is talking about? Does this look like someone who is inert and insular and ignorant?

Look how inspired Kishimoto is by Akira and its mangaka, Katsuhiro Otomo.

For those who don’t know, Akira was the anime that opened up the western markets for Japanese animation and manga. The film was made for the express purpose for Japan to open the western markets for her products, show off their goods to the world, that this is what they can do, and as it turned out, it was better than anything western audiences had ever experienced in terms of animation and storytelling at that point of time.

Cartoons were earlier considered to be for kids, the common perception was that animated media was supposed to be infantile, catering to a certain target audience. Akira changed that perception. The legacy of Akira is humongous. It opened up doors for other animes and mangas such as Dragonball Z, Ghost in the shell, Naruto even. This was the time in late 80’s when Japan was experiencing an overall good economy for the first time in 20th century, their financial shares were soaring. This was the time when corporations had opened up in Japan, and anyone who was ready to become a salary man could take advantage of the financial benefits resulting in significant disposable incomes. So people had more to spend on entertainment, and so production companies were chasing talented mangakas left and right to adapt their work into anime. Japan was so committed to this great enterprise of Akira, they formed a committee to finance the very high budget that a commensurate and successful rendering of the manga’s adaptation would require. The committee consisted of Kodansha, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Bandai, Hakuhodo, Toho, LaserDisc Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation (if you can’t tell, these are big, huge corporations) who all forwarded money and promotion towards the film, and appointed the mangaka himself to direct the film, because who else would be able to tell this story better when so much was at stake?

Otomo worked his ass off, drawing hundreds of storyboards to condense the 120 chapter long manga into one film. And he did it, and what a film it is. Like wow, I was blown away. Akira, being a cyberpunk manga, also has that cross cultural appeal, even though its major themes are still very much Japanese, but if you look closely, this film tells a story the entire world can benefit from.

Kishimoto is inspired by American film makers such as Michael Bay, Quentin Tarantino. He talks of Takeshi Kitano, lovingly known in Japan as Beat Takeshi, a very popular figure in the west, who also was a regular in Oshima’s films, having played major roles in his gay films. These stans think Kishimoto, a cinephile himself, isn’t aware of these films? Bullshit. Lol. A lot of mangakas want their work to be recognized by the entire world, especially in the west. It speaks of their global success, why would they want to just keep to their native audience?

Truth is, otaku culture evolved in a very specific way. The second world war, especially after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed, drastically affected the ethical and emotional landscape of the collective Japanese psyche. While the reverberations could be seen in their media, unfortunately, it wasn’t in the mainstream media where these effects were manifested, rather it was in alternative media, in the subcultural genres. You don’t have to take my word for it.

Takashi Murakami, a product of Otaku culture himself, talks about this, someone that Kishimoto himself has paid a significant tribute to in his manga (Deidara’s aesthetic is super flat, which is basically a socio-politico-cultural art movement pioneered by Murakami). And I saw for myself what he was talking about. Japan is a collectivist society, there isn’t much freedom for individual expression. Japanese emperor Hirohito, who is directly held to be responsible for the Japanese contribution to second Sino-Japanese war and the second world war by many historians, was considered to be a God by the Japanese, literally. Like Kim Jong Un style. No one questioned him. But after Japan’s role in the war as the predator and subsequently a victim, it broke the Japanese in a major way. Turned them humble, repentant. This collective grief and shock and widespread devastation brought the people together, they forgot their differences for the moment, to somehow pick up the pieces and go on living their lives, with gratitude for what they had. But yes, it’s not as explicit in their mainstream media as others. I mean the amount and variety of films based on the second world war that I have seen in European and American cinema, like damn. Japanese cinema on the other hand? Pretty tame in that regard.

Takahata made ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ on this subject, a heart rending and deeply disturbing story about two orphaned siblings living during the war, is considered as one of the most effective anti war films ever made in the history of cinema, as said by Roger Ebert, the man himself. Anyone who has seen the film will know it is an anti war film. But when Takahata was interviewed about it, he denied it. He said he didn’t make an anti war film, he wouldn’t even talk about it and later, stopped giving interviews about it altogether. Never underestimate the censorship of the Japanese administration. Oshima, a staunch modernist himself, a huge critic of Akira Kurosawa’s old world values and humanism, equally critical of the right wing and extreme left wing politics of Japan, made heavily political films, broke up with the studio system that launched his career, because of how left leaning, political and individualistic his voice was. His films were often banned or taken off screens, he was subjected to numerous court cases. But he persevered and even a stroke couldn’t stop him. But that’s Oshima. Oshimas are a rare breed.

So what couldn’t be seen in the mainstream media, you saw them in alternate or subaltern media. Akira is a direct testimonial to this. Akira is a story about a bunch of orphaned kids living in a dystopian world, that has been devastated by a bomb blast, past which Tokyo, now Neo Tokyo, is submerged in corruption and civil wars. The administration uses children as weapons to protect their own borders, but is eventually destroyed by these same children, when they couldn’t handle their powers. The reverberations of the post war atrocities can be viscerally felt in the themes of this manga, prompting a myriad of ethical implications and queries, questioning one’s understanding of a nation, of responsibility towards one’s people, love, hate, revenge borne of that hate, power, megalomania, philosophical implications of technology and the destruction borne of it, conflicts between different ideologies and so on and so forth but it’s resolve is quite familiar.

The resolve is about love, redemption, atonement and peace. That wars happen because there is love and hence there is hate, it's the people that make wars happen and it’s the people that pick up the pieces and go on living. That one can be hopeful even in adversities. No one is singularly condemned, no one is singularly held to blame even though it’s not difficult to see that things could have been handled better. But it’s not as black and white as that. It’s complex. World is complex.

But what we do see is that Tetsuo, an orphan who lives on the streets, who loses himself in the quest for power, fuelled by his need to be acknowledged, finally gives up on destroying everything when his lover Kaori dies protecting him, and at the urges of his best friend Kaneda, Tetsuo finally sees light, for the sake of his love for Kaori and Kaneda, and so he repents before dying. That all his passions come to nought when he loses the one thing he held dear to him, love for his friend and girlfriend, the only people that made him feel like he mattered.

Similar themes can be seen in another manga Kishi is influenced by. Ruruoni Kenshin, basically a romance manga in shounen, written by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Battosai, the political assassin, falls in love with Tomoe, a spy, basically two people from opposing ideologies. Tomoe sacrifices herself for Battosai, even after Battosai has discovered her true identity. The manga is structured with themes of ideological conflicts of love, revenge, love for one’s nation and adherence to one’s philosophy/belief systems, as it's set in the time period of transition between the Edo and Meiji era, but the resolution is similar. That love trumps all, that true love is greater than all the constructs made by humans.

Is there any wonder we see similar themes in Naruto? Kishi uses similar effects and themes for his world building in Naruto and Shippuden. A dystopian society where children are barbarically used as weapons, where gross injustices happen, but people go on living. This world imagined by Kishimoto is a reflection of the real world, richly dramatised with similar themes of love and conflicts and ideological differences and war and devastation and revenge and human ethos and peace and atonement. Similar resolve? I would say so.

And I won’t even dismiss that Sasuke’s character is definitely left leaning. Sasuke is partially based on Sasuke by Sanpei Shirato, a popularly known leftist voice in the manga industry. It’s pretty clear for anyone with half a brain to see that Sasuke is anti-establishment, and for good reasons too. The collectivist, utilitarian, highly corrupt system of the shinobi world leads to utter devastation and genocide of his entire clan overnight directly under the noses of the citizens and leaders of Konoha, and whose body parts are then commodified in the name of protection of the same nation that was built around the philosophy of ‘Will of Fire’, which was supposed to protect them but instead who slaughtered them in their sleep.

Sasuke’s interests and need for justice stands in sharp contrast with the ways of the shinobi world, and where no one could understand him, Naruto finally does. He is the only one who tries. He is the only one who is capable, who is made to be capable by the way of the narrative where Kishimoto develops his character accordingly. Naruto is naive and simple minded to start with, but he is written to learn and evolve and understand different points of view. To learn from people’s tragedies and losses and grief and motivations. He is exposed to the way of this world through anti hero archetypes such as Nagato and Obito and Zabuza, where after Naruto, through his own inherent moral and humanistic code, begins to understand a world that is founded on love turned hate, which further paves the way for revenge, but is determined to put a stop to it. By proving his love for Sasuke, and Sasuke accepts his love. Sure, had it not been for Sasuke, he would have let it continue or have simply died with Sasuke before he could witness a better world. But my point is, similar resolve : Love trumps all, peace, redemption and atonement.

This is not to say that I approve of the ending, I do not. I hate it. Sasuke should have gotten his dues, he deserved it, so did Neji and Naruto. But unfortunately, I didn’t write this story and couldn’t have had if I tried. Doesn’t mean I will look for things in it that aren’t there. Kishimoto is not a communist or a right winger. He is Japanese. Both extremist interpretations of manga are misguided. Tobirama was a bigot that plotted against the Uchihas, Hiruzen was a complacent failure of a leader who let things happen in his regime that by no means indicates good leadership, Uchiha clan was discriminated against. But Kishi could not have made Sasuke reach his goals, not if Naruto, the protagonist, was supposed to be of any consequence, which essentially makes Naruto hold a moderate position. I also don’t like the fact that the ending and consequently Boruto, diluted Sasuke’s belief systems and very justified goals, I wish they could have modified it to a conclusive ending where him and Naruto could have worked towards changing the status quo, but I don’t think it would have materialised, Shonen Jump is strict about these things, namely pedagogic values appropriate for a certain target group.

The conflicting ideologies definitely serve to make this manga drama and intrigue rich, but let’s not go overboard and look for things that aren’t there, which is what these stans seem to do. There’s no use in chasing shadows.

Then they said this : “He (Miura) actually does talk a little about the sexual tensions between Guts and Griffith! Must’ve been one of the parts I was having a hard time putting into decent English. Basically Miura says that he doesn’t really agree with how people read sexual tensions into the Guts-Griffith relation, because men can have passionate feelings about each other without it being like that……..Yet none of this is meant to be “romantic love”. There’s passion here, intensity, obsession, but it isn’t sexual. ”

Truth is whether it be western or Asian media, the concept of misinterpreting homosexuality as brotherhood is quite well explored in global media. Don’t believe me? Here. All facts, no frills.

One doesn’t even have to go very far, just look at Clamp, and you would be lucky if you were able to find more than five heterosexual characters in their entire range of mangas, lol. And honestly, their example of Berserk actually works in my favor and not theirs? GriffGuts is a valid gay ship. But of course, if they can reject SNS, it’s likely they would reject GriffGuts. Kishimoto and Miura, no matter what they say in their interviews, why is that more important than the story itself? Not like Kishimoto sounds all that confident in his interviews either, when he talks of them being more brothers than blood brothers.

I have not looked very deeply into Berserk, so I would like to invite veteran blogger @maoam to shed some light, one of the very few bloggers that I find with one of the most balanced and informed takes on Naruto and other relevant mangas.

Going ahead, let’s see what Miura says of boys.

Really Miura? Now what is this 'tingling' feeling?

What does this remind me of?

Lol. Now this isn’t the most accurate translation. This is the accurate translation, I am not sure of the source, I got this screengrab a long time ago, but I know for a fact it is legit.

Btw, the 'kyun' sound effect used here is used in Hentai to denote sexual arousal, lol.

Tell me what kind of brothers feel these feelings for each other? I have seen numerous Japanese films whether it be family dramas, Jidaigeki films, Japanese LGBTQ+ films, and I have never seen brothers behaving with each other like this once. Not once. What spiritual brothers? Lol. Why go against reason, intuition, narrative, visual imagery and cultural context to prove something using irrelevant sources?

Like I thought we were past this Brother argument, it’s the 21st century, there are more discussions on homosexuality, the subject of homosexuality has gained more exposure and a lot of talented and individualistic creators have explored this subject. So why is Naruto fandom this backward and narrow minded??

I find it hard to believe that despite Kishi’s subtle but not really, and repetitious ministrations on the issues surrounding a stigmatized subject such as homosexuality, is that invisible. All you need is an open minded approach, that is all. You do that and the manga will unfurl itself so you will be able to see things that you so conveniently ignored before to satisfy your headcanons. Is it that unfair of a request?

Do these fans think they know everything about everything? They couldn’t have missed something? Something as glaring and apparent as SNS? Before they claim that they are some omniscient, all-knowing being, maybe watch some LGBTQ+ media, and compare notes? Analyse tropes? Give themselves some credit, that they have done their due diligence before spouting things they obviously do not understand? Or is that too much to ask for?

Maybe they have learnt everything in the world that is to be learnt and there’s just no free space in that highly evolved noggin of theirs.

Maybe we are all just stupid fans who don’t know what we are talking of, even if we give the most objectively valid reasoning and evidence found inside the manga. Maybe they know best, maybe that’s why they think Sasuke slept with Karin, even when he shows no interest in her apart from maybe once or twice protecting her as his teammate, something he also does with ALL his other teammates? And generally, gets really annoyed and uncomfortable with Karin’s over the top sexual proposals, and then doesn’t think twice about getting rid of her when she is used as a bait to have him captured. Hmmm, I see their logic. They must really be the all knowing omniscient being, the Arahat, the wise one, the one who finally achieved Nirvana, proper enlightenment and all huh? Damn I feel so small. (A tear rolls down my downy cheek as my bosom trembles in humiliation). LOL.

Interestingly, the way Miura talks of boys, that they give them a ‘tingling’ feeling, makes me think. Keep in mind, Miura never married, there is no evidence of him having had a girlfriend. But let’s not speculate, even if it sounds fishy.

Understanding homosexuality in a conservative society is crucial in order to understand the SNS dynamic. There’s no doubt that Kishi wrote Naruto as a closeted homosexual and Sasuke as a homosexual boy. If one denies this, I can’t even take them seriously.

But it reminds me of an anecdote my gay friend told me. He is a national award winning filmmaker, an intellectual in his own right, and works a lot with the trans community in my country. A conservative, ultra religious, non-western country. As a young man in his twenties, when he had just come out, he would date men who would simply not identify as gay. He would sleep with them, and do what do people sexually attracted to each other do. But sleeping willingly with a man and accepting the gay identity are two different things. Where my friend understood these nuances even then, as having come from a conservative society himself, he would not force them to come out. These men would never even acknowledge that being attracted to men and not women makes them gay, it was not even a part of their understanding. Rather, they would think of it as something that ‘certain’ men do. Doesn’t mean it’s weird or uncommon, even though they knew straight men did not do this. But they would simply not go there. They would just chalk it up to something temporary, something that they needed to do before they got married to women they didn’t feel anything for, because that’s how it’s done. It’s not like they weren’t aware of the gay dialectic, my friend would talk to them about it, but they would simply not acquiesce, the denial was so strong. Till date, these men don’t admit to it, now they are married and have children. But still look for sexual relationships with men outside of it.

Which brings me to my next anecdote, told to me by another friend of mine. He is a stylist, absolutely flamboyant and openly, proudly gay. Very adventurous and experiment loving. He told me that in his experience, the best carnal fun he had was with Muslim men. And that most men who approached him for sex were Muslim men. (This is not an attack or criticism of the religion or community, it’s just something my friend told me). He would be approached by these men who would have the most voracious of appetites and tastes, and my friend went with it because he preferred to suck circumcised dicks, lol. Quite a lot of them were married, but my friend didn’t discriminate. He told me the same thing, these men would never identify as gay, not even during intimate moments, nope. Accepting your sexual identity is a more than a matter of sex. People in conservative societies face a lot of challenges and obstructions before even coming to certain realizations about themselves, it’s not that easy. In many ways, my country is even more conservative than Japan. Homosexuality is quite a taboo, hell, I didn’t even know the concept myself till I was well into my teens, and even then, I was only told the most stereotypical of things. I also grew up in a small town. It was later, when I went to the city to study, when I came into contact with people from all walks of life, nationalities, tastes, and sexual orientations, that was when I understood them as people, and not categories and labels. And now I have a friend who works as a dominatrix for a living and I still learn a lot.

I refuse to judge people on the most basic and stereotypical of preconceived notions.

The reason why I consider these fans to be homophobic…. Honestly, what gives them so much confidence to consider Sasuke and Naruto as brothers despite everything that is in the manga? Everything, from characterisation to plotting to the overarching themes to visual imagery to cultural context to text indicates their very romantic relationship, not platonic. Naruto admires the way Sasuke looks physically more than once and effectively calls him hot in Gaiden, what kind of guy thinks of his brother in those terms?

These stans are so pressed to label them brothers without even looking at gay media, or gay narratives, without even paying attention to nuances in the manga, or Japanese historical context or their own gay media, appropriating everything for the sake of their projection, dismissing or ignoring loads and loads of text and panels and characterisation, why? Why can’t they at least entertain the idea for once and reread the manga with that approach? You can’t be so sure of your projection, c’mon, you know it’s counterintuitive, it just simply doesn’t gel with what’s in the manga. So why this extended stubborn denial? Give me proof that reincarnated chakras make two people brothers. Where does it say in the manga? Show me. I can show you everything that I claim, it’s all inside the manga. Where’s yours? So just because it satisfies your ego, it’s a valid take? Why are you this sure of your takes? Given you have gotten multiple things wrong? Like objectively wrong.

Look, I understand denial is a strong factor, when we don’t want to see things we don’t like, our minds act like blinders. It would restrict your vision and make you see only what you want to see. And what a sad way that is to live, what a waste of time. I don’t believe in living that way, not in my media and not in my real life. But this obstinate refusal to accept SNS as romantic, is nothing but one’s desire to not accept Naruto or Sasuke as homosexual because you think it’s icky? Undesirable? Unattractive? Different from shounen norms? And because you want them to be straight so you can self insert? Whatever the reason, as long as you ignore real evidence and real proof, I will see you not only as heteronormative but also homophobic, you don’t gotta be overt, your underlying beliefs reek of prejudice and bias, especially when you haven’t done your due diligence, something that you mandatorily should have done in order to analyse this story. Doesn’t take a PhD degree to see that.

Like Denis Diderot said - We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us. But we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.

My advice to them? Give yourself a break. Give yourself enough credit that you are open minded enough to entertain an alternative understanding, even if just for the moment if nothing else, and see where that takes you. Watch more media, watch gay media, talk to people, listen to their stories, try and understand their point of views, read more, compare notes, learn more. And ask if you don’t know. There’s no shame in admitting you might not know something. Because you obviously don’t.

I am always of the mind of learning more and more, and I know I have strong opinions, but give me reason and logic and evidence, and you can bet I will listen, and even acquiesce to you, if I find it satisfactory. Because that’s how things should be, if we can’t grow and learn from what life teaches us, what’s the point? We all have a lot to learn, don’t we?

Anyway, there’s some more shit that they claim which is essentially written in a similar vein, more or less, albeit in the same condescending tone. Lol.

But I am done for the day, I am tired. So imma stop, this is me.

#reply #naruto #berserk

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lambchopviking · 7 years ago

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blade, girl power & draw :~)

Blade ~ The bloodiest wrestling match you’ve ever watched?

i honestly can’t remember. any and all death matches, which are as far as i’ve gone with ‘bloody’ matches, all kind of bleed (HA!) into each other, making this big ol’ mess of blood and light tubes and people shoving needles through their skin and taking power tools to the scalp, among other things.

*Girl Power ~ Your favorite female wrestler(s)?

akira hokuto, aja kong, mariko yoshida, bull nakano, meiko satomura, yumi fukawa, manami toyota, to name a few. there’s definitely way more than that.

Draw ~ List 5-10 qualities about your favorite wrestler(s) that caused you to be fan of him/her/them?

i’m just going to do this as a ‘’general thing’’ because there’s no way i’m going to be able to explain what i like about every wrestler i love individually, obviously, so...i would say that the most obvious appeals to wrestlers are their psychology, technical skill, athleticism, mic skills, and aesthetic. some wrestlers only excel in certain fields of that, the rare, excellent one can hit all five.

#tmsixone

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hyenahunt · 10 months ago

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Saga: Rivals - 25

Writer: Akira

Season: Winter

Characters: Tori, Chiaki, Hokuto, Jin

Proofreading: moricchiichan (JP) & Peace (ENG)

Translation: kotofucius

Chiaki: I took your hand because I wanted to turn the sorrowful look on your face into a smile — Whatever hurdles come my way, I won’t give up!

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Location: Reverse Live Stage

Time: Hours later, Reverse Live is reaching its finale.

Tori: Hey, hey, look over there! The regulars who always come to the autograph events we’ve been holding since summer — they all came to cheer us on~♪

The venue was so full I didn't notice ‘til now!

But I saw fine’s long-time fans making a riot over former fine sitting together on the staff seating area, and then —

That's when I noticed them!

Tori: A group in the audience wearing Rain-bows merchandise all over their bodies, yelling our names~!

Doesn’t it fire you up?!

The other Mentor-Disciple units besides Lilith are surprisingly easy opponents, and we’ve scored lots… We can totally win this!

Hehe, “Victory”! I haven’t heard a word that suits me better!

Reverse Live is about to end, so we’ve gotta focus and give our bestest! Hip-hip-hurray~☆

Chiaki: ……

Hokuto: ……

Tori: Huh?! Why are you so gloomy, senpai?! What’s wrong? Getting tired?

Even Sagami-sensei’s not old enough to whine about not having enough stamina, right?

Jin: Haha. Sorry, sorry, we shouldn’t be looking depressed. Hey, guys… I get how you feel, but buck up.

It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for; so shouldn’t we be raring to go instead?

Himemiya. Lilith just appointed us Rain-bows as their next opponent.

We’re supposed to take the stage according to our turn in the queue, so we’ve gotta wait... one, two — three more turns 'til our fight.

More and more units are exiting the competition, so our turn’s starting to come around fast, too.

Tori: Ohh… so it’s finally time to face Lilith? This is gonna be the showdown between the best of the best, isn't it?

Rain-bows and Lilith are currently the top scorers, after all!

Jin: To be precise, Lilith is the top scorer with a huge score difference from the rest of us.

The way we’re placed, it's more like…Turning the tides miiight not be completely impossible if we can hang on 'til the end.

Hokuto: Yeah. So we definitely can’t lose. We have no place to run since we’re not supposed to reject challenges, so all we can do is face them head-on.

Chiaki: No, if we can win against Lilith here, it’ll be an excellent chance to top their score.

We’ll get to lessen the gap by reducing their score, and make the audience aware of our strength.

Hokuto: Right. It’ll steer the situation to our favor — we can make a complete reversal at the end.

It’s annoying to have some newbie controlling the venue, anyway. Let’s show them that we’re the leading stars of Project-Saga.

Jin: Ahaha. I get your determination, but we’re pretty much the same level of skill…

Nah, since they’re currently winning with a huge lead, that makes them the better fighters.

Best chance is we’ll find ourselves in a close race, even if we fight with all our might. And if this close race ends in our loss, the damage done to our score would be devastating.

Though with the amount we’ve gathered, we won’t have to withdraw on the spot, of course.

But no other unit matches up to Lilith, so it’ll set their victory in stone.

From there, it’ll be Lilith’s one-man show.

Lilith will be feasting on the remaining units for fun, showing off their spoils to their fans… to their people.

Project-Saga’s future trend will be decided, too. They’ll be the new main characters… and it’ll be my turn to be the underdog.

Hokuto: …I see. It must’ve been his plan since the beginning; Father made efficient preparations to the fine details to create this situation.

His tactical insight is formidable. He’s supposed to be unused to DreamFests, too.

Tori: Nn~ I wonder 'bout that… Something’s bugging me, but I can’t figure out exactly what.

But on that note, you guys are too hung up on this, even if I get why. 'Specially you, Hidaka-senpai.

If you shrink ‘cause you feel overpowered by the opponent, you’re gonna lose a battle you could’ve won.

Show me what you’re made of, as a revolutionary who cheekily opposed even us, the Student Council.

Hokuto: …Yeah, you’re right. I can’t be overwhelmed by my opponent.

We’re going to slay the giant instead — that’s more my style. Will you lend me your aid… Sagami-sensei, Morisawa-senpai, Himemiya?

Chiaki: Fuhaha. What are you saying? We've been fighting with you since the start! We’re comrades of the same destiny, at least while we’re wearing this Rain-bows outfit!

I’ll fight with my life on the line. I took your hand because I wanted to turn the sorrowful look on your face into a smile — Whatever hurdles come my way, I won’t give up!

Believe me. It’ll be fine. We can overcome anything.

Tori: Yup, yup. They’re not the only ones with advantages, anyway. We’ve gained lots of fans from autograph sessions and the like, thanks to having been active the longest.

On the other hand, Lilith just debuted. They’re newbies, even if Hidaka Seiya-san is a legendary idol.

He said it himself too: as far as Project-Saga’s concerned, he’s a nameless new face.

It seems he’s gathered his fans here by any means necessary… but they still don’t make up the majority of the audience.

No, even if they do, let’s fight with the intention to walk off with all of your dad’s fans.

When you do, won’t you finally feel like you’ve defeated him?

Hokuto: Yeah… You’re right, I'd be overjoyed. He didn’t give me much of what I wanted when I was a child.

If he won’t give me a present, then I’ll just wrest it out of his grasp. I’ve grown tall and strong enough to do that.

I’ll make him know that, and he’ll never dare to call me Hocchan anymore.

He’ll get down on all fours and call me Hokuto-sama — and I’ll be laughing at him.

Jin: Ahaha. Nothing for me to say, then.

Dearest students, you've all come so incredibly far that your ol' teach's over the moon to witness it. It's even got me thinking it was for the best that I retired so early to become a teacher.

Sure, I’d feel guilty for my fans if I said that out loud; this isn’t something to joke about…

But y'know, it’s as if I've been passed out in the freezing rain for a long time, but when I lifted my face, what I saw above me was a beautiful rainbow.

I really am such a lucky man… Oh man, I’m getting tears in my eyes.

[ ☆ ]

✦✦✦✦✦

← prev ✦ all ✦ next →

#ensemble stars #enstars #enstars translation #hyenahunttl #s: saga #tori himemiya #chiaki morisawa #hokuto hidaka #jin sagami

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estboss4life · 8 years ago

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Greatest Women Wrestlers Ever:Manami Toyota

Manami Toyota is often touted as the greatest woman wrestler ever by people with just passing knowledge of Joshi or parrots of Meltzer, but the story was different among her peers at the time of her Zenjo run with Akira Hokuto getting the bulk of the praise. There's no question Toyota was a great athlete and could go at brisk pace with fantastic stamina. She embodied the style of the promotion during her prime and worked it the faster; rapid work-rate, a ton of high spots, and screaming. Compared to her contemporaries like Aja Kong and Hokuto, the way she put her matches together sacrificed story, structure, long term selling. She had explosive offense that played on her ability to convey a sense of urgency. You can say she relied mostly on her athletic ability, given the lack of notable matches after peaking. No arguments would be had if you said Toyota was one of the best offensive wrestlers ever. Toyota was a great babyface in peril and could sell an ass kicking with her facial expressions, contorting, and bumping. Her shrieking could get excessive, though.She's had more 5 stars match than any woman in history and will definitely go down as one of the all time greats.

Her greatest matches

Manami Toyota vs Bull Nakano – WWWA Title Match – July 21st, 1990 | First, let’s look at a match from early in Toyota’s career against a name many female wrestling fans are quite familiar with. In only the 3rd year of her career, the 19 year old Toyota made her first attempt at capturing AJW’s WWWA Championship, hell then with an spiked iron grip by Bull Nakano.

Manami went on offense early, hoping to take the fight to the champ, but her attacks failed to faze the more experienced and incredibly powerful Nakano. Toyota didn’t stand a chance, a fact she refused to acknowledge as she put forth a grand effort in this losing battle. One of Toyota’s greatest traits as a wrestler is her ability to survive almost any punishment and there’s plenty of that on display here.

Manami Toyota vs Toshiyo Yamada – Hair vs Hair, IWA Title Match – August 15th, 1992 | Next we have one of Toyota’s most famous matches, due to it’s heart-wrenching ending. Here Toyota faced her friend, partner, and rival Toshiyo Yamada. Toyota and Yamada joined AJW on the same day and were linked constantly throughout their careers. This match represents the emotional high-point of their relationship. In this pivotal match in the Yamada/Toyota rivalry, Toyota agreed to put her hair on the line for one more shot at Yamada’s IWA Title. Yamada put her hair on the line as well.

The action was absolutely non-stop. Yamada put her vast arsenal of martial arts kicks and throws against Toyota’s aerial techniques and various Japanese Ocean suplexes. Neither held the advantage for long in this fast paced, back-and-forth match.

While neither woman wanted to lose their hair and both wanted the title, there’s seems so much more at stake. The extremely emotional end makes that clear. Toyota weeps upon victory, tries to stop the cutting ceremony, and even shears off some of her own here in solidarity with Yamada. Easily one of the greatest matches of all time.

Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota vs Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki – 2/3 Falls – November 26th, 1992 | In her prime, Toyota took on all comers from both inside and outside of AJW. She was at the forefront of the interpromotional feud with rival JWP. In this first of three amazing tag team encounters, Toyota teamed with Yamada to take on the hard hitting Dynamite Kansai and noted bad girl, Mayumi Ozaki (Ozaki will also be appearing at Joshimania).

Both teams were determined to prove which promotion is the strongest. With neither willing to give an inch we see plenty of bruising action, and as always Toyota was often the victim of it. The greatest of all time was undeterred and after three hard fought falls scored the victory for her team and promotion.

Manami Toyota vs Aja Kong – V*TOP Tournament – November 20th, 1994 | And then, of course, there is Kong. Toyota named Aja Kong as one of her best friends outside the ring, and one of her greatest opponents inside the ring. Their battles have spanned decades, and will continue this weekend at Joshimania as they are across the ring from one another in a six woman tag match.

This is their most famous match against one another, and it’s easy to see why. Toyota pushed the unstoppable monster Kong to her limits. Even after 17 years the moment Toyota unleashes the Victory Star Drop leaves people breathless, and that’s just a few seconds in a non-stop, total war between two of the all time best.

Manami Toyota (c) vs Kyoko Inoue – WWWA Title – May 7th, 1995 | And finally, THE match. The match that beat out Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon. The match that beat out Kenta Kobashi vs Toshiaki Kawada. The Wrestling Observer Match of the Year in 1995, Manami Toyota vs Kyoko Inoue.

What made this match so special? Itw as over an hour of continuous, energetic, relentless action. Yes, an hour where neither Toyota nor Kyoko seem to take more than a second to breath. Kyoko and Manami had many incredible matches against one another in both singles and tag team competition. This match was the biggest though, and both showed not only their incredible physical ability and endurance, but also their mental toughness and pure artistry as professional wrestlers.

No one had done anything like this before. No one has done anything like it since. This match embodies everything great about professional wrestling, and is a perfect illustration of why Manami Toyota is the greatest wrestler of all time

5 star rated matches

5 Star Match (1991) with Etsuko Mita vs Aja Kong and Bison Kimura on January 5 •5 Star Match (1992) with Toshiyo Yamada vs Yumiko Hotta and Suzuka Minami on March 7 •5 Star Match (1992) vs Kyoko Inoue on April 25 •5 Star Match (1992) vs Toshiyo Yamada on June 21 •5 Star Match (1992) vs Toshiyo Yamada (IWA, Hair vs Hair Match) on August 15 •5 Star Match (1992) with Toshiyo Yamada vs Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki on November 26 •5 Star Match (1993) with Toshiyo Yamada vs Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki on April 2 •5 Star Match (1993) with Toshiyo Yamada vs Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki on December 6 •5 Star Match (1993) with Akira Hokuto vs Toshiyo Yamada and Kyoko Inoue (Tag League, Round Robin) on December 10 •5 Star Match (1993) with Akira Hokuto vs Toshiyo Yamada and Kyoko Inoue (Tag League, Final) on December 10 •5 Star Match (1994) with Toshiyo Yamada vs Takako Inoue and Kyoko Inoue on September 10 •5 Star Match (1994) vs Aja Kong on November 20 •5 Star Match (1995) vs Kyoko Inoue on May 7 •5 Star Match (1995) vs Aja Kong on June 27 •5 Star Match (1995) vs Mima Shimoda on July 23 •5 Star Match (1995) with Sakie Hasegawa vs. Kyoko Inoue and Takako Inoue on August 30 •5 Star Match (1995) vs. Akira Hokuto on September 2

#women Wrestling #Manami Toyota

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placetobenation · 5 years ago

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You Don’t Know Billy Jack is a live-watch podcast series where Drew and Jordan watch and discuss some of the greatest pro-wrestling matches of all time through the eyes of a non-wrestling fan in search of a universal connection in pro wrestling storytelling.

Drew and Jordan are back with a look at the heavy classic that is Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori from 4/2/93

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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loudcreationsublime · 6 years ago

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Intro

The Dragon Quest series has a long, abundant background, beginning with its influence on the early console RPG category, providing a turn-based theme and also style that would specify Japanese RPGs for several years to find. The franchise has actually reached its share of milestones, including its 30 year wedding anniversary, making it the longest-running JRPG franchise. Despite these success, the series still hasn’t dominated the Western market, never ever getting to the elevation of appeal as Square Enix’s various other significant buildings, such as Final Fantasy as well as Kingdom Hearts. Dragon Quest is such a cultural phenomenon in Japan that it introduces on weekends Kids don’t avoid college for it, was the initial video games collection to get live-action ballet adjustments, as well as also has a whole dining establishment dedicated to it called Luida’s Bar in Roppongi. While it will most likely never ever reach this degree of fanfare in North America, the group hasn’t quit on Dragon Quest making an impact right here and also the upcoming XI is Square Enix’s following opportunity to transform the trends.

The Ups and also Downs

The Ups And Downs Dragon Quest hasn’t already had consistent showings in North America, with sales and also testimonial ratings rising and fall. At an early stage, Nintendo Power had a promo handing out duplicates cost-free duplicates of Dragon Warrior as a way to present American gamers to the series and also amass their passion in parlor games as a whole. PS1’s Dragon Quest VII, which was still under the Dragon Warrior branding due to hallmark concerns, was when points initially started moving in an extra positive direction. Square Enix proceeded to lure in Western gamers by including a PS2 trial for Final Fantasy XII with the acquisition of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (the very first video game to use the Dragon Quest name stateside) and also had shopping center trips to advertise the game.

The series started marketing better with the last couple of mainline access; Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies broke brand-new ground selling over 1 million copies between United States and also Europe. This was encouraging progression, but Square Enix had actually stopped publishing the remakes and spin-offs long prior to IX, with Nintendo grabbing the mantle considering that 2011 for the Dragon Quest VI remake as well as Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 spin-off. Neither company attempted to launch MMORPG Dragon Quest X stateside, though.

The reason the series has likewise been in limbo is most likely the moment financial investment and also expense of localization. Dragon Quest video games are extremely message hefty, and maker Yuji Horii invests a lot of his own time ensuring the translation is exactly how he planned it to be, right down to his father jokes. New entries have usually taken some time to make it to our shores since of this. “It has a drawback in that means,” states produce manufacturer Yuu Miyake. “It’s actually the speed of localization; it takes a long period of time due to just how the video game is and also the text by Mr. Horii is a really essential part of the game and also allures to the fans. Clearly, we have to look at making that process much shorter and much more efficient.”

Miyake shares a price quote of Dragon Quest VII’s message count, which was 1.2 million Japanese personalities as well as claims XI is simply over double that with 2.4 million. “For the high quality of the translation, the translators really have to comprehend the globe itself as well as get it perfect,” Miyake says. “We really do make certain to include the accents of the individuals worldwide to make it benefit each private area.”

Dragon Quest XI will certainly be the first mainline entry published by Square Enix considering that VIII in North America. Why the adjustment of heart for a series without a terrific performance history along with a laborious job of centering a game loaded with content that lasts gamers anywhere from 80-120 hours? A different market and even more preparation job by Square Enix to reestablish the Dragon Quest name in North America is offering the collection much better odds than it’s ever before had before.

Leading Up To XI

Leading Up To XI It’s completely feasible that Dragon Quest faces the exact same destiny it always has in North America, continuouslying cultivate a specific niche but dedicated fanbase but never ever making a dash with the larger target market. This time things might transform with numerous aforementioned variables altering the having fun field. Talking with the development group in the ramp up to XI’s launch has actually revealed me a positive as well as hopeful perspective concerning the series’future in the West. The designers honestly look at this as a brand-new beginning for the franchise business– a possibility to appeal

to a new, contemporary audience alongside its diehard followers. The last couple of years have actually been spent slowly reestablishing the Dragon Quest brand to Western players, with Square Enix publishing mobile ports of earlier entrances and spin-off video games such as Dragon Quest Heroes and Dragon Quest Builders. It aids that Nintendo has actually continuouslied bring over the remakes, such as the much wanted VII and VIII for the 3DS.

To its advantage, the RPG market is additionally completely different than when Dragon Quest VIII introduced on PS2; it’s not virtually as affordable and also handhelds ended up being a less costly alternative as development expenses climbed. The amount of JRPGs on the PS2 was large to the factor where it was an instance of quantity over top quality, making it simple for any kind of video game without a heavyweight to get lost in the shuffle. We don’t have JRPGs debuting at nearly that rate currently, making lots of gamers ache for the style to prosper once more. Square Enix has actually absolutely caught on to this, introducing games like Star Ocean V and I am Setsuna that feed our nostalgia for beloved series and RPG layout. It helps that a marketing point is additionally it’s a mainline Dragon Quest game on residence console, which we haven’t seen in over a decade. Inning accordance with the group, Horii was adamant about bringing the series back to the cinema. That being said, the group is completely familiar with where Dragon Quest presently stands in North America and also intends to changes it relevance with XI’s release. “From our perspective, [the collection is] still is not where it requires to be [in the West],” Miyake claims.

Staying True To The Series

Staying True To The Series In several means, Dragon Quest XI is an event of the long-running franchise business, a conclusion of every little thing the series has actually been building toward. It was crafted with lots of callbacks as its programmers stuffed as much as possible from the collection’ history into one video game for the 30th anniversary. “Something that’s unique is you have the exact same 3 individuals, this dream group of the music from [Koichi] Sugiyama, [Yuji] Horri’s tale writing, and [Akira] Toriyama’s art design. It’s been the same men making the video games for over 32 years as well as that they could keep raising the motivation to earn these video games over this [long] duration,” Miyake states.

While movie critics have stated the entrances do not make drastic changes or developments from one video game to the following, the creators fit adequate to allow Dragon Quest welcome its simplicity and the technicians that made it such a vital as well as prominent series in RPG background. The core viewpoint has always been that any person could grab and also play a Dragon Quest game, making it appeal to a vast array of players. With those worths in mind, do not expect it to stray from its origins or shake up its formula like Final Fantasy XV did. It likewise does not suggest deserting its turn-based fight system or silent lead character either. The latter is something Horii is determined concerning maintaining. “The entire idea is that the gamer, themselves, ends up being the protagonist, becomes the hero,” Miyake discusses. “If we have actually a composed line and the player believes they would not say that, it breaks the immersion there.” After changing the series’ presentation with VIII, having a main game on portable, and creating an MMORPG, Dragon Quest XI is even more of a homecoming. “It’s returning to its roots in a great deal of ways, which makes it really feel fresh for us also,” Miyake states. “It’s got a specific degree of fond memories regarding it that I believe individuals are trying to find in video games,” includes manufacturer Hokuto Okamato,

The collection wishes to retain its traditional gameplay, and also the huge lure this time about was simply developing an entry using the technological developments of the equipment to upgrade the graphics and provide a much more practical globe. “We put in beast environments, upped the amount of enemies you discover on the field, as well as the ways the villages connect and relocate,” Miyake says. Dragon Quest XI introduces on September 4 for PS4 and also COMPUTER, with a Switch variation coming at a later day. Possibly the tale is moving as well as Dragon Quest XI will be the game-changer for the franchise business’s appeal in North America. As a longtime fan of the series, I know I’m rooting for XI, wishing it establishes a new high bar for the franchise as well as confirms that these niche experiences still have worth.

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furederiko · 7 years ago

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The Devil's Scientist made his influences known, eventhough he's not around in flesh and soul... or is he? Hmmmm....

You know the drill, last time it was my internet that behaved badly. This time, my health was the the culprit. Forcing me to stay in bed since last week, postponing all the plans I've made and posts I've wanted to publish. To be completely honest though, this was initially meant to include episode 10 that's about to air in just 2 hours from now (following last week's break). In a last minute hours decision, I've decided to delay episode 10, and batch that one alongside the other November episodes. Separating these episodes on a monthly basis sounds better for the long run, right? Okay then, here's episode 08 and 09...

08 - "Maternal Instinct"

- Hey there, we got to see the three Prime Ministers again. Along with their names, in case people have forgotten. I know I have, because last we saw them was 5 episodes ago. LOL. Yoshiko Tajimi of Hokuto questioned how the fugitive Kamen Rider was able to appear in her region. Masakuni Midou of Seito pointed out that Touto could be working on a military angle with this. Taizan Himuro of Touto obviously didn't have a clue, because it's his son who's playing with fire. - Aaah, yes, I guess there's good coming from the identity reveal of Night Rogue. Gentoku got to show up much more often now, and even in the battle! No more beating around the bushes or playing coy. We also learned a hint of his motive with the Kamen Rider system. It's clear that he wanted to build a military response to protect Touto from the threat of Seito and Hokuto, even if that's against the wishes of his own father who prefered to focus on economy. Classic case of Republican vs Democrat, eh? Then again, Gentoku could simply be exhibiting paranoia, constantly living in fear that the other regions are scheming to attack his region when that 'might' not be the case. For now, let's just wait and see... - Having learned from Blood Stalk that her son was the founder of Faust, Kyoka decided to give Sento and clown Ryuuga (no kidding, he had TWO cosplay jokes in one episode) a chance. In a sweet conversation she told them about Takumi, his love of science, and how he idolized his late father, the man previously responsible for Pandora's Box. - It's an intimate conversation, that was amped up by Sento's polite and emotional reaction when he ate Takumi's favorite dish: sweet rolled omelette (Tamagoyaki). Hmmm... this reaction felt odd. Could it be possible that, Sento is in fact... Takumi? As in, trapped in an outer body situation? Seriously though, the more I saw it, the more I felt how Takumi indeed resembled so much like him. This is a sci-fi show, so perhaps Takumi's consciousness was transferred into Sentou when he died? That's certainly one possibility. - Apparently, Kyoka left Takumi's research data in Touto, and wanted to retrieve that herself to ensure that it's given to the right hands. Sadly, that also caused her to be the prime target of Faust. Dang it, our boy Gentoku is ruthless! Not only he snatched Kyoka himself, he openly tricked her into giving the data, and then turned her into Smash just to erase his tracks. He wanted to protect Touto, but would do anything, even use dirty measures to get it done. Can't say I dislike this ambiguous side though... *grins* - The Fire Engine Full Bottle that Misora handed out was a Best Match with Hedgehog (the one from episode 1), turning Sento into "A Pin-Point Rescue", Fire Hedgehog form. FYI, this was the form that encouraged me to see this show... before I actually saw its appearance. I dig the design, but why the Red and White color scheme? To make it look like a Fire Truck? Hmmm... - Kyoka was rescued, but the memory of her meeting with Gentoku and Utsumi was already lost. Thankfully, Takumi had already planned out his own safety measure in advance, by planting the Bank's safety box as decoy. The real USB flash drive was hidden elsewhere by Kyoka, at a special place for both Takumi and her husband: Nanba Heavy Industries Composite Materials Laboratory. Sento and Ryuuga obtained the data, but Stalk has been... ugh, stalking them. - Ryuuga fought Stalk, prompting the Cobra to utter that intriguing phrase... of how his enemy's Hazard Level is already 2.4. He continued the battle to increase this number up to 2.7. I wonder why? Build on the other hand, dealt with Night Rogue who entered the battle. - The battle ended abruptly, when Stalk decided to... give the data to Ryuuga. HUH? Night Rogue furiously demanded an explanation as Build ran off with Ryuuga, to which Stalk revealed a sneaky reasoning. He did that on purpose... to let Sento do the hard work for their project (with Ryuuga as the subject). OUCH!!! Of course, this made me certain that Stalk could be Takumi after all. Let's just say, I wouldn't be surprised if he is. Remember Night Rogue? Takumi understood that only his mother knew where the data was hidden, so unlike Gentoku, he waited for her to make the move. And the way he analyzed Ryuuga in battle? That sounded like a mad scientist to me. - This episode ended in another strong note. Kyoka made her decision to entrust the research data to Sento. He returned the favor, by giving her Takumi's private message... "Thank you for giving me life.". Aaaaaw... THE FEELS. As I've said before, Kyoka has been a highlight for this show, and her story with Takumi was soooo compelling and heartfelt. I just hope this wasn't a massive redherring, when the show ends up revealing that Takumi is indeed... Stalk.

Overall: Great goodness!!! WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THIS SHOW?! After being disappointed three episodes in a row, it delivered probably its best episode so far. Both in storyline and acting, particularly Kyoka's, Sento's, and Ryuuga's actors. It not only succeeded in making me VERY intrigued to see what's next, it even made me shed a tear. Of course, it's worth noted that this show still feels like a big game of charade. Moving back and forth and confusing audience with the character's motives and actions while the outcome is pretty much straightforward and simple. So here's a wild guess for the sake of speculation! Basically, these early episodes merely serve as a 'prelude', that will see all Riders (Build, Cross-Z, Rogue, Stalk, and probably more) working together to protect Touto against the other regions. I'm not betting my money on this theory, but if it that's indeed accurate... then I certainly won't be surprised.

09 - "Hazard-Level Twist"

- "PROJECT BUILD". Yep, that's the secret research data that Takumi left behind. Well, I'll be damned! Who would've guessed that Takumi was the true creator of the Build Driver, and not Sento, right? - That Takumi video. I wonder if this was meant to be Build's transformation video, instead of Sento's version? Some people might found this oddly filmed presentation to be... annoying. It honestly didn't shout nerdy scientist, more of a cocky flashy Tony STARK-esque. Remember how "Iron Man" used science for military? But that's good for the plot development, because it actually gave Takumi a proper characterization. Hmmm... his gesture and attitude felt familiar. Wait a sec... BLOOD STALK? *winks* - According to the exposition-heavy video, the Rider System was developed for 'ultimate defense'. Hence, weapons for military. Only people who has achieved a certain criteria could use the Build Driver. And that criteria? *drumrolls* Hazard Level. The phrase Stalk kept mumbling about since episode 6! It's a term used to describe resistance to Nebula Gas, ranging from 1 as the weakest, to 3 as those who could utilize the Driver. This explained why Ryuuga was zapped when he tried to trigger it. He couldn't use it... YET. Sento deduced that those human experiments were likely performed to find perfect candidates for the Driver. - Full Bottles were generated from Nebula Gas, combining a pair would produce new sets of power. Takumi demonstrated this using Wolf and Smartphone to create Smaphowolf form. No sign of when this cool-designed form would make an appearance in the show, because we somehow got the Lock bottle instead. - Another surprise arrived on the opposite side. If you think Gentoku was the Leader of Faust, then you might be mistaken. Another player called Juusaburou Nanba (played by Akira Hamada) entered the fray as Faust's bigwig investor whom Gentoku needed to report to. He even debuted in a fan-service scene that... easily humiliated our Night Rogue. If his last name rings a bell, that's because he's the Chairman of Nanba Heavy Industries... the place where Katsuragi and son used to work! This old man pretty much threatened Gentoku to persuade his father right away, or he would offer his aide to Seito or Hokuto instead. - Sento had a disagreement with Ryuuga (acting like a... married couple? LOL) about Takumi's work, so he ran off to find distraction by... going to work. Seriously? THIS is your reason to actually be in the office?! Two of his colleagues, Shingo Kuwata (played by Ryo Yoshida) and Eita Kawai (played by Tsukasa Honjou, who reminds me of VA Tomokazu Seki) turned out to be Takumi's fanboys. Hold on, why did the episode reveal their names? Important people? - On the other side of the equation, angry Ryuuga vented out by... having casual chit-chat with Misora. Goodness, what is wrong with these guys! Why not talk it out with each other? At least, Ryuuga did a better job, by dragging Misora out of the house to have some fun outing. Another costume cosplay joke aside, this sweet risky 'date' provided us with much needed depth for her. We got to learn more about her, and how she has been a poor victim all these time. 7 years of comatose since the Sky Wall Disaster?! You've got to be kidding me. No wonder she kept saying "Sleepy" and always looked tired. Misora never had a normal life, and she's stuck with that golden bracelet as well, the key item that purified Smash Essence! - As always, things were too perfect after all. Night Rogue attacked them, and tried to take back Misora. Once again, Stalk meddled and allowed Ryuuga to bring her to safety. WOW, WHO's really the higher up among these two then? Why did Gentoku keep on agreeing with Stalk, and not the other way around? - As suspected though, Gentoku was doing all this merely to save Touto. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep it away from the other countries", he vowed. To the point that he wants to do bad to his own father, by stealing the Pandora's Box to spark a war. And guess who would serve as his lackeys? That's right... Kuwata and Kawai. THAT's why these two extras got the privilege of having actual names. LOL. - Kuwata turned into a Smash. Sento utilized the Lion and Vacuum Full Bottles and become "The Maned Cyclone!", Lioncleaner form to deal with him. Nice color scheme, but so-so busy design. It was a quick fight, that ended with Kuwata revealing that he was merely a distraction to ensure Kawai's part. Before the poor nerdy guy obliterated himself, he also revealed that Takumi is still alive. Yep.... CALLED IT! - At the same time, a familiar female voice handed photographic intels on Build to old-man Nanba. Oh Sawa, you sneaky woman you! So the person she has been reporting to in the first episode, was none other than this creepy Chairman. Then again, this could end up becoming another massive red herring. Because if I didn't know any better, Sawa acting as a double agent or some kind is the most probable situation... - One last thing. Why the name 'Kiryuu Sento'? 'SEN' is the first kanji of 'SENSHA' that means 'Tank', while 'TO' is the kanji for the kana 'Usagi' that means 'Rabbit'. So he's... literally Rabbit Tank. LOL. Thanks to this convenient confirmation, I've updated the protagonist's name from 'Sentou' into the more accurate 'Sento'. Is it a coincidence that Sento sounds like 'Saint'? Probably not, knowing Sento's... almost Saint-like personality. What about 'Kiryuu'? That's just the name of the barber whom Souichi visited when he found amnesiac Sento. Oy oy...

Overall: Okay, I'm convinced. I've said that I would give this show a chance only up to episode 9, and it surprised me by giving not one, but TWO consecutive great episodes. This one managed to up the game even further, beating an earlier episode that was already impressive. A show is good if it can hide shocking secrets from the audience, and not just withholding them between characters (because that can get tired very fast). This episode proved just that by pushing us into a fun loop. I admit, this was an exposition-heavy episode, but the many reveals were all important. Takumi got actual personality now. Misora's high school date was truly a highlight that added so much depth to her character. All the ambiguity with Gentoku, who ironicallly has been pushed around by other people, also added depth to his questionable actions. And then there's Sawa... As I've said over and over again, this show is really good when it's serious and not trying to exaggerate itself too much with comedy. I'm also amazed how a science-themed Kamen Rider eventually evolves into a military themed one, complete with political intrigues and agendas. Definitely best episode so far! If there's one part I truly dislike, it's none other than the preview. From the looks of things, Blood Stalk IS exactly who I've been suspecting. Just like episode 6, TOEI LOVES to ruin a good surprise in advance, by revealing the obvious. This time, TWO WHOLE weeks earlier due to the break! Sad to say, that reduces the episode's overall score... a few points *sigh*. Next Episode: Shall we start a war...? PS: For the time being, I WILL be watching more episodes of Build. It still doesn't mean that I'm going to follow it to the end though, because if things get bad again, then I won't ever mind to abandon ship right away. Let's just say, I'm giving the show another chance to prove itself for the next 9 episodes. Will its Hazard Level increase enough to force me to stay, or will it goes the other way and goes 'kaboom'? We'll see... *grins*

Episode 08 Score: 8 out of 10 Episode 09 Score: 8,3 out of 10

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Kamen Rider Build" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

#tokusatsu #kamen rider #kamen rider build #review

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