#Bring my bishonen back :(

[peachlover94]

Scrap Anime Series Idea Stockpile (Collection 1)

Here's something you might have probably not expected of me - ideas for potential new anime series both in long/continuing and short/near-OVA/ONA (Original Video Animation/Original Net Animation) form!

My question to you, is, which of the following has the most potential that would be deserving to be seen on television or online?

Hash it out in the comments below which ideas jump out at you the most and seem like they'd be fun to see.

1) Gaze Upon the Yandere Minds - In this dark josei/seinen story, Institute 47 gathers up in a massive boarding school environment ladies of the yandere type from all over the world and foist upon them one unlucky young unimpressive everyman of the dandere type whom they take an interest in. The administrators' official policy is stated not to encourage any sort of lethal violence between participants, but secretly revel in their carnage that will soon unfold. Whoever lasts the longest will get to keep the everyman named Akira for herself. Not wanting to be any woman's possession or a tool of the crooked system, Akira takes it upon himself to work through each of the ladies and see what makes them the way they are for good or even for evil. Five of these ladies, also not wanting to be pawns of Institute 47's ways, take it upon themselves to protect Akira and bring down Institute 47's wretched program from the inside.

2) Warrior Princess of the Saitamas - In this dark bishojo/josei isekai story about escaping a broken home and finding your own happily ever after, Princess Katerina of Ruritania was able to find her happily ever after with her Prince Karlos of Jerezon. But after the Undead Armies of Vanth laid waste to the two kingdoms, Katerina took it upon herself to take up a sword and shield to avenge those who have been hurt. Trying to undo Vanth's curse, Katerina is cast out of the past and into the unfamiliar future of 21st Century Saitama, Japan. A place now losing all hope and in need of a true hero to bring a happily ever after, Saitama now has on its hands a heroine looking to bring hope even when all seems lost. Starting small and realizing she has Vanth's magic within her, Katerina frees a young effeminate boy Pao Kagashima from a life of abuse and depression with his intolerant family and they try to make sense of a senseless city.

3) Underground Escape - A spotlight is shone on prostitution, human trafficking and therapy by drugs in this dark josei/seinen story about a young woman and her MTF transgender twin sister who have just been released from jail after a month inside on charges of prostitution. Released from jail and knowing they have to sell their bodies in order to support their family and get their father the drugs he needs in order to manage his trauma and psychoses, Mizuho and Natsuka decide to make a deal with a friend of theirs who is one of the last police officers trying to do actual good. The deal is the two will secretly record any interactions the two may have with certain pimps and madams suspected to be engaged in human trafficking as well as toxic drug movements and report them back to police under code names. The two siblings soon uncover a web of darkness and horror as they move to break the cycles of child poverty.

4) Valkyrie Squadron - In this epic bishojo/bishonen magical girl/boy space opera, the Black Empire of Apophis has returned to wreak havoc upon the nine planets of the Solar System as well as the four primary asteroids which are home to numerous colonies of humans, animals, plants, machines and alien life forms. The four effeminate Spartan princes of the asteroids all must leave their kingdoms to join forces with the Valkyrie princesses across the Solar System to create an elite force through which they can stop the Apophis attacks. Disguised as rather effeminate schoolboys; Spartans Ceres, Juno, Pallas and Vesta soon befriend the girls who in truth are Valkyries Helios (Sun), Hermes (Mercury), Aphrodite (Venus), Gaia (Earth), Artemis (Moon), Ares (Mars), Zeus (Jupiter), Cronus (Saturn), Caelus (Uranus), Poseidon (Neptune) and Hades (Pluto). With the powers of their arsenal, they fight back against Emperor Typhon.

5) Lone Vixen Tamaki - In this dark bishojo/bishonen drama, a troubled young trans girl who was born as Tamaki finds limited refuge from her cruel, terminally unhappy family in her few friends at school. When a Yakuza attack kills her parents and leaves her abusive siblings all in uncertain condition, one of the Yakuza agents takes pity on her and bequeaths her his sword, his gun and the money transferred from a raid on corrupt socialites to a credit card. Taking up the sword and gun to escape her destroyed home, Tamaki steals her father's car to evade the Yakuza and police determined to get her into foster families that worship conversion therapy to destroy and reforge her as the ideal man contrary to what she wants. On her journey over the Japanese islands to try and make enough for a one-way ticket out of Japan for Canada, a series of misadventures happens as she takes time to battle corruption and save new friends.

6) Revolutionary Girl Utena Reborn - In a spiritual continuation of Kunihiko Ikuhara's most groundbreaking masterpiece of shoujo, surrealist romance and magical girl drama as we first follow Anthy Himemaya as she scours the world trying to find the girl prince who truly cared about her in Utena Tenjou. On her journey, she meets a young hurting boy named Zenta who feels lost and alone in wanting the eternity of death to end his pain. Having survived her fall and gone into hiding knowing Akio may return to threaten her and Anthy again some time in the future, Utena while on the run comes across a runaway girl named Zuina trying to rescue her brother from his inner demons. Chased by various crooks and psychos wanting to possess either the kids that are tagging along with them or themselves, Anthy and Utena are on their course to reunion as they hope to break the cycle of death and heartbreak that Eternity uses.

7) Kio Kami: The Impossible Girl - The classic story of Sir James Matthew Barrie's children's novel Peter Pan gets multiple twists in this darkly comic, epic bishojo/bishonen fantasy isekai about a never-aging magical girl with extraordinary powers and a tiny dragonfly friend Gyoza Yukari who travels everywhere with her. Noticing several children including a femboy by the name of Doujin Washi in need of an escape from the horrors and humdrum of our own quite modern world, Kio and Gyoza whisk Doujin and some of his friends away to the vast paradise world of Arcadia. But terrors from both our world and Arcadia soon begin to seep across their frequent passageways - among such is the fierce yet voluptuous lady pirate Captain Quartney Sickle and the crew of her ship the Black Death. Kio and Doujin have to match wits and sword with Sickle to protect Earth, Arcadia and their inhabitants from the latter and all her beasts.

8) Recalling A Higher Ideal - In this alternate history epic drama for adult audiences, it is not Japan that joins the Axis Powers of World War II. Instead, the Axis consists of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperialist China. With their own sovereignty threatened by Yuan Shikai the Emperor of China, the Japanese imperial princess beseeches her father to renegotiate and or build trade and military alliances with Taiwan, the Southeast Asian countries and the Korean Republic to stand strong against Chinese aggression in the Pacific. In doing so, a Pan-Pacific Alliance is formed and its military fully integrated on gender and racial lines in order to stand tall. As an anthology, we follow the tests the Imperial Japanese Military must undergo if they are to be strong enough to protect and nurture the ideals they fight for even as they join the Allies of America, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union in battling the forces of tyranny.

9) The Cradles of Civilization - Inspired by disaster films such as The Poseidon Adventure or The Towering Inferno; this riveting disaster thriller for seinen and josei audiences follows the graduating class of a Japanese public high school aboard a vast solid Dyson Sphere built long in the past by Earth colonists around the white dwarf Beta Sirius. But with their star Sirius B now weakening and ready to implode and possibly destroy the Sirius Dyson Sphere, every last student of Yggdrasil Public High School has to gather the survivors of humanity in order for a last-ditch escape into space to begin. Various challenges include profiteering companies now working to undermine relief efforts for their own gain, military and civilians unprepared for a bevy of calamities, and the collapsing Dyson Sphere's natural disasters. Not every soul will be able to escape, but the students of Yggdrasil will try to save the cradles of human civilization.

10) Super Surfboard Cross - In this action-packed yet humorous josei/seinen sports story; as a result of global climate chaos, the World Surfing League (WSL) is established and makes its ultimate move to make the first ever surfboard cross racing events which get the attention of naturalists, scientists and engineers alike to create a sporting experience that will outdo the World Series of Major League Baseball and the Super Bowl of the National Football League in enthusiasm. We follow a group of competitive surfers from all walks of life as they take part in the first World Circuit of Super Surfboard Cross as they all race on many islands in surfing downhill across carefully constructed courses laden with water-bound rails, berms and jumps to perform nigh-improbable tricks and compete for the gold, silver and bronze. But can they come together to foil a psychotic team of corrupt fixers who have their eyes on the victories?

11) God Mars Re: 2999 - In this reboot of the shonen mecha drama from 1981, humanity is part of a galactic civilization in the year 2999. But young Takeru Myoujin AKA. Mars and his few friends discover the former was meant to destroy the Earth that adopted him on orders from the evil Emperor Zuul of the planet Gishin if Zuul is to conquer space. Hoping to stop the evil planet Gishin as well as to save his own life, Takeru and his friends must join the Earth Defense Forces to combine Earth and Gishin technologies to combat the Zuul invasion forces. Whenever Earth is in danger, Takeru (pilot of the robot Gaia) is able to summon the five other secretly created units to combine with Gaia to assemble the titular Six-God Combination God Mars. The five other robots are Sphinx (piloted by Namida Akagi), Uranus (piloted by Naoto Ijuin), Titan (piloted by Rose), Shin (piloted by Mika Hyuuga) and Ra (piloted by Akira Kiso).

12) Song of the Amazons - In this eclectic (both in demographics and genres) story, college-age girls Ayame, Ikumi, Umeko, Erika and Ompu by day form the pop rock band the Amazons wowing swooning fans with power anthems and love ballads to challenge a cutthroat world in which youth and virginity are commodified. By night, however, the Amazons use the magical energy they gained from their audience's enthusiasm as well as five colored diamond rings to generate powered armor out of thin air and become the Amazon Claymores. As the Amazon Claymores, they ride through the mean streets of Tokyo to battle a most fiendish assortment of criminals and monsters with limited assistance from the police. Their battles also can be of a psychological from trying to avoid fame making them entitled and snobby brats by day and by night trying to avoid turning into the absolute monsters threatening all the five fight for.

13) Promise You Won't Forget Me - This dark josei/seinen story opens with the shocking and heartbreaking suicide of one Zenjin Mushou, the classmate and crush of Ichiko Yumori. In her search for answers, Ichiko turns to all the social media presences and materials Zenjin left for her over the 7 CDs he recorded telling why he killed himself including a spherical die through which she is able to venture into the digital worlds and back. Meeting with Zenjin's few online friends and completing the quests he left unfinished, Ichiko pieces together the main reasons for and inciting events leading up to his suicide and the deaths of his social media presences before he could rebuild himself. Both online and in the real world, Ichiko unravels the cultures of abuse, intolerance, assault, and pain that broke her boyfriend's heart. With her friends also getting involved and wanting revenge, Ichiko must remember Zenjin and save someone else.

[bergeronprocess]

My 2023 In Anime

Ah, 2023. What a year! According to my Anime Planet custom 2023 list, I watched 20 anime this year. A couple of them I haven’t finished yet and a couple of them are DNF. As the year dwindles down to its final days, I’m gonna take a look back at what anime I watched in 2023. Beware of spoilery discussion for all of the tagged shows.

Sorted by season and then in the order they appear on my list.

Winter 2023

Nijiyon Animation: Nijigasaki is my favorite flavor of Love Live (it’s the first one I watched, I like the characters a lot, the songs are great and there’s literally a girl also named Emma in the cast) and so I will never say no to more Niji. Cute fun bite-sized episodes. There was even a touching farewell to Tomori Kusunoki as Setsuna. I just saw that they’re going to do a second season, so I’m looking forward to that.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague: Holy crap, this show was a pretty little nothingburger. Literally NOTHING happened aside from the characters becoming friends. The two leads didn’t even kiss?!?! I wanted to see how they might handle that - the idea of people who are imbued with yokai powers is a neat one, but oof. This was unsatisfying.

UniteUp!: My dark horse favorite of the season, a bishonen idol show that dealt with some of the more realistic/uglier aspects of fame and the idol industry specifically. There were some production delays (that’s the story of 2023 across the industry, isn't it?) but I actually really enjoyed how they handled those - they showed these neat behind the scenes episodes with the voice actors. I love behind the scenes. The characters have a lot of heart, the songs were really good and the dancing looked excellent too. I think this is getting a second season too? If so, I’m thrilled to spend more time in this world.

Handyman Saitou in Another World: I actually watched an isekai! Holy shit! But it wasn’t one of those lazy paint-by-numbers isekai shows that are just a dime a dozen. I like how it showed Saitou using his skills (undervalued in our world) to get stuff done in the high fantasy world he found himself in after a Truck-kun situation. There WAS a bit too much fanservice for my liking - I’m a sports fan, so I’m used to that “oof, as a cis woman I am NOT the target demo here” feeling lol, but still - and I feel like they did a few too many “he’s dead! But not really because magic!” fake-outs. But hey! Ai Fairouz was in the cast here! I like her!

Buddy Daddies: OHHH did I enjoy this one. Great music, I love Kazuki and Rei, you could tell there was someone on the staff who is a gearhead based on how they portrayed cars, Miri is great, lol at how they overcome bureaucracy crime-style…Tumblr loved this one and with good reason. Also I definitely ship those two guys lol. The one downside is I feel like they kinda fridged Kazuki’s wife and Miri’s mom. They could’ve done a bit better by their adult female characters. I do still get the opening song stuck in my head now and again, though.

Soaring Sky/Hirogaru Sky Precure: Folks, this is the year I got Precurepilled. I tried Delicious Party last year but bounced off of it after episode 1 - it just didn’t hit for me somehow - but this one GOT ME! This is still ongoing and will be through the end of January (50 episodes y’all!), so I can’t speak with finality about it, but so far so good. The first boy Cure! The first adult Cure! She drives a Hummer for some reason lol! I think Mashiro is my favorite! It’s been so much fun to theorize about the story (I was SO wrong about Yoyo being Sora’s hero from her childhood, ha…) and watch it unfold. I do think they waited a bit too long to bring in the Kaiserin storyline, but hey, we’ll get a few more episodes to wrap everything up, right? As for Wonderful Precure, I don’t know lol the concept isn’t getting me hyped up, but I will at least watch episode 1 and go from there.

Spring 2023

Kira Kira Precure A La Mode: Still the only Precure season I’ve completed to date lol. This one was so much fun. I love sweets and baking, so I had great fun here, sometimes even shouting at the TV to try to help Ichika with her doomed bakes when she inevitably forgot baking powder or whatever. When I realized that Ciel had literally been in the opening credits since episode 1, that blew my mind lol. I DO wish they would’ve just let Julio become the first boy Cure, but hey, he walked so Cure Wing could fly. Himari is baby and Akira/Yukari is Haruka/Michiru for the 2010s. Aoi’s band made some good music. The very last scene was very sweet. Both ending songs are total earworms. Good stuff.

Skip and Loafer: This show is SO FREAKING CUTE. I just love these goofballs. I love how Nao-chan is able to just be herself and is not subjected to transphobia all the time. Mitsumi is adorable and also extremely relatable. I liked this one so much that I’ve started to read the manga, picking up where the anime left off. (2023 is also the year that Atlanta got a Kinokuniya location, which is very exciting for me, though maybe less so for my credit card lmao.) Season 2 pls? I would love to spend more time here.

Gundam The Witch from Mercury Season 2: Damn, this show needed at least one more season. Preferably two more. I was fully expecting 50 episodes like what Gundam Wing got lol. It needed more time to breathe, to show us more about the other characters (Lilique my beloved!) and to flesh out the big story. But alas, this is not a perfect world, and what we got was still pretty damn good, and also Sulemio married. That’s my interpretation. That's everyone's interpretation, isn't it?

Star Twinkle Precure: I’m still working on this one, but I FREAKING LOVE IT. The day-glo 80s aesthetic is right up my damn alley, I adore the transformation sequences, we get dark-skinned biracial representation with Cure Soleil, I enjoy reading the horoscopes at the end of each episode (my Japanese is at about a preschool level, so it’s great that everything has furigana lol), there’s space stuff AAAAAND this season has my very favorite Precure song ever. One of the only two so far to be in a minor key, folks, it’s PaPePiPu Romantic time.

I now have a new goal: sing this bad boy at karaoke someday. Pew pew! Pew pew pew!

Summer 2023

Yohane the Parhelion: I enjoyed Love Live Sunshine a lot, but phew, this didn’t do it for me. I feel like it would’ve been better as a 3 or 4 episode OVA (ONA these days I guess), but just didn’t have enough story for a full 13 episode season. My mom is fond of saying “just okay”...like, it wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t awful either. Yohane the Parhelion is just okay. Please just watch Sunshine instead if you want to be introduced to these characters. Sunshine is so much better.

Zom 100: I watched the first episode of this and then didn’t bother with the rest. DNF. Sorry to hear about the production troubles - that’s especially ironic for this show.

Fall 2023

MF Ghost: The other DNF for me. Watched 3 episodes, heard they were about to introduce a character who is obsessed with 17-year-old girls, noped the hell outta there. Wasn’t impressed with the 3 episodes either. I love Initial D - we named our cat Hachi because she’s black and white just like the Hachiroku - but MF Ghost just had no heart or soul. The Toyota 86 was lovingly rendered but I hated the ugly black motion lines they added when it was moving. The race they showed was dreadfully boring, the worldbuilding felt extremely unrealistic and oooh did I HATE that “outfit” they put our underage race queen in, if you can even call that an outfit.

Overtake: Of the two car racing shows this season, Overtake absolutely wins. It looks great, it introduces F4 racing to the audience very well (there’s some show, there’s some tell, a good blend) and the characters have more heart in their pinky fingernails than the entire cast of MF Ghost combined. There’s a very real and affecting subplot about PTSD, realistic discussion of just how much racing costs for an amateur team and plenty of men being unafraid to feel their feelings and cry it out. Overtake is definitely on the top of the podium. It hasn’t gotten anywhere near the love it deserves - ANN didn’t do weekly reviews of it and Anime Feminist was hyperfocused on the lack of female characters (valid! But not a dealbreaker to me!) - so I hope that people discover it later.

Shy: Thank goodness this is getting a season 2 because we spent literally a quarter of the season focused on the Pepesha and her mother subplot. That could’ve been tightened up a bit - ANN’s review mentions how Amarariruku’s villain speeches tend to be very circular, which is exactly how I felt seeing Lenya explain herself for what felt like the 50th time over - and I was genuinely looking at the episode count like “uhh??!?” before the season 2 news came out. So other than that part being a bit too drawn out, though, this is a very interesting show with a cool concept (Teru experiences Personal Growth! We are so proud of her!) and I’m interested in seeing where it goes from here. Will we meet the USA’s hero next season? I kinda want to see who that might be.

My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer: Ai Fairouz is in the cast of this one too, so maybe she’s just what needs to be present for me to watch an isekai/high fantasy show? I did enjoy this one, even though the action scenes were a little bit lacking, perhaps above the skill level of the animators. They did do lovely watercolor-like scenery shots, though. The characters are charming (Belgrieve, total DILF, also giving us disability representation) and the opening song is a bop. They did leave the door open for a season 2 - for example, the question of Ange’s parentage was never answered, although it is VERY heavily implied that she is also a demon. I mean, the little demon kid Belgrieve takes in at the end literally looks exactly like her, for crying out loud.

Spy x Family Season 2: Haven’t finished this one yet - I want to watch it with my husband because he also likes it and we’ve just had a lot of stuff going on! We have watched 4 episodes, which means we’ve watched a bunch of one-off side stories basically lol. He even remarked at some point that the episodes felt weird. I was like “Well, because they’re only side stories!” From what I have read, it sounds like things are about to pick up plot-wise, so we gotta just make some time to catch up soon lol. 

Power of Hope/Kibou no Chikara Otona Precure 23: I have not seen ANY of the Precure series that have characters appearing here, so I came in fresh. This was enjoyable! I was originally bummed that we didn’t get to see them transform as adults, but the age reversion to transform was done for big story reasons and made perfect sense in that context. The episode that showed how the town was devastated by firebombing in World War II was deeply affecting - war is hell, no wonder Bell was changed by it - and it was great to see Cure Black and Cure White turn up. It reminded me of all the companions coming together at the end of Doctor Who season 4. Total fan catnip, I love it. I have not seen Mahotsukai Precure either, so I’ll be going into their sequel fresh too. (Is that what was being teased at the very very end of episode 12? Yeah probably lol)

16bit Sensation Another Layer: My winner for best show of this season. As you may have gathered from my mention of Doctor Who just now, I like time travel stories, so “Listen, Konoha Akisato has come unstuck in time” appealed to me right away. This show also genuinely taught me things about computer game development. I have a deepened respect for PC-98 game art (I follow such accounts on here now lol), which would surely make Mamoru smile. Plus, I like how it has a core message of “You can be a woman who works on erotic video games and that is not weird or perverted. Follow your dreams!” Toya does, after all - I would have loved to see her team up with Konoha and it sucks that she was being manipulated by the evil company. The show did take a turn for the Matrix-y in the fourth quarter, and I do feel episode 13 was a bit rushed (Konoha opens Comic Party and then is just immediately back in 2023? She and Mamoru explain how they told everyone about being time travelers instead of us getting to see that reaction?), but dammit, I teared up at the very end anyway. What a show!

Magic User’s Club OVA: I remember renting videotapes of this from Blockbuster way back in the day, but I didn’t remember much about the show itself, so I decided to watch it again after seeing this AnimeBackWhen video about it. It’s so fun and charming! And Ikuko Itou designed the characters and Junichi Satou is the director - a bit of a Sailor Moon reunion lol. (Fun fact I learned just now is Chiaki J. Konaka did the screenplay. This is very very different from his work on Serial Experiments Lain.) I’m not done with it yet. The opening song is a big ole bop!

2024 goals:

Finish Star Twinkle Precure

Watch Gunbuster (another "I rented it from Blockbuster during the Clinton administration" story - I bought Discotek's new Blu-Ray of it, just haven't cracked it open yet lol)

Continue to enjoy seasonal anime!

[luxshine]

So... I am re-reading every single Moon Knight comic ever because I HAD missed a couple of issues (How did I get to the Ellis run forgetting that Ronald IS comic-canon? I will never know. Sure, he didn't DIE as an innocent child in canon, but that doesn't change the fact that yep, he existed. And was an idiot) and while I find FASCINATING how the writers ended up giving Moon Knight DID (and how Marc pretty much was absent for about... 15 issues of the original run? Steven pretty much organized the whole operation, and was adamant on not letting anyone MENTION Marc's name in his home so... yeah) I want to offer my fellow singlets who want to talk about Moon Knight without offending any Systems who KNOW what is to live with DiD and have begged us to use correct terminology to refer to Jake without falling in the old prejudice that ONE alter must be "dangerous" or "evil" or some variation of the same.

Jake is not the "violent" Alter: he's the PRAGMATIC one. He's the one who knows that every time they left Bushman live? He'd come back and hurt Marlene (Moon Knight's comic love interest) again. Every time Morpheus got into an asylum again? He'd be able to escape. And so on, and on, and on. Since at the beginning Marc was pretty much dormant -partly due to Steven's insistence that he was "better" than Marc, partly due to Marc thinking he wasn't worthy of the second chance that Khonshu had given them, partly due to the whole "Marc Spector is dead" thing- and Steven wanted to keep his hands clean and away from the death that Marc had caused as a soldier and a mercenary? It fell on Jake to do the hard things that needed violence as an answer. But it was never something he ENJOYED, it was just something he needed to do. Especially as the Fist of Khonshu, who brings vengance against those who hurt the travelers in the night. In fact, at times he's far more understanding and generous than Steven and Marc: In particular, it is him who brings Crawley (Human statue guy? He's homeless in the comics, and only Jake using him as an informant convinces Steven to pay him for his services... which he was willing to stop doing if he stopped being Moon Knight!) and Gloria (who hasn't appeared on the series, but is an amazing cook and diner owner who feeds Jake even if Jake, you know, has Steven's fortune at his disposal) to the fold to make sure they're always safe. Hell, the latest Moon Knight Comic? Which is drawn in a cutesy Manga style that has the guys looking like a bishonen out of Sailor Moon? has MARC blinding a guy with his bare hands. And Steven said it himself before his heroic sacrifice: he can be dangerous too. So yeah, there's no "violent" Alter. Just like we singlets? Alters are complex individuals on their own and we should respect that.

Also, while he may not have appeared in the TV show officially yet, and the comics tend to act as if he's the "newer" Alter.. he's also been part of the system since before they were 12. I get that the TV show has changed some things as neither Marc nor Steven seem aware of his existence, but given that they kept Steven as part of Marc's life since they childhood? I am willing to bet Jake was around even then.

[keyofjetwolf]

Chirashizushi, otherwise known as “Deception Cake”

Unless they come back to this for a part two (and while I don’t think they will, it’s possible), they left out all the information on how to assemble this thing. Like, what’s the “icing” on the top? Crunched up chicken flavour ramen noodles? Those French’s onion things? I’m a humble liveblogger who is absolutely inept in the kitchen, I can be of no help to you here. So if you’re looking to make your own Deception Cake, consider instructions outside of the cooking anime.

~~~

First, after rinsing the rice, you put it in a strainer and drain the water out. Then slice your carrots, lotus root, bamboo shoots and rehydrated shiitake and soak the lotus root in water.

Now, put everything you just sliced into your rice cooker along with the rinsed rice. Add a little less than the water-level marker. Then for seasoning, add soy sauce, mirin, and the dashi liquid from the dried shiitake. Normally, you'd boil the ingredients separately, but today I'm doing it the easy way, with the rice cooker.

Next, the kinshi egg. Mix the eggs, season them with salt and sugar, then strain them to make a thin egg crepe. Julienne the eggs and your kinshi tamago is done.

Bring the snow peas, strings removed, and the carrots and lotus root you'll be using for garnish to a quick boil in salted water, then cool them off in a bowl of water. Add sake to this pot and heat the shrimp. Then marinate them in sushi vinegar.

When the rice is done, pour the sushi vinegar, minus the shrimp, over it all. Then mix the rice in a vertical chopping motion. When your rice scoop starts to feel havier as you're mixing, stop mixing, then cool it off by fanning it. From time to time, flip your rice over to expose the hot parts.

Cooling it all off at once gives the sushi rice a nice sheen.

~~~

CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE BISHONEN RICE

Wow, there is so much here I have no fucking idea about. What is lotus root? Yes, okay assholes, “root of a lotus”, thank you, but it’s not something I’ve ever seen in the store, I don’t think, and I have no idea what it would taste like. I assume it gets soaked in water first to plump it up a bit, which only makes me more curious what it tastes like.

I’ve never heard of “kinshi” egg. Is that a cooking style or type of egg? No idea! Is that maybe the stuff on the top of the Deception Cake though? From the picture, it’s the only thing that looks to me like it might be egg, and if it’s mixed all in there, I’m not sure why you’d specifically julienne it.

Why the vertical chopping motion on the rice? If you do a horizontal chopping motion, does The Ministry Of Lying Baked Goods come for you? And while I’m on the rice, why the fucking BARREL for the rice? Larger surface area to cool it in, would be my guess, but does every household fucking have an eighth of a barrel just lying about? IT SEEMS SO UNWIELDY TO STORE I AM UNREASONABLY WOUND UP ABOUT THIS

Finally, standing around and fanning one’s rice may be the best, sheeniest way to cool it down, but let me tell you right now, I would literally never. That shit’s going on a cookie sheet and into the fridge, I do not have that kind of time.

Anyway, DECEPTION CAKE

[princesssarisa]

Cinderella September-through-November: "Fairy Tale Classics: Cinderella" (1983 anime short)

Here's another short animated Cinderella that I remember from my childhood, which also happens to be the first anime adaptation in this overview. It was produced by the Japanese studio Toei Animation, then released in an English dub by Children's Video Library in a VHS compilation with the studio's other fairy tale-inspired shorts, titled Fairy Tale Classics. (Not to be confused with Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, a later '80s anime series.) One day when I was very little, my parents happened to find this VHS in a local video store and rented it for me to watch with my babysitter that night. While the only short I clearly remembered for years afterwards was The Red Shoes (it was my introduction to that traumatic Hans Christian Andersen tale), I did remember that the first story in the collection was Cinderella. Now, thanks to the magic of YouTube, I've finally found that version again.

In hindsight, I understand why I never remembered much about this short: at less than 10 minutes long, it's a very simple, very straightforward retelling of the fairy tale, sweet and pretty but with little to set it apart. Cinderella herself is a standard cute anime girl with an almost childlike appearance, and the Prince is an equally standard bishonen male lead, while the Stepmother and Stepsisters are comic caricatures, and the Fairy Godmother is a grandmotherly little old woman in a hooded cape. Most of the story is told by a voiceover narrator, interspersed with occasional dialogue from the characters. (Though whether the original Japanese version has a narrator or not I don't know: I've only seen the English dub.) One of the standout moments is the humorous transformation of the mice into horses and Cinderella's pet kitten into a coachman, with their startled, confused expressions as the change takes place. Another unique detail I like is that rather than both Stepsisters having feet too big for the glass slipper, one sister's foot is too big while the other's is too small: the message becomes "The slipper is uniquely made to fit only Cinderella," not "Cinderella has the smallest, most delicate feet in the kingdom." The ending has a unique twist too. After the Prince's steward finds that the slipper fits Cinderella, she pretends that there must be some mistake and denies having been the "princess" at the ball, because she's not a real princess and feels unworthy of the Prince. But then the Prince himself unexpectedly enters, instantly recognizes her, and assures her that it wasn't her elegant dress he fell in love with, but the kindness and love in her eyes. (As we'll see, another anime adaptation takes a similar approach to Cinderella's slipper-fitting: the 1996 series Cinderella Monogatari.)

In no way, shape or form is this an essential Cinderella. Still, it does have charm and I'm glad to have seen it again, both for the childhood memories it brings back and as a first venture into anime adaptations of the tale.

@superkingofpriderock, @ariel-seagull-wings

[costellos]

Helloooo Toya!! I have a question: how would each Duwang Gang member react to be given their favorite flower (and what's their favorite flower)? Thank you for reading my ask!!

a/n: YELLS!!! anon this is SUCH a cute question! you’re the first to request anything with the Duwang Gang so bless u. thank u. there isn’t enough content for them. also I know you probably just wanted a concept but bc I love this idea I’m writing full headcanons.

tw: mentions of death in Okuyasu’s part

❥ ┋ ❝ duwang gang, what their favorite flowers are, & how they react when given it!

jotaro kujo.

Jotaro’s favorite flowers are wisteria (though holly is a close second).

he’s not much of a flower guy. he typically finds them to be too much, with cherry blossoms getting everywhere and the memory of Suzie Q’s gardenia perfume being  unbearable. if you asked him for his favorite, he’d say wisteria.

he wouldn’t elaborate if you asked why. truthfully, he doesn’t know. but between you and me, it’s because he saw a wisteria tree in full bloom before he, Joseph, Kakyoin, and Avdol left for Egypt. it’s the last thing he saw as his house faded over the horizon, with the cab Joseph ordered pulling the group away from the lives they knew.

the idea strikes you while looking through travel guides. being a Morioh native, why not make the most of Jotaro’s visit? there’s a wisteria tree at the Morioh Botanic Garden; being a sucker for botanics yourself, it’d be nice to do a little two-in-one. you get to enjoy the view while bringing Jotaro to his favorite flower.

but when you lead him to the tree, the reaction he gives you isn’t what you expected. he’s quiet. not a mad or sad kind of quiet, just... silent. even after months of dating, you can’t tell what he’s thinking. but judging by his face, whatever is running through his head is something he’s made peace with. he only puts his hand on the top of your arm, pulling your figure close to him. ↳ “I’m surprised you remembered.” a beat, and then a sigh. “thank you, [Name]. but let’s keep moving, I don’t want to linger here.”

rohan kishibe.

Rohan’s favorite flowers are moonflowers.

he dislikes any flower that’s associated with manga. red spider lilies, roses, cherry blossoms (which is heightened thanks to Josuke), you name it. he thinks it’s a lazy way to draw symbolism.

it’s why he finds moonflowers so fascinating. there’s no grandiose meaning to them, they’re just a peculiar flower. they only bloom at night and when they do bloom, they die shortly thereafter. it’s a fleeting moment of beauty. lovely and slightly tragic.

he’d never expect you to get it for him. moonflowers aren’t native to Japan and the Japanese climate makes it difficult for them to grow here. that’s why he finds it odd that you’ve been spending an unusual amount of time outside. toiling away, saying it’s nothing more than a little gardening project to pass the time. he’d ask more, but he’s busy himself. it’s not until you drag him outside at night under a full moon that it hits him.

it takes him a moment to process it. there’s a trellis with moonflowers carefully laced between. emerald green leaves tell him that you’ve taken impeccable care of the plant. his first thought is “how?”; there’s no way you could house a tropical flower in this climate. but he brushes the thought away ― he’d rather not waste time on dumb questions like that ― and sighs, donning his signature smirk. ↳ “pfft, you’re that desperate to impress me? ...I’m teasing, obviously. I’m... honestly speechless, [Name]. you really are something else.”

josuke higashikata.

Josuke’s favorite flowers are cherry blossoms.

to be honest, if you asked Josuke what his favorite flower was, he wouldn’t know what to say. he’s not a big flower person. hence, cherry blossoms would be the first thing that come to mind. and while it sounds like a half-assed answer, it is true. sort of.

cherry blossoms remind those early spring days when his mother would take him to the park as a child. to Josuke, cherry blossoms are warmth and laughter. they’re the pink petals his mother would collect and drop on his hair. they’re the milk pudding his grandfather would bring him when he’d come home early from the station.

that said, he wouldn’t react much if you gave him a bouquet of cherry blossoms. he’d be flattered ― a gift is a gift ― but it wouldn’t go much further than that. you quickly realized that when you took a cutting and placed it behind his ear. (he was really confused; maybe best to save the theatrics to him.)

it’s not until you gave Josuke cherry blossom-flavored pudding that he melted. it’s favorite flavor! how did you know? all those memories would come flooding back to him, all teasings from his mother and evenings spent with his grandfather. and now, a new memory: sharing his favorite dessert with you. ↳ “whaaat, you got this for me?! gah, you’re too sweet... here, let’s share it. I can’t eat this alone.” 

okuyasu nijimura.

Okuyasu’s favorite flowers are forget-me-nots.

like the other boys, Okuyasu never really had a favorite flower. he could acknowledge that some were prettier than others, but his botanical knowledge didn’t extend farther than identifying roses. that is, until you pointed out forget-me-nots to him while walking to school.

something about the name just... stuck. it really resonated with him. sure, the flower is pretty and all, but now he feels a pang in his heart whenever he passes by them. forget-me-not. he thinks of Keicho and his father every time he sees those baby blue petals.

it wasn’t hard to pick up on his silence. every day, there and back from school, his mouth would shut as you walked past the raised bed overflowing with tiny, blue flowers. and with his visiting Keicho’s grave more often, you could easily put two and two together.

needless to say, he cried when you placed a bouquet of forget-me-nots near his brother’s headstone. “so he’s never really gone,” you murmured, taking his hand in yours. you didn’t look at Okuyasu’s face. you didn’t have to. his squeezing your hand and his quivering breaths were enough. ↳ “th-thanks, [Name]... he... he would’ve really liked you, yanno.”

koichi hirose.

Koichi’s favorite flowers are camellias.

he’s the only boy who can name his favorite flowers off the bat. he can still remember seeing red camellia petals dance across the panels of his favorite shonen manga. a female samurai was confronting her evil brother, and despite all stakes being against her, she defeated him once and for all. it’s for that reason he thinks camellias are so. cool.

needless to say, Koichi associates camellias with being cool. sometimes he wishes he had a flashier stand to recreate the drama he’s read in manga, but he’d never admit it out loud. still, it’s not hard to tell. Koichi is used to being unnoticed. he still doesn’t understand why you’d pick him over guys like Josuke and Jotaro.

you try to show him your appreciation by slipping him small letters in his desk before class. some are notes of encouragement, some are long compositions of why you love him. this one is a drawing of him looking extra cool, with exaggerated bishonen features and a red camellia you clipped from Mrs. Tamura’s garden taped on. “to my favorite hero” is scrawled across the bottom.

Koichi is floored. you did this? for him? he can’t even comprehend that you were paying that much attention to his rambling. yet here he is, minutes before class, staring at a ridiculous picture of himself and his favorite flower taped on. ↳ “pfft, that [Name]... they really know how to get to me, huh?”

like this piece? here are similar works! 🌑 🌒 🌓

[autumnslance]

Are you still doing the reverse unpopular opinion thing? If so, may I ask what you think of the Heavensward elf husbands? (Haurchefant, Aymeric and Estinien)

I certainly can! And the elf squad are certainly a class of their own. Under the cut, since there’s 3 of them.

Haurchefant

Best bro. In EN, so polite and proper and welcoming compared to everyone else in Coerthas so far, your first time through. Willing to go to great lengths for his best friend Francel--including riding in and leaping from his chocobo in the Most Dramatic Manner Possible to join the fray against the sudden dragon the false inquisitors called in.

I do wish they hadn’t pulled back on his personality quite so much in EN; I think there were better ways to hit a happy medium between the trope he embodies in JP versus Western sensitivities, but it then creates an interesting dynamic of Haurchefant later opening up more to the WoL and Alphinaud when meeting again the 2.x patches and early Heavensward, where they do lean a bit more into his sunny side (while still avoiding a lot of the elements that would come across as not great in EN).

I think the fandom often sells short how complicated he can be; behind the cries of “Splendid!” as he serves hot cocoa, there’s a rightfully Angry young man who Chooses, every day, to be helpful and kind to others, to live up to the Ideals of Knighthood. Threaten someone he cares for, someone who has shown him kindness, and he will bring all seven hells down--the false inquisitors weren’t the first to threaten Francel, and Haurchefant won his knighthood as an adolescent by tearing apart grown men who hurt the boy. That reaction gets translated into the WoL and associates; they helped him save Francel, they helped Coerthas, they helped Haurchefant, so of course the WoL becomes so very important, on top of all else they’ve done for the realm.

One of my favorite scenes is actually on return to Ishgard; he see Lady Iceheart herself in the streets, but at a shrug from Estinien and a nod from the WoL, Haurchefant is cool with it, fighting at the lady’s side and protecting her as he would his friends. He trusts those he has given his friendship to.

I hate what happened at the Vault as much as anyone, but it’s effectiveness in the story and to the playerbase is because they did such a good job of building Haurchefant into a character, a friend and ally always in the WoL’s corner (and the scene itself is just blocked beautifully and with all narrative and artistic elements really engineered to destroy emotions). The writers lean on it a bit heavily at times (he’s far from the only loss), but a friend said having the option to advise Ryne with Haurchefant’s words feels like finally internalizing the beautiful lessons the man had to teach us and moving forward with them.

Aymeric

The prettiest man in Eorzea. I was afraid he was going to be a trope of “bishonen knight leader in a religious org turns out to be evil” but am so, so pleased he turned out to be legit, a real deal Paladin who also upholds the Ideals and strives to do what’s best for his people. Also some anger, some bitterness, some yearning that is understandable for someone in his position.

I wish they would give us more about his adoptive parents, but I understand why he so ached for some sign of affection, too, from his biological father. It makes him more realistic, and is a point of hesitance in someone otherwise self-assured. Aymeric is fair, strong, but tries to demure from leadership given all the controversy--so of course they push him to the front of the House of Lords. He’s not afraid to tell Hraesvelgr what for to try and shame the old wyrm into helping against Nidhogg.

I love his relationships with Lucia and Estinien, and how he ends up also close to the Fortemps family.

Just a solid guy, it’s easy to see why and how he makes friends so fast, gets pseudo-adopted by Lord Edmont, and has a large chunk of the playerbase in love with him.

Estinien

Ah, Grumpy Dragoon Bro. I started as Dragoon, so my initial experiences with Estinien were as a gruff, annoying antagonistic training NPC through ARR. Who had never let go of his own pain and anger, and so fell prey to his greatest enemy’s manipulations and nearly caused himself even more pain, until reminded forcibly what he already knew.

Estinien’s dedication initially comes from the wrong angle, but he learns; gosh, he learns, the long, hard, bloody way. His softening really begins with his interactions with Ysayle and Alphinaud throughout the Dravanian Roadtrip ane learning the horrible truth of the Dragonsong War--but still being the Soldier who does what must be done, for all involved.

He is gruff and rough, but genuinely cares for the WoL as a comrade in arms (and again, translators, let us have the familiar nicknames/their equivalents; it’s so common for soldiers, for people who fight side by side to have their own injokes and nicknames!). I really love the brotherly relationship he forms with Alphinaud, and the grudging respect he and Ysayle finally gain.I also love the friendship with Aymeric, how these two hurt, lonely young men formed a bond lasting well beyond that first disastrous patrol.

I love the string of profanity he spews in click dialogue post-Vault, cuz it makes so much sense for that to be his way of expression, and so many other characters strive to be controlled and polite.

I love that the devs have decided to shoot the stinky Estinien meme in the feet twice now. It’s a fun joke now and then--and I do headcanon he’s had some rough depressive episodes; as delightful as his Shadowbringers story of how Krile and Tataru roped him in is, it also contains very tragically familiar tropes of traumatized war vets to me, and that doesn’t always lend itself to the best self-care--but man do some folks take it too far. Estinien was a military officer, a Knight of the Holy See, and while there’s gotta be some helmet hair at the end of the day, he’s probably taking care of himself. His comrade in arms, the WoL, would be sad otherwise afterall, and Estinien’s done with disappointing those few that are so close to him.

[mysterylover123]

Mysterylover watches Bleach episodes 166-167: Ichi/Hime is Legit, ya’ll

mysterylover123

1. So the comments last week informed me that something Controversial is coming up with Orihime. Which I’m actually kinda excited for. Bring on that controversy girl. I’ll have your back.

2. OK we resume where we were before with Hollowfied Ichi protecting Orihime and we have A LOT of close-ups of Hime’s eyes and Ichi’s back-of-the-head. Followed by a seriously cute moment where Ichi reassures her again. 

3. Music ramps up and the Match of Shonen Rivals begins. And Ichi asks Hime to protect herself and Nel because she’s a badass. Some day I really want the two of them to work together to fight a villain (Ichi and Hime I mean). 

4. Ooh and GJ is doing the “This isn’t even my final form” villain thing where he shape-shifts into a weird animal looking thing.  Damn though with the longer hair he’s kinda pretty now. Like Bishonen cat boy kinda pretty. 

5. There’s this weird choir of lady Espada watching the match like the Greek Muses or something. Are they gonna interfere or just be the peanut gallery? Anyway Ichi finally lands a hit on GJ who has the “Oh no I underestimated him” look now. 

6. I wonder if Ichi’s gonna actually try and go for the killing blow here? I don’t think GJ’s gonna die here though, he’s had too much storyline to just go out now, like this. So I dunno I guess they’re just gonna rough each other up good enough for now and have tons of rematches later on. 

7. And Ichi again gets distracted cause GJ apparently aimed for Hime again. Despite the fact that Hime has a force field up. Dude! SHE HAS A FORCE FIELD. And Hime is apparently spooked by the Hollow Mask. Cause it reminds her of some villain...I think the hollow who killed her brother? Hard to tell. 

8. Grimmjow definitely crossed the Bishonen line here tho. Like I dunno what it is about the crown and long hair that dials it up to 11. Just really suits him. 

9. Hime is having a freakout about Ichi’s Hollow Form and flashing back to her Hollowfied Brother from Episode 3. Damn HIme why you gotta stab me in the feels like that. 

10. Nel is telling Hime to be a cheerleader, and reprimanding her for being scared of Ichigo. And that Ichi is getting hurt to protect her. Aw. Please be inspired to go kick Grimmjow’s ass for him Hime. I mean I think that’d be a lot more helpful than just cheerleading. 

11. Hime is having thoughts about how everyone came to save her and how she wanted to protect everyone. Aw! And she does in fact start cheerleading. While crying. And tells him not to get hurt. 

12. Ichi has a cool bit where he just without looking turns around and grabs GJ’s hand. And tells him he can’t lose. Damn Hime those are some serious cheerleading skills you got there. (If she was teaming up with Ichi they’d make such a perfect fighter team. Spear and shield.)

13. Ep 167! Grimmjow is fine of course. Getting cut in half doesn’t really do much to Shonen villains does it? On the other hand it doesn’t phase Shonen heroes much either. 

14. And we cut to what looks like the death eaters running around. Huh. What?  OK it seems like this is here for the sake of providing exposition about the various mods of Espada. 

15. OR IT’S GRIMMJOW’S BACKSTORY. He used to be a tiger apparently. Huh. He really is a cat boy. 

16. And it looks like he’s struck a fatal blow on Ichi (that’s twice in one day. Damn Ichi your insides must look terrible.) GJ keeps swiping at him. Like a cat. And Ichi is getting cocky. Wow that looks good on him.  

17. And Grimmjow apparently has the classic Shonen  rival inferiority complex. He’s pulling an Ultimate Move on him now.  And apparently his backstory involves eating his BFFs to level up. WOWSA. 

18. Ooh Ichi’s saying that he’s really here cause he wanted to fight and beat Grimmjow. WOW DUDE. Really? And now he’s flashing back to Rukia, Chad, Uryu, Renji and Orihime, his NAKAMA who he is here to protect. OK good Ichi still got those priorities right. 

19. Damn he actually won? POWER OF FRIENDSHIP STRIKES AGAIN. This is a shonen after all. OK so he’s rejoining Hime. We gonna get a friendship moment between them?

20. OMG THEY ARE SO EFFING CUTE. SMILING AT EACH OTHER AND ALL. Nel ruins it by head-butting Ichi but damn they were both smiling adorably. Anyway he rejoins Hime on the tower. And she takes his hand. My god this is pretty damn romantic. 

21. I’ve never seen a Shonen couple actually get this kind of intimate emotional development, at least not until like, the last arc or something. Usually it’s  left for fillers or regulated to to the sidelines. Here it’s like, front and center. Hand holding, long gazes, putting it all on the line for each other...I don’t care what anyone says Ichihime is Legit. 

22. So what next? I’m presuming they’re off to  go bail the rest of the gang outta their various fights. I mean, damn, you team Miss MageShield and Mr. Hollowfield Sword fighter up and they can just go kick Aizen’s ass here and now, maybe go out for shwarma afterwards. Just saying. 

[scottymcgeesterwrites]

Final Fantasy X Review

Year: 2001

Original Platform: PlayStation 2

Also available on: PS3 and PS4 (HD Remaster)

Version I Played: PlayStation 2

Synopsis:

Tidus is a renown blitzball player in the city of Zanarkand. One day, his mysterious buddy Auron whisks him away to the land of Spira after a massive entity known as Sin attacks Zanarkand. Tidus ventures into Spira, a strange world lacking in advanced technology. There, he finds many uncomfortable truths after joining a pilgrimage with the summoner Yuna.

Gameplay:

I will preface this by saying that this was my very first Final Fantasy game way back when I was like 13. I wasn’t keen on handling RPGs yet so it took me ages to finish. The result was me falling in love with everything about it. Final Fantasy X is the last main Final Fantasy game to feature turn-based combat. One of the coolest features of the battle system in this game is being able to switch characters in the middle of a battle. I missed that afterwards. When I played more Final Fantasy games after this, I kept thinking instinctively that you could switch characters in the middle of battle.

Leveling up is conventional but also introduces a Sphere Grid. You gain Ability Points to progress through a grid where each sphere unlocks a special ability or a higher stat. You can pick different paths along the grids and, typically, by the end of the game you are crossing over other character's grids.

The only truly annoying aspect of playing the game was the sphere puzzles in the temples. Every so often you have to enter a temple and solve a puzzle by placing spheres in the right places. It was so mind-numbing and the irritating music really didn't help either.

Because of how the story is told, the game is much more linear than its predecessors. The bulk of the game is spent journeying on foot across Spira. But don’t worry – there are plenty of secrets and extras to unfold – PLENTY. You eventually get an airship, but instead of flying around a world map you simply pick a destination on a map and you’re there. It sounds lame but the world is already so massive and detailed that Square probably couldn’t fit the graphics of flying around a world map.

Graphics:

The cinematics blew everyone away – because for the first time we have VOICE ACTING! JUST LIKE WATCHING A MOVIE! The voice acting worked really well in this game. It was only ever awkward when Tidus was being, uh, really annoying.

Exhibit A:

The in-game cutscenes can also be a bit stiff.

Story:

Final Fantasy X was my very first Final Fantasy game – as such, I could be biased in how I feel about it. Or maybe not. I’ve grown to be enough of a dick to crush my own dreams.

The story is completely different than the rest of the series. Completely different. While the rest of the series likes to make references to Western mythology and atmosphere (medieval and industrial settings), Final Fantasy X actually has an East Asian setting. There are no knights in armor or empires fighting rebels or even technological powers like Shinra. There are no witches or wizards. The story and references are quite esoteric, more mysterious and conceptual.

The narrative is radically different from the entire series. For the first and only time (so far), the main character narrates the unfolding events to the audience. After getting sucked out of his homeworld of Zanarkand, Tidus gets caught up in a pilgrimage to defeat Sin. Sin is a massive creature that returns every so often to punish the world for its dependence on technology. (So Sin is basically a kaiju.) A summoner with his or her friends go on a quest to defeat Sin, and the Calm returns for some time until Sin returns.

Spira is probably my favorite Final Fantasy world. It’s beautiful and haunting at the same, sad and bright. You can tell that there was once a great cataclysm but the long years have overridden the past. The rules of the world are so unique. Monsters are explained as the ghosts of people who have not passed on. A summoner this time not only summons great beings (called aeons) but also “sends” the dead away so they can find the Farplane, essentially Heaven. Like I said before, the concepts of Spira are very esoteric and East Asian. While Final Fantasy X does derive influences from Christian concepts (i.e. pilgrimage, priests, doctrines), it just as much references many Japanese and Buddhist concepts (rebirth, wandering souls, sacred temples). Overall, Final Fantasy X’s story is the most religious and spiritual in the entire series.

It’s relatively rare for a JRPG to take on an entire fictional world with a visual design referencing Asian settings. Usually, Final Fantasy and other JRPGs are more obsessed with Western settings (i.e. medieval towns). Spira is ripe with influences from island nations and places like Thailand and Bali.

The major plot twist require you to wrap your head around a bit, but surprisingly nothing is truly complicated. For the most part, you follow the story through the pilgrimage, learn some backstory stuff, and then face the end.

There are several “main” villains. For argument’s sake, and for the sake of not ruining any spoilers, let’s go with Seymour. Seymour is a recurring villain who again ups the ante on the bishonen trend. He’s also the biggest pain in the ass out of any Final Fantasy game. Ask anyone who has played this game and they will get Vietnam flashbacks of fighting Seymour. The bastard keeps popping up every so often to hinder the party’s progress. Seymour may look strange, but don’t let that fool you. He is also seriously one of the most fucked up villains in the entire series.

Tidus is unique in that he is an outsider viewing the story. He tags along and has his own story arc to deal with. Tidus’s story is one of the most personal and relatable. It’s so unique to play as a character who is not a conventional fantasy hero like a thief or a mage or a knight, but a sports celebrity with daddy issues.It’s also unique in that Tidus isn’t even the central character – Yuna is. Yuna is the summoner on a pilgrimage to defeat Sin. Even so, Tidus still plays an important role by falling in love with Yuna, influencing her goals on the pilgrimage.

In retrospect, Final Fantasy IX appears to be a prototype to Final Fantasy X. Tidus is a version of Zidane, except, unfortunately, a bit more annoying when he tries to woo Yuna. Zidane and Garnet’s relationship mirrors Tidus and Yuna’s; both involve an upbeat male trying to woo a reserved, quiet female. Tidus is the temptation to Yuna’s repressed Catholic schoolgirl personality, advising her to loosen up. The existential crisis that Tidus faces is also similar to Zidane’s.

All that being said, Final Fantasy X is my personal favorite in the entire series. It has its flaws, and yes, it’s a sappy romance. But I love it. I fucking love it. I LOVE IT ALL. I love the world. I love the plot. I love the music. I love all the characters. Auron is so fucking cool. Just look at how cool this guy is.

And that ending. Oh man. I really don’t want to spoil anything but at the same time. UNGH. This game. It is poetry. Everybody is a real gangsta until they watch what happens at the end.

Final Fantasy X is probably the most unique out of all the Final Fantasy games. Different didn’t pan out well for Final Fantasy VIII. But for Final Fantasy X – different was good, really good.

Music:

Final Fantasy X does a few things radically different from its predecessors. For one, the series’ main theme isn’t featured. That may sound like blasphemy to some. In retrospect, it might have been a good move because frankly I can’t see the main theme being played anywhere in a story like this. The “Prelude” theme is only briefly featured in an opening menu, but this time it’s given a sick beat that makes you want to dance a little jig.

Alas, Nobuo Uematsu begins to detach himself from full reign of the soundtrack. Two other composers, Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano, also co-wrote a bulk of the soundtrack. While Uematsu composed the main themes of the game, Hamauzu and Nakano composed many of the other tracks. While not everything they did was so different from Uematsu, there are a couple tracks, namely “Assault”, which is distinctly unlike something Uematsu would ever compose. I don’t say this in a bad way at all. The score is still golden. But after Final Fantasy X we see Uematsu depart, and Final Fantasy music starts diving fresh into the unknown.

The pop song for this score is “Suteki da ne”. It’s pretty good although I prefer “Eyes on Me” and “Melodies of Life”.

The HD Remaster soundtrack seems to skewer the original sound of the music. I’ve listened to it and was very displeased by what they did to “Assault”, which was one of my favorite pieces. The original soundtrack has more umph, more pomp and circumstance.

Meanwhile, “Otheworld” is a metal song – a first for the series. It plays in the opening when Tidus plays blitzball, and in one of the final battles. “Otherworld” is frequently misattributed to Rammstein, especially back in the days of Limewire. They had nothing to do with it. Uematsu composed “Otherworld”, and Bill Muir, a lead singer from the metal band xtillidiex, sang it.

Uematsu’s fully orchestrated work on the ending scene is masterful. The emotion behind it brings tears to my eye. It wrecks you, man. It pulls those heartstrings and doesn’t let go. It hurts so good to listen to it and remember how the story ends. It is the most emotional track for the most emotional Final Fantasy ending. It is here where you realize that Nobuo Uematsu could really be a movie soundtrack composer. His craft came full circle here.

Notable Theme:

“To Zanarkand” – the main theme of Final Fantasy X. Beautiful, gentle, and solemn.

Verdict:

Final Fantasy X is my personal favorite. Final Fantasy VI can objectively be called the best, but I have a soft spot for Final Fantasy X. I admire its unique story and its world. It can be campy and corny at times but I love it overall. Objectively, it’s still of a higher caliber in the series.

Direct Sequel?

Yes. Final Fantasy X-2, or also known as Final Fantasy X-2: For Fangirls Who Couldn’t Handle the Ending to X.

 I kid. That was harsh.

 But I mean. . .

 They gave this Charlie’s Angels vibe with Yuna, Rikku and this new girl Payne.

And like I guess it’s cool but like the tone is soooo campy.

And then they sing and it’s like J-Pop and . . .

 Yeah.

This was the sequel.

This was the first Final Fantasy sequel ever made.

And it was. Uh. It was something.

At the time, I could only play about a quarter of the way through before feeling wrong about it. Many critics would agree that it robs the dignity of the original game. I do want to actually try playing it again. I might come into it with a new mind. But. Still. I prefer they leave the original ending untouched.

[hypnosis-micrpohone-things]

Kuko and Dice with a budding mangaka S/O finding her sketchbook and finding out they've drawn them as a really handsome bishonen in a shoujo manga artstyle dramatically kissing her?

Ooh, very interesting! Let’s see what my brain does with this...

Kuko and Dice x Mangaka S/O

Kuko

Given his age and the time he spent with Ichiro, there is no doubt that he has at least some love of manga/anime. So when he found out his s/o was a mangaka he became interested right away!

He would love talking out storylines, finding out how the publishing process works, and all that. But he would especially love seeing their characters come to life as they draw.

I think his favorite thing would be to hang out around the temple, probably under some trees in a garden, and watch them draw/flip threw newly created panels.

And it’s here the problem lies...quite literally. His s/o accidentally left their personal sketchbook under a tree when they left.

Kuko, being the curious teenager that he his, opens it up as soon as he finds it. His s/o shows him their drawings all the time, right? What’s the harm?

He did not expect to see...how could he put it? A funhouse mirror version of himself. Except that mirror made him way more attractive.

Kuko would pause, staring at one particular picture that showed his “fangs”, as his love liked to call them. He would be expressionless for a minute. Then a shiteating grin would take over.

Oh, he is never going to let them live this down.

When his s/o comes back the next day and asks if they left their sketchbook, he hands it over without a word. At first. But he can’t hide that grin.

“Why are you smiling like that?” They would ask. “Just thinking...if you ever need me to model for one of your drawings, all you have to do is ask.” (Poses) Cue his s/o’s massive blush.

You better believe he’d bring it up around the other group members too. And you’d better believe he took pictures of his favorites so he can show them off at he most inappropriate times, just to embarrass them!

Dice

Dice is a little bit...indifferent to his s/o’s job.

Don’t get me wrong, he thinks the drawing is cool and everything, and he thinks they’re extremely talented, but...reading...is not really his thing.

It’s far more likely his group mates would be interested, after he mentions it to them one day. Gentaro is always happy to talk authorship, and Ramuda loves anyone who can sketch out some clothes (or put one of his designs into a book!).

His s/o probably went with him to a group practice one day, enjoying the music and little squabbles while they sketched in a corner of the room.

And that’s where they would leave their sketchbook after they get an urgent call from their publisher and have to leave early.

Dice wouldn’t even notice the sketchbook laying there after they leave. Gentaro would see it as they pack up and hand it off to Dice, knowing he was going to see them soon.

He’d be carrying it with him as he walked over to their place. Now, like I mentioned, he’s not particularly interested in their job. But he is catlike. And we all know what killed the cat...

So, out of pure curiosity he dpwould decide to flip through a few pages. Hey, that one’s cool! They’re so talented! Love the jacket that guy’s wearing! Ooh, what’s that thing he’s got in his hair!? Hair...and, are those two teeth a little...sharp...

He’d suddenly stop outside of a store window. Dice would look at the sketchbook, then at his reflection in the window, then back at the sketchbook, then back at the reflection...

[Five minutes later.]

“SH*T THAT’S ME!” He shouts at the top of his lungs. In the middle of the sidewalk. With countless people going by. RIP their eardrums.

Then he full on sprints to their hours, crashing through their door (or wall, cartoon style, if you prefer!), and hold the sketchbook open right in front of their face.

“YOU NEVER TOLD ME I LOOKED THIS HOT!” (Cue facepalm)

Don’t even bother trying to explain the art style, he won’t get it. He’s just so happy his s/o drew him so well! He’d definitely ask them to do more drawings of him. And yes, he would totally show them off to the rest of Fling Posse (who are quietly laughing behind his back about his enthusiasm, but they love it!).

[ayakashiramblings]

(CNY 2020 Post #1) Their children cause a misunderstanding: Dawn Faction

Since it is going to be Chinese New Year soon, I thought why not start with headcanons to celebrate and the first thing that popped up in my mind was family!

… Beautiful… freaking…. Family. 

So, after this post, I’m going to open the ask box (I’m scared because I’m super rusty at this point but I do miss this) and send in your best questions! You can even ask Toichiro to give ang bao!

Koga Kitamikado 👹 🍶

I had to put him first because his son was super excited to talk about his mum’s ‘bestest newest friend in the world’.

Shinra’s eyes sparkled as Koga hoisted the boy on his shoulders, tilting just slightly to give the younger oni a scare before giggling,

“Oh? Your mum is popular, just like her son, isn’t she?”

However, the next sentence really did make Koga nearly drop his ‘passenger’ when Shinra revealed,

“Mum hugged a pretty girl and that girl was super duper blushing while doing her hair!”

The thing is, Shinra had decided to drop that bomb in the middle of a visit to Uncle Fox-Face… I mean Toichiro.

Who of course, had the smuggest smirk at the implication.

“Hoho, so wedded bliss is also turning into a journey for vivid exploration I see.”

Even Shizuki had nearly spilt the pot of milk tea for the guests present, which was really the only reason why the teasing grin had been wiped off the kitsune’s face.

Kuya was the only one doubtful about Koga’s child spy. 

“Hey, describe the pretty girl kid.”

... Now everyone was intimidated because that girl really sounds like a seductress AND a boss. 

Koga though is considerably mature after having Shinra. Something about worrying to death about the Carnage being passed on to the next generation, Wraiths and other mishaps really does increase your tolerance level. So...

He asks Shinra to bring them to where the ‘temptress’ was last seen. 

Which was apparently at Raccord where Futaba was... 

Currently doing Aoi’s hair in a French braid. 

… It turns out that the girl was Aoi.

The 4 childhood friends make a pact not to ever reveal their doubt in Futaba... until Shinra blurts it out.

“Hey! That isn’t Mum’s girlfriend! It’s Uncle Aoi being Mum’s guinea pig.”

Congrats, kid. You are now the 2nd person to have made your Dad blush like the red oni that he was... until Futaba giggles,

“Sorry, the only girl I’d go after is Koga’s female self, hun.”

Everyone starts laughing...  except for Aoi who is secretly pissed that even after his growth spurt and all the pains of puberty, Koga’s bad judgement was passed on to that poor child of his.

Kuya  👺 💤

Nap times were supposed to be a family thing but his wife was currently out to collect something. 

At least he could settle for his cute son... if only said son could settle down. 

Kuya secretly wonders if he had a child with Aoi by mistake and produced this tiny toddler who is way too invested in moving and cooking and organisation.

Including the endless to-do lists that were long enough to cover the older tengu as a blanket.

Still, he couldn’t deny how cute his son was so he at least helped to roll up the scroll... 

Until he got to a certain check-box.

“Kapatid, what’s this?”

The chick’s eyes widened in excitement upon realizing the last task.

“Oh Dada, I wanna help mak bring her special someone to our nest and live here.”

Suddenly, he wasn’t so sleepy.

Kapatid had to innocently stare at his father’s ruffled wings and was just following Kuya in pacing back and forth, answering each increasingly desperate question,

“Who could it be?”

“I dunno.”

“Is it a pet?”

“I don’t think so. Oh, but I hope it’s as cute as Uncle Nachi as a cat!”

“Oh wait, if it’s Nachi... but he isn’t a teenager anymore... he’s a young man. Does your mother want a young man now?”

“I’m a young man too!”

“So, we are adopting a new young man?”

“Yay! A brother!”

By the time Futaba came back home, Kuya has built another nest for the invader egg... and an origami bazooka that was labelled ‘Wife-Stealer’.

She could have easily joined in on the fun but a sudden force prevented her from taking another step, huge parcel in hand and Kuya’s strong grip.

“Who is this someone new?”

Kuya’s slightly lowered voice lost its supposedly intimidating effect when Futaba giggled and jiggled her new item.

“I’ve brought back a doll.”

...

“Ok, so you’re upset about... a certain area.”

Kuya, no, not in front of the kid will ya?

While slapping one hand over the way-too-suddenly-active mouth of her husband, Futaba opened the box to reveal...

The usually cool and collected face she was used to was vanishing, melting into one of sheer mortification. His cheeks flushed pink. 

“Don’t worry Dad! I think you’re cool!”

And so, the Nap Time session commences with the newest and plushest member sandwiched between the two proud parents and their child.

Ginnojo  🐉 🌊

“Yo, daddyo, what’ cha think of mum and Uncle Kuro as kissing buddies, it’s a yes or ru-oh?”

The Mizuchi Dragon was lost in a book as she had delivered that sick verse, so at first, it didn’t register in his brain, and he merely responded with, “Oh? How exciting, precious.”

Then came the second part of processing - the unusual way Ama spoke. 

“Interesting language, I love the rhymes. Well done, my daughter.”

Third, came his new title - Daddyo.

He promptly changes his bookstore name tag with tape and wrote the “Very honourable position.”

...

And finally, acceptance. 

“WAIT, WHAT?!”

No, Ginnojo, yo, that’s your daughter rapping. Although she didn’t have to include the idea of Kuro and Futaba kissing. 

And where is Futaba you may ask?

Simply watching until Ginnojo faces her with the brightest blush on his face. 

That was when she was ready to explain the POWEROFMUSIC.

... And finally ending with an Eskimo kiss to Ginnojo amidst their daughter’s protest before both parents attacked her as the Kissing Monster.

Aoi  💜 🎨  (Holy, his is the shortest)

“Pops! I’ve got the biggest secret in the world!”

“Well, you better keep it like a good friend you are then, Lotus.”

“Mum thinks you are an utter Bitch.”

...

After stuffing down a bar of soap down his poor confused daughter’s mouth, he makes use of the many, many, many years of fighting and sneaking about to find Futaba.

... Despite the fact she was at the Shrine of the Hidden God, collecting some herbs from Uncle Yura.

All while dragging his daughter who would have complained... except for the fact that her dad was probably the most effective transport in the world to have made it through the longest path to have existed. 

Plus, he came with an interesting whistle,

“FUTABA SAOTOME!!!”

All it took was 1 minute and 45 seconds to locate his extremely confused wife. The accusatory words came out even faster.

“How could you? And right in front of our daughter?”

Understandably, Futaba was a bit irked... to say the least.

“Aoi, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh! I think it’s because I said mum said you’re a bi-.”

“WHAT SHE SAID SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SAID!”

“Bishonen?”

“Yes, exactly... what?”

Yes, apparently poor Lotus only heard the first 2 syllables in the word.

Aoi allowed a small period to think over... Lotus’ interesting take-away from the vocabulary lesson before smirking. 

“I’m just a pretty... boy?”

Futaba had the decency to blush before whispering,

“You’re my pretty husband that I trust... will you trust me?”

Somehow, an impish glint made Aoi’s heterochromia pop up as well as a certain member down there...

... Don’t worry about Yura and Lotus. Yura had the sense to pick up the girl and invite her over for a... very... very... very long tea break.

Yura  🎍 🎼

He’s the 2nd shortest because honestly, I can’t imagine this pair ever having communication issues considering the amount of DRAMA AND TRAUMA in his route.

If either Yura’s daughter/son were to ever say MC received a phone number from a handsome man he knows well, he will actually be very calm. 

After all, he trusted MC and knew his twins were at that precarious age where every older lad was deemed ‘boyfriend’ worthy… 

.... Except for one incident when Yuriko said this,

“And when she kissed him after getting the envelope… he was blushy like Uncle Aoi!”

Suddenly, MC was walking into him burning various papers at the fireplace and him in a blue nightdress, singing,

“I saved every letter thou wrote to me… from the moment I read them...”

“Wait, is that Gaku’s new phone number?!”

…

Well, whoops. Maybe he really should have read the paper.

And so, Yura actually hunted Gaku all across the Capital, relying on whatever he heard of Mr Kakyu via the grapevine.

“Gaku, pray tell, can thou repair ashes? “

“What? No???”

“Fine, your new phone number shall suffice.”

And guess what? Finally, Gaku saw how lame his brother was, ironically. 

[winterbites]

(Major JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime spoiler warning) My review of...

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable is fantastic if you ask me; 39 episodes, each one fun and funky, Diamond is Unbreakable brings in many new elements that the previous three seasons didn't. Being my second favorite season in the series, I'm very much ready to give my review so let's jump right to it!

First, I'm going start with those new elements since I absolutely love them; there's a couple of them so I'll try to be brief (but I know I'm not good at being anything but descriptive). First is the new art style. Trying something different from what he normally does, Araki went with the more popular art style of the time called Bishonen, which is basically just a softer, more boyish art style (translated, it means beautiful youth). However, the style Araki used for this season isn't exactly Bishonen, but is instead an art style inspired from it while also mixed with his own personal touches. This mix makes for a refreshing breath of fresh air for the series and I think that it's wonderful for Araki to try out new stuff.

Next is the universal-wide range of color palletes. It's far from unusual for the JoJo seasons to switch up from one color pallete to the next during battles, but Diamond is Unbreakable takes it to a whole new level. There's not much I can say in this category because, once again, things like this are better experienced first-hand, but I can say that it's a wonderful aspect of the season that I truly adore.

Third, we have the Stands. While Stands aren't new to the series at this point, the inspiriation and creativity for them are. Stands have stepped away from being representations of tarot cards and are instead true portrayals of their human counterparts. Josuke's Crazy Diamond is crazy tough, powerful while also being able to heal, which is just like Josuke's indomitable will, physical strength and readiness to protect those he holds dear. Okuyasu's The Hand gets things closer to himself, embodying Okuyasu's simple in-your-face style of fighting. Koichi's Stand, although changing throughout the season, keeps the same feature of supporting at a distance while still being able to throw one helluva punch; this characterizes Koichi in that he's not as violent as the rest of the cast but he'll kick some ass if he needs to.

For the last new added element, I'm talking about the behavior of the season's criminals. The words modus operandi, in terms of crime, refers to the method of operation (or MO) used by an offender to commit a crime while a criminal signature is basically the unique mark a criminal will leave (usually used to satisfy the criminal's needs like emotional needs and please don't ask how I know this stuff).

Moving on, while I usually take time to talk about the intro, I'm not going to in this post but rather a separate post. The reason for this is because, as I learned with my Stardust Crusaders post, I'm not going to be able to make a relatively short post if I include a discussion on the intro. Unlike the other seasons of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Diamond is Unbreakable has three intros, each having different versions and unique additions. Since it would take a long time to talk about them, I'll save it for later.

With that being said, let's move on to the next topic: the characters. What can I say? I love them, the entire cast is so unique and special in their own way, even more so than Battle Tendency's. Much unlike Stardust Crusaders, most of the "enemy" Stand users in Diamond is Unbreakable aren't really enemies but rather people with their own interests who are just trying to achieve their own personal goals. Hell, you even have Stand users who aren't fought at all, with most of all the Stand users being reoccurring characters that fill the world (or in this case, fill the town) and get actual character development, minimal as it may be. You have the asshole Rohan who's only friend is Koichi due to Rohan being a very picky and particular person. You have Koichi (whom objectively has the best character development in the entire season) who gets stronger and braver throughout the season, confronting more and more problems head-on while also getting better at thinking on his feet in the heat of the moment. There's even development of relationships between characters, such as Josuke and Okuyasu going from being enemies to brothers by heart or Yukako going from trying to torture and murder Koichi to the both of them creating a loving and lasting bond.

Now, I want to go back to those little bits about criminal behavior and talk about one of the best anime/manga antagonists and the best JoJo antagonist so far: Kira Yoshikage. So the guy has a kink, but don't we all? Yes, he takes it too far by actively murdering people but it plays into that criminal signature I mentioned before and his Stand, Killer Queen, helps to create Kira's MO. Kira's signature is taking the hand of his female victims, which satisfies the psychological needs of his hand kink, and his MO is to explode people. The best part about all of this is that he didn't have either immediately: it took time for him to start stealing hands and it took him time to develop his Stand. Kira also has the most amazing motive of simply wanting a peaceful life; granted, that motive includes murdering people but I never said he's a good person, just that he's a good character. This all adds a very real feeling to Kira and makes him possibly the most human character in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Quite different from the rest of the seasons, Diamond is Unbreakable's soundtrack takes a more chill approach towards music in between fights; however, once a fight does hit, get ready for badass music to ensue (Sudden Battle is really good and A Blossoming Love is really cute). As for the outro, I Want You is my favorite outro across the seasons. Keeping that extreme use of multiple color palletes and emphasizing the softer art style, this outro has a groovy song and adds on more visual details as the show goes on.

Finally, I want to talk about three things that bothered me throughout the show. First was that, once again, Araki threw one of his characters under the bus; this time around, it was Joseph Joestar. While Joseph has shown himself to not be above cheating at games and battles, I don't believe for a second that he would cheat on Suzi. This woman single-handedly took care of him and kept him company during his recovery after his battle with Kars. Not to mention, as I've said before, Joseph has strong familial values and there wasn't even a given reason for his adultery. To top it all off, Tomoko truly loves Joseph; that means that he would've had to stay in Japan long enough, which he has gone on record to say how much he hates Japan, to make such a lasting impression on Tomoko.

Next is that Araki made the characters Shizuka Joestar and Mikitaka Hazekura, which are both cool characters in their own rights, yet never showed or mentioned them after Diamond is Unbreakable ended. I understand that Shizuka can't be used in the near future since she's a literal baby and maybe Mikitaka simply stayed in Morioh, but we never got any closure information on them (is Mikitaka an actual alien and what ever happened to Shizuka's parents, things like that).

Lastly is the absolute Deus ex Machina of Kira's Bites the Dust ability on Killer Queen. He got it when he was under extreme pressure and that's just not a good enough explanation in any world; not to mention it's a bit uncreative given that Dio ALSO had a Stand ability that allowed for timey whimey shenanigans. A cool ability no doubt but that doesn't make in any less bullshit

[irregularjohnnywiggins]

By the way, on my soirée into the fascinating world of King Arthur, I learnt many things. One is that Lancelot is just inherently a ridiculous character. Don't believe me? Allow me to tell you the story of how Sir Belleus joined the Round Table...

(Source is Phyllis Ann Karr's Arthurian Companion, which itself cites Morte d'Arthur)

So, Lancelot was riding along one day, it was getting a bit late so he was getting tired. He comes across a pavilion, kind of like a portable bed the nobility used carried around by servants. There doesn't appear to be anyone around, so Lancelot just... gets in the bed. Apparently this was a thing he keeps doing in Mallory. Lancelot I think you have a bit of a problem.

So, it turns out that, shocker, the really expensive bed lying in the middle of the road actually belongs to someone, namely a Knight named Sir Belleus. He comes back from his business, sees someone sleeping in his bed, and assumes it's his wife, which leads us to two conclusions:

Sir Belleus is blind and can't notice the person in his bed is clearly a man

Lancelot is such a Bishonen that he's easily mistaken for a girl, as evidenced by the fact that this KEEPS HAPPENING

(in case it's not clear, I'm hoping for the latter)

So, Belleus gets into his bed and starts spooning with the person he thinks is his wife. Lancelot (who in this equation is the little spoon, this is canon, fuck off) responds by 'no-homo'ing so hard he STABS BELLUS IN THE STOMACH. WOW. THAT'S LIKE GREEK TRAGEDY LEVELS OF MISUNDERSTANDING MY FRIEND.

Fortunately for both Belleus and the reader, Lancelot is spared another soliloquy about how sorry he is at killing somebody by the timely arrival of Sir Belleus' wife, who has several questions:

Who the fuck are you.

Why the FUCK are you in my husband's bed.

OH MY GOD WHY THE FUCK HAVE YOU STABBED MY HUSBAND!

Lancelot, in that great British tradition, starts compulsively apologising for everything he's ever done, and Belleus himself says that 'this knight is a good man', which is kind of a leap given the only interaction you've had with him is him stabbing you, but okay. The lady, being naturally sceptical of the man who just stabbed her husband, demands to know his name, and even though Lancelot is travelling incognito (because for some reason no one wants to fight him once he introduces himself as Lancelot) tells them his real identity, and the lady*, being a shrewd businesswoman (because this is the Middle-Dark Ages and every noblewoman is a shrewd businesswoman) tells him that they'll forgive the stabbing thing as long as Lancelot agrees to make Belleus a Knight of the Round Table. Lancelot, who is very familiar with the fact that people have been made Knights for worse reasons, agrees, and they both part ways.

Now, I'm not saying that this wouldn't be out of place in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I know it wouldn't be because it isn't:

Again I must bring up: one of the Pythons was literally an Arthurian scholar. This, rather ironically, makes The Holy Grail one of the most accurate depictions of at least Le Morte d'Arthur in modern cinema, and that will never stop being hilarious.

*she's never named, although, this being the Arthurian mythos, there's a non-zero chance she's called Elaine

[videcoeur]

🔥🔥🔥

1. Diversity is nice and I’d love to see more of it in the community. And by diversity, I mean a diversity of characters. I feel like a lot of fantrollers are afraid of making older, curvier, uglier, characters. I feel like the whole 20 something years old bishonen anime boy is a trope I’ve seen too much. Like, no offense, I love me A Good Looking Boi™ I have a few myself....but I love when characters look unique. Which is what I’m trying to do with my own cast, as much as possible.

I just wished people were more daring, I guess :) I get the whole ‘attraction points’ is important to some, but to me, a troll will be much more attractive if they’re more than just a pretty flesh envelope. 

2. The lack of respect of BYF and Rules is grinding my gears a whole damn lot. Every week, I have to softblock a minimum of 20 people and this is since I came back in february last year. It’s written in my desc, it’s written on my front page, its written in my rules, it’s written on my OOC. At this point, I’m pretty sure that even if I changed my blog url to ‘nominorsallowedfantrolls’ I would still softblock people. I am a creechur of anxiety and I’m trying to make my space adult-only. Even if my blog is 99% SFW, I do not want minors to follow me. I’d really love to not have to enforce that rules every other day :/

3. Roleplay is a cooperative hobby. Please don’t make me write a fanfiction for you. Have your character do more than just respond to my actions. For the love of god, do not be afraid to introduce stuff to the roleplay, take a wild direction, or bring NPCS. Just stop only replying to what I write, you’re boring me to death and burning me out.

[lia-nikiforov]

Fall 2017 Anime Watchlist

Blablabla school is kicking my butt blablabla I shouldn’t even be doing this blablabla THERE’S A LOT OF GOOD ANIME THIS SEASON

So naturally I’m gonna go back to my worst to best format for this list. Get the trash out first

Dropped

Dies Irae: Aren’t these villains named after actual historical Nazis who were directly involved with orchestrating the holocaust soooo cooooool , so interesting, such tortured profound souls that--- ugh, I just threw up in my mouth a little. I don’t care if the Nazis are the villains, making them into complex, appealing characters is unacceptable, less so given the times we live in.

(get it, it’s a real nazi getting punched in the face, aren’t you glad you follow me so I can provide you this quality content)

Yuki Yuna wa Yuusha de aru: Yuusha no Sho: Because I wasn’t a big fan of the first season, I thought this might make for decent hate-watch, but it’s just not bad enough to warrant it. It’s also criminally boring. And because part of what made the original so bad was the ending, and this being a prequel we already know how it ends, there’s no point to it imho. I enjoy screaming at the void about shows I find stupid, but this one isn’t even worth the time. Ballroom is all the hatewatch material I’ll ever need

Black Clover: I could say a lot about this show’s egregious lack of uniqueness and originality, or how poorly executed the whole thing is, but really the only thing you need to know about this and why it’s an insufferable watch is:

THE!!!! PROTAGONIST !!!!!NEVER!!!!! STOPS!!!!! YELLING!!!!!! 

Inuyashiki: My first problema with this show is the main dude is supposed to be 58 years old but he looks older than most 65+. It’s a dumb little thing, but it completely breaks my suspense of disbelief. Other than that, the writing is just so viscerally hateful it’s extremely uncomfortable to watch. What I’d understood from the synopsis was that the aliens had accidentally merged the old man and the young dude into a single robot body, but the way it is presented  -with the old guy as the hero and the young guy as the villain- the moral of the story seems to be basically “millennials are killing the diamond industry”, or, in terms of a more well-known -though perhaps too easy- meme:

Urahara: I really wanted to like this show and support these young female creators in an industry that tends to not give them any opportunities. It’s not like it’s bad at all, nor is it offensive, it’s just really boring. The visuals are adorable, but the characters feel completely unreal –three high school girls run their own shop in Harajuku?-, especially pigtail girl who delivers every line like she was trying super hard to sound like an ojousama archetype. The show is completely committed to its Harajuku kawaii culture aesthetic and attitude, which is commendable but also something that honestly make me a little uncomfortable for no particular reason. I also feel extremely robbed off actual transformation sequences in this magical girl show. In a less busy season I might hold on to see where this went, but as it is, I’d rather wait and see how it ends and then decide if I should spend time on it.

Utter trash that I’m still gonna watch because I hate myself or something

Ousama Game: I think it’s important to make a distinction between hate-watch and irony-watch. Hatewatch is something you do with a show that’s terrible and probably offensive, but it never touches so-bad-it’s-good territory.  You can pick the show apart for all of  its flaws, be it an ill-conceived plot, poor characterization, or, you know, being grossly mysoginistic. Examples of shows I’ve hatewatched include KADO, Sailor Moon Crystal and Super Lovers. An Irony-watch is a show that pretty much everyone can agree is a dumpster fire, and it succeeds so much in its terribleness it’s histerical. Hand Shakers and Neo Yokio are prime examples of quality irony-watch material. And so is Ousama Game. It’s not even worth pointing out its flaws because there’s just nowhere to start, there is not a single thing this show does right and it’s hysterical. Of course it has the squick factor of having some gross fetish with people’s tongues lolling out and their faces getting ridiculously contracted in gross fashion when they die, but other than that, it takes itself so seriously and mixed with its 2006 low budget aesthetic the whole thing is madly hilarious.

Welcome to the Ballroom: This is my choice for hatewatch show of the seaon. After the disgusting dung that was episode 15, I’ve lost all hopes of the show ever getting “better” as was repeatedly promised by fans of the manga once the queen lord and savior Chinatsu appeared. Lo and behold, Chinatsu’s character arc is to learn to be more “feminine” and to let herself be “controlled” by Tatara. Throw in some casual homophobia just for good measure. I really have to wonder why the mangaka set out to write a manga about a sport that necessarily requires a man and a woman in partnership if she hates women so much and can’t treat them as anything above second-class citizens-

(srsly show, why do you hate women so much)

Sengoku Night Blood: It’s been a while since we got a dumbass Sengoku bishonen show that wasn’t aggressively boring. This one though, still challenges my tolerance limits for being dumbass ridiculous with its premise of vampire/werewolf Sengoku daimyo. The costumes and character designs are super ridiculous yet strangely non-distinctive. I have a hard time figuring out who is who because most lack their historical counterparts most notable features, and there’s a lot of same-face-iness everywhere. The show is clearly not afraid of embracing its otoge origins, the “love event” moments are terribly transparent. I just wish either the female character was completely erased or that the guys would stop treating her so badly. I know she’s useless, but I don’t understand why the show has dudes saying things such as “it’s really bothersome that you’re here” and frame them as if they were suuuuper romantic.

(lmfao there are no gifs for this one, maybe I’m the only sucker watching it)

Juuni Taisen: To be honest I was ready to drop this one after confirming it was gonna be more Nisio Isin fake philosophical bullshit that is actually just otaku fanservice. Instead I got schlocky ultra violence garbage and it’s actually kinda fun? Look, I’m gonna come clean, I’m just watching it for the necromancer chip’n-dale rabbit with high heels and a huge fluffy tail, but if that’s not a good reason to watch a show, none is.

Not bad, but not quite good

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryoukou: This was another one that wasn’t quite on my radar before the season began, I only checked it out because it got excellent reviews. It’s actually surprisingly charming, although the pacing is slow, the muted color palette can be tiring and nothing really seems to be happening. I honestly struggled to stay awake during episode 2. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with the show, I’m considering dropping it because I’m just watching too much stuff and don’t have time, but I’ll wait for episode 3 to make my final decision (I’ll probably watch it Monday)

Shokoku no Altair: After the really good Sultan arc, apparently we had to go through another speed course on how to acquire new members for the party. I’m pretty much resigned to this not being the epic historical drama Arslan also failed to be, but it’s still sad to see this one getting the crappy production values while Inuyashiki is a lavishly animated production about bitter old men hating youngsters. Anyway, as long as further arcs can replicate the level of excitement and intrigue of the sultanlu arc, I’ll be looking forward to it and how Mahmut’s story unfolds. 

Fate/Apocrypha: You can tell how trashy the summer season was that Fate, which was one of my favorite shows of the season, is barely in the middle of the pack of this crowded Fall season. It’s also worth noting that I’ve lost a lot of the goodwill I’d mustered for the show after the writers remembered Palurdo-kun was supposed to be the protagonist, so now that he’s taken the center stage (and become Astolfo’s Master, which is a travesty, Astolfo deserves so much better than satisfying otaku’s otokonoko fetiches orz) I find myself rolling my eyes more often than not. Still hope to get cool fights out of this one and more Astolfo and Mordred.

GARO Vanishing Line: MAPPA brings us a new iteration of the GARO franchise, this time with a modern setting that throws back to ultra macho 80s anime OVAs aesthetic –I wouldn’t know, never watched those-. The hero is a buff uber muscular dude that literally prays at women’s boobs and Zaruba is a giant motorcycle that thinks women stink. The production values are impressive, both fight scenes are incredibly cinematic and exciting. The hypermasculinity borders on the hilarious, but I wish it could do away with the sexist humor, which luckily hasn’t been abundant enough to be insufferable. It’s a little soon to judge because they’re barely introducing us to the characters, but I’m still hoping this won’t devolve into shit territory like Crimson Moon did.

Kino no Tabi: Full disclosure, I only watched the first season of Kino a few months ago, so I have it very fresh in my memory. Since I didn’t know that this new season was more a soft reboot rather than a sequel, I thought I needed to watch the first one to check this one out. Turns out it wasn’t necessary, but I’m still glad I did it because the first season is fantastic. Which is why I’m a little concerned about this one, because the reinterpretation of the Colisseum story was… not good. It rushed through the story and made Kino look like a psychopath. The first episode was good so I’m crossing my fingers that this won’t turn into a horrible mess, but so far I’m feeling cautious and worried. But even if this one turns out to be a good reboot, I’d 100% recommend you check out the original.

Anime is in Fact Good

Classicaloid: Another show that came back with a different director and that I worry will struggle to replicate what made the first season special. There are some tonal things that make the change very evident, but so far it has overall been pretty great nonetheless, Classicaloid insane business as usual. I must say “New character appears claiming to be X’s relative, X believes it and starts treating N better to the detriment of the established cast” is a trope I’m not too fond of, but I’m willing to give them some time purely because they have a Hippopotamus that can do Musik. Honestly watching anime makes one write the weirdest of sentences.

Hoozuki no Reitetsu. Something comedy shows have in their favor is that if they come back, even after a long time, it feels like they never left. Hoozuki’s the same old Hoozuki and it’s a load of fun. I’ve loved both episodes so far, I can’t even pick a favorite skit of the ones we’ve had so far because all of them were so good. There’s not really a lot to say, if you liked the first season you’ll like this one. As usual it’s only detriment is you may miss some of the jokes if you’re not familiar with Japanese folklore, but there’s a lot of fun to be had nonetheless. 

Recovery of an MMO Junkie: Honestly, I’m very quick to judge a book by its cover, or in this case, an anime by its title. In this case, I promptly dismissed this as yet another otaku oriented harem videogame fantasy or whatever without even reading the synopsis. Then I heard the positive reactions to it and decided to give it a shot and boy was I pleasantly surprised! Not only does it feature a woman in her thirties as a protagonist –which is insanely rare! But it also focuses on delightfully adorable romance that breaches the barriers of gender. And honestly, there’s that scene in episode two in which Moriko sends a text and then horrified realizes it’s 2:00 am and feels super ashamed about it and it was so relatable I was 100% sold.

Best of the season

(don’t mind the order, I’ve loved all of these equally

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau: So I may have misunderstood what this was about. I rarely read plot synopsis, so for some reason –I guess at first I thought the title was Kujira wa Sora- I thought there would be flying whales. There aren’t, but that’s definitely not a detriment to this incredible fantasy dystopian world. The color palette and the watercolor texture of the backgrounds gives it a magical atmosphere that is just a delight to watch. Although there’s a lot of exposition, none has felt like a forced infodump. The pacing is overall fantastic, and although the characters are a mystery for the most part, they’re already very endearing. This season is ripe with enchanting fantasy worlds and I’m really hyped about it. 

Houseki no Kuni: I was concerned about the CG designs on this one, but they work surprisingly well! The plot is still a bit unclear, but they’ve done a really good job in building the characters through their relationships to one another. Even though we don’t know a lot about them, I felt a lot of empathy for Cinnabar and Diamond and Bort, and Phos is a pretty nice point of view character to follow around. I’m definitely intrigued by the concept, and the execution has been great so far.

Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond: I hadn’t realized how much I missed this show until I watched the first episode of this new season. The loss of Rie Matsumoto’s wonderful directorial vision is very noticeable in the straightforwardness of the storytelling, but otherwise the show is surprisingly still a load of bombastic fun with endearing characters and fascinating world building. I particularly liked the hospital episode. I’m not sure where this story is going, but I’m excited to go along for the ride.

The Ancient Magus Bride: It’s important to note that the first episode has a lot of questionable material (please, can Elias never ever call Chise a puppy ever again), but I have to commend a great production when I see it. Readers of the manga assure that the questionable content will be contextualized later on, so I’m hopeful, because I’m already really sold on this show and I really don’t want it to be gross. It’s hard to explain or describe, but it just has this fantasy magical charm and a beautiful production that got me hooked from start to finish. It has been hyped to hell and back and so far it has lived up to my expectations. I think, apart from the lovely production values, the characters feel very real and deep from start to finish. It’s hard to explain why I feel so drawn to this show that should have so many red alarms ringing in my head, but I can’t help feel completely charmed by it

How am I gonna survive such a busy season with so much homework? Will I die trying? Will Ballroom ever stop hating women and gay people? Stay tuned to find out! And let me know which shows you’re watching this season!

[fury-brand]

This is one of those scenarios where it is more useful to think in years than in entries. We are also evaluating for treatment rather than presence.

I'm going to start way back in 2003 when FFX-2 came out on the heels of FFX and the female cast had been rather shamelessly repurposed into sexpots since I guess they thought it might not sell otherwise. I know many women now enjoy this game with a grain of salt but Rikku's visible thong speaks for itself insofar as the team's design priorities are concerned. They were here to play with new mechanics, not deliver a fair and thoughtful story for the female cast.

Final fantasy lay fallow for a bit after this. Our next entry is probably Kingdom Hearts 2 which in my opinion really created a blueprint for the way forward by proving definitively that the audience didn't care if women were missing, so long as the bishonen were in.

FFXII comes next in 2006. This is an Ivalice game more than a final fantasy one and it's quite good, but though the core cast is fairly balanced the supporting cast is almost entirely male (this has been common to ivalice games since their inception).

After this we have Crisis Core in 2007, a spinoff FFVII prequel in which previously iconic female characters are rendered completely irrelevant. Crisis Core also newly supposes that SOLDIER is entirely male, leading to a cast with 0 women of substance and a fairly insulting rendition of characters who previously had a lot of depth and sensible reasons to be included in the story.

I think FF13's debut in 2009 injected some new hope into the atmosphere because although the game had writing issues, they weren't the sort where only the male cast gets depth.

In 13's subsequent entries we get an undeniable erosion of Lightning, the first female lead since Terra. 13-2 (2011) sidelines her and the dramatic tension of the story mostly comes from the male protagonist and antagonist (over a woman's dead body) and by lightning returns (2013) they've become incredibly comfortable sexualizing her and changing her breast size to better fit into the outfits they want her to wear.

In 2011 we've also got side entry Type-0 which I will admit to being mostly ignorant of except that I know they went on record as supporting panty shots and designing different underwear for each of the girls. Charming.

FFXIV (2013) is admittedly a mixed bag and has managed better and worse across its various expansions. Generally speaking when the writing is at its worst it does a fair job of handling the men and women equally, but the gender balance of who is important, fleshed out and given pathos in its best regarded patches are definitively lopsided. It also has a serious problem with killing any of the women who come to plot prominence (I count 5 off hand) - while men who ought to be dead tend to survive and return. This trend continues from its launch through to today.

Which only now brings us to FFXV (2018), and boy, there is a lot of salt in that wound. It's not JUST that there's no women in the cast who are written decently and treated fairly - it's the fact that the promise of a female antatonist was ripped away for the refrigerated woman we did get, the development comments on how women would "kill the atmosphere," or on how it was hypocritical of fans to complain about Cindy being designed as a sexpot but also ask for more women in the cast as though they really can't fathom having a girl there who isn't eye candy. By the time we got to FFXV this shit wasn't surprising. It was the logical conclusion of a trend that's been ongoing since Sakaguchi left the company.

So yeah, when long time fans look at that XVI trailer and can pick out maybe 2 women, and 0 in the background being well integrated into the world, their concerns are grounded on a whole lot more than 15.

pls final fantasy games are so good about this all of these games are so accessible pls play them