#Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit

[historyhermann]

From Subtext to Outright Confessions: Examining Several Recent Yuri(ish) Anime

Top left: Whisper Me a Love Song. Top right: Girls Band Cry. Bottom left: The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio. Bottom right: Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night Originally I hadn’t been planning on writing this article, but when putting together my list of the top 20 anime for 2024, I realized that many had yuri themes, either as romantic or platonic yuri, so this article made more sense.…

[anime-of-the-day]

Anime of the day: 5 Random Things I’m Watching This Fall Cycle

Bocchi the Rock!

I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss

Raven of the Inner Palace

Do It Yourself!!

Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit

[ekyanimehd]

Watch Yama no Susume: Next Summit Episode 10 online or download the full episode and the rest of the series in HD.

[satoshi-mochida]

HIDIVE announced on Wednesday that it has licensed the Management of a Novice Alchemist, My Master Has No Tail, and Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit anime, and it will exclusively stream all three series this fall. Sentai Filmworks will release all three anime on home video.

The television anime of Mizuho Itsuki's Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei (Management of Novice Alchemist or literally, Novice Alchemist's Shop Management) light novel series will premiere on AT-X, Tokyo MX, KBS Kyoto, Sun TV, and BS-NTV on October 3. d Anime Store will stream the anime in Japan from October 3.

The story follows Sarasa, an orphan girl who just graduated from the royal alchemist training school. Having received an isolated shop as a gift from her teacher, she embarks on the leisurely life she long dreamt of as an alchemist. However, what awaits her is a shop more decrepit than she ever imagined, out in the boondocks. As she gathers ingredients, trains herself, and sells goods to become an upstanding alchemist, she tries to lead her very own slow, relaxed alchemist life.

Hiroshi Ikehata (Kiratto Pri☆Chan, TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You) is directing the anime at ENGI, and Shigeru Murakoshi (Zombie Land Saga, I'm Quitting Heroing) is overseeing the series scripts. Yōsuke Itō (The Detective Is Already Dead, King's Game The Animation) is designing the characters and serving as chief animation director. Harumi Fuuki (The Deer King, Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna, Forest of Piano) is composing the music, and Nippon Columbia is producing the music. Aguri Ōnishi performs the opening song "Hajimaru Welcome." Nanaka Suwa performs the ending song "Fine Days."

The television anime of TNSK's My Master Has No Tail (Uchi no Shishō wa Shippo ga Nai) manga will premiere on Tokyo MX on September 30, on MBS on October 1, on BS Asahi on October 2, and on AT-X on October 4.

The fantasy story takes place in Japan's Taishō era (1912–1926). It follows Mameda, a shape-shifting tanuki girl who dreams of becoming human. Mameda transforms her outward appearance into a pretty raven-haired human girl and heads to the bustling city of Osaka. However, people instantly see through Mameda's guise, and one beautiful woman ruthlessly says to the dejected Mameda, "Go back where you came from." As it turns out, that woman named Bunko is herself a supernatural creature who transformed herself into a rakugo (comic storytelling) storyteller. Mameda begs Bunko to become her master and teach her the ways of playing a human.

Hideyo Yamamoto (Strike the Blood, The Prince of Tennis II, Cells at Work! Code Black) is directing the anime at LIDEN FILMS. Touko Machida (Lucky Star, The IDOLM@STER) is supervising the series scripts and writing them with Kei Shimobayashi, Aya Satsuki, and Yūho Togashi. Ryō Yamauchi (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato sub-sharacter designs) is serving as both character designer and chief animation director. GARNiDELiA performs the anime's opening theme song "Genai Yūgi" (Fleeting Love Game). Hinano performs the ending theme song "Virginia."

Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit (Yama no Susume Next Summit), the new television anime based on Shiro's Encouragement of Climb (Yama no Susume) manga, will premiere on October 4 on Tokyo MX, MBS, and BS11.

The anime will have 12 episodes, each running for 30 minutes. This will mark the first time the anime has had full-length episodes, as previous seasons only had five- or 15-minute episodes.

The first four episodes of the new anime will be compilations of the previous anime series' episodes with new short stories added. However, episode five onwards will have completely new stories.

Yūsuke Yamamoto is returning to direct the anime at 8-Bit, and Yuusuke Matsuo is returning as the character designer. Yuka Iguchi and Kana Asumi are performing the ending theme song "Tobira o Akete Bell o Narasō" (Open the Door and Ring the Bell).

[tomonohebi]

[sihasbi-kun]

Happy birthday Honoka-chan!

[animegadaisukiidesu]

[avocadorablepirate]

What Do We Call This? - 06

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Pairing: Trafalgar Law x fem!reader

Summary: On a quest to find what you've been looking for, you acquire the help of the Straw Hat pirates, who've agreed to let you temporarily join them. There are however many challenges that come along with your temporary recruitment - an alliance with a certain Trafalgar Law being one of them.

Word Count: 1.4K

Warnings: fluff, angst, kinda slow burn, swearing, the occasional OP spoiler (this chapter contains spoilers for the Zou arc)

A/N: Protective Law reporting for duty. I didn't want to delve too much into the Zou arc so this is just Law being protective at various points in the arc. Also, can I just say, Zou Law is my favourite Law cause gawd dammit he looked so hot in that black button down shirt, you know the one....anyway, I hope you like it!

—⁠☆✿☆—⁠

Despite initially finding your newly acquired bounty amusing, it had made Law hyper-aware of your every move. While bounties would usually imply that you were more than capable of holding your ground in battle, to Law it signified a potential recklessness - a reason for you to test the limits of your powers to a dangerous extent, which only meant you could cause more harm to yourself than you had in the past. And whether it was the sudden soft spot he harboured for you or the fact that you had mentioned Corazon twice, indicating your familiarity - that intrigued him, Law felt protective.

This protective instinct first manifested when you were approaching Zou, or rather it was the first time Law had come to realise this need to protect you. He had watched as you emerged from one of the cabins and sat alone on the deck, a frown etched on your face. Prior to the incident at Dressrosa, he would have disregarded your demeanour, but now felt that his dynamic with you had shifted, and it was only right to show concern.

"Everything okay?" he inquired as he took the seat beside you, and the faint smile that you gave him, told him all that he needed to know.

"Who were you healing?" His eyes searched you for any fresh wounds, though you had done well to conceal your bruises with a long sleeved top and a pair of loose cargo pants, not to mention the bandages that you were already covered with.

"Some of Bartolomeo's crew had a few minor injuries, nothing to worry about," you reassured him with another smile, touched by his concern.

"Don't overwork yourself," he advised as he made himself comfortable beside you. If you attempted to heal anyone again, at least this time he could intervene.

The next time Law felt his protective instincts surge was when it came to climbing to the top of the elephant on whose back rested the island Zou, where his crew had been waiting for him. The pink dragon that Kanjuro had conjured up made Law feel uneasy. Regardless of the fact that he found your gushing over the dragon endearing, he couldn't imagine a single scenario in which a terribly drawn dragon would reach all of you to the top. However, there weren't any other options, and Luffy's excitement, plus your words of encouragement to the little dragon had everyone piling on top of him, with Law quick to take the place behind you.

The climb was going smoothly until Law noticed your body sway as if on the verge of unconsciousness. His arm instinctively encircled your waist, providing support as you fell against him. "What's wrong?" The tension in his voice was clear, and as he watched you struggle to stay awake he grabbed at your wrist to check your pulse.

"Using her powers on Bartolomeo's crew members must be making her drowsy. She should be awake by the time we reach the summit," Robin answered on your behalf, and Law couldn't help but click his tongue in frustration as you slumped further into his embrace, his hold on you tightening. He couldn't blame anyone for not knowing the repercussions of your powers, but the frustration grew within him towards everyone who had made you use those damn powers.

As Robin had said, you awoke just as the summit came into view. Law felt a sense of relief wash over him as you stirred in his arms, and with a gentle squeeze to your side grabbed your attention.

On feeling Law's presence behind you, you sat up straight and mumbled an apology as you fumbled to break away from his grasp, but he wouldn't let go, instead leaning closer to you, "I told you not to overexert yourself," he chided, and you rolled your eyes in response, missing his irate tone.

"This was before, and it really was nothing. I'm all good now." Despite your assurance, Law remained unconvinced. Once again silently vowing to protect you from any harm, especially in your endeavours to heal others.

_______________________________________________

Law remained glued to your side as you ventured further into Zou and took to examining what remained of the Minks' residence. Earlier, he had let his guard down and you were nearly electrocuted by a Minks; luckily Zoro had stepped in before she could get a hold of you. Now he watched over you carefully, his sharp gaze scanning the surroundings for any potential dangers.

"This looks like it was used to inflict torture." Law eyed you with concern when the words you spoke were accompanied with a tremor as you took in the remnants of the wooden cross that had been stuck to the ground, worry settling in the pit of your stomach. From a little further ahead Usopp yelled something about a huge drop of water, and from where you were crouched on the ground inspecting the wreckage you strained your neck to see what had cast a huge shadow onto the ground.

"We need to get to higher ground!" You heard Robin instruct through the sudden chaos. Before you could even comprehend what you were looking at, Law's hand closed around your arm, a tinge of annoyance in the sigh he let out as he transported everyone to the top of a building that hadn't been destroyed in the earlier conflict.

As you caught your breath, your heart racing from the sudden teleportation, you looked around, taking in the view from the elevated point. The destruction that spread out before you was a clear sign of the chaos that had engulfed the country, and once again a feeling of dread settled over you. You tried to peak your head over the edge of the building, curiosity getting the best of you as you attempted to catch a glimpse of the water from above flood the city. But Law's grip on your arm remained firm, holding you back from leaning any further. Fate seemed determined to test his resolve to protect you.

"Stay back, we don't know when these buildings could collapse," his voice was authoritative yet imbued with concern as he pulled you away from the edge, and you couldn't help but throw him a glare. At first his concern for your well-being had been endearing, but now it almost felt suffocating; his overprotectiveness acting as a sign that he didn't think you could handle yourself.

"I can take care of myself, you know," you muttered under your breath.

"I'd rather not take any chances," he didn't miss the irritation in your tone, countering it with his own stern response. Before you could retort, Usopp's voice cut through the almost rising tension, alerting all of you that he had spotted Luffy.

_______________________________________________

Even when Law had to momentarily separate from the group to reunite with his crew, he was reluctant to leave your side. He would claim that he would go look for them, but then wouldn't move an inch, instead his eyes fixating on you in a silent plea for you to say that you would join him. Though that was far from what you wanted. You were looking forward to reuniting with the other Straw Hats for a short banquet, and if anything craved to get away from Law's protectiveness.

Just when he had had enough of the indirect approach, and was on the verge of suggesting that you come along with him, you spoke up, seizing the opportunity to get away, "Law your crew's probably waiting for you, we'll catch up with you later." You locked arms with Nami and Robin and pulled them away before he could even get a word in.

Law, ever perceptive, knew you were trying to keep your distance, and it was starting to bug him how good you were at it. Upon returning with his crew, his interactions with you were short-lived; you would either swiftly engage in conversation with someone else, or make a quick exit the second he took his eyes off you. Your avoidance made it clear to Law that you would be more inclined to go with Luffy to Whole Cake Island, whether it was to retrieve Sanji, or evade him. Nevertheless, Law remained determined to keep you by his side. As discussions about the division of the group for the missions to Whole Cake Island and Wano arose, he was quick to suggest that you accompany him.

"Why?" you asked, your curiosity sparked by his unwavering insistence, and for a fleeting second you thought you saw a flicker of hesitation before he composed himself, "I need your assistance." His cryptic response didn't give you the explanation you were looking for, it was however, compelling, and you found yourself willingly agreeing to accompany him nonetheless.

_______________________________________________

A/N: Wanted to include the whole ninja scene but thought I would only ruin it XD. Next chapter is the one that I wrote well in advance (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ we've made it this far y'all ᕙ⁠(͡⁠°⁠‿⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)⁠ᕗ.

taglist: @trafalgardaria @deathsmajestysworld

[exitrowiron]

Day 3: Oloron-Saint-Marie to Saint-Savin

57.7miles, 7,516' ascent, 5:37

Today's ride featured two major climbs starting with the Col de Marie-Blanque, a cat 2 climb which first appeared in the Tour in 1978. This was a challenging warm-up for the main event, the Col d'Aubisque, a climb rated 'hors categorie' (out of category). This climb is long and steep with 14% grades. But at the top you're rewarded with iconic views, punctuated by the well-known trio of giant bicycles. The summit is also where we enjoyed lunch.

The French and Spanish guides have been doing a good job of encouraging the Type A Americans to relax and enjoy lunch and take advantage of the opportunity to recharge tired legs and lungs.

As you can see in the videos, the two lane 'road' to/from the summit is the size of wide US bike trail. This makes it challenging for cars and bikes alike and the challenge is heightened when maneuvering around the free roaming cattle, sheep and wild draft horses. That's not a typo, the draft horses were brought to the region to help construct the roads and now they are permanent residents. The animals like to congregate at sections of the road that abut natural streams.

The climbs are arduous, but we've enjoyed knowing that our hotel for the evening is in the valley and we get to descend and coast the final 10 miles. Of course that means we have to start climbing the first thing the next day, but that is a problem for Tomorrow Mike.

I'm trying to include more videos, even though we were told that using our phones (our earbuds) while riding is a misdemeanor. I think its worth the risk ;-)

Thanks for following along.

[my-anime-goods]

Yama no Susume: Next Summit (Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit) - Pop Up Shop in Marui featuring goods with new illustrations from 4 August 2023.

[tetrix-anime]

Yama no Susume: Next Summit (Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit) - Blu-ray/DVD Volume 3 Illustration. Release: 24 March 2023

[pixeldistractions]

Okay, maybe it was for the best that you didn’t fall in love with this. There were a whole lot of people back in Wisconsin who would prefer that this didn’t work out.

The first week of classes, Jordan might have easily said to hell with it. He was ready to call it quits and crawl back to his family in utter shame, because this wasn’t working. It was harder than he thought it would be. His arms felt like jello. He felt his muscles burn in places where he didn’t know muscles existed. His fingers gripped rock after rock until they could only tremble. To top it all off, he looked like such a shrimp next to these other beefy guys.

“But let me tell you a secret,” Maya told him, “We have less body weight to pull up. Just focus on your technique. Newbies always slip a few times. That’s why we have you on the short wall.”

Maya was five-foot-six and 135 pounds at most. She was motivating and encouraging, and he appreciated that, but it didn’t make the hard falls and slips any easier. He’d only been training for a few days, but they trained hard. He paid for these sessions and he was going to get his money’s worth. They climbed in the morning before the sun was high and hot, and they climbed in the evenings, too.

He wished he could say the effort was working.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Maya said. “People train for years before they ever attempt Komorebi. Did you think you’d master it in two weeks?”

No, that would have been silly. Two months? Well, he couldn’t say he didn’t hope.

“But Jack?” Jordan pointed at his fellow newbie flying up the wall. “He’s Spider-Man!”

He and Jack were the only two newbies in the class, but one look at Jack and you’d never assume this was his first time. He knew the handholds by instinct, he flew up the rock face with strength and precision. He would definitely have this mastered in two weeks.

Even Maya glanced at Jack, nodding with approval and surprise, then she turned to Jordan with a grimace. She was trying so hard to convince him not to throw in the towel, and he felt bad for her. He should probably just quit the class so she didn’t have to try with him anymore.

“Jack is different,” she said. “Jack is, I don’t know, touched by God or something. He’ll be teaching this class next year. That’s not normal. Most of my students have been training seriously for a year and they’re still mastering the medium wall. I’ve been climbing for three years, and this winter will be my first time attempting the summit. It was slow to start. You’ll get there in your own time.”

But Jordan wasn’t sure he had enough time to get there in his own time.

“One more thing,” Maya added, pointing at him directly. “You. Sunscreen. We’re pasty people in the desert, and those rocks reflect the sun. We fry out here.”

Jordan felt fried, mentally and emotionally, but he didn’t know about his skin. He shrugged. “I don’t know, I think it’s probably fine.”

But no, it wasn’t fine. By the end of the day, he felt it. His skin was warm and pink, and this was gonna hurt.

— from “boxes & squares #4.1: first fall apart” (1/5)

Next ->

[anime-of-the-day]

Anime of the day: Yama no Susume: Next Summit

Alt title: Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit

Released: 2022

Aoi is eager to start climbing again. She finds the perfect opportunity through Koharu, a member of the mountaineering club. The mountaineering club competes in various competitions; because of this, Aoi is reluctant to join. She likes going at her own pace, and she fears holding them back. However, her friends wont let her give up to easily, so they start their training to summit Mt. Fuji once more.

[ekyanimehd]

Watch Yama no Susume: Next Summit Episode 12 online or download the full episode and the rest of the series in HD.

[historyhermann]

Things Get Better?: LGBTQ Representation in Animation in 2022 [Part 1]

Komichi Akebi of Akebi's Sailor Uniform happily welcomes all the LGBTQ animated shows in this article. Logos of my favorite anime with LGBTQ themes which aired throughout 2022 are shown in this graphic which I created

In January 2022, I wrote that there was a possibility that in 2022 things would "get better" in terms of LGBTQ representation, with new fandoms developing from shows which take risks by telling diverse stories. Although 2022, in some regards, more than lived up to this possibility and went beyond, there were challenges.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the nineteenth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on January 16, 2023.

In the world of anime, some series with implied, or directly represented, LGBTQ characters, came to an end. [1] Often times these series had yuri themes. For instance, there were somewhat strong undertones between the protagonist, Komichi Akebi, and her friend, Erika Kizaki, in Akebi's Sailor Uniform, and the protagonists of The Demon Girl Next Door, Yuko Yoshida and Momo Chiyoda, and those of the short-lived, but intriguing, yuri isekai, The Executioner and Her Way of Life. In the latter series, one of the protagonists, Akari Tokitō, has a crush on Menou, a female assassin with a duty to kill her. At the same time, Menou's aide, Momo, has a crush on her and is jealous of how close she is getting to Akari.

One series, Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story, blew representation out of the water, with strong romantic themes between Eve and a Japanese girl she plays golf against, Aoi Amawashi. Eve is often unaware of how romantic she is toward Aoi, who has a clear crush on her. Erica Friedman of Okazu, a well-known reviewer who focuses on lesbian themes in anime, even wrote that she may "start measuring other anime based on how amazing this one was". Other series ranged from having implied to more direct themes, including Vampire in the Garden, Do it Yourself!!, Bocchi the Rock!, Healer Girl, Lycoris Recoil, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.

There were additional anime with LGBTQ themes or characters. For instance, Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout, which had a three month run from January to March 2022, featured a reincarnated protagonist, Hinata Tachibana, who is heavily implied to be a bisexual trans woman. The spinoff from the popular Rooster Teeth series, RWBY, named RWBY: Ice Queendom, featured a non-binary nightmare hunter, Shion Zaiden. Christine Brent, Senior Brand Director for Rooster Teeth, confirmed this and said she would like to have similar characters in future productions.

Apart from these series, there were implied yuri themes in the ongoing idol series Love Live! Superstar!! and second season of Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. Such themes were also present in Management of Novice Alchemist, Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit, KanColle: Itsuka Ano Umi de, My Master Has No Tail, Prima Doll, Smile of the Arsnotoria the Animation, Shine Post, and many others, [2] all of which began, and ended, in 2022.

Many of these series are on Crunchyroll, one of the biggest anime streaming services. With its recent merger with Funimation, Crunchyroll now dominates the anime streaming market, and will likely continue crackdowns on pirate sites. Its only real competition is YouTube, smaller sites like HIDIVE (owned by AMC), and streaming services such as Netflix, Tubi, and Hulu.

© 2022-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] Some could say that the final season of Princess Connect! Re:Dive has yuri subtext and point to the second season of Dota: Dragon's Blood featuring an Elven thief named Fymrym, who was once in a polyamorous relationship with a woman and two men, with her partners murdered by Luna, who attacks the Elves who don't worship Selemene. Also, Komi Can't Communicate featured Najimi Osana who has an ambiguous gender and Ren Yamai who is a lesbian, a bisexual man named Apollo in Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, gay characters like Nagi and Soldier in Goblins Cave and Suma in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Attack on Titan has LGBTQ characters as well, as does One Piece.

[2] Others, as listed on Yuri Anime Reviews, include Teppen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Laughing ‘Til You Cry, League of Nations Air Force Aviation Magic Band Luminous Witches, Kakegurui Twin, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story Final Season, RPG Real Estate, Miss Shachiku and the Little Baby Ghost, Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall, Cue!, Slow Loop, and Girls' Frontline.

[rgenvs3000f23]

Blog #1

Hey! This week’s blog prompt asked us to describe our current relationship with nature, and how our “sense of place” developed.

I was very “outdoorsy” as a kid. Much of my free time was spent climbing trees, covered in grass stains, and being very enthusiastic about dinosaurs. My family would go hiking or sometimes camping, and generally encouraged my interest in nature.

As a teenager, I felt my “sense of place” in nature drift away. In theory, I knew I liked being outside. But school, sports, and life in general often distanced me from nature. Although I had some access to forests and trails, not having a car meant most larger parks and hiking trails were out of reach. When I tried to spend more time outdoors, I just didn’t feel qualified. I didn’t have the right experience, I didn’t have the right gear, and I didn’t know where to get either of those things. During high school, I dropped the idea of studying biology in university and tried to focus on other interests instead.

My sense of place in nature started to come into focus only recently, as a university student and (more or less) an adult. It took me less than one semester of university as a history major to realize that I desperately missed learning about biology. It took a few more semesters, but eventually I managed to change my program, and I’m now in the final year of my biology degree. A year ago, I got a seasonal job working in the kitchen of a hiking lodge. Although my working hours involved a lot of washing dishes, chopping vegetables, and making trail lunches, it was also the first time in years that I’d had the opportunity to really get outside. Steps from the lodge were trailheads leading up into extensive hiking trails, no car needed. When I first arrived, I still felt that lack of qualification, and I was completely surrounded by people with years of backcountry experience.

However, those same people were also happy to offer advice to help me get started. I was able to pick up a free pair of hiking boots and a comfortable backpack from the gear rental room at the lodge, and I spent the next several weeks slowly getting more comfortable hiking and being outdoors. And the more experience I got, the more I couldn’t wait to go back outside. By the time I left my seasonal job, I was consistently going on full-day hikes on my days off. I started being able to give people directions while I was out on the trails, or recommend the best routes or nearby places to check out when people asked. I remember one morning giving a man and his daughter directions to my favourite nearby swimming spot. That evening while I was working in the dish pit, they stopped by to drop off their plates, and we chatted for a few minutes. They’d loved the swimming spot, and planned to go back.

That experience meant a lot to me, having the outdoors go from a distant place I didn’t feel I could be a part of, to something I was able to help others enjoy. Now that I’m nearing the end of my degree, I’m thinking about what I would like to do after graduating. I would love my career to involve being able to share my enthusiasm for nature, and helping people feel a bit closer to the outdoors.

Picture: A glacial valley from the summit of a favourite trail