#Go and watch this show immediately

[starlight-archer]

I have now watched Dead Boy Detectives three times. This show has me in its clutches for real

[ivoryratdoggerythethird]

dazai making up a whole language with fyodor that no one else can understand is amazing but imagine him using codes that, very objectively speaking, you could crack, it's just that no normal person would ever make the insane leaps in logic that it requires. except for someone familiar with dazai's weird thinking patterns, that is.

i just love the idea of dazai's unhinged antics being dialed up to an eleven when he was in the port mafia, and oda being the only one who simply wouldn't bat an eye at it but chuuya was the only one who would actually get it.

like imagine ango at the end of the jailbreak, his boss saying he should allow himself to sigh and lean back and maybe indulge himself, pat him on the shoulder, tell him what he pulled off reading heart rates wasn't easy and he should be proud for being able to keep up with such a plan

but ango i-drank-with-teenage-dazai-and-also-had-the-records-for-every-soukoku-mission sakaguchi can only remember the time dazai was like using greek sign language through his breathing patterns to communicate from a submarine from beneath the pacific ocean or something, and chuuya could not fathom how no one else could understand him.

and that was the day mori signed off on skk being exclusive partners because every subordinate in the room was crying tears of blood by the time chuuya finished explaining which blood pressure level was warning them about a bomb, which blinking sequence was him conveying the vault password and which series of inhales was just him calling mori a bitch.

(ango also pointedly did not want to think about how smug dazai had looked after the mission when mori confirmed skk would only be each others' partners for efficiency and to maintain everyone else's sanity

or about how when he called chuuya to tell him about dazai's prison break scheme he could only get like 3 out of 276 steps into the plan before chuuya rolled his eyes, said "got it" then hung up and pulled the whole thing off without a hitch.)

[paintedcrows-caws]

Front row seat to Alex Hirsch's InMotion London Talk!! Aaaa!! (The high quality close up photos were taken by the wonderful @stupidlittlespirit! Who was sitting with me and had a far better camera, haha)

You can watch the full thing here, recorded by the brilliant Topaz Animation!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn_O7CMM67A&t=137s

[suckdickforcoin]

Art of a character that is DEFINITELY not from a kids show that im DEFINITELY not interested in /j

[ummmmandy]

[booasaur]

Vigil - 2x02

[equill]

Another Otsutsuki?!

we’re messing up the timeline for this one. (I lost this crack idea but then it came back… the abyss stare back and I jumped in.)

anyways, now some kids meeting the new kid

Panel 1: There’s something wrong here.

Comic 1: Attention.

they’re both in the same boat

Comic 2: Day Off (with confusion.)

he just a little insecure,, (kakashi still told him to get it together)

back to the future now

Comic 3: What. (huh?)

Panel 2: very tiny.

[jessmalia]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 2x03 "The Burning Mill"

[xoxoemynn]

I know it shouldn't surprise me, but it's frustrating af to step outside the fandom and read about OFMD's cancellation on more general entertainment sites and see the majority of reactions be along the lines of "oh well it was probably Taika being over it, he always gave me the ick anyway so, whatever," and then often devolving into comments about his personal life, or conspiracy theories that can be disproven if you use your brains for 30 seconds or maybe step outside and touch grass idk idk.

And this isn't me saying "omg how could you dislike Taika" bc truly unless you're being racist or antisemitic (which, let's be real, many are), I don't give a fuck what you think about him.

But the point remains that if you have a show that is all about celebrating queer joy and finding yourself later in life, that has a diverse cast of characters in terms of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and body type, that was WRITTEN by a diverse group of writers, that is receiving praise from critics and fans alike, that from all reports was one of Max's most successful shows despite them doing next to no promotion the first season, that had two successful seasons and the creator is on the record saying he had a plan to tell the entire story in three, and it gets CANCELED.

I don't give a fuck how you feel about Taika, or how you feel about OFMD. You SHOULD be concerned about that. Because your show is next.

And before you come at me with "it's just a show, have you seen what's happening in the world?" Yeah. I fucking have. And the arts matter. They have always mattered. It's how we've shared stories and fostered communities and passed down what's important to us as a society. And they've brought us joy. And I don't know about you, but I think we could all do with a fuckton more joy in our lives.

This is absolutely a huge loss, and unfortunately it's not going to be the last as streaming services continue to go deeper in crisis. If that doesn't concern you, idk, go enjoy yourself watching season 47 of The Bachelor.

[expelliarmus]

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Hey, are y'all seeing this shit?

Phaya and Tharn in reality:

gif by @firstmix

Phaya and Tharn in fantasy:

gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul

Clearly Phaya had a very informative morning.

[tanjir0se]

Every time I think Sasuke’s clear and obvious homosexual obsession with Naruto might be maybe a little one sided, Naruto will do something absolutely insane like walk into his childhood room after two years, grab his dusty picture of Sasuke, gently brush it off, fingers lingering for a moment over Sasuke’s face, and lovingly whisper “Sasuke…I’m home…”

[userjoel]

BEEF 1.01 — The Birds Don't Sing, They Screech in Pain

[uniiiquehecrt]

Voice actors are NOT the same as actors.

It takes a specific kind of skill-set and training to be able to warp and meld the voice. It takes a certain kind of talent and dedication to hone that talent into the ability to meld the voice and invoke emotion with one's voice alone. Actors are used to using their voice secondarily to their body language and their facial expressions. It's all mirrored back on camera. They do have nuance. But it's a different kind of nuance and a different kind of training to produce that nuance.

Voice actors might get their likeness transposed on their character's design, and maybe their mannerisms might seep into the character's animation. But when it's all said and done: their presence is in their voice. They are bringing a character to life, showing that emotion in their voice, trying to keep a specific accent, drawl, pitch, tone in that voice and keep it consistent for their recording sessions.

The voice actor is like a classically trained musician who can play first chair in a competitive, world-renown orchestra. The actor (who fills the voice actor's role) is like a moot who played violin in beginner and intermediate high school orchestra and thinks they can get into Juilliard with that 2-4 years of experience.

This doesn't mean that the HS orchestra moot can't play. They can even be really good at it. Maybe they won competitions and sat first chair. But they are not in the same league as the person who's been training their whole lives and lives and breathes to hone their craft using the instrument and all of the training they've ever acquired to perfect it. They are not meant for the same roles. They are not in the same caliber. You do not hire the HS equivalent when you want to play complex music in a competitive orchestra.

Actors are not the same as voice actors.

And furthermore, actors - especially big name actors - taking the roles of animated characters for big budget films or TV pilots makes no sense anyways when - at least in the case of TV pilots - there's not a point to hiring a big budget actors anyways. That money could be used elsewhere (like paying your animators), and the talent that is brought onto the screen for X character could then be hired on to voice said character no recasting required.

I wouldn't say voice acting as a profession is in danger exactly, but it's certainly being disrespected and overlooked for celebrity clout, and this has ALWAYS been an issue. Shoot, even Robin Williams knew that much - which is why he tried so hard not to be used as a marketing chess piece for Aladdin and got royally pissed off when it happened anyways. People shouldn't go to any movie (but especially not animated films) because "oh famous actor is in it". People should go because it's a good movie and the voice acting is good.

People who honest to god think that voice actors are replaceable because "oh well anyone can voice act" or "I like xyz celebrity so naturally it'll be good" ... Honestly I just wish you'd reassess your priorities because you're missing the point and are part of the problem.

Voice Actors ≠ Actors.

[bizarrelittlemew]

Rhys Darby on the ending of season 2

[starryalpacasstuff]

She Loves To Cook and She Loves to Eat: I can't summarize my love for it sufficiently

A while ago, I asked @lurkingshan for Japanese QL recs, and Tsukutabe was her first rec. And while I'm finally watching this significantly later than I expected to, I'm so glad I did. I watched both seasons as a whole, which turned out to be a good idea because while season one was good, season two was excellent.

I think, going into this show I expected it to be a simple, domestic show that was pretty much all fluff. And while it was all those things, it was so much more too. It's got a lot of hidden depth to it, particularly in terms of how mature and real it is.

Tsukutabe is many things, but at its core, it is a show about people being kind. It's about people receiving kindness and being kind to others in turn. From inviting someone to a home cooked meal to volunteering to cover overtime work, the characters in this show exemplify how much change you can bring by simply being kind. It's something that fills you with warm, fuzzy feelings as you watch.

It's also a show about healing. We get to see people who have very different relationships with food heal and develop them as the show progresses. One thing I loved about this show was that it consistently treated everyone's problems as equal, never downplaying any of them. Nagumo and Kasuga's problems and relationships with food are fundamentally opposing, but are also equal in that they are two sides of the same coin, and are treated as such. I nearly wept tears of joy at the balcony scene with Kasuga and Nagumo, which was absolutely beautifully handled.

The show delving into the pressures of family and society in regards to marriage hit extremely close to home in the best way possible. I really appreciated the realistic and relatable portrayal of people's views on marriage, in particular how the show delved into the relationships queer people have with marriage. The depiction of the common belief that queer relationships are less likely to last was also extremely familiar. My mother, who is more liberal than most Indians, once told me that an Indian lesbian she talked to said the problem with being gay in India is that, due to gay marriage not being legal, there is very little commitment in gay relationships. While I'm still slightly unsure of whether this was true, the point stands that this is a fairly prevalent belief amongst Asians who don't grab pitchforks and torches upon hearing the word gay. I really, really enjoyed how realistic this show is in this regard, because it made me feel so seen.

Kasuga and Nomoto's relationship was adorable. Watching them figure out their deeper feelings for one another, stumble into a confession and then figure out how to be in a relationship was delightful. I was extremely pleased that there was little to no miscommunication, and that both of them acted like mature adults with decent communication skills (what a surprise!). And finally, they had an excellent dynamic that felt very real.

Another thing I absolutely adored was how much focus this show gave to the food, to the point where it was practically the third lead. I mean, I'm sure that it's to be expected from a show called she loves to cook and she loves to eat, but I still found myself genuinely surprised by the amount of attention that was given to the food in the show. Whenever food was cooked and eaten, we were presented with generous shots of both, which, as a lover of both cooking and eating, I greatly appreciated.

This show is amazing in many areas; the food, Kasuga and Namoto's slowly blossoming relationship, and the fantastic explorations of relationships with food. But, what really stole the show for me was the supporting cast. Each character that they introduced was someone who was at a different place in their life, with a different perspective that they brought with them. And, most importantly, as I mentioned before, they were so kind. The interactions between most of the characters were incredibly wholesome, and the story did an amazing job of showing us as much about the supporting characters as it could in the limited screen time they had.

Not only was Sayama a consistent, reliable support and voice of reason to Namoto, she had her own issues that she regularly discussed with Namoto, because that's what friends do. Too often in QL do friends of the main characters seem to only exist to listen to their problems, provide (typically questionable) advice and further the plot. I loved how the story subtly showed us how marriage pressure affect Sayama as well, who seems to be searching for a boyfriend only because that is what society expects of her, which is likely the reason she cannot find anyone. Kasuga's coworker had a wonderful mini arc of her own, and despite nearly all of it occurring offscreen, what little we got was absolutely brilliant. The scene wherein she and Kasuga talked about having to care for elders has to be one of my favourites in the entire show. In this, she was probably one of the first elders to ever encourage Kasuga to act with her own wellbeing in mind. Similarly, Kasuga was likely one of the first people to tell her to do what makes her happy. The fact that they are, in way, speaking in place of each other's loved ones only makes this moment even more of a tearjerker. The final scene wherein we see her looking for a job was delightful; it was the perfect conclusion to her story. Yako perfectly embodied the older, experienced queer and I loved her so much. It's clear that she's not had an easy time being a lesbian and asexual, but she overcame the challenges and came out smiling. Although I do wish that the show had explored her asexuality more, and perhaps even expanded on her story, I also understand that time constraints wouldn't have allowed for it; and besides, there's a certain poignancy to the conclusion she got. Honestly though, I'd absolutely love to see a spinoff based on Yako's story, exploring the hurdles she's overcome and maybe even seeing her find love (season 3 anyone?). As for Nagumo, I don't think I even need to say anything. She had a wonderful arc that was extremely well written, and by the end of the story she had blossomed into a better version of herself. I also loved her friendship with Kasuga, how the two of them grew closer over time and helped each other with their respective problems. The wide range of characters helped emphasize the show's message of how everyone is different, and how it is these differences that make our world a better place. Even Nomoto's coworker is an example of this, as someone who seems to have little to no interest in romance, who doesn't hesitate to take up the overtime work so that the two girls can enjoy Valentine's Day. (I'm headcanoning him as aroace and you can pry this from my cold, dead hands).

Found family is a trope I adore, and this show has to be one of the most beautiful executions of this trope I've ever seen. Watching Namoto and Kasuga build a little family for themselves—one that accepts everyone as they are—was a very healing experience.

Another thing I really liked about this show is how realistically conflict was handled. On the most part, the show did not antagonize characters. The man who told Kasuga to drink beer is treated as simply an annoying person one stumbled across (a common occurrence), the cooks at the restaurant make an effort by offering different sizes of rice portions after serving Kasuga a smaller portion due to her gender and both Nomoto and Kasuga acknowledge that it was not the real estate agent's fault for mistaking them to be friends. Nomoto's mother is slightly overbearing and conservative, but she clearly cares for Nomoto, something that hit very close to hom. I appreciated that the show portrayed this so well. Most people are not evil and out to get you, they're just people living their own lives based upon the beliefs they've built up over the course of their life, and most of the time it is not worth our time to get worked up over it.

Meanwhile, Kasuga's father is perhaps the only actual antagonist of the story. I really liked how this plotline was handled because of how real it felt. The show plays out exactly according to the actual thought process someone would have in a situation like this, in particular an asian; that our parents are products of their time and that while we wouldn't condemn them for their actions, the same does not make us responsible for dealing with them either. Side note while I'm on this, I was also very happy that the show did not compare Nomoto and Kasuga's different methods of dealing with family, because not only were they in different situations, the show also seems to emphasize that neither choice is wrong, and that it is up to each individual to choose their own path. Going back to what I said about being glad that the show did not compare Kasuga and Nagumo's situation, this seems to develop into a theme for the show. The show is filled with different people with different lives and different perspectives, and never once does it try to compare any of them, which I find to be a beautiful message.

If there's any criticism I have of this show at all, it's only that it's probably not the best pick for a binge. The slow plot, laid-back feel and fact that each problem that arises is resolved in the same episode makes it an excellent candidate for a show you watch a few episodes of every day. Unfortunately, I placed myself in an 8 hour flight with the downloaded episodes being my only source of entertainment, so I did end up binging most of it. It's definitely not bad as a binge, I certainly enjoyed watching it, I simply feel like watching it slowly is a far better choice. All in all, this is a wonderful show. It's cozy and comforting, and it's very realistic and mature in a way that's quite refreshing. Watching it made me feel warm inside and I'm so glad I finally watched it.