#Hiroyuki Fujita

[saint-miroir]

To Heart Book Leaf丼 SPECIAL doujinshi-- JAM・SESSION. Illustrated by Miyasumi.

[ecargmura]

ToHeart Volume 1 Review

I’ve had the first volume of To Heart for a very long time. If I were to estimate, I guess I’ve had it since middle school, which would be around 2006. I’ve read it back then, but I haven’t reviewed it, so I decided to buy the other two volumes from Pango Books and decided to give this series a try!

What is To Heart about? It’s basically a manga adaptation of a visual novel. I’m not sure how popular it was back then, but I do remember To Heart references were often made in an anime called Lucky Star because one of the characters looked like Akari Kamigishi. It’s just a typical story about the MC, Hiroyuki and all the girls surrounding him as per usual of a harem game adaptation. Though, the story seems to particularly focus on one girl named Akari Kamigishi as she seems to be the ‘canon’ route for this story.

The story is just Hiroyuki’s misadventures with the girls he encounters while Akari is trying her best to get Hiroyuki to reciprocate her feelings. Along the way, the two meet the other girls who become friends with Akari and Hiroyuki. Basically, it’s just cute people doing cute things and there’s not much of a concrete story.

There are a ton of characters due to it being a visual novel adaptation. Plenty appear in this first volume alone. The MC is Hiroyuki Fujita who is the typical nice guy but he does have spunk and sass that causes girls to fall for him. There’s the heroine Akari Kamigishi who’s a bit shy and reserved and is the childhood friend love interest. There’s Masashi, the other childhood friend who’s just a side character as he’s a boy and that means he’s irrelevant in this kind of story. There’s Shiho, who’s a friend of the three childhood friends since middle school and she seems to be an aspiring news reporter as she likes giving out news and information to the characters. There’s Lemmy Miyauchi who likes martial arts and seems to be a foreigner. There’s Multi who’s a robot maid. There’s Serika Kurusugawa who’s very quiet and likes magic and her sister Ayaka who’s the total opposite. There’s also a butler named Sebastian who’s overprotective of Serika. There’s also a talking bear named Kuma. See how many characters there are?

It’s obvious that Akari is going to be endgame. Given that there are two more volumes of this story means that it’s going to take a while for her to confess as there will be more girls falling for Hiroyuki. While Akari is cute, I quite like Shiho and Serika a lot. I like Shiho because I relate to her in that I like spewing useless trivia and information to people. Serika is just adorable with her kuudere personality.

I did some research and To Heart is actually an adult visual novel meaning that there are intercourse scenes in the game. The manga makes the story family friendly. It also got a sequel in To Heart 2 that follows a completely different story with a new cast of characters and the actual sequel to the first game, Remember My Memories. There’s also an anime adaptation too. You know what this means? I have to find the sequel manga and watch the anime after this.

If you have heard of To Heart, can you tell me how popular it was? If you have heard of the franchise in general, what are your thoughts?

[okaeri-ossan]

just a little floor cleaning

[otakutale]

Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 3 First Cour - Promotional Video 2

https://wp.me/p4jiOt-dfk

The second promotional video for the first cour in Part 3 of the final season anime adaptation of Hajime Isayama’s Attack on…

#shingeki #AttackOnTitan #ShingekiNoKyojin #進撃の巨人

[aretheyqueer]

List of Canonically Trans/gnc Characters

My own list in this post is anime, manga, games mostly but in the spreadsheet you can add anything.

Following my tierlist of them, I realized I should make a public list so theyre not just kept in my head, since I spent quite a while finding these characters. If you want to watch/play anything with trans or gnc characters, you can use this list.

They range from good rep to bad, characters viewed as "traps" or not taken seriously to ones that the whole fandom understands is trans. I've added trigger warnings to the characters and fandoms I know can be triggering. I've also put certain names in bold to show that they're a main character, but i've only watched a few on this list so some are missing.

I would add trigger warnings for "bury your gays" and similar tropes, but I want to avoid spoilers. Maybe you can look it up first if you're worried. I've tried to exclude characters that are referred to as hermaphrodites.

The "crossdressers" section obviously includes some spoilers.

Enjoy :D

Transfem

Alice Arisuin from Chivalry of a Failed Knight (Prefers feminine name and terms but doesn't care too much).

Arachne from Angel Sanctuary

Arashi Narukami from Ensemble Stars

Astolfo from the Fate/Grand series

Leonardo Da Vinci from the Fate/Grand series (unsure)

Cassandra Igarashi from The Wicked + The Divine

Dahlia Carpenter from Carole & Tuesday

Victoria October from Batman

Elendira the Crimsonnail from Trigun Stampede

Giselle Gewelle from Bleach (The fandom is very transphobic)

Grell from Black Butler (Unnecessarily debated)

Hana from Tokyo Godfathers

Okasan from Tokyo Godfathers (Could be a drag queen)

Hibari Oozora from Stop!! Hibari-kun!

Isabella Yamamoto from Paradise Kiss

Kanamori from Heaven's Design Team

Kano Ienaga from Golden Kamuy

Kaoru Anesagi from IDOLiSH7

Kaoru Hanase from Tamako Market (Speculated to be a trans woman)

Kenji Hikiishi from My Hero Academia

Kikinojo from One Piece

Mariandale/Marian from Ixion Saga DT

Mizuki Akiyama from Project Sekai (Heavily implied)

Momoko from Shangri-La

Kikyou Motoki from Itazura Na Kiss

Nao from Skip and Loafer

Nathan Seymour from Tiger & Bunny

Perfuma from She-Ra and the Princesses of power

Petrichor from Saga

Ruka Urushibara from Steins;Gate (Transphobic fandom)

Saber from the Fate/Grand series

Stephanie from Majutsushi Orphen

Ushiyama from All Worlds Alliance

Hiroyuki Yoshida from Wandering Son

Shuuichi Nitori from Wandering Son

Yuujirou Shiratori from The Highschool Life of a Fudanshi

Transmasc

Hachiro from Gintama

Kite from Japan Sinks: 2020

Kusuo Saiki from The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (Turned himself into a boy when he was in the womb, otherwise never mentioned)

Ryo Watari from Boys Run the Riot

Shou Fujita from Stars Align (Very minor character)

Tooru Mutsuki from Tokyo Ghoul:re

Yamato from One Piece

Yawara Chatora from My Hero Academia

Yoshino Takatsuki from Wandering Son

Nonbinary

Anne Faulkner from Paradox Live

Asra from The Arcana

Alucard from Hellsing Ultimate (genderfluid)

Chaos from Hades

Berg Katze from Gatchaman Crowds (androgynous)

O. D. from Gatchaman Crowds

Daishikyou from Gintama

Chevalier D'Eon from Fate/Grand series

Enkidu/Lancer from Fate/Grand series (Inherently no gender/sex)

Double Trouble from She-Ra and the Princesses of power

Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist (can transform into any gender)

Francois from Dr. Stone

Halara Nightmare from Master Detective Archives: Rain Code

Hange from Attack on titan (Fandom mostly refers to them as female)

Ivankov Emporio from One Piece (i'm not sure what they identify as)

Juniper from Xenoblade Chronicles

Kaoruko Someya from Okane ga Nai (Okama)

Kimera from Kimera (nb or transfem)

Kyuubei Yagyuu (Born female, raised male so has an unconventional relationship with gender)

Vanitas of the Blue Moon from The Case Study of Vanitas

Milo Belladonna from Monster Prom

Mogumo from Love Me For Who I Am

Najimi Osana from Komi can't communicate (Unknown gender)

Nakuru Akizuki from Cardcaptor Sakura (Sexless, identifies as female)

Nico from Tokyo Ghoul (Okama)

Opera from Marimashita! Iruma-kun

Orochimaru from Naruto

Ryuuji Ayukawa from Blue Period (Unsure, can be gnc/transfem/nonbinary)

Satan from Devilman

Shion Zaiden from RWBY

Someone (yes thats their name) from Shimanami Tasogare

Xanthe Zhou from Prime Earth

Yuuta Asuka from Stars Align

Intersex

Asuka Ran from Devilman Lady

Luca Esposito from Asra Lost in Space (identifies as male)

Desmond from Carole & Tuesday (Became intersex due to universe stuff but is at peace with this)

Megumi Yoshikawa from Princess Princess (Raised male before she found out she was genetically female, decides to live as a girl)

Richard III from Requiem of the Rose King (Struggles with his intersexuality, feels his body and him are unloveable)

Yoite from Nabari no Ou (Lives as male but they're unsure of their gender)

Crossdressers

Aki from Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

Azumi Agonoske from Gintama

Buzam A. Calessa from Vandread

Ferris from Re:Zero (I've heard that the novel version is transfem)

Haruhi Fujioka from Ouran high school host club (Nonbinary coded)

Ranka/Ryouji Fujioka from Ouran high school host club (Drag queen)

Hatsuka Suzushiro from Call of the Night

Hazumu Osaragi from Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl

Kurako from Kuragehime

Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4 (The reveal can be triggering)

Chihiro Fujisaki from Danganronpa (The reveal can be very triggering - I recommend looking it up first if you're worried.)

Nuriko from Fushigi Yuugi (Unsure)

Rui Ninomiya from Gatchaman (May be transfem)

Cis characters that are gnc

Haruka Tenou from Sailor Moon

Kaoru Orihara from Oniisama e... (not sure what gender)

Kashima Yuu from Monthly Girl's Nozaki-kun

Complicated

Angela from Black Butler (Changes form)

Berg Katse from Gatchaman (Changes form)

Fushi from To Your Eternity (Can change into female but presents masc)

Ginshu from Amatsuki (Raised male, turned genderless, dressed feminine. Idk their gender identity)

Inazuma from One Piece (Can present as both male and female, okama)

Izana Shinatose from Knights of Sidonia (Genderless to female due to universe rules)

Kou Seiya from Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars (Has a male and female form, I think)

Mahiro Oyama from Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister! (Was turned into a girl against his will)

Mermaid Sisters from Carole & Tuesday (I don't know, man...)

Natsuru Senou from Kämpfer (Transformed into a woman)

Shi Qingxuan from Heaven Officials Blessing (Can transform)

Ranma Saotome from Ranma (Changes between them)

Hinata Tachibana from Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout (Gets transformed into a girl, goes on a quest to get their original body back)

--------

If you see anyone missing, feel free to let me know if I should add them. Input on who is a main character, triggering themes and offensive characters can be commented or sent to me.

[demifiendrsa]

PLUTO | Official Teaser

PLUTO will stream on Netflix worldwide on October 26, 2023. The anime will consist of eight 1-hour long episodes.

Cast additions

Hiroki Yasumoto as Mont

Koichi Yamadera as North No. 2

Hidenobu Kiuchi as Brando

Rikiya Koyama as Hercules

Mamoru Miyano as Epsilon

Toshihiko Seki as Pluto

Previously announced cast members

Shinshū Fuji as Gesicht

Yōko Hikasa as Atom

Minori Suzuki as Uran

Staff

Director: Toshio Kawaguchi

Storyboard: Hiroyuki Okiura (Episode 1)

Music: Yūgo Kanno

Original Creator: Naoki Urasawa, Osamu Tezuka

Character Design/Supervising Animation Director: Shigeru Fujita

Art Director: Chikako Shibata

Animation Director: Kazunori Aoki, Itaru Saito

Sound Director: Masafumi Mima

CGI Director: Takahiro Miyata

Director of Photography: Mitsuhiro Sato

Executive Producer: Masao Maruyama, Taro Maki, Yuji Yamano

Creative Advisor: Naoki Urasawa

Animation Production: Studio M2

Production Producer: GENCO

[anotherfandom]

Shounen Sunday Urusei Yatsura Illustrations

I did this more for me, but it took forever so I'm gonna post it here.

Asayama Wakabi (Last Karte) Gosho Aoyama (Detective Conan) Tsukasa Abe (Frieren: Beyond Journey's End) Takeru Atsumi (Chiisai Boku no Haru) Chigusa Ichihara (Akatsuki Jihen) Takahiro Arai (Te no Geka)

Kusakabe Yuuhei (Shiroyama to Mita-san) Oda Tomohito (Komi Can't Communicate) Koji Kumeta (Kakushigoto: My Dad's Secret Ambition) Kagiji Kumanomata (Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle) Aiko Koyama (Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san) Kotoyama (Call of the Night)

Atsushi Namikiri (Red Blue) Hajime Saeki (Sternbild no Toorimichi) Kenjiro Hata (Fly Me to the Moon) Hikaru Mikaido (Eulen Spiegel, art) Boichi (Dr. Stone, art) Aya Hirakawa (Kunisaki Izumo no Jijō)

Takuya Mitsuda (Major) Shun Matsuena (Kimi wa 008) Yutaka (Gifu no Prism) Yanamoto Mitsuharu (Ryuu to Ichigo) Watari (Tatari) Yuji Yokoyama (Tokachi Hitoribocchi Nōen)

Mitsuru Adachi (Mix) Kazuhiro Fujita (Ushio & Tora) Takashi Shiina (Yashahime) Hiromu Arakawa (Silver Spoon, also Fullmetal Alchemist) Hiroyuki Nishimori (Kanakana)

Paru Itagaki (Beastars) Eiichiro Oda (One Piece) Hideaki Sorachi (Gintama) Keisuke Itagaki (Grappler Baki)

[saotome-michi]

Today is the 4th anniversary of the Kyoto Animation Arson Attack, which killed 36 people and injured 33. Please spare a moment to think about the victims today.

Yasuhiro Takemoto, 47 (director of Lucky Star, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Hyouka)

Futoshi Nishiya, 37 (character designer and chief animation director on the Free! franchise, A Silent Voice, Liz and the Blue Bird; animation director on The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009), Kanon)

Yoshiji Kigami, 61 (mentor of Kyoto Animation; worked as a storyboard artist, unit director and animator on most Kyoto Animation works; key animator on Akira, Grave of the Fireflies, Space Adventure Cobra)

Junichi Uda, 34 (key animator on Hyouka and Nichijou — My Ordinary Life)

Sachie Tsuda, 41 (finish animation on Free! — Iwatobi Swim Club, Pokémon 3: The Movie: Entei — Spell of the Unown, Hyouka)

Mikiko Watanabe, 35 (art director on Amagi Brilliant Park, Beyond the Boundary; background artist on many Kyoto Animation productions)

Yuki Omura, 23 (new hire at the studio, no credits yet)

Yuka Kasama, 22 (new hire at the studio, no credits yet)

Ami Kuriki, 30 (key animator on Liz and the Blue Bird, Violet Evergarden, Myriad Colors Phantom World)

Keisuke Yokota, 34 (production manager over many Kyoto Animation works)

Nami Iwasaki, 31 (key animator on many of KyoAni's works such as K-On, Suzumiya Haruhi)

Atsushi Ishida, 31 (in-between animation on many KyoAni's works)

Norie Oto, 26 (Finish Animation)

Megumu Ono, 21 (new hire, no credits)

Yumi Kaneo, 22 (new hire, no credits)

Seiya Kawaguchi, 27 (in-between animation for Violet Evergarden the Movie and Sound! Euphonium the Movie)

Sumire Kusano, 32 (key animation for Liz and the Blue Bird, etc)

Aya Sato, 43 (in-between animation for many KyoAni works)

Kota Sato, 28 (animator on Free S2, Sound! Euphonium, Violet Evergarden)

Sana Suzuki, 30 (key animator for many of KyoAni's works)

Hiroyuki Takahashi, 48

Miho Takechi, 25

Tomoka Tokimori, 22

Maiko Nishikawa, 29

Takahisa Fujita, 27

Kana Matsuura, 24

Tatsunari Maruko, 31

Atsushi Miyaji, 32

Yuko Myoken, 29

Shiho Morisaki, 27

Sayaka Watanabe, 27

Chitose Murayama, 49

Kojiro Matsumoto, 25

[tokusongs]

"Under the Aurora", from Garo: Beast of the White Night (2006). Performed by Garo Project (composed of Garo/Saejima Kouga (Konishi Ryusei), Zero/Suzumura Rei (Fujita Ray), Mitsuki Kaoru (Hijii Mika), Kiba/Barago (Kyomoto Masaki), and Garo/Saejima Taiga (Watanabe Hiroyuki)).

[geidaicomposition]

Campus Concert 2023

Dates: Friday, November 15 & Tuesday, November 19, 2024 14:00 - 

Venue: Sogakudo Concert Hall 

Program: 

Friday, November 15 − Day 1 −

1. Hironori Shimada: Flutter Echo II

Cond: Shuta Sakuyama　Fl: Shiho Inoue　Fl: Ayumi Nishitani　Cl: Kanae Kuriyama　Cl: Kyoka Terasaki　Tp: Kosuke Iga　Tp: Nikita Sunaga　Perc: Kaoru Tajima　Perc: Ryo Saito　Hrp: Moemi Kokado Vn: Momo Hasegawa　Vn: Yukiko Okubo　Vla: Tamaki Asano　Vla: Nazuna Hoashi　Vc: Koga Yano　Vc: Takuma Kajihara　Cb: Fumina Numata　Cb: Ikumi Maruchi

2. Kanoko Gotoh: Meow-awoo for string quartet

Vn1: Sayuri Nakagawa　Vn2: Mana Ishizuka Vla: Ema Yamaguchi Vc: Yui Miyazawa

3. Yamato Inoue: Humpback Whale

Cl: Rio Ishida　Bsn: Yuuna Yamagata Perc: Kaoru Tajima　Vn: Sayuri Nakagawa　Vc: Mone Tanikawa

4. Hanako Daigobo: HIBIYA for He and 5 players

Ten: Yusei Sugesawa　Fl: Maya Furukawa　Tp: Kosuke Iga　Pf: Rokka Hashimoto　Perc: Tomoki Murata　Cb: Lucas Scott

5. Kota Fukumoto: To Melt Together

Cond: Hiroki Okazaki　Vc: Mone Tanikawa　Ryuteki: Naomi Minami　Ryuteki: Nobuhiro Goto　Ryuteki: Hirotaka Kumaido　Sho: Fusayoshi Aoki　Sho: Ayako Kawakami　Sho: Kota Fukumoto　Hichiriki: Miyoko Abe

Tuesday, November 19 − Day 2 −

1. Yota Nakamura: Entropy imitation / Yakiniku pool

Performer (fem.) Erina Kitami　Performer (mal.) Kaito Fujita　Perc: Mana Matsusita　Pf: Yui Amano　Vn: Fumika Sato　Vla: Yoshitsugu Yamamoto　Vc: Mone Tanikawa　Cb: Kotaro Kuwabara

2. Rina Komatsu: Not one person, not everyone

Cond: Shinnosuke Ito　B.Cl: Rio Ishida　Vc: Mone Tanikawa　Perc: Mei Murase　Hrp: Marie Mikawa

3. Tatsuyuki Konuma: Nemo for contrabass flute, harpsichord, and six players （the group of bass instruments, piano and harp）

Cond: Hiroyuki Nishimura　Cb.Fl: Kaisei Oshima　Cemb: Charissa Witmer　Cb.Cl: Chimari Uchiyama　Bsn(C.Bsn): Yui Kaji　Trb: Reo Furuichi　Cb: Kotaro Kuwabara　Pf: Hinako Saeki　Hrp: Moe Nakata

4. Takahiro Shimamura: Hommage à l'imprimerie pour violon, clarinette et piano

Vn: Reika Shimizu　Cl: Rio Ishida　Pf: Takahiro Shimamura

5. Rokka Hashimoto: "Butterflies"

Cond: Shinnosuke Ito　Mezzo sop: Hitoha Shimoda　Counter Ten: Hirotaka Hasegawa　Cl(B.Cl): Rio Ishida　Perc: Tomoki Murata

[prettyseriesbrasil]

Himitsu no AiPri: Títulos e sinopses dos episódios 15 ao 18

Episódio 15: Objetivo: Ganhar o Grand Prix! As estrelas do AiPri, Ruby=Lazuli, anunciam que será realizado o "2º AiPri Grand Prix". Himari Aozora e Mitsuki Hoshikawa decidem participar como uma dupla e prometem vencer, para conseguir isso elas começam a treinar duro. No entanto, um dia, Himari acaba dormindo demais. Mitsuki, que havia planejado o treinamento especial, fica brava porque Himari estragou tudo. No final, Mitsuki se irrita com Himari, pois ela não pede desculpas e nem acha que fez algo de errado. A Himari responde dizendo: "Não precisa ficar tão brava!" e, antes do Grand Prix, as duas acabam brigando. ◆Roteiro: Yumi Suzumori | Storyboard: Mea Naitou

Episódio 16: Himari, Mitsuki e Tsumugi Durante o 2º AiPri Grand Prix, Mitsuki diz a Himari que a dupla delas está se separando. Quando a Tsumugi descobre que as duas brigaram, ela vai falar com a Mitsuki para tentar reconciliá-las. Mitsuki diz: "Há momentos em que a Himari é tão egoísta que eu não consigo lidar com ela", mas decide encará-la adequadamente e se desculpar. Tsumugi vai ver Himari para contar sobre os sentimentos da Mitsuki. Tsumugi pretende reconciliar a amizade delas, mas acaba dizendo que a Mitsuki disse: "A Himari é egoísta". Como resultado, a relação entre Himari e Mitsuki piora ainda mais. Será que as duas conseguirão se reconciliar antes da apresentação ao vivo? ◆Roteiro: Yumi Suzumori | Storyboard: Hiroyuki Fukushima

Episódio 17: O Segredo das AISMIRIN Ultimamente, a dupla AISMIRIN de Airi Mitsuba e Rinrin Shinomiya não têm feito nenhum show. Como sua popularidade está diminuindo, as duas decidem que a próxima apresentação será o "último show". Embora o grupo ainda tenha a atenção dos PriFriends, Airi quer aposentar a unidade enquanto ela ainda é popular. Quando a Sakura Ichijouji e a Tamaki Nikaidou descobrem isso, elas provocam as duas dizendo: "É uma pena. Nós nunca vimos vocês fazerem um Bazzlume Change." Sentindo-se frustradas, Airi e Rinrin começam a treinar, mas não conseguem realizar o Buzzlume Change. Elas percebem que, se continuar assim, a chance de se despedirem com sucesso é praticamente nula. ◆Roteiro: Nanto Teranishi | Storyboard: Seiki Daichuu

Episódio 18: O Exame de Graduação da Himari No último dia do primeiro semestre, Himari é chamada pelo conselho estudantil e é informada de que "está na hora de se graduar da produção do conselho estudantil". No entanto, isso depende dela passar no exame final. Himari tem permissão para fazer o teste com a Mitsuki e a Tsumugi, mas para passar, elas precisam fazer uma apresentação ainda mais incrível do que a do 2º AiPri Grand Prix. As três pensam em que tipo de apresentação fazer e decidem o nome do grupo. ◆Roteiro: Gigaemon Ichikawa | Storyboard: Kentarou Fujita

[toku-explained]

The Saejima Era 1: SAEJIMA KOUGA

The original era of GARO, encompassing all media released from 2005-2013

GARO (2005-2006, HD Rebroadcast 2016), 25 episodes + 1 Gaiden episode

Painter MITSUKI KAORU, haunted by dreams of a picture book her father created and being saved from monsters by a golden wolf, has her life turn upside down when she is again saved by this golden wolf. SAEJIMA KOUGA, the Golden Knight GARO, ponders what to do about KAORU, who he should have mercy killed after she was stained with Horror Blood, and finds himself troubled further by encounters with SUZUMURA REI, the Silver Fang Knight, who has a grudge against the Golden Knight for unknown reasons.

OP: THEME OF GARO, GARO ~Saviour in the Dark~ (JAM Project, which includes Zaruba VA Kageyama Hironobu)

ED: GARO ~Boku ga ai o tsutaete yuku~, Boku was made koi wo shite ka. (Both originally by Ryuzaki Karune across Kiyomoto Masaki, both later covered by unit GARO Project, consisting of Kiyomoto, Kouga actor Konishi Ryosei, Kaoru actor Hijii Mika, Rei actor Fujita Ray, and Taiga actor Watanabe Hiroyuki.

JAM Project also created the song FENCER of GOLD for the series.

A PS2 Fighting Game, Golden Knight GARO, was produced featuring the Knights and a selection of Horrors from the series.

GARO Special Byakuya no Maju (2006, TVSP, 2 parts)

A follow-up to the original series, KOUGA is called to KANTAI to save an old friend, just as REI is also called there to assist local knight YAMAGATANA TSUBASA, the Midnight Sun Knight DAN, in preparing for a ceremony to prevent the HORROR LEGULES from returning.

ED: Aurora wo Shita de (GARO Project)

GARO Project also produced the romantic ballad Akai Bara.

In the period immediately after the original series, GARO was limited for some time to prose media.

Makai Knight Retsuden: Hagane no Houkou

A diorama story, a certain man tells a certain boy about the history of the Makai Order as bedtime stories.

GARO: Ankoku Makai Kishi Gaiden

A short story collection focusing on various characters from the series thus far, developing more the concept of Nameless Makai Knights. Some aspects of backstory would be retconned.

GARO Yoseki no Wana

A story taking place after the events of Byakuya no Maju. After a few strange encounters, events come to a head at the Sabbac, a tournament to find the strongest Knight beside the Golden Knight, with the appearance of the Scorching Flame Knight YAIBA.

In 2014 a 3-part manga adaptation of the first episode was produced.

CR GARO (2008)

The original Pachinko Machine, developers Sansei R&D are key sponsors of the franchise. Incorporating elements of the franchise thus far, and with something of an original story, and debuted the tradition of incorporating original battles.

Includes the original track FLY by Dustz (Fujita Ray's band)

Guide to GARO: Reintroduction

Approximately 4 years ago, I initiated a series of posts introducing every aspect of the GARO Franchise (all under the GARO tag here) and have endeavoured to keep these up over the years over some 30-40 posts. However, the first major media development since then has recently finished, and while I have already covered it, I felt updating the Introductory post was prudent, and will cover the basics and breakdown the franchise.

The Basics

"Where there is light, shadows lurk and fear reigns. But by the blade of Knights, mankind was given hope."

In the world of GARO exists HORRORS, demonic entities from the Makai Realm, which consume humans, and can possess those who do all to darkness. When possessing a human a Horror can only be identified by the reaction of it's eyes to a Madou Flame. The only thing stopping the Horrors are the Makai Order.

The greatest opposition comes in the for of the Makai Knights, warriors who fight with weapons and magical, wolf-shaped armour made of mystical Soul Metal, the armour summoned by creating circles of light with their weapons which the armour emerges from. The most revered, and commonly considered the strongest Knight is the Golden Knight GARO. While the Knights focused on in a series are normally titles Knights with a unique armour, many Knights are without title and possess a generic armour. An Armour and Title will typically be passed down from father to son, or master to student. Due either to a law or some other factor, women may not be Makai Knights

The other main opponents to the Horrors are the Makai Priests, who rely on spells either using their Madou Brushes or other magical items. Due to lacking armour, in combat Makai Priests may sometimes have to rely on magical familiars, or specialised Madou Tools created by subjugating Horrors.

Some titled Makai Knights are partnered with special Madougu, sentient jewelry acting as avatars for benign Horrors to communicate with a Makai Knight they are contracted to, offering insights on the Horrors they fight or helping detect their activities, GARO's eternal partner is the Madou Ring, Zaruba, the only character to have definitively appeared in live action and animation. The prevalence of Madougu partners varies wildly by era, being almost universal among titled Titles Knights at some points, and virtually unheard of in others.

Certain Makai Knights can, after sealing 100 Horrors, be given a challenge the completion of which allows them the use of a Madou Horse associates with their armour.

Dependent on the era, Makai Order members act in their own volition, under the guidance in senior Makai Priests, or under the auspices of Watchdogs who oversee activity within a territory.

A common but not universal feature of the franchise are Dark Makai Knights, who have fallen to darkness in some way. This has been done in so many different ways I won't go into it. Dark Makai Priests have also appeared, but are less common. Another common feature is acquiring a special transformation for the final battle that is typically seen as a one-off.

Rather than list every entry in release order, I will be breaking my introductions into eras, some of which can be further divided. In essence though, there are 2 distinct eras, plus a few extra, and the anime.

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ToHeart Volume 3 + Final Thoughts Review On My Blog

The review for the final volume of ToHeart is on my blog alongside my final thoughts.

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To Heart characters from the LEAF-FIGHT TCG

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My Review of To Heart

How did I get into this anime? I have been curious about this anime for a straight-up decade now and the randomizer decided to bless me with something not incest. Thank you Arceus!

Since she was young, Akari Kamigishi has been best friends with Hiroyuki Fujita. Because of kind acts he did for her as a child, Akari has stayed by Hiroyuki’s side. Now that they’re both in high school, something has changed in Akari and it feels more like she’s falling for her childhood friend. Will Akari find happiness with her best friend or will she end up friend-zoned?

And because this is a harem, there are quite a few girls hanging around Hiroyuki throughout the two seasons. Just to name a few, we have the brash friend, Shiho. Then there’s the tomboy type, Aoi. The very silent type, Serika! And then there’s the robotic maid, Multi. Yes, you read right. A robot! This is Japan after all! Oh yeah, there’s also the class rep, an actual American girl, and a quiet girl with supernatural powers.

Akari, girl, you need to step up your game if you’re up against all these chicks!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Before I discuss all that, let’s go down the ugly story about To Heart for fans in the U.S. The first season (and only the first season) was dubbed by RightStuf (at least I’m certain about that). Everything else wound up undubbed and even unlicensed. To Heart was kind of left in the dust due to what happened when the first season was supposed to release in the U.S. A lot of damaged material was the culprit and this came during the time when animation was transitioning from animating using cells to going digital. So to sum that up, the anime debuted in Japan around 1999, Rightstuf licensed To Heart in 2004 with a release in 2005, and the actual release was delayed to 2007. And in back-in-those-days times, that’s pretty fucking long. I can see why they didn’t want to bother with this series after it took all that trouble to remaster a series many were calling only “OKAY”.

Now then, on with the good stuff! I went in thinking that this was a Geneon reject, but was blown out of my ass to hear voices from New York! Lisa Ortiz, Jessica Calvello, Veronica Taylor, Wayne Grayson, and my personal favorite (not who you’re thinking), Carol Jacobanis! Yeah, surprisingly I didn’t hear Ted Lewis here. But Jacobanis is my second favorite in the NYAV group. I am in nostalgia heaven! Yes folks, these were the same people to give life to many characters from Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Berserk, His and Her Circumstances, Bakuman, Gravitation…OH, gambled and lost! Well, you get my meaning! Thankfully this dub wasn’t as horrific as Gravitation (despite Hiroyuki’s voice actor is well-known for something from that particular anime). Here’s what you might recognize these folks from!

JAPANESE CAST: *Akari is played by Ayako Kawasumi (known for Ursula on Pokemon DP, Saber on Fate/Zero, Izumi on Beyond the Boundary, Aoki on Bakuman, Laura on Index, Yoshida on Shakugan no Shana, and Nodame on Nodame Cantabile)

*Hiroyuki is played by Kazuya Ichijo (known for Hoteye on Fairy Tail and Zafila on Nanoha)

*Shiho is played by Chieko Higuchi (known for Tomo on Azumanga Daioh)

*Multi is played by Yui Horie (known for Hanekawa on Monogatari, Tohru on Fruits Basket, Hanyuu on Higurashi, Minorin on Toradora, Charla on Fairy Tail, Chie on Persona 4, Maria on Umineko, and Riki on Little Busters)

ENGLISH CAST: *Akari is played by Debora Rabbai (known for Mika from Gravitation, Rika on His and Her Circumstances, Leina on Queen’s Blade, and Boogiepop [original])

*Hiroyuki is played by Rich McNanna (known for Jack Walker on Pokemon Movie 9 and Shuuichi on Gravitation)

*Shiho is played by Jessica Calvello (known for Prima on Pokemon, Hange on Attack on Titan, Excel on Excel Saga, Kanako on Maria Holic, Tsukino on His and Her Circumstances, and Aika on Aria the Animation)

*Multi is played by Tara Sands (known for Richie on Pokemon, Soujirou on Rurouni Kenshin, Mokuba on YGO, Badiane on Sailor Moon SuperS movie, Tori on Pokemon Movie ~ Deoxys, and Filia on Slayers Try)

SHIPPING: So remind me what genre this anime is!

HAREM!

We’re watching a harem! But it’s more slice of life than anything romantic. There are a lot of love interests for Hiroyuki throughout the series. It’s just that it doesn’t develop as much as one might think (except for maybe Akari) in season one.

And it’s so easy to think that Hiroyuki is the object of every one of these ladies’ desire. Serika waits for him to come to the club room. Aoi finds him helpful, as does Tomoko and Lemmy. Multi got attached to Hiroyuki’s headpats. As for Akari, she’s got quite the teddy bear collection because of Hiroyuki. After watching all of season one where Hiroyuki is hanging with all of these ladies individually, I thought there would be a moment of jealousy from one or more of these girls. Much to my surprise, that was not the case. It didn’t go down any of those bad-end routes you’d see with things like Kanon, Clannad, or God-forbid, School Days!

But then season two happened…

Ooh boy! First of all, Hiroyuki ended up getting his first confession of love from the most unlikely person ever. Kotone wasn’t even a contender in the first season as she had other issues. In fact, didn’t she have feelings for Masashi in season one? But halfway in the season, she gets ballsy and confesses to Hiroyuki. He rejects her and thankfully it didn’t get ugly (except Akari heard it and got jealous). Lemmy, I also thought wasn’t in play, but here we are! She was apparently childhood friends with Hiroyuki and brought it up when confessing her feelings. That unfortunately came at a bad time as he’s in a quarrel with Akari so he dismisses her.

And then there’s Akari! She’s been able to put on a smile and kind of be a wall-flower whenever Hiroyuki is doing something with one of the other girls. And most of the season, we see him mostly with Aoi and Multi. Thankfully, Aoi never showed romantic interests in Hiroyuki. I much prefer Aoi x Kotone if you want to know the truth. But halfway into season two, jealousy came in like a drunkard in a bar. Akari was definitely pissed when she saw Kotone confess to Hiroyuki and would get jealous seeing Hiroyuki and Multi together so much.

Oh yeah, good old Multi! Yes Multi loves Hiroyuki. Now does Hiroyuki love Multi back? It’s complicated! Because of Multi, Hiroyuki ends up pursuing a career in robotics and as a result spends quite a bit of time with her (pissing Akari off in the process). But because Multi is kind of a malfunctioning robot, who the hell knows if she’ll even remember being with Hiroyuki.

Now are there other boys interested in any of these other girls? The only other boy that has any prominent screen time is Masashi. It’s just that after season one, he’s only seen every so often because he’s busy with soccer. But in season one, it almost felt like Kotone was admiring him from the distance. Don’t get excited because that was just a one-and-done sort of thing before Kotone set eyes on Hiroyuki. Actually, Masashi does reveal his fondness for Akari (at literally the worst possible time). But it seems like Masashi ends up with Shiho in the end. So…whatever!

Hiroyuki DOES end up with someone. Just go down to the end of season two to get that answer.

ENDING TO SEASON ONE: The last two episodes of this season consist around Shiho deciding that she wants to throw a Christmas party at an old hangout from her middle school days! But this isn’t the only nostalgic kick she feels. Shiho ends up remembering the first day she met Hiroyuki and after he took care of a wound she got, Shiho starts seeing Hiroyuki in a new light. Yeah, up until this point, Shiho and Hiroyuki’s relationship could be summed up by saying they both give each other shit every day. Then you have Akari, who is also feeling a little nostalgic with trying to see if Hiroyuki is able to remember things from their past. During the finale however, Akari does develop a cold and has to bail on the party planning.

When Shiho came to visit Akari, it kinda comes out that both girls do care for Hiroyuki. But because this isn’t one of those kinds of romance animes, it really doesn’t get ugly. It’s more of an “I acknowledge your feelings for the boy I like and good luck to you”. Shiho really didn’t do any confessing and we get a cute moment with Hiroyuki and Akari out in the snow.

Let’s see how Season Two holds up!

OMAKE: Nozomi Entertainment also released the six Omake specials that came with releases of the first season. Not dubbed! Just a couple of minute-long specials that range from cute to wildly absurd.

There were also Omake specials in season two that mostly consisted of all the girls fighting each other in almost a Street Fighter or Dragon Ball style.

REMEMBER MY MEMORIES: Five years after the first season aired, To Heart returns with a bit of a time-leap from where we left off last and some slightly improved(?) animation. And if you’re wondering why this season isn’t called “To Heart 2”, there is a series named that already. To Heart 2 is a spin-off of To Heart. It’s just that none of the characters from To Heart are in To Heart 2. ANYWAYS…

It has been a year or so from where we left off. Hiroyuki, Akari and the others are now in their senior year of high school and a lot has changed. Minor character, Kotone who mostly kept to herself in the first season, has found another role in hanging out with Aoi (the chick who’s into martial arts). Serika is still silent, but that blue hue to her hair is definitely not silent. What the hell is with this new animation? And finally, Multi apparently left a year ago and came back in the first episode of season two. Only now Multi has amnesia. A lot has changed since season one, especially when it comes to romance. Buckle up!

ENDING TO REMEMBER MY MEMORIES: Yeah, this season layed on the melodrama really thick compared to the previous season. All the ladies love Hiroyuki and at least half of them expressed those feelings to him. Akari had some conflicted feelings when it came to Hiroyuki. She loves him, but feels like he doesn’t return the feeling due to him hanging around a lot of other girls (especially Aoi and Multi).

Speaking of Multi, this girl has had such the rotunda of computer issues. My stroked-out Dell PC from 2005 had more working power than this girl! For starters, her memories are in danger of being wiped away at several points of the series. We even begin season two where Multi returns after over a year with full-blown amnesia. And since then, Multi had some sort of malfunction issue arise every other episode. This was showcased in the finale, where Multi gets so upset and runs away to the amusement park!

So, Hiroyuki and all of his friends come together to look for Multi. They thankfully found her at the amusement park (during closed hours) and broke into the main-frame to the Ferris wheel. And did I mention these people almost committed assault on police officers? Yeah, these kids are about to have a rap sheet the size of Texas by the end of the episode. Anyways, Hiroyuki, Akari, and Multi ride the ferris wheel and have a nice talk before Multi falls asleep for…

…Let’s say a long time…

Fast-forward to high school graduation! Hiroyuki and Akari seem to be doing a lot better. They’re both going to attend the same college and are pretty much on better terms than when Akari was having a jealousy, bitch-fit. At graduation, they both decided to give each other the Christmas gifts they never gave each other. Because Multi was having another malfunction, they never got to give the gifts. Hiroyuki got a hand-knit sweater. And Akari got a ring!

Hiroyuki wanted it and so he put a ring on it!

During the ED credits, we see the characters we’ve seen throughout these two seasons and what they ended up doing after high school. Lemmy is back in San Francisco. Aoi and Kotone are still doing the fighting matches. Rio is a primary school teacher. Serica is still into the occult. Tomoko is working for her father’s business. Masashi is becoming a big soccer star with Shiho working on journalism (and I think Shiho ends up romantically involved with Masashi).

And we close with Hiroyuki and Akari working with the HMX robots and surprise, surprise, Multi wakes up.

And before you ask, I did NOT watch To Heart 2. And I don’t intend to…at least not yet. I’m saving it for another day and putting it back on the randomizer list.

This anime was…just okay. Yeah, a lot of things were predictable, especially when it came to who the main male lead was going to end up with. Come on, we all know Akari was going to end up with Hiroyuki in the end. If this were the visual novel, I’m sure there were infinite numbers of routes Hiroyuki could take and there’d be a good end to all of the girls. But I’m mostly anime only here! In terms of recommendations, ehh…I feel like there were other better harems you could watch.

Only season one of To Heart got an official release in the U.S., but you might have to search around for any DVD copies as I’m pretty sure it’s currently out of print. Anything else from the series, you’ll have to do some heavy searching to watch all the way through.

Okay, next licensed limbo/unlicensed classics!

What’s that one play everyone and their mother has seen, but you haven’t?

*sighs* Hamilton.

No, the other one.

Les Miserable? Wait, this never got licensed?!

Okay! I guess I’m watching that. I hope I can do well at this review considering I never watched the play, read the book, or watched that film where Russell Crowe can’t sing.

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Retro-Grunge Mash up Highlights from Hiroyuki Fujita's Jieda Spring Summer 2021 collection