#How far are we through Tsubasa

[completeoveranalysis]

WELL we didn’t get forbidden Yuuko knowledge but we DID get the promise of FUTURE EGG 

GOD I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS EGG SO BADLY

THE EGG IS ALL

But with that we’ve officially reached the switching point! We’ll be jumping back over to Tsubasa next to see what’s happening over in suffering land. Last time we left it we were *looks it up* oh jesus christ that’s right everything was terrible. 

WELL. 

On that promising note, thank you to my wonderful incredible patrons who support this whole project!

I say this many times, but the support on Patreon makes all the difference in the world, and I physically wouldn’t have been able to continue this far without it. So thank you all! <3

First Tier of Patrons

Rien [Ri]

Sapphireswimming

Luke Wilson

Stupid Kitsune

Jordan Fredriksz

Shynerdycactus

CloudMenaceBird

Corinne Burr

Qatari Pekarsky

Fer E

MokoCharm

limitless_paper

And the Higher Tier of Patrons:

UNTIL NEXT TIME, KEEP THOSE EGGS READY. 

[brucebocchi]

Winter 2024 anime, Pt. 2: Mixed reactions, the bench, and the gems

hey y'all, this is also up on my ko-fi! it's free to read both here and there, but i'm struggling financially rn so i could appreciate if you'd throw a few bucks my way if you liked it! part 1 can be found here.

And we're back for part 2! Here's all the new stuff I finished this season, and one more I'll get back to later. As with before, these are sorted alphabetically within each category and are not ranked as of yet.

Also as before, the OP for each series is linked in the title. Check them all out if the header images aren't giving you the right feel for each show, but also check them out because most of them were actually pretty damn good this season.

[Solo Leveling OP voice] LET'S GET IT!

Mixed Bags:

Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!

Your standard, quasi-harem “easily flustered Regular Guy wins over hot girls just by being really nice” shonen romcom. I really don’t have much to say about this one other than if you’ve seen My Dress-Up Darling, you’ve basically seen this already. The only thing that really sets it apart is the setting.

Tsubasa (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki, in a FAR cry from his turn as Mahito in Jujutsu Kaisen) is a straight-laced Tokyoite whose family situation lands him in a small city in the frozen boonies of Hokkaido. While looking for the bus to his new house, he runs into a gyaru in the snowy wild, the underdressed, hilariously-proportioned Minami, and they hit it off. It turns out they go to the same school, there are other cute girls there who take a shine to him as well, it’s nothing new.

I ultimately don’t have much to say about Hokkaido Gals, but I do have a soft spot for series like this, and after reading ahead in the manga I felt obligated to see it through. This is all junk food, but it’s all stuff you’ve seen done better in other series. I also have a soft spot for gyaru in anime and manga, and while I do like Minami just fine, she isn’t Marin Kitagawa or Rumiko Manbagi. I don’t really have it in me to recommend this show to many, though, at least not until another season rolls around, if that ever happens. The manga genuinely does get a lot better as it goes on, but the really worthwhile stuff may not happen until a third season, and I just don’t see that happening. 

The manga has issues that the anime isn’t willing or able to solve, chief of which being the visuals. The art style of the manga is wildly inconsistent, and getting a mediocre animation team on this didn’t help matters at all. While the colors often pop nicely against the pretty, snowy backdrops, nobody looks all that great overall. The characters are recognizable, but they just plain don’t look great a lot of the time, nor do they look consistent from one cut to the next; I said that Minami’s proportions are hilarious, but just as hilarious is how wildly they vacillate from one scene to the next for the sake of trying to titillate the viewer.

My biggest takeaway from both the manga and anime was everything I learned about Hokkaido in the process, and if the series is taking subsidies from the island’s tourism bureau, then it’s a job well done. I want some goddamn jingisukan now. The OP is a great time, though. I’m shocked it took over a decade for us to get a proper “Uptown Funk” knockoff in an anime.

Metallic Rouge

I’ll be upfront in saying that this was my biggest disappointment of the season by far. This show had so much going for it, and what we got was… ugh.

There was an unbelievable amount of promise from the outset: This was Studio Bones’ commemorative 25th anniversary production, and coming from the studio that gave us all-timer adaptations like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Mob Psycho 100, not to mention later works from Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe (including the Cowboy Bebop movie), you can’t fault anyone for having high expectations. It looked to be a fitting production as well: Watanabe’s influence shines through immediately in the gorgeous, lived-in cyberpunk off-world locales and racially diverse cast. Action takes the form of dope robo-tokusatsu transformation fisticuffs, and it’s entirely in 2D animation to boot. The first couple of episodes were killer, too; everything looked and sounded amazing, and there were just enough plot threads teased out that I just had to see how they’d unravel.

It brings me no joy, then, to say that Metallic Rouge collapses into a jumbled mess. I don’t even want to bother talking about what happens in the show because I don’t fucking care anymore. There are few media experiences more sobering than to have it dawn on you over a span of several weeks that “oh… this isn’t actually all that good, is it?” Episode after episode piles on with sloppy lore, weak worldbuilding, warring factions whose names you immediately forget, pointless double-crosses, and the most predictable twist you’ve ever seen. For a while I was willing to accept the fact that I didn’t know what was going on half the time and expected things to become clearer, but now I’m not entirely sure the writers knew either. The stakes apparently kept rising and everything just kept getting more claustrophobic. I’m glad it’s over, if only because if I had to hear “Clair de Lune” one more fucking time, I was going to go ballistic. 

There are several attempts at emotional beats, as the story is rife with tragedy and sacrifice, and every single one lands with a wet thud. Nobody gets enough time, motivation, or characterization for any of these things to feel like they actually matter, and that’s especially a shame because the finale might have been able to stick the landing if the previous episodes were less dense and better paced. Emphasis on “almost,” though, because just before the season ends, we get the absolute most pointless fakeout I’ve seen since The Rise of Skywalker, which is the lowest point of comparison you can make for any work of sci-fi.

This is especially frustrating because on paper, there is so much to like here. Rouge and Naomi are likable-enough deuteragonists with a fun dynamic, and they’d make easy yuri bait in a better show. The characters are all pretty and uniquely designed across the board, and the overall aesthetic, almost a pastiche of late-90’s anime futurism, is undeniable. The toku suit designs are neat and several of the action scenes are gorgeous. The score and soundtrack are outstanding (except for the aforementioned Debussy indulgence). I have few complaints about how the show looks and sounds; the style is great! All of my issues lie with the substance.

Metallic Rouge may have had all the ingredients, but it just needed more time to cook; whether that would have been by doubling the episode count or by more carefully planning the pacing and trimming some of the fat from the lore, I’m still not sure. Probably both. It probably needed better writers, too. Maybe it just isn’t as smart as it acts and there was no way to satisfyingly resolve the clumsy civil rights allegories that bring it uncomfortably close to the likes of Detroit: Become Human. So all of the above, I guess. I tend to adore stories that involve artificially-intelligent beings developing their own wills and emotions and learning to cut their own strings (the likes of Blade Runner, Nier Automata, even a couple of character arcs in the Persona series), but this ain’t it. I’m not even mad anymore. I’m just disappointed.

If there are two positives that will stick with me, though, they would be the absolute banger of an OP and, of course, Naomi Orthmann herself (pictured above, left). Outstanding character design. I’m mildly obsessed. She deserved a better show.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer

This one isn’t even worth talking about, so here’s a brief synopsis, then I’ll add some commentary, and then we’ll all move on with our lives. 

Rentt, a beloved but mediocre adventurer in a fantasy town, gets lost in the mysterious labyrinth that all adventurers explore for personal gain, gets waxed by a dragon, and awakens as a shitty-looking CGI skeleton. He notices, though, that he’s able to level up better as a skeleton than he did as a human, and with the more monsters he defeats, the more he evolves into something closer to human. The rest isn’t really worth discussing.

If I’m being honest, I should’ve dropped this show much sooner. It looks kinda lousy most of the time, the plot (inasmuch as there even is one) is boring, character designs are forgettable (except for Rentt’s closest ally, Lorraine, holy hell) and it seems wholly uninterested in actually building its own setting. If it returns for a second season, I won’t be there, nor will I feel like I’m missing anything. Each episode felt like a chore to watch. I probably only saw it through because 1) I liked looking at Lorraine, I know what I’m about, and 2) I didn’t want to lump it in with the shows I did drop. The Unwanted Undead Adventurer isn’t as patently upsetting or frustrating as those three, but it just plain isn’t a very good show.

The Witch and the Beast

This show could have been so much more. I was drawn in by the gorgeous character designs and intriguing blend of Victorian gothic aesthetics and architecture with modern infrastructure, and very quickly disappointed by just about everything else. The first episode is an exceptional proof of concept, and almost everything that follows is an upsetting showcase of what could have been.

The story centers around Ashaf, a languid, chain-smoking agent of the governing church with a big-ass coffin strapped to his back, and his partner Guideau, a snarling hyena in a young woman’s body, as they investigate abuses of magic across the continent in search of nefarious witches. Guideau in particular has a bone to pick with witches, as the body they presently inhabit is the result of a witch’s curse, and they remain in furious pursuit of the one who cursed them. The curse can be temporarily undone by a kiss with a witch, allowing Guideau’s true body, a hulking brute confined to the coffin, to escape and wreak havoc. Meaning that on a few occasions we get a girl-on-girl kiss followed by a big dude wrecking shit. There’s also other investigations of serial killings, necromancy, and a cursed sword, and here’s hoping you like those, because the coffin breaks are few and far between.

This wasn’t great! By the third episode I had the sneaking suspicion that the animation talent on hand just wasn’t enough to support the aesthetic. While the character designs are exceptional, almost everyone looks awful in any shot that isn’t completely focused on them. This is especially true of Guideau, who looks so inconsistently off-model from one shot to the next that I’m still not entirely sure what they’re supposed to look like, and that’s kind of unforgivable when we’re talking about a main character. Everything looks too dim and too shiny at the same time, and action scenes look like shit more often than they look interesting. I can see so many flickers of something excellent (or at least really good-looking) in Witch and the Beast, and everything else that keeps those flickers from actually igniting makes it so much more frustrating to watch. Maybe just read the manga instead; the panels I've seen from it were uniformly gorgeous.

Actually, yeah, you should probably just read the manga, because for a season of anime, the pacing is atrocious too. It’s clearly trying to angle for a monster-of-the-week format, but each of these mini-arcs is a little too dense for a single episode, so multiple episodes are dedicated to these one-off curiosities, most of which do nothing to advance the plot or show off what the show does best. And if one of them isn’t particularly interesting, you’re saddled with it for the next two weeks like you've been stuck munching on a mealy apple. And I know you can only adapt so much in a 12-episode season, but the decision to end the season on a flashback arc and a lore dump was baffling. That’s not world-building, that’s lazy, and it made the show’s existing pacing issues feel that much more inane.

I feel like I was sold a false bill of goods. I can only imagine how the mangaka feels about this. Dull and uninspiring all around. What a waste.

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

Isekai, unassuming high school boy gains a unique power, impending war with the Demon Lord, yadda yadda yadda. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic isn’t anything new or special by any means, nor is it particularly well-animated or -paced, but at its best it’s silly and charming enough that it made a nice, brainless palate cleanser on Fridays.

Usato, your standard quiet high schooler, ends up walking home on a rainy evening with the popular, attractive student council president and VP, when an isekai portal happens. It turns out that it was just the seito-kai that was invited along for the ride (and President Suzune, as it turns out, is fucking psyched to get to be in an isekai), and Usato got caught along with them. When tested for magical aptitude, Suzune and VP Kazuki hit the jackpot with electric and light affinities, respectively, but things go awry when Usato’s reading turns up with healing magic. Terror strikes the palace as the intimidating dommy-mommy Captain Rose barges in to spirit Usato away from his new friends and into her squadron of goons to train him as a combat medic.

As character comedy goes, this one is actually pretty solid at times. Shogo Sakata is plenty of fun as the put-upon, lippy Usato (a much louder role than Chainsaw Man’s Aki Hayakawa), and Atsuko Tanaka (Major Kusanagi herself!) is a blast as the terrifying Rose, an uncompromising slave driver of a drill sergeant with a secret soft side. The dynamic between them is great, too; Usato is over Rose’s shit from the beginning and isn’t afraid to talk back to her, but before you know it, this transforms into friendly banter as Rose clearly takes a shine to Usato and knows he can handle any punishment she doles out. Suzune’s also a bunch of fun now that she’s broken away from having to be the competent, popular girl at school and gets to fully lean into being a complete dork.

Wrong Way also works decently as an isekai, because it makes an effort to stay rooted in high fantasy rather than fall back on JRPG mechanics, meaning there are no stat screens! It also avoids the trappings of wish-fulfillment isekai series by having Usato start out as a regular-ass guy; he’s not a Kirito type, just someone Rose sees as a rough gem in need of cutting. There are no cheat skills or OP weapons or anything, just a kid training every day to get stronger so he can protect the people close to him, and that’s the kind of anime protagonist you should want to be.

For better and for worse, I get serious mid-00s vibes from this one; watch the OP if you don’t believe me. Some of the colors pop uncannily in that early-digipaint-era way, and the animation is pretty middling; the most fluid animation we see is whenever Suzune is acting like a creep. Much like those mid-00s anime, though, Wrong Way may have benefited from being weekly (or twice as long) rather than seasonal. There’s a ton of planting with very little payoff, and it doesn’t feel like the actual scope of the story has even been addressed yet. We don’t even learn why the series has the name it does until someone literally says it aloud in the 11th episode. I may have to reevaluate this season after a possible second, if we ever get one, because this doesn’t stand too well on its own.

Of the anime in this “mixed bags” segment, I’d say I enjoyed Wrong Way the most, but it still had enough problems for me to keep it here. It’s not a particularly bad anime, but it’s not especially good either. I guess we can slot it into what Hazel refers to as “good mid.”

On Hold: 

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (three episodes watched)

Man, what a title. That was the main draw for this BL series, which on paper is basically a gay version of the Mel Gibson vehicle What Women Want. 

Adachi (a surname that will always make me laugh thanks to Persona 4), a gloomy salaryman, has hit the big 3-0 without getting any, and now he can somehow read anyone’s thoughts just by making physical contact with them. Just as he laments that this is his life now, he accidentally bumps into his handsome, popular coworker, Kurosawa, whom he learns has been harboring a massive crush on Adachi this whole time. Well dang, what now? Kurosawa’s a really nice, thoughtful dude, but Adachi’s never even thought about being with a man before! And isn’t there something wrong with already knowing this secret? How can he even go into the office and look Kurosawa in those big, handsome eyes… every single day…

What I’ve seen so far has been pretty solid, if not particularly well animated. The visuals are really my only gripe here; I just put it off for way too long and didn’t have it in me to finish it on time to actually get this thing written and published. Yaoi isn’t my forte, which feels like a shortcoming on my end as a fledgling bisexual, and I’ve already remarked on the solid LGBT representation this past season, so I do plan on hopping back on this one.

I gotta say, the co-leading voice actors put in serious work this season. Adachi is voiced by Chiaki Kobayashi, who continued his role as Stark in Frieren, returned to Mashle as Mash Burnedead, and contributed to Metallic Rouge’s cluttered cast as Noid. Kurosawa’s seiyuu, Ryota Suzuki (of whom I’ll always be a fan for his masterful turn as Yu Ishigami in Kaguya-sama), also held down leading roles in Bang Brave Bang Bravern and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer. They’ve been great in the few episodes of Cherry Magic! that I’ve seen so far, and they’ll be a huge part of what brings me back.

The Gems:

Bang Brave Bang Bravern

I feel like the mark of a perfectly audacious piece of media is in the moments where I find myself incredulously shouting “WHAT THE FUCK AM I WATCHING” at the screen, and Bravern made me do that at least once per episode. I have so many things to say about what makes this show great but all of it can be summed up as “it fucks so goddamn hard.”

A joint military exercise in Hawaii between Japanese and American mech pilots goes south as a sudden invasion by metalloid aliens portends certain doom for humanity. Just in the nick of time, though, a bombastic, autonomous mech named Bravern arrives from space and insists that ace pilot Isami Ao take his reins. Isami reluctantly agrees, and to his consternation, Bravern goes full tokusatsu on everyone’s asses, complete with fully-diegetic theme music, and keeps the threat at bay. With Bravern continuing to pester him to act as a pilot, Isami is forced to take up the mantle of a reluctant hero as everyone rallies around Bravern to save Earth. Tagging along is blond-haired, blue-eyed American pilot Lewis Smith, who gets to live out all of his Top Gun fantasies, right down to the latent homosexuality.

That last point isn’t a projection or anything: This show is legitimately gay as hell, and it rules. Bravern’s feelings towards Isami feel far more romantic than what you’d expect from a literal robot, and his description of how it felt to have Isami pilot him for the first time, as relayed to a grim-faced military council, is riddled with hilarious innuendo. Isami struggles not only with shouldering the burden of needing to be a hero to all of humanity, but also being beset on both sides by a loud, insistent mecha and a dewy-eyed gaijin, both of whom very well seem to want to get in his pants. Intricate rituals punctuate Isami and Lewis’ angsty relationship as these broad-shouldered, muscular men grow ever closer. It’s also worth reiterating that Isami is voiced by Ryota Suzuki, who also voiced Kurosawa in Cherry Magic!, and that may not have even been his gayest role this season. I’m not super well-versed in mecha as a genre, but I do know that there’s a lot of Warrior’s Bond-type stuff in these series, and Bravern lays it on thick. And hard.

This show looks killer, by the way. CGI implementation in 2D anime is still a touchy subject, but Bravern features some of the best I’ve ever seen. Simple cel-shading goes a long way to the point where, outside of some uncanny motion, Bravern himself feels perfectly blended into the hand-drawn animation. Mecha designs range from realistic military-style tech to otherworldly sentient robots, and battle sequences run the same gamut as the stakes rise. As goofy as all of the above may sound, it’s committed to being a grandiose, big-time mecha showcase.

This is as good as camp gets in anime; Bravern does for the mecha genre what Akiba Maid War did for yakuza film pastiche (I have also heard positive comparisons to Samurai Flamenco, which I’ll have to get on ASAP). It’s an excellent mecha show in its own right, and wildly hilarious to boot. Bravern himself is very genre-savvy and seemingly a bit of an otaku himself; he loves acting like a mecha hero, to everyone else’s chagrin. Several of the villains (also mechanical beings, voiced by an all-star seiyuu roster that includes Kenjiro Tsuda, the aforementioned Atsuko Tanaka, and Rie Kugimiya) are total dorks themselves. A CIA interrogator tries to waterboard a mecha at one point. Bravern is a deeply silly show, but its heart is planted as firmly on its sleeve as its tongue is in its cheek: For as wacky as it can get, the story still unfolds with a straight face and excellent emotional beats. 

This show also has the most unskippable ED of any anime since Chainsaw Man dropped a new one every week. I will not say what happens. You cannot predict what it is. Just watch it. One of the top YouTube comments on that video says “When I saw this ending after episode 2, I thought I was going crazy.” That’s a ringing endorsement.

Chained Soldier

On the heels of 100 Girlfriends completely rewiring my brain, I was raring for some more good old-fashioned anime trash. I was told that there would be plenty this season, but you can consult the “dropped” section to see how well that worked out for me. Chained Soldier came with some significant hype, and soon enough into the first episode I realized that I’d actually skimmed through this manga before (don’t ask why), so I was on board immediately. Now here’s some nice trashy fun.

The world is in peril thanks to creatures called Shuuki that can advance on our world via portals from another dimension. Women primarily lead the charge against these monsters, as this dimension produces a special fruit that can lend them (and not men) otherworldly powers to help them in the fight. Yuuki, a perfectly normal young man, ends up in grave danger as he stumbles into a portal, where he is saved by the beautiful Kyouka, a commander who is able to subjugate Shuuki at will and use them to fight others. In a bind, she asks Yuuki if she can subjugate him, which he agrees to by licking her finger and transforming into a monster himself, at her beck and call. Because of his utility in battle, Yuuki is enlisted into her squad of baddies (and also an 11-year-old), living in their home as a caretaker and answering directly to Kyouka as her “slave.”

I know. Hear me out.

I put “slave” in scare quotes because Chained Soldier fortunately isn’t going full Shield Hero on us; this arrangement has a give-and-take baked in. See, every time Yuuki completes his service, Kyouka (or whomever else takes advantage of this anomaly) is compelled to carry out whatever suitable “reward” springs from his unconscious, and this is where the ecchi kicks in. Sometimes it’s a kiss, and sometimes it’s something a little more; the reward corresponds to the length and intensity of Yuuki’s contributions to battle, so the heat can turn up in the form of, say, clothed face-sitting, a good scrubbing in the bath, or some nice, casual CBT. All of this is to say that “slave” is a bit of a buzzword here: It’s more of a dom/sub situationship with a lot of extra steps.

Yes, just about everything that isn’t an action setup is full-on harem trash, and Chained Soldier lays it on thick, right down to full-on nudity. Nothing about this show resembles high art, but I can’t help but admire such a high level of commitment to its aesthetic, including the sleaze. It fully commits to the bit and doesn’t even bother lampshading its own trashiness. Chained Soldier knows what it’s about, and I respect that. It also has the good sense not to sexualize the youngest girl, which is a point in its favor that I can’t award a couple other shows previously discussed.

And while this show is plenty fun, the action sequences often excellent, and the character designs usually delightful, there’s not actually a whole lot going on here. As I said with Mashle, I know that battle manga like this can take a minute to really get cooking, and as I said with Witch and the Beast, 12 episodes may not always be a sufficient runtime to adapt enough to break ground, but the debut season feels more like a proof of concept than anything else. That being said, Chained Soldier’s manga has a very effusive audience, and its praises don’t seem to entirely be about the boobs and butts, so I’ll wait patiently for the second season. I think it’s earned that much.

Delicious in Dungeon

This is the one I’m having the hardest time writing about because it so confidently and so completely speaks for itself that anything I could add would feel like scattering sawdust at the beach. Dungeon Meshi (I refuse to call it by its official English title) is a widely beloved manga among those who’ve read it, and for Studio Trigger to do an honest-to-goodness manga adaptation for the first time might as well be front page news among anime fans. 

The story follows Laios, the deeply weird human hero, as he delves back into a bizarre and mysterious dungeon to rescue his sister Falin from the belly of a dragon, along with his misfit party: The neurotic half-elven mage Marcille, the temperamental halfling rogue Chilchuck, and the dwarven warrior-slash-chef Senshi. The party is frequently low on supplies, so to survive the trip they’ll need to subsist on the most abundant resource in the dungeon: Monsters. Senshi’s aptitude in the kitchen helps ensure that everything is edible and sufficiently tasty, regardless of how nasty the monster it came from may have been. With monster obstructions out of the way and their bellies filled, our party delves deeper into the dungeon as the mysteries deepen in kind.

I love the character dynamics in this so goddamn much. Marcille and Chilchuck are frequently put off by the dubious monster food presented to them, but their consternation is worsened by the fact that Laios’ fascination with the monsters it came from annoys the shit out of them. I referred to him as “deeply weird,” but that doesn’t begin to describe his absolute galaxy brain, and I mean it as a term of endearment. Laios is deeply knowledgeable and curious about the fauna in the dungeon, and not just how they taste: He is vocally curious about how certain monster attacks may feel, sings along with siren songs, and even keeps a hardcover bestiary inside his breastplate. He’s one of those people you turn to if you have a question on a hyperspecific subject, but you have to be careful how you ask it or else you’re trapped for the next two hours. And I love him for it.

Even putting the comedy aside, there is a fascinating human element at play in Dungeon Meshi, and I can tell that that surface has barely even been scratched yet. Marcille is just as dogged in her pursuit of saving Falin as Laios is, maybe even moreso (remember what I keep saying about LGBT representation this season?). Chilchuck continues to convince himself that he’s only in the job for his own personal gain, but you can see that mask slipping. And I still wanna know what Senshi’s deal is. Even with the five major players I listed, there’s an increasingly deep roster surrounding them—showcasing a broad spectrum of races and ethnicities, both real and fantastical—each with their own histories and motivations, and I cannot wait to see how they play out and interact with one another. There seem to be much deeper themes at play here as well as we learn more about perceptions and grudges between differing races, oppositional magics, clashing ideologies, and the monetary incentives that drive both the dungeon’s exploration and its very existence. I’m here for it.

I’ve been holding off on reading the manga until the season is up in June (though I could crack any day), but I know a loving adaptation when I see one. Not that Trigger ever slacks off in the animation department, but they absolutely brought their A-game here. Everyone looks bouncy and cartoony in the way only Trigger can pull off while still looking as close as possible to Ryoko Kui’s source material (as far as I can tell). As with Frieren, the action sequences aren’t frequent, nor are they entirely what the show is about, but they look incredible every single time. And the food, of course, looks incredible, no matter how weird. This is practically a cooking anime and a fantasy dungeon anime at the same time, and both aspects are visually on point at all times.

I’m obviously speaking from my own bubble as one of the six people who still use Tumblr in 2024, but I rarely see new anime make a splash like this on social media every single week, and the ones that I do are usually the monster shonen hits like Chainsaw Man or Jujutsu Kaisen. Dungeon Meshi deserves the exposure and success it’s attained, and I’m excited to see it continue. I’d easily slot this right up there with Bravern as one of the best new anime of the season.

A Sign of Affection

I’ve seen a hell of a lot of shonen slice-of-life romances in the past year and change, so a nice fluffy shoujo like this was an excellent palate cleanser. There were a hell of a lot of Big Action Setpieces and panicky teens and grim dungeon crawlers this season, and at the end of the week I wanted to unwind with a bunch of pretty twenty-somethings falling in love with each other.

The show centers on Yuki, a young woman living with congenital hearing loss, making do at a public college after growing up at a school for the deaf. Though she’s able to get by with LINE messages and lip reading, she’s unprepared when a foreigner asks for help, but she’s saved by a handsome and mysterious young man named Itsuomi. He’s able to help out, and takes an interest in her when he realizes his fellow undergrad is deaf, and Yuki takes an interest in kind because he’s really goddamn hot. It turns out that he’s a polyglot and an avid world-traveler, but sign language is not in his purview. This mutual interest sparks the concern of her childhood friend, Oushi, one of the few people in her life who already use sign language, who wants to be sure that nothing untoward is happening. And it isn’t, because this is just a really lovely, low-stakes romance story.

This is pure, unfiltered shoujo at its best. Yuki’s internal monologue is peppered with flowery prose, and everything and everyone looks soft and beautiful. Fashionable, doe-eyed women and pillowy-lipped ikemen abound (seriously, holy shit, the lips on these boys) as the scope widens and the main love interests’ friends explore their own possible love stories. Itsuomi is very much of the “mysterious boy” archetype you’ll find in romance stories in this demographic, but he’s not hiding any sort of dark past like you’d typically expect; he’s just an interesting guy who keeps his personal life close to the vest. He’s a self-appointed world citizen who loves learning about how people of all cultures live their lives, and in Yuki he sees someone within his home turf who happens to live in her own world entirely. And it’s easy to see his forward behavior with Yuki as infantilizing at first (Oushi sure does, and I’ll get back to him in a second), but as they grow closer Itsuomi quickly becomes much more considerate of her boundaries and learns to accommodate her as he studies sign language and gestures that help ensure her comfort. This is a story about Yuki’s horizons broadening just as much as it is about Itsuomi wanting to be let into Yuki’s narrow world, and that sort of synergy makes for some exceptional romance.

A Sign of Affection deserves some credit for refusing to shy away from Yuki’s disability and making a point of depicting her world as one that does little to accommodate her. Very few people in her daily life ever bothered to learn sign language, she relies on a friend to take notes during lectures, and work is hard to come by. It’s an honest depiction that makes an effort not to be exploitative, which is a breath of fresh air. Not only that, but there’s some interesting meta-commentary in there: The only major conflict in the story stems from Oushi’s jealousy, and his reservations about Itsuomi possibly “taking advantage of” Yuki almost feel like he believes that he’s the only one who knows what’s best for her just because he’s done the bare minimum to accommodate her. He thinks he’s coming from a good place, but he winds up accidentally infantilizing her in exactly the way he thinks Itsuomi might. That’s a particularly interesting bit of irony!

I’ve seen enough shonen-oriented romcoms where an unassuming Regular Guy gets flustered as a way-too-casual girl pushes his buttons (hell, I’ve already reviewed two of those this season), so it’s nice to see the formula flipped for a shoujo as Yuki and her best friend Rin blush and squee over Itsuomi and his coworker Kyouya, respectively. A Sign of Affection isn’t afraid to get a little silly with it, either; plenty of these moments are punctuated by characters’ faces going low-detail or full chibi, and they are cute as shit every single time.

This one was just cozy as hell. If you’re into this sort of thing, swaddle yourself in it and bask.

Solo Leveling

I let this one collect dust after the third episode and didn’t pick it back up until the season was almost up, and honestly, I was kinda dreading it: The trailers didn’t look too promising, the show was slow to start, and it looked like yet another derivative JRPG-style dungeon crawler that managed to get popular. Turns out, nah, this show actually kinda fucks and the web novel series and webtoon it’s based on are popular for a reason. The story is nothing special, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a perfectly serviceable turn-your-brain-off action spectacle with a bit more lying beneath the surface.

In a modern-day South Korea where portals to mysterious dungeons open up and threaten the populace, those who can brave the dungeons, known as hunters, are an invaluable human resource. Once someone is assigned a grade as a hunter, they have that grade for life, barring some rare occurrences. Sung Jinwoo is at the lowest rung on that ladder as an E-rank, incapable of improvement, assigned the epithet “the weakest hunter of all mankind.” He mostly shows up to portal raids as a warm body to fill a quota, and one such job goes haywire as most of the raid party, Jinwoo included, is brutally slaughtered in an arcane secondary dungeon within a portal. He somehow wakes up in a hospital, unharmed, and able to access a digital menu before his eyes that exhorts him to do the One Punch Man workout every day, lest he incur punishment. He gets hilariously chadly in the span of a few days in the hospital, including an inexplicable haircut, and finds access to dungeons only he can enter and levels up within this new system.

This one gets off to a slow start and may have benefited from a longer premiere like Oshi no Ko or Frieren, but once the table is fully set, Solo Leveling really starts to cook. Jinwoo’s titular leveling process is a blast from one fight to the next, and as he moves to work in the dungeons that other hunters can access, it turns out he’s been training with the weights on. He’s suddenly fighting way above his pay grade, and after staving off attacks from hunters taking advantage of portals for nefarious ends, he is recruited by an ambitious corporate scion to make some real coin and establish an independent association of hunters.

While it can feel like there’s a whole bunch of table-setting between portal sequences, it’s some smart worldbuilding on Solo Leveling’s end to establish how portal hunting became a central pillar of this society, and doubly so how political and capitalist interests can leave a wide berth for corruption and bad actors. If there’s money to be made in hunting, of course people will find ways to make even more at the expense of others, both at the corporate and individual levels. There’s a lot of talk in there about “survival of the fittest” and “natural selection” and that… makes me nervous.

Those are terms that can be used to justify immoral actions in the name of money, sure, but Jinwoo also uses them to justify his own process. To what end is he constantly improving himself? Sure, he's doing what he can to provide for his younger sister and their ailing mother, but I see less and less humanity in him as this goes on. There are constant hints at something far more sinister at play than just a dude getting stronger for himself, not the least of which being “the system,” the UI that implores him to keep taking on these “quests.” Something, or someone, seems to be guiding him. Whenever another hunter turns on Jinwoo, of course his self-defense instincts kick in, but system pop-ups instruct him to defeat X number of hostiles like it’s a normal video game scenario. There’s something eerily depersonalized about these encounters, despite them being full-on mortal combat, that gives me serious Ender’s Game vibes. Consider me intrigued.

I’d heard that the Solo Leveling manhwa’s main draw was its visuals, and though I had my doubts early on, I'm sold now. This is a pretty solid presentation! Hiroyuki Sawano turned in yet another banger soundtrack to punctuate all the action setpieces, helping to stitch together a fairly complete tapestry. Said setpieces are exhilarating and almost impressively bloody, and while the animation is nothing impressive in the day-to-day, it goes absolutely batshit when the gloves come off. Movement is inhumanly fluid and the visuals can go into the same loose, psychedelic territories we’ve seen in the likes of Mob Psycho and the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen. If this is the new meta for shonen action, I’m not complaining.

By all rights, this is a pretty decent show, but if I’m being honest, this one just hasn’t stuck with me much. And that’s fine! Sometimes I just wanna see some nutty action stuff and move on with my day. Solo Leveling hits that spot perfectly, and I'll be right back there when it returns for its next season.

‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess

I was surprised to learn that the gag manga this is based on, with such a seemingly simple premise, has been running for well over 200 chapters and counting. As the anime progressed, I was far more pleasantly surprised to learn that it actually works.

In a standard anime fantasy world where the forces of good are fighting the demonic Hellhorde, an unnamed warrior princess and her talking enchanted sword are taken prisoner and subjected to torture as they’re squeezed for intel. Said “torture,” as the title’s scare quotes would suggest, is mildly unconventional, as the demon baddie inquisitor, aptly named Torture Tortura, attempts to ply the princess by presenting her with tantalizingly delicious-looking food that she can only partake in if she coughs up some info. Naturally, the princess caves every single time, but her intel is often inane and useless, so the “torture” continues. It’s not all food, though: The princess is soon held out of arm’s reach of adorable baby animals by a gyaru beastgirl, pampered into submission by a spa-loving giantess, and is faced with a tsundere vampire faildaughter, who… tries. 

And you’d think that would be it; the joke wears thin and you move onto something else. Before you realize it, though, something’s changed: The princess and her captors are quickly becoming friends. The premise almost feels perfunctory: These inquisitors are actual people just doing their jobs, and whatever happens after the princess’ myriad confessions is fair game. There’s no malice or animosity, even during the “torture” sessions themselves: Everyone will have a blast and grow closer as friends, and then the princess will voluntarily go back to her bedless cell. It’s like Sam and Ralph after they clock out, except they’re almost always off the clock. Everyone is genuinely looking out for each other in all directions, and the only thing that keeps the torture going is the need for a status quo to return to, even as it grows more elastic. If anything, Time for "Torture" is a good example of committing to the bit without having to necessarily rely on it.

The real irony in all of this is that it becomes increasingly apparent that the princess is having her needs met in captivity far better than she ever did back home. In her proud proclamations about how she’ll never cave to the temptations before her (shortly before she does just that), the princess often talks about her upbringing and her time as the head of an imperial legion, but these stories often betray her lack of friendship or any of the little things that make life worth living. Her life as royalty was one of isolation and deprivation, to the point where she finds more freedom and fulfillment as a prisoner. She truly lives in a society.

Hellholm, on the other hand, has a surprisingly healthy approach to things like work-life balance, food, and leisure, and its most valuable prisoner is no exception. The Hell-Lord himself is a surprising exemplar of this; for as much as he looks and talks like your standard terrifying JRPG demon king, he’s a surprisingly good dude! He looks after his family, employees, and even the captive princess as if they are all one and the same; he exhibits strong principles and an aversion to conflict, sees to his employees' needs and wants alike, and is a supportive, loving father to his unbelievably precious little daughter (who also serves as a “torturer,” to the princess’ delight). He’s also a big time anime dork, and even bonds with a knight attempting to rescue the princess over their shared otakudom before sending him off peacefully. As “villains” go, he’s top tier.

Time for "Torture" is nothing groundbreaking by any stretch, but it’s a cute, silly time and it plays with anime fantasy tropes in the same way a six-month-old German shepherd “plays” with a cheap stuffed toy. How long the premise holds up is entirely up to you, but I had a lot of fun with it. I have no idea how this ended up being one of the better shows this season, but I guess it just scratched the right itch for me.

[theelectronicstranger]

Ultimate X-Men #5 and #6 Discussion

          Ultimate X-Men #7 comes out today, so I thought I’d finish talking about the last two issues of the first arc of the series. If you have not read Ultimate X-Men #5 and #6 then please look away now because I will definitely be spoiling things for you.

          To make this discussion a bit easier to read and easier to write for me, I’m going to split this discussion into two halves: “The Villains/The Antagonists” and “This Universe’s X-Men”

The Villains/The Antagonists

The first thing I want to talk about is this page from Issue 6:

This page actually confirms that the person we’ve been seeing for the last few issues is in fact this universe’s version of the Shadow King. I actually kind of like that they revealed it this way because I don’t think that revealing that this guy was the Shadow King in such a big way would have made sense for this universe specially since this universe has no sense of who the Shadow King is and why he would be a threat. I also feel like for new readers they won’t really understand why this person might be a threat just from his name and I think Momoko in this first arc has done a really good job in showcasing why Kageyama/Shadow King is a threat without really giving us parallels or showing us who the Shadow King is in the main Marvel universe. I’m excited to learn more about this character and the weird cult that he seems to be mixed up in in the next arc of this series. We find out in issue 6 that Kageyama has some sort of obsession on Hisako and that’s why he’s been following and stalking her these past few issues:                       

It seems that Kageyama/Shadow King has some sort of infatuation with Hisako and has this idea of her that is very clear in his head. That’s why in issue #6, when Hisako is fighting against him, he starts to lose it:

The wording he uses on that second page “My Hisako--- doesn’t talk like that!!!” confirms for me that he does have some sort of infatuation/obsession with Hisako. I think this tracks for this version of Shadow King. If I’m just going by his design, he looks like a typical shut-in otaku that would normally be obsessed with an anime girl or a Japanese idol, but in this case, he’s obsessing over Hisako and he also has the power to get in touch with her whenever he wants, which makes him terrifying as a stalker. I really want to know how his obsession started. He says in issue 5 that they went to the same middle school together, but I want to know what about Hisako made him want to latch on to her.

Kageyama and Hisako Went to the Same Middle School (From issue #5):

          Also, Kageyama seems to know the truth about what happened to Tsubasa. In the start of issue #5 we see him watching a video of one of Tsubasa's bullies, the one we see from issue #4, point a knife at Tsubasa:

Yes, we can say that this is could have been the final straw that made Tsubasa want to take his own life, but I feel like there’s something else going on. Especially, since Kageyama is watching this video. I feel like he knows more about what truly transpired the day Tsubasa died, and we’ll find out more about it in the next few issues. I don’t think he would have kept this video if there wasn’t something more. My guess is that these bullies were the people that actually killed Tsubasa rather than him taking his own life. Or that Kageyama saw Tsubasa being bullied and decided to make him take his own life through his powers. I’m not really sure but those are my main theories so far.

We also get more information on Surge/Noriko Ashida in issues 5 and 6 of this series. It seems that both her and the Shadow King are from the same cult. Also, she seems to be some sort of sex worker that uses her powers to fry her customers brains, so they can get off?:

I don’t know how else to explain this but that seems to be what’s going on here. This guy seems to be a regular customer of hers. This actually makes her seem terrifying to me, especially with her facial expression on the second page there. It seems like she doesn’t mind hurting other people to get what she wants and unlike Kageyama, she is very confident in what she can do to other people, which make her a very formidable enemy to our newly formed X-Men. I definitely am looking forward to seeing more of her in the next arc.

I want to talk a little bit more about this cult. I really like the idea that the Children of the Atom is a cult in this universe. It definitely makes more sense that this X-Men story takes place in Japan because there have been a lot of issues with cults in Japan as of recently. In fact, the last Kamen Rider reboot, Shin Kamen Rider, kind of explores this problem as well with Shocker’s cult-like behavior. Anyways, I’m really interested in finding out who is behind this cult and who this person is being crucified in their base:

My guess was that it’s Wolverine (Logan) because they seem to be using this person’s blood to heal people and Wolverine has a healing factor and has a lot of ties to Japan as well, so that’s where my mind first went when I saw this crucifixion. Also, there’s always this cover of Uncanny X-Men #251 that was featured in Deadpool and Wolverine months ago that made me think it is him:

          In regard to who might be the leader of this cult my first guess was Scott Summers because every time I see the swirling X Mark as their symbol it’s made me think of him in his black after Avengers vs X-men costume when I see it:

The Children of the Atom Swirling X-Mark:

Cyclops Costume After AvX [From Uncanny X-Men #1 (2013)]:

The reason why I’m thinking it’s Cyclops besides the costume is because I’m not convinced that it would be Magneto or Xavier that would be the leaders of this cult because I think it would be too easy to guess that they are. Also, I think The Maker, while perverting this universe, would have wanted to ruin the leader of the X-Men by turning him into the leader of this cult. Those are my reasonings so far. I don’t really have proof. I have not read issue #7, so if I’m wrong then forget this. Although if it is Magneto or Xavier, then I’m willing to think that the leader of this group would be magneto just from how much the term “homo superior” has come up regarding this cult.

This Universe’s X-Men:

We see the formation of this universe’s X-Men in issue 5 through Nico Minoru and Mei Igarashi:

I like that the main reason why this team has the letter “X’ on it is because Mei has bad grades, and it has nothing to do with the X-Gene. I don’t know how anybody else feel about it, but I like how unserious this whole thought process was. Yes, this is definitely informal and it’s at a stage where it’s just an idea being floated around but I think this could be a very interesting team. So far, we have Hisako (Armor), Mei Igarashi (Maystorm), and Nico Minoru as the key members of this group with Mori and Natsu Tsukishima maybe being part of the team as well. The reason why I’m unsure if Mori and Natsu are joining is because we don’t really know about them much yet. We actually don’t even know if they have powers yet. All we know is that they’re part of the Children of the Atom cult through their parents. I actually still want to know if Mori is this universe’s version of Molly Hayes. The reasons why I’m thinking that she is this universe’s version of Molly Hayes is because: Molly is a mutant in the main universe; she was first introduced in this universe with Nico Minoru, who is part of the Runaways in the main universe; and she keeps wearing bunny ears, which is what Molly would definitely wear. If she’s another character, then ignore this but so far, I think she’s this universe’s version of Molly Hayes.

Speaking of Nico Minoru, we get to see more of what she’s capable of starting in issue #5 when she does a reading on Hisako’s Armor Omamori:

So, it seems that this Nico Minoru also has the same powers that her main universe counterpart has and hopefully we find out more about what her power is. We’ll probably find out more about it in the next arc, but I wonder if in this universe Nico is a mutant rather than just a straight up sorcerer. Maybe she has some sort of psychic powers that is not dependent on the Staff of One. Also, regarding this scene, I really love how the Shadow King’s power is represented, and I like how Nico Minoru’s powers are represented as well, like she’s a mage that is casting this evil spirit away. I think that’s why Nico Minoru was chosen to be part of this series because her powers are supernatural in origin and this book has had a really big supernatural vibe ever since it started.

          I want to talk about Hisako a bit because she’s really grown since the first issue of this series. In the first issue, she was very much lost and devastated due to what happened to Tsubasa and the guilt that came with that. She cut herself off from the world around her, but in issue 6, we start seeing the more confident side to her. She’s taking a more proactive approach with dealing and fighting Kageyama/Shadow King:

She knows that she has people now; she’s no longer alone and therefore she can take on her demons, whether it’s the inner or the outer ones, with their help. I also liked that as soon as Kageyama stepped in Nico and Mei immediately took a fighting stance with Hisako. They look so much like a team on that first page, and it definitely made me want to see this team more in the future. These two pages felt like a teaser of what this team could be, and I am more than excited to see what they become.

          I have really enjoyed Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko so far. I’ve said this in the first issue discussion, but I really love that she is doing the art and writing for this book because it gives this book uniformity and consistency that I don’t really see with other books; especially, with the X-Men books. Her art feels like it’s just another extension of her writing and because her art isn’t this traditional comic art, it feels refreshing every time I’ve picked up an issue of Ultimate X-Men in the past year. Also, she really knows how to utilize the space between her art because she uses her borders on a page to tell the story as well, which I love. Her J-Horror and supernatural choice for this book is really inspired and it just helps draw me in to this book. This first arc has been so fun to read. The only reason why I didn’t write this discussion sooner was because I was feeling burnt out on writing, but I wanted to really compliment her work because I’ve enjoyed it so much, so I forced myself to write this now as issue #7 is coming out. I really do hope that people keep picking up this title because I think it is one of the most intriguing comics currently out now for Marvel and maybe with the other publishers as well. This book to me definitely feels like it’s pushing the envelope on what they can get away with in a marvel book right now and it’s refreshing to see that, so please support this book if you can.

          Thank you for reading this discussion. I’d love to know what you think of this title so far and if there were anything I might have missed while discussing these two issues. Or if there were things that I just did not talk about clearly. I tend to write these really quickly, so if I was confusing then let me know. Have a great day! Thanks again!

[squeeb100]

I'm trying to parse through why I don't like Jayvik as a romantic ship, and thought I could type it up to maybe offer a counterpoint to people who are writing this viewpoint off as homophobic or ableist. Yes absolutely those are reasons people might not love this ship, but I don't believe either of them is a reason I don't.

So. Heads-up for some Jayvik negativity and some other general criticism of the energy in the fandom (I'm not gonna try to be nasty but I am, by the very conceit of this post, going to have opinions), and a disclaimer that if Jayvik makes you feel seen or happy or anything else that's not bad and I'm not saying this ship is bad and you need to stop talking about it and liking it. I'm just saying I, an individual person, don't particularly care for romantic interpretations of these two, and I don't interpret their interactions as romantic or sexual.

Actually before I talk about anything at all I really like this post and this person has said things a lot of things smarter and better than I will about sex and sexuality and Jayce and Viktor https://www.tumblr.com/ohnoitstbskyen/768136874376232960/asking-sincerely-do-you-see-a-romance-between?source=share

I feel like I'm within the Jayvik demographic. Viktor is my favorite character in Arcane, despite quibbles with how he was handled. For over half my life my major OTP has been KuroFai, which has a pretty similar vibe (storywise, not characterwise) to Jayvik in the back half of the series they're from. The are-they-aren't-they discourse surrounding them was also quite similar for many years. I'm not gonna talk about them really, but here they are.

[image: an illustration of Kurogane and Fai from the manga Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. Fai is a light-haired man with blue eyes, waving at the viewer with a relaxed expression. He has an arm around Kurogane, who is a grumpy-looking dark-haired man with red eyes and Fai's arm covering his mouth]

I'll admit to not having an incredibly good story reason that Jayvik SHOULDN'T be a thing, and I'm not going to present a good analysis really because I think I need to rewatch Arcane more than once to really have a solid grasp of it or a good read of the things that went "right" or "wrong" with the storytelling. This is literally my feelings-based opinion.

I like the idea that Jayce and Viktor have a deep-running love for each other that maybe defies attempts to define it as just friendship or brotherhood or romance or anything. I personally thought, in their final scene together, that the forehead touch was a far more heart-tugging, raw display of intimacy than a kiss would have been, and I genuinely didn't want them to kiss. I hope I've established that this is not because I don't like the idea of men kissing.

This may derive from the fact that I, like everyone, experience attraction in an individual way. For me, to extant, not-fictional people, almost never. I'm not uninterested in the idea of a life partner, and in fact would really like to have a person who I love more than anything in the world to go through life's hardships with, but I have rarely found an individual who I was interested in "romantically." I didn't experience adolescence the same way many of my friends did, and don't experience attraction to others in a way that seems "typical," if we can really define anything or anyone as typical. I have not been in a romantic relationship, not for lack of chances and not because I don't care about people - I have family and friends who I love very very much.

I think it is beautiful, the idea that two people can love each other, and support each other, and be soulmates and die together --- and not be in what mainstream society defines as "romantic love." If you want them to fuck nasty on the lab table that's okay too.

The second reason/cluster of reasons I don't really like romantic Jayvik is a little bit bitter and jaded and I'm sorry. It's the energy in the fandom and I can feel myself being pushed further into a stubborn opinion by the fact that I find this frustrating.

(I am putting on my "hypocrite" shirt)

Arcane has a really diverse cast. There are lots of women. There are lots of nonwhite characters. There are multiple prevalent, plot-important, kickass black characters. There is a canon wlw couple who make out on screen and then definitely fuck offscreen.

I know Jayce isn't necessarily meant to be white. Other than that. I think the fact that the Arcane tag is overwhelmingly Jayvik is just a little suspect. I told you it was a little bit bitter and jaded. I am not seeing the same level of fanart and analysis of specifically women and black characters, and I think that's an interesting energy this fandom is bringing to the table. I am not exempt from this criticism.

The longstanding argument that the reason we don't see more obsession with sapphic ships and characters who aren't (white) men is the lack of them in source material is feeling really hollow right now.

Anyway that's my two cents about Jayvik and if people care, cool, and if they don't, that's also cool. Please refrain from speculating about my sexuality in the comments. Peace and love.

Go donate to a palestininan, sudanese, congolese or lebanese family if you're able. Consider a donation to the Native American Rights Fund or another reputable organization, this week and always. In the wake of this election, you might consider mutual aid programs to help people in and around your community. It's cathartic to get drawn into fandom discourse, but there are bigger fish to fry.

[koizumicchi]

ビュティホ (mona) English Translation

ビュティホ mona

Lyrics: Gom, shito Composer: Gom Arrangement: HoneyWorks

MV here.

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T/N: Keep in mind that Japanese and English aren’t my first language. I never claim my translation (attempts) to be error-free. As always, if you’re going to use or reference my translations, please do not claim it as your own and credit me.

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紐を結ぶ手が震える 幾千跳び続けた日々 自分に期待してるから 緊張が味わえる 少し希薄な酸素で 澄ます神経細胞 重力を無視する翼 努力という名の翼

Himo o musubute ga furueru Ikusen tobi tsudzuketa hibi Jibun ni kitai shiteru kara Kinchō ga ajiwaeru Sukoshi kihaku na sanso de Sumasu shinkei saibō Jūryoku o mushi suru tsubasa Doryoku to iu na no tsubasa 

My hands tremble as I tie the strings I continued to leap thousands of times day after day Because I have high expectations of myself I can taste my nervousness My nerves calming in The slightly thin air My wings that defy the gravity These wings that are the fruits of my own labor

Overture 湧き上がる オーディエンス味方につけ 想像を超えていく 姿見届けてね

Overture Wakiagaru Odiensu mikata ni tsuke Sōzō o koeteiku Sugata mitodokete ne

Overture I raise the excitement I will get the audience on my side I will surpass everyone’s imaginations So, come and see me with your own eyes

揺らせ！ Yurase! Shake it!

Beautiful

無駄かもしれない Muda kamo shirenai It may be pointless

Beautiful

痛いかもしれない そんな私の醜さまで 君に見ていてほしい 見ていてほしい

Itai kamo shirenai Sonna watashi no minikusa made Kimi ni miteite hoshī Miteite hoshī

It may be painful Even with how ugly I am I want you to see it I want you to look at me

努力で才能を超える マンガのヒロインのように 息切れすらも可憐な 白い妖精のように カーテンコール終わらない オーディエンスは浸っている 現実か分からないほど 景色は美しい

Doryoku de sainō o koeru Manga no heroine no you ni Ikigire sura mo karenna Shiroi yōsei no you ni Kātenkōru owaranai Odiensu wa hitatteiru Genjitsu ka wakaranai hodo Keshiki wa utsukushī

Surpass talent through hard work Just like a heroine from a manga My shortness of breath is enchanting As if it is a white fairy The curtain call will never end The audience can’t take their eyes off me The scenery is so beautiful That one cannot distinguish it from reality

Here we go!

Beautiful

まだ跳び足りない Mada tobi tarinai These jumps aren’t high enough

Beautiful

まだ浴び足りない こんな欲張りな私まで 君に見ていてほしい 見ていてほしい

Mada abi tarinai Konna yokubari na watashi made Kimi ni miteite hoshī Miteite hoshii

I haven’t had enough yet Even with how greedy I am I want you to see it I want you to look at me

超えられない壁に気づいた日 自分に価値が無いと知った日 そんな日々に舌を出して 私は今君と今生きている 最高の日を

Koerarenai kabe ni kidzuita hi Jibun ni kachi ga nai to shitta hi Sonna hibi ni shita o dashite Watashi wa ima kimi to ima ikiteiru Saikō no hi o

The day I realized I couldn’t overcome this wall The day I was made aware I have no worth I stuck my tongue out at those days With you, right now, at this very moment, I am living the best day I ever had

Overture 湧き上がる オーディエンス味方につけ 想像を超えていく 姿見届けてね

Overture Wakiagaru Odiensu mikata ni tsuke Sōzō o koeteiku Sugata mitodokete ne

Overture I will raise the excitement I will get the audience on my side I will surpass everyone’s imaginations So, come and see me with your own eyes

全部無駄かもしれない 醜く　痛いかもしれない そんな私の弱さまで 君に見ていてほしい

Zenbu muda kamo shirenai Minikuku itai kamo shirenai Sonna watashi no yowasa made Kimi ni miteite hoshii

Everything may all be in vain It may be unsightly and painful As far as to my own weaknesses I want you to see it

揺らせ！ Yurase! Shake it!

Beautiful

まだ跳び足りない Mada tobi tarinai These jumps aren’t high enough

Beautiful

まだ浴び足りない こんな欲張りな私まで 君に見ていてほしい 見ていてほしい

Mada abi tarinai Konna yokubari na watashi made Kimi ni miteite hoshī Miteite hoshii

I haven’t had enough yet Even with how greedy I am I want you to see it I want you to look at me

Beautiful

紐を結ぶ手が震える 幾千跳び続けた日々 自分に期待してるから 君とまだ味わえる

Himo o musubute ga furueru Ikusen tobi tsudzuketa hibi Jibun ni kitai shiteru kara Kimi to mada ajiwaeru

My hands tremble as I tie the strings I continued to leap thousands of times day after day Because I have high hopes for myself I can still savor it with you

ありがとう Arigatou You have my thanks

[penultimate-step]

One thing that interests me about Koyomi and Tsubasa's relationship, especially early on, is the contrast between how much they care about each other and how little they really understand each other. From their first meeting, their relationship begins with a complete lack of understanding.

All through Bake, Hanekawa is talked up extremely highly by Koyomi. In his eyes, she's the one who knows everything, the one who is always right. Her own catchphrase might be "I just know what I know," but this is in response to Araragi complimenting her about knowing everything. He rarely thinks that she can possibly be wrong - which makes it almost funny in retrospect to realize that he holds this opinion of her despite the fact that one of the first inferences he every sees her make is massively misreading his own issues.

In Kizu, spurred by the day's sense of melancholy and the sudden absurdity of Hanekawa's skirt situation, Koyomi briefly opens up and is emotionally honest with Hanekawa. (Given that we as readers learn most about him from internal narration, this is bigger than it seems: this is one of the moments when he shares the most about himself out loud to others in the whole series.) It's not his whole deal, not by a long shot, but he gets across the basics: his strained concept of the value of friendship and human connections, his sense of nihilism, and his desire not to have to live as a human: "I want to become a plant," he tells her, "so that I wouldn't have to talk or walk." Honestly I'm not sure what a good response is to someone you are only now having a first conversation with telling you all about his depression, but Hanekawa chooses to reject it. She tells him that normally people would dream of becoming something like a rock, but in his case, since plants are a form of life, "You still want to be a living thing." Subtextually: "You don't really want to kill yourself. You aren't suicidal." To this, Koyomi basically thinks, Huh, never thought about it like that. Maybe you're right. and moves on.

….20 pages later, Koyomi chooses to kill himself for Kiss-Shot's sake, stating, "There isn't a single reason for me to bother staying alive." Kizumonogatari is in large part about Araragi's suicidal depression. Hanekawa, I love you, but you misjudged this one.

Even at this early stage of their relationship, Hanekawa thinks highly of Koyomi, much more than he deserves. As such, when confronted with something she considers a weakness, like his supremely low self-worth, she tries to justify why this isn't actually a trait he has.

Much later, by the time of Neko White, she's gotten a better chance to get to know him and become familiar with his him as a person, including his flaws, enough that she and Senjougahara can list them for hours. But that doesn't necessarily mean she understands him or his motivations - because she cares for him so much, she ends up idealizing his bad traits and his personal weaknesses into charm points and strengths. She says at the book's start that she admires him because of his confidence in his own identity, describing him as a person who doesn't hesitate over questions of who he is as a person or what he should be and do moving forward and comparing herself unfavorably to her own lack of sense of identity.

Readers, having read his narration in Kizu and Neko Black know this is far from true; that he spends a huge amount of page count trying to reflect on where he stands in life. The climaxes of both those books are great examples. In Kizu, Koyomi has a huge internal crisis after seeing the death of Guillotine Cutter. He tells Hanekawa that he is unsure if he is human or monster, worrying even that he'll eat her. He is unsure if he is going to oppose Kiss-Shot or not. And on top of that, his own guilt is eating him alive, causing him to question the worth of all his actions in the book so far. There's no way that this can be called a man sure of who he is, and it is Tsubasa herself who snaps him out of it. He relies on her presence as a guide to move forward. She has first hand experience seeing him experience deep uncertainty as to what kind of person he wants to be, but her narration in Neko White claims the opposite - that his consistency and surety is a trait she admires. A similar kind of struggle happens in Neko Black's ending, though given her own stresses and struggles at the time its very understandable that she didn't catch this one. Time after time Tsubasa is the one to see Koyomi's doubts and greatest moments of weakness, but rather than harm her view of Araragi, if anything it seems to have raised her opinion of him. In her Neko White letter, she admires what she calls "confronting his own weaknesses." She talks about falling in love with him when she saw that he was crying as he saved Kiss-Shot, comparing it negatively to how she showed no emotion and smiles through both suffering and aid. She basically says this outright in the letter: to her, all of Araragi's flaws becomes positive. Moments of self-doubt become moments of self honesty, to cry while acting is to remain true to oneself, and so forth.

Not that Koyomi is a genius at understanding her, either. While he admires her, for most of Kizu a lot of whats going on between them is going on in his head - he's projecting his own issues onto her and he deals with her more as what she represents to him than an equal friend, as he will come to treat her later in Bake and beyond. Neko Black, taking place between these two points, shows him in the middle of this transition.

I feel like there's less to say on his side though, just because Neko Black is much more explicit about Koyomi's failure to understand Tsubasa than Kizu is for the reverse. When she feels obligated by friendship to tell Araragi about her struggles with her family, in a reversal of their first conversation from the start of Kizu, he has this to say about it:

Despite having been friends for a month by then he realizes he has still been seeing her more as an ideal than a person. However, his reaction here, in contrast to when the situation was flipped, also illustrates that his way of misunderstanding is subtly different from the way Hanekawa misunderstands him. Rather than a direct dismissal, Koyomi, while originally ignorant, does come around to understanding What Tsubasa will do. However, he does this while blocking out any understanding of Why she would act like this. He can grasp the actions and emotions, but not the underlying causes.

As an example, near the end of Neko Black, after Koyomi has had some time to internalize his new understanding of Hanekawa, he is able to predict her words to her father before Meme tells him, then later develops a plan to deal with the Cat based around predicting her actions well in advance, first luring her out and then baiting her into attacking him. However, despite all this, he seems to have no knowledge, or perhaps is intentionally blocking out, the motivations behind her actions. Theres a reason she calls him "the worst" when he offers to give his time and energy to deal with her stress. (And much like when he healed her injury earlier, this is him dealing with symptoms rather than the true problem.) Because he's totally misjudging what she actually wants.

A similar pattern can be seen in the Cat chapter of Bake, when he first sees the cat. He realizes this means she's stressed, and can guess at how this will make her act and that things might get dangerous, but has no idea what set her off this time, not until the Cat tells him outright why things got to this point.

Koyomi views Hanekawa so highly, almost like she is incapable of making mistakes, despite having personal experience from the get go that she is very capable of making mistakes and that sometimes her inferences are wrong, and that she is often wrong about him, specifically. Hanekawa is wrong about Koyomi because she does the same thing, and views him so highly that she dismisses and glosses over his faults that she has seen personally. Together, they both consistently fail to understand each other because they place the other on a pedestal without meaning to. And yet, the book is clear that despite this gap in understanding, the friendship is no less for it. The care between the two is real, as is the effort they take in each other's lives.

[floatingcatacombs]

Clear Card Crit

12 Days of Aniblogging 2024, Day 9

I've been waiting to go hater mode on this manga for years, but they just kept pushing back when it would end again and again. Only now that it's over can I properly lay it to rest. Full spoilers, of course.

Veteran Floating Catacombs readers should be well aware that Cardcaptor Sakura is my favorite CLAMP series, with a truly classic anime adaptation to boot. A couple of years ago I underwent a chronological readthrough of their works, and collected my takes in a series of essays titled "Why Is CLAMP Like This". My big takeaway was that they’re shoujo libertines, but it's also true that on some level, CLAMP defies categorization entirely. Unfortunately, their post-TsubasaHolic output has largely consisted of retreading old ground, with an endless progression of rehashes, sequels, and callbacks. Sure, there have been crossovers since the days of the CLAMP School, but it’s felt extra blatant this past decade and a half. We’ve gotten 2010s sequels to Wish, Legal Drug, xxxHolic, Tsubasa, and, of course, Cardcaptor Sakura.

How could they resist? Cardcaptor Sakura is CLAMP's most famous work by far, and its 20th anniversary was coming up in 2017. With promises of an anime adaptation and plenty of merchandising in tow, CLAMP got to work on the Clear Card Arc.

First things first: that anime is a terrible way to experience the Clear Card Arc, and Cardcaptor Sakura in general. A surprisingly weak effort from Studio Madhouse, the anime adaptation of Clear Card Arc has middling production values, a washed-out aesthetic with far too much bloom, and bland designs. Something's wrong with all of the eyes. I do appreciate the continuity changes to reflect the original's anime-only arcs – Meiling is back! However, this adaptation suffers from a staggering amount of filler. Even the manga-adapted parts play out at a dreadfully slow pace, as if they’re just stalling for time and padding out a dearth of chapters. I like even the most aimless parts of the 1998 anime, but here it just doesn’t sit right. Also, the new soundtrack is so bad that they start recycling the original OST halfway through the production.

The Clear Card Arc anime ends in a truly terrible fashion. By the final episode, we still know nothing about the main conflict, just that a handful of characters, including Syaoran, are deliberately keeping Sakura in the dark. We're left with only Sakura’s cryptic nightmares and a friend's ominous butler as clues. Ten minutes before the show ends, we’re still fucking around and baking sweets, until finally Sakura has an encounter with the presumed main villain that results in a timeline reset. The first few minutes of the first episode play out again, except everything feels a little wrong now.

Writing this out, this sounds almost kind of cool. Surreal, even. But for such a mediocre show, it's not that in the slightest! No resolution, no foreshadowing, just all of the plodding events from the past 21 episodes fully undone, as if the show is mocking and taunting the viewer. “How’s that for wasting your time?”

The Clear Card manga at least knows what it wants to be – a plot-driven mystery doubling down on the series lore. The first few volumes of the manga act as something of a smokescreen for the eventual plot developments, much like how xxxHolic Rei began as a continuation of the original before revealing itself to be an alternate timeline and getting plotty. Of course, this being the only stuff that the anime adapts explains exactly why it felt so vague and formless – it’s supposed to be an aimless rehash! You see, Sakura’s powers are now growing at such an unchecked pace that she’s able to create new cards unconsciously. Through recalling old memories she’s been unknowingly manifesting remixes of old CCS scenarios into reality, capturing cards that are largely simulacra of the originals.

I’ve gone back and forth on the merits of this plot twist, but having now read the whole thing, it’s one of the better tricks in this manga’s repertoire. It’s a bit of a meta jab at nostalgia – Sakura is simply going through the emotions because that’s what’s expected of her, to the point where the past is literally being summoned into the present, preventing any character growth or development on her part. I wish it had been the main narrative conflict, to be honest.

Of course, I can’t give them too much credit, because a lot of Clear Card’s problems can be blamed on CLAMP simply playing it safe with their characters. I went into it expecting to see cute moments of Sakura and Syaoran early on in their relationship, having confessed at the end of the original manga and again in the second movie. But it often feels as if they’re right back where they were before, fully unable to convey their emotions to one another and relying on friends and circumstances to mediate. Characters like Yukito and Toya don’t get any meaningful or sweet moments, instead showing up only to move the plot forward when their abilities or connections are necessary. And don’t even get me started on Tomoyo. Sure, she’s around plenty. But when plot comes to shove, she’s narratively set aside every single time, hardly even getting to dress Sakura in cute outfits. You can’t keep that from her!!! She needs her dressup time to live!!! Though in the end, I’m almost willing to forgive it all for Frogcaptor Sakura. Almost.

Anyways, as I said earlier the initial episodic format gives way to mysterious plot development after mysterious plot development. A lot of the card capturing is from here on out is largely incidental. Of course, the in-universe explanation is that Sakura is just manifesting cards left and right at this point in ways that don’t really require card abilities to be used, since she’s not being tested like in the original. But also, if we’re tapering down the fun card usage and the cute slice of life scenes, how much is really left?

Well, there’s a powerful sorcerer named Yuna D. Kaito who’s manipulating events behind the scenes. His goal, it seems, is to try and put pressure on Sakura in such a specific way that she manifests the exact card that he needs. What card is that? Why? What should be a straightforward scheme is drip-fed so slowly that it’s easy to lose the narrative thread. At least he has a cunty little rabbit who acts as his Kero-chan type guardian. She’s fun, although her role in the plot ends up oddly convoluted.

Kaito is the butler and sole guardian of a young girl named Akiho, who is Sakura’s age and gradually becomes more and more similar to her in both personality and demeanor as the series goes on. Unfortunately, neither of these new characters are a particularly exciting addition to this world. A more introverted Sakura without her existing social ties is fairly uninteresting, and it’s obvious from the very first appearance that the butler is scheming and going to be our Eriol-style villain.

Except Eriol wasn’t really that bad of a guy, was he? So one gets the feeling that Kaito’s villainy will give way to sympathetic motivations and a bittersweet resolution. This process somehow takes the entire manga. Sixteen volumes is an unbearably long length for the story actually being told here. For reference, the original Cardcaptor Sakura is only twelve volumes, and Eriol doesn’t even show up until halfway through. In the meantime, new characters are steadily introduced, and secret aspects of existing characters are gradually revealed, so it never feels stale. In comparison, Clear Card Arc has an incredibly small pool of new characters and concepts to work with, and it has to stretch them out soooooo much further than the original ever did. This means that Sakura as well as reader are constantly kept in the dark, and plot payoff happens so infrequently and is so carefully measured out that it just never feels good. The result is a truly meandering plot instead of anything resembling “narrative arcs”. 

It’s maddening. It’s lunacy. This is all pretty similar to the rest of CLAMP’s modern sequels – take the existing setting and add a few new characters, layer on the intrigue, provide some additional backstory, and see what happens. Drug & Drop and xxxHolic Rei are both like this, but they’re only a few volumes long apiece! Once again, sixteen volumes of drastically less substance than the original, is ridiculous. After the initial fakeout (which, to repeat, encompasses the entire Clear Card anime), the manga has a noticeable aversion to returning to the original’s vibes, except there’s nothing to replace it.

CLAMP’s modern artstyle, developed in the Tsubasa shounen mines, has noticeably thicker lines than their spindly compositions of old. It comes off as a bit simplistic in the early chapters, but as CLAMP drops all of their other series and begins to work at a slower pace, the drawings reach an impressive fidelity. Card Arc is a timeloop narrative with a lot of fairytale elements, so they went with steampunk and Alice in Wonderland as the primary motifs, neither of which are aesthetics that I'm particularly a fan of. At least they do go hard on them.

I’ve been putting it off, but I’m going have to actually summarize the later plot beats. Kaito keeps rewinding time for the sake of his Schemes, and curses Syaoran so that he can’t talk to Sakura about it. Great! He straight-up cast a spell of Narrative Contrivance. This will surely make things fun to read. Anyways, all of the time magic is taking a toll on Kaito, and he starts dying about it before we even know what’s going on or why. Sakura continues to get impossibly powerful, but it kind of stops being of concern to the plot? It’s is a shame because I was hoping they’d do a thing where someone dear to her has to try and put her down to keep the world from breaking.

CLAMP does finally detonate the setting in the last few volumes. We go full clockwork calamity, with every aspect of the narrative colliding such that the entire Tomoeda school puts on a steampunk fair revolving around a play titled “Alice in Clockland”, which was originally a magical book that nobody but Akiho read because she's the one who manifested it. Still on track? Okay, by putting on the play, Sakura and Akhio get sucked into the world of this book, but Syaoran (dressed as a steampunk catboy, for reasons) is able to dash in to help at the last second thanks to… Touya gaining the ability to stop time for a few seconds out of nowhere? Why are we stealing classic Jojo asspulls for Cardcaptor Sakura, of all things?

From here on out the manga aims to speedrun Tsubasa levels of Plot Bullshit. Syaoran has to fight his NPC doppelganger (also a catboy) because he wasn’t expected to make it into the narrative that Sakura and Akiho got sucked into. That whole mess ends with Kaito swapping Sakura and Akiho’s roles in the play, setting of a cascading chain of events that resets the timeline one last time and recasts Akiho as Sakura’s twin sister. That was Kaito’s plan all along. He needed to remove the magic from within her and place her under the protection of the Kinomoto family, so that evil British wizards wouldn’t seek her out and do fucked-up experiments to try and draw out her magical potential. That’s it! Why did this scheme need to be slow-rolled over the entirety of the manga? It’d be fine if it showed up late like Eriol in the original, but as a grand overarching justification for Clear Card Arc existing, it’s so shallow.

This timeline reset means that the opening of the manga rolls AGAIN, this time with Sakura and Akiho as bestie sisters. At least it explains why Kaito and the plot in general were so invested in making Sakura and Akiho converge on having nearly the same personality. Also, three or four separate characters take the time to call Sakura a siscon, including Tomoyo, who must be eating her own organs while saying that. I cannot fathom why they would take the time to brand her as such. I had to guess, it’s because stepsiblings are the one kind of ~scandalous relationship~ missing from the original CCS, and they wanted to finally get around to it decades later. But why is this coming up eight chapters before the end, only to be fully undone alongside the rest of this particular timeline in the finale? What did you mean by that, CLAMP?

Since everyone’s clued in on the time-loop bullshit at this point, Sakura and company are able to use the Clow Cards to record messages that can persist through loops, allowing them to break the cycle once and for all and travel to space in order to rescue the dying Kaito, who has… turned into a dragon and been imprisoned inside an illusory moon?

Look, nothing makes sense at this point, but at least this is compatible with my take on Touhou that any plot revolving around the moon is destined to become incredibly convoluted. Sometimes you gotta pull a quick Imperishable Night! The closest thing we have to a final boss at this point is an automated meteor spell set up by those damn offscreen British magicians, which Sakura does manage to disarm using her nascent demiurge powers. With one last reset, everyone gets their happy ending. Akiho can hang out with Sakura and friends and take care of Kaito as they figure out how to cure his time dragon illness, and she never has to worry about wizards hunting her down ever again. End manga.

Who is this for? Demographic crossovers have always been a strong point for CLAMP. They’ve got plenty of shoujo that can just as easily be appreciated by boys, and shounen and seinen that draw in all kinds. Combined with their unique aesthetics and atmosphere, CLAMP's best manga has something for everyone.

But Clear Card Arc is, comparatively, a funnel. You have to be a diehard fan of Cardcaptor Sakura to understand it in the first place, and you also have to be deeply invested in its lore and magic system. I don’t know about you, but those are just not what I come to this series for. Groups who will be disappointed include: Sakura x Syaoran shippers, slice of life enjoyers, acolytes of Tomoyo (patron saint of pining lesbians), people who like the nonmagical extended cast, and fans of the original anime who appreciate quality adaptations.

Clear Card Arc is a curious, yet ultimately meaningless, exercise in nostalgia. It mostly fails as a throwback, and decidedly fails as a soft reboot for pulling new fans in. Its priorities would interest almost no one except for CLAMP themselves, and its few novel ideas are stretched so thin that the whole thing feels like a well-drawn exercise in meaninglessness. CLAMP’s clearly been running out of steam these past fifteen years, shelving most of their projects in favor of ever-safer investments. Cardcaptor Sakura was the logical endpoint for this endeavor. And while they did enough obligate rehashing in the first few volumes to script the anime and stock the gashapon machines, one wonders who the rest is for. Were these sixteen volumes a passion project, borne out of total creative freedom, or was it stretched the way it was out of contractual and financial obligation? Both answers are dire.

Now that Clear Card is over, CLAMP plans to resume xxxHolic Rei, and while I liked that one, I hope more than anything that they’re able to take a good, long, break. CLAMP’s members are starting to grow old, and they've been working near-nonstop since early adulthood. Hopefully the royalties are good enough that they can take a break and get those creative juices flowing again, or even retire for good! I wouldn’t begrudge them one bit. They’re fascinating and accomplished mangaka, even if they also did Chobits.

One more rating, for old time’s sake.

CLAMP BULLSHIT-O-METER: 4/5

OVERALL RATING: 2/5

[thecatduet422]

Chapter Three: Blood of the Dragon

Dragon King!bakugou katsuki x reader

Taglist: @genderfluid-anime-goth @iam-thevillain-of-thisstory @nnubee @reddriot

Rating: Mature

Tags: violence, blood, dragons, its wartime babes so people might get booboos, romance, sexual tension, medieval politics, northern!reader, knight!midoriya

Summary: With the fury of winter on the precipice, and food provisions deathly short, you have no choice but to represent your House and speak with the Dragon King. The only problem is your Houses have been at odds for centuries, and the fearsome Dragon King is not exactly easy to convince... (GoT-inspired AU)

A/N: Also, highly recommend @vampyrsm's forbidden flame series!

Chapters: 3/? (20,590 words)

AO3 LINK

Chapter One Chapter Two

Some translations for this chapter: *Dragons: Kanibaru = Cannibal, Kinba = Gold Tooth, Shiroi Tsubasa = White Wing. *Commands (taken directly from GoT): Dracarys = Dragon fire, Rybas = Focus, Naejot = Forward, Dohaeras = Serve, Umbas = Wait

Chapter Three: Blood of the Dragon (12.4k)

Darkness…

An echoing song…

Can't breathe…

You woke up gasping for air, only to be greeted by the sun shining its inferno through the lazy breeze of the curtains that guarded you. The silk sheets wrapped around you slipped across your skin like water as you entered into the morn, nightmare temporarily forgotten.

How useless, you thought suddenly. What’s the point of a blanket if not to keep you warm?

You roughly kicked the sheets off you, finding them to be a total hindrance. But then as soon as you did it, you felt strange. Almost vulnerable in a way, not unlike when you were on the boat, abandoning your extra layers of clothing. 

You’ve been guarding yourself against the outside for as long as you could remember. To meet it head-on, bare skin to sun, it felt like you were heading into battle with nothing but a horse. 

And how the southern heat seemed to target you, causing you to sweat constantly . You were always fighting off against the gross feeling as your body struggled to adjust to the new land.

You missed the cold air of the North, the smell of the grass, the sound of your little brother’s laugh. You missed the peace of the whispering woods, the roars of laughter in the Hall, the secluded comfort of the library. You missed home.

And yet, The Dragon King insisted you stay. 

“Until we both see fit," he had said.

Well, you saw fit to leave once the agreement was signed. That seemed to be the sensible thing to do. Your business would be done, so why stay?

And what was taking the contract so long? Surely, it must be done by now…

"We're gonna do it right this time… We reform our relationship, and in return, our alliance…"

Reform our relationship…

Something about that itched your mind, like the tune of a song you couldn't quite remember. Like any other trueborn of the North, the history of the Great Blacksmith has been engraved into your head. The tale of him and the Dragon Queen is very much a repeated one, back at home at least. But you imagined it would be popular in the Southlands too…

Does the King mean to…

No. Of course not.

You take a deep breath in, smelling the sweet smoke that was slowly beginning to waft into the room. 

“To cover the smell of dragon,” Lady Mina explained to you.

Apparently, the dragon caves weren’t far from the city, and the wind tended to drift the stench over. You smelled it more than a couple of times now; fire, soot, and something else you couldn’t place. The best way you could describe it was wet dog , and yet you knew that wasn’t right. Either way, it wasn’t exactly offensive, not when you’ve spent your entire childhood around livestock. Besides, you thought the incense more than did its job. Whether it was the soft floral scents of jasmine, sweet pea, and lilac or one of the stronger, spicier scents of cinnamon, clove, and frankincense- they all seemed to give you a jolt of energy, giving you the muster to start the day. 

And already there was Lady Mina, ready to start with you as she walked across the other side of the room, lighting the perfumed sticks as she went, soft tendrils of smoke marking her path like footsteps.

“Morning, Lady Mina,” you greeted, ignoring your slight unease.

You almost forgot that it was normal, a lady’s maid waking you up, helping you get ready for the day. And as more servant ladies walked in with clean linens, fresh tea, and food, you found your stubbornness winning over. 

“You know, I’m perfectly capable of getting ready on my own-”

Lady Mina easily countered with a wave of her hand. “Nonsense! You're our guest . Besides, you brought no maids of your own.” 

She shrugged nonchalantly, as if it weren't a problem, but you still found yourself squirming with embarrassment. Was it considered unethical, not bringing any maids with you? It’s not like you had a choice. The outlook of the war forced your lady mother to dismiss them all.

"Knights and guards must be placed over butlers and maids, sweetling. Can’t you see?"

And for a tiny moment, an arrow of sorrow punctured your chest as you remembered your goodbye to Jirou, your lady-in-waiting and best friend. The sad look in her eyes as you told her to pack up her things and go home…

A breakfast tray interrupted your memory, pulling the arrow along with it. As the tray was delicately placed over your lap, you were greeted with a mouthwatering assortment of bread, fruit, and cheese. You dug into all of it without a care as Lady Mina gleefully walked up to an assortment of dresses.

Oh, not again, you thought with an eye roll.

“And I was thinking for today,” she sang, eyeing through the garments, “You can wear… this! ” 

She pulled out a lovely silk dress, dyed the color lavender and bare on one shoulder, the otherside held together with a golden dragon pin. You could pick out the outline of the scales and teeth all the way from your place on the bed. Its jaw was open mid-roar, its eyes studded with tiny rubies, its tail snaking down to wrap around the waist.

It was… a lot.

You gulped down the lump of food in your mouth, feeling it plump down into your stomach. “Don’t you think it's a bit too much for me, Mina?"

Mina pouted. “We can replace the broach with one of your own, if you like. But you can't deny it isn't pretty…”

She dangled the dress in front of you, as if the fabric could somehow hypnotize you into saying yes.

You gulped down your guilt, almost wishing you would've fallen for it. But the truth was, your father raised you to ride on horseback, to swing a sword, to hunt alongside your brothers. Usually, you couldn’t be bothered with dresses.

"The thought is appreciated, trully,” you said with a mouthful of bread. You swallowed it down before continuing. “But I have training this morning. I very well can’t fight in, well, that .” 

You gestured to the dress as if it were a wild animal with rabies and foam spilling out from the mouth.

Lady Mina huffed, not forgiving you. “All you ever do is train...”

You gave her your best pleading face, trembling lip and the biggest eyes you could make. A trick you’ve pulled since you were a child.

"Ugh, fine ," Lady Mina relented, handing the dress back to a maid. "But the King is hosting a tourney later this week, and I insist on getting you ready for that!" 

She wagged a finger at you. "All of the highborns of the South are going to be there. You need to look like a proper lady of your station. Got it?"

“Yes, Lady Mina,” you nodded in fake agreement.

It wouldn't be a lie if you were gone by the time of the tourney, which you hoped to be once this damned contract was signed…

You shoved a final fistful of food into your mouth before getting ready.

And it was true when you said you could get ready on your own. A simple cotton shirt, breeches, and your boots were all you needed. You’ve forgone most of your armor since the boat, finding it all to be utterly unbearable in the Southern heat. You now only bothered with your arm braces and your scabbard.

However, as your eyes traveled over your form in the mirror, they caught onto your chestplate, tucked away in an open chest. It’s cool steel peeked out, the curve of the white fox stealing your attention with a twinkle of light, a reflection of the sun living in the fox’s eye.

Can't breathe-

Air hitched in your throat, and it was then you felt something unpleasantly strange; a cold air that brushed against the back of your shoulders and shivered into your chest.  

You pulled out the chestplate and strapped it on.

"Uh, are you sure you want to do that, my lady?" Mina asked you, cautiously. "It's a very hot day, today."

"I'll be fine," you insisted, finding a strong sense of pride in the fox that guarded your heart. With that one, and the necklace you wore underneath it, you felt like you knew who you were.

A northerner, through and through.

But as a show of respect, you did let Lady Mina do your hair. She brushed it back and weaved it into a braid as you worked on fastening your arm braces.

When Lady Mina stepped back, finished, you simply couldn't afford to linger anymore.

“Thanks,” you told her, not bothering to look before leaving, too busy fidgeting with the final clasp.

You heard her scoff all the way from the door, but hopefully, she knew you enough by now to realize you meant no offense. You simply had more important matters for the day.

You walked out, and as always, Ser Midoriya stood patiently by your door, waiting.

“Good morning, m’lady!” he greeted brightly.

“Good morning, ser.” You couldn’t help but feel warmth in your heart when you saw your friend. He reminded you of your littlest brother. Eager, innocent, hopeful.

“Any ravens from home?” you asked as the both of you headed towards the grounds.

“Yes, actually!” Ser Midoriya pulled out a scroll sealed with blood red wax, stamped with the outline of your familiar.

You eagerly ripped it open, eyes meeting your mother’s perfect handwriting.

Dearest Daughter,

I insist that you return home immediately.

Of course.

The savaged prince will cut off your head-

He’s a king.

You’ve surrounded yourself with beasts, sweetling. Can’t you see? It’s only a matter of time before they gobble you up.

You snorted.

Come home, before I lose a daughter as well as a husband.

You huffed. Using your father’s death against you was low, but unfortunately, unsurprising.

“Any news on the little lord?” Ser Midoriya asked.

You skimmed through the rest of the letter, worry pinching your face the farther you went down.

“No. Nothing.”

You crumpled the letter up into a ball and handed it back to Midoriya, who took it with no response, long-used to your mood when receiving a raven from mother. 

A couple of courtiers passed by, their gazes straying down to the fox on your chest. You saw them lean into each other in a conniving manner, whispering.

“The Lady of the North...”

You expected the stares. You were probably the first northerner to walk through these halls in decades afterall, and nothing fueled the court more than whispers, rumors, and gossip. 

You imagined that you were the main topic of all three today.

But what did surprise you were the glances cast at your knight.

“The green hair? He’s the one that jousted against the King...”

You showed no sign that you heard them, keeping your head forward. But once you passed them, you looked over to your knight. “It seems your reputation is quite bigger than I've been led to believe, ser.”

And as you predicted, Ser Midoriya flinched and stuttered to answer. “I-I told your lord father everything when I arrived at court, m’lady! I swear!”

“Maybe so, but now you must tell me,” you leaned in to talk quieter, in case there were any stray ears. “Without a written agreement, the Dragon King can have second thoughts on the trade. Perhaps he already is , and maybe that's why it's taking so long… You must tell me your tale, ser."

Ser Midoriya just looked at you, confused. "But, m'lady, Kacchan would never do that. He gave you his word."

Your eyebrows shot up to your hairline, bewilderment making you louder, " Kacchan? You have a nickname for him?"

“W-Well, we grew up together,” Midoriya explained, face turning red as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. His eyes roamed down, up, to the side, everywhere but at you.

You stopped, grabbing onto Ser Midoriya’s shoulder so he would do the same. When he still refused to look at you, you shook him gently, forcing him to do so.

“There’s no one I trust more than you, ser, can't you see? It’s your opinion that I value the most. Not the Dragon King’s.”

Ser Midoriya stood there, twiddling his thumbs. “It’s just that… it’s embarrassing m’lady. A-And" –he suddenly looked up at you, fists now clenched and eyes sparkling with determination– “I’m not that man anymore. I’m a knight now, and I’m going to be the best in all the lands!”

You gave a small smile at his declaration. Truthfully, it didn’t surprise you. You found that the ones most often looked down on were the ones with the biggest dreams, and Ser Midoriya was probably the most doubted knight in the entire realm. It was easy for the world to do so, with his naturally scrawny frame, panicked attitude, and lack of name.

But you've seen the knight grow. You've seen him be the very first one on the training grounds and the very last one to leave. You've seen how seriously he takes his duty in protecting you, how he treats your family with the utmost respect.

You've seen the boy become the man.

“You forget, ser. I train with you," you reminded him. “If I thought you were an embarrassment, I would have said so.” 

You held onto both of his shoulders now, hoping your persistence would be proof of your honesty. "I already believe you capable of anything. There is nothing you need to prove to me, ser."

You released your hold on him, crossing your arms stubbornly. 

“Now, tell me.”

Midoriya released a shaky breath, tears brimming in his forest-green eyes, and for a fearful moment you thought the knight would outright weep, but then he shook his head, wiping them away. 

“Okay.”

He pulled you away into a corner, where his story could be hidden by stone and shadow. 

“As you know, I was working as a stable boy here, in the Southlands. But, I’ve always dreamt of becoming a knight. My favorite story as a boy was always-”

“-Ser Toshinori Yagi, the All Mighty Knight of the Goldlands,” you finished for him.

Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes, well. I would run into Kacchan a lot back then but… but often times Kacchan didn’t want me around." 

You narrowed your eyes at his hesitancy. You could read inbetween the lines. You knew how cruel men like the Bakugou Katsuki could be.

Midoriya went on. "He was training to be a knight too, you see. He kept talking about us going to war soon-”

“And how would he know that?” you interrupted snootily. “The Old Lord of the South didn’t even suspect war, so how did he ?”

“Kacchan has the blood of the dragon, m’lady,” your knight explained. “He has dragon dreams.”

“Dragon dreams?”

Ser Midoriya nodded.

Your oncoming dislike of the King hindered for a moment as you absorbed the information.

You’ve read about the blood of the dragon. The last known carrier was the  Dragon Queen. It was written that she never burned, that her dreams were premonitions, that her shouts could make dragons heel, while her whispers could make them roar.

And, it was written that she was the last who could do so.

"Is this true?" you asked carefully.

Midoriya nodded. “He claimed a dragon when he was five, m'lady.”

Shock flowed through you at the idea.

Five years old…

“Well." With a heavy sigh, you slumped against the wall. "I guess that would prove it.”

You looked up, eyes roaming over the stone of the ceiling as you mused. “I never expected the Dragon King to be a dreamer.”

Midoriya looked down sheepishly, almost as if he were guilty of something. “If you ask about it, he'll deny it, m'lady. Kachaan thinks it makes him look superstitious…"

Is that what happened to you, ser? You made a mention of his dreams, and he beat you for it?

"B-But anyways," –Midoriya shook his head, clearing whatever thought that clouded it– "when the tourney was announced, we all thought that this was it; this was how we can prove ourselves and become knights. Kacchan kept talking about how he would win and be named Commander-”

You snorted. “From one tourney win? Doubtful.”

Midoriya shook his head, correcting you. “By then, Kacchan had a lot of influence, m’lady. He was able to command a dragon, and he was in the Old Lord's favor."

“Really?” you asked, astonished. “So just like that? He won and was named Commander?”

Midoriya nodded, tears brimming once again as he recounted shamefully, “The very first round, Kacchan was put up against me and…” –tears started to fill more as Midoriya choked– “And as soon as I charged, somehow the girth came undone…”

“And you fell off.”

“And I fell off!” Midoriya cried.

His sobs bounced off of the walls as Ser Midoriya could no longer hold it in. He doubled over, completely consumed by his emotions, and you saw curious courtiers start to peek their heads your way.

“There, there, ser.” You patted his back reassuringly. “Your riding skills have improved tremendously since you’ve been with me. Your fighting skills, too.”

“I know that.” Ser Midoriya wiped his tears away. “And even then, I knew I could do better. I stood up and went to mount my horse again.”

“As you should,” you nodded.

“But…” Midoriya hesitated. He looked up at you, and you knew then that you wouldn’t like what he had to say. “But Kacchan wouldn’t allow it, m’lady.”

“What?!” you exclaimed. “ Why? You did nothing wrong.”

"He said I was hopeless, that there was no way I could fight, and if I wasn't fit to represent the Southlands on the battlefield, then I wasn't fit to represent them at all," Midoriya recounted in sorrow. "And the Old Lord listened, m’lady, so I was banished."

“That is-” you choked on your anger, too steamed to finish.

Unfair . Dishonorable . Cowardly. Those were the words that came to mind.

“I don’t like this King,” you decided, making your way back towards the light of the hallway.

Anger and guilt twisted your stomach as you realized, that’s why Ser Midoriya begged you to let him fight the other day. He saw it as his chance to regain his honor, and you didn’t let him. You thought it was your duty to challenge the King yourself, in the name of your House.

You peeked over your shoulder, at Ser Midoriya, who was now dejectedly following behind you.

“There’s a tourney coming up later this week. You can fight then,” you decided.

Ser Midoriya’s face brightened immediately. He reminded you of a child seeing his first fall of snow. “Really, m'lady?! You'll let me?”

Your anger melted at the sight of his excitement. “Why, of course, ser. You will be the sole representative of the North. I swear.”

Midoriya’s face turned serious, his determined nature taking root once more. “Yes, m’lady! I will make you proud.”

You didn’t doubt it, but now you'll have to deal with Mina…

Fresh sun hit your face as you reached the grounds. Along with it, the air, tainted with the smell of sweat, blood, and the putrid stench of dragon caves, their presence out of sight yet far from forgotten. Your gaze traveled from the men moving about- from the knights, squires, and stableboys maneuvering through the chaos of work- to the main sparing area, which sat directly in the sun. 

Can't hide your weaknesses when you're basked in light, you thoughtfully observed.

“Are you sure you wish to train today, m’lady?” you heard Midoriya ask. “You’re wrist-”

“It’s fine ,” you assured him, flapping your wrist around to prove it. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. Besides, we need to practice.” You walked into the sun and pulled out your sword, it’s thin blade pointing at Ser Midoriya’s chin. “Let’s go .”

Your knight stared in surprise at your showmanship before promptly furrowing his brows, looking back with fiery confidence. “Right!”

He pulled out his own sword, and as sudden as lightning, you two began, your motions turning into a dance you knew very well.

“Keep your guard up!” you told him.

Midoriya listened and moved to correct his stance, but that was when you had him. You knocked his sword away.

“Keep your head as well,” you joked.

Midoriya huffed in amusement, resetting himself for the next round. You followed.

The both of you simultaneously began once more. You danced around your knight mercilessly, fighting him with the same sly brutality you showed the King.

Ser Midoriya was your knight, afterall. If he couldn’t hold a fight against you , then there really was no point to him, was there?

But just like you knew he would, Midoriya kept up, though be it, with a very strained look on his face. You weren't sure if he was afraid of you hitting him or he hitting you . You knew if he actually gave you an injury, Ser Midoriya would never forgive himself-

You felt a solid tap on the chest, sword hitting your armor with a solid tink.

“Yes!” Midoriya cheered.

“Nicely done,” you complimented. 

It was what you deserved, with your mind wandering about.

Head in the clouds, ears in the trees, your father used to say.

You both repositioned, swords high and eyes pierced into one another, waiting to see what the next move might be.

Ser Midoriya was smart enough to keep his eye on your hip, where your dagger was hidden. You've been known to pull it out when least expected, surprising your opponent when their attention was focused on your sword. A trick that helped you with Bakugou, but unlike him, Midoriya has sparred with you many times now. He knew your tricks.

You both circled around each other, waiting.

"JUST GO ALREADY!" Somebody screamed, and immediately, everyone in your peripherals stood at attention.

Perhaps out of spite, you broke your stance, refusing to do so.

You could feel the glare of the Dragon King once more, this time from the shadow of the balcony.

You remained tall and glared back. 

Just because you were making a trade with the Dragon King didn't mean you had to bow to his every whim. He was the King of the South , and your loyalty was to home. To your people.

To your knight, you thought furiously, Ser Midoriya’s tale taking center place once more.

"Good morning, Your Grace," you greeted curtly.

Bakugou continued to glare, eyes searching for a sign that you'll buckle. However, he seemed to find none, for he turned his head away with a huff.

"Mornin'," he grunted before making his way down the steps. Obnoxiously slow, obnoxiously loud.

He wore a fresh cape today, still sporting the blood red color of his House. His chest was still bare, still proudly exposing the tattoos he earned in battle (and yet shamefully, your cheeks flared as if it were all new). 

However, what was new was the chain he wore around his neck, made out of tiny sharp teeth.

The baby teeth of his dragon, perhaps?

When he reached the ground, the King's eyes immediately latched onto your knight, burning with an unmatched fury. 

"Deku," he growled. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

You noticed your knight's hands shaking by his sides, and so you interjected.

"He's my knight, and I asked him to help me train," you answered coolly. "What's it to you?"

The King barked out a laugh. " Right . I've seen the worm fight before." He inched closer intimidatingly. "More like you were training him ."

And then a sword appeared between you two.

"I'm a knight of the North now, Kacchan." Ser Midoriya's voice was tight but steady, and you saw Bakugou's eyes flare even more. "I must ask that you keep your distance from m'lady. She's already close enough to hear whatever you have to say."

The King's face twisted into a deadly scowl. "Stop calling me that! I'm a king-"

"But not his," you cut in, your own eyes piercing coldly into the dragon's. Ice to the fire. "Ser Midoriya belongs to the North now. Remember?"

You saw the King's scowl pinch in, just slightly before it turned into a cruel, arrogant smirk. 

"Must be where the cowards go."

Anger flared within you, contained only by the hard steel of the fox that protected your chest. In fear that you would snap and ruin the agreement before it was even written, you said nothing.

"You northerners won't last five seconds in the dragon caves," the King went on.

You felt a brow perch up, asking, "Oh? Is that what we're doing today?"

The King's scowl returned. "I told ya' I was gonna show you how we get blackstone, didn't I?"

"We’re going to mine blackstone?" you asked with genuine curiosity, anger gone for now. 

But, how ?

"Just come along, will ya'?" The King growled darkly before walking away.

The way he said it cowed you into obedience. You were both curious to see how the southerners attempted to mine, as well as the sudden seriousness that seemed to possess the King.

And in following him, you got to see the true power he welded.

Everywhere the Dragon King went, the people would stop. Women dropped to the floor in curtsies. Men would bend the knee. Knights and guards would stand at attention and salute, any hint of life gone in the presence of their liege.

You expected he liked it that way.

And how the King wouldn’t stop or even nod at his courtiers. Instead, he chose to act as if they didn't exist at all, keeping his head forward as he marched towards the gateway. It wasn’t until you were halfway there when you noticed…

“You don’t have a guard?” you asked curiously.

The King snorted. "Like to see someone try . In my own castle…”

Good point. Only a fool would dare to slay a dragon when they're in the belly of its lair.

The three of you reached the gateway, reintroduced to the sky once more, and the sight in front of you brought a smile to your face.

“Oh good! We’re riding there!” 

The first horse you saw was the one in front, a bay gelding with a tail that wouldn't stop flicking. The sootiness of his coat shined against the sunlight, bringing attention towards his strong legs and dark snout, his eyes dark as night. He wore a gold trimmed saddle with blood red padding, all bearing the sigil of a golden dragon breathing flame. 

The Dragon King's.

But then you spotted the light-gray mare behind him, her coat reminding you of snow. Not the pure white snow that blessed the North deep within the winter season, but the real snow you used to see every day; the slush that squished under your feet when you walked to the stables. The half-melted snow that cornered the gateway, forming into small mountains you and your brothers used to climb, and then later fall in. The dirty snow your older brother dared you to eat once (and you almost did, until mother saw you and screamed bloody murder).

It was the type of snow hardly anyone ever thought about.

And how the mare's eyes bled into yours, her stature unmoving and calm, her long tail occasionally flicking with the unearthed energy that she was, no doubt, reserving for the ride.

You walked past the King to greet her, making sure to keep to her side, so that her eyes could be on you as you approached carefully.

"Hello, there," you spoke to her in a gentle tone, holding a cautious hand to her nose so she could catch your scent.

She took some sniffs and sighed into your touch, her own sign of welcome. She then nudged her nose into your palm, urging you to pet her.

You let out a giggle at her persistence, finding a light-hearted joy you haven't felt in a very long time.

“I take it you like to ride, my lady?” a voice startled you, bringing you back to your surroundings. 

You didn't even notice the man next to you, which was saying something given his solid build and eccentric red hair. Everything about him read strong and warrior , yet he wore a gentle smile with kind eyes to match.

You bashfully answered. “As soon as I learned how to walk, I learned how to ride. The North is full of open land, you see. It’s far more practical to be on horseback than inside a carriage.”

The large man smiled, showing off his sparkling sharp teeth.

“You’ll like Yuki, then. She’s nice, but she sure likes to run.” The man patted the horse's neck affectionately. 

Your chest panged with heartbreak once more, as you remembered how you had to give up your own stead for the northern cause. 

Another sacrifice for the war.

The man turned towards you, and nodded his head in the form of a bow. “Kirishima Eijirou, if it pleases my lady.”

It was then that you spotted the gold broach holding the man’s cape together. It was a hand, palm open in a show of promise.

“You're the Hand?” you asked, surprised. But then again, perhaps it was unsurprising that someone like Bakugou Katsuki would want someone equally built along his side.

“Indeed, I am!" Kirishima cheerfully replied. "Sorry for not greeting you at the gate. We had a-”

“Oi, Ei!” The King barked. “Quit yapping and get on a damn horse!”

The Dragon King was already on his stead, ready to go.

“Best not to keep His Grace waiting,” you grumbled sarcastically.

Kirishima leaned towards you, whispering as if in conspiracy. “You’ll find that he’s more roar than bite, my lady. I promise.” He tossed you another smile before leaving to head to his own horse.

You felt your brows furrow in confusion. 

Somehow, you doubted that.

You mounted Yuki with ease, her steady nature being a welcomed gift after dealing with the fiery tempers of this morning.

And, you were sure, the fiery tempers you still had to deal with.

“M’lady is one of the best riders in the North!” Midoriya excitedly proclaimed, mounting his own horse clumsily. “She raced against all of the lords and knights of the land and beat them all! Even her lord brother.”

The King snarled. “As long as she’s better than you.”

Anger flared inside you, and quite suddenly, you felt the need for a challenge. “Have you ever raced against a northerner before, Your Grace?”

The King scoffed, jutting a thumb towards his chest as he bragged, “I’ve ridden dragons, Lady! I doubt you can beat me.”

You smirked.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” you said smoothly. Then without any warning, you hit your reins, urging your horse to run with a loud “Ya!”

And you left everyone in the dust.

You could hear the shouts of the King behind you. “Oi! This is cheating! Get your ass back here!” 

You also heard the cries of your knight. “M’lady, please! You can’t just leave like that!”

You looked back, catching the sorry sight of them struggling to catch up, and your laugh carried you over to the other side of the Bridge. Out of mercy (and also because you genuinely did not know the way), you slowed Yuki down to stop.

The King caught up to you within a second, halting right next to you. 

“That doesn’t count!” he scolded, eyes burning angrily into yours.

You rolled eyes and shrugged. “It was a joke, Your Grace. Nothing more…”

He scoffed, melted gaze fading into curiosity. You felt his eyes stray to your posture, how posed you looked on a horse, but then they stopped at your chestplate.

"You wearing that for the whole day?" he asked you calmly.

For some unknown reason, you felt a prickle of nervousness creep up to the back of your neck. "Yes, Your Grace. I was planning on it."

You watched as Bakugou's brow arched up, his face contorting into a look of confusion and disgust.

He thought you were stupid.

But just as quickly as the expression appeared, it fell as you heard him grumble quietly, "Fine. It's your funeral."

Then he rode his horse ahead of you, leading the way, and as you watched his retreating form, you couldn't help but ponder over his sudden cut off from you.

It was almost as if he were disappointed in you.

And then you found yourself questioning your choice, wondering if perhaps it was a stupid idea, wearing a chestplate on a day like this.

You were starting to feel it- the strong band of heat trapped inside the plate. The weight of it was starting to drag you down, and when you looked, you saw that no one else was wearing anything to a similar degree. Even your knight, who wore his whole uniform on the very first day, was now only wearing his pauldrons over a light shirt.

Doubt started to sink in, and your fingers started to play at the clasps holding the plate together.

Can't breathe-

All of the air suddenly escaped from your lungs, like you were punched in the gut, forcing you to take a greedy breath in. The chill that tickled your skin returned, making the sweat that coated your skin turn ice cold. It was like a ghost was passing through you, inflicting you with the feeling of his bloodless fate.

So you decided to keep the chestplate on as you rode alongside your party, more of the King's soldiers following close behind.

Silence filled the time of the journey, as dirt and land started to give away to sand, beach rocks, and tall grass peeking through it. Even though this was in the Southlands, you felt as if Tochiryuu was an island, a place of its own with nothing but the things inside it; the beat of the sun, the white of the sand, and the roar of the ocean that was slowly growing bigger and bigger, its water twinkling like it was made out of stars.

Maybe the sea wasn’t such a sorry sight after all. 

And as you turned your head around, marveling at the beauty of the beach. You couldn’t help but think there was a battle here, not that long ago.

“So, tell me about Sunset Beach.”

A wave of tension seemed to pass through the King and his Hand, and for a moment, you thought perhaps you got it wrong.

“This is where you had your big victory, yes?” you asked the King directly.

His crimson eyes seemed to darken into the color of blood as they peeked back at you.

“Aye,” was all he said.

You huffed. "Well, King of Victory. Wouldn't you like to tell me how you earned the name?”

Surely he expected you to ask about it?

But oddly enough, the Dragon King didn’t reply. He just turned away and completely ignored you.

You didn’t understand. You'd imagined an arrogant man like Bakugou Katsuki wouldn't dare miss the opportunity to brag. Was his success exaggerated? Or was the battle more gruesome than how the songs described it to be?

Either way, you got it wrong, and you found yourself looking back at Ser Midoriya for guidance. But, he looked just as puzzled as you, his face scrunched up in deep concern as he met your gaze.

The heat within your chestplate started to curl up and tighten your throat. You suddenly felt panicked at the idea that the King didn’t like you. Personally, you wouldn’t have cared. You didn’t necessarily like him either, but your country was on the line. The King could decide not to follow through on the agreement. You needed to stay in good graces, at least until the bloody contract was signed and you could get the hell out of here.

You decided the best route was to just keep your mouth shut for the rest of the journey, and try to impress later.

“Have you been to the caves yet, my lady?” Kirishima suddenly asked you. He sounded kindly, and he even slowed his horse down so he could be by your side, better to hear you.

So much for keeping your mouth shut.

You swallowed down your reluctance to speak. “Not yet, but I’ve read about them, my lord.”

You eyed the King warily before going on. “The caves live just south of the Arashi Mountains. Not only are they the only known caves that hold blackstone, but they are home to many other gems as well- blood rubies, yellow diamonds. But…” You looked back at Kirishima. “But because of all of that, they're a natural attraction for dragons.”

Kirishima nodded. “That’s right. Dragons love treasure. Many of them end up making their nests in the caves. They're crawling with them.” And then, perhaps fearing that the comment would scare you, the lord backtracked. “B-But not to worry! The King and I have been in the caves many times. Right, Your Grace?!”

The King grumbled under his breath before begrudgingly replying, “Know ‘em like the back of my hand.”

“I trust you,” you told Kirishima, but your eyes did briefly wander over to the Dragon King.

The Arashi Mountains grew bigger. You could now pick out the lines of smoke that punctured various corners, curling up into the sky and beyond it, making the peaks disappear. The stormy-black of the rock seemed to swallow the sun that touched it, painting its entire aura gray. You caught the smaller pieces of rock circling around the base, how jagged and sharp they appeared to be as they covered the pitch-back that was the entrance to the caves.

You then spotted the white tents lined up around it, the small ants of men moving about to the faint sound of metalwork, as more lines of smoke traveled up from the ground, signaling the presence of bonfire.

But then a mighty roar vibrated through the sky. You looked up behind you and saw a tiny black speck flying, growing bigger and bigger until you struggled to see under the brightness of the sun. You felt a rush of wind fan your cheeks and whip through your hair, and the darkness the dragon brought shielded you from the torture as it flew over you. As it passed, you saw the familiar colors; red shimmering into black and green as it headed towards the mountains before you, letting out another roar as the dragon reached its home.

You saw the King smirk with pride.

"Katsuko" he greeted.

"Yours?" you asked.

The King whipped his head towards you, and for a moment you thought he would ignore you again or at least give you another half-ass answer, but pride seemed to take over. He boasted,"Of course. It's only right that the King has the best dragon."

"Is he the biggest?"

Bakugou snorted, hopping off the horse to walk the rest of the way towards the caves. "For his age. He’ll only grow bigger as he gets older, don’t worry."

You weren’t.

Truthfully, you weren’t too keen on the dragons yet. You admitted they were beautiful creatures and that they held a charming sense of power and grace when they flew in the air, beyond any danger or limitation. But you faintly wondered about the consequences of taming such a beast…

You went to unmount as well when a dizzy spell hit you, knees buckling as your feet touched ground. You held onto the saddle to keep yourself steady.

Ser Midoriya raced to your side when he noticed. “M’lady! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, ser,” you gritted determinedly, still feeling light-headed. 

“Are… are you sure you need the chestplate, m’lady?” Midoriya asked quietly. “If it’s your safety you're worried about, don’t worry! I’m sure Kacchan knows what he’s doing, and I’m here-”

“I said I’m fine, ser,” you seethed, hating to snap at him, but now the ghostly feeling has increased tenfold, from brushing against your shoulders to now trapping you in a bear hug, whispering in your ear…

Can't breathe…

You squirmed under its warning.

Your eyes peeked open to find Ser Midoriya staring at you in worry.

You gave a short, exasperated sigh. “I’m sorry, but my gut is telling me to keep the plate on and so it stays on. And that’s that.”

Ser Midoria nodded silently in agreement, although the worry was still plain on his face.

You both followed behind the King and His Hand, who were currently being greeted by a familiar face.

“Ah, great! The Dragon Whisperer has arrived.” Kaminari approached, a wide grin on his face as he bowed to the King.

Bakugou grunted in response and simply moved past him, heading towards a large slab of stone set in the middle of the base, sanded down so that it resembled a table. Some men were huddled around it, but quickly stepped aside for him. You had a feeling if they didn’t, the King would’ve just plowed through them anyway.

Lord Kaminari didn’t seem phased however, and instead his gaze landed on you.

“My lady,” he said with another bow. “I hope your ride was pleasant.”

“Better than the carriage,” you muttered grumpily.

It was true. Although the heat was gruesome and it was currently racing through your veins like snake venom, it was still a better journey. Afterall, you had yet to throw up.

A canteen floated right in front of your face. You grabbed at it- delighted to find it was real - and saw that it was your knight that gave it to you, worry still etched onto his face.

You ignored it, and drank out of the canteen heavily, fresh water flowing down your throat and branching through the rest of your body in heavenly relief.

You wanted to pass it back to Ser Midoriya, but he beated you to it by insisting you needed to catch up to the King, who was studying the slab. As you went to do so, you eagerly eyed the men working on the tools- pickaxes, hammers, and spears you quickly noted. You squinted in on them, and was shocked to find they were working with steel. Not blackstone.

Then, how?

You reached the King, approaching on his left. You looked down, curious of the source of his attention, and saw that the slab was carved with many lines, some short and some stretching to the opposite side, all of them connecting like the roots of a tree. At certain points, there were names, some of them faded so that you had to squint to read- Kinba, Shiroi Tsubasa, Kanibaru -and some of them were new, freshly carved- Musouka, Katsuko …

It was a map… and the names must be where the dragons live.

"So, which path are we taking?” you asked.

Bakugou huffed, dragging a finger from the older end, passing through Kanibaru and following the main line all the way down until reaching Katsuko , and then Musouka .

Your heart dropped to the bottom of your stomach.

“We’re going through their nests?” you asked in quiet horror.

“That’s how we find blackstone,” the King shrugged, as if it were no big deal. “The dragons are attracted to it, so they nest where it’s at.”

“And luckily for us, Musouka’s expanding her home!” Kirishima joyfully informed you. “She must be laying eggs soon.”

“‘Means she’ll be even more territorial,” the King grumbled. “We have to be careful bringing Katsuko in there.”

“We’re bringing Katsuko?” you asked.

“‘Need him to melt down the rock,” the King answered before turning towards Kaminari. “Oi! Where’s Musouka now?!”

“On flight, Your Grace. The watchtower last reported her heading east.”

“Then we need to move now,” the King stated, and in the wink of an eye, everyone did, and with such urgency that you found yourself looking in every direction, utterly lost.

“W-Wait! What if she comes back?!” Ser Midoriya cried, looking just as confused as you.

“Don’t worry, I’ll let you know,” Kaminari winked, handing each of you a torch, top end wrapped in cloth and reeking of alcohol. A heavy pack was suddenly tossed your way, and you peered inside it to find a pickaxe, rope, gloves, and a fresh canteen.

“You’ll also need this. The smell is quite strong down there.” Kaminari then handed each of you a large white cloth. 

You gave a good whiff and found that the putrid scent of the mountains, which was once tolerable in the city, was now churning deeply in your stomach.

Oh, you can not throw up again.

You secured the cloth over your nose and mouth, as tightly as you could. Then, you faced the pitch black of the cave’s entrance. No torches lined up against the wall, nor any wagon tracks. The only physical sign that man has been in that cave before was the slab of rock right next you.

Steeling yourself, as much as you could with the heat and the smell, you marched towards the black, but as soon as you met Kirishima at the entrance, you heard something big walking up behind you. 

You turned to find none other than Katsuko the Dragon, being way too close to your comfort with the King riding on top of him, looking as smug as ever, even with the cloth over his mouth.

It made you feel more sick than the stench ever could.

You all scrambled to get out of the way as Katsuko continued to march past you. 

“Just follow me, northerners, and you’ll be fine,” the Dragon King bragged.

Torches lit, you, Midoriya, and Kirishima silently walked behind Katsuko, who led the way. Wings tucked and body flat, the dragon scurried through the tunnels almost like a lizard, his tail slithering after him.

As rock and dirt crunched under your feet, you observed the walls around you, your torch light capturing the indented black that swallowed you whole, its tiny glimmers shining from your fire. It looked solid. Strong. And yet you knew you could easily take your pickaxe and pick a piece off.

It wasn’t blackstone. Blackstone only shined in sunlight.

Your eyes strayed down to find a white line of rope tied to the sides, a bell attached every few inches. You followed the line all the way until darkness stopped you.

Kaminari.

That’s what he meant. If Musouka comes back, he’ll pull the rope and ring the bells.

You all continue your path silently, letting the distant echoes of the cave consume you. It was somehow calming, the sound of the caves; the small drip of water from somewhere in the dark, the small roar of fire that came from your torches, the small shuffles of your footsteps, even the small sounds of Katsuko as he sniffed and scampered his way ahead.

All of these small sounds being casted out into the vibrant air of the cave, traveling through and meeting into one singular song. It gave you this strange, lulling sense of tranquility, one you were only familiar with through the whispering woods of home.

You hated to interrupt it, but you had questions.

“Why aren’t we using the blackstone tools?”

Everyone stopped to look at you. Even Katsuko.

“What blackstone tools?!” The King barked, the echoes of the cave capturing his voice and making it louder.

And it was such an offensive response that you couldn’t help but stare at him, speaking full of snark. “You know, the ones my family made…"

The Blacksmith's Hammer. The Anvil. The Five Pickaxes. Tools that have been passed down to your family for generations, that is, until the truce was broken.

“Eh?” the King asked. “Why the hell would we have those?!”

All you could do was look blankly ahead, the flare of your annoyance washed away into stupor.

“You… you don’t have them?” you asked quietly, fear and heartbreak creeping in with the thought that your ancestor’s creations may be gone for good.

“No, my lady.” Lord Kirishima shook his head . “At least, not us nor the Old Lord.”

“Do…" Your throat clogged with emotion, forcing you to clear it out and adjust your mask. "Do you think the Dragon Queen did something to them?”

“I wouldn’t know, my lady.” Kirishima shook his head again, sadly .

You let the sharp pain of grief curl up around your throat before stubbornly swallowing it down, ceasing the sting in your eyes along with it.

“That’s why our pickaxes are plain,” you roughed out, continuing your walk. "And why we need Katsuko to melt down the stone."

Dragon fire.

Except for blackstone itself, it's the only thing that can affect it. Without the Blacksmith’s tools, it would be the only option.

"And what do we do if we run into a stray?" you asked nervously.

No one answered.

Swallowing down the lump in your throat, you took the silence for what it was and moved along.

You let your hand brush along the cave wall, feeling the coarseness scratch along your palm, and you wondered distractedly, how far down were you? Then, how far down did the tunnels go? You haven’t even passed through the first dragon’s nest yet…

The sound of your footsteps began to grow louder, crunchier , and then,

Snap.

Startled, you looked down, absent mindedly thinking you somehow stepped on a twig.

But that couldn’t be right.

And when you brought your torch down to the ground, you saw it- the stick of bone white, coated with ash.

You swallowed down your fear over the sickening realization that, you were getting close.

“Kanibaru. That’s the first nest, yes?”" you asked nervously.

The King rumbled, “Aye.”

“And, do we need to worry about him?”

He let out a snort. “Kanibaru’s been dead for years, lady. We’ll be fine.”

"Not too far now, m’lady," Kirishima assured you.

You looked over towards your knight, who's been oddly silent since entering the caves, his eyes downcasted in deep thought.

“Are you alright, ser?”

Midoriya blinked, startled back to reality by your voice. “Oh! Y-Yes, m’lady. I was just pondering over the name.”

“Kanibaru?”

Ser Midoriya nodded solemnly. “Cannibal.”

Ice cold dread ran through your veins, making you feel cold once again despite the warmth of your armor.

The temperature of the air was fine, but the strong stench of dragon was fully watering your eyes now. You found yourself furiously wiping away your tears with your arm.

“Watch your feet!” the King called behind him.

You immediately looked down, seeing the bones in Kirishima’s torchlight. No longer were they fragments, hidden in the earth, but fully exposed and bigger.

And bigger…

Bones grew and multiplied. While once you were watching your step, now you were actively maneuvering around them- stepping over a ribcage only to narrowly avoid what appeared to be a broken sheep skull.

But then the bones went on, until they formed tiny mountains of their own and it was impossible to ignore the sickening crunches and snaps that formed under your feet, as you had no choice but to fully step on them now. 

And then you reached the nest.

Large white pillars sat on both ends, forcing Katsuko to tighten himself so he could crawl under it while Bakugou ducked, the rest of you huddling closer into the center. As you carefully stepped through, you looked up, seeing the roof that was the spine. And once you passed the pillars and the broken off roof, there were a few steps of nothing, and then…

The skull. 

It was facing away from you, so you couldn’t quite see it in all its glory yet, but Katsuko could, and he didn't like it. The dragon growled softly at the bone, sniffing at it and nudging it with his nose before his jaw opened slightly, growl growing louder and more rattled.

“Oi, Katsuko,” The Dragon King warned, “Rybas.”

The dragon let out another growl before turning his head and continuing walking.

And when you circled around the great white marble, you caught the side of the jaw, and then, the heavy spears of the teeth. The ones toward the front of the mouth were chipped off and broken, but the ones towards the back were completely intact, and so large- you imagined all it took was one strong bite for any prey to be turned into a slush of meat.

Your eyes traveled up the eye sockets, the one on the right torn and shattered all the way down the cheek.

The final bite that killed it.

When your fascination began to drag you behind, Ser Midoriya grabbed your elbow, nervously urging, “C’mon, m’lady! Best to keep moving.”

Sweat coated the palm holding your torch. You grasped it tighter, suddenly fearful of any small sound that passed through, your peace dampened with the idea that a dragon had no qualms killing one of its own.

But the bones soon disappeared, and the regular pathway of the tunnels returned, turning your thought into nothing but a shadow in your own mind.

Your chestplate grew heavier and heavier the farther you went down, and soon you found yourself being the last one in the group. At least, you would’ve been, if Ser Midoriya didn’t insist on staying by your side, making sure you were keeping up. 

And you tried to, you really did, but the weight of the chestplate felt heavier than stone, and every slight breeze that passed through seemed to tickle the back of your neck and crawl down to the bottom of your spine, making you shiver as the haunting came back again and again.

You kept waiting for the bells to ring, or worse, the small rumblings of a beast to poke through.

But besides the sounds of your party passing through, there was nothing, and Katsuko seemed to not be worried at all. In fact, he seemed to be going faster now, eager to reach his own domain.

The pathway began to grow wider. You, Midoriya, and Kirishima now free to walk with a bit of space, nothing but the darkness of the void and the small specks of torchlight warding it off, until Katsuko suddenly took a left turn, leaving you all chasing to follow.

The dragon took a few more steps then abruptly stopped, causing a domino effect for Kirishima, Midoriya, and you.

Katsuko grumbled softly again, flapping his wings slightly as he entered his own home. The white pieces of bone once again resurfaced from the ground, this time, only the remains of sheep scattered along with it.

But glittering light soon caught your eye, and you squinted closely to see the shadows of gold. You brought your torch in front of you, illuminating the hoard of treasure in all of its sparkling glory; not only gold, but diamonds and rubies as well, all hidden safely within the darkness of the caves and further protected by its owner, Katsuko The Dragon himself.

“Don’t you dare touch any of it,” The King commanded, yelling over his shoulder. “This is his , got it?!”

You nodded silently in agreement.

You lingered on the treasure until your eyes traveled up, meeting the giant hole in the wall.

“Is this where you got the blackstone for your throne?” you asked innocently.

“Aye,” the King grumbled. 

If they had the Anvil, they would’ve been able to make more tools…

Katsuko suddenly decided that he had enough walking for the day. He marched up to his hoard and started digging into it.

“Katsuko,” the King scolded. “Naejot!”

Katsuko ignored him and continued to dig.

Bakugou huffed, annoyed. “Katsuko, dohaeras. Naejot!”

Katsuko grumbled, before turning it into a growl, and then, a sharp whine. His tail swung out dangerously, whipping left and right,  hitting the cave walls.

You backed away nervously, as Ser Midoriya pulled you back even more, behind him.

“Oi,” the Dragon King warned. He started speaking in full sentences, in the language you didn’t understand.

But Katusko cocked his head, listening. Then, with a great huff, he turned around and continued down the path towards Musouka’s domain.

By now, the smell was so strong, your nostrils burned. You tightened the tie on your cloth to no avail, stuck with the stench attacking your nose hairs, and the long journey wasn't just weighing on Katsuko. Everyone was starting to feel fatigued, tension and impatience was starting to build in the air, and you feared that a single sneeze would cause the King to snap at you.

"Getting close…" he grumbled, stretching out his back while Katsuko carried him.

Easy for him to say. He didn't have to walk…

But then, shortly afterward, the King was proven right. You arrived.

Musouka’s home was definitely the biggest you’ve seen so far, with gold and jewels completely blocking the walls with its tall peaks, while bones and carcasses painted the floor, all of it forming into one very large nest of treasure and death.

Katsuko rumbled greedily as heavy steam began to leak out of his nostrils, with his tail slithering sinfully to and fro.

"Katsuko, umbas."

The dragon grumbled, shaking his head at the command, before begrudgingly, sitting himself down, staying.

The Dragon King hopped off his back, heading towards the back wall to move all the gold. Kirishima moved to help him, while you and Ser Midoriya held your torches high so they could see.

They exposed the smooth, black surface of the wall, not a single hint of shimmer reflected anywhere.

You walked up to touch it, feeling the familiar smoot-yet-rough scratch as it grazed your palm.

Blackstone.

“Get your asses back,” the King told everyone, and once again, you felt Ser Midoriya gently guide you back, making you to be the farthest away from the wall.

You peeked over Midoriya’s shoulder, watching Bakugou walk up to Katsuko, standing by his side.

“Katsuko.”  The King nodded towards the wall. “Dracarys.”

Katsuko scrunched his neck, growling deeply as a burning ball of flame formed deep in his throat.

Then, the dragon roared with all his might, a great wave of fire shooting out of his mouth and hitting the wall in all its fury.

The whole cave seemed to come to life, suddenly illuminated by the dragon fire as every shadow disappeared, and all the smell of dragon was burned to a crisp, replaced entirely by the smell of fire. The dry heat was hitting your face, burning your cheeks and making your heart pound furiously in your chest, its thump bumping the steel fox in front of it.

Then the roar died, the cave returned to darkness once more, and the wall of blackstone now glowed a fiery red.

“Quick! Put your gloves on and start picking at it!” Kirishima shouted, hurrying to do the very thing himself.

You threw down your bag, and dug in for the gloves, made from a very thick leather and a bit too big for your hands, but you put them on, grabbed your pickaxe, and ran to the wall.

“Careful. Don’t let the stone touch you,” the King warned. “Only grab it by the glove, got it?”

“Aye,” you answered him, moving to take a swing.

You managed to pick a chunk off, much to your delight. You grabbed it carefully with your gloved hand, and ran back to grab your bag- deciding to put the rock in there once it cooled.

You all kept picking at the blackstone, slowly gathering as much as you could in silence. The wall was now chunked to pieces, while the rest of it began to cool, the glow of dragon fire beginning to fade away.

You went to take what was maybe your last swing, and then…

A low, soft rumble echoed quietly down the tunnel.

You froze.

"Stop!" you whisper-cried, panicked.

Everyone halted, and listened.

But there was nothing.

“Calm your nervous ass!” The King yelled at you.

“I heard something,” you insisted.

The King rolled his shoulders back, eyeing the progress on the wall. “Probably a rat. If it’s anything else, Katsuko will let us know.”

Your ax felt numb in your hands. You stood there, petrified. You knew you heard something, but everyone else went back to work, swinging at the stone. Prickled flesh ran up your arms,  your shoulders, your neck.

Nothing but silence.

Then a deaf defying screech pierced through the air as a large blue dragon jumped out from a deep crack from within the wall. It launched itself onto Katsuko, and everything went to chaos. The torches went out. The roars and screams of the dragons bombarded the tunnel as they tumbled and rolled over one another, their fight illuminated only by the breaths of fire they were spitting at one another.

You heard Midoriya from afar, but you couldn’t find him.

“My lady! My lady!”

“Midoriya!” you called back, trying to run towards the voice, but then the large thwack of a tail came from somewhere above, forcing you to duck and cover our head as rock rained down. When you felt it stop, you got up and went to keep running, the sounds of the dragon fight still lively behind you.

Before you could even take a step, something hit you strongly in the chest, knocking all the air out of your lungs. Another thwack of a dragon tail. It sent you flying into a wall, its impact strong.

And then, black.

You didn’t know how long you were asleep. All you knew is that you blinked your eyes open, only to find that you still couldn’t see. Everything was black, your chest hurt like hell, and when you took your first breath, a sharp pain shot up from its right side. As you layed there, on the ground, face cloth lost somewhere in the struggle, you pinched your eyes shut and focused on breathing slow and even, hand naturally clutching the place of injury. You could feel the metal of your chestplate, now dented and digging into you.

“Help,” you whimpered, desperately hoping someone could hear you. But you heard no voices, no footsteps, and the sound of the dragon fight was long gone.

How long has it been?

Clenching your teeth, knowing it was going to be a bitch, you shot yourself up, immediately crying out from pain.

But you had to move. So you felt around you, thankfully finding a wall. You leaned against it for support, pulling yourself up, the sharp pain stabbing you from the inside. Sweat poured freely from your body, your forehead utterly slick with it as you just stayed there for a moment, focusing on your breath before you took one step. Two.

“Midoriya,” you tried calling out, the sound of you bouncing down the tunnels, but nothing came back.

What happened to him? To the others? Did they get blocked off from the fight? Crushed by the falling rock? Or did the dragons…?

You swallowed down your agony. You could not dwell over the fate of your poor knight. Not now. Now you had to figure out what to do.

You didn’t know where to go. You couldn’t even see , but you knew you couldn’t stay. Not when a dragon could come by any minute. You remembered, Musouka’s nest was the farthest one on the map. Depending which side you ended up on, you would either be heading towards the exit or heading deeper into the cave, into untrodden territory.

“Fuck,” you groaned, anguished over your predicament.

Sending a quick prayer to the old gods, you began your journey into the darkness, alone. Thankfully, besides your chest and the throbbing bump on your head, you felt fine, so you stumbled your way down, keeping a hand along the wall and your ears open for any sign of life.

You don’t know how long you spent walking, as time seemed endless in the caves. Five minutes could’ve been thirty. Thirty minutes could’ve just been five. The only hint of time you had was the soreness of your feet and the all-over ache of your body.

You wondered what your father would say, if he could see you now. Would he scold you for being stupid? For ever going into a dragon cave to begin with? Would he disown you for ever stepping foot in the Southlands? Perhaps, if things turned more sinister, you would know soon enough.

A sickening crunch halted your thoughts, and you froze, listening.

Let it be a footstep, let it be one of the others .

But then a low growl rumbled through the night, soft and slow, like the creaking of a mill. It crushed your hopes and filled them with terror. 

Goosebumps ran up your flesh as your breath quickened. The thrumming pain of your ribs seemed to echo the beat of your heart as you could feel the strong pulse of your blood racing through your veins.

You reached for your sword, but paused.

Only a fool would dare to slay a dragon when they're in the belly of its lair.

And then you could finally see again as the dragon opened its jaw, a dim ball of light starting to brew within it. You could see the outline of its teeth, just as big as the skeleton you saw eons ago. As the fire grew, rumbling deep with the dragon’s throat, more was illuminated for you; the beady eyes staring directly at you, the blue scales glimmering into green.

“You must be Musouka,” was all you were able to say, coming to the conclusion that this was your fate.

The dragon released a sizzling exhale, hot ghastly air steaming out of its nostrils and onto your face and hair. It gave another low rumble, as if agreeing with you.

The rumbling began to crank up, growing louder as the jaw was released more, fire growing brighter as the full, monstrously beautiful face of Musouka was revealed, her fire reflecting in her eyes as she inched closer to you, sharp claws digging through the earth.

Yes, I am Musouka, mother dragon to be, you imagined her saying.

And you are a stranger in my home.

As you closed your eyes, waiting for the inevitable, a soft melody seemed to echo from somewhere beyond. You thought it was a part of your imagination, that your mind was simply conjuring up a sweet, distant mirage before you faced a gruesome death.

But then you felt Musouka cock her head to the side, listening as well. The silkened words grew closer, more present.

When you felt her finally looked away, you opened your eyes, and you were glad you did, because you would’ve never believed it if you hadn’t. 

Blonde hair peeked from within the soft glow of his own torch flame, crimson eyes reflecting its ferocity as the Dragon King stepped up, bringing Musouka’s attention fully on him.

He didn’t seem scared as he sang his sweet song. He seemed calm, confident, and strong. He stood his ground as Musouka drew near, and it was like his honeyed words only grew more powerful as she did so.

The blood of the dragon…

The fire in the King’s eyes seemed to match Musouka’s completely, the only proof of the invisible string connecting them. The song was so hypnotic, it felt like it would never end. An endless song of beauty that could never be broken, like the bond between a dragon and its rider.

It is magic. It must be, you thought.

But as endless as the song felt, Musouka suddenly turned her head away from the King and from you. She went up to another deep crack within the wall. She folded her wings and flattened herself before scurrying inside the broken rock, sharp tail slithering away and disappearing with her.

You felt the magic disappear, broken for good, and your senses returned to you as you begrudgingly stood up straight, feeling the throb of your knees, shaking.

You were now alone with the King. A heavy silence passed through the both of you as you worked on regaining your nerve.

“Thank you for that.”

The King grunted, as if it were no big deal. “You okay?”

You found yourself nodding, “Yea-Yes. I’m fine. I think I have a broken rib, but that’s the worst of it. Thank you, again.”

His eyes seemed to wonder over you, checking for himself. They simmered over you head-to-toe, making you shiver under its gravity. Then they lingered over your damaged chestplate.

“Here,” he spoke quietly, moving to undo it for you. You grabbed his torch for him, as he worked to undo the clasps, freeing you from the literal weight on your shoulders as the warmth of his proximity brushed your skin.

Feeling your cheeks flared, you stumbled for a distraction. "H-How did you find me?"

"Told ya', didn't I?" He carefully guided the plate over your head, granting your freedom, as he met your curious eyes. "I know these caves like the back of my hand."

Cheeks flared again once he reminded you.

Of course he knew where to go. He was the Dragon King.

“Let’s go,” he said gruffly, stepping away and taking the torch from you and handing back your chestplate in return.

Before you could even ponder over the lost proximity, he grabbed your free hand and started dragging you away.

He led you through the dark, and feeling just utterly helpless and out of your depth, you let him, putting all of your trust and dependency on the Dragon King as he guided you through the caves, occasionally halting to listen, occasionally pulling you left and right on a random notice.

And perhaps because your mind was tired and numb and you finally felt a sense of safety again, but your thoughts began to wander, fading into faint dreams of the stories you grew up with, of the Blacksmith and the Queen. Perhaps the Blacksmith got lost in the caves the first time around and the Dragon Queen had to rescue him, just like this. You imagined that this was how their friendship was formed, with trust being put into one another and the threat of death waking them up from their ignorant and childish feud. Maybe this was how the idea of the Bridge came to be…

Through the rush of being pulled this way and that, and your mind being lost in its fruitless thoughts, the rustling in your ears came forefront. The sound of the whispering trees bending violently in the wind, their words growing louder…

A broken oath…

A dragon only knows greed…

What do they know of honor …

“Head in the clouds and ears in the trees," your father's voice whispered.

You reached fresh air, and you found yourself gasping for it greatly. The muffledness of your mind faded away, making everything clear the more you breathed. You hardly even noticed Ser Midoriya fretting over you, his mouth moving in frantic motions you couldn’t hear nor decipher. You did however see the tear tracks staining his cheeks.

“She’s got a broken rib,” you heard the King say behind you, his voice low and close. “We should take her to the maester.”

A blanket was pulled over your shoulders, and you realized then that, you two weren’t holding hands anymore as the palm that was once in his now felt cool and naked. You tried to make up for the strange feeling of vulnerability by rubbing your palm against the blanket, willing it to go away.

How silly, you thought. Escaping into dreamland and fretting over his touch while he was just saving you.

“Oi! Dunce Face!”

You turned just in time to see the King grab onto Lord Kaminari, holding him up by the collar. “Why the hell didn’t you ring the bells?!”

“I did Your Grace! I was ringing thrm the whole time!” Kaminari screamed, holding his hands up in front of him in mercy. “Something must’ve happened to the rope.”

It occured to you quickly.

“Katsuko," your voice croaked.

Both Kaminari and the King paused to look at you.

You cleared your throat, speaking again. “It must’ve broken off when he swung his tail.”

Realization dawned on the King’s face, as Kaminari slipped away from his grasp, retreating.

"Did… did you at least get any blackstone?" The lord asked hopefully.

You looked towards everyone you went into the caves with.

Midoriya looked down, defeated.

Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

And the King… The King looked ready to kill.

You don't know what came over you. Maybe you were coming down from the highs of what happened, maybe you were just overwhelmed with the relief of being alive, or maybe you simply found the irony out of the situation, but you started to laugh; small giggles that bubbled out of your mouth soon became full-on laughter that hurt to do, but broken ribbed be damned. You couldn’t help it and you certainly couldn't stop it.

Everybody stared at you, not sure of what to do or how to read your reaction.

You finally calmed down, wiping a stray tear from your eye. "Well, Your Grace. If you wanted to prove the value of your people's work, you needn’t go to such extremes.”

The King simply looked at you, dumbfounded by your reaction.

You sighed, feeling tired and ready to go to bed.

“I would've believed you, if you simply told me,” you told him quietly, a smile on your face as Ser Midoriya guided you to one of the tents.

“Wait.”

You stopped and looked back, waiting for the King to say what he needed to.

“How’d you know to wear it?” He looked down at the chestplate, which was now in Midoriya’s grasp.

You looked at it briefly for a moment, the fox that was now covered in soot. Unsure of what to say, you looked back up at Midoriya, seeing the look of warning in his eye, his words from before coming into mind.

" If you ask about it, he'll deny it, m'lady. Kachaan thinks it makes him look superstitious…"

You looked back up at the King, and  shrugged innocently. 

“Just instinct, Your Grace.”

[maeumverse]

FRAGMENT (stylized as FRAG;MENT) is a fictional, six-member Japanese-Korean boy group under WANDER STUDIO, a fictional Japan-based subsidiary of HYBE labels. The group made their debut on April 18, 2024 with their EP “I Passed You On A Warm Spring Day; We Shared Nothing But A Glance” and lead single INFINITE CYNICISM. Prior to their debut, they garnered attention for their producer, fictional former NEWS member HIGUCHI TSUBASA, and for their lineup that contained familiar faces from the jpop and kpop industries. Their debut was met with immediate success, peaking at number one on the Oricon singles chart.

The group was first introduced in mid 2023 through a series of cryptic Instagram posts collaging the past experiences of the members and encouraging fan speculation of the future group members. As the group’s name and concept were finalized and revealed to the public, they faced scrutiny for their similarities to other HYBE boy groups, especially ENHYPEN. Their use of semicolons in the group name and album title was thought to be a direct copy and paste of Enhypen’s hyphens. The darker tones of their singular music video so far and their supernatural concept based on kitsune and gumiho mythology were two more steps too far. One thing still-unnamed Fragment fans will do is fight Engenes. It’s the most excitement they’ve had since they were guessing who would be in the group from cryptic Instagram posts. The other thing they’ll do is argue that Tsubasa and the rest of their production team do, in fact, know how to use a semicolon.

MEMBERS

TAKEMOTO AKIRA (2000) — Leader, former member of project kpop group 1V1. Introduced first with:

A shooting star — His defunct personal Instagram user, @.akirakira, where kirakira is the Japanese onomatopoeia for sparkles. A still from Dance Dance Revolution — Arguably his favorite video game. One of his character traits from Last Act into 1V1.

The Dotonbori Glico billboard — A landmark of his hometown, Osaka.

NISHIKAWA RYUJI (2001) — Former member of coed jpop group MAKE MY WAY. Introduced third with:

A series of arrows pointing west — The first character of his surname, which helped define Make My Way’s group name as well.

A honeycomb — Part of the title of Make My Way’s disbandment song, Mitsu no Aji (Taste of Honey). 

A lot of dogs — His back-up career plan to be a veterinarian, which he mentioned many times while in Make My Way.

MOON JINWOO (2002) — Center, former member of 1V1. Introduced sixth with:

The constellation Pleiades — His past experience as a Pledis Entertainment trainee.

The number 10 — His final rank on Last Act, the survival show that formed 1V1.

A game over screen — The title of 1V1’s first and last album.

MORI KAKERU (2002) — Former member of MAKE MY WAY. Introduced second with:

The Shibuya Scramble Crossing — The filming location of his first music video with Make My Way.

Silver accents — His representative color while in Make My Way.

A stock photo of a person running — The first character of his given name, meaning to run.

YONEZAWA DAIKI (2003) — Former JOHNNY’S JR. member. Introduced fifth with:

A samurai and a ninja — His participation in Johnny’s Jr. groups 7 MEN SAMURAI and SHONEN NINJA.

ASL for the letter D — The hand motion he uses alongside his catchphrase, “Oneechan, don’t you think I’m cute?”

Fujippi — The mascot of Shizuoka Prefecture, where he was born.

HEO HYUN (2003) — Former YG Entertainment trainee, part of the fan-made SILVER BOYS group. Introduced fourth with:

The number nine in a treasure chest — His participation in survival shows MIXNINE and YG TREASURE BOX, where he was eliminated twice.

A turtle — He has three pet turtles. It was part of his personality on YGTB.

The lyrics to TVXQ’s Hug — The last song he performed on Mixnine before his elimination.

DISCOGRAPHY

I Passed You On A Warm Spring Day; We Shared Nothing But A Glance — EP, 2024

[kariachi]

Okay, so everybody who knows anything about my love for Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles knows that the twins own my soul. I offered it up as tithe to the church of Yuui and Fai. And this has been great on the Yuui front! The Yuui front eats well, the supply lines are unharried, everyone is sad but everything is great.

The Fai front's rations consist of three bread crusts and a boiled shoelace.

There is, understandably, very little in canon for our boy. We know that he was the one in the tower, that he was more 'curl into myself and die' traumatized as opposed to the 'burning brightly like the end of the world' traumatized of his brother though we can't be sure how much of that was the difference in the trauma they were experiencing and how much was a difference between them, that he was suicidal ideation before Dickcheese even showed up, that he just straight up ordered Dickcheese to his face to save his brother (seriously, go look at those pages, I love them, in fact I have a whole post), and that he loved his brother more than anything.

Which seems like a lot when written down all together but it really really isn't.

But! There's hope! There is more Fai content in the form of Shiritsu Horitsuba Gakuen, which all TRC fans likely know about by now but for everyone else is essentially a school au series of shorts featuring a range of Clamp characters, including Fai and Yuui among the teaching staff. It's not a lot, but even like three more panels of OG!Fai opens the door for doubling what we know about him.

There is a problem- namely that I've heard conflicting information about who is who. I've heard a lot of people talk about how the names are switched to avoid confusion from fans- since Yuui goes by Fai for the whole of TRC- but I've also heard claims that this isn't the case at all. So, part of this my first read-through of Horitsuba will be figuring out which I believe is the case, based on what we already know of both characters from canon. To this end, I'll be keeping track of traits of each one as I read the shorts and whatever script translations I can find, and then working shit out after.

So let's get ourselves into this.

~~

"Yuui"

Home Ec Teacher

More chill

Ver nice, good teacher

Polite

Brother picked his clothes for a special occassion, was chill about it

Comforting Kurogane over his brother's shenanigans in one panel

Seriously man can fucking back

Plays piano

New to the area

Managed a restaurant in Italy

Happy for his brother's happiness

Wears glasses

Cooking for three because Kurogane lives next door and, well, *gestures down to "Fai" section*

If nothign else pulled pranks as a small with his brother

Can imitate his twin's voice?

Played archery

Not much of a voice actor

Seems rather modest and maybe a bit shy maybe?

"Fai"

Chemistry teacher

Nicknames for Kurogane

Just the general fucking with Kurogane we get from early!Yuui!Fai

Bright and smiley

Energetic

Playing up his emotions

Playful troublemaker

Crossdressing

Definitely leaning more towards the 'ship with Kurogane' end of things

Works with Kurogane on department budget shit in one episode of the drama

Can sew

Number one most precious thing is his brother, awww

Can imitate his twin's voice

Voice-acting-capable

Acted in school

Refused to be a club because too much time from his brother

~~

Okay, so what have we got here? Two very different characters, I'll give that.

"Yuui" seems to lean more towards late!Yuui!Fai in personality, but doesn't seem to be as playful, teasing, or bombastic. Especially that last bit.

"Fai" meanwhile very clearly leans more towards early!Yuui!Fai in personality. He's very playful, teasing, bombastic, and really trying to wear his way into Kurogane's heart. He lacks in a touch of the seriousness of him though.

In fact, when we look at the sequel to the manga- Tsubasa World Chronicle, one is seems quite reserved in comparison to the Yuui!Fai we get, while the other is far too bombastic. TWC Yuui!Fai is calmer and more obviously serious than he presented himself early on, but still very clearly teasing and playful, just less bombastic about it.

And that's an important point to make, because one argument I've seen for "Fai" being OG!Fai is that Yuui!Fai was mimicking his brother when he was acting all bombastic and smiley at the start, and I don't think that's the case for a few reasons.

As I just said, Yuui!Fai is a teasing, playful person, just not to nearly the degree as he initially presented himself

We see where his stepford-smiler stuff begins in the manga, where he begins to smile not because he feels it but to make other people happy and repay Ashura- the persona we first see is an exaggeration of himself with a thick layer of smiles acting as a mask between him and these people he's supposed to betray but cares too much about too quickly (because Yuui!Fai is a fucking gift who cares so deeply all the time)

While there's not exactly a lot of opening for it, we don't see any reason in the canon to believe that OG!Fai would have been the cheery bubbly sort if life hadn't had his balls in a vice

Not to say that this isn't the case, but that I just don't think it's likely. Gods know I'm not Clamp, I could be wrong.

Continuing- "Yuui" has some Yuui!Fai traits, like his piano playing, his cooking, his archery. "Fai" acts (and what was Yuui!Fai's life for so long but playing a role), uses nicknames, and crossdresses.

But what I think is something really important to look at is the relations with Kurogane. Because this is Clamp, whatever they're writing, it's also a romance, and they're big on fuckers finding each other throughout space and time. Like who even knows how many versions of Sakura and Syaoran there are getting together anymore.

"Yuui" doesn't get much there. He pats Kurogane on the shoulder in for support while his brother is being A Lot. Kurogane helps him move a big cake. The trio all have dinner together every night. That's it. That's what he gets. "Fai", meanwhile, get so fucking much interaction, so much of the same brand of banter and dynamic the pair have in canon- leaning more towards early canon rather than the sequel, yes, but the dynamic is still there in the sequel, just at a chiller level.

So I can see why people would look at that and think "Yuui" is the real OG!Fai. I can also see how people would look at things like cooking and piano and not being to bombastic and think that "Fai" the real OG!Fai. Both sides are understandable. Personally I think...

It's neither.

"Yuui" is close but he's not quite Yuui!Fai- he doesn't seem to have that same teasing, playful nature that still is his nature even when the mask comes off and the world isn't weighing on him. "Fai" is also not Yuui!Fai, he's more like the mask become truth, an exaggeration of the character. Neither of them is the man we all know and love.

So, I present a third option to the board- Clamp didn't have anything more for OG!Fai than what they gave us in canon, which isn't a lot to work off of. To build a character off that, you'd essentially be building someone entirely new for what seems like it was supposed to be all familiar characters just in a different setting. So, instead, they split Yuui!Fai in two.

They took the bombastic teasing and playfulness that would be most familiar to casual fans, the relationship that's straight up canon, and put it under "Fai"- the name Yuui!Fai goes by for the entire series and that would be most familiar.

They then took the calmer, more mature aspects, alongside the hobbies, and put them under "Yuui"- a name that's only really used in one world and late into the series, combining the parts of Yuui!Fai that would be less likely for casual fans to remember clearly into a character who's still familiar enough to work with.

So, what would this mean for OG!Fai? Well for one thing, it'd mean we still only have a few panels to go off of for him, which is a damn shame. Especially since they take place in a time of his life when so much of what we see is colored with trauma.

But, we can always take traits from what we see here and add them to the character- they could be shared, or things that OG!Fai was interested in in those early years that Yuui!Fai took up in his name. Or just because. Or we can futz with shit on our own, work with what we have and, well, make it work.

And at the end of the day, we still have what's canon. That OG!Fai loved his brother more than anything. That he was broken or loyal enough to turn down Fei-Wang's offer of salvation thrice. That even as a small, broken child he still was determined and strong enough to stare Fei-Wang- the big bad of the series- in the face and give him an order.

And damnit if that's not enough to love him by.

[techouspeaks]

Hirogaru Sky Precure Review!

Finally review of Hirogaru Sky Precure! There won't be too many spoilers but I can't make any promises with that.

First off, I apologize for not being around so much. For a while I haven't been watching a whole lot of stuff so Precure has been the only thing besides Dragon Prince I had been seeing. Now, I've seen Hazbin Hotel and the new Avatar the Last Airbender live action series, so I'll review those later. That and I've been primary focused on art and story projects which is for the best anyway, but I still like to occasionally review things I find interesting. So reviews will be more so scattered once and while. So without further a due, let's begin with this review.

Hirogaru Sky is about Sora who comes from Skyland. She's training to be a hero and one day when she comes to the Kingdom of Skyland to complete her training and be one of the Azure Guards and become a hero. See, Captain Shalala rescued her once when she was little and that inspired to constantly train to become one, even at the risk of not having any friends. One day though, as she's coming to the kingdom, Princess Elle, the baby princess of the kingdom gets kidnapped and Sora tries to rescue her. She ends up on earth where she meets a girl named Mashiro and with the mysterious power Princess Elle (known as Elle-chan through out the series) has, Sora becomes Cure Sky, the first Blue Cure that's the main lead. Together with Mashiro who becomes Cure Prims, Tsubasa, a bird who can turn into a boy as Cure Wing, the first boy cure of the main team and Ageha, Mashiro's childhood friend and nursery school teacher in training as Cure Butterfly, the first official adult cure, they become Hirogaru (Hero Girl/Soaring) Sky Precure!

This series, I'm just gonna say right off the bat...is probably the best series to come out so far in a long time!

I know I tend say something along the lines of that, mainly because Kira Kira was such a disappointment to me at the time, though I do admit I might a bit too hard on Kira Kira at times. This honestly how I feel. The last series Delicious Party Precure kinda became boring for me after a while. The lore was okay, I liked Rosemary and how the male characters actually had important roles in that series which probably was what open the idea that male cures could really be a thing, but I didn't care for the other characters enough to be engaged with anything else. I even stopped watching for a while and just picked it back up afterwards once in a while because that's how much interest I was in it.

Hirogaru Sky surprised me with not only it's action but more so the laidback tone it has. It kinda focuses more so like a slice of life kinda series with action in it, than a standard Precure series, which you wouldn't expect from a series that's about "Hero Girls". I mean, don't get me wrong, there are slice of life moments in Precure but the main focus is fighting the evil thing and saving the kingdom. Here, we don't even know who the main villain is until the near end after a few generals defeated. The action stuff just comes as a climax to the end of each episode or almost each episode so the main focus is the life and times of these characters. They still do focus on important lore stuff but it's sprinkled in few and far between.

You would think this would make the series weaker but it honestly makes it unique and it works so well because the characters are so likeable and the pacing for the episodes are written for the most part pretty well.

Sora is not my favorite character. I guess for me it's the curse of the Blue Cures. I usually never find them as interesting or likeable but Sora isn't a bad character at all. I just think her friends are just a bit more interesting. She's honestly a good lead and fun to watch as she tries to understand the human world. It's not too over the top but goofy enough to enjoy. I'm also glad we finally got an athletic tomboy kinda girl as supposed to a very happy go lucky, girly girly that just happens to do sports well. It's what started the franchise after all with Nagisa/Cure Black, so it's nice they starred the first blue lead cure as an athletic tomboy as well.

Mashiro has got to be my favorite character in this and it's surprising because I didn't think I'd like her so much. She's very soft spoken but she's not exactly shy. She lacks confidence at first but she doesn't do it all the time to where it's a character trait. More so something that naturally happens with someone especially her age. She's kind but has her spicy moments and will even tell the general who's interrupting off (which is hilarious often that happens XD) and I overall love how she grows and develops. A prime example is when she gets her picture book she worked so hard on to make torn up by one of the generals as a desperate attempt to fall at the top general's better graces. Instead of believing his horrible words and being completely upset that her picture book got destroyed, she completely understands that the general is actually in grave danger of possibly being killed and wants to save him as she recognized that he was the one suffering the most. Which leads to what I will explain a little later.

Speaking of understanding characters that I didn't expect to like, Ageha would probably be next to Tsubasa for the second place of favorite characters. It's funny how when the first image of Cure Butterfly came out, most everyone including myself thought she was gonna be some diva with a snooty side. She can be one but that's not entirely the case and I'm glad. She wants to be the "Best Nursery School Teacher Ever" and to be that you gotta understand kids and boy does she understand kids! Not only full of energy but also patience and she stops to listen to what they want and need. She doesn't look down to kids (though somewhat with Tsubasa she does at least by calling him "boy" most of the time) and doesn't dismiss when a kid might be onto something important like most adults and even the other cures might. It's refreshing to see an adult character show this and it helps kids understand there are adults who will listen and it shows the importance of listening well listening to kids. Children may think stuff up but there are times where they do need to be taken into consideration especially if they're not known to make up stuff and lie.

When I found out that Cure Wing was gonna be a boy, I squealed so much I'm surprised my parents didn't come to see what was going on! I was sooo ecstatic to find out we were getting our first male cure to be a part of the team and I honestly was not disappointed when we finally got to meet Tsubasa! His debut as Cure Wing was amazing and again, I keep using this word but surprising! The fact he was willing to drop and fall to his doom just to help Elle-Chan escape was not what I was expecting and it was done so well! Then his debut came and went and it seemed like for a while he was pushed a side and became less interesting, partly due to Ageha.

Remember what I said that Ageha sorta looked down at Tsubasa somewhat? I feel like that's what happens. She calls him "Boy" instead of by his name which makes no sense to me. She calls the kids in the class she's training in by their names so why is Tsubasa any different? This leads to Tsubasa going from a very smart and very calm character to being really snippy and brass at times. I mean, he is a kid but he's not that much older than Sora and Mashiro. So I don't understand why Ageha treated him like that especially when she took some of the younger kids including Elle-Chan with a little more decency. Maybe she knew he needed to lighten up maybe but still she treated Mashiro and Sora with respect and decency to call them by their names.

When Ageha becomes Cure Butterfly, the dynamic becomes a little better. In fact, I became more interested in them as a duo than I was for Cure Sky and Cure Prims duo relationship. They got a good brother and sister dynamic and I like seeing how their friendship evolves. Tsubasa shines the best when the episode focuses on how smart he is such as his knowledge over air currents and different animals. It shows that while he is a kid, he's very smart and reliable. My favorite episodes are when they go to the vegetable garden with Yoyo and the airport episode where they help a lost girl.

Elle-Chan is pretty decent as a baby character. A lot of people are annoyed by her since she is a baby and they say she is pretty bland and I kinda agree/disagree. I like her as a baby and the few times we get her in grown form than I do as Cure Majesty. When she's Cure Majesty, it seems like she loses more personality. As Elle-Chan she does have a little more personality to her. I know that sounds weird, but hear me out.

Most of the time when we get a baby character, they don't grow. They just cry and well be a baby. They're not that aware of what goes on around them. Elle-Chan actually does grow. Now she doesn't learn her lessons like sharing and being friendly right away but she does come around. They show her growth in a tiny pace which feels more natural and she is more aware of what's going on around her, even to the point of wanting to help the people of Skyland during a dire need, even planning with the cures on how to brighten things up for her people.

Out of all the baby characters, she wasn't a bad one and was useful at times, not just because she's the power source and then a Cure but also just as herself and I liked that. Though, I do hope we don't get anymore babies for the cures to care for, least not for a long time. Much like everyone else, it does bother me they push that onto them.

Yoyo is a nice mentor character. She gives that nice wisdom to the Cures and it's interesting that she too is from Skyland and being Mashiro's grandmother, makes her Skyland decent! Which is really interesting!

Animation is great! I especially like the over the topic, almost cartoon super hero vibe when they do some of the punches! They did not mess around when giving us a fight scene!

Overall, Hirogaru Sky is an amazing addition and especially a great way to celebrate 20 years of Precure!

I give Hirogaru Sky Precure! 9 out of 10 Stars! Get excited! Put on your cape and give it a watch!

[completeoveranalysis]

[7]

YEAH THERE WE GO. 

In a move that’s practically meta Fai teases that Kurogane isn’t even calling out the names of his techniques, and he replies that it’s too much of a bother. 

We are here at the climax of it all, after watching Kurogane and Syaoran call out their special techniques the entire time, and now in the final fight Kurogane says he can’t be bothered. 

WITH THE GRUMPIEST FROWN I’VE EVER SEEN ON HIM 

>:(

Which again shows how much they’re not really engaged in this fight in the way that you would normally expect, and are teasing each other instead. 

It is the kind of joviality that in a different CLAMP series might be signalling their imminent tragic demise, but I’ve seen them on the cover of Tsubasa World Chronicle! If anyone is going to survive this it’s THEM. 

So they’re having a fun little battle date where they can wreck the shit out of a bunch of enemies and call Evil Wolverine names at the same time. Which is their ideal date, really. 

Also it IS satisfying to see Kurogane take pretty much all of them out with a single technique that he didn't even put his full seriousness into.

And all Evil Wolverine can do is be like, yes that's... fine...

Ooh chain swords chain swords! Even better! Let’s make it interesting now that Fai has joined the fight too. 

He hasn’t even started trying yet either. 

Oh, and this calls back his weapon in the Infinity arc as well. It all lines up. 

OH YUP HERE WE GO. FAI BRINGING OUT THE VAMPIRE NAILS.

Bringing out the Acid Tokyo call backs and, as a result, showing us the FULL Fai. The version of Fai that has SURVIVED all of the things he's gone through and who he's become as a result. Fai using even the parts of himself he didn't ask for to his full capacity, as his vampirism is yet another sign of love - That someone loved him enough to REFUSE to let him die, and the power that act of love has given him as a result.

They’ve noticed something that I can’t properly make out just yet. (Are the bodies disappearing? Are they melting? Do more of the same person exist at once?)

Either way it proves to Kurogane that they're Real Physical People and not illusions or constructs.

Oh! Is it the blood, maybe? Is it the blood that proved that they're real actual humans and that's what surprised Fai? And so that's enough for them to realise that Evil Wolverine is shoving Real Living people at them and not using magic of any other kind. Or that's about as far as I can take it without any further hints at least.

Still, we get an epic standoff with the battle husbands in perfect back-to-back poses as they face down the infinite glitch Evil Wolverine army. 

It’s very visually pleasing even if I don’t buy for a second that they’d actually die here. 

[muthaz-rapapa]

Hirogaru Sky Impressions (3/5)

Alright~

So we're more than halfway there. Excited for leaks season yet?

Show is still going good despite the last 10 episodes being mostly filler. I don't have anything to really complain about since as far as fillers go, the quality of HiroPre's is definitely better than those of previous seasons.

But me being me, of course there is going to be some form of criticism so let's gogogo~ and get that over with.

Again, the fillers are quite enjoyable but ever since the recovery of Captain Shalala, doesn't it feel like we've gone too long without any plot-related episodes?

Thankfully, it seems they're getting back to that with ep 31 next week. But even so, the lack of clues or hints about the Undergu Empire and the reason for its antagonism dragged the show's momentum slightly. So it felt longer to get through these 10 weeks.

"Filler doldrums" as I'd like to call it because tuning into Precure weekly became more of chore than something to look forward to.

But it wasn't that bad so let's hope the next 10 episodes will be more balanced.

Moving on.

I spoke too soon on not having to worry about the handling of Mashiro's character arc anymore. Why am I surprised, though? Whenever I let my guard down, my expectations are always betrayed. Oiy.

But honestly, they got me all hoping and excited since they actually gave her potential content to work with. Like her taking an interest in creating picture books. Or even her cooking skills or passion for makeup. Or her long distance relationship with her parents. That's quite a bunch of material to expand on for her.

Instead, she's been regulated to the passenger seat again to let Sora drive.

On one hand, I understand and can accept that Sora would receive more focus since the she is the main character of the overall story. Her coming from another world and therefore being a fish out of water bird out of Skyland when it comes to most things Earth-related...along with being someone who's never had friends before due to spending most of her time training are all prime real estate for development.

However, you can't deny that there is a blatant amount of lead favoritism.

It's not as bad as previous seasons since the writing for HiroPre is a lot better. But when the rest of the cast individually gets one episode of spotlight for every five or so the lead gets, it can be tiresome or even suffocating to sit through.

...on another note, my theory about Captain Shalala possibly being a double agent for the Undergu Empire turned out to be wrong after all. But I think having the enemy take Shalala hostage was the more suitable direction to go for breaking Sora down in order to let her renew and restrengthen her resolve as a hero. The loss of respect for your idol can be a really difficult thing to bear and that might be too harsh a topic for Precure's target audience. It achieved similar effects to the Broken Pedestal trope anyway so no complaints there.

Anyways, we may have broken the Pink trend this year but I'm not optimistic it will stay that way as long as there's always one primary lead in each group. Frankly, I think we're going straight back to special Pink treatment for another 4 years before 25th anniversary but that's a thing to worry about later.

As for Tsubasa and Ageha, I was more satisfied with their focus eps. Mostly.

Tsubasa's always teaches you something new. I really liked the one about branching out your dream, which is something we all need to hear should we ever reach our goal or get stuck on what to do next. And Ageha's most recent one with her older sisters and her parents' divorce when she was younger provided more depth into how she became the person she is today.

But I wasn't pleased when the Peach airline promotion ep that should've been about Mashiro spending time with her parents went to Tsubasa instead. I mean, Tsubasa showing off his airplane knowledge is always amazing but...ngh, they really don't care for Mashiro, do they?

Another thing. I became a little concerned about the portrayal of Ageha. She is shown to be consistently confident and composed in most things she does...but most 18-year olds aren't like that. So I worried for a bit if that might've sent an unintentional message that "you should be as competent as Ageha when you reach adult age" which is like ehhhh......not true.

Though it's only a flaw you notice if you're incredibly scrutinizing like I am. And given Ageha's personality, there's nothing wrong with presenting her as such cuz she wouldn't be Ageha without those traits. But definitely think of her more as a role model instead of one to emulate, that's all.

Right so, next week...is not the debut of Cure Majesty.

YET.

But very soon. Maybe even the week after? September titles haven't been released yet (as of checking right now) but with only...wow, 18 more episodes to go, they better make the best of it.

I don't think Ellee-chan suddenly getting older will become too much of an issue with pacing...as long as they don't put her in school if she still largely retains the mind of a toddler.

Or maybe she'll only grow older when transforming into Precure and return to being a baby during off-hours? That'd be interesting...it wouldn't be as fun as seeing her more grown up, yea, but it'd be unexpected, at least.

Whatever. Just give me more lore and I'll be good.

Finally (haha), let's talk about the future of Precure for a bit.

This season is obviously not going to be the last of 'em. If it was, they wouldn't try to scare you with it in an All Stars movie preview of all things. They'd likely do it the boring way by just announcing it in the news. :P

Anyways, we can definitely expect the franchise to continue for another 5 years. 25th anniversary is something Toei absolutely has to aim for because it will be a double milestone.

Quarter of a century run for the Precure franchise.

And (if my projected calculations are correct), if we keep to teams of 4-5 every year up until till 2028, we will hit over 100 Precure total.

Pretty exciting, yes?

With mixed-gender teams no longer being just a dream (look, Cure Wing even made the news! WAAAAHHH!!! xD) and upcoming projects like the Otona Precure series and the all-male Precure stage play in the works, it's definitely a confirmation that this franchise has no intention of ending any time soon.

If you want more consumers of your product, you need to accommodate for a variety of people and all sorts of new and different ideas, aspects and tastes.

Formula they probably won't budge on too much (not for the main tv series anyway) but there always will be other rooms to explore, y'know?

Ok~ So Precure won't be ending but summer is~

Hope everyone enjoyed it in spite of the heat and best of luck in school or whatever your future endeavors are!

See you in another 10 eps! (^ _ ^)/"

[theelectronicstranger]

Ultimate X-Men #1 Discussion

            The new Ultimate X-Men by Peach Momoko came out last month and the second issue of it is coming out next week, so I thought I’d talk about it a bit and tell you guys what I thought. There are some spoilers in here, so if you’re just wondering whether you should buy this title or not, then you should stop reading. I do think this book is worth a read though.

         First thing I want to talk about is Peach Momoko. I only really know Peach Momoko for her art from her Variant Covers and from her Marvel Snap Art, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect of her story-wise. However, after reading this book, I am so intrigued in what she is going to do next in this title. I think this issue was such a good start for this series and one of the most unique starts to a Marvel title that I’ve read in a long time.

This issue actually feels more like a Japanese Horror Manga rather than a Marvel X-Men title, which is really interesting. It actually reminded me of a certain scene from Ju-On (The Grudge), where they were seeing the ghost from a security camera footage and the ghost looks like this shadowy blob. The way Momoko draws the Shadow King (I believe that’s the Shadow King but I’m not really sure, but until we get confirmation that it’s not the Shadow King then I’m going to keep calling him that) reminds me of that:

I think the Shadow King, through Peach Momoko’s Art, looks so terrifying and interesting. I also love how he seems to be this kind of curse that happened because of Tsubasa’s death rather than somebody’s power. It makes the book feel more paranormal rather than the normal X-Men story. Basically, the premise of this title so far is that Hisako (Armor of the X-Men) is tormented by this “evil spirit” that seems to be related to her friend’s death (Tsubasa). Anybody that bullied Tsubasa seems to be killing themselves or being tormented by the Shadow King. In this issue, we find that Tsubasa’s coach, who was rumored to have bullied him, hung himself:

The Shadow King seems to be haunting Hisako because she failed to help Tsubasa when he was getting bullied, which led to his death. My idea is that this version of the Shadow King is Tsubasa and that maybe he didn’t know that he was a mutant; when he died, his psychic abilities manifested and his psychic form remained, but his body was gone. The shadow figure we see now is Tsubasa and he has a lot of resentment formed by being bullied and by his death. This form he has now is to exact revenge on the people who have wronged him while he was still alive.  That’s why he calls Hisako a traitor because he felt like she didn’t do anything to help him out:

The Shadow King tells Hisako that she’s a traitor:

The Shadow King wants Vengeance:

            Also, I need to spend some time talking about Peach Momoko’s art some more. I think her art is magnificent. I already have so much of her art in this post and that’s kind of also the reason why I’ve waited awhile to post a review of this issue is because when I first read this issue, I just wanted to show off her art to everyone. I felt that people should be given a chance to buy this issue before I show a lot of it off. I personally love having this issue physically in my hands because there were pages in here that I just loved. I specifically loved how the middle of the entire comic was this amazing art spread:

It was such a satisfying feeling opening the very middle of my comic book to find this spread. I’m just so enamored by Peach Momoko’s art that I wanted to post most of this issue here, but it would be so unfair to do that. I cannot stress this enough: If you guys want to see the art that I’m talking about then please buy this issue. It is so worth it for just her art in my opinion.

            I love how Peach Momoko is kind of operating like a Mangaka in this title. If she’s in charge of the art and the story for this whole title’s run, then I am sold for this whole run. My biggest problem with the X-Men right now is that it seems that you need to read at least 2-3 titles to get the full story with the X-Men and there’s always different writers on those titles, so there’s always some sort of disconnect between the stories in all of them. It’s also not very fun for my wallet because those books stack up and they start costing a lot. However, if you’re telling me that in this new Ultimate Universe that only one person is in charge of the story and the art for the X-Men, then I am here for the whole run.

I have just a few more questions about the future of this run. Does the X-Gene still exist in this universe? What are mutants in this universe? Also, Hisako seems to have the Armor trinket with her when she uses her powers, so does the trinket help her activate her powers? Without the trinket, would she still be able to use her powers? Or is the trinket just her reference for her Armor? Can her Armor’s form change? Also, her Armor seems to wave at her at some point so is it sentient or is that just her subconsciousness?

            Thank you for reading this small discussion. I understand that people will probably be hesitant to buy this run because it’s not the typical X-Men story, and it seem to be leaning to a more paranormal story right now. However, if you have read this issue or if you're thinking of buying it, then I’d love to know what you think. Are you happy with the direction this title seems to be going or would you rather stick with the normal X-Men titles for now?

Notes for Some Future Discussions:

            I know I didn’t do a discussion on Ultimate Spider-Man #2. I wanted to but I just had some stuff going on, so I’ll be posting a discussion for that issue and the third one sometimes this week or next. I really love both issues by the way.

            Also, I wanted to talk about the Ultimate Black Panther title, but I couldn’t get my hands on the first nor the second issue, so I’m not sure if I’m going to be talking about it. If I get my hands on them, then I might put a discussion on the first and second issue. I really like having the physical comic and that’s why it really sucked when there was a shortage of the first issue because I wanted to have a physical copy of it. I think Storm shows up in the first issue, so I’m interested to know how her powers are resolved there.

[crehador]

quickfire thoughts on fall 2023 now that everything i'm watching has had at least three eps out

EXCELLENT

sousou no frieren: still very easily anime of the season, beautiful in visuals and in story. a quiet, subtle look at loss and grief, and life continuing beyond that. the structure is working perfectly imo, it never feels like there are too many or not enough flashbacks, i feel connected at all times to both the present day party and the himmel-era party

migi to dali: still doing an exceptional job of balancing creepy and funny, i said before that the only thing i can think of with a remotely similar vibe is the movie hot fuzz and while i think there's a different flavor of comedy here, i still stand by that (and that's a compliment bc hot fuzz is an excellent movie)

kamonohashi ron no kindan suiri: although i wouldn't say this is mind-blowingly outstanding in any single way, it's very well-done in just about every conceivable way and comes together as an extremely solid series

BORDERLINE EXCELLENT

overtake: after four episodes i'm so tempted to put it with the 'excellent' shows but have to admit it's just not objectively on that level, it is subjectively one of my current favorites of the season though. silly at times, fairly simple story, but really effectively done so far

ADORABLE

s rank musume: feel like this one is largely going to slip through the cracks because it looks like your typical fantasy-action/adventure series, but doesn't stand out in that genre. the cute/soothing family moments are what stand out to me, but understandably that's not what most viewers of the genre are looking for. remains to be seen if a more action-y plot will build up, have doubts about how effective that will be

yuzuki-san chi no yon kyoudai: VERY CUTE with some very real moments and struggles, the cr subs debacle in the first ep however did it no favors

atarashii joushi wa dotennen: VERY CUTE i almost wish they'd cast literally anyone except umechan for shirosaki bc with him the similarities to cool doji danshi are just too much lmao however umechan is in fact perfect for this character so why not let him play it twice i guess

hoshikuzu telepath: moe yuri that isn't afraid to say rocket science is for autistic lesbians, what could be better?

wataoshi: YURI OF THE SEASON SORRY HOSHIKUZU TELEPATH HERE'S SOMETHING THAT COULD BE BETTER i actually would put these two on a similar tier but wataoshi gets the edge for me because rae is so unapologetically, exuberantly gay and that is just so nice to see

SEQUELS

houkago shounen hanako-kun: tragically only four half-length episodes but it's nice to see these kids again, ogata megumi's hanako voice just hits in a way the jjk yuuta voice doesn't, for me, so very glad to hear it again

arknights s2: i'm liking the art even more than i did in s1? not sure if it's actually changed/improved, and imo s1 was already good, but anyway just really enjoying seeing all the faves moving and speaking!

spy x family s2: still cute of course what more can i say

b-project s3: MAN I'M TORN i don't dislike this season (we are getting so many kitakore shots) but i am so stressed out for tsubasa and i just want to see her catch a break! i'm sure the season will end in an uplifting way, but all the stress she's under right now makes me want to punch things

dead mount death play s2: it was good and is somehow still getting better, s2e3 which just came out is one of the best yet imo

GOOD FOR THE ACTION BUT NOT TERRIBLY MUCH ELSE

undead unluck: i kind of... don't like anyone here lmao but the over-the-top, high-octane action is not badly animated, it's just not gripping me on any level beyond that. it does however have the op of the season

ragna crimson: again it's failing to get me really invested in the story/characters but the action is not bad i guess, cast for this one is absurdly stacked so i'm not going anywhere

shangri-la frontier: this one's doing a GREAT job with its pacing and action imo, it's introducing the game mechanics in a way that doesn't feel too fast or too slow. only issue is there really... doesn't seem to be any stakes? like at all? which is not a problem for me personally, it just feels a bit like we're waiting for another shoe to drop

WATCHABLE BUT...

bullbuster: i'm kind of vibing with this after three episodes but i really can't imagine it finding an audience, it's not mech enough to really appeal to mech fans and it's not... typical office drama enough to appeal to typical office fans. it's a strange little combo that just happens to work for me, personally

NOT GOOD BUT I LOVE IT

kawagoe boys sing: this is a ridiculous series, i would say not as wild as number24 but kind of getting there. like number24 but more vanilla, less homoerotic. i loved number24 and I'M LOVING THIS TOO there are some genuinely interesting characters already and though i still currently want to punt kick that teacher into the sun i remain cautiously optimistic that he'll see some character development. at some point. maybe

NOT GOOD. JUST NOT GOOD. SORRY.

bokura no ameiro protocol: really feels like some late-2000s/early-2010s male wish fulfillment dramedy. lots of weird and unnecessary het nonsense going on. honestly would consider dropping if it were 24 episodes but since it's only 12 i guess i'll stick it out. for kimuryo. who is unfortunately playing such a rancid character

[sneek-m]

Favorite dramas, 2024

This year's shows were a bit underwhelming compared to the last few years, but I found a few I enjoyed. Here are some words on them.

Tsukuritai Onna To Tabetai Onna 2

Everything you'd hope in a second season: more characters, more opportunities to learn about our couple as individuals, more relationship development. The last bit inspires more LGBTQ discussions as Manami Higa's Nomoto is now in a formal relationship with Emi Nishino's Kasuga, her first with a woman. And while my favorite TV dramas this year below concerned the nuclear family, its make-up and how it can stray far from tradition as we like (can't get more into it than my number seven), TsukuTabe 2 reminds queer couples in Japan have yet to be in the same page when it comes to starting a family, or even get an apartment together.

Fune Wo Amu: Watashi, Jisho Tsukurimasu

I collect, research and write about music as a hobby. It'd hard for me not to be all in on a story about big nerds being so engrossed in their passion for their chosen interest, even if said interest is the dictionary. It's about loving the thing as much as it is about making one, and the long gestating process behind it all. The commercial conflicts has to be wrestled with, though it always puts the love of the craft first over the political drama. For those who've seen the 2013 film or the 2016 anime, the post-COVID plot line should be a nice addendum, reminding the work and the pursuit is never truly over.

Haru Ni Nattara

The mortality of my own parents came to my attention a bit last year through Hidetoshi Nishijima's Shiro and his parents in the second season of Kinou Nani Tabeta? Haru Ni Nattara really makes me confront it, in particular with Nao's Hitomi also being an ara-saa like myself, opposed to the 50-something Shiro. When the time comes, you only hope it'll be a comedy as rowdy and full of life like this one, with the stubborn attitudes of both Hitomi and her father Noritake Kinashi's Masahiko clashing in the ways a close family members do. It's safe to say I'm growing out of twentysomething musings on TV about finding the one or being something and warming up to discussions like this one.

Tora Ni Tsubasa

Thank god for Sairi Ito, who brought comedy and needed levity to the show especially as it got deep in the weeds in the court system. Only she can turn the most ridiculous hengao into the year's most heart-tugging scene in TV. Not that the story and its central cases wasn't compelling, just heavy at it is complex: I often forget these scenes featuring conversations about war horrors, misogyny and homophobia, juvenile crimes, domestic abuse, et. al air during breakfast time. Kenshi Yonezu first imagined a gentle ballad as its theme, following his impression of an asadora; Tora Ni Tsubasa was anything but.

Ayaka-chan Wa Hiroko Senpai Ni Koishiteru

Nothing too deep to say here other than this was a fun yuuri comedy to watch. If you know Shiho Kato from the Hinatazaka variety show like I do, even more so.

Saionji-san Wa Kaji Wo Shinai

Never did this show express to me that it knew where it wanted to take its story nor did it seemed to know exactly what Wakana Matsumoto's Saionji meant when she pitched to Hokuto Matsumura's Kusumi this idea of a "fake family." But both were happy to make it up as they went along, constantly playing the silliest mental gymnastics, so long as they didn't have to go separate ways, and the show's energy, too, mimicked this eagerness to just go with the flow and see where the two will take it next. That's what it all boils down to anyway, this needlessness for labels and keeping definition of this unit of two people being together fluid.

VR Ojisan No Hatsukoi

The moment I gave my full respect to the show might be when Toru Nomaguchi's Naoki explained to Yajuro Bando's Honami that it wasn't any parts of their circumstance -- of a internet-born relationship met through digital avatars, with someone who's more than 10 years older, of the same sex -- that kept him at a distance from the latter once they met in real life, but because he needed time to simply sort out what exactly his feelings were for him. The first act hardly put any attention to the novelty of the overall premise, down to the outlandish costuming: and to be fair, don't we all customize our online avatars with flashy skins and costumes? Which gives way to the measured handling of their relationship as it steps off from the VR world, and eventually a heartfelt story of family, grief and preservation of life after death, the last bit I am very susceptible to.

Percent

Similar to selection number 2 in its premise being an immediate sell for a Person Who Makes Things as a Hobby, with this one being a TV drama about producing a TV drama. More un-romantic in its depictions of the behind-the-scenes process, and the show hardly hands Maika Ito's Miku an easy way out from dealing with production politics. But it only makes for an honesty I respect to say it takes work as much as passion to reap the rewards. More compelling than the other drama with another protagonist trying to be a TV-drama screenwriter whose inspired work is just slices of her life transferred wholesale and by some stroke of luck keep landing hits. It ain't that easy, but that's why it feels so good when you finally stick the landing.

Hikaru Kimie

My first taiga drama, and it was a commitment I enjoyed undertaking. There's nothing like the character development that unfolds in a year-long serial: my favorite was seeing Ai Mikami's Akiko grow from the painfully shy and forlorn girl into a powerful, vocal royal member of Fujiwara. Or the real sense of time you feel once a decades-long secret is finally out, especially when it comes from someone like Haru Kuroki's Tomoko, at the final episode. And who knew I'll come to love Yuriko Yoshitaka's Mahiro, or Murasaki Shikibu, and Tasuku Emoto's Michinaga Fujiwara together this much, maybe my favorite couple of this year.

...and some more:

Densetsu No Head Sho

Baby Walkure Everyday!

Umi No Hajimari

Karakai Jouzu No Takagi-san

My Diary