#I WILL EVEN TAKE SEINEN AT THIS POINT

[watcher-ofthe-sky]

hate going to an anime merch stall and always just finding typical shonen. get some taste please

[cosmogyros]

The live-TV interpreter who said "Sag mal, wie lange wollt ihr bei dem Scheiß bleiben?!" has made a statement. I admire him hugely for not apologizing for what he said, or even technically retracting it, at any point in this statement. Instead, he takes the opportunity to make a jab at Trump's inability to put a reasonable sentence together:

Jetzt reagiert auch Dolmetscher Frank Deja, der für den Fauxpas gesorgt hatte. "Ich war überzeugt, ich hätte mich stumm geschaltet. Ich habe aber im Eifer des Gefechts die falsche Taste gedrückt. Wir haben als Dolmetscher sogenannte Räusper-Tasten, mit denen wir uns stummschalten können. Dann geht das eben nicht über den Sender – und meine Aussage sollte natürlich auch nicht über den Sender gehen", erklärt er "n-tv". Seinen Zwischenruf solle man nicht als politisches Statement deuten. "Nein, das wäre ganz verfehlt. Die politischen Inhalte sind nicht das Problem", meint Deja und fügt hinzu: "Ich dolmetsche ständig Leute, mit deren politischen Inhalten ich nicht einverstanden bin. Das Problem bei Trump war, dass er auf einmal anfing, frei zu assoziieren oder dreimal hintereinander dasselbe zu sagen. Diesen wirren Gedankensprüngen zu folgen, ist die Schwierigkeit beim Dolmetschen." Er erklärt: "Wenn ein Redner mit geordneten Gedanken redet, dann kann man, sobald der Satz angefangen hat, schon ungefähr erahnen, wie es weitergeht. Man kann auf dieser Welle weiter surfen. Aber bei Trump ist das unmöglich."

(source)

[stardustizuku]

So, Gushing Over Magical Girls Is The Best Thing To Happen to Magical Girls

Gushing Over Magical Girls get this bad rep. For all the wrong reasons. I’ve seen it be called an insult to Magical Girls, I’ve seen it be called “gooner bait” a term I absolutely despise but that’s a thing for another day. I’ve seen it insulted for everything and anything under the sun.

I first got acquainted with it when I was scrolling through Twitter and I saw someone complain about the PV. However, as an avid Magical Girl Fan, I wasn’t disgusted. I was intrigued.

I decided to read the manga, and oh god.

This is one of the best things I’ve read.

The story follows Utena, a shy girl that loves Magical Girls, tricked to become the evil general that will defeat the Magical Girl team “Tres Magia”.

And it’s a delight.

I binged all the episodes available to me in the manga, and had fun in each and every chapter.

The same, however, couldn’t be said by half the people who watched the anime. And I was extremely baffled. As a queer woman, this was the first time in my life, in which I had seen something so deliberately catered towards me. I saw tell-tale signs of someone who genuinely admires the genre, and is simply using it as an outlet for exploring deeper and more interesting topics that a SFW version of it would not be able to.

Yet, I turn around and I see people calling it the most horrendous stuff, and accusing everyone who likes it of being monsters or men.

Genuinely, I’ve had enough.

Gushing Over Magical Girl is not the Devil. In fact, I think it’s the best thing to come don’t even like Magical Girls AND IT SHOWS.

PART 1: “Magical girls are for little girls!”.

The first criticism you’ll see aimed at “Gushing over Magical girl” is the amount of sexually charged content it has. And it is true. It borders on straight up porn in many instances and it just gets wilder as you go on. By chapter 30, we’re way past PantyShots. Like, I’ve seen some of these girls’ vaginas, and I’m not joking.

Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with it, but there’s people who might disagree.

“Magical Girls are for little girls” some people say “and you’re corrupting it!”

Which genuinely makes me laugh.

This is because this type of argument could only be done by someone with no real concept of Magical Girls aside from maybe Sailor Moon and Sakura Card Captor.

out of the Magical Girl genre in a WHILE (Ignoring Precure, because they just gave us a magical boy and that’s my win of the decade).

People are just, you know, stupid. And reactionary. Enough that they see a boob and lose their minds like a Karen at a Christmas Eve Mall.

My point is, I love this manga. And I’m willing to risk my reputation to defend it. Cause genuinely, half the people who are clutching their pearls over this show - Magical Girl Anime haven’t always been PG, or aimed at girls.

Cutie Honey is a great example. It’s one of the most famous Magical Girl Anime you will find - and it’s a shonen. With the protagonist, Honey, being constantly naked, groped, put in suggestive situations and have outfits that show her cleavage.

And it’s one of the most famous, most popular takes on Magical Girl there is. Yet, I never see any amount of outrage towards it. (Part of me wonders if it’s because the fan service is aimed at men, rather than involving yuri).

There’s also Lyrical Nanoha, one of the most popular serial franchises there is. It spans several seasons and spinoffs, and it’s beloved by many.

And it’s aimed at older men. Yes, it’s a Seinen.

In fact, its origins are far from PG. It’s actually a Spin-off of an erotic game named “Triangle Heart”. It was most definitely not created with little girls in mind, and themes it tackles reflect as much.

There’s Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya too, a spinoff of the Fate/Stay Night VN, very obviously aimed at older men, it’s a Seinen. It has a lot of fanservice and scenes where the characters are half naked.

Day Break Illusion is also a Shonen.

And as much as I adora Madoka - I’ve been stating for years now that it isn’t a show meant for little girls. You could argue it’s for everyone, regardless of gender, who’s a little older. But it most definitely wasn’t for little girls.

So, no. This was never an “only girls” club. Trying to paint it as such, is not only wrong but ignorant.

Magical Girl shows can be for anyone. Men, boys, girls, women and I find it infantilizing to consider it “only for little girls”.

No one says “super heroes are ONLY for little boys”

Well, some do. But they’re, you know, bigots. Who don’t want girls playing or adults o have fun.

So no, Gushing Over Magical Girls being a sexually charged anime in the Seinen category isn’t “corrupting the genre”. In fact, I would argue it’s doing exactly what the genre has done in the OVA shadows for a while.

Not to mention, many people have screamed from the rooftop how they want “more mature Magical Girl shows” referring to the success of Madoka. But as soon as an actually mature take on Magical Girls shows up, tackling issues of sexuality and love, you all don’t want it anymore.

(We all know why, though. Americans, and western culture in general, considers mature themes, only that which involves violence. Anything close to discussing issues of sex is no longer “mature” but “Pornographic” and deserving of being shoved into a corner. With all queer themes, gender studies, and any nuance that could be had regarding these issues).

And speaking of sexually charged, have you watched so called “wholesome” magical girls? They’re still very much sexy. Not in the “on the nose” ecchi way Seinen and Shonen are - but they still are.

You’ll find transformations were the girls are naked, zoom in to their breasts, you’ll have panty shots every now and then. Even themes of growing up, having crushes, and innuendos about sex. Inappropriate relationships, taboo romance, and the likes.

Sakura had Rita and a professor’s relationship (mutual in the manga), Sailor Moon had Chibiusa and Elliot’s romance, Sugar Sugar Rune even having an element for ‘lust’ and other different types of love, and let’s not forget Mermaid Melody which has several instances of the girls naked, in compromising positions with other men. And I’m pretty sure Tokyo Mew Mew likely opened a whole bunch of doors for girls to be into CNC.

This is, by the way, normal.

Completely so.

These stories often talk about the girlhood experience. And girls and teenage girls are interested in all of these things. They’re interested in sex, romance, their bodies growing up, their own sexuality and the likes. It’s no wonder same-sex relationships and romance get included, they’re part of what experiencing the world through the eyes of a young girl is like.

And subsequently, it stands to reason that as people who engaged with MG grow up - they find comfort in exploring their sexuality through Magical Girl themselves. There’s a reason why there’s a growing section of “Magical Girl” in your local hentai site.

“Men get off on corrupting this wholesome girl targeted genre” is actually TERF rhetoric sneaking through the mainstream. It ignores AFAB ppl and gender nonconforming people, who grew up with Magical Girls, simply using a medium that originally started their journey of sexual identity, to explore more “grown up” aspects of that same identity.

In particular, I’m a Cis AroAce Woman. I wrote a lot of Magical Girl NSFW when I first started writing NSFW Twitter threads. They’re bad and they’re cringey. But it was something I needed.

Magical Girls were a huge part of my childhood and early teens. When I was mentally in the space to want to engage with NSFW content: it was obvious I would turn to what first sparked excitement.

So this idea that “men are corrupting Magical Girls with their sick fantasies” is nothing more than TERF-lite propaganda. People, including women and men, have been doing this for ages; for a variety of reasons. And doing so, doesn’t rob children of their spaces - but the gentrification of the internet is a story of another day.

The other argument I have heard is that GOMG is a mockery of the genre. Which is even more laughable in my opinion.

PART 2: Parodies and why I hate Earth Defender’s Club.

Gushing Over Magical Girls loves Magical Girls. It’s a parody, in a way, but it knows very well what it parodies. It’s not surface level in the slightest. And it absolutely is not mean spirited about it.

A lot of the time, shows that reference and parody the Magical Girl genre, do so in ways that feel like they view it as a lesser genre. They take generic images of cute girls in frilly outfits, swap the colors around, and have them chant over-the-top spells. You’re meant to laugh, not only at how silly they look, but people who would love it. Especially if they’re grown ups.

I do not like “Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!” For this exact reason - even tho many people praise it to all heavens.

Because

1) It feels surface level in its commentary and depiction of Magical Girls and

2) More mocking towards the genre than paying homage or doing anything with it.

The continuous use of the word “Love” is a very obvious jab at Magical Girls using these words, which feels mean spirited just for the sake of it. Their outfits are almost exactly the same, save for the colors. And they all use the same sticks as weapon, with no thematic link for the shapes of the scepters. The mascot too (a wombat for god knows what reason), I think it’s meant to be a joke of some sort for how ridiculous some of the mascots for the girls get, which rubs me the wrong way.

In general, it feels shallow and mean spirited. But no one calls this an insult to Magical Girls. Because people who like it don't actually care about Magical Girls. They see cute boys doing silly things and love it. Which is kinda sad.

Now, Gushing Over Magical girls has sort of that same problem on the Tres Magias…But they’re not the protagonists. And even then, in later chapters, they get power ups that are different in design, and thematically linked.

The protagonist, and the ones we follow, are Utena and the girls. And they all have very distinct outfits, all with motifs that are tangentially thematically linked, and speak of each character’s personalities in interesting ways.

Utena in particular has THIS outfit. Which a lot of people don’t like, but I actually do.

It’s very obvious it’s taking inspo from other iconic Bad Girls in the genre. Namely, Utau, Kraehe and Devil Homura. All “Enemy characters” that have unhealthy obsessions with other characters. In particular, I think the wings and the feathers resemble Homura - THE character known to have a massive obsession with a Magical Girl (Madoka), to the point of insanity.

There’s also Magia Azure. Who’s a clear reference to the Mean Tsundere girl that is iconic to the genre. She’s also a Miko. Which is a callback to Sailor Mars, arguably THE girl who popularized this archetype.

I also love what they do with the mascots. Unlike Earth Defenders, where the mascot is you know, a mockery of the archetype of a mascot - useless, only there to give power ups, and obsessed with food - the mascots of GOMG is taking a book from Madoka.

It considers the mascots both all-too-powerful and yet limited in their reach. Which is exactly what the mascots have always been in Magical Girls. Beings so powerful they can give mythical powers to girls, yet helpless to do anything on their own. So, they use magical girls as a vehicle to achieve their goals. Most Magical girls try to paint this as a good thing, but newer genres shine light on how dangerous that can be too.

Madoka tackles it with Kyubey as the main initial mascot, only later to turn out to be the villain of the series.

And in a Post-Madoka world, trusting the mascots is just the slightest bit more difficult. That’s why, from the get go, GOMG portrays their mascots as morally corrupt. He’s not a good character, he’s malicious and doing more harm than good. But for the majority of the series, he’s painted more as a useless harmless evil than anything genuinely terrifying or worthy of concern. The attention is focused on other things.

But I love the way that it’s heavily implied that they’re not good. It’s a very interesting take on the mascot and it helps with the themes of the series. Which yes, by the way. Gushing Over Magical Girls has themes.

Which lead me to-

Part 3: Yeah, uhm, Gushing Over Magical Girl has themes.

There’s this idea that Sex is an inherently violent act. In which a man humiliates and sodomizes a woman, and therefore the woman is exploited in some way. And 10x worse is any act that involves BDSM. It’s violence; born out of hatred.

This is TERF rhetoric. I’m not joking. This line of thought leads directly to TERF ideas.

Many on the internet have pointed out as much, and BDSM members have gone to be very vocal about it. In particular, people on the role of the submissive (or the bottoms) are loudly trying to explain the contrary. How they like the act of sex, like the idea of being vulnerable, or being humiliated. There’s also plenty of LGBT+ stories that talk about it, both in western and eastern spaces. Just jump into the section of dom/sub verse at your local manga browsing website, and you’ll find something.

That said, the same is not as common for people who like to “dominate”.

I can only think of two pieces of media that argue that, whoever is the dominant or the sadist, is also a human being. That whatever they’re doing is done, not out of hatred for the submissive or an act of violence, but love.

One, is the husky and the white cat. In which Mo Ran, among other things, has to come to terms that his love isn’t “pure”. That he cannot love someone without the want to have sex, and to completely dominate that someone.

The second one is Gushing Over Magical Girls.

It’s very clear to me that Utena’s sadism isn’t a violent act. It’s an act born out of love. She genuinely loves the Magical Girls, and most girls for that matter, and whenever she is inflicting pain and fighting with them - what she wants is to ultimately help them in some way.

She wants them to “be the cutest version they can be” and wants them to shine brighter than ever.

There’s this one scene I love, around chapter 20, in which Baiser (Utena) is fighting Magia Azura. And due to Baiser going a bit too far, Azura ends up being Mind-broken. She crawls towards her, calls her “mistress” and begs to become her servant.

In any normal Hentai you’ll find, this is a good thing. This would be the ideal outcome. A character being turned into nothing but a sex slave for the enjoyment of the dominant.

Which is why I found it breathtaking when that didn’t happen.

Baiser is horrified by this. She does not want to break the girls, she wants them to be powerful. She wants them to win. With her, the evil one, being nothing more than a vehicle for them to be even stronger than before.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen dominant or sadist characters being presented both sexually, and in such a positive light. Much less a queer woman in the same position.

It doesn’t treat BDSM sex as a disgusting taboo act, but something born out of genuine love - and a want to see the other person be or feel better.

This is reinforced around chapter 25 where Leberblume and Loco Mùsica are fighting Baiser. For context, Loco Musica wanted to be an Idol, but had terrible singing. She uses her evil power to basically force everyone to listen to her sing (which is so reminiscent of Mermaid Melody btw). When they fight, Baiser wins, and is then set to use her new found power to “punish” Loco Musica.

Originally, Loco Musica points out how Baiser’s sadistic tendencies are “the same” as Lord Enorme, who we’ve seen uses sadism as a genuine form of punishment. Something to avoid. You behave well, because you don’t want to get hurt or humiliated by her.

However, when Baiser uses her own unique type of sadism on Loco Musica, something happens. Instead of causing her physical pain by beating her or using violence, she forces her to get naked and perform her idol song like that. This causes her to get extremely embarrassed. And in the process, she actually starts to sing really well.

This is important for two reasons

1) Baiser is actually taking into account who Musica is. It’s later revealed that Musica wanted a more frilly idol-like outfit but Lord Enorme shut it down, for the sake of a more ‘unified’ aesthetic. Baiser is not just throwing around the same treatment and punishment for all girls - what one might like, the other might hate.

2) At the end of the day, while she did the punishment, it was both embarrassing, but ultimately something that helped Musica and made her feel better.

And that’s really the key here, and why I love the series.

Sadism, sex and kinks in general are not tools of degeneracy. They’re treated as part of our experience.

Also, it’s just fun?

Part 4: Gushing Over Magical Girls is just extremely fun when you don’t have a dumb bitch yapping abt how unholy it is to see tiddies on a screen

Yeah, GOMG just has one of the most creative depictions of the most insane of kinks you’ll see - I could spent hour gushing over Nero Alice.

Seeing all these different kinks being depicted as powers and abilities that these characters have - and seeing how they interact with other people is just interesting.

The sex scenes are both hilarious and kinda sexy. Specially if you do like to see women all hot and bothered. Personally I’m not into girls (or anyone for that matter) but I have to admit the scenes were pretty hot. And there is no shame in admitting as much. No matter what the puritanical Christian on Twitter crying abt “god honoring lesbian sex” Will tell you.

I cannot begin to explain just how hype and relatable it was to see Magia Baiser defeat Lord Enorme with the power of straight up delusion, we STAN.

So, yeah.

It’s been a while since I last saw a Magical Girl Show so unashamed of being a Magical Girl Show. Unashamed of being weird, of praising the genre and just enjoying it.

My essay is titled, in part, as a joking reference to my much more popular series “MLB is the worst thing to happen to the magical girl series”. Which I still think is true.

And while, yeah, maybe GOMG isn’t the best thing to come out of the genre…I still think it’s good that it came out.

A lot of people say they want a more “mature” take on Magical Girls but - this proved to me that just isn’t the case.

Gushing over magical girls proves that the Magical Girl Genre Can Be so much more than what people think. More than glitter and sparkles, more than vapid action scenes, or what little girls want.

Much like any other genre, it can be raunchy, it can be messy, it can explore things outside of the status quo. But it can still deeply respect the source material, and the origins of it.

GOMG proves Magical Girls can be fun. Just. Straight up fun. Regardless of your age. They can serve and connect you to parts of yourself you didn’t realize you could connect to.

I hope it proves to more people that the genre can be so much more than “just for little girls” that parodies can be more than pointing and laughing, and that it can have themes beyond just, “friendship”.

Magical Girls can be so much more. You just, have to have an open mind about it.

[pikahlua]

MHA Chapter 408 spoilers translations

This week’s initial tentative super rough/literal translations under the cut.

1 "与一"と名付けたのは自分に最初に与えられたものだったからだ "よいち"となづけたのはじぶんにさいしょにあたえられたものだったからだ "Yoichi" to nadzuketa no wa jibun ni saisho ni ataerareta mono datta kara daHe named [his brother] "Yoichi" because [his brother] was the first thing given to him.

tagline 1 自分のものにならないのなら… じぶんのものにならないのなら… jibun no mono ni naranai no nara... If he won't become his...

tagline 2 No.408　努努‼︎GANRIKI　堀越耕平 ナンバー408　ゆめゆめ‼︎がんりき　ほりこしこうへ�� NANBAA 408  yumeyume!! ganriki   Horikoshi Kouhei No. 408 Relentless eyes*!!  Kouhei Horikoshi (*Note: This chapter title is as interesting as it is incomprehensible. "Yumeyume" is a word that means basically "more, extra, whatever it is but PLUS ULTRA," and "ganriki" is something of a meme Horikoshi loves and uses a lot in MHA that refers to eyes bright and extra detailed to the point of being distracting or over-defined. It can refer to the eyes or even just the "power within the eyes" or one's gaze. All together it's basically just some nebulous sort of concept of eyes that are bright/sharp with dreams or effort or toil or just EYES, BUT EXTRA.)

3 弟が彼の元を去ってから おとうとがかれのもとをさってから otouto ga kare no moto wo satte kara Since his younger brother had left him,

4 約２ヵ月が経っていた やく２ヵげつがたっていた yaku 2kagetsu ga tatte ita about 2 months have passed.

1 所有物を奪った青年と目が合うも おとうとをうばったせいねんとめがあうも otouto (kanji: shoyuubutsu) wo ubatta seinen to me ga au mo He met eyes with the young man who stole his younger brother (read as: property), but

2 彼の眼球は生まれつき薄膜が張ったように艶がないので かれのがんきゅうはうまれつきうすまくがはったようにつやがないので kare no gankyuu wa umaretsuki usumaku ga hatta you ni tsuyaganai no his eyeballs were lackluster from birth, as if they were covered with a thin film, so

3 その瞳に青年が映り込む事はなかった そのひとみにせいねんがうつりこむことはなかった sono hitomi ni seinen ga utsurukomu koto wa nakatta the young man was not reflected in those eyes.

1 僕が「与えた」筈の異能が消えていた ぼくが「あたえた」はずのいのうがきえていた boku ga 「ataeta」 hazu no inou ga kiete ita The meta ability I definitely gave him had disappeared.

2 「他人から奪ったモノ」「隷属させる為に奪ったモノ」はいらないと拒み続けた与一に無理矢理与えた力… 「ひとからうばったモノ」「れいぞくさせるためにうばったモノ」はいらないとこばみつづけたあいつにむりやりあたえたちから… 「hito (kanji: tanin) kara ubatta MONO」 「reizoku saseru tame ni ubatta MONO」 wa iranai to kobami tsudzuketa aitsu (kanji: Yoichi) ni muriyari ataeta chikara... The power he forcibly gave Yoichi, who kept refusing, saying he didn't need "something taken from others" or "something stolen in order to enslave"...

3 こんな事は今までなかった こんなことはいままでなかった konna koto wa ima made nakatta This sort of thing has never happened until now.

1 いや…与一に"異能"がないのは僕の力で確認している いや…よいちに"いのう"がないのはぼくのちからでかくにんしている iya...Yoichi ni "inou" ga nai no wa boku no chikara de kakunin shite iru No...I'm confirming with my power that Yoichi does not have any meta abilities.

2 自我も芽生えぬ頃に「奪った」かと思っていたが… じがもめばえぬころに「うばった」かとおもっていたが… jiga mo mebaenu koro ni 「ubatta」 ka to omotte ita ga... I thought I stole it before I even had a sense of self, but...

3 僕の"異能"が認識できぬ程に小さく機能しないゴミが検査で見つかった ぼくの"いのう"がにんしきできぬほどにちいさくきのうしないゴミがけんさでみつかった boku no "inou" ga ninshiki dekinu hodo ni chiisaku kinou shinai GOMI ga kensa de mitsukatta I found upon inspection a piece of trash that was too small to be recognized by my meta ability.

4 形成時の栄養不足によって形にならなかった因子のようなもの… けいせいじのえいようぶそくによってかたちにならなかったいんしのようなもの… keiseiji no eiyou busoku ni yotte katachi ni naranakatta inshi no you na mono... Something like a factor that did not take shape due to lack of nutrition during its formation...

5 まさか…動いたのか…？ まさか…うごいたのか…？ masaka...ugoita no ka...? It can't be... Did it move...?

6 リーダーあの敗戦の時ーー リーダーあのはいせんのときーー RIIDAA ano haisen no toki-- "Leader, at the time of that defeat--"

7 AFOには触られてないんだよな？ オール・フォー・ワンにはさわられてないんだよな？ OORU FOO WAN ni wa sawararetenainda yo na? "you weren't touched by All For One, right?"

8 しつこいなブルース shitsukoi na BURUUSU "You're so obstinate, Bruce."

9 結果だけ伝えろ けっかだけつたえろ kekka dake tsutaero "Just tell me the results."

10 「あの日以降全身に違和感」…よく気付いたよ… 「あのひいこうぜんしんにいわかん」…よくきづいたよ… 「ano hi ikou zenshin ni iwakan」...yoku kidzuita yo... "You noticed it well...how since that day something's felt out of place all over your body..."

11 因子が２つある… いんしが２つある… inshi ga 2tsu aru... "You have two factors..."

12 生来のものと…出来損ないのような小さいものが せいらいのものと…できそこないのようなちいさいものが seirai no mono to...dekisokonai no you na chiisai mono ga "Your innate one, and...a small, seemingly useless* one." (Note: FYI this term, "dekisokonai," is the word Izuku uses in DvK1 to tell Katsuki that his "Deku" name won't always mean "useless.")

1 ……なんとなくそうじゃないかと思ってた ……なんとなくそうじゃないかとおもってた ......nantonaku sou ja nai ka to omotteta "......Somehow, I was thinking that was the case."

2 与えた"異能"が消えたのは…足りない部分を補う為に取り込み…「奪った」…！ あたえた"いのう"がきえたのは…たりないぶぶんをおぎなうためにとりこみ…「うばった」…！ ataeta "inou" ga kieta no wa...tarinai bubun wo oginau tame ni torikomi...「ubatta」...! The [reason] the meta ability I gave him disappeared...was because he took it in to make up for the missing part... [He] stole it...!

3 僕は兄さんを止められなかった ぼくはにいさんをとめられなかった boku wa niisan wo tomerarenakatta "I couldn't stop my older brother."

4 僕を生かしてくれた ぼくをいかしてくれた boku wo ikashite kureta "[You]* kept me alive." (*Note: Yoichi is likely speaking to AFO in this frame as implied by the art.)

5 他人が玩具やゲームにしか見えてない ひとがおもちゃやゲームにしかみえてない hito (kanji: tanin) ga omocha ya GEEMU ni shika mietenai "He saw other people as nothing more than toys or games."

6 もしほんの少しでも他人を思い遣れていたらーーーー もしほんのすこしでもひとをおもいやれていたらーーーー moshi hon no sukoshi demo hito (kanji: tanin) wo omoiyarete itara---- "If [you]* could be even a little considerate of other people----" (*Note: Yoichi is likely speaking to AFO in this frame as implied by the art.)

7 俺の中に与一の意志が おれのなかによいちのいしが ore no naka ni Yoichi no ishi ga "Yoichi's will is inside me."

8 まだ在るのか まだあるのか mada aru no ka "So it still exists?"

1 与えるも奪うも あたえるもうばうも ataeru mo ubau mo "Whether giving or taking away,"

2 世界一優しい力になったかもしれないのに せかいいちやさしいちからになったかもしれないのに sekai ichi yasashii chikara ni natta kamo shirenai noni "it might have become the kindest power in the world."

3 涙を出せば狼狽させられるから出した なみだをだせばろうばいさせられるからだした namida wo daseba roubai saserareru kara dashita If I shed tears it would make me flustered, so I shed them.

4-8 嫌がる事と望んでいる事を操り貶めそうやって手中に収めてきた いやがることとのぞんでいることをあやつりおとしめそうやってしゅちゅうにおさめてきた iyagaru koto to nozonde iru koto wo ayatsuri otoshime sou yatte shuchuu ni osamete kita I took possession of that which I hate and that which I desire through manipulation and degradation.

9 なのにおまえは nanoni omae wa But you

10 思い通りにならない おもいどおりにならない omoidoori ni naranai did not go the way I wanted.

11-12 ただ欲しいだけなのに ただほしいだけなのに tada hoshii dake nanoni I only* want [you], but (*Note: He's not saying he wants Yoichi and nothing else but that the only thing he feels is desire in this situation. You could read the "only" here as "simply" to have it make better sense.)

13 追っても おっても ottemo even though I chase

14 追っても おっても ottemo and I chase,

1 すり抜けていく すりぬけていく surinukete iku [you] slip through the cracks.

1 おまえのせいだ omae no sei da "It's because of you,"

2 駆藤‼︎ くどう‼︎ Kudou!! "Kudou!!"

3 駆藤！奴の血縁は絶やした！それだけじゃない奴に近しかった女も子どもも疑わしきは全て！ くどう！やつのけつえんはたやした！それだけじゃないやつにちかしかったおんなもこどももうたがわしきはすべて！ Kudou! yatsu no ketsuen wa tayashita! sore dake ja nai yatsu ni chikashikatta onna mo kodomo mo utagawashiki wa subete! Kudou! I eradicated his blood relatives! Not only them, but all the women and children and anyone suspicious who were close to him!

4 もし奴の血ならばーーー もしやつのちならばーーー moshi yatsu no chi naraba--- If [Bakugou] has that guy's blood---

5 あの時何か感じるものがあった筈！ あのときなにかかんじるものがあったはず！ ano toki nani ka kanjiru mono ga atta hazu! I surely would have felt something back then!

1 ー眼が！あの時はまだその眼じゃなかった‼︎ ーめが！あのときはまだそのめじゃなかった‼︎ -me ga! ano toki wa mada sono me ja nakatta!! --His eyes! Back then, he didn't have those eyes yet!!

2 ただの空似だ ただのそらにだ tada no sorani da It's just an accidental resemblance.

3 だが今確かに駆藤に似た意志が だがいまたしかにあのおとこににたいしが daga ima tashika ni ano otoko (kanji: Kudou) ni nita ishi ga But right now, there is certainly a will similar to that man's (read as: Kudou's)

4 時空を超えて じくうをこえて jikuu wo koete transcending space and time, and

5 僕を阻んでいるのだ‼︎ ぼくをはばんでいるのだ‼︎ boku wo habande iru no da!! it's blocking me!!

1 "ワープ"で強制的に引き剥がそうにも転送可能ポイントは "ワープ"できょうせいてきにひきはがそうにもてんそうかのうポイントは "WAAPU" de kyouseiteki ni hiki hagasou ni mo tensou kanou POINTO wa Even if I were to forcibly remove him with a warp, the transferable points are

2 すぐ近くのオールマイトか弔の位置しかない…！ すぐちかくのオールマイトかとむらのいちしかない…！ sugu chikaku no OORU MAITO ka Tomura no ichi shika nai...! only the positions of nearby All Might or Tomura...!

3 これ以上交戦し体を小さくするわけにはいかない‼︎ これいじょうこうせんしからだをちいさくするわけにはいかない‼︎ kore ijou kousen shi karada wo chiisaku suru wake ni wa ikanai!! I can't afford to engage in battle any more than this and make my body smaller!!

4 弔の元に辿り着いても とむらのもとにたどりついても Tomura no moto ni tadori tsuitemo Even if I reach where Tomura is,

5 彼は既に僕を拒否しているのだ争いは必至 かれはすでにぼくをきょひしているのだあらそいはひっし kare wa sude ni boku wo kyohi shite iru no da arasoi wa hisshi he has already refused me. A fight is inevitable.

6 "譲渡"を成立させる為余力を残しておかねばならない "じょうと"をせいりつさせるためよりょくをのこしておかねばならない "jouto" wo seiritsu saseru tame yoryoku wo nokoshite okaneba naranai I must leave enough energy to make the transfer happen.

7 …と思っていたがもういい… …とおもっていたがもういい… ...to omotte ita ga mou ii... "...or so I thought, but enough..."

8 おまえを殺すのもゴールも譲渡も… おまえをころすのもゴールもじょうとも… omae wo korosu no mo GOORU mo jouto mo... "I'll kill you, [reach my] goal, and [do the] transfer..."

9 一括だ いっかつだ ikkatsu da "all at once."

1 来る くる kuru "[Here it] comes."

2 全因解放 ぜんいんかいほう zen'in kaihou Unleash all factors

3 "全ては一つの目的の為に" "オール・フォー・ワン" "OORU FOO WAN (kanji: subete wa hitotsu no mokuteki no tame ni)" "All for the sake of one goal (read as: All For One)"

1 押し通る おしとおる oshitooru "I'll push through."

2 あの膨大なエネルギーを推進力に…⁉︎ あのぼうだいなエネルギーをすいしんりょくに…⁉︎ ano boudai na ENERUGII wo suishinryoku ni...!? "He's using that huge amount of energy for propulsion...!?"

3 一気に総取りするつもりだ…！ いっきにそうどりするつもりだ…！ ikki ni soudori suru tsumori da...! "He plans to take everything all at once...!"

4 ……赤ん坊にまで戻るぞ！賭けに出たか！ ……あかんぼうにまでもどるぞ！かけにでたか！ ......akanbou ni made modoru zo! kake ni deta ka! ......He'll return to being a baby! He's taking a gamble!

5 避けろ少年ン!!! よけろしょうねんン!!! yokero shounenN!!! "Dodge, young man!!!"

6 バカがてめえんなもん BAKA ga temeenna mon "You really are such an idiot."

7 勝てるわけねーだろ かてるわけねーだろ kateru wake nee daro "There's no way you can win."

tagline しかし、確かに、希望を見据えてーー しかし、たしかに、きぼうをみすえてーー shikashi, tashika ni, kibou wo misuete-- However, certainly, looking toward hope--

[avelera]

I just finished watching "Vinland Saga" with my partner and I have to say I was wildly impressed with the writing. It made so many bold choices and even when the on-screen stakes and setting were at their lowest: low power levels, low resource levels, low political importance, etc., the pacing and tension of each episode remained incredibly high, which as a writer is so, so hard to do.

A few other things that impressed me about Vinland Sage:

I was wildly impressed by the boldness of a story that's ostensibly about the Viking Age taking such a firm stance against "fun" and "excitement" of violence. It never wavers. It never says violence is ok. Quite the opposite, it is a story about those who feel haunted and trapped by the constant turmoil and violence of the Viking Age, and how they imagine a better world free of these societal curses that seem so inescapable in their time.

For a shounen or even seinen style anime, to me it's wildly impressive to basically look at an entire genre that is so couched in the excitement of adventure and violence and say, "No. This is not laudable, this is not good, this is not something to strive for. Hurting people is not good, violence is never justified, you have no enemies." Especially when so much of escapist action/adventure fantasies are based in the imagined thrill of using violence to strike down your enemies, this story wholly rejects the notion that there's anything noble or admirable in such a life.

The strong moral stance of the story was reminiscent to me of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Though Vinland Saga doesn't have Pratchett's humor, there is a sense in both of a creator who has an absolutely rock-solid, well-thought out sense of morality that never wavers and permeates the entire story. There's something soothing about being in the hands of a storyteller who knows 100% where their moral stance lies, what points they are making, and what message they want to convey, and then does so in an expert manner. I hesitate to say it was never "preachy" but I think it conveyed its message so strongly that the moments where it reiterated its message never felt like being spoken down to or preached to. Quite the contrary, the moments when the story indulged in its message, when it all but looked directly at the camera and said, "Violence is wrong. Look at the suffering it causes. Look at how much better the world could be if we all showed one another mercy and care," were some of the most powerful and moving.

Finally, I was incredibly impressed by the realism and sense of knowledge it had about the history it indulged in. Not only did Vinland Saga show a knowledge of the historic Viking Age, but, it wasn't slavishly devoted to realism. When it stepped away from exact realism to instead show incredible people doing incredible things, it did so in a way that was in line with the Viking Sagas of the day. Men who are twice as tall as any other man! Men who can hear across miles of distance! A man who moves so fast you can barely see him! Even when it indulged in these sort of Shounen tropes of borderline-magical fighters, it still felt like we were in the story of a Saga, because the departure from realism were so in line with what stories from those years were like.

Yet, even when we were indulging in the incredible fighters of the story, there's a sense of horror to it. Sure, it's great to be a warrior if you're 8' feet tall, wealthy, privileged, gifted, and well-trained, but you will still lose limbs and body parts in battle. One fight can leave you permanently maimed. And this is not a society that does a good job taking care of its most vulnerable. Your fortunes can turn from lord to slave in the blink of an eye. You can be on the top of the world one minute and discarded the next if you're not strong enough, and there's a horror to that. It takes exceptional people to look out for those most in need, indeed, those who are anything less than possessing peak power and privilege, and those people are more remarkable than the privileged warriors who stomp on others without a care in the world, until they too are laid low and realize how horrifically unfair their world can be. There's such a strong moral sensibility to these moments, I was really in awe of how unwavering it was, this dedication to highlighting the dignity of people, how they deserve to be treated with dignity, oftentimes by showing how horrific, how wrong, how unfair it is when that dignity is stripped away.

[nijigasakilove]

I open the episode and the first thing I see is Kirishima going down on a random girl, already knew this was gonna be a great episode lmao.

So much Yakuza political dynamics in this one it got a bit overwhelming tbh, I’m sure as time goes on I’ll get better with the names and their relationships, but for now all I know is something seems up with Yoshino grandfather’s old friends. The way the blonde dude looked back at him just felt.. off. And with everything Shoma was talking about with the agreement just being a false flag, adds up. Watching The Penguin has just made me trust no one in this mob shit lol.

I’m sorry I’m not fucking with the obsessive stalker trope Miyama got going on tho. It’s just frankly really cringe and uncomfortable and one of the things I hate most about a lot of shojosei relationships(this is seinen but the mangaka made her name with shojosei stuff and this is basically adjacent). Shoma seems like the much better choice even tho he got some issues himself clearly lmao.

I don’t really get what’s the point of having this take place in high school tho when the cast is doing nothing school related.. would’ve been so much better to have them as young adults in college and exploring all the dark shit going on with the Yakuza. Still enjoying it, but that would’ve made it way better.

[welivetodream]

BSD and Shipping

Since Valentine's day was coming I was interested in discussing a huge part of the BSD fandom: Shipping

( ⚠️ RANT INCOMING. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED ABOUT OPINIONS ON SHIPPING. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL TOWARDS OTHER PEOPLE'S OPINIONS IN COMMENTS AND REBLOGS. ⚠️)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

So where to start?

For a long time I have been noticing one specific trend in the BSD subreddit. And that are posts that talk about unpopular opinions/Headcanons/fav or least fav ships etc.

What I find interesting about these posts is that one thing is always in the forefront, and it's the debates about the sexualities of the characters in BSD. While Headcanons can be annoying and some people do push their opinions on others, there is nuance that is lacking in the community when discussing some topics. Finding posts about Mori being a pedo and how Dazai is unlikable or overrated is very easy and the discussions surrounding topics like that are always the same. People would pick sides and end up writing a lot about what their opinion is and while that's valid, it also ends up in fandom wars where it's hard to like or dislike something without your head being in the chopping block.

Now let's go to the original topic: shipping. To examine the environment of shipping culture in BSD fandom we have to start with the headcanons that people have adopted for sexualities of the characters.

1. THE PROBLEM WITH HETRO-NORMATIVITY

Now, the posts about shipping often contain a lot of people writing paragraphs and paragraphs about what ships they like or dislike.

One of the ships that takes the most bullets for its existence and popularity is Soukoku or Shin Soukoku. There are lots of comments about these ships that "remind" us that canonically Dazai, Chuuya, Atsushi and Akutagawa are all straight. They should not be shipped with each other because they are straight.....

Dazai flirts with women and wants to commit a double suicide with a beautiful woman. Atsushi is very clearly set up to end up with Lucy. Akutagawa couldn't care less about romance as we see how dismissive he is with Higuchi. And Chuuya.......wears fashionable outfits and has a slutty waist, but we won't comment on that.

Dazai and Chuuya have a lot of queer subtext that anyone can see. Akutagawa and Atsushi are pointed out to complete each other and complement each other several times. These ships don't exist out of thin air.

Now there is nothing WRONG with anyone having the headcanon of any of these (or any other) characters to be straight, after all we are not given enough information about their sexualities. But by stating "Dazai is straight, he likes women" or "this ship doesn't make sense because they are not gay" not only does it imply that characters can't have other preferences but also that being straight is the default, which it isn't.

This is coming from a straight woman from a very conservative country where we don't have exposure to queer media. It took me a long time to stop being so heteronormative. I think assuming someone is straight until they prove to you or tell you directly is just as bad and as assuming someone is gay. I think we have come far along as a community to understand that it shouldn't be our first instinct to assume everything is heterosexual until we get some sort of proof or stamp of approval from its creator.

Asagiri isn't going to stand up in a stage in front of the world and say "yeah Dazai and Chuuya have gay feelings for eachother" because the manga is from Japan. If there were explicit queer characters then BSD would no longer get the label of being universal because of certain censorship laws. Even if it's getting more acceptable in Japan to show queer characters in manga and anime, BSD isn't a romance or slice of life story. It's a seinen, not a BL/GL. Besides, Asagiri shows little to no interest in romantic relationships in his story.

So by saying "______ character is straight because we don't have any other information proving otherwise " isn't a valid excuse to tell shippers not to ship certain characters, it's making it seem like heterosexuality is the default state of being.

That also doesn't mean you can say "Dazai is gay, don't ship him with women" because that's the same thing. If you think Dazai is gay/bi/pan/etc. then that's your opinion, pushing that on others only worsens the rep of skk shippers especially.

You have the right to like or dislike certain ships or have your own Headcanons. This is why even feminising certain characters also isn't as problematic as people call it. It's just a different take on a character (but that time people were correcting those who called Sigma a "he" instead of "they" was genuinely wrong). Headcanons of some random online stranger doesn't make anything canon. So if you find yourself around annoying people like that, just leave the conversation.

2. WHY SUBTEXT MATTERS

Subtext is really important when discussing media; in case of BSD whether it is the anime, manga, anthologies or LNs. BSD is not new to subtext, even from the start of the story there is a lot of queer subtext that people can figure out easily.

When we are introduced to Dazai and Chuuya's partnership in the first season, it's clear as day to see the dynamic and its underlying tension. We can see how close those two are that their relationship can't be explained just as simple partners turned enemies. Time and time again we get so much queer subtext between Skk's interactions. The entire 15 arc and well as Stormbringer shows us the bond and trust between the two as well as the intense amount of gay scenes. At this point I am sure Hoshikawa is a hardcore skk shipper. All of their official art is also gay (that could be queerbating though). Asagiri must know what the public thinks about Skk and still writes subtext about them. It makes sense why this would be a popular ship; it's not made out of thin air with no context (*ahem* Kousano *ahem*) but has actual roots and the proof to back it up too.

SSKK is a similar story, it's not my favourite but it has been growing on me ever since S5. Similar to skk, we get a lot of subtext and homoerotic moments between Aku and Atsushi. They are yin and yang. They are enemies that sought to kill eachother but still team up to fight together. Atsushi is literally the centre of Akutagawa's life since the beginning. Atsushi and Akutagawa grow together as characters and as different as they appear are similarly looking for one thing: validation and acceptance. Their relationship is so compelling in so many levels that it too makes sense why their ship is as popular as it is (especially regarding recent events in the story)

Ranpoe.....let's be real, those two got married a long time ago. They are the definition of "be gay, solve crimes". They are undeniably a cute ship regardless of whether it's one sided or not. Fyolai as well makes complete sense with the context behind Fyodor and Nikolai's relationship, while I also consider it quite one-sided as it's mostly Nikolai that is fascinated by Fyodor (and wants to kiss kill him) Fukumori isn't my cup of tea but it too has enough subtext to back it up, same with FukuFuku.

While I would love to talk about other ships, I wanted to show the reasoning behind the most popular pairings.

Personally, as a multishipper, it's very fun for me to have so many characters to examine and spend time obsessing over.

Now, there are straight ships that I like too as well as ships I don't ship for myself.

The reason I don't like Yosano and Ranpo together is because I see them in the same position as Kyouka and Atsushi. The scene of Ranpo recruiting Yosano (who worked with Mori) into the ADA parallels Atsushi saving Kyouka (who also worked with Mori). I consider them siblings and like how they are platonic instead of it being the typical "a boy and girl can't be besties". Another ship I love and cherish is AtsuLucy because it's so adorable, Lucy is my fav Guild member and her and Atsushi are "Girlboss and Malewife". I ship Tachihara with Gin, Higuchi and Gin as well as Kunikida with Yosano (surprisingly I don't find the appeal of Kunizai; though I still like that ship from time to time, just don't ship it actively). I prefer not to ship Sigma with anyone (he is still a baby to me)

So it's not that BSD doesn't have straight ships, when you make a majority male cast and have them be rivals or enemies, obviously people will ship m/m more. Especially if there is more subtext and tension behind the male characters and they have little to no interactions with women.

And I might get some heat for saying this:

It is okay for most of the BSD characters to be considered queer because if comp het is so normal in anime/manga then why can't the opposite be the case? We already have enough series with little to no representation, so why can't we have a bunch of queer characters?

3. TOXIC SHIPPERS AND THE FALL OF FANDOM CULTURE

I have been raving for the past two sections and defending the shipping community. But it isn't a conversation with nuance if I don't address the problem of a small group of people that take shipping too seriously. The reason why fandom itself gets a bad rep is because of shipping more often than not. I will admit, it's not all sunshine and rainbows when people argue about their fav ships. And a lot of the aforementioned ships are to a point, toxic. Yes, some shippers are annoying and ruin everyone else's fun. There are ships that don't make sense at all.

But that doesn't mean that a small part of people should represent others who are just having harmless fun and don't even believe their ships to ever become canon. Let's be real it's highly unlikely we will have any couples by the end of the show (the closest could be AtsuLucy). Sometimes people are too intense about ships and that goes for both antis and pros. Both of the extreme are toxic. And instead of shoving down our opinions down other people's throats, we should be celebrating the very story that brought us together in the first place.

Yeah it can be hard for those who don't like shipping at all to enjoy the story and have discussions. But we have to remember the roots of fandom culture start with shipping. It's always been the case and it's always been the most popular way to discuss one's favourite fictional work. From Sherlock to Genshin to boy bands to streamers, everything has been shipped and will always be. There is a reason why AO3 works so well.

4. SO WHAT?

The ships are what brought me to BSD in the first place. I wanted to explore the world of BSD because of its characters and their dynamics. And a lot of other people have gotten into this fandom for the exact same reason. While there are unflattering moments in our fandom, that doesn't mean it's not a place for people to come together and have some fun. Whether you ship or not. Whether you like fanfictions or not. We have to accept that there are a lot of pros to shipping too. It brings our ideas together, makes us feel giddy inside or tears our heart apart, it produces beautiful fanarts and fanfictions, it makes us analyse characters, it makes us look deeper into the story....and it makes us wait for what's next to come.

And I want nothing more than to be able to enjoy shipping without the guilt that comes with it.

Shipping isn't free from its flaws, but it is not defined only by its flaws. It might not be for everyone, but it is someone's everything. So even if you don't like it in particular, let's not spoil other people's fun. One's trash is another's treasure.

~Peace out 🕊️✌️

[mysticstarlightmiracle]

I honestly don't use tumblr but Lily is apperently targeting FMA as her new punching bag which is so funny to me because if, and i'm honestly begging to God, "IF" Lily makes a video about it, the entire anime community will burn her at the stake for what she says. But since Lily wants to shit talk series that she knows people love, let me add a few more because I think it would be really funny if she stumbles onto my post:

I beg you Lily, please make a video on Berserk, I want to see how funny it will be when you are forced to keep taking down your video because the comments don't agree with your opinions on Griffith, Casca and Guts.

How much money do you guys want to bet that if Lily sat through Vinland Saga, she'd miss the point of Thorfinn's character?

Mushoku would probably fry Lily's brain because the theme of Mushoku Tensei is about a shitty person getting a second chance at life and becoming better, but Lily doesn't understand nuance lol.

I'm really curious to know what Lily would think about Frieren, one of the best fantasy anime, that is a shonen that follows one of the most interesting female MCs learning to find the joy in living life.

Since Lily can't stomach any show that has world building or nuance and wants slice of life UwU series. Read A Bride's Story Lily, it's a Seinen written and drawn by Kaoru Mori. It's a manga with amazing female characters, but i bet you won't even get past Talas's Arc without calling her a predatory weirdo.

Ahhh yes, what is currently one of Shonen Jumps hit series, Chainsaw Man. I wonder if Lily is gonna hate Denji and like the predatory woman who abuses him and traumatises him because she wants him to obey her and only her. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM I wonder

Cyberpunk Edgerunners, the one series I know Lily would turn off the moment the show get's hyper violent because she can't watch anything that isn't a cute coffee shop A.U where the characters are as bland as her writing.

In conclusion: Lily, the person who made a video on Wholesome Media Vs. Dark Media, is to much of a coward to watch anything with nuance, and the person who has a very visible hate boner for successful woman who have actually had a contributing factor to mainstream pop-culture and media, has no right to shit talk one of the greatest series of all time.

[barbi2709]

Soobin with an anime nerd s/o

Disclaimer: This and each of my stories are only fiction and are not intended to offend or make anyone uncomfortable, if this type of content makes you uncomfortable, feel free to leave without resentment :]

Paring: Soobin x gn!reader

A/N: I'm doing this bc it's just a underrated topic here (no bc I'm in my delulu moments and bc im an anime nerd myself, nonono). Also im doing this to get out of a writer block to continue with my other txt series which I haven't even started (loln't)

Our Soobinnie <3

My boy just want someone who gets just as excited as him when they watch anime :(

So when he met you he was so excited to finally meet someone like him.

Once u both started dating, anime dates became a thing really quick.

You going to his place or him going to yours to watch anime.

You both have a list of animes to watch and is endless.

You both promised to never finish an anime that you are currently watching together.

Ok, but the anime dates you have are just so cute :(((((

Like, you both with cozy blankets while cuddling on the couch and watching like 6 chapters on a raw bc neither of you want to stop watching or leave each other.

(I truly believe he would agree to build a pillow fort)

He wouldn't admit it at first but he IS into romance animes.

The most cheesy shit you can find out there, he'd be like 🤮🤮🤮🤮 at first but once you ask him to watch it together my man agrees before he can register his answer.

If you're more into Shonen and seinen, be prepared to an excited Soobin every time a fight scene come to the screen.

You both could be talking for HOURS about theories or making bets about who would win the last battle.

And also be prepared to defend your fav characters from this man *cofcofmegumicofcof*

(If Megumi hater, why so hot?)

But also my man is the type to get a little bit jealous of 2D characters, so whenever you got a new husbando please make sure to reassure him.

(Or tell your sexy bf that the character is ur fav bc they're almost as sexy as him)

Having crisis together at 3 a.m. because of the spoilers for the next anime or manga chapter that you're waiting for.

He comforts you when your fav character dies.

You both cried the shit out of you after the end of snk.

Manga shopping dates are also a thing in your relationship and I swear is the cutest thing ever :(

Like, you want that one limited edition but you think you've bought enough for the day so he bought it for you and leave it at your dorm as a surprise :(

I want him </3

Whenever he's on tour, he tries everything on his power to take you when he's going to Japan.

Or he plans a trip with you to Japan bc one of his life goals is to go with u at least once in his life.

If you can't go to Japan with him he'd buy EVERYTHING for you.

"I saw this Okkotsu plushie and bought it for you"

"I thought you'd like to have a Naruto lamp for your night stand"

:((((((

The members think you both are annoying bc of how nerds you're.

But they are happy that Soobin found someone who shared his same interests.

So now you're just annoyingly cute as a couple.

I feel like he's the one to watch "guess the anime opening challenge" type of videos.

And you both are SO. FUCKING. COMPETITIVE

He's always making rules to got one win

"Let's add the rule that if you also sing the opening you got the point"

"Binnie, you didn't knew the lyrics"

There's also dates when you both are just reading mangas with soft music at the background, no one's talking, just the comfort of each other presence.

You got him to do the Tik Tok trend of Wotakoi hands dance with you during pandemic.

At least in one of his social media accounts he has an anime matching icon with you.

I don't think he'd be into cosplay or going to conventions, but if you ask him enough times he'd be doing anything for you <3.

And that's it, love y'all

[takol0ve]

Saw some more Lily Orchard takes, one of which is about Dungeon Meshi. [spoilers.]

So I’m gonna go through these points. Specifically the negatives because idgaf about the three above it.

“The main setup is weirdly grim for such a silly show.”

DM is built on Seinen. A genre of media thats directed to an older demographic than the purposed shonen demographic. It’s not weirdly grim for the series if the plot is based around an underground city that was discovered recently by the surface. It shouldn’t be too grim if the story was also revolved around saving Laios’ sister by bringing her back to life. I feel like a series like this also should be silly when it has DND elements in it, a game where you could possibly do anything you want and get away with it for fun. DM is also relatively cozy when it wants to be, and thats why Laios is so important, his open mindedness keeps his group together despite being a dense goofball. He’s Luffy coded really, he’s a little dumb but he’s intelligent emotionally in his own way.

“Poor comedy”

Lily’s form of comedy is sausage party considering her review of Hazbin Hotel I guess.

“The entire series is premised on the joke of anime drawing good food.”

Lily discovers Sakuga, congrats. But yes, the series is based on the notion of cooking and the importance of hunger and food that also correlates to desire and fear, found family and open mindedness. Marcille CRAVES an equal life between all races because she FEARS that her loved ones will die before her for example. Laios’ open mindedness doesn’t stop him from seeing other races, including monsters being the same as him, because he understands that humans themselves are selfish and are used as a food source by monsters inside the dungeon. Found family revolves around Chilchuk because he’s relatively reclusive about himself and opens up more around the group, he discovers family, thats his development.

“Every character that isn’t Marcille is a stock archetype”

I don’t really understand this, is she saying everyone else is just the same? Marcille is not a perfect character, she has her flaws. Even if her desire to make all races equal by age, just because it can be passed as empathy doesn’t mean that her desire can’t also be perceived as pity because other races tend to dislike the elves, so it’s understandable why some other characters wouldn’t like her. It’s a racial bias based on age. Did we learn nothing from Zootopia? 😭

“Fan service bath scene”

A sauna and a bath scene are two different things btw. The only similar thing there was a sponge bath and even then it wasn’t fan service, LOOK AT HOW MUCH SENSHI GOOCH THERE IS COMPARED TO A SINGLE SAUNA SCENE. (MY GLORIOUS KING.)

“Severe tonal issues”

Idk the music is fine, lmao. Just use tone, I was really confused when she used tonal because it’s regularly used in music. Even then the tones of DM are relatively good, colors are vibrant, everything is easily recognizable, the world around them is surprisingly vast for how short the story is.

“Anime being weird about female characters again”

…what. Lmao. Like I don’t know how to respond to this because Lily is actually tone deaf about other women. Like DM was written by a woman, idk why she would double down on fetishizing women in her own story? There is a lot of capable women in DM, Marcille and Falin being a couple, there being the canaries and a good portion of Shuros group, including izutsumi.

“Laios”

Lily probably didn’t finish or watch dungeon meshi at all. Even if she did, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was misandrist towards Laios. I shouldn’t explain why Laios is a good character and I won’t. Cuz I wanna go draw. 😀

[yuseirra]

Is it readable? :) I might organize this all properly someday; I've written so much that I might be overdoing it.

Until the author confirms anything, I can't really say for sure. But...

Kamiki's personality feels like something I could handle well—I think I understand it? This kind of personality is somewhat familiar to me. (I wouldn't talk about something this much if I didn't have a clue)

But if I'm on the right track, I don’t think he really did anything to Ai...

Honestly, what kind of story was the author trying to tell? What did they want to convey through this character?

If Kamiki were truly responsible for harming Ai, they absolutely should not have structured the latter part of the story this way! I found it so strange that I couldn’t help but think Kamiki isn’t the culprit in that regard. It’s just too out of sync. If the story had been written to point to him, it would have been obvious, but instead, it feels like the exact opposite. It seems like he wouldn’t do something like that—unless it was an accident. I think this was a intentional writing choice.

We need to know the extent of his responsibility to determine how much guilt should be assigned, don’t we? How could they just leave that unresolved? And honestly... it really doesn’t seem like he did it.(To me, at least) I feel like I’ve pieced together an outline of his personality, but there’s a gap in the middle...

If he really didn’t do much wrong (after separating from Ai and until her death), his personality has remained surprisingly consistent up to this point. He’s actually been living with almost the same personality all along.

When it comes to Aqua’s character...or any of the other characters in this series, I don’t overthink other characters to this extent. But with this guy, it’s frustrating because the author hasn’t shown us enough to know for sure. I can only speculate since they haven’t given us clear answers—it’s maddening and exhausting.

I also feel like I might not agree with other people's interpretations of this character, so I avoid looking at them... The situation being tied to such a heinous crime makes it stressful to think about, even though it’s just a story.

If the author wants to show that Kamiki and Ai really loved each other—and it does feel like they did—then they need to properly address Kamiki’s alleged involvement in orchestrating murder. What DID he actually do?? Why don't they confirm this? This isn’t even a seinen manga; it’s technically a shounen category, isn’t it? It’s just too harmful. They should give out a clear stance on how crimes like this should be handled...but he isn't really punished for having harmed Ai in the end. It's about not understanding her and for his other mishaps so; again, I think this is written like this for a reason but it's vague and unclear!!!; why???

From what I can see, Kamiki didn’t have the kind of personality to commit such an act at that point in time. But this isn’t something that can be left ambiguous, is it? The ambiguity itself feels like an indication he’s not the culprit, I guess.

I keep trying to sync my feelings with what he may have possibly felt when I make fanworks (though it’s not great for my mental health).

Kamiki’s personality has some very consistent and unique traits. As I mentioned before, he tends to accept and believe whatever others tell him at literal face-value.

Thus, he isn't inherently bad, but it does mean he’s vulnerable to becoming evil.

As you watch, you start to feel like this degree of influence isn’t human. A normal person wouldn’t change so drastically based on what others tell them. But Kamiki seems to shift completely depending on the people around him and what they say.

In that sense, Kamiki hasn’t really changed much since he was a child.

He’s a deeply pure being. By now, being over 30, he should be responsible for his own life—and I agree with that—but it seems like he unknowingly veered off course after taking the wrong first step, causing everything to fall apart. The point at which this started might not even matter anymore. Still, shouldn’t we at least know what he did or didn’t do and what he intended to do? This is a story, and he should’ve been more fleshed out!

I place a lot of importance on malice, and Kamiki surprisingly doesn’t come across as malicious. It feels more like he was shaped that way by what he learned and believed. At this point, he might have developed some malice, but it seems more like he became this way because of others’ influence rather than by his own doing. He feels like dough that was kneaded into shape by whoever handled him.

His nature doesn’t seem inherently bad—if anything, it feels good—but he was warped along the way. People can be influenced to a degree, but Kamiki feels like a blank slate. He could’ve become either an angel or a devil. His sense of self is weak, and while he might have some interest in morality, he doesn’t seem to question or doubt others much—he just believes what they say.

When he separated from Ai, it was likely for the same reason: he simply believed and accepted what she said, even though they had their shared experiences. If someone told him, “Carry the burden of the dead,” or “You’re empty inside,” he believes it. If he was taught to act a certain way, he’d try to follow that too. Even so... this is extreme, isn’t it?

He’s intelligent—probably very smart, based on how he’s written. But being clever and being wise or discerning are different things. Now that I think about it, Kamiki’s personality might be similar to Hatsutori from Cell of Empireo, who also trusted everything others told him and tried to become a "star(god)" for their sake.(and that guy was my fav from that particular series too o<-<) Oh hey, coming to think of it, that story is also all about being a "star" with it being linked to divinity. Wow.

Maybe Kamiki’s an INFJ? He’s incredibly emotional—definitely an F. Ai, on the other hand, seems more T-oriented, so she probably hurt him a lot with her words... He wouldn’t be able to respond strongly to her, either. Has he ever shown strong actions? Even when facing Aqua, he didn’t do anything significant. That’s just who he is, right? I didn’t think he’d ever attack Aqua or act aggressively, and I was right. He likely never saw Aqua as an enemy. In fact, he probably liked Aqua quite a bit.

He’s heavily influenced by others, has a weak sense of self, and bases his actions on what others tell him. He tends to adapt to the image others have of him, responding with, “Oh, is that so? Then I’ll be that way.” Ironically, this adaptability and responsiveness might give him a charismatic charm in certain contexts, drawing people to him.

This kind of existence feels almost godlike. Cult leader archetypes often have personalities like this. Once such individuals solidify a fixed image of themselves, they can move beyond being influenced by others to influencing others instead. (What’s frustrating is how many of my random guesses end up being correct. I joked that he might as well be a cult leader, and a chapter or two later, it seemed plausible...it was ridiculous)

Both Ai and Kamiki have traits that are missing in regular humans (like being unable to get angry) and others that are excessive(and being extremely benevolent and trying to accept everything). They’re unusual in some fundamental way.

Considering the hint about gods unaware of their divinity and other elements, these two don’t seem like ordinary humans. Their children being reincarnated with a mission suggests things. It feels like they were originally deities overseeing the entertainment industry, reincarnated to intervene, but something went wrong, and they ended up twisted in the process.

Ai is more capable in some ways, but they could’ve complemented each other’s deficiencies.

But they broke apart...

From the way I see it, they shouldn’t have separated. They would’ve been fine together—no, not just fine, they seemed perfectly matched, like a mythic pairing. It wasn't their problem that they broke up, it was more due to the external factors. I see them having been really content with each other. They do express such feelings, don't they.

(Adding this: I once analyzed Kamiki’s personality as someone who has a constant desire to give. That’s likely how he expresses love. Initially, he gave to everyone around him, but after meeting Ai, he decided to focus on her. He probably asked himself what he could do for her and acted accordingly, continually offering “something.” I think this “something” is supernatural in nature—likely “light.”

Unable to accept the loss of the dead, he seemed desperate to preserve her in some way. Given Ai’s career as a celebrity, he might’ve tried to immortalize her through “presence” or memory.

His actions probably stemmed from wanting to give her something, but if he still needed guidance at that age, it’s likely due to a poor environment in his youth shaping his worldview.

Maybe he wanted to give her something tangible but couldn’t, so he turned to more abstract offerings.

Still, I don’t think that’s all there is to it. As I’ve mentioned before, he probably did what he did because it was the only way he could truly reach Ai and feel her presence.)

The story undeniably contains supernatural elements. Without these elements, the story doesn’t hold up. Character analyses, motivations—none of it would make sense without them. This is something I keep pointing out, but I know... it’s often dismissed as unrealistic, which is frustrating. The story itself is frustrating!! It explains nothing! No matter how hard I think, everything ultimately depends on the author, so yeah..; sigh

This work makes me want to study psychology more;; I’ve never encountered a character who brings out so much analysis from me. This manga doesn’t provide clear answers, that's why!! So I keep writing about things to make sense of it. Normally, I’d stop after one or two posts and that'd be enough, actually, I don't even write posts, just having it in my head would be enough...

[tumblezwei]

the "why do demographics even matter" discourse started up in shoujo twitter again because someone asked for shoujo recs and kept getting Apothecary Diaries, Witch Hat Atelier, and Skip and Loafer.

And it's so frustrating sometimes to see people brush off others getting mad bc "those are great series anyways so why does it matter if they're not actually shoujo"

Because that's not what they asked for, maybe??? Like even if demographics didn't matter, if the only qualifiers for shoujo were "has female lead, written by woman, no fanservice" why can you (average twitter weeb recommending something) only think of like, 5 series? And it's always the same fucking 5 series!!! Isn't that interesting? Isn't that weird?? That out of all of the manga in the whole wide world, the only ones that you can muster up for female-led and penned are the same shounen and seinen series that everyone already knows about??

And that's not me being all snobbish bc you don't know about some random niche shoujo manga from the 80s that I think deserves more attention or whatever the fuck, it's me saying THAT'S WHY DEMOS STILL MATTER!!! Because shoujo is not fucking popular in the west. it is not widespread enough for laymen to just come across new series in the wild as often as they will other demos.

There is a gigantic and diverse pool of stories that exists in the shoujo demographic. There are so many great fucking series from years ago and today that nobody knows about because you have to know to look for them. You just aren't going to be recommended shoujosei heavy hitters that are widely beloved by it's community like you are shounen or seinen. Like, if you ask for stuff to look out for in the coming seasons, you're going to get a lot more Kaiju No. 8 and Dandadan then you are Nina and the Starry Eyed Bride or Honey Lemon Soda. Odds are, out of those four, most people reading this probably only heard of the former.

And again that's not me trying to flex some weird superiority over knowing more "niche" series or whatever. I'm just trying to stress the point that it matters when people ask for shoujo. Because so often unless they go to it, so many of these incredible series will simply never get a good foothold in western audiences.

It matters because a twitter user asking for shoujo recs will absolutely come across twenty other people begging them to read Skip and Loafer. You do not need to be the lone soldier hoisting Skip and Loafer onto your shoulders on a post where OP did not ask. If you want to recommend a series but don't know if it's shoujo, it's very easy to just google it. If you don't have any to rec, then just leave it to others who do.

And maybe also take that as a sign that you can start looking too! Along with the most gentle reminder that demos are not genres. If you don't want romance stories, ask for something else. And just like someone will like one shounen (i.e. FMA) but not another (i.e. Rent-a-Girlfriend), you will come across shoujo series that you like and those that you don't.

[shojoqueendom]

"Shinjo Mayu: Exploitation of Mangakas by Publishers"

I didn't know what to start this blog with until yesterday, I woke up and read a tremendous article of manga artist Shinjo Mayu. I couldn't resist talking about this queen who has been shaking up the Japanese publishing world recently, and I would like to share her experience and thoughts.

First, let's get to know Shinjo Mayu and how she has reached this point.

Shinjo Mayu (新�� まゆ) is a Japanese manga artist who was born in Nagasaki Prefecture in 1973. She graduated from Yukokan High School and made her debut in Shogakukan's Sho-Comi magazine in the special edition released on February 14, 1994, with "あなたの色に染まりたい." Her success skyrocketed with "Kaikan Phrase" (1996-2000), published in the same magazine as her debut, which was also adapted into an anime between 1999-2000, totaling 44 episodes.

On May 23, 2007, Shinjo Mayu announced on her blog that she would be leaving the Shogakukan publishing company to become an independent artist. Without giving many details, she mentioned that she planned to experiment with different things.

Nearly a year later, she opened up and stated that she left because the demands from her editors were too stressful and degrading. She even disclosed being threatened by an editor that her previous works would cease to be printed if she left. Seeking legal advice, fortunately, her works continued to be printed. She has expressed that many writers feel dissatisfaction working at Shogakukan due to excessive pressure. Even her editor, when she began creating manga, told her that "she was a manga creator akin to a worm who would never become a serialized manga creator no matter how hard she tried." She revealed that as a mangaka at Shogakukan, she had drawn up to 120 pages a month with an average of 3 hours of sleep per day.

During this time, she has become a highly versatile manga artist, creating works spanning various genres such as shojo, shonen, seinen, and BL. Additionally, she oversees a comprehensive housing production called Maison de Cocon. In 2021, she started a new series titled "Nijiiro no Ryuu wa Megami wo Daku" which is available on various manga applications.

Many authors, including Shinjo Mayu, feel distressed by the sudden passing of mangaka Ashihara Hinako. Even today, her case is still being discussed in the news and on social media. I will make a separate post about this topic, but in summary, Ashihara Hinako posted on January 26th on her blog a critique of Nippon TV because the television adaptation of her manga "Sexy Tanaka-san" was not faithful to her original work. She emphasized that she had repeatedly told Shogakukan to urge them to take action, but without success. She later deleted the post and apologized. However, on January 29th, her lifeless body was found in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, under suspicion of suicide.

Since then, Shinjo Mayu has expressed that not a day goes by without her remembering Ashihara Hinako and what led to her tragic end. Through social media, she denounces the mistreatment that manga artists receive, specifically at Shogakukan. She mentioned that when she wrote the blog about her departure from Shogakukan, an editor told her that there was a meeting where they said they "should control the writers so they don't make such big statements." On the other hand, at Shueisha, they said: "Before something like this happens, let's find out if the writers are dissatisfied."

Clearly, there are very good relationships between editors, manga artists, and publishers. However, as we have seen, there are also times when relationships are not so good. But it was yesterday, February 14th, where she exposed the Japanese publishing world by publishing an article on note.com titled "The Era is Beginning Where Manga Artists are Being Exploited by Publishers."

She has firmly expressed that she doesn't care about the consequences her statements may have on opportunities with other publishers, although she feels it is necessary to do so. From their manga, manga artists only receive 10% of the profit. In the past, working with an editor made things easier for manga artists as they only had to worry about drawing the manga. Editors, on the other hand, took on many responsibilities such as promotion and distribution. This is how they consolidated their role in the publishing industry. Therefore, the remaining 90% of the profit was considered "necessary expenses." However, now, in the digital era of e-books, manga delivery is simplified as the manga artist only has to create the manuscripts and send them. The functions between the editorial department and the publisher have been divided. Publishers are now responsible for granting distribution licenses to platforms and transmitting data. Overall, publishers have less work than before, so what is the true involvement of publishers in e-books? The royalty rate for manga artists in e-books is between 15% and 20%, but few people receive 20%. Previously, negotiating to increase e-book rights put distributors in a very vulnerable position due to threats from Shogakukan, as Shinjo makes clear: "without manga provided by the publisher, there was nothing to distribute." But the situation has now reversed, and it is the publishers who ask for works to be converted into e-books. Over time, more authors realized that publishers were charging too much in terms of e-book royalty rates. In this way, the publisher becomes an exploiting intermediary. Distribution companies don't charge as much because they aren't the authors; but publishers, who own the related author rights, receive significant rates without doing as much work.

Shinjo Mayu denounces that publishers are paying very low salaries to their staff and encourages manga artists to seek fair and equitable compensation for their work. She also urges publishers to recognize and adequately support those who contribute to the creative process.

Currently, she works at the distribution company "ナンバーナイン," which has an editorial department. Therefore, the company itself is responsible for sending data to applications, conducting advertising, negotiating, and managing the data transfer and management process on behalf of the mangaka. However, their editorial department is responsible for providing feedback on manga, creating data reports, and offering advice and guidance. Shinjo Mayu considers these companies to be modern and flexible, so it's a good idea to try negotiating manga and distribution fees. In fact, she says that one can be a manga artist without needing to go through a traditional publisher.

I wonder if publishers could be in danger in the future for not offering their workers the respect and rights they deserve. I love magazines, but Shogakukan is getting a terrible reputation for not taking care of its artists (and for quite some time). Some are even encouraging a boycott of the publisher.

"Who can truly say they are supporting manga artists when those who work the hardest are the ones receiving the least money?" - Shinjo Mayu.

Sources:

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240208/k10014352711000.html

https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2024/02/07/kiji/20240207s00041000428000c.html

https://note.com/mayutan126/n/n54607a9ecd37?sub_rt=share_b

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-06-05/sensual-phrase's-mayu-shinjo-leaves-shogakukan

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-06-10/sensual-phrase-shinjo-explains-why-she-left-magazine

https://book.hikaritv.net/book/static/141015_magazine/data/index.html

https://twitter.com/shinjomayu/status/1755101152188969429

https://twitter.com/shinjomayu/status/1757622214437072975

[strikerjoshy]

To take one thing away at the start:

Oshi no Ko as a whole work is still a "8-9/10". No need to talk it more bad than it was. But...

I dont get it.

I truly dont get why ppl react furious or sad or "shit is ass, Akasaka u ass" or so RIGHT NOW AFTER THE FINAL CHAPTER 166. (And not earlier?)

This Ending was meh, no need to sugarcoat it. I also feel uncompleted as of rn.

I understand the feelings a rushed and shitty ended Manga - that had potential to be THE title of the 2020s - ignite.

But this shit final started with the whole final arc. To be specific, with that stupid ass unnecessary "extra pages" from Chapter 155 onwards.

Chapter 154 was peak. The final. Kamiki got literally "killed with the truth". He should have turned himself in or hang himself or stuff. The "homecoming" after the twins showed him the DVD was also okay. I even would have gone so far to say the Niino story part was okay the way it was with a knife-save vest and Akane as decoy, so that her "part" was also told. But in the end, Chapter 154 was a whole good roll-up final.

If it would have been over after 155, i would see the ppl now being mad about a "cheap happy ending" instead of that grief and upset it left.

I also read fans comparing the final of Attack on Titan with Oshi no Ko. And while i can see a similar vibe with "killing off the Protagonist and letting some story strings open", its a whole different kind of overall setting. AoT actually made it to prolly be THE title of its decade, period. (debatable? tell me without personal bias what work was more hyped and an ingoing theme all around anime and manga starting and ending between 2011 and 2020, im all ears). Also, AoT had a dystopian and war-filled theme from the start to the beginning. The complex story made good use of the twists the main cast had and the protag fuckin decided to go to be Hitler for his POV of "the greater good". There was no hope or way to save Eren coherent and satisfying. An outstanding work with an outstanding great outcome.

But Oshi no Ko was - the reincarnation shenanigans aside - a serious Seinen Slice of Life type with no superpowers or magic. The bitter reality. Like another guy i already read pointing this out: Aqua was a freakin good realistic written pcharacter, making that "wrong" decision to stab himself and then jump off that cliff witk Kamiki, bc thats a realistic unreasonable thing a person in emotional stress might do. He was no Shounen-protag defeating the mail antagonist and world peace was made. And real humans in reality make wrong decisions. Like the Mangaka here.

Akasaka-Sensei, you failed that by yourself. U had the power.

[simpingforcreamsoda]

On Dragona Joestar

and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s inability to handle its content privileges.

For those unaware, this is Dragona Joestar. They are the deuteragonist of The Jojolands, the 9th part in the manga anthology series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. The series has been long running, and for a long time had fallen under the Shounen genre— manga aimed at teenagers, arguably young boys specifically but that’s somewhat besides the point. Under this label, there was plenty of violent and shocking content to be found in JoJo, from implications of vampires eating children alive to many characters meeting gruesome ends from punches driving through their stomachs. Character backstories tackled themes like parental abuse, drug addiction, juvenile delinquency, rape, and even featured an on screen depiction of a KKK lynch mob. The series particularly became known for a somewhat dark meme— that the author (Araki) would often demonstrate that a villain was evil by having them kill a dog. So, with all that in mind, why do I only now have a problem with how JoJo chooses to handle mature themes?

In 2005, Part 7 of JoJo was soon to begin as a new, fresh take on the series. It took place in a different continuity than the first six parts, and came with another important distinction— JoJo was no longer a Shounen. It was now a Seinen, a manga category that for all intents and purposes could get away with publishing far more “adult” themes and visual depictions. The effect was immediately noticeable.

At the end of part 7, there is an elongated attempt of rape. This is by no means an exaggeration: the main villain pursues a fourteen year own girl with attempt to assault her in a prolonged horror sequence in which her breasts are exposed in several panels. As a reader, this was surprising, but tolerable to consume. Lucy’s attempts to flee directly result in her summoning a stand ability in self defense, putting an end to the attempt and furthering the narrative along. Because I will almost certainly bring this point up later, yes, this could have been done in ways other than SA. Valentine could easily have been trying to murder Lucy, and the narrative effect would have been the same, but I can understand the intent behind the angle they chose. It’s a direct assault on Valentine’s self proclaimed righteousness, and presents him in a more grounded sense of horror that we had not quite seen in the series prior.

Cut to part 8. Nudity is back— the first fight has a woman entirely nude. I read this in a public space, thank you Araki, lmao. That’s irrelevant to what I have to say, just thought it was funny how quickly jojolion throws tits at the reader.

But part 8 brings something else to the table— Yasuho. She’s a beloved fan favorite, the deuteragonist of part 8, and… is CONSTANTLY sexually harassed as a plot point. Joshu, a character meant to be extraordinarily dislikable, stalks her with unwanted attention and on at least two instances attempts to force himself on her. Tsurugi, a child character of moral ambiguity constantly tries to lick and grope her legs. Even the final villain of the part, Tooru, is revealed to have groomed her from a young age. Aside from Yasuho, other characters are put through situations that are particularly sexually vulnerable in order to demonstrate the horror of an enemy. Lucy’s occasional brushes with SA in part 7 between Valentine, Scarlett, and in High Voltage have become more than a pattern, they’re the default device. Araki has made it clear that when he wants to truly make a villain villainous, he is past killing dogs. Sexual assault and abuse is the new manner of proving the mark of a villain, and while it may be “realistic”, it’s dreadful to read. It’s sickening to watch fan favorite characters be put through an endless loop of suffering, just for a shock value attempt to ramp up stakes. Hell, Lucy even shows up in a flashback, and she gets her clothes ripped off. There’s no end to it for her, even over a real life decade later.

And now we’ve reached part 9.

Dragona Joestar is an interesting character. Here are some fun facts:

They appear feminine but have male genitals and (presumably) male pronouns, but I will use they out of caution.

Their favorite fruit is no longer watermelon that got changed to papaya I think?

They are sexually assaulted twice across the first 13 chapters

It is remarkably unpleasant. The part OPENS on Dragona having their penis groped by a policeman, and later in a flashback we see school kids cornering them in the back of a bus, before tearing off their clothes and trying to carve scars into their skin with a potato peeler.

And I’ve fucking had it. I don’t care if this contributes to their nihilistic worldview, this is fucking sickening! I don’t care if it’s no more violent and realistic than parental abuse or medical abandonment in a hospital— no other “adult” topic in JoJo has been handled this poorly. No other topic has been so constant, so expected, and so specifically targeted at the same characters over and over. Part 9 has taken it a step further— in each instance, it has been very specifically because of Dragona’s non typical gender presentation. Their being is constantly made into a sexual object of lust for villains, and this lust is consistently presented in sequences where physical contact is presented gratuitously to the reader.

When I’ve tried to express my specific disgust for this, I’ve made the poor choice of saying this is breaching a line that feels akin to a twisted fetish one might find on 4chan, but no matter how many times I emphasize that I don’t believe Araki intends this, people misinterpret me. So I’ll be clearer now: I do not believe Araki has intended anything more than pure shock value. What I DO believe is that he ONLY thinks of it as shock value, and in doing so has lost sight of what it truly means. He’s become completely careless with such a theme, and has used it in places where other topics could easily be interchangable— and the shock of SA has lost its purpose. It is no longer something that makes me fear a character— it has made me despise the story. It’s turned into a semi monthly event, one at such a rate and manner of depiction that I do not believe JoJo is mature enough to handle it.

i dont know. I’m tired of writing about this. I might edit with clarification later.

I’m just dreading what’s to come for a series I love so much.

[yeyinde]

i am not sure if you read manhwas/mangas/manhuas other than jjk, but the sheer amount of me reading them got me in a brainrot:

thinking about 141 are just a bunch of shady scary magicians in the typical mage tower. their connection to the arcane granted them long lives, and price is the leader, keeping most of them from doing things that might permanently dent the human world because they're, let's face it— unhinged and detached from the world. they don't really involve themselves much of the outside world, unless necessary.

now enter the equation: reader. who didn't know any better, stumbled into the tower with curious eyes and so...innocent. it doesn't take long for them to get attached, want to carve themselves a place into the reader's heart. Price, especially. often tries to hang around, saying some sort of excuse that barely passes as bullshit.

it gets to the point thoughts swim— to permanently lock them away but hesitating because of the need to keep the light in their eyes shining.

Though he does it, eventually. it was quite a dilemma for him at first. he's decades, perhaps centuries older, and he should know better than to keep you practically locked down in the tower. safer here, he'd say, before brushing his guilt off and continuing on. he'd even say use his age to play against protests that might come up at first from reader.

So what then, if his bad, bad habit of getting rather possessive rears its ugly head when he finally allowed you to leave, promising you'd return, only to not? (bonus points if its nothing the reader had control of)

breaking a promise will never sit with him. no, never.

i don't read a lot of fantasy manga admittedly (mostly leaning toward horror, seinen/shounen, SJ, and classics), but ohhh, i love this so much!!! reader just casually strolling through the mythical forest everyone warns them away from and suddenly they're swept away from everything they ever loved and knew. the whole "only i know what's best for you" narrative this would devolve into is particularly appealing to me.

especially if half the see, told you so moments were entirely engineered by Price himself. pulling strings. but in a way that's so removed, he can still plead his innocence and get off on a technicality. and maybe these situations are so bad, so terrifying, that you start to accept what he says as truth because he's seemingly right so often. and what do you know compared to an ancient mage? best trust him even though you can clearly hear the slide of a lock clicking into place.

godddd i am a SUCKER for ivory towers. gilded cages. "i'm doing this for YOU. can't you see that?!" desperation. it's so unhinged. so terrible. i'll eat it up and go for seconds each time.

incredible. brilliant. i'll have one whole fic on this, please.