#I also skipped over it in the manga so I've never actually seen it in its entirety

[sanji-screenshots]

duel.png

[evilkitten3]

i don't think television is real

"Your top 15 favorite TV shows can say a lot about your personality"

Ty lovely mutuals @kuhakukage @mochiajclayne @tentensgiantfan for tagging me I really enjoyed making this list... memory lane... it was so hard tho, but:

Breaking Bad

Naruto (minus war arc and ending)

Avatar The Last Airbender

Master of None

The Umbrella Academy

Castlevania

Silicon Valley

Freaks and Geeks

Mr. Robot

Westworld

How I Met Your Mother

Food Wars

Haikyuu

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Kim Possible

Mutuals I haven't seen tagged yet, I tag: @sasubaeuchithot @the-real-sasuke-uchiha @narutobrainrotstuff @moon-trees @azenta

Bonus - honorable mentions bc I love sm shows and am indecisive:

One Tree Hill

Masterchef (Australia)

Tokyo Ghoul

Teen Titans

America's Next Top Model

Black Mirror

The Boys

Game of Thrones (s1-5)

Lost (s1-3)

Winx Club (s1-5)

Totally Spies

Billions (s1-4)

The Vampire Diaries

CW The Flash (s1-4)

Arcane

[thankskenpenders]

And now for something new

So, here's something I was never planning on doing, but I just couldn't shake the idea... Thanks Ken Penders is gaining a sister blog featuring an entirely different comic franchise!

Introducing... Thanks Steve Ditko, a blog where I read the Earth-616 Spider-Man comics, starting all the way back in the '60s! It's gonna be much more casual and less thorough than how I run things here on TKP, though, which I'll explain in a sec.

If seeing me post weird bits from old Spider-Man comics sounds fun and you need no further info, then just head right on over to Thanks Steve Ditko. But for longtime TKP readers, I know you probably have questions...

Number one: Why?

Spider-Man's always been my favorite superhero, and with the Spider-Verse movies kicking ass and my excitement building for the new Insomniac game, I've been in a Spidey mood. Inevitably, a thought occurred to me: Maybe I should actually read the comics that everything else is built off of and see the wildly varying contributions of all the original creators, rather than filtering them through big budget adaptations. If I can power through One Piece and all these other manga with hundreds of chapters, it can't be that hard... right?

And, well, after a few issues I quickly realized that my options were to either clog up my other accounts with random Spider-Man panels for years, or to just make a side blog. And so the side blog was born.

Two: Will this blog replace Thanks Ken Penders?

NO!!!!!!!!!

Okay but prove it

To allow the two to exist side-by-side, Thanks Steve Ditko will have a different format than what Thanks Ken Penders developed. Rather than an in-depth guided tour that critically analyzes every story beat of every issue, TSD will just be a place for amusing panels and brief thoughts as I casually read the comics at my own pace.

If you've seen me make a few tweets about reading Spider-Man recently, I'm basically just moving that to a dedicated Tumblr. It's a place for me to dump these things so that it doesn't fill up my media tab on Twitter for the next decade. (You know, assuming Twitter is still around in a decade.) There will be many issues where I only post two panels that I thought were funny. There will be issues where I don't have anything to say at all. Maybe I'll reach a run that I just cannot get into, and I start skipping around more. Who knows!

This may sound similar to what I thought this blog would be before it blew up. Aside from the simple fact that there's already mountains of Spider-Man commentary out there and therefore less of a void for me to fill, one of the main steps I'll be taking to avoid repeating the past is not enabling an ask box on TSD. I do not need people to ask me to go into ten times more detail on everything. I do not need to write seven essay-length responses to questions about Spider-Man minutiae every day. I do not need a place for people to chide me for not covering certain scenes, issues, or ancillary series.

It also won't have any kind of update schedule. I'm trying to keep it very casual. I'm reading these comics at my own pace, and if I feel like sharing a moment or commenting on something while doing so? It goes there. That's it.

(On the subject of format changes, I'm also listing the issue, writer, and penciller in the body of every post. This is a thing I wish I'd done on TKP so that people didn't misattribute every weird Archie Sonic panel I post to Penders.)

Three: So when will TKP come back from hiatus? You said it'd come back after you finished SLARPG!

I don't know! Sorry. I have a couple things on the backburner right now for TKP, but I'm not sure when I'll get back to proper updates where I read more comics.

I wanted to bring TKP back this year, and that's still possible. The main hurdle is that I want to reread my own archive (again) as a refresher, which is, uh. A lot of posts. I've developed a high standard for myself on here, and I feel like I wouldn't be doing my job right if I forgot half the ongoing subplots and character arcs and didn't bring them up in my analysis. Especially when I'm discussing the work of an author as obsessed with continuity as Ian Flynn. Unfortunately, the nature of this blog means that every time I go on another long hiatus for Life Reasons I have even more comic continuity to catch up on than last time.

(This is a big part of why I'm making Thanks Steve Ditko an extremely casual blog instead of promising to become a Lore Expert on 60+ years of Marvel.)

Mostly I've just been very burnt out this year after having finally finished a video game that took almost eight years to make. I haven't really had the energy for any creative projects, including TKP. But I feel a little bit of a spark here with Spider-Man, so I'm chasing that feeling to try to get back into the swing of blogging about comics - no pun intended.

So, basically, bear with me on this as I start this low-energy side project. But hopefully folks will enjoy Thanks Steve Ditko as its own thing, too.

Look forward to goofy shit like this

[k0ff1n]

The arsonist's analysis (Touya or however you want to call him)

It's just a really bad written character analysis.

Also I've noticed that there are some errors and sorry but pls I don't have time to correct them all.

Ok so over the least few days I kind of went back and started (re-started?) consuming content related to my hero academia, and I didn't really know what to expect since it had probably been something like 5 years  that I didn't interact with anything that revolved around it. 

Like the not so changed person that I am I decided to see how the anime and manga were doing, and not because I really like the story and all that, like sure many characters are great and all nothing to say about them, but the real reason was the same as many years ago, to see how that fucker (I mean Touya) was and if at that point he was still alive. 

All this brings me to one question: why is it that so many people have such different versions of the character in their head? I'm not saying that they are wrong or anything, everyone views things differently and all that, but at the same time it kind of makes me wonder why is it that the mental image of the character that I've found is basically like this:

So yeah it seems strange to me, especially when in the manga there are like so many parts in which we can see how he acts, and I know that some of them would vary based on the situation and the people around him  ecc ecc, but the general way in which the character acts is still one. Now I know that I'm probably gonna offend someone, I'm pretty sure of that, but pls tell me how do you see that guy and think: omg poor him he feels so insicure. 

1: The (100%) insicure and shy version (wet cat edition) 

I've seen many people, most of them on ao3 actually, that see the guy as insicure, as someone that feels like his body isn't made to be seen and that if he ever had a partner the sarcastic version of him would basically come out as some kind of defence mechanism. I mean the last part? Mmmmmh I kinda get what they mean but all the rest? Pls no. Like I can see what you are trying to say but it probably wouldn't be like that. 

It would make sense if he was insecure, it would but it doesn't completely and we can see that in the way he acted as a child when he went from scared and yes, insecure, to the "I prefer to say something mean that cuts deep so I won't have to talk to you again". The entire (even if short) dialogue between him and his mother when he went out to train by himself explains that: he surely still wants his father to see him, we have that for all of the duration of the manga, but at the same time what once was only sadness became anger, making him focus on something else and not only about how bad he had to feel because of " being a failure in the eyes of his father".

"But he still felt as if he wasn't enough"

I know that that's what you are thinking and luckily I also know that but plss give me a minute to try and explain all that but with a simple image because I'm bad at words, especially since english isn't even my first language. 

So yeah let's say that 50% of the insicure part of him is still there, I won't say stupid shit and make up that he feels nice now, we know he doesn't, so let's skip to the shy part. I'm gonna cover this quickly: we clearly see that he has never been shy since he was little, he seemed like he felt better alone but that doesn't mean he's shy. His father asked him to make friends but not because he was shy and didn't have them, it was only to not have him in his way. He basically said that because of how the other kids were he didn't want to be friends with them, so yeah he's probably more of an introvert but with more energy that it seemed (as he became older I mean). I have to say that it would also make sense if when he was little he was the type of kid that stayed by himself, mostly because he didn't feel like the other kids would be interested in him but only in the connection he had with his father. All this would make sense if we picture him as the kind of kid that would say those type of phrases that are difficult to answer to, just like the past example of the discussion he had with his mother.

Another point that I'd like to focus on is when people (not many but I've seen that as I've previously said) say that he would also be insecure not about himself in general but mostly about his body. And now I really am trying to think where I'm the way the character acts would you think that. He's wearing loose shirts that make a good part of him visible since his first appearances and when fighting in the last part he's basically shirtless. When he broadcasts the thing where he explains how he's Touya he 𝘪𝘴 shirtless, and I know that it was probably to make people see how far his father made his life a living hell, but if he really hated his body that much I don't think he would even be able to show himself to so many people. The only option left is that at this point he doesn't really care that much about how he looks, yes maybe he doesn't always like it, but it's not that everyone always likes ones look, we all know that there are days where you can't even watch your reflection in the mirror and others where you actually think that maybe you aren't so bad (if you don't I'm actually sorry but I get you lol). 

Here are some examples:

2: The mean guy that only cares about your usefulness (and body) 

This is the version that I've seen for the longest time, the one that makes people think something like "damn he's mean to me so he's hot and since he actually is attractive (and not because he's mean but shhh) then that means that it's fine if he acts in shitty ways".

Like pls no pt.2. Yeah he uses sarcasm, yeah if the situation calls for it he might say bad things but that doesn't mean that on a regular basis he would insult you and all that. I've seen many people that seem to consider him as the guy that like hits on you to have an easy fuck and then if you somehow have his number and idk text him he would barely answer. Like if we are talking on a "you met at a bar you don't know each other at all and the bathroom stall looked too inviting to not be in there together" then yes, he would probably act like that, but in the case that you do know each other and you already text him and ya know, you both care at least a little bit, then tell me why would he do that. 

Like I know he is probably shit at expressing emotions, I'm not denying that. But if he cared about you and you explained that something, anything, was making you feel bad then he would probably (we always have to consider the situation first but pls take this as the most general one) try to make you feel better, even if only a little. Would he succeed? No, I'm not one to lie to myself. Would he opt for arson in case the problem could be solved with that? Yes, yes he would. 

So all in all I don't see why he would act like that, considering the fact that he wasn't raised (manners wise) in a bad way and a part of that would still be in his head. The only time we see him say something "mean" is literally when he's dying and all the other things are basically sarcasm, said in a kind of offensive way, maybe, but not something that would cut too deep. 

3: The actual boyfriend material (no clickbait) 

So the other works that I've found were probably the best version of him. He wasn't perfect, but he also wasn't so fucking mean for no reason, he didn't 100% love himself but he also didn't cry himself to sleep because of that and all in all he actually seemed to care about the (presumably) only person he opened himself to. Unfortunately I've only found this version of him in works that seem to be kind of an au, not one that is much different from the canon one, but the whole story still isn't the same (maybe I'm wrong and sorry if I don't remember every piece perfectly). In case you haven't read them one of the best works are probably these:

-Casual (this is the first part but pls read all three)

-Peaches (you're the cream of the crop)

Like in these he actually loves you, he still is the bitch that we all love and he still isn't perfect, which is nice since he never was. Yes he feels strange to know that someone cares about him but it's not his whole personality. 

4: The final version (burnt nugget edition) 

After all this I'd say that if we consider all his backstory the realest version of him (as in partner, boyfriend, however you want to call that) would be one where there's trust between you two, even if it took 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 and he still isn't too sure about it because as I said, he still is 25% at least insicure about his general self, but that doesn't mean that he makes the relationship fail. Also he strucks me as the type to like steal those useless books on how to improve yourself and all that shit to at least try to be enough for you. He would be a lovesick fool, yes, but one that uses sarcasm in every phrase and would call you stupid names just to see how long it would take for you to try and punch him. He would still do illegal things, habits like stealing don't just go away after your life depended on it, but he would improve. By improve I mean that he would also steal stuff you said you liked. 

Now these are probably more like headcanons and I know that but he seems like the type of guy to genuinely care about you and your opinions. If you say that a certain nail polish would look good on him be sure that you'll find it on the bathroom counter the next morning while he's there waiting for you to put it on him. Also imagine how good it would be if you went on dates together and he had a way to get gatchas for free without breaking the machine so you have free stuff without getting caught. Now idk but I think that he would have a nice alcohol tolerance too, probably because is body is damaged and if you ever ask about his opinion on a certain piercing and if it would look on you he would always say that you'd look hot with everything (he would also be already searching for a needle to pierce you but ssshhh). All in all 85% boyfriend material, the last 15% is when he wakes up feeling like shit and remembers the past but doesn't want to talk about it, opting for shutting himself away for the entire day. 

Also coming back to the looks point: his body is ruined, yes. Does he hate it? Nah. Look we know if he was irl he would probably be already dead so in fiction, in a universe where he still somehow survived in a body that was supposed to break down after a month max he probably doesn't hate it that much because it was the only thing that kept him and his hatred alive. Also idk about y'all but if my body was burnt and they told me that I would basically never feel that much pain I would too cover myself with staples and piercings  because like, we all know that those little pieces of metal don't do shit at keeping his body together and he probably decided to put those there as decorations. So the last and really meaningful phrase with which I want you to leave this post is: if you had a chance like him to customize  yourself and look like that, wouldn't you want to like have sex with yourself of something because I'm sure as hell that if he could he would.

[princessozera]

"Would you mind being a nude model for me?"

Completely Safe for work! No smut or other shenanigans here!

Prompt: MC asks them to model nude. The royal/brother/Solomon get embarrassed and doesn't know what to make of it but MC is actually just a very tired artist that needs anatomy practice.

GN MC (They/them) 3rd ppov as always

Word count: 990

Levi

"Of course you have abs, why wouldn't you?"

"I don't think I've ever met anyone that hates abs," Levi chuckles, but he's trying very hard to not run off and find a hole to die in. He's fully nude, being glared at, and his Henry just scoffed at the only feature of his that he's confident it. “You do know that ‘Grand Admiral’ isn’t just a title, right?”

"No, I- it's not- HMMM," MC hums angrily to themself, tapping their pencil to their head. "It's fine that you have abs Levi. You are attractive. I just wanted to practice drawing different body types, you know? If I wanted to draw more abs I would have gone to the museum and stared at some sculptures."

"And you just assumed I was chubby?" Levi’s snark died out as MC began to circle him slowly. Why had he chosen such an open stance? Why couldn’t the vortex be merciful and swallow him whole? The broom stick in his raised fist was a pathetic excuse for wielding a sword, and he even with the sheet loosely draped around his waist Levi was acutely aware of how close he was to flashing MC.

"Cut me some slack, I’ve never seen you lift anything heavier than an akuzon box of manga.” MC doesn’t notice Levi fall silent, but they see his shoulders tense up. They ignore it, more focused on looking for a good position to sketch from before deciding to sit to the far left- back muscle practice it is. “Anyways, you’re much better company than some stone statue.”

A bonus of live figure drawing is the conversation, although it was a balancing act with Levi. Something interesting enough to keep him from running off or fidgeting too much, but it also couldn't be something he was passionate about because he'd lose his concentration and break the pose. So they spent the better half of the next two hours doing a spontaneous media analysis and ranking list of the movies they've seen in the last couple of years.

Levi carries the conversation when MC falls silent, squinting and tilting their head this way and trying to figure out how to work out the shading onto their paper. He kept peeking over his shoulder to look at them work; serious and so deeply focused that they didn't notice Levi staring at them. He's never seen them put this amount of concentration on something that wasn't a life or death situation. Levi couldn't help how his heart skipped a beat to think they were focusing so hard on him.

"Okay, I'm done, want to see?" MC doesn't wait for Levi to respond, turning their sketchbook around for him. He tries to look away- he would rather not see all of the imperfections MC found on him after staring for so long- but MC is insistent, handing the sketchbook over to him.

"Woah," Levi gasped quietly, fingers running over the drawing. The expression from the side of his face was serious, that of someone wise and calm. His jaw was strong, and his shoulders were broader than he realized. The shoulder blades had such a strong shadow that he started to wonder if he had been unconsciously flexing this entire time. "You even managed to make someone like me look cool."

"I get what you mean, so thank you. But also, not really." MC turns away from him to start packing up their pencils and other sketchbooks. "When you see yourself in the mirror everyday it can be hard to be subjective. That's one of the neat little perks of being an artist- you can show others a new perspective. You're a cool dude Levi, so of course drawings of you are going to come out cool too." There's a small choking sound so MC looks to Levi again. He's holding the notebook to his chest with tears in his eyes.

"MC," Levi starts to run towards them, arms open for a hug.

"NOT UNTIL YOU PUT SOME PANTS ON," MC screams, diving across the tub to get some distance between themself and Levi. He runs to go throw on a shirt and sweats before coming back and hugging MC as tightly as he could. Levi wants to take a hundred pictures of the art but is only stopped by the thought that it might come off as something vain- something that Asmo would do. MC seems particularly slow in packing up their coloring supplies although they were left unused, so when their back was turned he snuck a few pictures to keep for himself.

Other tidbits:

-He resisted the urge to flip through the sketchbook, being handed the book was a sign of trust, not permission. He can remember all too well the times that Mammon had gone rummaging through his things and was caught red handed skimming through Levi's own sketchbooks.

-Levi would soon work up the courage to ask MC to draw together, and set up for a full day of drawing. They'd sit at opposite ends of his room in beanbag chairs, MC working by the light of the fish tank as they draw the underwater landscape while Levi sat closer to his computer, lofi music filling the quiet for a relaxing ambiance. He takes the time to repay the favor, drawing MC as they worked. His eyes on lingered on them, trying to memorize their face as he drew. Every so often MC would catch him staring and smile, lifting up their own sketchbook to show their progress. Levi's heart ran a little faster with that smile and he did the same- MC pretended not to notice that Levi only showed them the left page when he was clearly working on the right.

-Levi chickened out of showing them that day, but MC would find the picture tucked between dvd cases and a snack plate that had been left in front of their door the next time they were feeling down.

((Lucifer))

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 423 Spoiler Talk:

Testing, testing. Is this mic on? Hello?

Oh, hi! It's been a good *checks calendar* 1+ years. But, I just woke up after reading the spoilers for My Hero Academia chapter 423 last night and I need to process things here so, please indulge with me for a bit:

First off: What? Seriously, what just happened? I can't tell if I'm mad or happy with the way Shigaraki's story ended (at least for now I hope). It kinda just ended in 1 chapter; 3 pages actually... I expected at least one chapter focused solely on Shigaraki/Tenko stuff before he died, but nope. We didn't even get to see Tenko in the end. The way he went out was beautiful and poignant (and Horikoshi's artwork is phenomenal as usual), but I can't help but feel empty about this; like something is missing and I'm not sure how to find that missing piece.

I really hope this isn't final for Shigaraki's story and that we do get one final chapter focusing on Shigaraki's final, final moments and that we get to see Tenko one last time, but I'm not so sure anymore. Horikoshi's storytelling isn't perfect, but I know he cares enough about his characters to give them proper conclusions when he can, so I really hope this isn't it. I hope he doesn't skip this because he feels rushed to finish it or something.

Now, with Shigaraki and AFO dead in the real world, I guess we've reached the epilogue part of MHA unless Horikoshi throws a curveball at us. I assume Deku doesn't have OFA anymore either because Yoichi said that Deku transferred the last of the OFA embers to AFO and now he's dead which makes Deku quirkless. I really did think that Deku would still have OFA at the end of this, but we'll have to see. I do like the fact that Deku's punch changed the weather just like All Might did at the very beginning of the series.

I also need to add that I liked Shoto and Bakugo's last involvement with the final battle though I wish they did more overall since they're part of the Origin Trio and all.

But, yeah, AFO and Shigaraki are dead. The war is over. I think at least. It looks like it. Now we're in epilogue territory. I still think it was a great chapter, but I'm still unsure of how to feel about Shigaraki's ending. I do feel like more could've been done with his conclusion and maybe something will be done about it either in the next few chapters or in the volume release.

This makes me wonder how much of My Hero Academia we have left. It's been a while since I've been present for a long-running manga's conclusion (I think the last one was Haikyuu), but I have a sinking feeling we have 1-3 more chapters left with the final chapter being much longer than usual (30 or something pages to fill out the final volume?). We still have quite a few bows to tie in the series. The only thing announced was that we have a break next week, which thank god I need it to process all this more. Regardless, I am going to be very sad when this series ends. It's been a real bright spot in my life for the past 5+ years. I will be there when it happens, though. Maybe I'll make a post about it then too.

More Theories After Leak Day:

I wonder if the whole "Reconstruction" thing from Decay's origin is going to be brought up at some point. Remember that we learned that Decay originated from Overhaul which can tear apart and put people back together. Decay was the destruction part of that Quirk. Theoretically, the reconstruction part should still be in the Quirk's DNA. So, is it possible that Tomura Shigaraki died with Decay and gets "resurrected" somehow as Tenko Shimura with the last remains of the original Quirk? It would help with Deku "saving" Tenko. I feel like this is a detail that Horikoshi wouldn't just leave out and never come back to it.

There was one panel where Deku and Shigaraki did a fist bump. There was blood on their hands (at least Deku's) and since Heroes Rising is canon and we've seen Deku transfer OFA to Bakugo via blood, it isn't crazy to think that maybe Shigaraki transferred OFA back to Deku. For what reason, I'm not sure. We'll just have to find out.

IF Deku does get OFA back, people have theorized that it's possible that Tenko could live within OFA like the rest of the vestiges. That might be plausible, but I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it. I don't think Tenko/Tomura would really be "saved" like Deku wants if that happened. And even IF Deku had to kill Shigaraki to "save" him, I don't think Deku would be happy with that.

[silvercrane14]

Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War - two students are in love with eachother but refuse to "lose" and admit their feelings. Instead, they have increasingly convoluted plans to get the other to confess.

Okay I will admit. this Is a romance and also ive only seen the anime. So actually this would fall more under anime recs bcs the english dub voice acting is AMAZING. Anyway tho its a comedy that I really enjoy. Its about romance but like. Idk I dont read/watch romance often so I cant say "its not like the standard romance plot". But its less about them Falling In Love and more about them Overthinking Everything And Being Silly. ALSO !! tho it takes a bit, it does go into the characters a lot. Very centred on the characters relationships !! Not just romantically between the main two, but in general.

Why I think you would like it: similar in "vibe" to nozaki-kun. Funny!! But it has its moments of seriousness and it understands its characters well.

Mushishi - Eye Have Not Read This im sorry 🙏 i havent even seen the anime so I dont actually know much about it but ive been recced it so many times I figure I should pass it to you.

If u like Natsume's Book of Friends you'll enjoy this. Genuinely I think this is my strongest rec for you on this list even tho I've never seen it. I really do think u wld enjoy 👍

Insomniacs After School - IM REALLY SORRY I HAVENT READ THIS ONE EITHER. I HAVE IT KN GOOD AUTHORITY U WOULD LIKE IT I JUST CANT GUVE ANY DETAILS. BCS IDK REALLY.

"Two young teens who can't sleep find companionship with each other. They must learn to overcome any challenges and figure out what's important to them."

Why I think you would like it: Ive heard its similar to Skip to Loafer in a way!!

Girls Last Tour - Two young girls explore a post-apocolyptic wasteland. They go through abandoned buildings and old towns in their journey, battling solitude eith only eachother

This one is a little sad. More likeeee. Meloncholy, yk? I dont have much to say about it. Very good manga.

Why I think you would like it: The character relationship between the two girls seems like something you would enjoy.

Look Back - to be super honest its been over a year since I read this I dont fully remember what happens. Theres this girl wjo draws comics for her elementary school newsletter. Shes funny so every1 really likes her and her comics. at some point another comic appears, but its actually just four panels of background art. Its so beautifully drawn that the other students begin to fawn over it. Angry kver her loss of attention, the first girl goes to meet the girl making these new comics (The background girl doesnt go to school, she works at home). Thr end up becoming friends and the story shows how their friendship develops and changes, growing closer and growing further apart.

The manga is p short for. a manga but its actually just a Really Long oneshot. Its rlly good. not much else to say.

Why I think you would like it: Very similar to Blue Period. About art and how it reflects people. Also very strongly driven by the relationship between the two girls.

The Girl From The Other Side - ive been typing so much i really cant give a whole review on this. Similar to WHA. kinda. beautiful art. read it u will enjoy it

Kaguya-sama I watched the first two seasons of! Maybe I should read the manga too, I did think it was fun

Mushishi I watched maybe the first episode of, but I should definitely try again,,, I don't remember anything about it lol

I've read Insomniacs After School!!! I'm definitely not caught up though, and I've been planning on watching the anime,,,

Girls Last Tour I,,, might have seen? At least part of it a long time ago. I'll have to rewatch/read the manga

Look Back sounds really interesting,,, I'll check that one out!!!

I'm actually reading The Girl from the Other Side in Portuguese rn lol I have volumes 1-5 on my shelf

[cyphyree]

Giorno 2, 3, 9,and 15

Hell yeah, the lil guy himself!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I love how the narrator states that Giorno's heart became a righteous one, but whatever that means is incredibly subjective. Sure, I like to think that he tries his best to do good, but we hardly get to really see what his goals really are. Can we trust that he actually wants to ban the drug trade aimed at vulnerable people, or did he say so because he's deduced that he could manipulate Bucciaratti that way? That's something I've seen being debated a lot, especially since the manga didn't have that anime scene where The Gangster is specifically against drug trading with children (therefore implying that Giorno adopted the same belief). He also just has no qualms about killing an enemy before he's met them properly (like Sale), because hey this is the mafia, they're going to kill you if you don't kill them first. Even in the enemy rush that's Stardust Crusaders, most enemies just have to get bonked hard enough to take a nap.

But listen, maybe it's because I'm biased or whatever, but even from a more objective lens, Giorno seems to care deeply even if he can't show it. I keep thinking specifically about the part where he talks to Bucciaratti in the car to Rome, and how distraught he seems. You can argue that his pride was hurt because GE failed and he was about to lose a strong ally, and I mean maybe that's part of it. But it's during the solitary and quiet moments that we see Giorno as himself a little bit more, and coincidentally those are my favourite canon moments of him.

He also just let cats walk all over him at the docks and doesn't bother to do anything about it. So there's that.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

We could've gotten a cool 1 v 1 battle between pre-GER Giorno and Daivolo, BUT WE DIDN'T and I'm so sad about it. His dad got to destroy half of Cairo with Jotaro, this just isn't fair. I want to see what a life-bringer vs time-skip fight looks like. Maybe Giorno's doing that to distract Diavolo while everyone else was chasing after Chariot Requiem, you know?

What if Diavolo thinks he can stand-rush Giorno's vine shield during the time skip, but when time resumed he gets pummeled via attack reflection.

What if Giorno distracted Diavolo with a giant tree growing, which Diavolo dodges via time skip, only to get skunk-sprayed in the face.

What if he slips on a banana that turns into a gun.

We were robbed of self-proclaimed time lord mafia boss getting decked by a 15-year-old flower boy in the most looney tune ways possible.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

Eh......... I feel like that's more up to him. I'd probably be nervous because I don't like to bother people in general, but I think we'd mostly likely keep to ourselves most of the time anyway. Maybe share infodumps sometimes, I don't know.

It might just be a security concern if I keep bumping into enemy stand users and gang members though.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I don't have one, to be honest. I like the symbolic duality that he and Fugo has, but I've never felt super strongly about Giorno being attracted to anyone romantically.

I do think he has very deep bonds with his friends though. I just like the idea of him trying to maintain relationships with what's left of the team. It would be hard because of power imbalances, the journey's aftermath, and the consequences of Giorno's actions. Maybe he grows up never being close to anyone, platonically or otherwise. But there's still the possibility that, after years of ostracization and neglect, maybe he'll finally have a family.

[ruakichan]

So I tried out Tokyo Debunker. tl;dr: LOL that's how much?

I'm not really into otome/joseimuke cause I don't dig the self-insert/dating/tropey cast of boy characters aspect, so I appreciate that this game allows you to set a name for the heroine that isn't your IGN. Allowed me to enjoy the story as its own thing. And the story is about the most positive thing I can say.

It's basically TWST but with horror, and where I had bounced hard off TWST's story and cast, the world presented here is interesting and most of the characters are charming. ...Although some are gratuitous expies of characters from other franchises. The blond screaming kid is basically that blond screaming kid from KNY, and he even has the same voice actor lol (edit: nope the guy just sounds like shimono) I keep expecting him to break out with some amazing power when he's asleep, and it'll have some of the best art in the game lol. But ignoring the ...homages..., I really enjoyed TD's tale, and that's what's keeping me going. There's also some fujobait teasing between the various boys; I straight up lol'd at a card you can get in VIP that is of two of them having a cigarette kiss.

The game looks mediocre and out of date, even by my lenient standards, though it's fully voice acted with a talented cast (JP) and story beats are highlighted by manga-esque cut scenes to supplement the talking heads VN visuals. But the character art is crude and simple (probably to make the live2d easier), most of the designs uninspired, and the GUI a confusing mess.

Battle system is just a chibi battler with some music stages (lol), but I appreciate you can skip battles straight from the get-go, which is probably why they didn't bother with the graphics. The game also has an idle clicker base (though without the clicking), which is where you do the majority of your leveling and mat grinding (ie: it's done passively). There's (not live) PVP, but it's like pvp in dressup games. Looks like there's a guild raid boss open during certain times of the day. Guild system itself is eh. There just really is no actual, engaging gameplay.

The monetization is fucking hilarious. I am not one who flinches at spending, but holy hell this game is disgustingly offensive in not only the bazillion ways they monetize, but the cost. They have numerous USD100+ packages, things costing thousands of the diamond currency for progress (locked behind their own gacha), and a mixed summon pool that is less than half characters, with a total 1% ssr rate to pull gear cards or character cards--with gear having higher individual pull rates (you will be more likely to pull gear than a character). Pity for a character is 500, no banner carry over. Absolutely bonkers in this day and age. The ways to spend also include a VIP, sub VIP, weekly and monthly passes, tiered purchases, timed purchases, repeat purchases, rebate purchases... just LOL. I've played f2p games for over a decade, and I've never seen such an egregious amount of microtransactions.

Absolute cash grab. The moment I can't progress in the story due to paywall is when I'll uninstall. Really too bad since I am enjoying the story, and I'd like to know more about the cast (I regret getting the one who visually appealed to me as my starter card cause this pure, earnestly dense kid is smashing me in the face with his moe).

Anywho. Try, but don't spend. If you already play TWST, this is TWST at home but with demons and ghosts. Its troubled development history really shows, and I'd be shocked if it lasts a year. Would make a fun, brainless anime or manga though.

[minmin-pal]

ahh aighto, so following the guide list and watching part 1 n 2 in close succession, 3 then 4 then rohan ova, then 5 and 6. on the liveaction one, ngl i wouldn't really have much complaints about the fact it's not art, always fun to experience a fandom in its entirety like all the cool different mediums and stuff like that, especially for how long jjba's been going on for, there's so much to explore :D

okay not gonna lie, i may have desperately needed that warning about no characters being safe lol i get way too invested and attached to them so the head's up is appreciated ;; (/gen) i don't know why i'm kind of very curious about that though now, i haven't seen any author ever just straight up kill of characters (well i have but ya know?) especially main ones? got me on the edge of my seat now ngl. i'm also wondering whether i should just stave off the manga for now till after i finish the anime and that jazz, dunno to be able to binge the manga and feel it properly tbh

and ohh alright, i was reading another guide just now and it linked the "Stone Ocean OP / Opening" from yt and i see what you mean by cgi, i dunno how they do that so i'll assume it's like 3d models, the way the 3d bits fit the 2d animation style looked so cool and aaa the expressions are just so uniquely styled and all from what i've seen of a 1 minute clip lol but glad u were still able to enjoy the season tho tbh (/pos)

and oh!! there's tarot connections? aa i'm so excited to see how they do that, it's always super fun to see those small little references and u can giggle since your like "yay i got that ref :D" (/lh/hj) might have to grab some kind of bingo to see how many refs i catch haha (/j) but alrighty, noted, no research on kira will be committed, i mean aside from me searching for his design yesterday lol (/lh)

i don't know if it classifies as spoilers much but from the guide i read it said that around part 3 they switched to entities called strands with random powers? that was basically the gist of what i got before i stopped reading so is that one of the differences that separate part 1/2? but oh wait what? why would they say to skip :(? isn't it just more fun in general to start from the very, very start? and oh! joseph! i believe you've mentioned him before but i never heard of jonathan before, his hair looks super cool tho omg and no cause fr :( the uniqueness is part of the appeal isn't it? jjba already has the reputation of being: funky, unique and just being so alive, i don't get how someone would start watching an anime with a rep like that and not watch the first 2 seasons just cause ;; (/lh) awh help i'm getting attached to joseph now, he sounds so sweet tbh (/pos)

and yooo i get why you said "they really did that just cause they could" now" tbh that's a tad more impressive as opposed to just doing the special effects to big scenes, kinda feels like a flex about the artistic control they got over the season tbh (ya know, since like- creators don't really often get that much artistic autonomy with their shows anymore?) i really like that bit now actually ill be honest (/gen) 

and yes rohan is for real representing all side-characters doomed to only appearing for like 5 minutes or having no voice lines lol (/joke/lh) but ahh i'm actually interested in his character development now, the sillyness of him being the only one that could publish manwha properly whilst everyone else couldn't has piqued my interest xD (/lh) oh wait no, your point does actually make a lot of sense though if people demand utter copies from canon then it wouldn't really be as fun tho i dunno, creative liberties are very cool and ngl i could see it somewhat bombing if they did make it irl anime type ya know? idk but seems like the kind of thing twt would poke fun at :') (/lh) i'm glad about how it seemed to turn out though, poster looks super cool too 

and oHH you like aot? yay :D! i haven't watched in a while but unfortunately, i may have spoiled myself- kind of? i've seen the designs and new art style but the lore lost me even before i last watched a couple of years ago, have you caught up with the manga? what's your thoughts on the story and just general stuff like that if you don't mind me asking? feel free to not censor spoilers for this one, my brain's already pieced together bits of lore whenever aot would go trending on social media lol (/lh/nf) but yay hope you had fun with your brother while you watched it! (/gen)

i dunno why i always imagined that motion to be like a croak-type 'laugh' lol, but yeah denji's character definitely seems very funny haha tho course there's the serious story bits, not sure why but he actually somewhat reminds me of mineta? albeit of course denji's a lot more fleshed out and established (i'm not really caught up with the bnha manga so i dunno how mineta is currently, though tbh the similarities kind of end with their primary motivations centering women? (i dunno if i phrased that right, i hope the idea got thru tho ;; /lh)

wait oh noo, i've seen the anime already but this clip compilation is actually so sweet omg ;; i love yor but for some reason the first few episodes of loid being practically a single dad has my heart in a vice grip lol, they really did do the family dynamic between them so well (/gen) and ohh what are your thoughts on uhm- what's his name? yuri briar? yeah that's his name, the uncle and niece dynamic between him and anya was adorable to see lol

i finally found an proper working site with the english trans for the comic lol, i myt finish it in abt a day so i can ask some indepth questions about that when i do :D (if you don't mind ofc!) ngl being able to relate to a character however flawed really shows how well the writing was done (/pos) and wait that frame actually looks so pretty omg?? the artstyle is to be adored tbf, there's so many details and you can almost tell the emotions even without the text woah. and ohh! wait his been your layouts? i saw the holding knife banner but i didn't recognize the artstyle till you pointed it out (/lh) 

help naur,  disliking sm that you don't remember his name is very cool lmao(/hj/lh) but oof, i already don't like him from this one frame i see,  ah- i'm kind of excited to see this dude that comes before him now lol. and yeah the 'brown haired boy' archetype is definitely a hit or miss, have you ever watched 'a silent voice' by any chance? i can see your fond of found family/slice of life and genres like 'killer in love' (assuming you read from the genre /lh, eng is failing me rn im srry) what are your feelings or thoughts on other genres? maybe like- time travel/romance/reincarntion (is that just isekai actually?)/comedy/action maybe? i heard shield hero was pretty popular, do you like that? 

honestly, i get how you feel about one piece ngl:') i've watched a ton of analysis videos on that but it's always a whiplash to see the diversity in the male characters then see the female characters, coming from a vid i watched they said "It's like there's no middle ground, your either made into the standard body type (the girls in the images:') ya attached ) or your made 'grotesque' (the video cues a photo of big mama)" tbf i don't actually know big mama's character and there isn't really anything wrong with being that weight but i do get the gist of the idea the vid was talking about (artstyle side ofc), 

and oh, i''m gonna be honest i've never actually understood the whole highlight thing, i always assumed they were all sweating when i saw the shine if that makes sense (/hj/lh) but yeah, i can get how it's p much  a redflag or at least can makes someone uncomfy (/gen) 

and yay, ty for clarifying on that, i don't realize how much the text piles up till i send the ask ngl, and oh wait- i never really noticed the ideas might have felt disconnected tbh, flowed p fine for me though i may just not have noticed it /lh)

and oh, i don't really mind it lmao, feel free to call me mikey or custard (it actually sounds silly in a /lh way lmao haha /pos/lh) feel free to choose whichever, i don't really mind tbh

last bit- omg min (r you alright with me calling u that btw?/nf) did jjba s1 outro make the "we'll be right back" meme sound?? i'm questioning everything i know rn (/j/lh)

happy morning (very long response)

(also poorly formatted. every line break is answering its corresponding one in ur ask) (in most cases im so sorry :sob:) mhm!! theres a whole lot of extra stuff to read aswell-- like after part 4 araki didnt just make the rohan ova, he also made "dead man's questions" which you probably should also read (not watch as theres no anime version) after part 4-- it follows a character who dies in part 4 which is why i wont say ANYTHING about it. i heeaaavily advise you to not even search it up- like at all its mc is a MAJOR character spoiler like not until youve finished part 4 okay

also, despite no character being safe, i wholeheartedly push you to still love and care about every character your heart Will. shatter atleast once, but thats the fun in it really? i started jjba after watching the original naruto, so the first time a main character, like a *main* died i was just shellshocked the entire time i was waiting for them to bring the person back cause it was like You can't be serious? i REALLY dont wanna gas it up but the ending to part 1 was genuinely wild aswell W series

for the stone ocean cgi i didnt really mean the into but in animation itself for some scenes they used like 3d models and such for the powers and effects, and it sometimes might not be noticable, but when you see it. you see it and its like theyre really doing that and its genuinely so cool

the tarot connections are mainly part 3's thing- the way they names most abilities at least my favorite being death (13) mainly because the episode had me SO intrigued- honestly my favorite jojo episode other than this episode in part 4 (will not disclose [spoilers] but its the "bites the dust" episode- youll know it when you get there) hearing the ability names; it was always great to go "hey i know that band!" but i must say if youre watching the anime with subtitles, or in dub, what you read is not the stands name (or hear if dub) the stand name in most cases, will not be the same as it was originally, as well, copyright purposes really, so in western versions the name the person says (for sub) will not line up with the subtitles man in the mirror for example in the subtitles is reffered to as "mirror man" , so if you get to the part with stands, just know you might not be able to like get some references unless you listen to the japanese name not that it matters it just popped into head lol

and yes thats the big change really, the reason people say to fully skip part 1 and 2 the lack of stands which is so childish.. like really? you dont like the main fundamental parts of the series cuz they dont have big punchy monster powers? i assume youve met johnathan by now, judging byyour comment on the ending music YOU WILL (PROBABLY) LOVE HIM hes just a sweetheart like a mary sue mc but in a not mary sue way

yayaya :DD the team behind jojo REALLY can take the liberties they want and thats probably because the manga/araki is weird as hell like think. uh. spy family you just couldnt do the stuff you do in jojo there, not even story wise but art wise everything is so "polished" and set? like i dont wanna say polished, because jojo is *very* sleek looking but like you get what i mean

where was i.... honestly, jojo side characters (unless theyre like minor antags that get beat in one episode) are really prevalent as the seasons go on and one thing i can REALLY applaud araki (as if i havent been applauding him for EVERYTHING) is that he doesnt forget characters if you meet a side character that isnt evil, you Will. meet them again at least once something i like in part 4 (can you tell its my favorite part?) is that all the characters sort of have their own episode (even the sidest of side characters) when you watch it itll make more sense, but like the side characters arent just plot devices i guess youll see them roaming the street and the characters'll walk past the same bg characters multiple times, and that bg character genuinely wont matter i think it goes hand in hand with the whole everyone knows everyone small town theme but it's still super cool and yes!!! i get so dissapointed when i see irl anime reboots and they are literally just cosplaying the characters nooooo!! the point is that its in real life!!! make the story your own!!! yeah i loved aot :D its not a favorite of mine but its top on my lest i should do like a tier list or something of all the mangas/animes i can remember ive watched ive watched a whole lot actually theres not a lot else to do when youre a shut-in :sob: im all caught up with the aot manga the ending. had me shellshocked genuinely had me blinking like.. thats not okay where was my happy ending??? my overall overall thoughts are is that.. well.. i really love when mangakas just through your expectations out the window and thenh grabs them back and spits on them and throws them out another window just to mess with you so i loved aot; the lore behind the titans and everything? confusing but once i got it they had me rolling over in my bed sorry if ive been getting off topic alot by the way . _ .

croak type laugh is what i meant thanks for giving me a solid term :pray: and !! what i like about csm is actually something i saw in a rant on reddit and i have this issue where i repeat what ive read or heard verbatim solike. what im saying next is not only my thoughts but csm isnt really.... about the lore it isnt about the backgrounds and the world building its about denji and his personal growth and!! the growth of the people around him too https://www.reddit.com/r/ChainsawMan/comments/103xnqk/rant_i_hate_how_people_misunderstand_the_point_of/ ^says it much better than i ever can also... i think the biggest difference between mineta and denji is that denji knows what consent is also that denji is a person, whilst mineta is sorta just his character trait (one was made to be disliked, one made to be liked aswell) i am So glad youve seen sxf its just so charming honestly like,... i love happy slice of lifes sm nichijou, lucky star, shows like that and spy is just such a good show, its heartwarming whilst also definitely being about a spy trying to safe the country by adopting a kid and getting married the family dynamic is just c: -- i dont really love or hate yuri him and anya are cute together but... ive never really liked the obsessive brother trope and that Is yuri's entire character mainly so idrk how to feel about him hes not a bad character though i will say

and yES!! when u finish it i'd love to hear your thoughts and questions :pray: and!! being able to like characters that r super bad people is such a major sign of good writing and having bad characters that causes your reader physical pain is also a sign of good writing

i genuinely love this artstyle it feels full of color. and is in black and white :kneel:

nameless white haired guy is just really insufferable from what i remember hes just gassed up too much by the people that surround him so his ego is the size of the lotte world tower the dude that comes before him comes into the manga EARLY like EARLY- chapter three i think theres another person just like him, more like him than the guy i was referencing, "arata" hes bad too but not.. as bad. the guy i was referencing assuming youve read to atleast chap 3 is the hooded weird guy with black hair I can't remember his name either. :grin: i love him though his name is just not said other than one time i think; (sorry this is so..... discombobulated- m reading ur ask then directly responding here. i need to start using transitional phrases) i have watched + read a silence voice, i loved it but i watched and read it in like the same 2 days so i cant tell you small stuff i liked its like cramming studies before a test. you absorb it for a day but afterwards youre only left with how you felt- in this case i remember crying at the end- and the ending but i dont remember specifics or like the traits i loved minus.. nijimiya? i think? was a sweetheart. genuinely adorable i loved her and her little sister as well as shoto (i think is his names) character development. kids are assholes; he was an asshole kid and he grew up and was Not an asshole kid whats not to love for other types of genres... i like horror but i dont like horror mangas/animes that are 'scare' horror idk how to describe scare horror but like.. if stuff r creepy just to be creepy its just not enthralling i love psychological horrors though things like oyasumi punpun or junji ito's stuff (notably uzumaki) i like dramas aswell but like. neon genesis type i think you could sum up my taste as things that are depressing at their core... minus slice of lifes. and like every other romance

i think those would fall into the isekai category for comedy and action though i dont mind it honestly all depends on the thing itself-- i dont like sports mangas but i watched blue lock since it looked cool to me and i didnt hate it not a favorite, but its not under like c tier i havent heard of shield hero honestly-- but i did check it out the designs are nice but i dont think ill watch it

the ONE reason i wont watch one piece is the femals character designs i know its like a 1000+ chapter manga, made by a male mangaka which is a bad sign because to make manga, you must like manga people who like manga enough to write it probably do not see people of the preferred sex at all, so like yeah hes never met a woman other than his mother so he cant draw them but come one you mentioned her so i have to bring her up

come on man. is this really it? just like you said, its either they fit the mangakas beauty standard for women or they are grotesque theres no in between at all and the men designs are so different and unique and vibrant!! he could make more unique female designs he just doesnt :sob:

for the highlights on skin type thing. i have exactly one example in mind- now as a preface peni parker (the girl) is fifteen miles morales (boy) is seventeen im not insinuating anything being illegal here, and if you think that it wouldnt be my point, so ihave to make a point here that that is not what my problem is as a second preface, miles morales looks like this

i sound silly as hell right now. "of course miles looks like that- whats your point? arent we talking about art highlights??" (art is not mine. of course it isnt its.,... look at it...)

I'm not going to comment on the bulge. I won't comment on his lips. I won't even comment on the fact that this is ship fanart, for a ship that... if you've watched itsv or atsv just feels wrong the one thing i immediately picked up on was how they highlighted that line on peni's thighs theres alot of stuff you can just tell by an artstyle the person who drew that i can honestly say is not a good person even if they didnt draw miles like... that... i wouldnt trust them around children highlights alone my point originally wasnt that i didnt like how they look, it was more that you can tell alot about people by the way thy draw just like how you can tell a bit about someone based of their vocabulary the person who drew that Is a pedophile i can just feel it things like that

I DONT MIND THE TEXT PILING UP :pray: IT MAKESME RLLY HAPPY TOI RECIEVE THESE I AM DELIGHTED THE FLOW IS ALSO FINE!! :thumbsup: u can call me whatever (min, minjae, minmin, minpal, 8, 8pal, palpal... i dont think theres any other names associated with this acc)

and last but not least the end IS the meme i had the same realization youre not alone

[todayisafridaynight]

CANNOT BELIEVE IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO REPLY YOU'VE ALREADY FINISHED THE SECOND MOVIE LOL BUT

I LOVE showing The Mole Song to people because it's like, love it or hate it, you can't possibly have a lukewarm reaction to it. I'm thrilled you liked it so much!!! Hong Kong Capriccio definitely has its moments and I'm glad you enjoyed it too; on that note, I haven't seen Final yet, and it doesn't seem to be hardsubbed online, but I was able to find a raw and subs separately. They seem okay from the scene I skipped to twenty minutes in but not positive lol

It really does set the tone early! I love the cutaway gags too The manga has a lot of absurd non-sequiturs and it was a fun way to adapt that to a new medium. As an adaptation as a whole, Undercover Agent Reiji in particular definitely has the tone down and I appreciate that it kept a lot of the Moments I liked.

Hiura had me from the blood oath… one of the guys of all time… despite how I sound from what I just said, I actually didn't even know there was a manga or a sequel when I first watched it, so I was SO relieved he survived the explosion. I was honestly 100% convinced he'd crash the plane at the end though lol, but I guess that ended up happening in Hong Kong Capriccio anyway?

BUT YEAH LIKE THE GUY JUST HAS A HYPERFIXATION AND I HAVE TO RESPECT THAT. Which, you know, in-universe, to have the whole butterfly motif and then dress your man up in florals… I repeat, Reiji was slaying in that dress… I love everyone's costuming in these movies. SPEAKING OF THE AUCTION, the PSP segment onward was insanely RGGcore wasn't it… good god……

It's kind of funny how little Reiji changes--I guess that's how you keep a manga going for like 900 or whatever chapters so far--because he'll pretty much Always have things he needs to figure out. Still very much fun to watch, though!

ALSO the drugs reminded me (I was expecting them to be In The Dogs too lol), shoutout to manga Tsukihara for having the exact same character arc as Mine and ending up an invaluable ally. Also getting to beat up Ryuji Leo (sorry my boy but Mine is overall the stronger combatant to me and I am tired of the Reddit-y discussions on the wiki saying otherwise </3). Living vicariously while Mine's status is still uncertain lol

P.S. I Too Treat Your Blog Like The Morning Paper and it means a lot to me to have the opportunity to write in and talk! I would also love to join a stream if you ever go for it!

P.P.S. NOOOOOOO PLEASE THE SLOW DANCING…….. UNWELL. I've imagined the same thing but at home… in the light of the refrigator… Jo is still tense as hell both because of the situation and it's such a waste of electricity and they really should close the door as soon as possible… but Arakawa insists if it's only for the duration of the song, it's fine……

YEAH THE MOLE SONG MOVIES WERE REALLY FUN thanks again for recommending it to me (I found out it had a manga series the moment I went to look it up, but I haven't read a lick of it. I'd say I'm surprised it's still running but I mean... manga like One Piece have over a thousand chapters at this point, so I shouldn't be too surprised. Maybe I'll give it a read sometime just to check out how the movies and manga compare-and-contrast with each other)!

1.) BIGGEST HONOR I'm glad my blog can entertain a lot of people (and a big part of that is due in part to people writing in and giving me a chance to chat a bit, so of course I always have to thank you and everyone else for sending me asks as frequently as you all do. They're absolutely the highlight of my day whenever I get the time to answer them ^^)!! I've always liked the idea of streaming (I've attempted to years back but I never tried again afterwards), though I always end up getting too anxious about it (plus I tend to get performance anxiety and I end up taking a lot longer to draw whenever people are watching me). I hope to get over that anxiety one day though- I bet it'd be fun to respond to people in real time or take quick doodle requests mid-stream :)

2.) AW THEM DANCING IN THE KITCHEN THOUGH I CAN SEE IT..... Jo being worried about the electric bill though that's so accurate..... I'll definitely think on the concept of Slow Dancing AraSawa with all the apparent enthusiasm around it.. I promise..

YAYA my friend (who made the post) told me a moment after I told her (also PLEASE I was so heinous reading the name- first thing I said to her aside from 'new movie night plan' was 'how many times does this man play a dude named 'Jo' ☠️☠️)! I wasn't able to find any recordings of the actual play (I know a trailer was posted last year so I don't know if they've actually performed live since then) but here's to hoping one day there's a recording of it posted somewhere...

[444lpblue]

Oshi No Ko #1 - Mother and Childern

Screenplay: Jin Tanaka Storyboard: Daisuke Hiramaki, Saori Tachibana, Asami Nakatani Episode Director: Daisuke Hiramaki, Saori Tachibana, Asami Nakatani, Ryota Ito, Chengmin Jin Chief Animation Director: Kanna Hirayama Animation Director: Kanna Hirayama, Shun Sawai, Masaaki Yamano, Takeshi Osame, Maho Yoshikawa, Shuuta Sato, Manato Onishi, Tomoko Uno, Tomoya Atsumi, Asami Hayakawa, TOMATO, Miki Matsumoto, Honoka Yokoyama, Honoka Hada

To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect from the show. I am not a big fan of idol culture in general, and I typically find it quite toxic based on what I've seen. Also, I had no knowledge of the plot of this series at all aside from that aspect. Plus, completely unrelated to my thoughts on idols, the sheer size of the first episode was quite intimidating for me. It's not extremely hard to find time for a 20-minute episode and write about it, yet I've already missed many episodes this season. Will I have time to watch a show like this and still have time to write about it? With all those thoughts floating around in my head, I decided to watch it.

And what are my thoughts? I actually loved it. It's definitely floating near the top of the season for me and I can say that as the first episode was equivalent to 4 episodes of most other shows.

Somehow, I managed to steer clear of most of the trailers, so this is my real first time seeing the character designs of Hirayama Kanna. Honestly, they are very pretty. I'm not familiar with the manga, but the faces of the characters are extremely expressive, and the eyes are gorgeous and very unique. There are literal stars in some of the character's eyes that on paper feel ridiculous but it's extremely charming. The idols they want you to fawn over, like Ai, look irresistible in terms of design.

The story itself is very hard to describe without just spoiling it in its entirety, but I think the story functions well due to the self-awareness of the toxicity that lies within the idol industry. Unlike shows like Heroines Run the Show, they don't try to convince us to like this industry or applaud the toxicity within idol culture.

There are a lot of lies, there are toxic fans, and people you like as idols might be forced to upkeep appearances, or they might not be telling their fans anything. How should fans react to lies? The show doesn't seem to tell us how; it simply shows how people might react to it. And I do appreciate that respect for the viewer's own mindset on idol culture.

The show is about two idol fans who are reincarnated as babies to the idol they adored. As babies, they are named Ruby and Aquamarine.

Is it weird? It's a bit weird, but this whole plot point was definitely the reason the show was 90 minutes for its first episode. It's a lot of things to set up, including introducing idol culture to those unfamiliar, introducing our characters in their past lives and their lives as babies, Ai's idol path, and Ruby and Aqua's own path. And I found it all very entertaining and became more engaged in the story as I watched. The hype for this show is very large, and at first, I wasn't completely buying it as it wasn't even really available to watch till yesterday. Yet, it already had a rating on MAL from the theatrical release in Japan, but I'm sold. So far this season, my top shows have been "Heavenly Delusion," "The Ancient Magus' Bride," "Skip and Loafers" and this is right up there with them. The one hour and thirty minutes never felt too long, and believe me, I watched this at a very inconvenient time for me. Right till the end the comedy hit me, the wholesome scenes hit me, and the emotional ones hit me. I had a great time.

We don't know who directed what part, as this is a movie-length production and there are multiple episode directors listed here, but the direction/storyboard took a noticeable improvement and I really enjoyed it. I'll leave off with some images from the 2nd half of the episode. There were some shots I wanted to include, but those ones are spoilers even at a glance.

[madraleen]

Attack on Titan - Season 4 Part 2 A predictably long commentary because as much as I talk about AoT, it's never enough.

(full manga spoilers, including for the ending)

-okay! part 2! i feel uneasy, the further we get into post-time skip stuff, the more painful it ge- AAAND we open with levi's cut-off fingers. great.

-they're nailing the silences and the pauses, they give things time to breathe.

-wtf, that op??? omg?? mappa?? i cry??

-again, eren "didn't expect marley to risk an all-out attack." not omniscient.

-this "koi yo, reiner" lives rent-free in my head

-reiner to eren: "nobody needs to suffer anymore. *you* don't need to suffer anymore." oh reiner

-OH THE CHILDREN ARE IN PRISON, THESE WERE THE HIGH-PITCHED SCREAMS! RIGHT!

-armin just NAILED eren's entire plan and situation just like that, huh. i mean, he didn't realize how FAR he'd go with the rumbling, but all else is spot-on.

-the end titles??? mappa, i cry???

-did armin suspect a full rumbling?? with the sea flashback?? did i completely underestimate armin post-time skip - I GOT OVERWHELMED, OKAY, I WAS FREAKING OUT

-one of my regrets with aot was that eren and mikasa never talked on page about the fact that he didn't mean it when he said he hated her, and that he was actually protecting her. i know we can surmise it from switzerland and that he might have actually said it off-page too, but i wish we'd seen it.

-EREN LOOKS SO VULNERABLE WHEN ZEKE COMES I HATE IT (this was my exact reaction in the manga too. i love eren so much.)

-if there's one thing i've learned from opening titles is they're chock full of spoilers if you know the source material

-it's sweet how falco and gabi inherit a levi, isn't it

-is this where gabi blows eren's head off. i'll watch it if i have to but I HATE IT IT HURTS

-oh so eren didn't want zeke turning the wine-people into titans (and didn't know it would come to him doing it, not omniscient)

-dude the tension in the "brothers" ep is real

-pfff eren's lil roll out of his titan is so cute. the shot is coming tho and i hate it (and eren didn't know it would happen).

-DUDE THE HEADSHOT SCENE IS SO GOOD, WHAT, MAPPA HAVE OUTDONE THEMSELVES WITH AOT

-eren also didn't know about the coordinate and ymir (not omniscient).

-oooh so zeke COULD call for the euthanasia plan bc he nullified the vow waiting for eren to regenerate, but eren won ymir over HOW DID I FORGET THAT

-dude aot is unbearably good help

-eren didn't know grisha found the reiss family this early

-dude, loose-long-hair eren is so pretty.

-i love the part with eren screaming in the op, i love it so much, it's so raw

-eren: "if someone's aiming to steal my freedom, i'd gladly steal theirs first."

-eren interrupts his bashing of zeke to stare silently at baby eren and baby mikasa. as you do.

-yuki kaji is just. perfect.

-eren learned the close-to-your-face manipulation stance by mikasa

-okay so grisha doesn't physically see zeke, he sees eren's memory of what’s happening as eren relays it and knows he's there, but he basically hugs thin air.

-okay so, eren knew he'd manipulate grisha bc he's seen this - he's probably seen grisha hear eren's voice. he didn't know *how* this comes to be. i think he realizes he can show grisha memories when sleeping grisha wakes up to "seeing" zeke. eren looks surprised, so i think that's when he understands he can show him selective memories in real time, and that's why he goes from "why are we doing this" to "let's go. next memory. now."

-i can't stress enough what a great job zeke's va does.

-wait, i love this cast so much, i can't

-since armin is usually right, eren *couldn't* turn the pure titans into humans. either because they were zeke's titans, or because that's not what he asked of ymir, and ymir at that point would never destroy titans bc the king willed it so; or maybe it just isn't possible and tweaking eldian dna to defend from a virus is entirely separate to changing someone from titan to human.

-oh look, tanjiro and zenit- i mean, falco and connie. I'M SORRY I LOVE TO MAKE THESE REFERENCES

-dude. mappa. let's talk. you've done a good thing.

-there's just sth iconic about seeing annie and reiner fight together, i said so in the manga and i say so in the anime

-odiha

-can i just say how refreshing it is that floch is smart. he's detestable, but it's refreshing that he's not the dumb right hand blindly following eren, he's actually a force to be reckoned with

-everything in the port is so (appropriately) ugly, paradis killing paradis with such viciousness. so ugly. great work. excellent work mappa. excellent. i'm tearing up.

-eren/mikasa, what nonsense, we should be shipping mikasa/ice cream, she's so lovely

-ah the semi-good times in marley when eren could still smile/laugh

-smiling drunk eren took one look at smiling drunk armin and mikasa and was like, 'ah yes, rip the world.'

-i think it fitting that other than mikasa and armin it's jean that sleeps the closest to eren. i think they have a special bond

-ep28 is structured like a his-and-hers episode.

-ah ok, eren knew about the wine.

-to be fair, eren isn't exactly explicit with historia. he could have said "IMMA FUCKING ELIMINATE THE TITANS," but no, he said he'll end the hate by burying history and civilization. why go half-way, just tell her. It’s a shame we didn’t explore historia’s mindset on not opposing eren at all (and no, a one-line argument doesn’t count).

-so eren saw CONNIE in the memory shards, not sasha's death. no context.

[llycaons]

the only reason I went in the first place was to find the monster baru cormorant but they only had traitor, so I went back to the manga section and found that mdzs and tgcf are now classified under 'light novels', which is still under the umbrella of manga, but at least more accurate to what they actually are.

I don't consider them 'light novels' because they didn't originally come with pictures, they're for adults, and they're pretty long so there's no real reason not to just classify them as novels but since they're a fairly new type of book coming in I guess the store just did its best. they wouldn't really fit into romance and it's not like there's a danmei section in barnes and noble (though they could honestly just make one). that's an issue of just lumping all manga together too since like, berserk is a very different genre of story than pokemon

...actually I'm really curious as to the decision behind adding images. does seven seas do that for all its novels?

anyway. I read a little of one of the extras (very, very poorly written porn) and got some pics for mdzs 4 and 5 (including gc transer!), and one from tgcf 6. warning for gore and mentions of rape and pedophilia kink

tgcf: 6 (or 5?)

might have already posted this one but: AH! really evocative

I was more interested in the mdzs illustrations, but I prefer the style for tgcf. I think it's less generic and more appealing, and easier to tell characters apart and see their personalities. anyway, here's the gc transfer from mdzs 5:

for such a significant event, I've never seen actual art of it or even very many descriptions of it. a bold choice to illustrate it, because I feel that a lot of the horror lies in it being unseen. regardless, this looks agonizing

I found a few more passages of wwx being sleepy and lwj comforting him after being stabbed by jl, which was actually kind of sweet, and then the tree-falling scene, which is one of my favorites from the book

but they translated wwx's thought process different in this version. in the exr version there was this neat little worldplay implying that wwx fell in love in the act of falling from the tree and getting caught, and I don't think this translation captured it as well. I didn't think to get a pic :/ but anyway that's a sweet scene

out of curiosity I flipped back to the extras bit and saw the line where wwx asks to be raped and lwj being like 'what?' and decided im not reading that one, but I did skim the 'dawn til dusk' extra and thought it was fine?

I mean, the porn was really bad. I've read a lot of fanfic for these characters at this point and I shit you not, almost every one was better than this...oddly phrased and entirely too technical sex scene. there is almost no chemistry or sense of actual intimacy with them, or even pleasure? I've included a pic because I didn't want to be the only one who read the line 'he highly suspected he would be screwed in the same position all night'

also I'm not in the habit of tearing into the minutae of these scenes anymore but this just doesn't sound very pleasant? like lwj is supposed to be a really considerate partner but this is definitely the second time in this book that wwx says he's been fucked for over an hour and he's physically really beat up or sore and he does something about it. which isn't like, the worst thing in the world but it's weird idk it seems to go against lwj's characterization. then again I've skipped most of the sex scenes so maybe they negotiated it beforehand. I can't even tell with this book they just do shit sometimes and it's not commented on

BUT. besides the sex scene their other dynamic was pretty nice. wwx rolls in from a night hunt covered in dirt and lwj doesn't even mind when he goes to collapse in the bed, and afterwards lwj encourages him to take care of himself and wwx helps him grade the kids' homework

also we learn that lwj doesn't make the kids do handstands for making mistakes on papers, which seems like a low bar but it's still nice to see he's demonstrably different than his uncle in things besides how he sees wwx

I do think this novel has merit and there are many scenes in it I really like, but I you'll never get to me to say the sex scenes are in any way enjoyable or worth reading lmao, even the fully consensual ones without any rape or pedophilia kink. also I still think the cover art for all of the novels is kind of bad :/

I stopped by barnes and noble to check in on the mxtx book situation and I have some more pics to post once I get home

[hisredhysteria]

I kind of want to talk about Cutthroat (again) so this is just a ramble to ignore.. this isn't a surprise to anyone I'm sure, I'm just making observations I found interesting. Also, don't take anything I say to heart please— it's all mostly just speculation, my point of view, or conclusions from things I've observed..

TW: Undertone of incest (I know that can REALLY bother some so do skip this if that does), blood, murder, what you'd usually expect reading anything involving Cutthroat.

As @riceaddicted observed, Cutthroat's mother seemed to oddly resemble the way Swindler looks and of course at the time of Akudama Drive, we know that Cutthroat sees a red halo above her head, much like he did his mothers. Even mentioning that it's the biggest he's ever seen before among the others he's seen. (note: he only sees them above people he's presumably interested in.)

To me, this implies that the people he sees red halos over may in some way always resemble his mom. Which, may be why he has a hard time finding them at times, evident in these manga panels:

Reading these again also makes me think that by the way he says "my one and only red angel" .....it may mean he believes that whoever the red halo is over....is in some way one to his mother....? It's always ONE halo and it seems as though he implies it's the same halo everytime it grows again....not a different one...if that makes any sense. Meaning it disappears, then comes back. It doesn't disappear, and then a new one grows. Much like it's trying to say it's the same kind of love....in a weird way. The love is all one, not renewed like how a person who gets into a relationship is with a whole new person now.

This begs the question, if everyone with a halo resembled his mother, then why did only Swindler's grow...?

Mind you, I said resembled. Perhaps, Swindler not only looked like his mother, but also ACTED like her. If you notice, Swindler has a very maternal like instinct about her, and it's even mentioned in the official quiz when you get Swindler.

Cutthroat himself appears to be a very looks oriented person, (by the way he mentions things are pretty, shine...) so at first sight, looking at her, his subconscious likely told him hey...she looks like my mom... And so a halo grew above her head. End of story there. Well, not really because it grew, and one scene that stands out is when he's sitting in the bathtub after Swindler stood up for brother and sister. Like a mother stands up for her children.

Another question to ask, what happened to the other people he's seen red halos over and why didn't they grow?

The answer would probably be they did not ACT like his mother.... perhaps this may even be why he's saying he needs to find his ONE angel as well ....the one angel whose halo grows...but then again how would he know it can grow if they've never grown before-?

...perhaps it's more nearly implied that he actually fell in love with Swindler, and that's why it grew as well. But maybe the reason he fell in love with her again....was because she also acted like his mother....

I'd also like to note here, that the halo's he does see somewhat resembles blood first spilling out into bath water. It's diluted in some areas and splattered....which ....ties back to how his mom died. In a bath. Which may also explain why he's drawn to water...?

Another question I wondered about...why didn't Cutthroat just kill himself instead of letting himself get caught by police? I mean he has no problem cutting his own legs off...

I feel like the answer is simple. It's a fun little game- which is probably true given that I think in one tweet, it's said that whoever caught him lost their life in the process....but I think it might be safe to assume he also thinks others view red in the same way he does. I mean obviously or else he wouldn't think that Swindler would love a heaping pile of dead bodies.... A public execution is perfect because now everyone can get the joy of watching his red blood spill.... perhaps they even get the same feeling he does and he wants to share that with them?

Which would explain why he told the executioners that they have no right to be killing, especially aiming for Swindler. In other words, they have no right to feel love, see love, or get joy from the red.

Another thing I thought...

He's always seeking red because it reminds him of the red halo's subconsciously. A lot of things about Cutthroat's character seems to subconsciously effect the way he acts. Seeing red is also the only fulfillment he may get as it's never fleeting and perhaps fills the void of connection he gets from other people...if you think about it, Cutthroat is likely bored with life. And this is because he isn't able to really seek connections with others on a more mature level. His need to murder those who he loves kind of hinders his ability to grow a connection that'll let him also grow emotionally, thus satisfying him. If he can see red however, perhaps it gives him that warm feeling a halo gives him. Which is why murder feels satisfying, even when he's not killing someone with a red halo above their head.

As @superfanloveraxl summed up for me, he likes the color red so much because it reminds him of the halos and how he feels when he sees them.

He may also think that seeing the red halo is what's making him feel the way he does when in reality, it's the person he's currently fixated on. Which is why he says "I thought I'd see it if I died." In the manga panel above. He's not necessarily aware that it's the people he likes causing it.

[o-king-of-suns]

Hi ^^ I've recently found ur blog and read ur meta. Ur analysis is great! I'm kinda new here but I've seen so many ppl talk about Levi's guidebook page, referring to it as "the confirmation of what Levi was solely fighting for in the final battle i.e revenge by fulfilling the promise" I'm sorry if this has been pointed out before but as a Levi fan who believes otherwise, I'd love to read ur interpretation. Also u also believe the GB is implying this? I think ppl are having the wrong impression.

Hi! :) Thank you so much! I am glad you liked my meta! English is not my first language, so I try my best to express what I want to say.

Almost everyone agrees that the final guidebook is just an ABSOLUTE hot garbage! xD At this point that no one is taking seriously anymore! xD It straight up contradicts what happens in the manga, has VERY reductive and nonsensical descriptions of the characters and is FULL of errors.

The main reason to why many people have issues with Levi’s part (apart from it having nothing new or because it mainly focused on the promise) is one word that was used in the text that has been translated by some biased people into “obsessed”.

I asked 3 Japanese people (including my teacher) about the word that was used in the text and the meanings that I was given were: (be) dedicated to; have an uncompromising commitment to ; to really focus on; to be determined to; etc. From what I understood, this term is always a headache as it truly depends on what the writer wants to convey and what it “feels” right in the context. "Obsessed” is like, the most reductive reading of that word, and it's the exact word that Er_ris chose to use xD

Japanese is often qualified as vague, and it CAN leave room for interpretation. For example, the word (きれい) Isayama used to say Levi was the opposite of Rorschach could mean "pretty" or "clean" based on the context, but here's the thing: Rorschach is notoriously ugly, so it makes sense that Isayama meant that Levi is "pretty" (and it IS officially translated to "pretty" ), but I have seen MANY Japanese people say that Isayama meant "clean" not “pretty”! This word meaning in the text literally and solely depended on Isayama's intention even causing translators to get confused and translate it to “pretty”! If we look at the context of Levi’s character description in the last gb, the last line mentions that after his final mission, Levi “meets his friends with a calm heart”. Why would Levi be able to meet his friends with a “calm heart” if his entire arc was about him being “obsessed” with a personal goal and revenge?! Is this why he salutes them and they salute him back in the final chapter?! I am 100% sure that the word “obsessed” was not the one that the person who wrote the description wanted to use.

Now let’s stop talking about language translation and focus on Levi in the manga xD Is the gb version Levi the same Levi whom Isayama described as "as an existence more superior to myself" during Levi’s statue reveal just last March?!

You know, when I asked my native Japanese teacher to help me translate Isayama's statement about Levi, she sent me a 4 minute voice note breaking down the terms Isayma used and explaining how much respect the person speaking (Isayama) has for the person he's talking about (Levi). I was embarrassed to tell her that the person he’s speaking about is actually a fictional character lol

Isyama used 頭 の上がらない which literally means “can’t raise someone’s head” but it actually means “can’t raise someone’s head in front someone else for how much respect they have for this person”

Now let’s look at Levi’s actions in the manga to see if we can reach to the same conclusion.

Levi is one of, if not the most, perceptive characters in SNK. In one the official short stories, he was described as a person who is able to “know the true nature of Man”. For Levi, Zeke is a man who cheered with satisfaction as he threw rocks through fifteen year olds. He’s the person who nonchalantly explained to Levi the process of gassing an entire village of unsuspecting civilians and flinging them into an eternal nightmare in order to weaponize their bodies. Zeke’s manipulations are the origin of almost all of Paradis’ problems, whether it’s encouraging Marley to ramp up aggressions or pulling shady shit with Kiyomi, Yelena and the Jaegerists that destabilizes their already vulnerable island. And what’s worse - because we’re reading a story where torn-up characters are often excused by circumstances of coercion or perceived necessity - he doesn’t care. He feels no remorse. He wants to do this. Levi doesn’t know Zeke’s ultimate reasoning of course, but he recognized through the smoke of the campfire a man who doesn’t give a fuck about the wishes and agency of others. Who will force his own will on a race of humans and call it mercy. AND YET, Levi stays with him for  A WHOLE MONTH in the forest bringing him books, drinks and a pillow to sit on. He keeps asking him about what happened in Connie’s village trying over and over to understand him. And then the guy transforms Levi’s own teammates in front of him, forces him to kill them and taunts him with their suffering. Levi perceives a person who’s arrogant enough to consider his cruelty compassion as he decides whether the lives of their children are worth living.YET, Levi decided to keep him alive because he believed that it is what’s the best for Paradis; a decision that eventually caused Levi’s severe injuries and the activation of the Rumbling!

During the final battle, Levi offered to act as a bait for Mikasa so she can try to bring back Armin and risks his life TWICE to save Jean and Connie risking his chances to ever fulfill his promise to Erwin.

Please tell me now that these are actions of an “obsessed” man who is only focused on killing Zeke and revenge.

The first time Levi mentions the vow after the time skip, he says: “Erwin, I think I will be finally able to fulfill the vow I made to you that day. Your deathS had meaning. At last I will be able to prove it”  Levi clearly associates giving meaning to his comrades’ deaths WITH fulfilling his vow to Erwin. This is the line that proves that the vow has always meant something more.

Levi made a promise that came to represent the fulfillment of the goal all his former Survey Corps comrades laid down their lives for. Slaying the Beast Titan took on symbolic stature, a tangible way of giving their sacrifices meaning - especially in a world where the circumstances had drastically shifted and enemies, allies, and other were suddenly seen from a completely different perspective.

In Ch. 136, Levi remembers his friends and reflects upon their sacrifices and what they meant. They did not sacrifice their lives to “trample the lives and hearts of others”.

We never got a SINGLE panel in which he says that he fulfilled his promise! In the last apparition of his fallen comrades, Erwin isn’t even in the center. He salutes his fallen comrades for devoting their hearts for humanity and they salute him back for honoring their sacrifices.

If there is one thing that Levi was “obsessed” about, it is him trying to give meaning to the deaths and sacrifices of the people who truly devoted their hearts to humanity and whom he truly loved