#I did finish the learning with manga event today so now there's nothing standing between me and Charlie!!!!

[miramisaki]

37(???) days until Charlie...

[vs-redemption]

Crime is Common. Logic is Rare. (Ch 12)

Chapter Twelve: Lab Work (HawksxGN!Reader)

Plot summary: You thought your hands were full as a regular quirk geneticist, but then you meet Hawks and things get even more exciting!

Warnings:

⚠️This story contains spoilers from the manga.

⚠️Some events and plot points have been altered from the original manga

Next Chapter : Chapter Guide

“Thanks for coming out to meet with me again,” Dr. Garaki smiles pleasantly at you as you take a seat across from him in his office. His chair was much taller than yours to make up for his short stature. The expensive microscope and box of blood samples from your previous visit were nowhere in sight. The only thing on top of the desk was a copy of the proposal you had emailed him a few days before. The doctor puts a hand on top of the papers. “I’d like to talk about this.” You nod your head, trying to read the man’s face to predict how the conversation might go. You had to be ready for anything.

“I’ve never read a proposal quite like this before,” Dr. Garaki taps a finger on top of the document. “You made a lot of bold assumptions.”

You keep a look of confidence on your face as you reply. He still hadn’t made any indication about how he felt about the wild hypotheses you’d written for him. He just had the same cheerful smile on his face. "What you showed me the last time I was here was several steps ahead of any of the current research I could find,” you explain calmly. “Without knowing what was in that mystery fluid you used, I had to fill in some blanks.”

The doctor stayed silent for a moment and you hoped that he wasn’t about to throw you out for ignoring basic scientific standards and stepping into the realm of mad science. Never in your wildest dreams did you think you’d ever submit such an absurd proposal, but Dr. Garaki seemed like an odd enough man to actually appreciate it.

“You believe I have access to samples of All For One’s DNA.” The doctor finally speaks.

“No,” you still manage to keep your voice level. “Well, I honestly don’t know. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about for a while. All For One is the only true example of a person possessing multiple quirks. Because of that, it stands to reason that his ability to give and receive quirks, and therefore his actual DNA, could be the key to creating Nomus.”

The doctor continues to stare you down. “And if I DID have access to All For One’s DNA, you think the next logical step…”

“…is to try and create a Nomu ourselves, yes.” You finish the sentence for him, praying that it would make the statement sound less insane if you were the one to say it. The doctor raises his eyebrows, the unreadable smile still on his face.

“I obviously made a lot of assumptions about how to accomplish that task too. Plus, it would definitely be unethical to do human trials,” you press on. “But besides the most recent attack in Kyushu, the Nomus themselves hardly seem human anyway. Perhaps the human component is small enough that simply using All For One’s quirk to splice human DNA samples together is enough. We would just need to create some sort of vessel to hold all that power”

“And the applications for such research?” The doctor continues to question you even though you must sound like you’re out of your mind by now.

“Limitless,” you declare. “If we can understand the way in which quirks mutate or combine over time, we can eliminate the weaknesses and drawbacks of certain quirks. Take the number one hero for example. Endeavor’s body clearly has a heat threshold. I noticed it in his fight with that high-end Nomu. He’d be unstoppable if he also had a quirk of heat-resistance or something. And the way things are going now, quirks are getting stronger and more complicated. The number of people born with quirks that cause damage to their body or affect their quality of life is increasing. We could solve that problem completely if we understood quirk inheritance on a microscopic level.”

“You sound like a true advocate of science,” the doctor nods. “Some people might question the morality of genetically modifying, enhancing, or manipulating quirks though.”

“I’m just saying what would be possible,” you shrug, “What people are able to legally do with that information would be up for debate when the time comes, but that’s nothing new in the field of science”

“True, true!” The doctor nods his head in agreement. “And like you mentioned, there are a lot of assumptions we need to address before actually going through with a proposal like this.” He slaps his hand on top of the document again before hopping out of his chair. “I’ve been thinking of how we can utilize YOUR quirk in my lab,” he beckons for you to get up and follow him. “I understand you can observe information about your surroundings in extreme detail.”

“Yeah,” you confirm the information while following him out of his office and through the halls of his hospital. He stops at what appears to be a supply closet and unlocks the door with a key he pulls from his pocket. You were surprised to see the small room contained a hidden elevator.

“This is for employees only,” the doctor explains once you’re both inside. He pushes the single unmarked button and the doors slide close. You assumed the elevator went down because when the doors opened back up, you were in a dimly lit basement laboratory. It was set up like most of the other labs you’d been in before, but there was just something a little creepier about it that you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

“Nobody else is down here?” You ask as you continue to look around.

“This is actually a secondary lab,” Dr. Garaki tells you. “My main lab is in a different location.” The strangeness of the situation continued to build, but you kept your feelings to yourself. There’d been something off about the doctor since the first time you’d met him, and now you were committed to figuring out what it was.

“I don’t mind using my quirk,” you tell him, “but the length of time I’m able to use it is pretty limited.”

“Limitations can be overcome,” the doctor chuckles before hurrying over to one of the work stations where a microscope was set up next to a giant monitor. “A lot of people don’t realize their quirks can work harder and longer with a certain type of fuel to keep them going.”

“What like Popeye and his spinach?” you joke.

“Exactly like that!” the doctor nods enthusiastically, his large glasses making his eyes look bigger than they actually are. “If we monitor your brain activity while you use your quirk, and take blood samples before and after, we could learn a lot. You should also try to use your quirk every day. Make a note if there’s a difference when you use your quirk in the morning or in the evening, or if anything changes depending on what you eat or the type of weather.” You can’t help but laugh.

“You actually want me to do that?” you ask.

“Just a suggestion,” he shrugs. “I would like to try a couple things today though, if you’re up to it.”

“Depends on the couple things, I guess,” you say hesitantly. He explained that he wanted you to use your quirk to watch videos on one of the computer monitors in one minute intervals. Each minute long session would be under a different condition and there would be a short test between each condition to record how much information you’d observed with your quirk. As your quirk only lasted about 5 minutes, he decided to do four tests in order to have the best results. The first test would be the control. The second test would be taken with noise canceling headphones in order to see if the number of visual details increased if sound was taken away. The third test would be taken while standing between two heaters to see if temperature made a difference. The fourth test would be taken while jogging on a treadmill to see if physical exertion effected the results. The doctor sat you in a chair in front of the monitor for the first test and pressed play. Next thing you knew you were being shaken awake by the doctor. You open your eyes and realize that you’re on the ground.

“Oh thank goodness! You’re awake!” The doctor sighs in relief. “You must’ve overexerted yourself. You had a dizzy spell and passed out after the last test.” You blink a few times and glance around the lab, trying to remember what happened, but of course you couldn’t. You’d just lost consciousness after using your quirk, so all the information you’d gathered had been wiped from your mind. You’d always been a bit apprehensive of the doctor, but now you were honestly feeling scared. Never in your life had something like this happened, so why would it happen now?

“Are you feeling better now?” the doctor asks, “Can you stand up?” You take a deep breath and nod your head. You felt perfectly fine aside from the memory loss which you were used to.

“Well, I guess I hit my limit for today,” you laugh even though you were still creeped out. “Was there at least any interesting results from the tests?”

“You observed a lot more than I imagined!” The doctor nods his head enthusiastically. “Although the amount of information you recalled from each test was about the same.”

“Would you mind if I look at the notes?” you ask as casually as you can. The doctor frowns.

“Unfortunately I didn’t take notes,” he tells you. “I used a timer to record how long it took you to describe everything you observed.”

“I see,” you say calmly before shrugging. “Oh well. Was there anything else you wanted to do with me today?”

“No, no!” The doctor waves his hands, “Of course not. You should get some rest. Are you going to be all right getting all the way home? Perhaps one of the doctors upstairs can take a look at you.”

“That’s okay,” you smile appreciatively. “I’m actually staying at a friend’s place in the city today. I can rest there and go home in the morning.” The doctor nods in understanding as you both head to the elevator and go back up to the main hospital. He walks you to the door and waves goodbye, promising to keep in touch so that you can make plans to meet again soon. As soon as you’re outside, you reach into your bag to get your phone only to find that it wasn’t in the pocket you normally kept it in. Where you just being paranoid now? You open up your messages and type one to Hawks that asked “Where are you?” Once he answers, you hail a taxi, not caring that a bus or train would be cheaper. You wanted to get to your boyfriend as fast as possible.

[pickalilywrites]

Girl talk between Petra and Mother-in-Law Kuchel?

yes ^^

A Marriage Proposal

Rivetra. Kuchel Ackerman. Shoujo Manga AU. 

2033 words. 

Buy me a ko-fi!

“Are you sure you’ve done that right?” Levi asks, tapping an equation that Petra has just written down on her notebook.

“What did I write?” Petra looks down, frowning as she studies the scribbles on the page. She has, in fact, written down random numbers in place of an answer. All of the formulas she has written down don’t even make sense, now that she thinks about it. She’d be embarrassed about making these mistakes on her practice problems if she weren’t so surprised that Levi could read the messy scrawl on the page.

She usually takes more care when writing. It makes deciphering notes and equations that much simpler when she goes over it later that night. It’s just that she’s distracted today, constantly looking over past Levi’s shoulder to stare at his mother who’s currently working in the kitchen. It’s the first time she’s ever been at Levi’s apartment to study - they usually study at the school library, in nearby cafes, or at Petra’s house - so she had been surprised when he suggested that they go over to his place. She had been surprised at how small the place had been when she had first arrived, but it had a warm and friendly atmosphere that made her feel at ease as soon as she entered. Surely, it had to do with the woman who was cooking curry on the stove top.

Petra had met Levi’s mother before at school events - cultural festivals and sporting events - but she had never exchanged words with her beyond “hello” and “how are you?” Before coming over to the Ackerman apartment, she only knew a few things about Levi’s mother like: she had raised him entirely on her own, Levi looked exactly like her, and she smiled more often than her son ever did. In the short time she has met Levi’s mother, she’s learned a few new things like: she prefers being called Kuchel, she enjoys cooking, and she loves her son very much. She’s already popped her head into the living room twice to ask if Levi and Petra needed anything to drink or eat. (Twice, Levi politely declined for the both of them after Petra quickly shook her head.) It seems that Levi is trying to prevent the two from interacting - no doubt to keep his mother from saying anything unnecessary to Petra and Petra from accidentally revealing too much, but Petra personally wouldn’t mind a one-on-one with his mother. She finds her an interesting person, and she’s been wondering about the woman who has raised Levi on her own. It seems that Levi’s mother has similar thoughts towards Petra, perhaps wondering what qualities this classmate has to make Levi so fond of her, because she suddenly says, “Oh dear. Levi, I forgot to get the soy sauce for the gyoza tonight. Would you mind running to the convenience store and getting a bottle?”

Levi doesn’t say anything for a moment, just gives his mother a suspicious side glance before getting up from where he sits. Dusting himself off, he looks over at Petra, “I’ll be right back.” As he passes by the kitchen, he asks his mom, “Do you need anything else?”

“Not that I can recall,” his mother says cheerfully, not seeming to notice her son’s suspecting glare. “Try to hurry home while the food is still hot.” She waves him off as he slips on his shoes and hurries down to the store, no doubt hoping to grab the soy sauce and come back before she can say something embarrassing.

The door shuts and Petra is left alone with Levi’s mother. This would be the perfect time for Ms. Ackerman to pounce and interrogate her son’s classmate, but she stands at the kitchen, humming as she stirs the curry in the pot. Petra observes her for a moment, thinking about how beautiful a woman she is. It’s fortunate that Levi had acquired his mother’s looks, although she thinks it’s less fortunate that Levi doesn’t smile nearly as much as his mother does. She had thought it might have been lonely for Levi and his mother to live by themselves, but she’s happy to find that they seem to be doing well on their own.

Kuchel looks up and Petra immediately puts her head down. When she hears Kuchel laugh, she feels her cheeks color, embarrassed at being caught. Slowly, she looks up with a guilty face, but Levi’s mother smiles kindly at her and asks, “If you’d like a break from studying, Petra, would you like to help me finish up dinner?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Petra says eagerly, getting up from her seat. It’s not like she would have gotten anything done anyway. After washing her hands in the kitchen sink, she joins Kuchel at the counter. “Is there anything I can do?”

“I soft boiled some eggs for the curry,” Kuchel tells her, gesturing at the plate of eggs sitting to the side. “They’ve cooled, so it would be lovely if you could peel them and cut them in half for me. You can find a cutting board and knife in the drying rack.”

“Oh! Alright.” She wishes she could contribute a bit more, but she supposes she can’t do very much now considering the fact that dinner looks nearly done. Curry and gyoza with a cake that Petra had brought from her father’s bakery for dessert. “Dinner smells delicious,” she says, and she means it. She wonders if Levi and his mother eat like this every night. Usually, she and her father eat soba or ramen at a restaurant because it’s far more convenient than preparing a meal at home. Usually, they only make dinner together once a week or for holidays.

“Thank you,” Kuchel says with a smile. She turns off the stove and moves to set the table - three sets of utensils, one for everyone. “It was very kind of you to bring a cake for us tonight. It probably took your father a long time to make. He seems to be a very talented baker.”

“It was nothing,” Petra says graciously, her cheeks coloring slightly from the compliment. She collects all the eggshells and discards them in the trash. She begins cutting the eggs in half, marveling at the golden yolks. “My dad believes that cakes should be eaten right away and didn’t want that one to sit in the bakery overnight.”

“He’s quite right. I also enjoy cakes when they’re fresh from the bakery. I’m sure that we’ll enjoy it,” she laughs. Kuchel finishes setting the table and returns to the kitchen. She goes to the cabinet where she takes out three plates, very nice plates decorated with flowers on the edges and rims lined with gold, and begins to scoop a serving of rice on each one. “Levi doesn’t talk about you much. I was surprised when you told us that your family owned a bakery.”

“Ah, is that so?” Petra isn’t sure how to respond. She had assumed that Levi and his mother were close, so she’s not sure why Levi wouldn’t mention her every now and again. Perhaps she had over thought her relationship with him. She’s about to hang her head in shame until she notices the expression on Kuchel’s face.

Kuchel smiles kindly at the young girl and puts down the plate of curry she’s holding. Placing a gentle hand on Petra’s back, she says, “Oh, don’t misunderstand. Although he might not look it, Levi’s very shy. He likes to keep things that are precious to him close to his heart. I doubt he talks about me to his friends very much.”

“That’s not-!” Petra’s about to deny it, but she realizes that she would be lying. Now that she thinks about it, Levi rarely mentions his mother. When he does, it’s usually to say that his mother is home or that’s she waiting for him. He never discusses details. That’s why she’s never known what Kuchel was like until tonight. “I suppose that’s a bit true,” she murmurs.

Kuchel laughs. “My son and I are alike in that way.”

“Is that so?” She realizes that her question might be taken the wrong way and she quickly backtracks, waving her hands about and shaking her head furiously. “I didn’t mean it to be an insult. It’s just that your personalities don’t seem at all similar to me…but you both are lovely!”

Kuchel laughs again, covering her mouth with her hand this time. “You needn’t be so shy,” she tells Petra. After a moment, she sighs with a pensive expression on her face. “But, yes, my son and I are similar in that we are protective of the things we love. It’s partly why I was so reluctant to meet you tonight.”

“Reluctant? To meet me?”

“Oh, yes.” Kuchel returns to preparing the plates, pouring a generous portion of curry onto a dish. The golden brown sauce glistens against the pure and fluffy white rice. The smell of spice tickles Petra’s nose, and there’s a hint of sweetness as well. Apples? “Since I’ve only ever had Levi with me, I’m quite protective of him. It makes me feel like I’m losing him in a way, but at the same time I’m glad he’s found someone that makes him happy.”

Ah, so that’s how it is. She thinks she can understand that. If someone were to take away her father, it would be really painful for her too. But if it were someone her father really loved … it would be a little more complicated. She’s grateful that she was able to meet Levi’s mother tonight. She seems like a kind person, and it’s clear that she cares deeply for her son. Petra had always planned on staying by Levi’s side, but for some reason she feels compelled to make this intention clear to Levi’s mother as well.

“I’ll do my best to make him happy!” Petra blurts without thinking. She turns to Kuchel and bows deeply. “Levi is important to me too, so I will take good care of him!”

Her outburst surprises Kuchel, who places a hand on her cheek. “It feels a bit like a marriage proposal,” she says with a little laugh, “but since it appears that you care so much for him, I don’t think I’d mind having you as a daughter-in-law.”

Just then, the door opens and Levi appears, a bag in his hand. “I’m home,” he says as he slides his shoes off, putting them neatly beside the other ones. He walks over to the kitchen and sets the bag down. When he looks up, he sees his mother and Petra in the kitchen, the former with an oblivious smile on her face and Petra with her cheeks a bright red. For a moment, he looks back and forth between them, an eyebrow raised. “Mom, did you say something strange to Petra?”

“Strange? Me? Not at all,” Kuchel replies breezily, and Petra is thankful that she doesn’t mention the indirect marriage proposal. As she walks around Petra, she winks, indicating that the conversation will remain between them. After setting the bowls of curry on the table, Levi’s mother sits down and gestures for the other two to follow suit. “Let’s eat now! You two must be hungry after all that studying.”

Petra eats slowly, observing the mother and son as they eat dinner. The more she watches them, the more similar she realizes they are. It seems that their similarities do extend past their looks. They hold their spoons the same way, and they pick at their curry the same way as well. Ah, but Levi’s not nearly as expressive or vocal as his mother, who stops eating every once in a while to talk about how juicy the meat is or how sweet the apples are this season. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. If Levi’s mother were less vocal, Petra never would have known about Levi’s true feelings or about Kuchel’s feelings towards her. She’s grateful for that. And, she thinks as she spoons another mouthful of curry into her mouth, she doesn’t think she’d mind having Kuchel as a mother-in-law at all.

[iheartgod175]

2018 Netflix Bucket List Part 1: Animation Nation

After watching some of the original Idolmaster today, I felt inspired to tackle my VERY LONG OVERDUE Netflix Bucket List. Although to be honest, two of these that I watched were on Netflix; some of the others I’ve watched and/or dumped were on KissAnime, and the remaining ones were on either Crunchyroll or Hulu. So yeah...not really a “Netflix” bucket list in this regard...BUT PART TWO IS I SWEAR

I decided to start off with the “animation” side of things, since I watch a lot of anime and cartoons, and I felt it’d be good to talk about some anime (and the one cartoon) I’ve finished up. Some of them are from months (or possibly a year back), but I feel like I should still talk about them anyway ^^

So here we go!

Completed Series

The Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls

I liked this one. It was cute, the characters were charming, and I found six of my favorite characters from it (one of them being the Producer). That being said, I can see why it and the characters were seen as bland by other iM@S fans; the show doesn’t do a lot to really develop its large cast. The main beef I had with it was its treatment of New Generations, the group with Uzuki, Rin and Mio. They were the three main characters in the beginning, but then they kinda got shafted mid-season and then suddenly came back near the end again. I do love them (especially Uzuki and Mio; and I’ve warmed up to Rin a bit), but I felt the drama that Mishiro caused between them was drawn out a bit, and that the ending was cute, but rushed. Despite its flaws, this show got me into The iDOLM@STER series as a whole, and I even had my brother interested in it for a while to the point where he started watching it--keep in mind that my brother’s a die-hard Love Live fan. I won’t say that it’s a good gateway point to the series, but I will say that it’s alright for an idol series.

Flip Flappers

My friend @infiniteglorias​ was watching this show about a year or two ago, and I watched it out of curiosity. I expected it to be a bit off beat, and boy howdy did I get off-beat. It’s bizarre, it’s funny, it’s got some pretty cool scenes, and an interesting villain backstory. It’s also super gay. Like, Symphogear-level gay.  And even that’s a stretch; Shirabe and Kirika ain’t got nothin’ on Papika and Cocona. But it’s a good show, even if by the end it got a little mindscrewy.

And I just found out that there’s a Blu-Ray box with an artbook and art cards. R.I.P. my wallet.

BanG Dream!

Back when my brother was annoying the crap out of me with Love Live!, I was desperate to find a good idol series. I had started watching Cinderella Girls, but my brother took to bothering me about that, so I left it for a while (and also because although I enjoyed the show, I found it to be slow in some parts). If I had to describe BanG Dream!, I’d say it’s like Love Live! meets K-On!. I didn’t think I’d like it, and I thought the title name was kinda silly, but I ended up loving it. It really says something when you like some of the music better than Love  Live’s...in fact, I can kinda thank this show for pulling me to other idol anime away from LL! and introducing me to other things like Tokyo 7th Sisters, The iDOLM@STER and most recently IDOLiSH7. I loved this show, and I can’t wait to see the OVAs for it. Oh, and I’m patiently waiting for the release date of Girls’ Band Party’s English localization! I might not be able to play it, but I pray it goes well!

LoliRock season 2 (cartoon)

LoliRock’s second season is leagues better than the first one. So much effort was put into making the five princesses stand out in their own ways. We got great songs, great outfits, Dark Talia and Dark Auriana, great episodes focusing on Carissa and Lyna, more worldbuilding, more Lev, great episodes focused on Amaru, and best of all, episodes focused on developing Mephisto and Praxina. That Praxina episode was a hard one to watch, because of how genuinely sweet her good side is--given events in the season finale only made me sadder. About the only gripe I had was Gramorr. He still didn’t do that much to interest me as a villain, although I have to admit his powers were pretty cool. At least he’s slightly better than Hawk Moth from Miraculous Ladybug.

Either way, if you want an excellent example of a great show for girls, watch this (and Ladybug too, if you want). You won’t be disappointed.

The Seven Deadly Sins

I’ve been meaning to talk about The Seven Deadly Sins. But now that I actually have it here, I don’t have much else to say, other than it’s one of my favorite fantasy anime ever (and my favorite happens to be the Record of Lodoss War original OVAs). It’s funny, pervy (but not too pervy, unlike some shows I know *cough* High School DxD *cough*), tragic, awesome, gory and likeable. It’s totally binge-worthy. And it’s one of the few shows where the ships are totally okay; I usually avoid shipping people with people who look like they’re twelve or younger, but the maturity with which the show handles it changed my mind.

And season 2 has been announced. Enough said.

One Punch Man

One Punch Man was great from start to finish. It was awesome and thought provoking for a show that parodies the Japanese superhero genre, and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed at a show this much (that is, until Blend S came along). Moreover, it showed how to do an overpowered character right. I haven’t read the manga yet, but I can’t wait for season two of this show to come out!  

Kokoro Library

I found this little thing when I was cruising around for an older anime, Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san (a classic favorite of mine). I saw the opening and dismissed it as a bland show probably based of a visual novel. But curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to watch an episode of it, just to see if it’s as stupid as I thought. Similar to what happened with LoliRock, I took my words back. This show’s a cute slice-of-life show about three sisters who live in the mountains running their parents’ library. The interactions they have with each other and the rest of the town are what make this show. I admit, the first part is kinda slow, so I wouldn’t blame people who dropped it if it was boring, and you can tell this is an older anime from like the 2000s...but it has a great soundtrack, adorable characters, and a really sweet origin story. I would give it a shot and see how you like it.

Currently Watching

The iDOLM@STER (Original)

Move over, Love Live. There’s some new idols in town.

I came across the original iDOLM@STER several times while looking for Cinderella Girls content. I thought nothing of it at first, but as I was finishing the Cinderella Girls anime, I did some research, and learned that these girls were the original generation (similar to how Muse was the original before Aqours). I decided “Eh, I’ll give it a shot. I like iM@S enough anyway; I’ll check it out before Side M, at least.” Gotta say, I am so glad I did. The original iDOLM@STER is leagues and above Cinderella Girls in terms of characters, story, humor and feel (although I still kinda like CG’s score more). In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that I prefer this over the original School Idol Project, which, while I think is pretty good, didn’t feel that spectacular to me, which is why I rank it 5th on my favorite idol anime list. Similar to IDOLiSH7, I don’t have a Best Girl, because pretty much all of them are awesome...although I gotta say that Iori, Hibiki, Makoto, Miki, Takane and Chihaya are my clear favorites, and I love Producer-san, surprisingly more than CG’s Producer-san, who was one of my favorites as well.

If you want to get interested in the iDOLM@STER universe, this is the series you need to watch.  

Blend S

Blend S is great. I have never laughed so hard at an anime save for a few. And I love the character dynamic; even Dino’s crush on Maika isn’t really, really creepy since he’s not going borderline pervy like some other shows possibly would. I’m only three episodes in, but it’s been a great ride.

IDOLiSH7

If you can’t tell that I love IDOLiSH7 already, you haven’t seen my blog recently. Eight episodes in, and I’m in love. I can’t say much else other than that, but it’s right behind the original iDOLM@STER as one of my current favorite idol anime.

Glasslip

Glasslip is a little anime I found on Hulu. It’s about a group of friends who go through the trials and pains of first love during summer vacation...oh, and something about the main heroine, Toko, and the mystery dude, Kakeru, being able to see the future through objects--in Toko’s case, it’s through glass objects, hence the title. It’s supposed to be a supernatural romance, but think it does better on the romance, though; their attempts to explain how and why Toko and Kakeru can see the future comes off kinda flat. Honestly, the real reason I’m watching it is for the romance plot between everyone. It’s a bit of a breather between watching shows such as Fate/Zero and Gundam SEED (seen below).

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (Remastered)

Yes, I realize this pic is from SEED Destiny. But hey, the pic’s cool ^^

Gundam as a series is one of the series I enjoy, but never really watched much of because I was intimidated by the universe. It is massive, and most Gundam anime take place in its own universe. Thanks to some help from my dad (who is a huge Gundam and Macross fan in his own right), I started watching the series again, starting off with one that I found the most interesting, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. I had started watching it years ago, but I forgot about it. I’m glad I gave this another chance, although I must be careful, because the last Gundam I watched was Gundam 00′s first season, and I binged watched it for hours.

Fate/Zero

I forgot to mention that one of my friends, @infiniteglorias, is a fan of the animated Fate series. I also forgot to mention that my dad is a semi-fan, too. Between the two of them, I became interested in watching the series, and my dad got me into Fate/Zero. I love it thus far, and the characters are pretty awesome. I can’t really say much else about it other than that, honestly...other than that I’m a complete newbie to the Nasuverse ^^

Shows I Need To Get Back To

Senki Zesshou Symphogear AXZ

I was following AXZ, and then that delay caused me to get off track. I will go back and watch it and include it in my next Netflix Bucket List (hopefully).

Haruchika: Haruto and Chika

Haruchika was an anime I found when I was watching Shakugan no Shana (more on that below). I thought it’d be a high school romance, but what it actually is is a high school mystery with a very, very tiny bit of romance...and both our male and female heroine are going after their teacher, believe it or not. I don’t find it as interesting as Glasslip, but I feel that I should finish it on general principle before deciding it sucks. Plus, it does have a great soundtrack.

Hunter x Hunter

Hunter x Hunter was a show I started watching around the same time as Lupin III (more on that on my next list). The only reason I’ve put it on hold is because of the above mentioned anime.

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan was one of those shows that I heard was good, but didn’t watch because of the hype (I swore to myself that I’d stop watching on hype alone after what happened with Sword Art Online and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 2nd A’s). I watched it with my uncle and we both really enjoyed it, going through like 13 episodes. I haven’t watched it with him in a while because we’ve both been so busy, but I have it saved on my list to watch it later.

Future Shows to Watch

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen

The ONLY reason I’m not watching this one is because I haven’t watched the original in years and I don’t remember much of the plot. *sigh*

Macross Delta

Macross is another love of mine. After the amazingness of Frontier, I’m going to give the more recent Macross a try. That’ll probably be after I finish either iM@S or Blend S.

Violet Evergarden

WHEN WILL THIS SHOW COME TO NETFLIX?!

Girlish Number

Girlish Number is another one of those shows that my brother annoyed me about, but I guess I’ll give it a shot to see what he really liked about it.

Magical Girl Raising Project

More dark magical girls! Fun! Well, this should hold me over until I can watch Washio Sumi is a Hero, at least. 

The Ancient Magus’ Bride 

This is a show I’ve heard was quite good. It’s got some solid production values, and it’s a fantasy, so I’ll give it a shot and see how it turns out.

Shows I’ve Dropped

A Certain Magical Index

I wanted to like A Certain Magical Index, but alas, I found it to be a bit tiresome. At least its magic system and characters are a sight better than The Irregular at Magic High School.

Shakugan no Shana

It’s a shame I had to drop this show, because honestly, I had liked it at first. But then came the incesty bits between the two new villains that were introduced. On one hand, the sister was voiced by Yukari Tamura. But on the other hand, I do not want to see a younger sister slipping her older brother some tongue. Incest’s one of the few things that will make me drop a show like it’s a plague, and that’s what I did with this show. I just couldn’t stomach it. 

That is all I have to say for part 1! What do you think? Are there some recommendations you have or do you think I should talk about certain shows more? Let me know in the comments!

 Part 2 will be coming soon~!

[aoimori]

02.26.2017 MERRY Morning Live @ Holiday Shinjuku

So Merry had a morning show in Shinjuku. Doors at 7:30am, show at 8:00am. (They also had a fanclub only show that night too, report is over here)   As you can probably imagine, it was incredible and just such a Merry thing to experience. Here is my report including VIDEO EVIDENCE of a little something called radio calisthenics with Gara.

PLEASE ENJOY 👏👏👏👏👏

PRE SHOW

I’m amazed that this even happened. But I guess if anyone is going to do a show at 8am, it’s Merry. They actually started a little late but I had a feeling they would lol. It was an interesting feeling standing outside of this tiny tiny venue so early in the morning, in Kabukicho, with a bunch of other fans. I loved it 

Before the show started they were playing rain sounds with their own rain-themed songs mixed in. Reminded me of Shinjuku Blues! 

I was in front of Yuu for this show, started about 5 rows back and ended up in 3rd.

MORNING EXERCISES !?!?

While we were waiting there was suddenly an announcement over the speakers. Small venues like this generally don’t play that generic pre-performance announcement (honjitsu wa) that lists the rules of the venue etc. So it wasn’t that. It was Gara. 

He very politely told us that we were going to do rajio taisou (radio calisthenics - the kind that old people do in the park in the morning lol). He asked if we had a little bit of space to move around in, with mixed responses, so he said even if you don’t have space it’s okay lol. Today’s calisthenics will be led by… Super Merrys’ MAMURASAKI (aka Gara)

So Gara/Mamurasaku comes out wearing his Tenga shirt and rabbit head mask, the music/instructions come on, and we all followed his lead and did calisthenics together at like 8am in a tiny livehouse in Kabukicho…

There’s actually video of all of this (looks like it was livestreamed) so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you all watch it and have this experience. It was wild. I laughed so much lol. We actually tried our best to follow him!!

THIS VIDEO: https://twitter.com/merry_official/status/835628885647597568

Please enjoy his antics

After he walked off stage he got back on the announcements and asked us to wait a liiittle while longer

THE SICKEST SETLIST

SE: Merry March Oriental BL Circus Charlie TOP

Lost generation Atama ga zakuro Zetsubou Jiishiki kajougata deku ningen Tick tack Heijitsu no onna Kasa to ame stupidxcupid Carnival Japanese modernist Chiyodasen democracy

Encore Touzasareta rakuen Happy life Violet harenchi Kasa to ame (acoustic)

THIS SHOW !!!!!!

I thought that since this was a morning show that they would either A) do calmer songs/acoustics or B) go abnormally hard.  

After the SE they immediately came on stage and exploded into Oriental BL Circus. Clearly B was the correct prediction lol

Yuu looked REALLY CUTE. He had his hair styled all crazy to look like bedhead and had heavy black makeup under his eyes to look like he had extreme dark circles from not sleeping. He walked out with this big grin like he was proud of his look

(from his twitter)

Oriental BL Circus is always really fun and I love the call and response parts in the beginning (I finally learned all the words HA) But it was also a REALLY EXTREME way to start a show in the morning – Gara and Yuu yelling, all of us yelling back lol

I GOT TO HEAR CHARLIE LIVE!!! AAA!!! It’s so so so so so fun and super high energy from start to finish. And so is TOP!! Seriously this show was HYPEEE from the very beginning.

Thennnn atama ga zakuro is actually the first Merry song I ever heard and TO THINK I GOT TO HEAR IT LIVE!?

Also lord help me all I did was watch Gara perform this song and I feel full of sin. Actually during this entire show he was a little nastier than usual lol. Putting his mic between his legs multiple times and enjoying himself, having REAL QUALITY MOMENTS up against his mic stand… he is committed to realism tbqh. IS THIS HOW YOU ARE IN THE MORNING ? ? ? 

ANYWAY. I also got to hear Tick Tack for the first time!! What an old song!! It’s so nice live, everyone was swaying back and forth. And I’m going to love Heijitsu no onna until the day I die, so. You can probably guess what I have to say about that. Gara putting on lipstick and rubbing it off with the back of his hand with the saddest smile…

I just wanna say right now that I LOVE KASA TO AME. If for some reason you haven’t listened to it, please go do it right now. Both versions are great. I own 5 copies of this single. Listen to it. Buy it. LOVE IT.

I forgot my towel for the morning show so I had to participate in Carnival without one for the first time!! Carnival, Japanese modernist and Chiyodasen are ALWAYS fun though. They just kept hitting us with JAMS.

During one song (don’t remember which) when Yuu had a speaking part he ended up just making comments about the show instead of following the lyrics, it was pretty funny lol

I love Touzasareta rakuen live. The vibe is just so good? Gara said something about this being an older song but it has the kind of energy they want to have as they work toward Hibiya Yaon

And then Happy life gets me EVERY TIME. Gara sang the last line without his mic. I’m always really impressed by how he expresses such raw emotion. He just puts it ALL out there as strongly as he physically can, every time. He had the biggest smile right after this song. Like really genuine. Have I mentioned... that I love this band...??

During Violet harenchi Gara and Yuu were back to back in the center of the stage!!! Yuu was in the center and Gara saw him and immediately rushed over. Yuu also likes to go sit on Gara’s desk lol. Later Tetsu was standing in front of me on a monitor and Yuu came over and was standing against his leg and it was REALLY CUTE. Tetsu is an actual mountain btw

(from gara’s blog)

MC CONTENT BECAUSE MERRY ALWAYS DELIVERS 

Gara and Yuu both said good morning to us a few times (and said wow, saying good morning at a live house feels good huh…)

Gara asked each member what they did the night before...

Nero: so worried that he’d oversleep and get a call from the band on stage asking where he was that he could barely sleep at all

Tetsu: eating meat (this is all he said lol, at first Gara didn’t understand him)

Kenichi: Hesitant to answer, but… said he went to Mankitsu (a manga café?) Gara asked what he was reading and Kenichi was just silent… so Gara asked AGAIN and Kenichi still said nothing LOL

Yuu: Nothing out of the ordinary. He went home, then took the first train in the morning to the venue. Gara said he was sorry he asked

Gara: Didn’t sleep at all because if he slept and then woke up in the morning before the show his voice wouldn’t be in good condition.  He said he actually went home the night before just… never slept lol . ((He posted on his blog about eating mcdonalds actually... but are any of us really surprised by this??))

He made an extended bandoman joke that continued into the next show... something about introducing himself as “bandoman A” from a tabloid story about a celebrity having an affair. But then said instead of having an affair he actually wants to be served by blonde foreign women... and if the tabloids come to him for an interview, he’ll tell everything.

I feel like I missed something here lol but he said he’d better stop talking about this because there were foreigners in the audience (me?? the most blonde foreigner of all?? lol) 

The singing MC was set to the beginning of Kasa to ame (it used to be heijitsu no onna). So each member would start playing as Gara introduced them and did a really short mini solo. Merry has the best MCs.

Gara said that this morning live felt really good so if we liked it, please tweet them, and they’ll show the tweets to their company, and then maybe they can do more events like this. They are always trying to get us to promo them to someone lol

He also wants to do a 24 hour show. The rest of the band did not seem into this idea. He said everyone could have their own little space where they could sit or stand, bring a TV or something, leave and come back whenever they pleased, etc. The band would work in shifts sometimes so someone could sleep. Or go to the onsen. But Nero couldn’t come with them (tattoos) so he’d just have to watch while they rest of them relax. POOR NERO.

They were talking about where they’d be in 20 years? Gara said he’ll still be singing but he might need to sit down… and need someone to help hold him steady as he walked… and to whisper the lyrics in his ear, and tap him on the shoulder when a new song started lol. Yuu just called him an ojiichan

Gara turned the page of his setlist with his foot and it was cute

Between songs Gara said all of us that came to a show this early in the morning must be ACTUALLY crazy. TRUE. During an MC he also told us that we all must be a little atama ga okashii nee… crazy/touched in the head lol. ALSO TRUE.

(@merry_official)

DOKUDOKU TIME!!!!!!!! SPECIAL EVENT FEAT GARA

The band had a dokudoku campaign for this tour. The idea was to create more Merry chuudokusha (addicts) so at each show a certain member was tasked with doing something fun. Giving things away, taking pictures with fans, etc. Gara was in charge of this show.

He gave away his tenga shirt (signed) which he had also worn during the radio taisou spectacle. He was giving it away on behalf of Mamurasaki, of course.

So before the encore he came on stage and said it was dokudoku time, but then found out that the staff still hadn’t collected all the ticket stubs for him to choose one winner from. So he stalled for a while and just talked about random stuff, asked us if we had any questions, and then would occasionally look back to the staff and be like STILL??? STILL NOTHING? Awkward and angry and adorable lol

One of his topics of conversation was his tenga shirt. He read it out loud and explained it lol. He also said that he received an egg type one from a fan for Valentines day, but he still hasn’t used it. He’s thinking about using it in March for White Day…

Eventually staff brought an envelope to him and he chose a winner. While he was looking at the stubs he said these aren’t all Core tickets… they’re not Core tickets~ in this cute irritated singsong voice lol. Anyway he picked one stub and gave away the shirt. Then he gave away the paper Mamurasaki signed (he said it looked like Mamurasaki had written “iwai/celebrate” wrong and crossed it out and wrote it again… and now it looks like it says “Nero”).

Since he didn’t have a photo to give away too, he decided to do something special. So he turned around and went to find his lipstick that he uses during Heijitsu no onna, came back to the front and put some on. And then kissed the paper. And then chose someone to give it to. He understands a fan’s heart so well…

(@merry_official) 

AFTER THE SET

After the show I was watching all the members throwing things to the crowd. I think I was watching Gara in the center of the stage when I decided to turn around and face forward again and SUDDEN TETSU RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES!! He was standing up on one of the monitors looking down at us. HE IS HUGE. SUCH A TOWERING MOUNTAIN!! But so kind lol

Gara was standing on a monitor and then jumped up to his desk and did the LONGEST HEADSTAND + FOOT CLAPPING COMBO I HAVE EVER SEEN. He was up there FOREVER. We were all watching and clapping but then gradually starting to think like… Gara… Gara are you okay… GET DOWN FROM THERE GARA!!!

He was SO INTO this entire show lol. The mood was SO good. Maybe the band + the fans were kind of overcompensating for the fact that it was such a strange hour, but we all went REAL HARD.

I then left the show not knowing what time it was, went to Starbucks for breakfast (apparently Gara handed out sandwiches!! But I didn’t know / didn’t see anything even though I waited in the venue for a long time), then went to Shimokita where I spent the rest of the day until the CORE SHOW. Which was really fun, but then turned emotional...

I will never forget this show though 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏