#I don't care much for a lot of English dubs in anime these days but I will always love Todd's dub roles

[dddesc]

thinking about my feelings on the dub. no hates here, just sorting my own opinion out to myself.

the dub seems very prevelant in the hnk fandom!... which is a struggle for me. the fact that nearly every dedesuka fanfic writes out dedede's dub accent phonetically confounds me. reading that feels like pulling teeth and i can't imagine feeling differently !

my opinion on 4kids was formed in my childhood. i felt so frustrated that they appeared to come at their properties with this base level of disrespect towards both the source material and their young audiences... dumbing down their content, erasing cultural references, and removing darker concepts (like threats of violence or death), all for the sake of appealing to uppity parents or network execs. it came off as cynical and disingenuine. very bothering to kid me!

being an adult now, i know better than to think the writer's room didn't care about what they were doing and instead realize that they probably had to struggle quite a bit with the censorship. it was a different time back then and i imagine that studios, especially for children's tv and especially for children's tv coming from across the water (people are still guilty of that offensive "WTF japan's so WEEEIRD and CRAAAZY" mentality, so who knows what it was like back then), weren't allowed a lot of wiggle room. i can say that i'm surprised at the amount they let right back at ya get away with. hoshi no kaabii was a pretty bizarre show and 4kids just kinda rolled with a lot of it.

i do appreciate right back at ya for... what it is. i like what some of the english vas bring to the table -- ted lewis is a very funny man, dan green is a perfect customer service, i can't help but feel biased towards maddie blaustein's performances, and spanish meta knight never fails to make me laugh -- but some writing and acting decisions feel flippant (not to mention the fact that beside the acceptable performances, there are some absolutely GRATING voices in there; tiff and tuff's line reads make me feel insane). the dub comes off as a big joke, which i think contributes to why it's been memed to death. i can't take it seriously, and i don't really want to!

i'm not going to pretend like hoshi no kaabii in its original form is like, emotionally deeper than the dub or anything. but what i do know is this:

kenichi ogata was, is, and always will be the dedede va of my all time. he plays such a lively and charming interpretation of dedede; he's old, he's loud, he's mean, he's cute. and maybe i'm gay and anime dedede being my first major childhood crush did something to my brain chemistry but we don';t have to talk about that. when i hear him i feel very something.

naoki tatsuta is a powerhouse as escargon. he mentions in an interview barely being able to keep up, and i don't blame him -- he goes in hard, and it gave escargon so much character. his exasperation is palpable (and, apparently, genuine!).

there are no voices in the japanese version that straight up bother me. every voice suits each character, at the very least, well enough.

at the end of the day, this is all subjective. tons of people like the dub enough to view it as their main visualization of the anime. i almost wish i could see what they see so that i had an easier time immersing myself within fan creations... almost. the japanese cast is just too likable to me. so i will continue to not see what other people see and i will enjoy it. i'll just grumble a little to myself about having to refer to "escargoon" and 4kids re-characterizations whenever i edit wikirby pages.

[meimi-haneoka]

Hello! <3

I just finished watching Saint Tail for the 3rd time of my life... and I haven't seen it in like, 5 years! And I just happened to be CRYING ON TUMBLR FOR THE FINAL 2 EPISODES, I JUST CAN'T! PLEASE SEND FEELS AND OPINION ABOUT WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THAT <3

Did you see it more than once? Did it change anything the second time you watched it, if that's the case? Thank u for sharing love to the anime on-line, we are a small comunity but we exist <3

Hello anon 😢😟 I'm so sorry for replying to this 2 weeks later 😅 As you might have seen, in the past 8 years my blog became so much more focused on Cardcaptor Sakura, which has always been a beloved series for me (and I really think with the sequel it became my favorite ever), but the name of this blog cannot lie: Kaitou Saint Tail is another beloved manga/anime series for me and I've been talking (mostly to myself) a lot about it here, before the Cardcaptor Sakura sequel began!! I still have the link to the "Love is War" series of posts pinned to the layout of my blog! 😉

I think the last time I rewatched Saint Tail was when I made those posts here on Tumblr, around 2013/2014 I think? I don't remember anymore 😅and that reminds me that it's been at least 10 years 😱WOW. I probably should rewatch it and see how I would "perceive it" with 10 years more on my shoulders....hahah! I watched Saint Tail endlessly when I was a teen. I kinda know it by heart (particularly the italian dub!) and periodically the hyperfixation on it came back in my life. I've clung so hard to the post Tachikawa sensei made on her blog, I think around 2008-2009? saying she would've liked to draw a special chapter for it one day. Unfortunately that never happened (at some point she wrote she had to take care of her ailing mother) and when it was time to get a sequel for Saint Tail, they gave the task to another manga artist. But I was so glad to see someone dedicated a bit of love to it recently here on Tumblr, re-translating it in English because apparently the official ENG translation wasn't that accurate (seems like it's a widespread problem even nowadays 😅).

I have very fuzzy memories of my experience with my last rewatch, but I do remember I could spot new perspectives and interpretations during it, probably because I became a full grown adult!

Saint Tail is a cute and simple story, a quintessential mahou shoujo that provides various occasions to reflect on more mature and deep thematics (particularly, Meimi's insecurity and identity issues). I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes magical girls and the "tsundere x tsundere" trope 😆🩷

[princesstarfire1234]

I saw your RMA Post but before i ask, first i love your artstyle its so beautiful and each time i see it, it makes my day :] and second what are your thoughts of S2 part 1 and 2? And if you can rewrite it what will it be?

Aha hello!! I didn't think that RMA post would actually catch any eyes but I'm it did!!

First off, thank you so much! It's the best feeling ever knowing my art can make people happy just like that :]]

As for your question, I recently just rewatched a good chunk of S2 Part 2 but some of the details around the later bits are still fuzzy (rewatching em is quite hard for me as the english dubs aren't exactly that easy to find out there unfortunately)

I will say though, rewatching it really opened my eyes to just how much of a downgrade Part2 is compared to S1 and even just S2 Part1 itself, not just in story but in like the voice acting and animation. The voice direction is a bit off, characters sound flat, and the animation just feels... weirder, if that makes sense. It's not the worst thing in the world though, it's just an unfortunate thing I happen to notice. They also changed some of the VAs I think (liek Rema's) which was a strange decision but alright ig... There's also the reusing of so many games instead of new ones but oh well... Despite all my problems with it though, I like the inclusion of the new characters (Manus and all the other Leos Valiants). The Leos are all such silly guys :]] I do wish the DV7s got more screentime and played a bigger role though, the first episode for part2 really fooled me into thinking they would lmaoo

S2 Part1 still holds up, certainly not as good as S1 but still, it's got charm! I love the setting actually, Old City is such a bright and colorful place with like all these abstract and messed up winding pathways, it's so weird and funkyy, I dig it a lot!

So pretty!! God... just like how funky the cities look with all of them being like giant floating islands, it will always be cool af to me

Ik most of my followers don't care about runningman much but in the off chance some non-rma fan sees this, look at Tree City (pic below), I love it so much

Although... sometimes it really does feel like Season 2 is where the studio decided to lean more into it being a children's show. It's a lot less "dark" compared to S1 which is a tad disappointing. Like just compare Akong's battle (where the dude literally uses a bunch of the old guys to power up his thingy 😭) compared to CG's big mech fight. Still, I liked it! I like the neat guardians (the lil pullulu spirits who guard the gate, Vivace and Ensemble twins my beloved <3).

ALSO ALSO THE IRON BEAST, I can always appreciate a big robot guy aha

That's all I really got for the ramble aha, I'd say more stuff about S2 and maybe my views on it will change overtime but as of now, I haven't even really gotten around to properly finishing it yet. I remember watching it waaayyy back but it was all in korean with zero subtitles 😭 luckily, I am in a server with people sharing english versions so I'll probably watch those when I get more free time!

I really just miss talking about this show really and I feel like I've largely outgrown the fandom in old spaces where I used to talk in (like Facebook groups and Amino lmfaoo), so it's absolutely awesome to find RMA fans over here on tumblr!

[edgeray]

Hello Ray! 🍅 anon here! (Again, because life has finally gotten a bit easier now and I have spare time!)

Very happy that you liked the TL’ed piece! I originally put it in a word document, hence the page number, and the formatting.

Since you can’t read chinese, you Might have missed out on a subtle yet telling part of Arlecchino’s story quest.

WHOEVER THE HELL TL’ED “来生再见” AS ���may we meet again someday” SHOULD HAVE THEIR TAIL KICKED ISTG.

There’s a lot. And I mean. A LOT. of meaning lost in translation! EVEN THE JP TEAM DIDN’T FLOP THIS HARD?????? HUH????

For everyone’s sake, the general gist is correct. But the more accurate translation would be “May we meet again in our next life.”

There is a HUGE difference. Just that small phrase already tells you a few things. First, it tells you that Arlecchino, logical as she is, has definitely NOT recovered from Clervie (which is why I ship them. Still.) and yearns for a life they can lead TOGETHER. Second, it shows just how much Arlecchino cares! She’s known to be very cool headed and logical and if she cares about something THIS much to verbalise it as such, you know that it’s. Beyond important.

Honestly, I had no words when I saw the English translation (I use cn dub). Just that someone really, REALLY, butchered this subtlety on the most important part of her SQ. STEM student or not, if any of my bilingual teachers saw me translating it like that I would be slapped to the next timeline on Irminsul.

(Also yes I use windows that tip is going to come in handy xD)

Looking forward to more of your writing! Domestic!Arle…. Hehehehehehehhe

She deserves it! All the fluff and softness and happiness!

Hey 🍅 anon! Sorry this response took so long... did a lot of traveling for vacay today. And oooh... yes I agree "may we meet again someday" and "may we meet again in our next life" is SO different, like I fr got a gut punch from reading the second one. the fact that arle is hoping in their next life that they're together makes me tear up... that's so much more impactful and meaningful than meeting again.

it seems like poor TL for ENG is a common complaint about the ENG dub, though I don't know too much since I rely on ENG solely. I heard that also happened in the Arlecchino animation, with the part that Arlecchino says "Mother... my answer is no." I don't remember what the actual translation was, but I remembered it being vastly different.

glad the windows tip worked hehe

once i come back from vacay, i will be GRINDING on these requests because i'm behind the schedule I said i would do. just tryna finish a request at this point before my vacay ends. once it does, i'll go back to my 1-2 requests done per day. let's see how long the daily streak goes >:D

cannot wait to get to these requests... especially that arlevie request i got... heh heh. <333 am super pumped to write your domestic arle request bc arle deserves everything. :DDD

[ogamagirl]

Hello! I've been thinking about getting into magical girl anime recently and I noticed you reblogging stuff from a lot of different ones, so I figured it'd make sense to come to you with this: Do you have any good starter magical girl anime recs? I'd prefer something light and fun if possible :>

OH GOODNESS I am more than happy to recommend you some magical girl anime, I LOVE magical girls, it's one of my favorite anime genres!! I hope you don't mind me answering this on my blog haha, gives me an excuse to ramble x3

My favorite magical girl franchise is Pretty Cure - most often abbreviated and refered to as Precure. It's a sprawling franchise that's been going on for the past 21 years now so it SEEMS daunting, but the cool thing about Precure is each season is its own self contained story with its own plot and cast of characters. There are two continuities with two seasons (the original Futari wa Precure and its sequel Futari wa Precure Max Heart, and Yes Precure 5 and its sequel Yes Precure 5 GoGo!), but otherwise each continuity is one season, usually between 47-50 episodes long (each season lasts one full year of broadcast time).

The best way to start with Precure imo is to look at summaries/character designs and see which one sounds most interesting to you - there's no "order" to watch them in since they're all their own stories! Precure is a children's franchise so things are generally light enough, but there are definitely some seasons that touch on/deal with heavier topics. If you'd like my personal recommendations for "light and fun" seasons of Precure, I'd recommend Smile Precure and KiraKira Precure a la Mode!

Smile Precure is about Miyuki, a girl who loves fairy tales, being tasked by the fairy Candy from Marchenland to assemble a team of 5 Precure to collect Cure Decor and revive the queen. It's bright, cheerful, and silly - I love the central cast and art style so much! A word about this season - this season was dubbed into English under the title "Glitter Force", which changed all names to English ones and cut out a handful of episodes (I believe the ones most heavily focused on Japanese culture that the dub team couldn't easily change to anything else). I personally do not recommend watching it like this! In all cases as far as Precure is concerned I recommend watching the original subtitled Japanese version.

KiraKira Precure a la Mode is about Ichika, a girl who loves sweets and dreams of becoming a patisserie. She meets Pekorin, a fairy that can detect "kirakiraru", an energy contained in sweets that represent their feelings, which evil fairies start to steal. Ichika becomes a Precure to protect the sweets and forms a team of Precure that open up their own mobile sweet shop together. One of the things that's unique about this season are the fights - one of Precure's claims to fame is the high amount of physical fighting/hand-to-hand combat it contains. KiraKira tones that element down after previous seasons were seen as "too intense", so the fights in this season are more magic/special attack based. This annoyed some people, but I personally think KiraKira's a great, fun, unique entry to the franchise! (And the fights came back next season, so it's not like they were gone forever lol).

Apart from Precure, I'd also recommend Ojamajo Doremi!

It's about Doremi Harukaze, the self proclaimed "unluckiest pretty girl in the world"; one day she stumbles upon a mysterious shop run by an old woman who looks like a witch. When Doremi calls her out, she turns into a "magic frog" - she WAS indeed a witch, and this is what happens to witches who are discovered in the human realm. The witch, Majo Rika, therefore enlists Doremi as a witch apprentice to help her turn back to normal. Ojamajo Doremi is really special - it's a more episodic series (tho there is an overarching plot each season) that really cares about its world and characters, it's so well written and wonderfully charming and funny and warm, really can't recommend it enough!

And for a final recommendation for now, I'll mention Cardcaptor Sakura!

A true classic of the genre, this is about a girl named Sakura Kinomoto who discovers a mysterious book in her father's library; upon opening it she scatters the deck of cards contained within and releases the creature that was sealing them. This creature, Cerberus (but you can call him Kero-chan), informs Sakura that she must now track down and capture these cards, called the Clow Cards, to prevent disaster from occuring. The card capturing element grants it a "monster of the week" flavor, but this is another sweet series focused on Sakura and her relationships first and foremost, and it's a real treat.

I think these are enough to get you started! If you want more recommendations definitely don't hesitate to ask - I started with these because you asked for light and happy, but I also enjoy darker magical girl anime as well so if you ever want to explore that route I'd have recommendations there too!

[marciabrady]

Hi, I really love your crits ❤ but I'm wondering why you dislike Frozen so much? I'm a huuuge fan of Aurora and Mulan myself, and I hate more and more every 3D/live action film and terribly miss 2D animation, but I must say I really loved Frozen (only the first one!!), I saw it together with my sister, who's also my bff, so maybe that's why it appealed to us, there were also some traits we felt like we had in common with these characters... and maybe it's also the thing we didn't see the film with English dub, which didn't the best (totally agreed with your take on K Bell! I'm not a fan of her personally). And I know this movie has a lot of flaws, but at the same time it was really easy for me to ignore them - until F2 I guess, it brought up all of my problems with this franchise lol Anyway, I just wanted to ask - bc I think it can be the problem with all of the new (3D) princesses - aren't they a bit bland? I was thinking about it the other day, what's characteristic for Anna and Elsa and... well, he's extrovert, and the other introvert I guess? And Anna is romantic? But there's no hobby, no distinct personal trait, nothing. On the other hand Rapunzel was briefly shown to can/like literally ALL! You make candles? Play guitar? Sew? Sing? No problem, she's just like you, you can identify with her. And the bland princesses? You can easily project yourself onto them if you will, it's not same they like to, it's say, paint - but it's not said they hate/can't do it either, right? Sorry for my rambling, it's quite late, and I've just finished my weekend Disney Princess movie marathon. Anyway, love your blog and take care xxx

So I wouldn't necessarily say I hate Frozen, I just strongly dislike certain tonal elements to it but I generally don't really think about it because it didn't resonate to me. Frozen to me doesn't really feel like a film but rather a commentary on other films? With all of the "you can't marry a man you just met" lines and how all of the plots that occur were clearly planted in order to combat criticisms of the Disney Princess line: ie them not being active, or physical, or being too naïve, or lovesick which is why I think Anna is treated as a joke pretty much. So I feel like I'm watching a commentary track where this film is retroactively beating up the previous films on which it was based on and whose success made that endeavor possible? And honestly...I think that's what a lot of people like about it. At the time it came out, I never really heard anyone talk about the value of the characters- rather the emphasis was on "Elsa's the first Princess who didn't need a man! She's independent! Unlike the other princesses, she's a BADASS" or them applauding how Hans killed the Prince Charming trope (which I think is largely reductive, and not even inventive as Gaston had accomplished that previously, but I digress). In general, most of the elements people find revolutionary about this film are anything but- this film essentially just takes elements from other films and infuses it with a lot of meta-textual criticism and added in some sparkly magic to divert toddlers. I even read a book about women in animation and the author said that a woman contributed the idea of Anna being gassy (which I hate btw, it's not charming it's uncouth and I don't think men or women should openly act like that lol) and how it was game changing for how women were depicted when Princess Fiona already did that over a decade earlier?

Apart from the elements I mentioned above, as I touched on in my previous response, Kristen Bell's voice gives nothing to me. I don't like how Anna is treated as a joke, I think it's visually very boring, I don't like the 3d design, and I have no object permanence for the plot because it feels like there's just a lot happening to keep people from being bored without any weight behind it. I'm also not a fan of the universe, with the trolls and just none of it makes sense? Like they go through hoops to try to hit us over the head with how strong Elsa and Anna are as female leads and how men are useless but then Elsa runs away from her own kingdom and Anna leaves it to the attention of Hans while she goes off in search of Elsa??? I don't know, it just all isn't for me lol I know a lot of people like it and they're certainly entitled to, I just think it isn't to my taste.

[vilevampire]

thinking about viewtiful joe again and how GOOD the writing is in this stupid anime but it makes me sad how it is near impossible for me to successfully sell this show to anyone because

half of it isn't available in english, and the half that IS available (via english dub) just fucking sucks bc the dub is so awful, it changes the script so much from the original that the characters don't even feel like themselves. hell most of the anime is not even available in JAPANESE, its original language. it's just totally lost to time

the writing is very good but in a very simple way that is easy to overlook. to begin with, it is a show aimed at kids, so it follows a basic "monster of the day" type of structure (a new monster shows up, the protagonist fights it, repeat for almost every episode). so it doesn't have any complex plots or mind boggling twists, but the quality of the writing really shows in the characters. though they are simple, they're just very well-written, their dynamics are interesting and watching them interact is endlessly entertaining. but it is an aspect of the show that is pretty hard to notice how good it is unless you've watched a lot of it

the animation fucking sucks 😭😭 there is no way around it fr this show is just ugly 90% of the time

I find myself in a dilemma, because I love this show to bits and it FEELS to me like the kind of show that could potentially have a decently-sized, healthy fanbase, but god is it hard to sell this fucking show !!! how am I supposed to try to get anyone into it when the whole thing isn't even available in english, only spanish and portuguese 😭😭

and the thing is I am so insane about this show that I made my own translating and subtitling project for it and managed to complete around 7 episodes by myself, but I ran out of time and energy. this kind of project is not the kind that was made to be done by just one person. like seriously whenever I work on this project I am doing the work of at least 5 different people. it's hard to get the motivation to work on a project like this when I know that barely anybody will be interested in watching it in the end, so nobody will be there to appreciate my hard work.

so I run into a loop, because I can't convince people to get into this anime because it's not easily available, but to make it easily available I have to work on my (overwhelmingly large) project, but I can't get the motivation to work on my project because nobody cares about this anime, but I can't get people to care about it because it's not easily available to watch, and so on and so forth. unfortunately I know for a fact that if I don't work on this subtitling project, no one will do it, and the anime will continue to be unavailable. and so I preserve, sad and burned out but still withstanding, fighting to get people invested in this extremely niche kids show ...

[xx-ingie-xx]

What are your thoughts about the newest Tears Of The Kingdom trailer? I didn't love it because I'm missing that big cinematic trailer that tells us a about the plot of the game, however, Nintendo has show us bits and pieces of new stuff that makes me feel more confident that this game will stand out on its own.

My answer below. :)

Yeah, I was also hoping for more plot details, but I do enjoy games more when I start them with minimal knowledge about the story. So maybe it's better this way (if this is the last trailer before launch). I was intrigued by the gameplay parts of the trailer, and I have no doubt it will be very fun to play. I'm looking forward to it!

But I must admit I'm not super excited, and I'm not entirely sure why. I think part of it has to do with the voice acting. Assuming that was Ganondorf's voice, we heard him speak for the first time (at least in English), and I gotta say... I found it pretty cringey. I recently beat God of War: Ragnarok, and that game has fantastic voice acting. The voice acting in BotW/TotK simply does not compare, and I find that really disappointing. For me, it sounds like a subpar anime dub, and I find most (English) anime dubs to be cringey in general. I'm sure some scenes will be better than others, but it's still a big miss for me.

Another thing I'm not crazy about is the use of technology in this game. I prefer the original fantasy/medieval-esque Zelda, and each game brings the series farther away from that. I get that developers have to keep the gameplay fresh, but I wish they would stay away from things like motorcycles and cars. It's possible that stuff is all optional, so I'm not going to worry about it much. Still, I dread the day Zelda becomes more sci-fi than fantasy.

The story certainly looks interesting, but I don't have enough information to say much about that. Ganondorf appears to be quite evil and powerful in this game, and I do love that. I like a sinister, baaad to the bone Ganondorf, and I want his fight with Link and Zelda to be personal (something we didn't get in BotW).

One thing I'm not loving is that one line where Zelda doubts Link's ability to defeat Ganondorf. Since when does Zelda lose faith in Link? Obviously there's a lot of missing context there, so I'm not too worried about it. As usual I'm cheering for some Zelink, but Link will have to show more personality if that happens. I want it to be clear that he does what he does not just because it's his duty, but because he genuinely cares about Zelda. But knowing what we saw (or didn't see) in BotW, that might be wishful thinking. *sigh*

[iwaasfairy]

Heyo Fairy!! I hope your day/night/evening/morning/afternoon is going amazingly, and that you never forget that you are that bitch! (Affectionate, obv) Seriously, I remember when I first started having these "darker" thoughts about characters and I was like 'What the fuck is wrong with me?' and then years later, I find your and Rhi's blog. Y'all let me realize that it's perfectly normal to think these things, even if those who don't, or deny that they do, think otherwise. So, seriously, thank you, y'all mean so, so, SO MUCH to me! Like big sisters that help me see there's nothing wrong with me, even if people I know irl would say "wtf?" 🥹

Ahhh, sorry, that was so fucking sappy! 🫣 I just wanted to ya know that it really does mean a lot to people like me, and your other followers, that y'all are brave enough to post the things you do despite all the little bitches that try and tear y'all down 🥹

... That was sappy again 🤦🏻‍♀️ y'know what, what the fuck ever, I'm just a soft person when it comes to emotions and shit, I'll deal with it 😤

That all being said, I can't belIEVE it took me this long to comment on 2 of Cups! Okay, so, when part 1, and 2, came out, I had no idea who Rin and Sae were. I didn't even know what Blue Lock was, just that it's a manga/anime. I was like oh, okay, cool! I read part one anyway, and was all like "... I gotta watch this. If the anime isn't out yet, I gotta watch it as soon as it DOES come out." (I'm an anime only, because I almost always give characters the exact same voice if I have nothing to go off of 😒 I struggle with it fr fr. anYWAY—) So, I don't... Think? I'd read part 2 yet, tbh I think I completely forgot about it, the memory is NOT good, I'm so sorry! So when the anime DID come out, I wasn't actually aware 😅 until they uploaded episode, like... 10? Or 11? Of the English Dub? AnywAY! THE POINT Is, I started watching because of things I've read, I was TIRED of looking up every single character when I read about them 😭 SO, I watched, got caught up to where it is now, and am waiting for the next episode, and you mention 2 of Cups part 3 is coming out, and I was like "oH SHIT, I REMEMBER READING PART 1!" So, I went back, read parts 1 and 2, absolutely ADORED them, despite the pain 🥹 Like, Rin's pining, but not wanting to do anything because of SAE, that little bitch, that won't admit he's the sAME and keeps being an AsS when Rea-chan and Rin are even remotely affectionate, AaAAAAHHHH! And I was so exCITED for part 3! And then part 3 came out, and... It absolutely bLEW MY IMAGINATION OUT OF THE PARK, LIKE!! !! I dunno, what I was expecting to happen, but I'm so happy it went the way it did! I mean, yeah, sure, it hURT, what with Sae continuing to be an ass, and RIn, poor rIN! Sweet baby, he's so! I can't even begin to espresso how in absolute awe I'm in of this mASTERPIECE! It keeps me up at night, thinking about it, and about what may happen next. Like, did Sae go back to, I think it was... Spain? Did he just go somewhere else for the time being, and he'll be back? Will Rin give in to his fantasies? Will he be soft and gentle if he does? Would he absolutely destroy Rea-chan with his roughness? Would he start off gentle, and then lose it?

So many questions, but I can wait to have them answered; I know you work incredibly hard, and that writing really takes time 🥰 PLUS, we can't have you not sleeping! The Queen of Fairies needs her sleep, she must rest and take care of herself 🥺 Love you much, take care!! 🥰

firST OF ALL,no yOURE THAT BITCH!!!! YOU ARE! YOU ARE! wtfFDSGD thIS IS SO FUCKING SWEET im gonna cry and scREam !!! ♡♡♡ yes iT is totally normal for you to thrive off of taboo, tIS ouR little bug brains,, and alSO IM MASTER OF SAP i doNT MIND YOU BEING SAPPY PLS THIS IS SO SWEEETTTTTT :/ makes me cry. i hope you know i see every like and rb and i get the dumbest fondest grin on my stupid face any time you're in my notifs, or def when you send an ask or a comment or anything i jUST mELT

and stOPPDbhFu MASTERpiECE i??FYFDyd pLS pls pls oml iM SO VERY VERY HAPPY you LIKED thE FIc and iM bery happy i decided to give myself room for a part 4 bc i think iLL need iT im just Too foND of thEm!! and YES oml manY quESTions right??? i! haven't figured them all out yet so i can't exactly tell you everything but i do know that Sae's still in Japan, he's not yet going back to Spain,, i think Sae just can't handle the idea of rea-chan being with Rin and a similar grudge against him,, and :))) heheh for the smut :))) we shall have to wait and see

[jujutsukaisen0]

i havent entirely finished the fall 2024 shows yet (3 episodes of blue lock and 1 of ron kamonohashi) but since this is the last day of 2024 this is my final released in 2024 anime ranking and yes a lot of my opinions will be biased:

1. bang brave bang bravern

it's just a perfect show. it has everything i want. everyone ever should watch bravern bc i can't even begin to explain how good it is

2. cherry magic

one of the only "wholesome" bls i genuinely enjoy bc i dont find the main characters insufferable. thats not true but for being a pure romance bl its sooooo good. kurosawa is enough of a freak that it really makes it. ive seen the show twice (subbed and dubbed) and read the whole manga has far as the english translation has gone. i cant get enough of it

3. dandadan

i somehow dont have a lot to say about this one either. its dandadan. it was solidly good every week and im such a science saru fan that it made the experience that much better. great show excited for s2

4. twilight out of focus

this was the first anime i kept up with its weekly releases for since probably 2016. it was so much fun. i really loved all the couples and thought the film setting was so fun for a bl bc my girlfriend and i love film

5. mayonaka punch

beautiful lesbian vampirism. dont have much to say about this either i just thought it was so pleasant to watch a girl lust disgusting style after another girl. i hope they fuck crazy nasty in s2 im pleading

6. a terrified teacher at ghoul school (yohaji)

really unexpected sleeper hit. its so fucking ridiculously good which i never expected. i love absurd comedy anime so this is so perfect for me and i love all the yokai kids and miki and abe and auhhhh so good! really unexpected fave

7. wind breaker

you know i initially had this higher but i kinda dragged my feet so bad watching the show but after i finally got through it i liked it so i was thinking about it from current graham's pov but past graham would say it was lower so i'll kinda average it. anyways i liked it and the characters a lot. looking forward to s2

8. ron kamonohashi second season

solid show. i loved season 1 but i kinda wish season 2 spent more time elaborating on the house of m but of course i love ron and toto so much i cant even be that mad. season 3 better be confirmed or else i'll be pissed

9. magilumiere magical girls inc

feels criminal to have this so low because i really loved it but unfortunately got beat out by everything else this year. im really excited to catch up in the manga and watch s2

10. negative positive angler

i have such a complicated relationship with negaposi. it was originally my favorite show of the season but it pissed me off way too many times in the middle of the show. the highs were Really high and the lows were Really low. i wish the pacing had been better bc the show had so much potential

11. blue lock second season

i kind of don't even need to say why this is down here. it had a lot of highs with shidou and sae and bachira's aishiteru but man i really do Not care about the u 20 match and i wont care that much about michael kaiser either but im kinda stuck with this show now. blue lock makes it so hard for you to like it

12. senpai is an otokonoko

one of the most pissing me off shows ever made. i liked it but at what fucking cost man. those stupid kids need to get their shit together before i intervene

13. haigakura

unfortunately went on hiatus in the middle of the run so i cant judge it fairly now. its such a shame bc i was really loving it

[via-vi]

Diligent Blog # 1

Here's some music from my childhood! These are from forms of media that have a OST or soundtrack that I think is a good listen. When writing this, I started off listing music that I liked with no criteria, and it got too long for my liking. So, this list only includes stuff from 10 or more years that I watched/played.

There's probably more.. but I don't remember them right now.

Anime/Animation

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters - I think I enjoyed every soundtrack, but I know that the english theme song slaps. I don't care what anyone says, the voice actors and soundtracks created for english dub is iconic. Joey Wheeler is iconic. Everyone in this children's show about a card game is iconic. Even Tristan.

Barbie - Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, Barbie and the Diamond Castle. nostalgic, screams to my girly soul. Lots of fond memories with them.

Kung Fu Panda - The first movie.

Pokemon The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1999) - The American version. I don't know enough about music theory, but the leitmotif((s)?)) used for this movie? Perfection.

Dramas

My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho - this is a korean drama from 2010. It made me very happy when the OST was finally available on spotify.

Iljimae (2008) - a historical korean drama. It is, to this day, a drama I highly favor. The soundtrack created for it is beautiful and is used so well with the scenes from the drama. It is probably a huge factor on why I enjoyed it so much.

You're Beautiful (2009) - unrelated but I had a childish crush on one of the characters, Jeremy. Which in turn lead me to have a crush on the actor, Lee Hong Ki. He is the lead vocalist for the band F.T. Island.

Artists/Musicians/Bands

Vocaloid Producers - wowka, ryo, hachi (Kenshi Yonezu), DECO*27, Neru , there are songs from other producers but they are the most memorable ones to me. I don't follow vocaloid anymore, though I still like to revisit the older songs.

K-Pop 2nd Generation to Early 3rd Generation- 2NE1, Girls Generation (SNSD), TEEN TOP, SHINee, Wonder Girls, Brown Eyed Girls, these are only a few mentions. Second generation of kpop is from 2005 to like 2011. The times back then for K-pop were a little more... vibrant if I remember it right. Experimental, eccentric and stark eye liner, but with matching iconic songs. The ones I can recommend off the top of my head are 'I Got A Boy' from Girls Generation. That one is fun. I heard someone describe it to be similar to Bohemian Rhapsody with it's organized chaos. SHINee 'Replay' and- y'know what here: Old Legendary Kpop Songs.

Games

Persona 4 - I started with Persona 4 with a game play video on Youtube. I remember downloading my favorite soundtracks (shout out to Youtube To MP3) to listen to on my way to school when I finally owned a phone like 3 years later. Can you believe I haven't played the game itself until last year?

Super Mario Bros Melee - The only 3-ish consoles I ever had when I was young were the game cube, Wii and the 3ds. I am listing this one because unfortunately, I never got to play any of the independent games that the soundtracks were from even though I heavily enjoyed them.

Sonic Heroes - The sound effects along with the stage themes really scratched an itch somewhere in my brain. I never got to finish it though. I didn't have that save thing for the game cube so I played every game the furthest I could until it powered off. That means I never got to unlock all the characters for melee.

Super Mario Galaxy - I finished this one! What I said for this is short but the soundtrack is wonderful.

Wii Sports - There's nothing to explain here.

Team Fortress 2 - why is this here, more importantly, why is there 3 versions of My Gun

[childofaura]

How about Todd Habberkorn? (I hope I wrote his surname correctly XD) And Happy New Year!

It's just one B, but it's such a unique last name and I'm absolutely sure I've misspelled it a few times too XD But also Happy New Year to you too!

So Todd Haberkorn plays M!Morgan, Joshua, and Siegbert. He's also famously known for playing Ling in FMA:B and Natsu from FairyTail and Death the Kid (lots of well known roles), and other roles that are my favorite of his are Sho Minazuki from Persona Ultimax, and one of the twins from Ouran High School whose name escapes me right now.

Ok, performance-wise, I'm gonna get this out of the way. When Todd was first brought into FEH to play M!Morgan and Joshua... it was bad. BUT I DON'T BLAME HIM BECAUSE WHOEVER WAS DOING THE VOICE DIRECTING AT THE TIME WAS FUCKING IT UP FOR A LOT OF ACTORS. Like I mentioned before, Bryce Papenbrook, Antony Del Rio, and Greg Chun (yes I know I said Greg Chun has issues with his own acting, but in part I DO blame a good chunk of it on whoever was voice directing him, too) all are actors who actually have a history of being great fucking actors. But his M!Morgan and Joshua were so flat, especially M!Morgan, my baby boy! And I'm not saying any of this to be mean, I LOVE Todd Haberkorn! I met him at a con in 2018 and I got his signature, which is still hanging up in my room (Along with Johnny Yong Bosch's signature). But damn if he wasn't screwed over by the voice director when he first came to FEH. However, it DID get better when he became the new voice for Siegbert. Even though I mentioned before that I'm more partial to David Stanbra's Siegbert (and we already went into a spiel about Stanbra on Xander Mobus's critique so I'm not doing that again, lol), Todd was a great pick as a replacement and his voice started emoting more, giving Siegbert that mild and slightly insecure tone. And finally, FINALLY, when we got the fallen Morgans and summer Joshua, we got to hear great performances for those characters! Oh and don't even get me STARTED on Ascended Joshua, that performance makes me blush. So overall, his performance is great, he just got screwed over in the beginning with that awful voice direction. Wait until we get Metody, then we'll REALLY get a great performance from him.

I think he fits all his characters perfectly, Todd has a very distinct voice that works in his favor for playing younger characters, just like Yuri Lowenthal.

Now range... again, I HATE to be so mean to Todd, but just because I love him doesn't mean I should be biased or overlook honest critique. Todd's range IS very limited, due to his distinct voice. Even though it's a perfect voice for voice-acting and his emotional performance is fantastic, his voice isn't exactly a great voice for range. Does he make up for it with inflection and emotion? Hell yeah, and that's what sets him apart from other VAs who might struggle with range. Although, even though I'm not super familiar with it, I heard he played some older character in Drakengard 3 (hope I spelled that right myself) which surprised the heck out of me when I looked it up.

All in all, Todd is a good comfortable 8/10. I adore his work and I hate that he got screwed over by the bad voice directing when I KNOW his voice acting is top-quality.

[miano-oscarwilde]

Tagged by @i-hate-liking-batman 💕 again thanks for the tag, I like these activities.

✔️10 characters, 10 fandoms, 10 tags. Here you go-

1. Gaap Goemon ❤️ Mairimashita Iruma kun

Anyone who follows me probably know that he's my #1 favourite character. I love him so much. I spend hours doing something for this fictional character, even though it consumes my time and energy. But in the end, I feel happy. He's the most handsome guy in my eyes. He is sweet and cute, cooks and serves food for everyone, rescues the weak and takes care of them. His love is unconditional. I should stop here or this post would end up talking only about him!

2. Teufel Shaoron 😈💕- Makai no shuyaku wa ware ware da

Chubby cheeked Shaoron ❤️ he is a true High school boy. He reminds me of naughty ones at school. I can also see myself in him sometimes, having a rival who doesn't even know I've proclaimed them as my rival lol.. trying to be the best, getting into trouble, problems with best friends, goofing around..how is this different from a real high school? I love his fashion and bubbly nature ❤️ He makes mistakes, most of the time being naughty but he's a good boy. That's what a real boy his age is like.

3. Doraemon ❤️

Though I don't post about Doraemon, I love him and I love the whole show. It's heart touching, the relationship between Doraemon and Nobita. Nobita being an emotionally rich boy, his comfort is always Doraemon. This show has such a big emotional value. Doraemon is that friend who awaits him in his room eating dorayaki and the boy forgets all his school struggles and embraces his brother ❤️ there are no boundaries between them. I love Doraemon.

4. Kengo Asamura ❤️🥰- Monochrome Factor

A lot of people don't know Monochrome Factor. If you do, you're my friend. I love this manga and I love Kengo ❤️ He's like a caring big brother. Has been my comfort character for a long time. He's cheerful and cute, voiced by Hiroshi kamiya. His best friend is Akira Nikaido voiced by Daisuke Ono, who enters into a contract with a shadow man called shirogane voiced by Junichi suwabe. The trio is here right? MF is also an amazing fantasy High school story. In the end Kengo sacrifices his life (manga) but in the anime he's alive and I wish to believe that.

5. King Julien 👑

The king of Madagascar! He appears in his own series All Hail king Julien and in The penguins of Madagascar and Madagascar movies as well. Like Shaoron, king Julien is also a very realistic portrayal of humans. He's not at all perfect but he's just perfect to be loved, to kin yourself with and he conquers your heart like a king! He doesn't have the typical qualities of a king nor he tries to live up to others expectations. He rules the Kingdom his own way by not sacrificing his hobbies and interests. I want to be like him. We should all learn from him. We don't have to sacrifice everything for the sake of something great. We should be ourselves.

6. Naruto uzumaki 🥹❤️- Naruto, Naruto shippuden, spin off, Boruto

Naruto 🥰❤️ he made my childhood days magical. I heard the word ninja for the first time in Naruto. I first watched the English dub before getting access to internet and streaming sites. It took me a period of years to finish everything and I consider it as a personal record ☺️ Boruto is ongoing and I watch it too but my favourite is always Naruto. Especially the child Naruto who is naughty, stubborn and cheerful.

7. Xerxes Break 🍭🍬🍫- Pandora Hearts

Break is my favourite character from Pandora Hearts. ❤️ He is sweet toothed, wears fancy clothes and has the kind of fantasy vibe that inspires me. He is goofy despite carrying a burden in his heart and in his conversation with Oz about the Abyss he asks him something. "Did it(abyss) look like a broken toy box?" That touched me. That's the whole spirit of Pandora Hearts. A dystopian Alice in Wonderland ❤️

8. Kagura ❤️ - Inuyasha

Kagura is my favourite from Inuyasha. She's an antagonist but I love her. I wish she lived and married Sesshomaru or lived the life she wanted, free like the wind. I love her line " I am the wind, the free wind". She is so beautiful and I think as a little girl I fell in love with her.

9. Pratheek 🥰🍭 - Ra. One

He's the protagonist of the Indian musical movie Ra. One that focuses on a hero and villain from a game coming to life. The villain Ravan is after "Lucifer" (pratheek) the player who defeats him always, when he comes to life. Pratheek is the son of the video game developer. He reminds me of Shaoron.

10. Anjali ❤️😘 - kuch kuch hota hai

Also from Indian movie. Anjali played by my favourite actress Kajol, is one of my favourite tomboy characters. I love her so much 💝

I still have more favorite characters in the shows I mentioned but the rule says one character from 10 shows. Thank you again ❣️ and I tag

@jemimacatclover @reddsprite @summerflower3 @pursonsoisooi @agarespicero @slavic-brock @rufusvarma @shaoron @gaia56s @csoisoi @yuurishibuyademonking @cyanwyrmie @madmarchhare @anonymousless-nes @tomikerujisari and anyone who wants to join ❤️ please feel free to tag me I might have skipped someone very important that's because I'm tired RN but if you like this game please join ❤️ feel free to ignore too 🥰

[shihalyfie]

This is an incredibly random question, but have you ever seen Japanese Digimon fans discuss the American dub music? I remember my tiny teen mind was blown when I realized we'd been missing out on Butter-fly on this side of the Pacific.

As far as I've been able to tell, they don't tend to discuss the American dub much, and to be honest, I don't think they really care that much...overall awareness of it seems to be pretty low other than "it's nice that Digimon is so well-loved around the world," although I have had someone refer to the infamous Angela Anaconda short as "legendary", and the other person I mentioned from the infamous oolong tea incident who knew of the reason why everyone kept memeing about beef jerky shakes and, uh, was not amused. (They referred to it as "a huge sin" on behalf of the American English dub, considering it part of Western insensitivity about Asian tea, and had concerns about whether people were going to project that on tri. and Kizuna's oolong tea depictions...) There's one official Digimon book that gushes about how great it is that Digimon is in other countries and even talks about the name changes, but, amusingly, it reads Yolei's name wrong, which may or may not be an accidental statement about how that name change completely defeated the purpose of accessibility, but its framing of it was definitely in a positive light. I also know Kakudou himself kept an eye on the American dub's episode naming and spoke positively about it making pop culture references (since he himself is into Western pop culture, and Adventure/02 are full of his tributes to a lot of Western cinema he likes even in the Japanese version), to the point he almost named a Japanese 02 episode after an American Adventure one, but on the flip side, a certain Tamers writer kept filling a certain infamous blog with nitpicks about how much he hated certain name/terminology changes in its dub, so it seems like there's some degree of awareness of what's going on, but it depends on the person and how much they care.

I think, if you asked the average Japanese Digimon fan about how they feel about the Butter-Fly change, they probably would not be very happy about it, not because of the change in principle but because the pedestal Butter-Fly is put on is pretty huge in Japan (I mean, not that it's not in the international fanbase sections, but in Japan it's really a huge deal). Butter-Fly is a big deal not only among Digimon fans but also as a "legendary anime song" regardless of whether you know Digimon or not, to the point it shows up in basically every historical anime music festival on TV and continually ranks on the top 20 requested anime songs on karaoke machines every year, even to this day. Part of the reason Kizuna uses Butter-Fly untouched (I mean, besides Wada's unfortunate passing by that point) is that even so much as rearranging or covering it tends to incite controversy, and there were people even approaching the official Hatsune Miku cover with backlash (despite the fact it was never used for anything besides a merch collab), so I imagine something as drastic as the American English dub change could easily get someone ranting about disrespect.

Funnily enough, the one time I did see a Japanese fan directly reference American English dub music was not to do with Adventure but with Frontier -- there's a fanmade Frontier parody of the Persona 3 opening that uses the dub opening lyrics for the English flavor text. So I guess they thought that part was pretty cool!

[doorbloggr]

Sunday 25/9/21 - Media Recommendations #19

Contents:

Twilight Princess (Manga)

Dr Stone (manga/anime)

Lately, I have had a lot I want to write about on this blog, but lack that activation energy to actually start writing an article. Ideally I will at least word vomit more onto the blog in the coming week or so, because I have the topics in mind, just unsure how to start any of it.

Media Consumption has also slowed to a crawl, but I'm getting back into it. This week I wanna discuss a manga series I've been reading slowly as it has released, and an anime I have long been reading the manga for.

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Manga)

Akira Himekawa

Zelda fans have a unique schism between their fans that many other longer running series may not experience. Because most games star a relatively unique cast of characters, a unique spin on the world, gameplay, and even artistic style, what your favourite in the series is will throw you into a hard debate against fans of other games. There's this post i saw somewhere(?) once where it was said your favourite Zelda game is the one that came out when you were 12, presumably because this is the one you experience first, or at least earlier in your Zelda journey, and I can completely relate to that.

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess was the first Zelda game I played, and it has been my number 1 or 2 in the series consistently. Compared to the games that came before it, it was darker, had a richer world, and just a grander scope. But today I'm not here to explain the game, I'm here to talk about the manga.

Akira Himekawa is a pseudonym for a pair of female manga artists that have been writing manga together since the early 90s, and I know them well for their Legend of Zelda adaptations. They have covered most of the main games everyone knows, Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask, A Link to the Past, and even a couple volumes of Four Swords Adventures. Their most recent work has also been the most long and in depth adaptation, my first Zelda game, Twilight Princess.

Like all of their Zelda adaptations, Akira Himekawa's Twilight Princess follows all the same plot beats as the main games. The order places are visited, the main characters Link encounters, the dungeons and their bosses, but the mangaka add... more to the world. Link has a deeper back story explaining what led to the start of the adventure. What in the games are essentially blank slate NPCs become characters in their own rights with personalities and arcs and motivations. The Twilight Realm, which is essentially just a dungeon in the game, is fleshed out as its entire world, with society, and lore.

In the game, Link is cool, and a bit of a himbo, but the manga's take on him is so much more interesting. He's a brooding edge lord, with a damaged past. He's a do-gooder, but he's also flawed and suffers from caring too much. Link is a character full of regrets who constantly bounces between "become a hero to prevent the atrocities of the past coming back" and "give up so that you don't make things worse". I understand that the games leave Link as a blank slate so that players can fill in their own ideals, but seeing Link as a fully fleshed character with his own motivations is cool as hell.

The supporting cast is similarly fleshed out compared to the game's take. Zelda, Illia, and Midna have complex motivations and evolving personalities. Midna was already a great character, but the manga truly does not skip out on making her deep and interesting. The "Resistance", for those who've played the game, are all multilayered characters now, all with arcs that are actively explored as they actually go help Link on his adventures, instead of just telling him info and leaving him to it. The dungeons do not take nearly as much plot time as they do in the games, essentially minimal theme building and then boss, but this works better for the format in my opinion.

If you like high fantasy manga, or are just a Zelda fan, I highly recommend this series. I haven't finished reading it, but Book 9, which I think is the final in the series, has recently been released in English. Obviously playing the game first is a good background, but I think you could 100% enjoy the series without it.

Edit: Finished book 9 and there's definitely at least one more book to go.

Dr Stone (anime/manga)

Inagaki, Boichi; TMS Entertainment

Ok so must I remember wrong because I thought I recommended this one, but apparently I never talked about Dr Stone before, which is a complete travesty. But now I am both up to date with the manga and most of a season deep into the anime, and I have A LOT to talk about.

As those who have also read my dinosaur blogposts will understand, I am a big science nerd. Biology, palaeontology, space, chemistry, it's all so interesting, and sometimes I struggle to understand how a passion for science is not a universal human experience. I share that in common with the main character of a manga I've been reading for maybe a year now, Dr Stone.

In Dr Stone, the world of 21st Century humanity is brought crashing to a halt when a bright wave of mysterious light blankets the entire planet, and everywhere on the entire globe, humans have been turned to stone. 3700 years later, a young man who has kept his mind active within the stone forces himself awake and breaks out. Around him, nature has reclaimed the Earth and millennia of human progress has been all but buried.

Senku is a young man of science, and spent years obsessing over every scientific domain he could comprehend in order to one day travel to space. In this stone world, armed with this wealth of science progress in his mind, Senku begins efforts to restart the scientific age, and free every single person frozen in stone. He starts with a mysterious acid that breaks down the stone. Then he develops tools, machinery, electricity, and eventually, he wants to push humanity back to the space age within his lifetime. Senku may be a know it all, but knowledge only gets you so far. Thanks to the allies he makes, a wealth of expertise will be harnessed to bring his dream to fruition.

Dr Stone is a must read for anyone who enjoys Scifi. Although the rate at which progress is made seems absurd, every single scientific process the kingdom of science works on is real science. Although post apocalyptic themes establish the base for the story and the supernatural force that turned humanity to stone is the main adversary, Dr Stone is a very scientific story based on real Earth and its just... exhilarating!

The scope of the story begins on the small scale in primitive villages, but the story eventually reaches a global scale. There are adversaries at each step, those who wish to rule the Stone World with might, free of the tyranny science had in our age, and there are also those who wish to use science as its own form of might, but Senku and his allies want to use science for the benefit of everyone. So that one day, all of humanity will be restored, and that eventually, he will get to moon.

I will refrain from speaking any further on story specifics because you really should experience the plot for yourself. So I will end with the presentation itself. The art and format of the manga are beautiful. Character designs are rugged, stylised, and exciting, it's very easy to determine what a character is all about just by their unique appearance.

In the last week, I have begun watching the anime, as it has been long enough since I started reading that I can experience parts of the plot anew. The anime is very beautifully made, the world is lush and beautiful, and characters move in such a fun and interesting way. I'm watching the English dub, and characters sound exactly like the voices I had for them in my head.

If you have even an inkling of interest in Dr Stone after reading what I've said today, you should definitely experience the story for yourself, 1 billion percent.

[tricewithaz]

THOTS ON SHADOW AND BONE

Hello everyone! it is I, Trice, and i come with my thoughts on the Shadow and Bone show cause ive got many

I'm gonna divide this in what i liked, what i disliked, and what i think could have been better but didn't really bother me. Feel free to send your opinions too!

As a whole, I really liked the show and I think it's a great adaptation that both fans and newcomers will enjoy. It's super well done! and every episode had me glued to the tv even though I knew what was going to happen.

Beware this is long

To start,

What i liked

Mal and Alina

I never really liked Mal in the books, mainly cause he had like, nothing going on for him, and not having his pov made him no favors whatsoever. Alina's perception of him was everychanging, two factors that didn't make him unlikeable necessarily, but that made me not want to read about him. In the show he's way more likeable and even though he still doesn't have a lot going on for him, you can see that he's always trying to protect alina, and you also see a bit of his demeanor through Archie's acting. I think he made a great job at portraying him. And Alina! Alina who in the books was essentially a y/n sort of character (although she did get better over time), her character, likes, dislikes, her DRIVE was incredibly portrayed in the show. Also Jessie (loml, marry me) and Archie have incredible chemistry together and they sold their yearning SO WELL (and so did the kid actors portraying them as children oh my GOD)...yall...i cried when they held hands. My favourite scene was definitely when Alina took care of Mal's wounds (a favorite trope of mine). And the HURT in their eyes whenever they thought the other was in danger....i saw the show dubbed but I'm sure their voices made it beyond incredible as well, their face acting was just on. point. Overall the show rEALLY makes me root for them both individually and together which is something the books didn't manage to do.

The Darkling

AAAAA i really enjoyed the Darkling omg, incredible charisma, Ben does such a great job (and so did his voice actor in Spanish oh my GOD). His acting was just as I imagined it in the books and i loved how he could be as sweet and mysterious as he could be menacing. In fact! i liked him more than i did in the book, and i think it was a great choice to make him more human. I'm not sure if this was Ben or the writing, but i could really see his yearning for an equal, for Alina, his loneliness and his thirst for power and control too. Great love interest, even greater villain. And his wardrobe was phenomenal. I also really liked how they implied that The Darkling was a name given by other people, it was very believable that people would call someone who literally controls shade something akin to "son of the dark" or something of the sort, instead of it being a name he gives himself or his job title (both if which are incredibly pathetic and cringy to think about).

Jesper

No comments. He was just great. I love Kit.

Nina

Omg Danielle did SUCH a great job at portraying Nina, it's exactly how i imagined her in Six of Crows.

Helnik

THE. YEARNING. THE. CHEMISTRY. I didn't love their scenes at the boat but once that was over I was practically screaming at the screen to jUST KISS ALREADY. Calahan and Daniell have such good chemistry together and the few changes they made only served the story better. I did wish they had development over more time cause Matthias' change of mind felt too quick, but i get why they had to rush. Because of how good their chemistry was, their fallout also was incredibly painful.

Inej's fear of the Menagerie and her morals

Amita's portrayal of Inej's hurt, devotion and her refusal to kill (and later hurt cause she has killed) is incredibly subtle but so SO effective. She's so talented really and truly sold Inej's feelings throughout the show.

VFX

Man.....the fold, the volcra, the grisha powers.....kudos to the animators and overall artistic team cause they were incredible. Also seeing the different title animations in each episode was such a tiny detail that made me so excited and they all looked so good.

Ketterdam

Again, kudos to the artistic team, everything about Ketterdam felt so alive (and weirdly moist), truly sold a kind of aesthetic and life that is so characteristic if the Barrel, even when i didn't imagine it that way in the books.

David

He appeared like, twice, and both times were so cute and charming I can't wait to see more of him both on his own and with Genya.

The Wardrobe

So, at first i hated the keftas. I thought the looked tacky and costume, but when you see them on screen they're just perfect (although i have to say the patterns on some of the keftas were kind of...cheap looking? and the training keftas were just kinda boring. My favourite was the Darkling's. Aside from that, i really liked Kaz's and inej's clothes too. Very distinctive and recognizable (although it was kind of weird seeing Inej in teal instead of purple lmao).

And the queen's dresses. Chefs kiss.

It's...so cheesy (affectionate)

The whole show felt like the kind of movies I would watch as a kid like Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. The writing was stylized enough to make it incredibly dramatic and overall there was just so much heart behind all of it. Definetely a show to watch again and again and feel all of it, cause that's what it being so cheesy managed, to make me actually feel for it. It feels like something to watch on a rainy afternoon after a bad day....it's great okay i really enjoyed it, even (specially) the most unbelievable parts of it. And here's the thing, it's something that i think a lot of newer tv and film have lost, so this is good.

What i didn't like

Zoya

Mostly cause of the writing. Originally, in the first book, i didn't like her, neither as a character (stereotypical mean girl with no other motivation than to bang the love interests....all three of them....what's new i still think it's an incredibly sexist trope) or a person (hey at least this was intentional), but over time i grew to LOVE her (mean girl turns out to have a good heart and actually respects the mc and decides to fight alongside her cause it's what's right, without necessarily liking her or giving up her character??? AND she has strong motivations??? now THAT'S new). In the show, i hoped they would keep her mean girl nature while foreshadowing her depth, but all they did was turn her into a petty seductress with barely any screentime, and that only makes her not even a bad antagonist but just a boring character to watch. Not only that but they took away a big part of her character that needed to be developed in the next books. I wanted to watch her rivalry with Alina, her unjustified venomous tongue too, I wanted to be entertained by her and I wasn't. This was also a problem cause when she finally changed teams, and when she hugged Alina, it was incredibly unsatisfying, it would have had a way stronger effect if we had seen her being Ruthless Zoya with a big ambition. I also didn't like how we were told that she didn't like alina, or that she had a family, instead of it being shown on screen. Just from the show, all i can tell you about her is that she likes to bang people and she has a good moral code i guess. Yall, I'm so petty about this.

Kaz

So, I didn't hate him, in fact i think I would have enjoyed him if I hadn't read the books first, cause the two things that bother me about him were two essential characteristics of him in the books. FIrstly, he seems so strained, instead of the seemingly laid back, almost chill looking (even though we know he's not chill at all) Kaz we see in the books, the Kaz that always knows something that you don't. Show Kaz doesn't seem to always be in control, to always have the last word, the last laugh. Instead he seems strained, all the damn time. And I think this is mainly a writing and directing issue. And he also seems weak, something Book Kaz would never do. This is also an issue cause because he doesn't have the same presence he has in the books, the times where he is weak, don't seem as effective. Sure, Pekka Rollins has essentially reduced him and humiliated him, but I haven't seen enough of Kaz being actually dangerous for this to be shocking and for Pekka to seem even more hateable (and, i really liked Pekka, loved him as an antagonist more than i did in the books). Idk, Kaz was so charismatic and just fun and engaging to read in the books that his portrayal in the show felt lacking.

Alina's power's VFX

The little suns were cute and all but the light coming from within her was just ugly I'm sorry.

SFX

A lot of the sound design was just too stylized for the tone of the show i think. I particularly remember the sound of Mal's punches....what's that about.

What i think could have been better, but didn't particularly dislike

The Crows' storyline

And i think part of this is a consequence of Kaz not being as witty as he was in the books. Where's the incredibly complicated heist moves? the even more unbelievable C and D plans when something goes wrong? I didn't like that them getting Alina was essentially just luck, cause i didn't see enough of them being smart and quick on their feet. I also think it was unnecessary to have their storyline mixed with Alina's, i would have enjoyed watching a different heist, maybe in Ravka as well, and them incidentally crossing paths with Alina, more than i liked this storyline. ironically enough, the heist was the part i was least interested in

Genya and Alina

I just feel like her relationship with Alina wasn't strong enough, and i think it's because the show tried to make us believe they were much closer than they were without spending the necessary time in them.

Overall, I really really enjoyed the show, i will be watching it again (particularly cause i want to watch it in English) and i cannot wait for the second season omg (although i have to say, I'm scared for Nikolai)

I think that's all! I would also love to read yall's opinions and have a conversation.