#I will probably be live blogging it here and taking like. thousands of screenshots lol

[fitzselfships]

I am so sorry for the person I will become when episode 3 is released (< I will be annoying)

[chixibrown]

Upon finishing the Stardew Valley comic

Since the Stardew Valley comic has been released by Fangamer, I am now able to write about what I had been doing in secret for one long year.

■ Gratitude

First of all, to the original creator Eric-san who entrusted the task in my hands, to Kari-san who helped me from early development all the way to printing, to Ryan-san, to Steven-san who did the translations, to Kari-san's mother who assisted in the creation of the envelope, to Erica-san for product photography -- And last but not least, everyone at Fangamer and FangamerJP.

It's thanks to the support of many people that I was able to finish the comic, and I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude towards everyone involved.

■ Chronology

"Chihiro! Big News! Let's create a new merch together!" was a request that I received around autumn of 2018. At first I was wondering if I was going to be asked to design a T-shirt, but turned out to be an invitation to draw a comic book!

At that time, I was posting comics on Twitter at random. Not even in my wildest dreams have I thought that my little comics would be appreciated so, and thus I immediately burst into tears.

I'm very honored and thankful for the opportunity to pen Fangamer's very first comic.

■ Contents

I'll try not to spoil anything about the story in this section.

The content requested by the original creator Eric-san for the comic was: "The story before the farmer comes to the farm" "With focus on the community center and Joja" "And the protagonist should have no set characteristics"

These were really the ONLY information that we received from Eric-san throughout the whole process (whyyy).

I was definitely worried. In reality, for around six months when I did my preliminary research, I played Stardew Valley every day, took countless pictures, and absorbed myself in collecting materials.

I I ended up taking a little over 20 thousand screenshots total (lol).

I wholeheartedly agree with Eric-san's guideline not to give the protagonist any set characteristics. I think one of the keypoints of this game is that "Anyone can be the protagonist".

The story is set from a few years before the prologue of game, so I was rather careful not to show my own personal interpretation. In principle, the actions of the characters were mostly taken from their in-game dialogue where they mention having done something in the past (For example, the reason Sam got in trouble lmao).

It took a lot of effort outlining the story, which involved things such as "Which characters would be in contact with each other?" and "Which characters may not be present at the valley at the time?". This is the reason why the preliminary research took around six months.

By the way, I was the one who proposed to include a "letter" with the comic, both as a bonus and major spoiler, in a way. But uh, many fellow Japanese may not be able to read it, so... I'll secretly tell you the what's actually written on the letter:

It's the handwritten version of THE letter you receive in the English version of the game's prologue. It's in your hands now. So in conclusion, it's probably exactly what you think it was.

I was quite adamant about how the letter needs to be handwritten. And as who wrote it... I shall keep it a secret here.

The reason why the comic had little to no dialogue is because it was the style I had back from the time I was drawing Stardew Valley fan art. Since Stardew Valley is a media not originally from Japan, that style serves to fulfill my two wishes: "I want people all over the world to be able to read my work" and "I want to cherish the feelings of each individual player" -- That sort of idea, really.

To summarize,

"I want people all over the world to be able to read my work"

"I want to preserve the unique interpretations each individual player might have"

"Anyone can become a Stardew Valley protagonist"

I drew the comic with these concepts in mind.

■ About me

I would like to talk about my experiences throughout the development of the comic.

My name is Chihiro Sakaida (a.k.a. Brown Junimo), I was already working for a game company, so I took advantage of that experience to work on game design and illustration.

Of course, while I was working on the Stardew Valley comic, I was a freelancer and had other jobs to worry about as well, so I ended up spending a lot of time working on the comic at night after work. I also studied digital art for a month for the sake of the comic, and I think it helped improved my work efficiency.

Those were truly, very fun days for me. The only thing that did bother me was the fact that even though I was working on my favorite Stardew Valley content day after day, I couldn't really share it with anyone.

I didn't want to take the risk of accidentally running my mouth on Twitter, and I no longer had the time to draw and post online like I used to -- So I had to resort to posting only low-risk tweets, so to speak, and to be honest, it was quite disheartening.

As such, I felt truly supported by the trusted individuals who knew about the comic. Tori-san, Aki-san, Kari-san, and Ryan-san, thank you so, so much.

■ Those who supported me

Tori-san is my partner, and also a person I respect as a novelist and screenwriter. She kindly and carefully reviewed and summarized my messy story.

Aki-san knew about the comic existed, but also knew next to nothing about it. Because of that, I think it was more than a handful to support me. It must've been really hard on Aki-san, who didn't know the contents of the book and thus had no way to accidentally spoiling the surprise, but whom also probably held even more feelings of shame than I did in regards to social media... I'm sorry that you've had to put up with so much. I was very proud to have you be the first reader of the finished book.

Kari-san is the illustrator of the Official Stardew Valley Guide Book, and I respect her a whole lot.

Both her work are her personality are very kind and easy-going. Together with her partner Ryan-san, she's managed to assist and encourage me many, many times.

No matter what I drew, I was sure to be greeted with her "Chihiro, you're so great!" or "Chihiro, you really did your best!" (Even my own mother have never praise me this much!) Overall, she feels just like an older sister I've always longed for, and it makes me very happy.

No matter what merch was in the process of being created, she would say "Let's make a brown one!!", solely because it's my signature color. It makes me very happy, although probably a tiny bit embarrassed as well to have her value my one schtick this much. She's even came to Japan many times, and listened to me talk all day long. After all, I wouldn't have been able to get this job to begin with if it wasn't for Kari-san, so she's a real lifesaver.

I didn't get to talk directly with Eric-san, the original creator and developer of Stardew Valley. Obviously I received some feedback via Fangamer, but I was refraining from being in contact with him as much as possible. I didn't think I could convey my full sincerity towards him before the comic was completed. I strived to be able to earnestly understand the feelings he wanted to convey via his own words -- Whether it was the game dialogues, his words on the developer blog and interviews, etc.

There was, by the way, no revision whatsoever to the comic. Eric-san did, however, carefully check all of my ideas and always provided words of appreciation; which made me happier than anything else. Those words became my motivation to live, in a sense, which in turn allowed me to freely and happily work on the comic.

■ Going Forward

While I've been talking about how proud I am to have finished the comic, I also would like to talk about what's coming next. While I certainly plan to continue working with Fangamer for the foreseeable future, at the same time, I have also decided to work for another game development company, and I plan to devote my time working on game development for at least the next year.

It has been my dream for the past 15 years to work for this particular company, and I'm elated to see it come true.

However, as a result I think I will have less exposure to social media. I don't think it's going to be easy to recreate that warm and wondrous time where I could interact with people regularly, but my memory of that time is something I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I'm really sorry that I have absolutely nothing to give back, but I sincerely hope the comic has brought a smile to everyone who's read or even merely noticed it.

■ Finally

I'm such a fortunate person -- I've come this far due to everyone's support, and for that, I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude. Thank you so much, for everything, always.

It would delight me if all of you could stay with me from this point on.

As I try to polish my skills and improve myself as a whole.

PS: Thanks to my best friend Ryou-chan for translating this!

[kuiinncedes]

All Kinds of Memes!

Thanks for the tag @slipping-through-my-fingertips!! 🥰 (I’m just gonna post it here bc I like the ✨vibes✨ more and I’m pretty sure I said that exact thing another time I put a tag game on this blog when I was tagged on my main so,,,,,,, anyway)

10 songs meme

Rules: You can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to! Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs and then tag 10 people! No skipping!

“The Archer” live from Paris - Taylor Swift

“Chandelier” - Glee Cast

“Love Song” - Glee Cast

“All I Want Is You” - Kevin McHale

“Blame It On The Alcohol” - Glee cast

“Any Way You Want It/Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’” - Glee Cast

“Come What May” - Glee Cast

“It’s Not Unusual” - Glee Cast

“A Thousand Years” - Glee Cast

“I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” - idk is this technically Zayn ft. Taylor 

Wow Spotify said i’m just gonna play solely glee songs rn lmao

7 albums meme

Rules: Make an image HERE of your top 7 albums, just type in the name and select the alb. This can be too 7 of all time or this year or whatever you’d like.

Idk just some albums I like i guess 😂 realistically the most that I listen to is Taylor Swift and glee ofc lol but yeah 😗✌️

Check in meme

1. How has your day been? fine, i did really badly on my math quiz but apparently i don’t care about my grades anymore so i’m not upset about it lmao oof

2. What’s the last thing that made you smile? idk probably something on tumblr 

3. What’s keeping your entertained these days? tumblr lmao also fanfiction and rewatching glee 🥴

4. If you’re in some kind of quarantine/self-isolation what do you hope to achieve in this time? i guess i’m in quarantine bc i don’t go anywhere 😂 just school and homework ldsjajkdfal;fj

5. Post selfie, if you’re comfortable doing so: idk if i want to but i never take selfies anyway so i don’t have one 😂

Phone images meme

Phone Background  

My home screen photo quality is so bad lmao rip sorry Tina ;-;

Last Song 

Current song??

Last photo I saved

Lol other than those screenshots I just took it’s this 🤪

Tagging: @gorgxoxus @kurtanaaa @justgleekout @sugarcarnation @porcelain-nightbird if yall want and you can choose which ones to do/not to do or whatever 😋 also anyone who wants to do this I tag you! 😁

[llzehs]

Be aware of jon-heel-moxley, a hate blog in the name of being a Dean fan

Since I got mostly psychos blocked on tumblr, I myself missed this. A follower brought my attention to it and usually I ignore pathetic creeps with no real life who spent all their time obsessing over others on internet (and with not more than 7 or 8 followers in total LOL) but I’m particularly addressing this cuz ever since I made an anon tumblr account to use on my phone (where no one is blocked), I have been seeing this one nutcase constantly polluting Dean tags with their never ending negativity, whining and bitching and I’m always like, ‘no fucking wonder Dean hates some of his fans.’

Surprise! That’s the same nutcase who’s screenshots are these from. 😂😂😂 I also realized this is the person who was sending me all that anon hate. And warning for you Ambrollins shippers/writers, if you are getting anon hate, this might be the creep sending you that.

Anyways, I was tempted to drag this nutcase for being such a whiner and always posting screenshots and name dropping blogs and writers and shippers behind their backs despite the fact that they themselves have a whole damn blog dedicated to being a creepily obsessive shipper. But I never did so, cuz I try my best to avoid getting into any kind of drama that doesn’t involve me directly. 

jon-heel-moxley, you are a goddamn psycho who is obsessed with negativity and think you are some kind of a moral compass or police around here. When you are nothing but a pathetic miserable loser who needs to find a real life and stop being such an obsessive creep spreading hate all the time bout everything and nothing. You bitch and whine and moan bout people who don’t even acknowledge your existence. Instead of blocking content that isn’t your cup of tea you sit on your computer and spend your whole day obsessing over shit that shouldn’t affect your life so much. And if it does, you honestly need to ask yourself what is your mental state. I honestly feel sad at how royally pathetic one person can be. How this is all your online life exist of. You can easily focus on being a Dean fan and celebrating him, but all you do is bitch bout other fans and shippers. The only thing that can help the kinds of you is to GO GET A LIFE.

People like you give Dean fans a bad name. I dunno why someone need to be so obsessed with a celebrity to a point where they act like everyone need their permission to be fan of that certain person. And the saddest thing is the most annoying and unlikable people are usually the ones acting like this lmao. Hell I’m sure if Dean ever encounters you in real life, you’ll make him so uncomfortable he’ll run a mile from you. At least shippers respect someone’s personal boundaries, and can differentiate between character and the real person. Acting like a brat over opinions and fake ships and stuff that is clearly fiction doesn’t make you look like a cool fan, it makes you look like a creepy nutjob.

Your only problem was I raised some legit points bout the toxicity of Deanee stans who continue to disrespect Dean’s basic wish of privacy (which you felt personally since you are one of those creepy obsessive stans that I hate so much), and that you religiously hate Ambrollins and everyone who ships it. Even if they are careful shippers like me who acknowledge and avoid the toxic aspects of this ship. I was able to get a following here cuz of my well based opinions, and when idiots like you realize you can’t counter them (since you don’t have any brains), you do the shittest shit a person can do. But at least in your case, your reputation speaks for you. 

Renee is a performer, who I was a fan of. I have a right to criticize her like you all criticize every public figure. Like Renee herself criticizes others on her podcast. But creepy Deanee shippers who live so far up Renee’s ass just cuz she’s married to their fav wrestler, what can one expect from you anyways? You have no life of your own and hence think everyone should be a blind brainless idiot like you. You cannot comprehend simple things like some people are just not likable and 2 people are not linked with each other about everything just cuz they are married or dating. You are the same invasive idiot who claimed on Dean’s behalf how he loves Renee so much and would never leave her like you know him in real life and how his marriage works on daily basis and what’s in store of his and Renee’s future 😂 Dean, your fav wrestler, the most private person on earth, yeah go on claim quotes on his behalf and it doesn’t make you look like a psycho. (Mind you, I’m not saying Dean doesn’t love her and would ever leave her, that’s his wife who he married for a reason. I’m only saying if antis are psychos, so are creepy shippers like these who claim things like they are a part of these celebrities real lives and know bout future and what Dean’s feeling and wanting when Dean himself is extremely private and rarely expresses anything bout his personal life.)

People have been calling Seth a slut puppy and princess for years, but no one bats an eye. Dare anyone call Dean something in the shipping content when its clearly the trend around here, jump on them cuz your loser asses cannot use the brains you were given and all you can do in your life is throw bitchfits like the bitches that you are.

People have been writing bout Dean’s injury and death experience left and right, and it was also used to gain sympathy and tension on-screen, but yeah, come at my fics and writing. That makes you look really legit 😂 My fics probably make you cry thousand tears a day cuz its a ship you hate. You are the kind who’ll be kissing ass of a writer doing the same thing if they were doing it with your OTP, Thank goodness you attacked someone like me who’s fully confident and aware of psychos like you and can see right through your bullshit. 

Fiction, ships, everything fake, and that’s what pisses you off all the time? Really shows your skull is pretty empty. You know what’s whack whack whack? Your utter blind stupidity. You know who needs to stop and fuck off? Your psychotic ass. Learn to mind your own damn business or shut the fuck up. Like your pathetic loser ass is allowed to pollute Dean tags and tumblr with your constant whining and childish bullshit, every shipper and fan is allowed to spent their time on tumblr however they want. If you were even decent enough, I would actually sit back and think bout upsetting someone with my content. But your blog content is good enough reason to roll on the floor, drag your ass and go back to being what I am, and that’s a blog people actually enjoy. A blog that’s not filled with hatred and constant negativity.

Seriously, some of ya all need to take a look at your life and ask yourself what are you doing with your lives if bitching bout others is your daily main activity. You are one sad depressing human. I pity you.

Oh, and by the way, slutbrose rules 😎 I’m gonna go write down another Ambrollins fic using Dean’s injury as an angst plot 😎 Seth’s also Dean’s Daddy 😎 Renee is unfit for the commentary job 😎 I’ll continue to embarrass your pathetic loser bitter asses cuz your tears and obsession is hilarious to me 😎

🖕🏻 

[stormears]

Naruto Meme

Nobody tagged me for this. I do what I want. 

-

F A V O R I T E

Female Character - Sakura Haruno.

Male Character - Kakashi, Gaara, Sasori or Madara. 

Team - Team Kakashi. Or New Team Kakashi, since that version doesn’t have Sasuke in it. 

Sensei - Kakashi

Hokage - Tobirama.

Kage - Tobirama! Gaara is a close second. 

Village - I guess Konoha since most of my favorites are from there and it has pleasant and predictable sunny spring weather 95% of the year. 

Akatsuki Member - Sasori has been my fave for years, but I also really love Kakuzu. I have a Kakuzu rubber strap thing on my keys. 

Episode/Chapter -  Shippuden episodes 25 and 26, these are the well-animated Sasori vs Sakura episodes that highlighted one of Sakura’s best accomplishments across the whole story. I also liked that two-minute sequence in 322 where Edo Tensei’d Madara decimates the Shinobi Army. There’s a two-second shot in it of a female soldier holding a cross to her face and praying before the fight begins, which I think is one of the absolute best visual reminders that people are terrified of Madara. It had a much stronger impact than the endless power gimmicks or characters’ repeated poorly scripted exclamations of “wow he/this technique is so powerful.” 

Fight Scene - Sakura vs Sasori! Or Kakashi vs Hidan and Kakuzu. 

Fanfiction -  I love so many fanfictions. I’ve been creepily attached to fanfictions since I was 12. If I had to pick a favorite I gueeeess I’d go with He Had No Fingers by Gleam. Kyuubi is a monstrous, conscious-less god whose influence eats away at child Naruto easily. He takes over Naruto and then Konoha and the world is next. Made me woozy reading it the first time, I’ll never forget. 

Story Arc - Rescue Gaara Arc, I guess, but I don’t enjoy whole arcs as much as I do small, separate moments or scenes or even just manga pages in the story. 

Filler - Aren’t the movies filler? I kind of enjoy the third movie where Lee, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi act as bodyguards for a fat, lazy prince, his son, and the son’s saber-toothed circus tiger. 

What is your…

OTP (explain why) - I’m a crackshipping freak who builds 30k+ long stories and worlds to support romantic scenes of my weird ships, don’t ask me this. 

NoTP (without being a dick, explain why) - I do not like like Sasuke or Karin, and seeing them romantically together is not any improvement to me. I think that Sasuke never went through emotional growth or recovery and only changed his loyalties near the end of the war because Kishimoto was desperate, overworked, and weakly reaching for finish line, and many characters and story events reflected that reality. I waited years’ worth of manga chapters and episodes for him to change and by the time he did, I was long past buying it. Karin was a screechy, annoying brat from Day 1 and never improved her attitude or personality, but I didn’t enjoy seeing her used as a meat shield by Danzo, either. In short, two bad characters don’t make a good pairing. 

Crackship/s - My worst and favorite offenses are probably SasoSaku, since 2007-ish and MadaSaku since 2010. 

BroTP - This is barely present in my writing, but, kinda, Ino and Sakura. Maybe Kakuzu and Konan. 

OT3 - I don’t know what this means besides 3 characters I want to see having an orgy or engaged in a polygamous relationship? I guess I could be coerced into reading/liking those but there’s none in particular that I like consistently or remember offhand.

Crossover ship - I don’t crossover ship. Not opposed to it, the examples I’ve seen talked about briefly on tumblr (mostly in anime confession blogs) are intriguing, but I don’t have a ship like this myself. 

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

Do you have any headcanons? All sorts of assorted things. Ino’s mom is a civilian. Itachi WISHES he was a civilian or could retire and live a peaceful domestic life. Shino likes art and would read art/art criticism magazines if Naruto-land has those, and could be friends with Sai. Kisame loves boardgames and is a good sportsman in any game or sport he plays. Sakura likes to read non-fiction/informational books more than novels. Tenten loves horses. Kiba is really close to his sister but doesn’t want people outside the family knowing that because he’s scared other guys will make fun of him. Civilian children stay in school till roughly age 16, compared to the Ninja Academy graduating age of 12. 

Are you happy with the ending? Would you have done things differently? I’m not happy with it, but I’m also not invested in it enough to really care. It was always the characters, not the story, that drew me into Naruto (maybe just the basic skeletons of the characters at that, skeletons I could build onto and “fix” in fanfiction). To “do things differently” I would fix a lot more than the ending, though if I could erase ONE thing from the ending it would be the sudden prevalence of modern-day technology like skyscrapers, laptops and handheld video games. 

How do you feel about the Next Generation? Shrug. Boruto and Himawari are cute and remind me of me and my big brother a bit. I kinda liked the first few weeks of the manga’s ending, when there was still confusion about whether to call him Boruto or “Bolt,” because I was rooting for Bolt.  

Say something about your favorite character. Sakura Haruno had huge expanses of room for improvement in her ninjutsu, tactics, and respect given to her by other characters and by viewers and all of this was squandered by an author who had many other, bigger problems to deal with and was probably indifferent to her at best. She is safer in the hands of fans, of artists and writers, who treat her better and create better content about her than her creator did. She has been adopted by several thousand loving moms and a few dads and will be well cared for. 

What would a child between your OTP look like? Going for my crackships here again. SaoSaku child has red hair, but Sakura’s face and her mom’s outspoken attitude and a talent for musical instruments. MadaSaku child, lord, I don’t know. I like to think the pink or at least reddish hair would prevail but all laws of the universe say Uchiha black hair always wins. The child would, at least, have the thickest and most gorgeous head of hair in town. 

Say something genuinely nice about your NoTP.  Some people out there really like it, and it and content about it makes them happy in the way that my favorite ships make me happy, and that’s good stuff. Glad for them. 

Say something negative about your OTP. They’re groundless nonsense pairings that I would be embarrassed to ever acknowledge outside my tiny internet circles and both the men involved in those two pairings are canonically horrible people who ought to be stabbed.

Is there any way you could be convinced to ship your NoTP? I would need a fanfic, 5k+ length minimum, but I could go up to 20k, allowing time and space for them to calm down and recover from their respective traumas and get over their respective dumb bitch attitudes, and then slowly build a friendship that becomes a romance, ideally with a storyline and theme and a writing style that I could get behind. Not to mention the time of day to read a doorstop novella like that. 

What makes you mad about the series? The War Arc’s need to make every important character as powerful as possible crushed any sense of threat or disbelief. The constant upping of the stakes was annoying and came off as desperate (though I strongly believe that behind it was an overworked zombie Kishimoto mindlessly trying to fill that week’s page quota and wondering if he would ever have an actual life again).

If you could see anything happen in the series, what would it be? The final arc is the Akatsuki invading Konoha with the intention of kinapping/killing Naruto, but the entire village has rallied and is prepared to fight. The story cuts between three or four fights between Akatsuki and Konoha ninja till all Akatsuki are defeated. Maybe reveal Madara as the secret leader of the Akatsuki and defeat him here, too. During the conflict, Naruto has proven himself for the final time, is adored by the village, crowned Hokage within a year or so, happy ending. Pairings left undetermined or hinted at vaguely. Fin. (Other possible ending at bottom of post)

What would you say to Kishimoto if given the chance? I’m so sorry for the hardship and stress you endured all these years, all that time away from your family. I still have to thank you for all the joy your story brought to me. It allowed me to get closer to my friends, make new friends, even start to tap into my own writing ability. You did all that for me without even knowing it. I’ll always be grateful to you! 

In your opinion…

Most attractive male? Sometimes I think it’s Madara, and sometimes I’ll see some screenshot of a poorly animated episode and think he looks awful and I’m embarrassed that ever liked him. Sasori has this unjustly beautiful face that I love but definitely a few shots in is episodes where he looks kinda...off. Kakashi’s pretty unarguably attractive, though, so he’s a safe bet for most attractive. 

Most attractive female? Lol depends on the fanartist, I’ve seen gorgeous art for almost all female characters. In the manga or anime, I don’t really find any of them attractive. 

Most overestimated? Plenty, especially given the war arc. Sasuke or Itachi? At least years ago when I actually followed forums and manga review blogs (not on tumblr) there seemed to be a consensus that Sasuke could do anything, by kicking up enough notches on his Susano’o, and later some said that for Itachi, and then Madara showed up and could rarely be actually overestimated, and then Kaguya was a literal god and, ugh...

Not appreciated enough? Tobirama! 

What is the greatest thing about Naruto? It’s brought me a lot of personal happiness.

The worst? How the quality of its writing drifted from “meh” to “ugh” over the years. 

The saddest moment? There’s a few pages in the manga that show Naruto slowly gaining more friends as he gets older while Gaara stays alone in a space of empty desert that gets wider and wider as he goes to his knees. A strong and painful reminder that while one person may be smiling and enjoying life, simultaneously another is being strangled by the crushing misery of their own life. I’m so glad for Gaara finally fixing himself and finding real happiness. He’s the character who went through the best development and most change in the story, bar none. 

The most defining? The Chuunin Exam Arc is what most people remember, in my experience. But to me the first opening song of Shippuden “defines” it in my mind. 

Rant about anything…

GO! I never once imagined that this could happen in canon/reality, but I think the greatest way to end the story would be for Naruto himself to have to kill Sasuke. This would hammer in a message to the story that I think it could really use: despite Naruto’s hopes and good intentions, despite all his hard work, he cannot save everyone. And it would give a real sense of consequence. I never once felt that the main cast was in danger from all the fireballs, summoning animals, 10-ton rocks that hit them in the fucking face and never left more than a light scratch or dust mark on their steroid Hercules bodies. Even in a war the likes of which Ninjaland has never seen, bringing more and more godlike charcters together whose powers could end thousands of people in seconds, Neji seems to be the only notable casualty (lol bye Neji) and for all the good guys to make it out of such a conflict alive and well is absolute horseshit and not worthwhile storytelling of a war. Somebody important has to lose a battle, or lose someone they love, or lose a limb, something! Let me believe that any of these fights matter! Let me really feel that this conflict, this battlefield is dangerous and people are scared for their lives and hurt but fighting anyway, let me see something besides this gross, hollow shonen movie poster of good guys overcoming bad just by virtue of being good guys with dumbshit magic powers that the author-god gave them for free. Let me take these characters and put them in the hands of some fanfic writers who could write better fights than these in their sleep. Let me read fanfic instead.