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itsclydebitches · 3 years ago

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YYH Recaps: Episode 4 “Requirements for Lovers”

Hello, everyone! It's been quite a while, huh? Ah, the endless cycle of wanting to write and yet, astoundingly, not writing. I know it well.

Good ol' writer's block has skedaddled for a time though, so let's make good use of that and dive into Episode Four: "Requirements for Lovers."

Ohhh, YYH getting spicy with its titles 😏

Actually wait, I shouldn't be making dumb jokes just yet. First I want to acknowledge a slight change to future recaps: YYH, RWBY, and anything else I might try my hand at. Namely, a lack of pictures moving forward. A few weeks ago — months? I honestly can't keep track — tumblr implemented a new limitation where no post can have more than ten images in it. It's a move that, while I'm sure has its justifications, makes sharing analyses of visually-based media all the more difficult. I'll be doing my best moving forward to describe scenes as needed, as well as combining connected images together to stretch out my limit, but I'm not going to pretend that it'll be the same as getting the visual play-by-play we’re used to.

Tumblr certainly is a website, huh?

Anyway, we open on Yusuke once again lamenting the difficulty of hatching a spirit beast that doesn't immediately devour him from the head down. On the one hand this is an admittedly easy way to reset the story over the course of this arc — the storytelling equivalent of waking your character up each morning — yet I cannot deny that if I were undergoing a resurrection test, it would consume my every thought too. Can't really blame Yusuke for endlessly bringing the conflict up when the conflict is this deadly.

Well, deadly for a ghost, anyway.

Specifically, he's worried about how embarrassing it would be to get eaten by something that came out of an egg this tiny. I'm torn between reminding a fictional character that things grow — a pissed off chicken could kick my ass and it started out in an egg too — and just shaking my head over the absurdity of worrying about embarrassment when, you know, you would cease to exist. It's not even a matter of, "What if I die and then I'm embarrassed about it in the afterlife :( " Yusuke is already IN the afterlife. He's got nowhere to go but oblivion!

Luckily, Botan takes a more practical approach to these worries, pointing out that he'll be just fine provided he does some good deeds. Yusuke starts a rant about how do-gooders are only ever out for themselves.

Yusuke, you dumb-dumb, you're a do-gooder now. What was all that help for Kuwabara, hmm? As said, these early episodes exist in a semi-reset loop, where Yusuke needs to stew in his main character flaws for a while before any real growth starts to stick. Those flaws being, primarily, "I'm a pessimist" and "also I hate myself."

Case in point, Botan accuses him of always seeing the glass as half empty. Which, while true enough (outside of his confidence in fighting, anyway), by now we've got a pretty good sense of where Yusuke developed this attitude. He affirms this by talking about how Koenma's got him by the balls, "just another idiot abusing his power!" With an alcoholic mother and those teachers from last episode, it's no wonder Yusuke thinks this way. Mr. Takenaka's interest and Keiko's care aren't enough to combat the rest of Yusuke's experience, not when Takenaka is an outlier and Keiko is Yusuke's peer. Her desire to keep him on the right track reads only as an inevitability at best (the downside of having a perfect childhood friend), or a legitimate annoyance at worst. Or, as we'll continue to see in this episode, a way for them to flirt.

Is it any wonder Yusuke would sneer at Koenma's offer then, expecting the worst? The fact that Yusuke is still undergoing the challenge at all, no matter what he says, speaks volumes to me.

However, Botan is less than comfortable with his criticisms. She panics a bit at Yusuke insulting the (junior) ruler of the underworld so blithely. That, and the fact that he's carelessly tossing his egg around.

(Yes we’re using precious picture space for memes are you SURPRISED?)

Anyway, Botan isn't just concerned for the sake of concern. She cautions Yusuke against speaking too freely because there may be investigators checking in on his progress. No sooner does he ask what those investigators look like than one appears.

Thunder! Lighting! An energy so intense that Yusuke is briefly blinded! It is, as he says, quite the entrance. What kind of being could possibly be at the heart of such an astounding show?

Why, this teeny-tiny cutie, of course.

Remember, few appearances in YYH coincide with the character's true self. Would you ever assume this is the all-powerful investigator who holds Yusuke's future in her hands? Of course not. That's the point.

The investigator introduces herself as Sayaka and immediately demonstrates that she has no more patience for Yusuke's attitude than Botan does. "These damn kids," he mutters and my brain briefly blue screens because Yusuke. You're fourteen.

Plus, Sayaka and Botan clearly have some sort of eternal youth situation going on, so there's that too.

Sayaka is, in a word, fantastic. She pulls no punches with Yusuke, teleporting away from him with what can only be described as a shit-eating smile, all while refusing to tell him what exactly she's investigating. “I’m sorry, but that’s a secret!” However, Keiko is clearly at the forefront of her interest. She refers to her as Yusuke's "girlfriend."

Botan is more than happy to point Keiko out — because of course they're still following her around! — and pulls a Et tu, Brute? on Yususke, leading Sayaka right to her. Like most of the Underworld, Sayaka is rather shocked that the pretty, popular, scholarly girl is supposedly into the delinquent. It's the power of childhood friendship, you fools! Specifically, Sayaka references the "positive markings" that Keiko has accumulated, but the audience already knows by now that such markings are suspect at best. Yusuke himself is proof of that. So if his terrible marks don't preclude him from being a young kid's savior, should we really view Keiko's as proof of superiority?

I mean, Keiko is fantastic, but that's not really the point here.

Starting her own investigation into Yusuke's life, Sayaka begins with one hell of a bombshell: "There's no point in doing [the resurrection] if the people closest to you don't care." WOW. Not only is that a harsh assessment, it's one I don't think I can personally get behind. The offer to restore Yusuke to life is built on the acknowledgment that their system is flawed (even if there's no work to change or dismantle that system): they thought he was worthless, his sacrificial death seems to have proven them wrong, and now they want further evidence, in the form of this trial, that Yusuke is a good person at heart. The whole point of this challenge is to give him a second chance, with testimonies like Mr. Takenaka's emphasizing that Yusuke has always been capable of more, so long as he applies himself. This, as we'll see throughout the series, applies to relationships too. The Yusuke with one friend he play-fights with, a distant mother, and a school worth of kids who are terrified of his very name is not the future Yusuke they expect him to become, so... why base his resurrection on what he's already (not) accomplished? Granted, the show is very unclear about what, if anything, Sayaka will do if she decides that Yusuke doesn't have a life worth going back to (even if I have my own theory discussed at the end), but the fact that this is suddenly a factor at all seems grossly unfair, not entirely unlike Kuwabara's rigged promise. We as the audience know that people love Yusuke. Yusuke himself is beginning to acknowledge that. But if this fourteen year old delinquent truly had no one that wanted him back from the dead... isn't that all the more reason to allow a resurrection and give him the chance to build a life where he would be missed?

This stupid shonen got me thinking too much istg.

Yusuke, ever the self-deprecating pessimist, bypasses all of the above thoughts and jumps straight to, "It's clear if [Keiko] had any sense she'd want me gone." I'd find that attitude incredibly sad if I wasn't distracted by how cute Botan and Sayaka are, sitting on the oar together. The spirit girls who fly together, thrive together!

Botan starts teasing Yusuke about having a crush, which just feeds his temper and Sayaka's confusion. Deciding that she needs to gather more info, they follow along for an average day of school because these earlier episodes are, apparently, ghost-stalk Keiko hours.

We see her reading aloud in class from Heart of Darkness (not the easiest book for some middle schoolers), scoring a point during volleyball practice, refusing to let one girl cheat off her homework, but happily helping another who runs up with a question. So she's pretty, athletic, and academically successful, the trifecta for any good love interest. Sayaka is impressed not just with her "nearly perfect" scores, but also the maturity that Keiko demonstrates, such as maintaining her morals about cheating while remaining compassionate.

Actually, I really love the contrast this provides for us, the viewer. Meaning, Keiko is shown to be at her least mature when in Yusuke's presence. Not that her responses aren't justified, but watching her dramatically snatch gum from his mouth, slap him across the face, or pull crazed expressions as she yells at him is a far cry from this calm, poised, soft-spoken Keiko. It's a way to visually show us that she's comfortable in his presence, despite the suspect humor attached. Not that the Keiko we see at school is faking or anything — she is legitimately that kind and articulate — but we see that being with Yusuke allows her to relax in a way she doesn't with others. School!Keiko is, as Sayaka says, pretty much perfect, 24/7. Yusuke's Keiko is a little rougher around the edges, in a way that implies a multifaceted personality shining through.

However, the only conclusion our trio draws is that, given Keiko's accomplishments, any attraction must be one-sided.

Poor Yusuke lol.

In a plot move that is so ridiculously contrived, just as Yusuke is grappling with the accusation that Keiko couldn't possibly like him back, a "handsome boy" arrives to ask Keiko out. He says that he couldn't bear it when she stopped reading Heart of Darkness because he's fallen in love with her voice. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Please excuse me while I lose my shit over how ridiculous this is. I legitimately straight up cackled when I watched this scene.

Luckily for Mr. Absurd, Keiko takes him seriously — and lets him down easy. She says she can't be his girlfriend and when he presses the "Why?", asking if she already likes someone else, Keiko confirms that she does. This is done through a shot of her feet. Not a POV shot given the angle, but close enough that it feels like we're stepping into Keiko's shoes (haha), shyly staring down at the floor in embarrassment and regret.

Rejection complete? The guy screams.

I mean he screams.

I mean this nobody we're never gonna see again unhinges his jaw and lets out an unholy shriek the likes of which makes me shriek in utter GLEE.

It's insane. It's wonderful. I'm going to use one of my coveted image spots to show you his face:

Look at that and tell me this show isn't amazing.

Okay, I'm focusing again. As Keiko runs off Botan and Sayaka start dragging Yusuke, teasing him about how Keiko chose him over that "charming handsome boy."

...Please scroll up and look at that image again. I find YYH's definition of "charming" and "handsome" to be hilariously wrong.

Yusuke, as per usual, throws himself into damage control, claiming that Keiko didn't say who she liked, so really it could be anyone. They're not buying it. “'I like Keiko' is written all over your face!” Botan crows. Meanwhile, Sayaka is scribbling in her little investigator's journal that feelings on both side are severely misunderstood. "Suggest serious counseling."

Fantastic idea, Sayaka. I'd personally suggest counseling for the whole dying/best friend getting resurrected thing... but relationship woes work too!

We cut to later when school is out and Keiko has gone over to Yusuke's. To say that Atsuko has done a poor job of keeping the house clean lately would be a serious understatement.

Keiko points out the old food and broken glass specifically, cluing us in that this isn't just a messy environment, but a dangerous one as well. This is proven when she accidentally knocks a stack of books over and a used bowl falls onto Yusuke's face. What's interesting is that Keiko says that things are "back to normal" now, though I'm not sure if that's in reference to the state of the house, or just the note Atsuko left behind, asking Keiko to take care of Yusuke while she's out. I'm inclined towards thinking it's just the note, partly because of Keiko's shock when she first arrives, because the house wasn't shown to be in this state prior to Yusuke's death (first image above), and because the note is accompanied by a great voiceover that makes Atsuko sound quite sloshed when she left. That's what's normal, the drinking and carefree attitude, not the state of her home. If we buy that reading, it allows for another fantastic look into Atsuko's mental state. If she's already an alcoholic, the trauma of her son's death and the following revelation that he's coming back might make her struggle in other ways. Like finding cleaning to be an impossible task.

She's depressed. It doesn't excuse the state she's left Yusuke in and, as previously acknowledged, YYH is definitely not a show interested in this nuance, but I still find it fun to take what little we've gotten and run with it.

However, Keiko is firmly on team "WTF Atsuko." She hurries to make sure Yusuke wasn't hurt by the falling bowl, bemoans him being "covered in garbage," and says that leaving him in this state should be considered a felony. Knowing it's far beyond her power to fix Atsuko's failings, Keiko swears to come here after school every day until Yusuke regains his body. It's as she's cleaning him of the dust that's gathered that Keiko becomes entranced with Yusuke’s features. Particularly his lips. The soft lighting returns, their theme song swells, and Keiko gets thiiiis close to kissing Yusuke for the first time.

Which is a little weird, right? I mean, we know why Yusuke is freaking out. Beyond the embarrassment of a middle schooler receiving his first kiss while two ghost girls eagerly watch on, he's made a hobby of denouncing his interest in Keiko to anyone who will listen. But for the average viewer — for Keiko herself — don't we care the he's, you know, dead? Or if not technically dead, very unconscious? Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the appeal of this situation in a generalized, cultural sense (with the side disclaimer that I'm reading a Japanese product through an American lens). Sleeping Beauty exists for a reason and there's definitely an element of that here: a gender-reversed setup where Keiko’s kills may break the "curse" of Yusuke's untimely death. Even his in-between state of being mirrors the "death like sleep" of the fairy tale. But when you strip away those Disney-esque thoughts, we're left with a girl about to kiss an unresponsive body, not as a common gesture of care (the parent who kisses their child while they sleep), but as a first time, romantic milestone.

It's a little weird lol.

But embrace the romance! As well as its inevitable interruption. Just as Keiko is about to land a peck, the neighborhood watch committee announces a heat and fire warning, startling Keiko out of her thoughts about Yusuke's "beautiful face." (There's another gender reversal for ya.) She gasps at her almost-action, conveniently remembers that her mom wanted her to do some shopping, and hightails it out of there before embarrassment can really kill them both.

So she runs off for food... in a sweater? The outfit is cute and all, but I wonder what the animators were thinking, putting Keiko in a puffy pullover during an episode all about a heat wave.

It's about at this point that the plot goes from cute romance to absolutely buck wild. The fires the neighborhood watch committee mentioned are not, in fact, due to the overwhelming heat, but an arsonist that's going around tossing molotov cocktails through open windows. Why is he doing such a thing? I don't know. Arsonists be doing arson, I guess. The important bit is that Yusuke's place is his next target, considering that Atsuko forgot to lock the windows when she went out. Within seconds all that garbage is set ablaze, quite obviously putting Yusuke's resurrection chances at an all time low.

"Wake up, stupid!" he shouts at his unconscious body. Mood, Yusuke. That's me every morning.

So this is a full scale emergency now and everyone is scrambling trying to think of something to do. Yusuke comes up with the idea to possess himself like he did Kuwabara — nice attempt at a loophole there — but since it would technically count as his resurrection, no dice. Botan decides to go get Kuwabara himself, even though he's too far away to do anything. It's still worth a shot. Sayaka, meanwhile, watches all this unfold with a somewhat clinical detachment. She's not quite indifferent and she's definitely not cruel... she’s just not as emotionally invested in this as the other two. Which not only re-emphasizes her purpose here, as an observer judging Yusuke, but also highlights the bond Botan is forming with him. As mentioned before in regards to her hanging out with Yusuke rather than ferrying souls, Botan is well past someone assisting Yusuke simply because it's a part of her job. He's her friend.

We get some shots of the growing fire which includes a hazy texture to the animation I quite like and then we cut to Keiko several blocks away, shopping bag in hand. Word of the new fire spreads, with one bystander mentioning that it's the twelfth today.

"This is eerie.”

“Yeah, I can’t help feeling we’re under attack.”

That's because you are! Someone stop that man!

Sadly, I don't think the arsonist is mentioned again, let alone captured. We'll just have to relegate that to my incredibly niche fic wishlist.

Keiko also overhears that the latest fire is on fourth avenue, which of course is where Yusuke lives. Recognizing that he might be in trouble, she takes off at a run.

Meanwhile, Botan finds Kuwabara practicing his kicks against a Yusuke dummy. Amazing resemblance, right?

Watching for the purpose of recapping, I'm picking up on a lot of details in the animation I quite enjoy. I don't think anyone would claim that YYH, at this point in time, has the most impressive or flashy animation (the fight scenes later are another matter entirely), but there's a clear love for the product that shines through. The scared expression on Kuwabara's dummy. His unexpectedly dainty kick, complete with pointed toes. Botan's more translucent coloring to emphasize her supernatural status compared to Kuwabara. There are a lot of nice touches despite the overall simplicity.

Plus, you can't forget the lovely irony of Kuwabara fighting a defenseless "Yusuke" while the real guy actually lies defenseless amidst a fire. We already know that despite his tough talk, Kuwabara would be horrified to learn that his friend rival had died (again) in such a manner.

Capitalizing on that transparency, Botan runs a hand through Kuwabara's back to catch his attention. He gets his "tickle feeling" and instinctively looks around towards Yusuke's house, seeing the smoke. "Something tells me I should go that way." Gotta love a guy who drops everything to chase a vague, supernaturally induced hunch.

As Kuwabara leaves we cut back to Keiko arriving at the house, staring in horror at the blaze. We get an audio flashback to her talk with Yusuke where she promised to take care of his body until he got back. So she tries to run in, only for a couple of the onlookers to snag her, quite correctly keeping her from undergoing a suicide mission. We learn later that Keiko absolutely would have died without Yusuke's sacrifice, so her "You cowards!" is born more of emotion than justified accusations. It's not cowardly to look at the raging inferno in a small apartment and realize that recklessly running in will only result in two dead teens, not one.

I mean, the flames are already right there, licking the door. Even if Keiko somehow managed to avoid burns, the smoke alone would do her in. Still, Keiko tries to mitigate the damage by dumping a bucket of water over her head. As a kid I remember thinking this was the smartest thing ever. Utterly inspired. Keep that in the back of your mind, kid Clyde, for future reference. As an adult... I have no idea whether this would actually help or not lol. Any firefighters doubling as YYH fans?

Recklessness and iffy precautions aside, I can't express how much I appreciate the story giving Keiko things to do. Yusuke recognizes that she's the only one with the maturity and open-mindedness to believe in his resurrection. She's the one picking up Atsuko's slack regarding his day-to-day needs. She never hesitates for a moment, heroically throwing herself into this blaze for Yusuke's benefit. Yeah, a lot of that still falls into the emotional/domestic sphere — what we expect of the love interest in a 90s anime — but too often action stories don't have a clue what to do with their non-action characters, not even when it comes to just supporting the fighters. They're simply... there. Keiko, however, isn't window dressing. Whether it's helping Botan survive an upcoming, supernatural plague, or cheering the team on at the Dark Tournament, Keiko is an important part of the story, despite lacking the fighting prowess of the rest of the cast.

Just as important, this episode establishes a core equality between her and Yusuke. We just watched Keiko reject a (presumably) accomplished guy for him, telling the audience that these surface differences — academics, power levels, popularity, looks — don't matter to them. Yusuke is not Keiko's lesser just because he doesn't have the same scores in Sayaka's book and Keiko won't become Yusuke's lesser just because she doesn't have spiritual power like he does. The only important thing here is that they love each other and they're both willing to sacrifice everything for the other. In the span of about ten minutes, Keiko nearly gives up her life for Yusuke and, in turn, Yusuke gives up his resurrection for her. The level of care they show towards one another is balanced, despite those differences.

They’re a good ship, y'all. Even if this recapping's got me noticing Yusuke/Kuwabara potential lol.

To get back to the plot, a drenched Keiko charges into the fire, yelling Yusuke's name for the drama of it because we all know he can't respond. Despite the audience (hopefully) recognizing Keiko and Yusuke's equality, that memo hasn't reached Yusuke yet. "You're a lot more important to this world than I am!" he yells, hammering home that despite everything — knowing he instinctively saved a child, watching his loved ones grieve for him, helping Kuwabara just because he can — Yusuke still, deep down, believes that he doesn't deserve to come back; that he doesn't measure up to those around him. The self-sacrificial nature this insecurity produces shocks Sayaka. She points out that if Keiko doesn't save his body, he's not coming back. "What's the point of being alive if Keiko has to get killed for it?"

Keiko means more to Yusuke than the rest of his living existence. Jot that down in your notebook, Sayaka!

Kuwabara arrives and runs into one of his friends who informs him that Keiko just went inside. “Yusuke’s girl? The one we saved from those thugs?”

BOY does that tell us a lot about their rivalry! I mean yeah, we've already established several times over that Kuwabara — just like Yusuke himself — is not the cruel street thug he'd like to present himself as. If these characters actually wanted to hurt each other outside of a martial arts challenge, don't you think Kuwabara would capitalize on the "Yusuke's girl" bit? Everyone seems to know that they have feelings for each other, but Kuwabara never once wields that as ammunition against Yusuke. There are no taunts about him not being good enough. Or rather, I should clarify there are no serious taunts — Kuwabara is well known for his teasing. There's also no attempt to steal Keiko out from under him, the common treatment of the love interest as a "prize" that many stories fall into. Indeed, later this episode YYH will deconstruct this a bit. Yusuke sees Kuwabara grab Keiko's hand and yells that he better not be getting "fresh" with her. But it's purely Yusuke's worries shining through. The audience gets a crystal clear picture of the situation and knows, categorically, that Kuwabara has only the most innocent of intentions in holding Keiko's hand.

(Well, running from the police isn't innocent, but...)

I keep getting sidetracked. Plot! Keiko makes it to Yusuke's room and finds that he is already on fire. She then proceeds to try and put it out by patting it with her hands. I take back what I said about Keiko's smarts in this scene. Now we know where that supposed recklessness comes from though. Apparently they're both immune to fire! Nothing to worry about here, folks.

JK she's actually in danger, despite the animation choices. By this point everyone, including Keiko, realizes that there's no way out: the fire has blocked the door. Sayaka then reveals that there is one way to save her. If Yusuke throws his egg into the fire, the energy of the spirit beast will release and guide her to safety. The catch? Hatch the egg early and it won't complete its intended function of guiding him back to his body. This beast is gonna guide one person and that is it.

Cue Yusuke's near immediate decision to sacrifice his life for Keiko's. Granted, it's not precisely one life for another. Yusuke's resurrection was always contingent upon the beast not devouring him whole — something Koenma claims would have happened at the end of the episode — meaning that it's not technically a fair trade. Yusuke might have sacrificed Keiko's life for his own... only to fail to get that life back anyway. (There's a tragedy for ya.) To say nothing of how Yusuke is currently dead and has been for at least a couple of days, whereas Keiko very much is not. There's some sort of philosophical discussion there about potential being pit against current reality.

BUT that's not the point! The emotional point is that he sacrificed his life for hers — the potential of his resurrection, the potential of that life he might have led — all technicalities aside. And I, for one, think that's very neat of him.

A blue light shines as the egg's energy is released, providing a lovely contrast to the fire surrounding them. A path forms to the door and Keiko, recognizing Yusuke's presence, follows it. "We'll make it, Yusuke," Keiko says, which is one hell of a sucker-punch now that we know she's just carrying a corpse. Unbeknownst to Keiko, Yusuke is very much not making it. That's the only reason why she is.

Kuwabara appears to help them the rest of the way which is also a pretty awesome thing considering that, from everyone else's perspective, the fire is still raging and blocking the door. Despite his spiritual awareness, Kuwabara gives no indication that he noticed this strange light, or Yusuke's hand in the rescue. Which basically means he lunged into a bunch of deadly fire for Keiko and doesn't question how in the world he isn't burned.

Keiko's hands are fine, Kuwabara's whole body is fine... fire immunity must run in the friend group!

Yusuke has another rare moment of vulnerability — "They're both okay" — and I cackle happily at the "both" because see. You love Kuwabara too, Yusuke! All this bluster about hating him and finding him annoying. The second he rushed into that fire you were crawling up the walls.

Except then that happiness gives way to something that sounds a little more shocked. Devastated. "Well, I sure am... relieved..." Kudos to Cook's voice acting. You can hear the exact moment Yusuke realizes what he's done. Not that he regrets it, but the consequences are finally sinking in. He's relieved that they're safe, yes, but now he's never going to be able to rejoin them.

As Yusuke has an(other) existential crisis, Kuwabara peels back the blanket Keiko had wrapped Yusuke in, revealing his face. “What are you doing with Yusuke’s body?! Are you some type of sick grave robber?” he shouts. God I love when a story actually keeps track of who knows what. Kuwabara, for all his recent involvement in the plot, doesn't actually know what's going on. From his perspective Yusuke died, he made a scene at the wake, he saved "his girl" from a bunch of thugs, lost a huge chunk of time only to wake up with her randomly hugging him (then slapping him), participated in a bet with his awful teacher and had a couple weird, Yusuke related dreams while studying, and has felt the presence of ghosts perhaps a little more frequently than usual. Now he's trying to help save Keiko from a fire only for her to reveal she risked her own life for Yusuke's body. Of course he's freaking out! What's she doing with that?

What's utterly fantastic though is that Kuwabara takes all of five seconds to process this and then enters immediate Ride or Die mode for Keiko. She's been hoarding Yusuke's body for undetermined reasons? Well, who is he to judge? The important thing here is that people are arrested for keeping bodies, so they've gotta skedaddle before the firefighters show up.

Hence, hand-holding and avoiding arrest.

As Yusuke starts threatening Kuwabara not to get "fresh" with her, Botan sadly reminds him that he no longer has a say in who Keiko does or does not fall in love with. The switch in tone is jarring. Whereas before Botan would have teased him mercilessly for the crush, now she knows that nothing can come of that — and it would be cruel not to remind Yusuke of that too.

"Oh no. I didn't think..." Yusuke whispers, further establishing that he knew the risks of using his egg, but hadn't allowed them to sink in yet. Now they have.

He gives a fake little laugh with, "Just when it was getting good" and I cry at the development in the span of just four episodes. Despite what I said at the beginning about the show resetting each week, there has been a lot of change thus far. Yusuke wants to live now! He wants to be there for Keiko! He looks down on his tiny family and screams at the unfairness of it all! They're talking about how they can't wait for him to come back and now that's never gonna happen!!

It hurts, friends. It hurts a whole lot.

During this conversation between Keiko, Atsuko, and Kuwabara, we see that a couple of hours have passed (it's nighttime now, the fire is out) and Atsuko is apologizing for putting them all in danger like that. And by that I mean yes, she does technically apologize with an "I'm sorry" and everything, but it's also a one sentence apology pit against... well, near death for the three people standing (and sitting) before her. Atsuko seems just as concerned by Keiko losing her hair as she does Keiko nearly burning to death and she kneels by Yusuke's wheelchair, baby-talking to him about how he forgives her, right? I love Atsuko, she's great, but objectively speaking she is not a good mother. Not right now, anyway.

Oh yeah, and just to reiterate that: Keiko's hands are fine after patting down Yusuke's on-fire body, but her hair, which I'm pretty sure never catches, has to be cut short. Ah, anime logic. Funny thing is, YYH isn't the only story to take the love interest and give her a cool, short cut thanks to a traumatic event. Anyone read Ranma 1/2?

During this conversation we also learn that, sometime between the fire and now, Keiko filled Kuwabara in on everything that's happening with Yusuke. Makes sense. He kneels beside the wheelchair, joining the others in telling Yusuke that they'll wait patiently for his return. Yusuke, above them, continues yelling about how they're waiting on a dead man.

“It can’t be helped. He made this decision on his own."

Except it can, in fact, be helped!

Just as all hope is truly lost, Koenma appears and announces that Yusuke will be returned to life. Why? Because sacrificing his egg for Keiko is a better indicator of his worth than the egg itself could have been. Despite feeding on his negative outlook and heading towards biting Yusuke's head off — something the animation backs up by showing us teeth during the fire

— Yusuke's act demonstrates a tendency towards being a "decent human being" that is "so rare." Wow. That's depressing. Still, yay that Yusuke has those qualities! And this, to my mind, helps explain Sayaka's presence. Koenma recognized that judging Yusuke couldn't be left to the egg alone and indeed, Sayaka took note of his worth before he ever threw the egg into the fire. First it was questioning why someone as amazing as Keiko would go for him, then it was solidified through the shock of Yusuke announcing that coming back to life was meaningless if she wasn't in it. Even if Keiko had somehow, miraculously escaped the fire before Yusuke's sacrifice, I bet Sayaka's report would have tipped him in resurrection's favor anyway.

Everyone is, of course, overjoyed and my heart swells at the intense gratitude Yusuke displays. My favorite part though is when Koenma cryptically says that “Your added experience with death could make you very useful" (a nod towards future events that goes right over Yusuke's head) and his response to this is a yelled, "YOU THINK I'M USEFUL?" This poor kid. The God of everything ever is chucking out revelations left and right, about resurrections and spirit beasts, but the only thing that really penetrates is the realization that someone thinks he's useful. Talk about relatable.

You know, I've been thinking about why this moment works so well. I mean, there are a lot of other stories where undermining the consequences our hero faces — either with humor, or by erasing them completely — can feel like the audience was cheated. I think YYH dodged that with a couple of crucial factors. First, Yusuke's consequence isn't something new that he's now avoided, it's just a permanent extension of something he was already dealing with. We did get to watch him inhabit the space between life and death, grappling with whether he'd ever be able to return. The story didn't deny us that growth, it just confirmed something we all instinctively knew: this tale won't end here with Yusuke permanently going to some afterlife. Second, the Deus ex Machina fix doesn't happen too soon. Yeah, it's only a couple of minutes in a single episode, but we (and Yusuke) still get to sit with that outcome for a while, soaking it in before its removal. Finally, there's no doubt that Yusuke earned this reprieve. Koenma's timing might be sudden and (if you're not genre savvy) unexpected, but looking back at the series as a whole thus far, we're able to agree absolutely that Yusuke deserves this. Far from feeling like we were cheated, this solution invites just as much celebration as we're seeing on screen, for the simple reason that we can buy into Koenma's reasoning. We know now that Yusuke is a good person. We saw him selflessly sacrifice his future for Keiko. We agree that he deserves a second chance.

Thus, the episode ends with Yusuke flying up to fill the screen in his joy, a far better, final shot than Harry Potter and The Prison of Azkaban managed 😰

And that's it for Episode 4, folks! See you later for Episode 5 💕

#YYH #Yu Yu Hakusho #YYH Recaps #mymetas

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hagarenmovie · 7 years ago

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AUGUST J MOVIE [8/10/2017] - Making of the Movie: Fullmetal Alchemist (1 of 3) ~On-set Report~

Fullmetal Alchemist, the highly anticipated movie that has gathered the attention of fans since its announcement. In this issue we have prepared a behind-the-scenes report, a detailed on-set interview with the lead Ryosuke Yamada and Director Fumihiko Sori, as well as an interview [with Executive Producer Kazuya Hamana]!

| Part 2 (Yamada x Sori Interview) & Part 3 (Exec. Producer Interview) |

Taking on the Super Popular Manga FMA

The popular manga by Hiromu Arakawa Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA for short) was serialized in the Monthly Shonen GanGan magazine from 2001 until 2010. It's a legendary manga that is compiled into 27 volumes and that, as a series, has sold over 70 million copies worldwide. It is a work that as of now has two separate anime adaptations, has earned an overwhelming amount of support from young people, and is finally receiving a much awaited live action film adaptation.

The brothers Ed and Al are the protagonists of the story. When they're young, the two of them lose their beloved mother and, unable to come to terms with her death, commit alchemy's ultimate taboo: human transmutation. But the brothers' attempt fails. They aren't able to resurrect their mother and in accordance with the basic principle of alchemy, Equivalent Exchange, Ed loses his left leg and Al his entire body as the price. However, Ed also loses his right arm in exchange for Al's soul, which he binds to a suit of armor nearby. ....Several years after that, Ed is a State Alchemist with the second name of "Fullmetal Alchemist" and steel prosthetics attached to his body, and Al is clad in a suit of armor. The two of them embark on a journey to restore their bodies... this is the story of the manga.

The director at the helm of this film adaptation project is the same one who worked on the CGI of Titanic (1997) under Director James Cameron and who also raised the level of CGI in Japanese Film with Ping Pong which opened in 2002, Fumihiko Sori. Playing the protagonist Ed is the star of the Assasination Classroom movies (2015, 2016) who has exhibited great physical ability, and will show us a delicate drama in The Miracles of Namiya General Store opening this soon, Ryosuke Yamada. Ed and Al's childhood friend and automail engineer, Winry, is played by movie and drama actress, Tsubasa Honda, who is also a huge fan of the original manga. Watching over the brothers strictly and kindly is the “Flame Alchemist” Colonel Mustang, played by Dean Fujioka. And, standing in the way of the Elric brothers are the Homunculi (artificially created humans), with Lust being played by Yasuko Matsuyuki. The all-star cast representing Japan includes Yo Oizumi, Ryuta Sato, Renbutsu Misako, and Kanata Hongo.

Ryosuke Yamada is Ed brought to life

We took a field trip to the movie's film location in the Toho Studio last year in August. The film crew passed the middle stage of production right after the end of filming in Italy and focused on filming within a set [in a studio]. Since the announcement of the film adaptation, there have been many mixed feelings and passionate reactions for and against the movie by fans, but after entering the studio, the world found there was certainly the FMA one. With wide eyes, we stood in the middle of a room that looked like the night in a set that recreated a street made of old brick. The manga itself also takes place in a 19th century European inspired setting, and from just the set alone, one could feel the immense faithfulness to the manga. What was being filmed on one part of the set was a scene with the Homunculus Envy, played by Kanata Hongo. The details of the scene can't be revealed here, but it was a portion of the filming of the climactic scene. Up until now, Hongo has splendidly played fan approved characters in live action film adaptations of popular manga such as GANTZ (2011) and Attack on Titan (2015). From first glance on-set, [we could see] Envy's troubling wildness was completely personified. After filming this scene, it was a wrap for Hongo. The staff thanked him with applause.

Next, we witnessed the scene where Ed, Colonel Mustang, and Lust fight. The first thing that caught our eye was, as expected, Ryosuke Yamada playing Ed. His figure was dressed in a red coat with black clothes underneath, braided golden hair, and sharp eyes - it was as if the Ed we know had jumped out from the manga. Across from Ed was Colonel Mustang, played by Dean Fujioka. Dean was clad in the blue military uniform identical to the manga. The extreme detail used by the staff to create the costume is by no means ordinary, but it is apparent. When filming began, it was a scene where Mustang, sustaining an abdomen injury, holds out his hand with a strained face intending to start a blaze.

In the manga, Mustang's second name is 'Flame Alchemist.' A transmutation circle is drawn on his white gloves and with a snap of his fingers, a powerful blaze can be created to attack with. However, in this scene, Mustang has sustained a lot of damage and in the agony, he can barely lift up his blood covered hand... Confronting them is the Homunculus Lust. The scene actually being filmed at the time, was just before Lust is about to make a seemingly severe attack and Ed uses alchemy to uplift the ground and create a massive wall like structure to defend himself.

Treasure expressing the emotion of living human beings

After that it was on to the next cut and filming continued favorably. It was a scene where Ed hides behind the wall he transmuted as an explosion emerges from the flames of Colonel Mustang, and while the enemy takes a peek, [Ed] grasps the end of his glove, pulling it back into place.

Ed's form makes one think of his gesture from the cover of volume 1, it's a habit he does all the time. When Yamada does that expression so naturally, he seems to completely become one with Ed. On top of that, while on-set, one could tell from the top of his coat that Yamada's arms and torso were bigger. And yet, it was surprising [to see that Yamada's] movements were keen and nimble, characteristic of Ed. In hand-to-hand combat it'll be exciting to see what kind of difficult action scenes we'll be shown beyond what [Yamada] has already done in previous films he's starred in.

Furthermore, in this fighting scene, because there's a heavy use of green screen, it's essential to have detailed communication between the director and cast members. In other words, the actual transmutations and flames aren't seen while filming. On-set, when there's a break between scenes, Director Sori and Yamada can be seen exchanging short conversation, seemingly harmonizing, mentally and physically, with each other. We would definitely like you to check and see for yourself how the fight between Ed, Mustang, and Lust ends, including Al's role [in it] once the film is completed.

After the trip around the set had ended, Director Sori told us what he treasured the most about filming this movie. "The world of FMA is, of course, action, but I think the story is emotional and the sentimental instability is enormous. The manga and the two anime series created so far are already wonderful because there are things that can only be expressed in those mediums, but I personally think that there's power in expressing the emotion of living human beings through other media." He also touched on the charm of having brothers being at the center of this human drama.

Next is the on-set talk with Yamada and Director Sori, and after that we'd like to present an interview with the film's Executive Producer Kazuya Hamana as well.

#fma live action #filming scoop #yamada ryosuke #Fumihiko Sori #dean fujioka #Edward Elric #Roy Mustang #Envy #hongo kanata #Lust #matsuyuki yasuko #FMA #Fullmetal Alchemist #translation

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murasaki-murasame · 7 years ago

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Thoughts on Ao no Flag v1

Since I just imported this, and the next chapter should be translated in a day or two, I figured I may as well write up my thoughts on the first volume. I was gonna reread it to refresh my memory, but I didn’t get around to it, so I might be forgetting some things.

This isn’t really, like, a professional review, or anything, just my ramble-y thoughts.

TL;DR: This is both adorable and kinda heart-breaking and I love it. This hits basically all the right notes for me. It’s also a shounen rom-com/drama that has actual major LGBT characters so that’s pretty great! Seriously you guys read this manga. It’s already really great.

More under the cut.

Before I say anything else, let me just say that Taichi, Kuze, and Touma are my new fictional children and I adore them with all my heart. I’m basically a complete sucker for main character trios like this. Which is part of why I also enjoy stuff like Pandora Hearts and The Promised Neverland so much. We haven’t seen a lot of Masumi yet but once we do, I’ll probably love her too.

Also for the record I call her Masumi because ‘Itachi’ is way too confusing in a manga that has a protagonist called Taichi, lol.

Anyway, this manga is just great. I have a huge soft spot for this genre as a whole, but even then this one just speaks to me deeply. I haven’t even read anything else by this guy but I already like his style. This hits a really nice balance between drama and comedy and romance that not a lot of things hit.

Normally I tend to not care for the main m/f ships in these sorts of manga, but oh man I already love Taichi and Kuze’s entire dynamic. They’re such sweet, pure children and I just want them to be happy. They both feel like, well, actual teenagers who are still trying to figure out how feelings and relationships work. It’s really endearing. I especially love how determined and earnest Kuze is about her crush on Touma. But I also love how Taichi is just a bit of a mess who doesn’t really know how to reach out to people properly. They’re great. Also, I love the fact that they’re both super short. I was not at all prepared for the part where Taichi sees her from afar and is like ‘wow she’s really tiny’ and then he walks up to her and he’s like ‘jesus christ we’re basically the same height’. That was hilarious.

But of course, I can’t help but feel weirdly guilty about liking them together because that just gets us into the whole Touma thing. Oh boy. Touma, my sweet wonderful gay child, I feel so bad for you and all the drama I see in your future. I’m basically bracing myself right from the start for him to go through all sorts of angst in the future. It’s gonna be rough. Obviously I also ship him and Taichi together, but that’s probably not gonna work out, which kinda breaks my heart a bit.

Seriously though I just love Touma so much, he’s amazing. And I can’t stress enough how meaningful it is to have a major character like him in this sort of manga. It’s not like it’s never happened before [I think Love and Lies has a similar set-up??? Not sure. And then there’s other cases like Makoto from Fuuka and whatnot]. But it’s still important! It always warms my heart to see stuff like this happening more and more. I especially appreciate how Touma as a character, and his crush on Taichi, is already being set up as a surprising pivotal part of the whole story. It’s at least this major time-bomb being set up that’s gonna affect so many things. But I mean, it plays a huge part in his entire dynamic with Taichi, and I can only imagine how it’ll shake that up once Taichi finds out. It’s already setting up a whole lot of dramatic irony with how Taichi’s hung up on how Touma comes across as being ‘perfect’ and completely disconnected from him as a person, which is obviously not quite the case. There’s also a whole lot of dramatic irony going on as well with the fact that Kuze’s whole ‘I have a chance with Touma so I’m gonna pursue him’ attitude is just set up to fail now. And her whole plan to date him is already a pretty big part of the story, so once the other shoe drops then things are gonna change up massively. Especially since Taichi at this point is mostly bonding with her in terms of basically being her wingman. And, of course, it looks like Masumi knows about Touma being gay [and vice versa, I suppose], so if they’re gonna start their own little friendship then that’ll be a part of it.

I dunno how to put it, it’s just interesting to me that Touma’s sexuality isn’t just a joke, or a really minor thing off to the side, but a genuinely important part of the story that’s gonna shake things up massively once the other shoe drops. I like it.

I also appreciate that he’s designed as being conventionally masculine, and in a way that’s not done in a joke-y, exaggerated way for comedy. I feel like a lot of characters like Touma in shonen manga get depicted as one extreme or another, so it’s really cool to see how “normal” [for lack of a better word, I guess] he’s portrayed thus far. It’s just nice to see a gay teenage boy being written as an actual human being and not a stereotype. Obviously there’s a bit of contrast going on with how his outer persona doesn’t really match what he’s going through internally, but it’s more of a dramatic thing than a comedic thing, if that makes sense. In general the aspect of him being seemingly perfect and super popular and put-together but secretly having his own insecurities and struggles is really compelling.

Which is why I really liked that one scene with the tomato plant, which was also probably the scene that convinced me that he was indeed gay, and that the author was going to handle it well. I just love the delicacy of the writing in that scene, especially in hindsight. It’s a wonderful depiction of the kind of moment where you see someone’s mask drop a little and you get a glimpse at who they are inside, but you don’t know enough about them to know what’s going on. It was also a nice scene to help establish why Kuze’s so into him.

I’m also excited to see more of his brother and his brother’s wife [though I guess we technically haven’t seen his brother in person yet at all, I think]. They seem cool. There’s not much to say about them yet, but I do find it a bit amusing how it kinda feels like his brother’s wife was designed to fit Touma’s made-up ‘type’. It makes her feel like a bit of a red herring to make people think he was telling the truth, even though that got almost immediately shot down. But at the same time I don’t remember the story ever, like, going out of it’s way to be all wink wink nudge nudge about it, which I appreciate. It really works as a twist on the reader’s assumptions. I saw a fair few people elsewhere assume that Touma had a crush on her, so I have a feeling that was the author’s intention.

Basically Touma is just my child and I want to hold and protect him. I hope he gets his own happy ending by the time this wraps up, one way or another. He deserves it. I could live with him just being happily single by the end, even if that’d obviously be the depressing option. Even if it’d be bittersweet in it’s own way, it’d be nice to hypothetically see him decide to move on, and end up with an entirely different guy. I feel like manga aimed at teenagers in general tend to act like your first crush is, like, the only person you’re ever gonna have feelings for in your entire life and if it doesn’t work out then WELP SUCKS TO BE YOU, so it’d be neat to see this sorta manga make it clear that even if you have unrequited feelings for someone it’s not the end of the world, and you can move on and find someone else to love in the future. We’ll see.

Mostly I just really hope that this doesn’t end with Touma and Masumi hooking up as some sorta weird consolation prize. In general it’d feel too neat and easy if the main four can get paired up into convenient pairs like that, and I feel like Touma’s whole deal would just be more . . . compelling, I suppose, if he’s exclusively gay, and not bi. I mean, him being exclusively gay would also really drive a wedge in Kuze’s whole plan of action, like I said above, and that definitely seems like what’s being set up. So yeah.

I don’t really have a whole lot to say about Masumi since she hasn’t had a lot of screen-time, but we’ll obviously see more of her now so that’s nice. Obviously I also really appreciate the fact that she seems to be a lesbian, even if her feelings also probably won’t work out in the end. It kinda surprised me how, uh, vicious she got with Taichi, but I like that she apologized afterward in her own awkward way. That’s nice. I hope she gets to become part of the main gang.

I really REALLY love the entire scene between them on the roof-top at the end of the volume. That was great. I actually got vaguely spoiled about it in advance but I didn’t know the full context of it so the scene still surprised me when I read it. I wasn’t expecting them but to all but spell out that both of them are gay by the end of the first volume. They even had to do the dramatic ‘scene goes silent right when important thing is said’ trope right when Masumi probably literally spelled out that Touma’s gay. I really wasn’t expecting how goddamn dramatic it was. Like wow. You could basically feel the tension going on between them. I wasn’t expecting to see Touma be absolutely terrified by the idea that Masumi might have outed him without his consent. That kinda tore at my heart. I feel you so much, Touma, I really do. Thankfully she didn’t, so that’s nice. I’m glad she’s agreeing to keep it a secret for him.

I also love and adore how she pretty much laid out exactly what I’d been thinking, and immediately spelled out the fact that he was lying about his ‘type’, and that the only truthful part was the black hair bit. I’m so glad that got called out by the end of this volume instead of being dragged out unnecessarily. It was pretty dang obvious, at least. Although it does make me wonder exactly how Masumi ‘figured it out’. She doesn’t seem to be close to him as a person, and his crush is mostly obvious to us as the reader. So I wonder if maybe she’s been observing him for a while, and has been piecing it together.

It’s pretty interesting to look back over the entire volume now that it’s over. I mean, it was fairly obvious from early on that Touma is gay, but still, it’s REALLY obvious now. There’s a lot of parts that pretty overtly lay it out. The part in chapter four, I think, where we get the flashback to him and Taichi as kids, and we see the actual moment where Touma lied about his type, it’s SUPER obvious what’s going on. What with him basing his preferred type directly off of Taichi’s height [with an extra amount added], the dramatic close-up of him staring at Taichi when he talks about liking black hair, him immediately turning away afterward and rattling off some other traits to throw him off the trail, etc etc. And other than that you have stuff like the tomato plant scene and so on. There’s also the fact that the cover of volume one is of the main trio standing in a triangle with Kuze looking at Touma, and Touma looking at Taichi, and the insert page thing at the start of the volume is of them making a triangle with their fingers. It’s not exactly subtle, lol.

Anyway, I guess I should talk about predictions and stuff for what’ll happen next, now that we’re right about to get into v2. I guess I don’t have a lot to say other than what I said about how once Taichi and Kuze figure out what’s going on, it’s gonna REALLY shake up their relationship with Touma. Which will be interesting to see. But I feel like it’ll take a while to happen. Other than that . . . well, obviously I want to see more of Masumi, and I hope that Touma’s brother and his brother’s wife end up being recurring side characters. That’d be neat. I’m also wondering if the baseball element might get more important later. It looks like the author’s mostly done sports manga in the past, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes more of a big thing to the story.

Oh yeah, and everyone should read the bonus pages that recently got translated, that came with the first volume. They contain a really short preview for v2, which is already hinting at a whole lot of angst and drama. There’s not really a lot to it as a preview, but one kinda surprising thing about it is that it looks like Taichi is notably taller. Like, a few inches taller. I kinda wasn’t expecting that, but I guess it makes sense. You can also kinda see it on v2′s cover, a bit. We also got a glimpse at what seems to be a new character in the last panel of it. Not sure what her deal is but she looks upset about . . . something, lol.

Also the bonus pages contain a short bonus chapter about how Taichi and Touma first met and I swear to god it’s the cutest thing in the world. I probably should have expected that they first met and bonded over their battle pencils. But seriously, holy shit, little schoolboy Touma blushing and talking excitedly about how Taichi is the coolest person he’s ever met is just! so! ADORABLE! AAAH! I wonder what bonus things the other volumes will contain.

I’m glad that the scanlators have access to the digital raws for the rest of the series now, so we don’t have to wait until each volume comes out for them to translate it. I’m really excited to see chapter six come out in a day or two. It’ll suck when we catch up and have to deal with the two-week release schedule this has in Japan. Oh well.

[I dunno where to fit this, but as a side note, I LOVE how the volume covers for this series look, thus far. Now that we’ve seen the first two. They’re all so beautiful and delicate and sorta watercolour-y. It’s not a style you see often in manga volume covers. But I love it. Honestly like 10% of my reason for importing this series is because I love how the volumes look. I’m kinda superficial like that, lol. The aesthetic this series has in general is really nice]

And yeah as I said at the start of this, I just ordered the first volume of this today from CDJapan. I made a post a while ago about how I was going to import every volume of this if it followed through with the LGBT representation, so I’m sticking to my word on that. This is gonna be the first Japanese volume of manga I’ll own, so that’ll be neat! I’m not really interested in importing a lot of stuff in general, so for the most part I’m sticking to importing different types of manga with good LGBT rep in them, since I’m passionate about this sorta thing. I just want to financially support these types of manga in whatever way I can. Which is also why I’ve started importing Shimanami Tasogare, which is basically one of the best LGBT manga out there. Also manga is just way easier and cheaper to buy/import than something like, say, anime. Sure I’d love to import the Japanese blu-rays of Yuri on Ice but holy shit I do not have the money for that. Even getting the English release of that is gonna be tight. But yeah it really doesn’t cost me a lot to import manga like this so I figured I may as well. It’s gonna take ages for it to get here, but that’s fine.

#murasaki reblogs #ao no flag #this got super long and it's mostly me talking about how much I love Touma #but I love everyone in this manga #I would have talked about some other stuff as well but this is long enough as it is #I definitely love basically every part of this manga just to be clear

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renaroo · 7 years ago

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Wednesday Roundup 18.7.2017

Okay, so I’m quite a bit late with this one but real life has been more than a little hectic and I had a lot to read through this week! All a joy, of course, but still lots of work on my end of things.

I should also note that I picked up Midnighter: The Complete Wildstorm Series and The Might Thor Vol. 3: Asgard/Shi’ar War but for the sake of time I won’t be including them in the Roundup because I’m still only halfway through the Midnighter collection and haven’t gotten to The Mighty Thor yet.

That all said, let’s get into the comics I did read this week!

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, DC’s Batwoman, Image’s Descender, Image’s Lazarus: X + 66, Marvel’s Ms. Marvel, Viz’s One-Punch Man, DC’s Snickers Comic #2: The Fastest Woman Alive, DC’s Super Sons, DC’s Superman

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2016-present) #9 Ryan Stegman, Gerry Conway, Juan Frigeri, Jesus Aburtov

Okay so this comic just continues to hit my every button and provide my every joy. Seriously, I have not had this much fun reading a Spider title in ages, and I didn’t realize what nostalgia that held for me until I went and watched Spider-Man Homecoming yesterday and realized that as excited as I was about that movie and all it was doing, I was really thinking about all the possibilities it could hold for this universe and a future Spider-Family.

I really loved this comic fo providing a lot of drama that is uniquely present for a family comic and a dynamic of a couple that is established and used to being open and honest with each other. There was humor but there was also plenty of tension which all arose from wanting things to work out because we knew what dynamic, what love and devotion, had been at risk.

And I love that MJ is flawed but also still very much a powerful and full of possibilities in her own way. Her will power was rooted in asserting her identity as a wife, mother, and business woman all in one and I love that.

In any case, more and more this is becoming my Spider-Family at the end of the day and I love it so very much

DC’s Batwoman (2017-present) #5 Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion IV, Stephanie Hans

In recent years I’ve become more and more outspoken about the fact that I am a lesbian and that at least part of the reason such media representation sticks out to me so much is because of that perspective I have, which has been equally difficult and rewarding for me in that time. Part of that experience has been coming to terms with the idea that I needed media that helped me equate my experience with what I had seen in media for so long being declared “normal.”

And now, as I have matured as a person and as someone growing comfortable with who I am, my tastes have come to gravitate toward desiring to see not just the normalization of my experience, but the acknowledgement that the struggles and the stories of the LGBT experience are inherently different and they are stories that deserve to be told on their own.

And more than anything, I feel like the reason Batwoman and Kate Kane have been so important to me personally is because since Rucka’s Batwoman: Elegy, it feels like it’s as important to Kate’s storytelling to be about her experience as a lesbian as it is about her being a superhero, and that means so much to me. And I feel like this story, even if entirely a flashback, truly tapped into that desire for me.

Image’s Descender (2015-present) #22 Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen

Descender is back and I still can’t tell if I like or deeply loathe Doctor Quon as a character yet lol But oh man. Tim-22′s death was about as brutal as they come. Like. Yikes wasn’t expecting to see someone Mortal Kombat’d in this comic and yet here we are. Now the question is whether or not the doctor will get his head out of his ass and save Telsa.

It’s fascinating to see how all of these elements are coming together --- really colliding on course more than anything else right now, and I sincerely was not expecting that ending. The question of what that ending means o course is something else -- did they destroy the Machine Moon to take out the fleet of starships? What about Andy and his ragtag crew? It’s hard to tell with the cliffhanger.

...

And speaking of hard to tell.... It’s easy to criticize art without giving credit for the immense work that goes into it or the opinion of style or just anything else that goes into good comic art, and as a long time fan of Dustin Nguyen I don’t want it to seem like I don’t see just how much work is going into Descender and especially into producing an entire comic in water color of all mediums. The texture alone makes it feel real and palatable in a way that few comics can maintain.

But those rough edges and soft colors feel as though they play against the the story being told in Descender, at least from what it’s been so far. For such a hard sci-fi world with so many characters that are robotic, full of hard angles, and sharpness, the gentleness of the water colors and lack of lineart feels like it’s working against the aesthetic entirely. I mean, we have an entire plot dedicated to one of the species in this series being robotic after all. So it feels disconnected.

I can still appreciate the art, but as we go further into this narrative I wonder if it’ll continue to work against what’s trying to be conveyed.

Image’s Lazarus: X + 66 (2017-present) #1 (of 6) Greg Rucka, Eric Trautmann, Michael Lark, Steve Lieber, Santi Arcas, Jodi Wynne

So this series hadn’t actually been on my radar and I lucked out into happening across it on Wednesday and am so glad I did!

I’ve gone into great depth on these reviews before about how much I love Lazarus and how much I love the wold which Rucka has built for it, but we have for the most part had a very limited view of that world, and it’s one that doesn’t graze a lot of the more horrible elements of it for the lowest people in the society’s system. Which makes it that much more satisfying to have a series which is going to follow a familiar character, Casey Solomon, and the brutality and treatment she suffers as a result of living in those lower rungs.

She’s working her way up through the military in a way we never witnessed through the Carlyle family’s lenses and I am enjoying what we’ve seen so far.

I’m curious to see that a second plotter/writer is credited for this issue. I’m not familiar with Eric Trautmann and I think it’s interesting that Lazarus has gotten to the point that Rucka is letting other voices in on what’s essentially been his and Michael Lark’s “baby” for several years now. It’s very interesting to see what Image is going to do with its properties that are truly blasting off critically and popularity wise and makes me wonder if they will attempt to expand with others like Saga or Zodiac Starforce.

Marvel’s Ms. Marvel (2015-present) Vol. 7: Damage Per Second G. Willow Wilson, Mirka Andolfo, Takeshi Miyazawa, Ian Herring

I don’t know how many times it can be said, and I don’t know how many ways it can be said, but Ms. Marvel is genuinely one of the most important comics -- one of the most important characters and stories -- to be told in my generation and for the generation below me.

Volume Seven continues to show that there is just a unique and unbreakable bond between this creative team, the character, and everything this series has come to represent as a result that simply cannot be overstated.

The acceptance of so many different sexualities, genders, religions, lifestyles, and more makes for a powerful read and yet does not overwhelm the story. It’s just an organic part of the daily struggles of Kamala’s life. And even though Wilson and company are obviously not teenagers themselves, they utilize the present time and the technology and culture of the present to an effect that makes this comic entirely unique.

Kamala is a nerd with nerdy friends and all of them face an unspeakable threat when technology is used as a weapon. It’s obviously expanded and overblown to comic tradition within this story, but it must be remembered that teenagers today are dealing with an unprecedented threat that is technology being used to hone in on them, to bully them even at their homes, and to release information or content that they had taken for granted as being private.

It’s been a great ride and I’m so grateful to see Ms. Marvel continue to rise to every occasion.

Viz’s One-Punch Man (2012-present) Vol. 12 ONE, Yusuke Murata

It’s amazing how One-Punch Man manages to make me both completely excited and sitting on the edge of my seat to see how conventions of the Shonen genre are going to be subverted, manages to not subvert them but play them completely straight, and yet still make me completely interested in what’s going to come next. It’s honestly pretty hysterical which, of course, is exactly one OPM is for. The humor built into the naked look at the genre is built off of how ONE seems to understand that he needs to play the genre and characters and just general world building around Saitama as being played completely straight.

And I think it’s honestly getting deeper by this volume even though we still have Saitama hilariously not caring at all what’s going on around him and even using the bathroom on panel rather than watch his opponents’ battles. We have other characters who are laying out the sort of fridge horror elements of any Shonen series out there for us: by this world being constructed around strength and strength alone, nature weeds out the weak.

The horrifying element of this world is less to do with the idea that violent, increasingly difficult to stop monsters are showing up, but that power and strength of “ordinary” people can be so unevenly given to others, given to people who don’t care or who even aspire to be monstrous themselves, is handed out. It’s a benevolent gift to those like Saitama whose morality and boredom seems to skew rationality to comedic effect, but with characters with less of a moral center and without a Genos to keep them to the very idea of one are the source of real horror and destruction.

After all, what do you deal with when you have an unstoppable Shonen protagonist archetype who is not interested in their roll? Is it worse to have someone comedically indifferent, or to have someone who is horrifyingly aware of their superiority?

DC’s Snickers Comic (2017) #2: The Fastest Woman Alive Stuart Moore, Paco Diaz

On the list of free comics I was not expecting to either come out or to actually be read by me, I have to say that a Snickers promotional comic was not anywhere on that highly specific radar of mine. And yet here we are.

And we’re here for one reason and one reason only: JESSE QUICK.

I love the extended Flash family very much and there has been a hole in my heart for a long time for my Ace Babe in Tights (and yes there’s plenty of good evidence for her being asexual prior to her character derailment in Titans (1996-2002)). And she’s honestly a legacy character I half expected to never see again.

And yeah it’s a silly little comic but it was free and it was fun and Kara and Jesse have this great, competitive yet loving relationship that is well worth it.

Plus Superfam racing Flashfam is a tradition and it’s about time that these awesome ladies were allowed in on it.

DC’s Super Sons (2017-present) #6 Peter J. Tomasi, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez

Super Sons continues to be one of the crowning gems at DC right now. There is very little it doesn’t understand about balancing its characterizations, light-heartedness, and really letting kids feel the gravity of being a superhero without being too dark or selective. And while I maintain my earlier criticism from Superman that Tomasi has a habit of making Jon a little too perfect and very un-kidlike, the hard contrast with Damian is what makes reading Super Sons so entertaining and fun.

And I love how the superheroics that make Jon proud of himself as a superhero contrast so starkly with what Damian thinks being a superhero is, and it doesn’t bother Jon until he gets left behind as the “kid” too young and immature to go with the Teen Titans, even though it’s Damian who isn’t really showing a great aptitude at the moment.

It’s a fun if not predictable comic at times, but the joy that is obviously poured into Super Sons and is helping advance the characters far beyond what they once were in this canon is well worth coming back to.

DC’s Superman (2016-present) #27 Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Scott Godlewsk, Gabe Eltaeb

Well, aren’t we certainly political this week!

I’m not entirely sure where I sit with this comic. It’s a belated July 4th comic of sorts but it’s also sort of a deconstruction of the American mythology and a history lesson to people with the ultimate goal of teaching ‘you didn’t actually learn everything in history class, the same fights going on today were happening when this country was founded and visa versa.”

This might seem like my issue with the comic is that it got political, which is not the case at all. In fact, considering the iconography of Superman to America and how “Fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American Way” has been a Superman staple for longer than most comic book readers have been alive makes me feel like the apolitical nature of most Superman comics these days feels strangely untrue to expectations.

My problem is more... logistical?

I thought Jon actually acted just fine -- more of the excitable ten year old here who needs his eyes opened to the world around him more than we’ve gotten from the Superman book thus far. My problem is... so they’re still living in Hamilton in Superman, but they’re already moved to Metropolis in Super Sons. Both are written by the same people, so what gives with the inconsistency.

We spent the first year of this comic and all the Super titles for that matter, harmonizing and collapsing continuities so things made more sense. Can we agree at least where everyone lives in the current comics?

Alright, so there’s quite a lot of variety here (isn’t that always the way with my pull list?) but when it comes to the pick of the week it has to be down to what gave me the most joy per panel overall, what I found the most rewarding and satisfying. And honestly I have to give that honor to Ms. Marvel, which is a comic that never fails to perform even greater than already lofty expectations for it. It’s a beautiful title and a great read that I encourage everyone to try.

Since Ms. Marvel is a collected volume, though, if you want my pick for best single issue for me this week I’d go with Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows.

But those are just my choices! What did you think about this week’s comics? Think I missed something I should’ve picked up? I’d love to hear from you.

Once again, before I end entirely, I’d like to ask that if you’re interested in helping me out with making more time for content like my reviews, and for access to reviews in the future which won’t be hosted on this blog like my in progress review of Spider-Man Homecoming (2017), please help me and my aspiring start up comic career by contributing to my Patreon! I couldn’t thank you enough for the help.

Please become my patron on patreon for more alliterative begging like this!

#Rena Roundups #SPOILERS #Wednesday Spoilers #One Punch Man (2012 )#Descender (2015 )#Amazing Spiderman: Renew Your Vows (2016 )#Batwoman (2017 )#Super Sons (2017 )#Superman (2016 )#Ms. Marvel (2015 )#Lazarus: X + 66 #Snickers Comic (2017)

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