#I’m also like picky?? about yuri and yuri tropes

[ramlightly]

Holy shit, yuri from ramlightly???? LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO

lol yup, finally! In fairness, the very first couple I made for this account was a wlw relationship (between a green fairy named absinthe and a former nun that worked at her bar) but yes, I have been infected with the yaoi brain worms for a while.

[ghostofmichelangelo]

silent patient ~ alex michaelides review/reaction

** DISCLAIMER! - contains a lot of spoilers about the book **

** Read at your own risk of spoiling the storyline **

so i just finished the silent patient and my god what a fucking ride. after finishing it, i literally could not articulate it whatsoever cause i was trying to put 2+2 together for ages. the sheer cleverness of the writer had astounded me. i was also extremely shocked at how the writer was able to wrap up the entire plot of the book in not more than 20 pages max, managed to keep it completely unexpected and while doing so, evoke such a powerful reaction from the readers. i would bow. the storyline was absolutely fresh. it was very original and it was written in a language which was easy to read through and easy to visualize. that’s what i really liked about the book. it was written incredibly well written especially the main characters i.e alicia berenson (the patient) and theo faber (the psychotherapist). the character development happened very smoothly and slyly. the length was also perfect. what i mean to say is, it is not unnecessarily long wherein it is getting too descriptive and at the same time, it was also not too short and abrupt. i felt like all the words in the book were written judiciously and all the details had a role to play in the overall story. every single word had a purpose. none of the bits seemed overexplained (*coughs in king*) or irrelevant. for me personally, it surprisingly had a lot of elements which i really like in general and did not expect to be in it judging by the first look or the first few pages. i am talking about the use of greek mythology, particularly the tragic story of alcestis, art, interpretation of art and psychology. usually i don’t come across these themes when i’m reading about a murder (i'm fairly a new reader, more like a resurrected reader). at least in contemporary fiction. another thing that kept me on edge every step of the way was the fact that the climax wasn’t revealed till the last few pages of the book. I would like to emphasize on the word ‘few’ cause the story is wrapped up in pretty much the last 10-15 pages of the book which is something extremely risky and difficult. The fact that the writer was able to summarize the entire plot and tie all the loose ends in the final 10 pages is something that is definitely worth all the appreciation in the world. to do such a task and so effortlessly needs a lot of skill, planning and courage. the last 10-15 pages were the ‘make it or break it’ point in the book which was handled very intelligently and naturally it evoked the intended reaction out of the readers. the readers made it through triumphantly without any chance of disappointment. now, diving into the main plot points which got me fkn charged with emotions was obviously, without a doubt, the ending. I felt like such an idiot for not seeing it coming. for some reason i saw kathy cheating on theo and, alicia and gabriel’s story as two separate things altogether. i did not, for once, get the slightest inclination that maybe the two can be related. i just don’t know why. maybe i trusted theo as a character way too much. i know that agatha christie had a big influence on the writer and boy, did he manage to pull a complete ‘roger ackroyd’ on us. it makes complete sense. why alicia ‘opened up’ to him out of all the people who tried to cure her, why theo insisted on having her as his patient, why he believed her ‘strange man’ theory unlike all the others, why alicia randomly attacked him etc. i did not understand the whole ‘strange man’ trope till i unconsciously found theo outside gabriel/alicia’s house while following the man who kathy cheated on him with. everything was in front of my eyes and still i wasn’t able to grasp it. even then the mere fact that theo was following some random man and the fact that alicia also complained of being watched/stalked did not ring a bell. it was only when he notices alicia berenson from the summerhouse, did i have my hallelujah moment. however, my dumbass brain still wanted to get confirmation, which it did by the end of the next chapter. when this happened, my mind went along the lines of, ‘wasn’t alicia in coma?’. That’s when

i realised the timelines of the story. my god, there was a point towards the end of the book where even i was convinced that alicia was lying and that maybe she has been making the whole of it up to fulfil the rest of her revenge plot. throughout the book, there wasn’t a single person i didn’t doubt. i doubted max, diomedes, yuri. these are apart from the obvious ones like elif, christian, gabriel himself, jean etc. it was only towards the end i realised that there were two time periods as well. i thought everything was happening side by side. that there was no past or present. this aspect took me a while to comprehend cause it became a little confusing. also I really appreciate how paintings were used to interpret the story/psyche of the person. i found it very refreshing and new. this is psychological aspect of the book which i really enjoyed. i wanted to see those pictures myself. overall, i feel like i can give this book a solid 5/5 stars and is hands down one of the top reads of this year by far and knowing me, i know im a picky reader, esp in thrillers.

P.S would love to do more book reviews if it helps out and if you enjoy reading them!

[ryuichirou]

Hi! So a friend of mine love your stuff and especially the nsfw one retwetting him all the time and it shocks me a bit cuz I have the impression it’s a thing like another for her but at my eyes it’s similar to porn (I’m a straight dude) and as I thought I understand while reading your tumblr you’re a girl who like girl (like her) so I asked myself what do you think about all this yaoi/hentai thing? Like are you excited about that or it’s just for fun and you don’t sexualized penis? 1/2

And at the opposite why don’t draw shojo or even yuri where you can more identify you?  I’m really trying to understand ^^’ Have a great day! 2/2 

-------------------------------------

Hi!

I’m very flattered that your friend likes my drawings! <3

And I appreciate that you decided to talk to me about this topic and not just be judgmental like a lot of people do. It’s always good when a person tries to do some research before making conclusions, so I’ll try to answer your question to the best of my abilities, but please keep in mind that I’m mostly speaking out of my own experience + things that I observed over the last ~10 years. You can ask your friend too! Maybe her opinion is different than mine :)

This… turned out to be a long read, so please bear with me. And pardon me if my English sounds broken.

Slash (in a shipping sense) and BL (Boys Love) are not 100% the same thing, but in a lot of ways they work similarly: it’s a subgenre that is popular predominantly among women. It is usually (but not always) is written by women and for women. It’s a known fact that BL started as a way for female manga artists to portray romance the way they wanted without being “stuck” in unfair gender stereotypes and tropes they needed to meet. BL/Yaoi gave them freedom to express different ideas, different scenarios and types of relationships without feeling obliged to create a certain narrative or to play a certain role. Of course, this was the very beginning, and BL as a genre evolved over the past 50 years.

Slash, as I already mentioned, is similar to that in some ways, because the main focus of slash fanworks is always, well, relationships. It’s all about the chemistry characters have with each other and possible scenarios these two can have, whether it is the canon universe or an alternative universe. Just a game of “what ifs”, so to speak.

So to me personally, the focus here isn’t the fact that these characters are both men, but the fact that characters have fun and interesting relationships that I want to explore.

But the thing is, it’s very difficult to find even one well-written female character, and it’s even more difficult to find at least two well-written female characters, and it’s almost impossible to find two female characters that have a good and entertaining chemistry and are “shippable” together. The “pool” of personalities and tropes related to them is also much smaller with female characters, and there are a lot of tropes that I love and don’t usually see portrayed with them. As much as I want to have as many girl-ships as boy-ships, it’s impossible if there is neither chemistry nor fun characters to play around with…

I can’t even read yuri-manga nowadays, because it’s always the same 1-2 tropes, the same school-based scenario and the same types of characters all the time. It’s (as opposed to yaoi lol) is often catered towards men and has some male-gazey stuff. So yeah, of course this is me being extra picky when it comes to yuri and femslash, but I can’t really read yuri anymore, unless it’s written by a woman and isn’t based in school. You can call me a hypocrite for that haha.

When my heart and soul are craving some femslash content, I often just… genderswap characters and sigh with delight and happiness lol With SnK it’s different though, it’s one of the best titles when it comes to female characters and ships, and I’m having lots of fun with them. That’s why I post one sfw (not porn) drawing with them per week rn on my main accs.

Back to the topic.

A lot of girls explore their own feelings and personality traits when they ship. And a lot of them just play around with different scenarios and find out what’s interesting to them and what isn’t.

On one hand, you can relate to a male character and don’t feel the pressure a female character would feel. Or you can relate to a male character because he’s much more well-written, nuanced and interesting. On the other hand, you can ditch trying to relate to someone altogether and just enjoy the romance as a very nosy bystander lol. A win/win either way.

When it comes to lesbians, I think the lack of good femslash content is one of the reasons it’s much easier to feel a bond with a m/m ship. Another reason is relationships you build with other shippers around you. A lot of couples I know used to ship stuff together or even roleplay m/m scenarios. A lot of people discovered their sexuality because of that, a lot of them were able to explore it and accept it.

And if we’re talking about nsfw stuff, I personally (!!!) don’t find penises sexy and don’t find men sexy. I’ve never been attracted to a man and irl gay porn isn’t exciting to me. Well, any irl porn…  I wouldn’t necessarily say that my nsfw drawings are arousing to me, unless there is a specific context that is personal. In my particular case, it’s just another extremely fun subgenre that fascinates me. Maybe it’s a different type of arousal haha I’m not sure how to explain it. But imo things that I draw barely look like real porn so…

But some people do find these things hot and that’s great! I’m happy if people like my nsfw stuff this much.

But in my opinion, it’s mainly the association with personal stuff that does the trick. If we’re talking about someone who isn’t generally attracted to penises, that is.

And to answer your last question, I do draw yuri/femslash from time to time! I have a lot of Shingeki w/w ships that I love, I genderswap my favourite m/m ships from time to time. Sometimes I even draw nsfw with them, but I never post it. I have complicated relationships with it because it’s more identifying to me and more, uh, real.

It’s an ongoing process, who knows, maybe one day I’ll be more comfortable to post this kind of stuff and less greedy about it haha. But right now it’s too personal and self-indulgent for me to share.

But for now you all will have to look at Levi riding 100500 dicks lol

[celila-reblogs]

Fic Tropes Game!

The lovely Pie​ tagged me for this game -- and since she followed the rules and only tagged one (1) person - me - I now feel obligated to actually do this thing ;D Thank you for tagging me @potteresque-ire :*

Rules: Copy/paste and bold your fic preferences because why not, gotta choose one (near impossible, but go with your first gut instinct), and tag someone because, again, why not.

slow burn or love at first sight

(oh, gimme hundreds of thousands of words of build-up, thank you very much!)

fake dating or secret dating

(I mean in both something is going on that the rest doesn’t know about, but i find secret relationships just so much more interesting <3)

enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers

oh no there’s only one bed or long-distance with correspondence

(I love getting to know the characters in-depth, and reading their letters or text messages or chats - and again all the pining - is very relatable ;D)

hurt/comfort or amnesia

fantasy au or modern au

(I don’t really know what to answer here ... I’m reading fic a lot in three fandoms: Harry Potter, Merlin, and Voltron (VLD) (a tiny bit of Yuri on Ice) -- all of them have magical/fantasy elements? while I absolutely adore well-writen modern Merlin AUs where prince meets student or they’re just two students at uni, or co-workers or in the military, I also love it when canon gets re-written. And my favourite “modern” Merlin/Arthur AUs are: 1) they’re both in special ops and magic exists; 2) they’re both students and Merlin has magic and keeps saving Arthur; so it’s a compromise ;D HP plays in the 90s up to now and could go into the future depending on how old the characters are that you’re writing about, but that’s all quite modern to me already -- maybe they mean technology-wise? While I do love a well-written texting fic (see above), I enjoy it much more when the author dives into magical theory and comes up with the most amazing ideas (and not everything is just solved with muggle technology ;)) and I don’t think I’ve ever read a non-magical HP fic? Unlike Merlin fics, where non-magical AUs are quite normal, but I do prefer the ones with magic <3)

mutual pining or domestic bliss

(Yes! Give me enough pine to shame Ikea!!) <-- that’s what Pie wrote and I just have to keep it ;D it’s so funny and so true! <3

smut or fluff

oof, what a question.. I probably have to go with smut. I love fluff, but you can only read so much fluff without a story getting boring (if there is no tension ... or climax of any kind haha). and smut - whether explicit or not - can give you a lot of build-up and tension, interesting situations and definitely diverse outcomes, from declarations of love (there’s your fluff) to spectacular fall-outs, especially when I think of our favourite boys and their inability to communicate ;D) 

canon compliant (missing scenes) or fix-it fic

(that one is much easier to answer for me [and it’s the first one where I choose a different answer than Pie ;D]. In VLD I want to disregard all of the last season, but especially the epilogue - completely - season 8 just doesn’t exist. in HP, I love 8th year fics or anything where the boys don’t marry Ginny and Astoria respectively right after school - which again can be viewed as disregarding the epilogue. In Merlin, I either read magical modern AUs anyway, or the fics in canon-era that I do enjoy disregard episode 5-13 completely and definitely ignore the epilogue/last 5 minutes of the series. So all my fics can be regarded as fix-it fics, and especially in Merlin & VLD that is a very common tag).  

alternate universe or future fic

(definitely the future fic -- though it all depends on your definition of “alternate universe”, i love cross-overs ;D there are some between my favourite fandoms, like Merlin going to Hogwarts during the lightening era, or the VLD characters also going to Hogwarts. It’s so much fun. but those are exceptions in the vast landscape of fics. if you define “AU” as not canon-compliant, I guess everything could be viewed as an AU as soon as I disregard epilogues? But if we just don’t count epilogues, I love reading stories where the characters are a bit older, have found their place in life, or have tried things and failed and are now figuring things out or are at least realizing, that failing is part of life, but it’s much less stressful with the right partner <3).

one-shot or multi-chapter

(weird question.. If the definition of “one-shot” is still that it’s a fic that has been written in one sitting (let’s disregard editing), then i’d definitely go for multi-chapter. because i love longer fics. that said, i don’t have any problem at all with a 50k fic that is only 1 chapter. but I wouldn’t use the number of chapters to define whether a fic is a “one-shot” or not, so there’s that ;))

kid fic or roadtrip fic

(definitely the kid fic!! aaah, so cute ;D)

reincarnation or character death

(oof, I don’t like reading MCD >_< and reincarnation would imply that one or both of the characters also died at some point .. and in Merlin fics that would just mean that canon happened and Merlin has been waiting for 1000 years for Arthur to show up again... and aaah no, thank you, I read a few fics like this and they’re just too heart-breaking ugh. so yeah, no, both not for me ;D)

arranged marriage or accidental marriage

(if i’m forced to choose, maybe accidental bonds that can be reversed, like magical accidents or something like this? but in general, it’s not something i gravitate towards. I’d much rather read a soulmate AU <3)

high school romance or middle-aged romance

(see above, I love when characters have had time to learn from their mistakes in the past, I love seeing how many different ideas authors can have for the same characters and their decisions in life. so yes, let them grow up a bit ;))

time travel or isolated together

(Time travel is … difficult to get right. I’m picky about it.) <-- what Pie said

neighbours or roommates

(what question is this? OMG THEY WERE ROOMMATES!!! ;D)

sci-fi au or magic au

(I guess that is for fandoms that are in neither of those categories? like Sherlock or Yuri on ice? since HP and Merlin fall into the magical category and VLD is sci-fi and I do love crossovers, I guess I have to say: Both?! Both is good! ;))

bodyswap or genderbend

angst or crack

(well written crack is so much fun, but the problem is the well-written part. there is much more well-written angst, so i have to go with this ;))

apocalyptic or mundane

(definitely mundane here. apocalyptic just stresses me too much after a while, same goes for dystopian or any mix thereof. I don’t mind angst with a happy ending (note the happy ending ;)) - throw everything you have at the main characters, but don’t just let them barely survive and then have a bleak or no future.. that’s just ... na, thank you. i read fic to escape my worries, not to have even more ;))

~~~ I’m tagging the fab four ;D @sassy-cissa @erin-riwen @lettersbyelise @maesterchill  if you’d like to play, just know that you don’t have to write anything, you can just bold your choice and move on ;D and if anyone else wants to play, please tag me in your answer <3 

[kasienda]

#14 & 20 😘

14. It’s 11pm and you need to wake up at 6 in the morning. You just saw the perfect fic. It’s complete and it’s 50K. What do you do??

I’ve actually timed myself reading for pleasure. I read at about 350 words/min when I’m relaxing. I figured this out so that I could know approximately how long any story would take me to read. (Yes, I’m that much of a nerd). At eleven at night (which is bed time for me), I’m USUALLY pretty good at avoiding anything more than 10k. I WILL totally read a 10K story at 11pm (especially if I haven’t spent any time on myself that day), which takes about 30 minutes. Worth it! At ten pm though, all bets are off! If I find the story at ten, I usually start the 50k story, promising myself (I even mean it at the time) that I will totally stop when eleven rolls around. But then I never do!! I just keep reading! And yes, I’ve stayed up way too late on school nights on multiple occasions to finish a good fic! (Much to the irritation of my husband). I’m worse about it when my motivation has been low or have been feeling depressed. Fan fiction is one of my coping mechanisms to spend time on me, feel other people’s feelings instead of my own, and hopefully recharge enough to get back to a good place where I can be somewhat self-disciplined. Haha! So if I’m really low, I’m way more likely to stay up way too late! 

20. Which idiots do you want to read falling in love?

Within the Sailor Moon fandom, my OTP is definitely UsaMamo. Like I seek that out constantly, I write that constantly, and I tend to be pretty loyal to it. The only non-UsaMamo pairing I will click on no matter what is KunZoi! I might be more picky here IF there was more of it, but it’s rare enough, that if I see it I READ IT! Generally, if UsaMamo is coming up dry - where I can’t find something, I enjoy a good senshi x shitennou story. And if an author has proven themselves to me with a UsaMamo story, and they have senshixshitennou in their works, I will gladly explore that. Interestly, I have a hard time getting into the yuri senshi pairings. I’ve tried. Clearly I don’t mind male on male partners, and I even seek them out (even dabbled into Harry x Draco stories in Harry Potter fandom before), but I struggle to get into yuri (though yuri fanart?!! I LOVE THAT!!). What does that say about my own sexuality I wonder… I’m not into girls emotionally? But emotionally boy love is hot? But female characters are more visually attractive? (Like seriously, in real life I notice women more than men). I don’t totally get it honestly. I love female characters!! And I have loved exploring feminist themes in various works!! So I feel like I SHOULD be into these pairings! I don’t totally understand why I’m not. (I do enjoy slipping them into the background of my own stories though. Apparently, it can earn me some flames! And those are the best kinds of flames to get! Because it means I’ve pushed someone’s buttons who I wish was more accepting! Hahaha!) I’ve also been cheating on the Sailor Moon fandom a lot lately and I’ve been reading a lot of Miraculous Ladybug (a french cartoon that is totally inspired by Sailor Moon amongst other things). Because it’s a relatively new fandom for me, it’s really easy to find some amazing stories because there’s three years worth of content still to sift through (whereas, I tend to come back to Sailor Moon once every few weeks, to try out new gems, but I’ve read a lot of the older things). This fandom I love reading stories about Marinette x Adrien in all their forms (the fandom refers to it as a love square because they each have a dual identity and she’s in love with his civilian self while he’s in love with her heroine self, and they keep dancing around each other… leads to all sorts of shennanigans. Everyone has different preferences for which set of their identities ends up being the ones to connect). This fandom is also, on whole, as obsessed with the Reveal Trope as I am! So, that’s fun for me!!

[blueishblue]

So I read the webtoon Never Understand / Out of Control and overall, I liked it. There was enough time for character development (pretty slowburn since they didn’t officially get together until like the 50th chapter) but also enough progress between the main couple that it felt complete.

That being said, it kinda went downhill since they got together for real. The climax was kinda over the top and the emotional scenes didn’t feel authentic. There’s just too much Korean drama-ness in it lol. Also I kinda lost all respect for Yuri around then, especially when he ran out the door because who in their right mind wouldn’t be able to see that Jaerim was clearly being raped, I mean hello he was in tears and probably screaming??? didn’t he hear from whatsherface that Jaerim was having trouble??? How could Yuri not see that she was clearly shitting with him?? Also if he really was in trouble why would he leave a note?? And have a completely unrelated girl deliver it and not Dunno, or Joohee, or even his friend whathisface, people he knows him AND Yuri well???? How could they make a note like that if they didn’t know Jaerim and Yuri were together?? Anyway, there was too much going on at the near end that I didn’t know what to focus on anymore. I also didn’t like that Jaerim didn’t tear Aeyon a new one after that, I mean the bastard raped him?? I mean those two are adorable but they irritate me so much sometimes.

Other than the main couple, the Yumin-Dohoon relationship was quite cute...although their development was quite rushed. I didn’t like how Yumin practically forgave Dohoon immediately like, oh you are good now? Okay let’s take you back even though you made me miserable for 2 whole years and even bullied the only person who stood up for me in the entire school. Right...

Kang/Dunno was kinda a disaster and I’m not even gonna talk about Heeno/Aerak...that couple was a fucking catastrophe. I’ve had the displeasure of reading some problematic Japanese BL and they didn’t even come close. If Yumin/Dohoon was a fairly good example of bullies to lovers trope, Heeno/Aerak is a.fucking.joke.

This comic gave me some Aitsu no Daihonmei vibes (because the protag is ugly and his bf is popular and has many fans) but it was kinda over the top in the latter half and I kinda wished the author’d gone with a lighter, less drama-y route, like how it happened in AnD. I guess that’s a piece of Korean drama for ya, can’t have the characters live peacefully forever.

All in all, do I recommend? If you’re looking for a series with great art and lots of drama, absolutely. If you are, like me, pretty picky and have probably read too much romance stories and want something new, this is not for you.

[choking-on-roses]

What is your absolute favorite fic? That you coul re-read constantly?Also, do you have a favorite fic in particular Fandom individually?

Hi Anon! 

My absolute favourite fic ever is And I’m Not As Sad As I Was Before by synergenic, which is a Style Five Free! fic with heavy RinRei. It deals with depression and it’s sad and beautiful with a happy ending.

If I had to pick faves for all my fandoms...

KnB: The Power A Name Can Hold by franeridan (AoKaga soulmate/roadtrip AU, excellent handling of both tropes)

YOI: and my bones by glasshalfempty. series of two pliroy fics about how JJ and Yuri get together and it has pretty much the best representation of JJ of anything I’ve read (he’s in character but the writer focuses on his good character traits instead of focusing on the more obnoxious ones like most of the fandom tends to, ahhh this fic gave me feelings.)

Voltron: Long way forward by queerly_it_is (Sheith. are you ready to dissociate kiddos because damn damn damn) I would literally watch a movie about this fic. it’d be so good. I want a full-length published novel.

Haikyuu!!: boyfriend shirts and thigh highs by kythen. KuroDai. Series of 4 extremely explicit and well-done smutfics (I am picky AF my dudes and these are perf)

Mystic Messenger: Leave (Like the Sane Abandoned Me) by TimmyJaybird. Part of a series of fics about polyamorous ftm trans Yoosung, this one focuses on YooSeven

^ every single one of the above fics contains explicit content but the winner of the What I’m Jackin It To These Days award is definitely the punctum series by sublimation. 3 incredibly explicit Shallura (Voltron) fics for all your femdom P-in-V smut needs

you can always check out my ao3 bookmarks as well if you’re curious about my tastes, which are...varied. and mostly smutty.

[mononohke-archive]

Top 10 Anime of 2016

Here it is, my top 10 anime of this year after even more unnecessary procrastination! Honestly, it was a pretty damn good year for anime. Pretty shit year for mostly everything else though. Oh well, at least anime served as a good distraction, but the anime on this list were more than just a distraction. They were the toppiest of anime I saw and would like to highlight. There are some ground rules though:

The anime must have finished airing in 2016, so any anime season that started in (probably Fall) 2015 and ended in 2016 count, and unfinished anime from Fall 2016 don’t. That means no 3-gatsu no lion, even though it easily qualifies to be on this list. It’s only halfway done so far, and it’s not fair to prematurely include it before it’s finished. It’ll probably end up on my 2017 list though, so don’t worry.

No direct sequels. So anime like Haikyuu!! 3rd season and Natsume Yuujinchou Go are out. They would also easily make it if I didn’t include this rule, but my objective is to showcase the new stuff that this year has produced.

Of course, please remember that this is a personal list based on my personal opinion, so don’t tell me about Re:zero this (which I didn’t even watch and probably never will) or Erased that (which was extremely average in my opinion). There was a lot of popular anime I just avoided watching this year because I’m picky, so don’t ask why it’s not on here. [Obligatory link to MAL]

One final thing I want to say is that my precise ratings are not set in stone. As I watch more and more anime, my standards change, so there are always some anime that get reshuffled on the scale and may go up or down as I reconsider my feelings on what they deserve. Without further delay, here’s my list:

#1) Mob Psycho 100 [9.3/10]

Unsurprisingly, Mob Psycho 100 is my #1 of the year. Putting aside the super obvious reason why it’s so noteworthy (the amazing, unique, fluid, eclectic, creative animation), the clever story, incredible humor, and lovable characters are up to par and an important part of why I love it so much as well. It’s such a rarity when so many things go right in the production of an anime that is also an adaptation. I’ve never read the web comic, but I can’t imagine how they could’ve done it better. 

#2) Poco’s Udon World [9.2/10]

Whoa, talk about a surprise obscure choice. Yes, even I didn’t expect this one to soar to the top of my list, but the absolute mastery of themes explored on top of the adorable, heartwarming shenanigans put this at #2. Poco’s Udon World, while not exactly impressive on a technical level (like my #1 choice) or on a deeply artistic level (like my #3 choice), just... hit me right in the feels for a lack of a better term. It’s not often that I see anime that affect so much emotionally. This elicited similar feelings to Natsume Yuujinchou but covers a different perspective and a different set of themes (besides love). This is a high quality “feel good” anime for these depressing times.

#3) Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu [9.1/10]

I... was initially a little hesitant to put Rakugo on this list. Not because it doesn’t deserve it but because the story is only halfway done, and I don’t like putting incomplete anime on a list. However, I gave it some thought and this first season is still a complete story arc (of Kikuhiko’s life), and can be judged on that alone. Don’t be surprised if the second season which is currently airing ends up on next year’s list too. (I will probably end up breaking my own rules in order to allow a direct sequel). So, while MP100 and PUW are rated slightly higher, I admit that Rakugo is a true masterpiece and a modern classic. Anime of this level of artistry without a single cliche anime trope are *incredibly* rare. The only reason I’ve rated this lower is because of my personal preference for genre fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, etc) over pure drama. 

#4) Yuri!!! on Ice [8.9/10]

It may surprise you that as a tumblr user I’m not ranking this my #1, but a few anime have surpassed it by mere .1 increments. However, that doesn’t mean that YoI is undeserving of its praise (...except perhaps about the animation) or popularity. Contrary to that, I am extremely pleased with its success and eagerly wait the 2nd season as well as more anime about ice skating or canon gay couples. YoI is not perfect by any means, yes, but the passion, genuineness, and love it brought was a sorely needed breath of fresh air. It was also nice to see a sports anime break the mold.

“Don’t stop us now, the moment of truth / We were born to make history”

#5) Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable [8.7/10]

Since DiU is an indirect sequel, it belongs here, okay? Honestly, I enjoyed this part more than Stardust Crusaders and about as much as Battle Tendency. You can tell this where JJBA really started to settle in as a franchise. And I really would’ve liked to finally give a JJBA anime a 9/10 but unfortunately was unable to. Like the first series, it got incredibly close but juuuust missed the mark. This time it was for different reasons though. DavePro took some shortcuts with the production and cut out enough that it affected my score, despite how much I loved the plot and characters and stands.

#6) Boku no Hero Academia [8.6/10]

BnHA takes old shounen tropes and makes them fresh again. Not because it did anything particularly unique, but because the execution is excellent bar almost none. This type of genre isn’t really what I favor, but regardless, I can appreciate the quality of the production values and the lovable characters. I can also tell that it’s really just getting started and that future sequels will get better as the story picks up.

#7) Cheer Danshi!! [8.4/10]

Another unique sports anime which subverts... well, anything. In YoI it was expectations for the homoerotic subtext merely remaining as subtext. In this one, it was concerning gender roles and expectations of masculinity specifically. As noted in my Summer roundup, CD really dropped the ball in a few areas (especially the animation), but the emotional impact it gave me was much stronger. It’s just such a pity that this anime didn’t get that much attention, even on tumblr. This one may become quickly forgotten, but it’ll always be special to me. Wow... sports anime really made some unexpected progress in 2016.

#8) 91 Days [8.3/10]

There is no other anime on this list with a more unique genre. Gangster/crime anime are extremely rare, and so it was a pleasure for me to watch this. I knew that even if this was flawed, I would still enjoy it because of just how much I love the genre. Thankfully, 91 Days does have a decent plot and decent characters and decent production values. It doesn’t do anything new, per se, but considering the rarity of crime anime, it didn’t even need to to be any different from most other anime. Here’s hoping that the relative success of this anime leads to more crime anime.

#9) Sakamoto desu ga? [7.9/10]

Welcome to the only pure comedy anime that made it on this list. So far, no comedies I’ve seen have reached the level of Nichijou or Daily Lives of High School Boys (both 9/10s), but... this was still good and a moderately noteworthy one. The comedy “hit” for the most part, but it was nothing truly gutbusting. What truly made this good for me were the memorable supporting characters, Sakamoto himself, and the surprisingly touching ending where I even cried a little bit. 

#10) The Morose Mononokean [7.8/10]

This one just barely made my the top 10, and it really only did because it I decided not to include any unfinished anime. It’s not that I didn’t like Mononokean and wouldn’t watch a sequel, but it doesn’t really feel like top 10 material to me... Possibly because I didn’t watch quite enough anime this year to justify a top 10. Anyway, Mononokean is still a cute and enjoyable anime. It just lacks memorableness (with the exception of Abeno).

STATS:

Winter anime: 1 (Rakugo)

Spring anime: 3 (Sakamoto, BnHA, JJBA)

Summer anime: 4 (MP100, Cheer Danshi, 91 Days, Morose Mononokean)

Fall anime: 2 (Yuri on Ice, Poco’s Udon World)

Average rating: 8.62

[drink-n-watch]

Genre : Action, political thriller, mystery, magical girl(?)

Episodes: 12

Studio: Actas

As someone who lives in a very cold country, I have a healthy appreciation for walls. They can be incredibly useful. Necessary even. But history has thought us that when they are used to tear families apart and segment off bits of the world, they can also be devastating. That’s exactly what happened in the Commonwealth. As the kingdom of Albion (England?) flexed its military might and cordoned up its considerable resources behind the wall, families and loved ones were torn apart, and it was devastating. Hope is not lost however as the young Princess Charlotte is not blind to the suffering of her people and understands the need for change. Political reform isn’t easy and sometimes it has to get bloody. Thankfully the princess has just found some unexpected allies in a group of super spies from the Commonwealth. Will the mission succeed or will the Kingdom be plunged into bloody revolution?

As I started writing that synopsis, I realized that Princess Principal is sort of a weird show. It’s not that easy to describe and I’m not sure any synopsis will really give you the full picture. I guess you could say that about any show really. Wow this review is off to a great start!

A little while ago, well a few days from this writing, I got the urge to pick up a cute girl show. I sort of overdosed on unimpressively average examples of the genre which left me a bit wary but at the same time, there are series I absolutely love as well. I was trying to find another demi chan, Yuri Yuri or Kobayashi. I remember being super intrigued by Princess Principal when it aired and I had a good feeling.

I’m about to say things my screencaps will contradict

Princess Principal certainly has the look I was hoping for. Adorable young girl designs with a touch more sharpness, just to make really sure you know this isn’t some comedy. Great soft colours, in a slightly darker palette than usual. As a bonus, the backgrounds were often very beautiful and I ended up with a lot of great screencaps of cityscapes.

This said it was a very straightforward production with slightly lacklustre sound design. Not bad mind you just not particularly effective or interesting.

I have a feeling I’m coming off harsh. Lately, I’ve been paying a lot more attention to cinematic language in anime and was lucky enough to watch a whole bunch of series in a row that all had very unusual and exciting productions and non-verbal storytelling. Princess Principal isn’t that. But it’s by no means a bad production and both the art and animation exceeded my expectations.

the town is really beautiful too

That’s actually sort of how I felt about the entire show. Some things were surprisingly good which is why I was disappointed when they stopped short of being great. As if the narrative strengths bumped my expectations unfairly up for a lot of aspects that never quite came together in my opinion.

For instance, I am a huge fan of spy thrillers and can be a bit picky about them. I thought I was getting ready to watch a CGDCT show with a spy-themed gimmick for flavour but when the early episodes proved to be much more ruthless and uncompromising than expected, I shifted gears and started to think this may, in fact, be a complex political thriller with smartly woven intrigues and dramas. And the foundations for it are there even if I did find the core political premise a little overdone and bare bones.

However, the shows very episodic structure (and non-chronological storyline) made it difficult to really create an elaborate season-long story arc and ended up being less developed independent stories that culminated in a somewhat rushed two episode finale. They do manage to tie up most loose ends but there simply isn’t enough time to delve too deeply into the main story. In the end, I ended up enjoying some of the random episodes more.

For the record, my favourites were the laundry mat one, the one narrated by Chise and the one we’re we see Ange and Dorothy’s old classmate.

A bit of that sentiment holds true, to a lesser degree for the characters. I did like them all. A lot in fact and I would consider the characters a strength of the series. They all have very distinct personalities and ways of looking at things. And I never got the impression that the characters were underdeveloped but I just wish I could have gotten the chance to get to know them a bit better. It’s no coincidence that my favourite episodes are all Les action-heavy and more character-driven. I think much of the charm of the series lies there.

You should know that there is a lot of blood in this show and some not overly pleasant moments. Spy work and revolutions aren’t known to be gentle. Yet there was a sort of weightlessness to the series. Maybe that’s just me. Possibly because of the girls’ unshakable good humour and the speed at which the narrative moved from one event to the next, consequences always seemed rather light.

In the end, I wouldn’t compare Princess Principal to a classic spy thriller either in structure nor in tropes. To me, it was closest to an “adult magical girl show”. Heck there’s even a very loosely explained gadget that can make characters fly and have superhuman strength. And of course, all these girls are expert fighters that can take out entire rooms of train soldiers but have a heavy burden to bear. If you tweaked the technology for magic and added a supernatural spin to the political conflict it really would have been a classic Maho shoujo I think. And that’s not a bad thing at all.

Princess Principal was a good show but it could have been a great one. I would still recommend it if any of this sounds interesting to you. Now I just need to find an actual CGDCT show to watch…

she’s just the best

Favourite character: Dorothy, all the way!

What this anime taught me: It’s not that I couldn’t have been a super spy, it’s just that I don’t want to…

“Age is just a number. It’s totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine.”

Suggested drink: Northern Spy

Every time you see an outfit you like – be jealous!

Every time anyone says “spy/spies” – breath in

Every time anyone says “lie/lying” – take a sip

Every time Ange takes her galsses off – take a sip

Every time Beatrice gets protective – take a sip

Every time anyone mentions the Black Lizard Planet – salute

Every time Ange and Charlotte switch places – take notes

Every time someone mentions the Duke of Normandy – take a sip

 if we see him – take another

Every time Dorothy mentions drinks – have one!

Every time anyone has a complicated relationship with their father – take a swig

Every time we see the mess hall – get a snack

Every time someone says Changeling – take a sip

Every time anyone has tea – think about brewing some

It really is a pretty show. You can go see on my Pinterest and here are a few caps for you.

  Princess Principal : Petticoats and Gunpowder Genre : Action, political thriller, mystery, magical girl(?) Episodes: 12 Studio: Actas As someone who lives in a very cold country, I have a healthy appreciation for walls.