#I'm also...not sure if it fits the manga itself?? or maybe I'm just used to the old style

[nyssasorbit]

I'm so wigged out by the artstyle, what the hell happened in like a month's span of time?

Like...I hate it, but it seems like Yamamato's maybe trying for a more realistic style?? Like, everyone has round and broad faces like real people, as opposed to the usual cutesy pointy anime faces.

I don't think it's so horrible, but I do wish Yamamoto wouldn't have made such a drastic change in artstyle during the span of this series...I wonder what's influencing it so much? Is he working on another project alongside this one?

[begrudging-fudanshi]

I'm not sure where I saw it but there are a few references to classes and teachers (like in the character book where they have subjects they're best and worst at, in a few chapters where they reference "class/es", and in an interview with satoru nii, I think, though I can't find it) – the Reddit pinned post for the manga is ood for the interview where they talked about it. In the interview, it sounded like they said it was just a pragmatic thing; the story follows the action, so there's not really any need to flesh out the school side of Furin, but that could have just been a deliberate obfuscation. I hadn't really thought about it (generally, I don't care to, because that side of fandom can get really condescending and form echo chambers of "no one else is thinking about this right or as much as us") but I found your thoughts interesting to read and thought you might have wanted to know about the teacher thing, because even if teachers are there, they haven't been included in the main story at all, and don't seem to be trying to teach them anything beyond the academic curriculum.

Thanks! I had seen that, but I try to mainly base my analysis on what's in the text itself ("the author is dead" and all that). However, I appreciate the input and I actually do have some related thoughts on this.

By the way, if you or anyone else seeing this post can tell me any specific chapters where the Furin kids talk about school stuff, please share! I totally missed any mentions of that, so my views below are all based on the assumption that the kids never mention anything school related.

A few messy thoughts:

I accept that the Furin kids do go to class, but to your point, their teachers seem ineffectual at best (and, as I'll get to later, extremely trusting). I figure that anyone who'd teach at a delinquent school notorious for year-round fighting is probably not great at their job. Before Bofurin, I imagine the teachers had all given up any hope of teaching anything and just tried to survive. Ever since Umemiya took over, they've probably been so happy to finally have some peace that they just let him and the other kids do whatever they want.

While I try not to speculate too much about authorial intent, it often feels to me like Nii has challenged himself to take as many stock tropes as he can and to use them as effectively as possible (or maybe he's just a really good writer using a lot of stock tropes lol). For example, Sakura is a classic tsundere, but it's actually rationalized in a really compelling way by his characterization. Likewise, WBK also takes the trope of invisible teachers and actually fits it into the broader themes of the story (as previously discussed in the post you're referencing).

I kinda wonder if Nii was forced to show the protagonists going to high school in order to be published, and thus chose to do it in the most cursory way possible. It kinda feels like the story was meant to be told with a cast of young adults, but maybe Nii or the publisher felt like it'd sell better with teenage protagonists in a school setting. I also suspect it would be controversial (and understandably so) to publish a series aimed at teenagers where the teenage protagonists choose not to attend high school, so I've thought the whole invisible teachers approach could be a workaround for that.

That said, the absence of teachers (and any other responsible adults) just feels so conspicuous that it's hard to write it off as purely pragmatic. Plenty of series have seemingly nonexistent teachers, but they usually avoid showing kids in settings where teachers would appear. WBK could have easily done that (e.g. by giving Bofurin an HQ near the school where they spend all their time), but instead it practically goes out of its way to rub the school setting in your face. For that matter, Nii also could have chosen a different setting where kids wouldn't have to attend school at all, but he explicitly chose to set WBK in what is very clearly present-day Japan. I don't think it's worthwhile to speculate about what Nii "really meant" by this (or if he really meant anything at all), but from an analysis point of view, this is just too conspicuous for me to ignore.

A theme in WBK that I'd like to explore in-depth at some point is trust—namely, how WBK challenges us to imagine trusting these so-called delinquents who are rejected everywhere else and to imagine that they might make their world a better place of their own accord. The absence of visible teachers really highlights this trust. The kids have been given free reign of the school to do whatever they please but, despite adult authority figures being functionally nonexistent, they've still managed to turn it into a better place.

Lastly, while I have to admit I probably fall closer to that "no one else is thinking about this right or as much as us" side of fandom than not, let me just say: fuck anyone who's condescending about it. I personally enjoy deeper media analysis and am trying to cultivate more of it around WBK in my own way, but everyone is allowed to engage with media how they want. The angle I'm trying to take is more "Hey, here's this neat thing I noticed!" as opposed to "You're enjoying this wrong." and I hope that others will do the same.

[ficticiousdelicious]

What does Fic think of Eustass Kidd and Trafalgar Law?

In relation to: Fic's Favorite Characters (2024)

This is relatively spoiler free but there might be some hints.

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Eustass Kidd:

In general I really enjoy Eustass Kidd's grumpy, rough attitude and intensity but also how he creates his own brand of chaos instead of just going with whatever other people are doing. RIP anyone in his way...they're all equally obstacles in his eyes. He's often an instigator and very push and shove. It's interesting how much deep trouble Eustass gets himself into for his behavior and then has to slog back out of it. He seems very proud and I like how in-tact his intensity still feels. I really hope they give us his full backstory in the manga and/or anime (there's a few SBS things about it already) and I'd love to see more from his awakened fruit because that version of it is so damn useful! 'Useful Eustass'...hmmm... Aesthetically Eustass is so eccentric and sometimes he looks goofy but other times he's just rugged and I dig it - from the hawkish eyes to the punk attire to the lipstick and nailpolish. My one and only real criticism is that his new arm often seems a little too clunky? Meh. Smol criticism. I like the state of that arm and the lore for it and especially how ripped they make Eustass for wielding the stuff he does. THE MAN IS LIKE...6'9"?! I think?! A f-cking unit of a guy and he brings the spice. I was more fond of Eustass's very first outfit but once they depicted him more in the newer black shirt with its deep v-neck and his pecs and shoulders showing (sans cape thingy) I was bowled over. And of course I'm glad they kept his goggles! T3T

Trafalgar Law:

In terms of Trafalgar Law his broody, cynical moods can be so icy and in that way weirdly refreshing I think (because One Piece is an otherwise rather bright and vibrant world, we need some shade to balance). How Law acts so high and mighty partly because he's older than many of the other pirates he meets...ppppffttt. So funny man. Yet when other characters poke at him and get him going Law can get just as goofy. It's nice to have some humor from him. ...and he seems to have a certain guilty pleasure that it seems like his serious nature demands he keep rejecting every time it's brought up. HEH. Law's twisted/dry sense of humor that comes out of nowhere is hilarious too. One of my criticisms for him right away though is that sometimes it feels like he's made into too much of a joke. I felt it mostly irons itself out without an issue as the series carries on though. Departing from funny, Law comes from a dark place that has clearly warped his way of thinking and life. His backstory is exquisite; it gave an excellent sense of how he got to be who he is in the series present day. I adore how he's strong of mind thanks to how some of that hardened him. I would enjoy seeing more of his fruit power - in any capacity, it's fascinating. Aesthetically...god, Law is such damn pretty boy. It's the whole look and how he behaves. He is full of sass to marry to his looks. Hell. Everything he wears (except maybe the white sleeveless shirt...) is so put together though. I'm sure his shoes destroy his feet but god, from the jeans to the jackets and button-ups the man. has. class! A CLASSY QUEEN. Finally, his tattoo design is, in my opinion, one of the best and most fitting designs of that I've ever seen on a character.

Similarities I Like [about Law and Kidd]:

Their names are really cool! Fun to say, fun to read, fun to poke fun at. I always end up spelling Eustass Kidd with two 'd's' because I feel weird about just one. I also, obviously, like saying 'Eustass' instead of 'Kidd' the majority of the time. It just rings better to me. Aside from that they really seem to care deeply about their crews and that warms my heart. For Law every time he lets Bepo get away with shit I'm there for that. BEPO IS SPOILED. For Eustass it's fun to see how much his rowdy crew admire him (and god does he seem to love it) but oh man...some of the stuff we get for Killer and how Eustass handles things just hits hard! Just for Eustass there was a small, quiet and unique scene at the very beginning of the anime episode 1112 that blew me away because it was such a rare side of him. It spoke volumes. I still can't get over how lovely that was (I wish there was a bit in the manga for it). We get a lot more scenes for Law so it's harder to think of one that is really rare, but perhaps the one in his childhood where he's happy because of a dork, YOU KNOW THE ONE. In terms of Eustass and Law in the same space well...it's amazing how many of each other's buttons they can push down with all ten of their fingers and toes. They just resonate chaos but cooperation is possible and both are interesting. They're also from such opposite climates man (I guess I like the juxtaposition of that).

.

Shippin' the Dudes (LawKidd/KiddLaw):

I figure shipping them isn't for everyone but I personally love the idea of it because I feel like they have chemistry in their volatile way. A goth and a punk - even if it's less literal in canon settings. NEED I SAY MORE? I just love the subculture vibes and the potential for playful fighting and getting into trouble to go on adventures. Their potential is outstanding and their attitudes are fun to write (I actually wish I had more finished fanworks for them but that's a work in progress and I just need five more minds and a few more limbs to keep up with that). Eustass and Law can also have very believable serious tones for sincere storytelling - for when you want to yank on people's feels. :3

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All anime images here © One Piece - Eiichiro Oda

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@chromatic-lamina SO MANY THOUGHTS. HHNNNGH. If there's a specific curiosity I missed with this let me know! I was afraid it would be hell to read this in notes so I just moved it into a post and well...then it got even longer! haha

[theomnicode]

How I write metas? A meta about metas

If this deconstruction post is going to be useful for any aspiring meta writer on this OPM fandom that I currently follow, then be my guest. :D

Warning: Semi-long post.

Step 1: Inspiration

Nope, really can't get into my head all the time to write stuff as much as I would love to but when I do, it's because I get a good inspiration from something. It does not really matter at this point if it's short or long, just the subject matters. Then if I get inspired, I will usually stew on that idea for a while and think about the points in the manga that fit.

Unfortunately inspiration does not strike all the time so there's always that. I'm going with the route that "you can't force inspiration to come to you, you want the inspiration to become you" or something like that. Take that with grain of salt, I just made it up on the spot.

Step 2: Practice

I've personally been writing fanfics since I was...a teen I believe and meta is just a subsection of writing school essays, except it's actually fun. So writing something has been quite a lot of work put behind it, but nobody says one cannot start from scratch today and the meta doesn't need to be immediately impressive, we're just writing it for fun yanno? For other fandom peeps who maybe wanna hear our thoughts. Just gotta start from somewhere yanno? My earlier metas are prolly a fair bit different than my current metas.

Like they say, practice makes perfect.

Step 3: The creative process

Ok so to the nitty gritty of the meta making... PLOT NO JUTSU!

I oftentimes either discuss the meta on discord channels with likeminded peeps and then start gathering some images from the manga to use as my images to enhance my point and make my texts also visually interesting to look at and make some clarifying points. I tend to find some good relative image to use as my first image because it'll show up in archive search like so:

It'll be easier to search for my metas even without searching for my tags from my archives if they look similar.

Next, I keep a folder for all my meta images in a neat pile and I use paint ms to cut me nice images to post into my meta and I also have cubari , the one site which hosts all the chapters so far, open where I can just grab images whenever. Basically any kind of image tool you got from paint to gimp to photoshop can help you crop images you want to use if you want to use images in your meta.

My brain can sometimes be pretty hard to follow apparently, so I do try to parse a lot when I write my texts and keep it somewhat coherent. Parsing information via the canon timeline can help form a coherent timeline to follow in a meta.

In general, you want your writing progress to be seamless and disturbance free creative process, not unlike drawing. Sometimes ambient music on the background can help focus on the actual meta writing process (currently listening to Ardenweald from WoW), which can take me from 1 hour to all the way to 5 hours in a single sitting, which is quite long but remember, tumblr drafts saves your progress even if you save it nowhere else and it's entirely possible to finish the thinking process another day when you have more time.

Sometimes I include links to either my own metas or some outside source, which I then briefly quote on my text, like in the Saitama mental health meta where I citate depression effects on memory recollection. The quote sources can also be stated at the very end like in a real essay, but to me personally I'm fine without the citations at the end, long as I state my sources and then put quotes into indented text.

Step 4: The writing itself

Paraphrasing helps make your text look coherent and easier to read to just about anybody, so avoid pure walls of texts. I usually write longer texts, but that is up to the writer to decide how short, long or how abridged they can/wanna make their work, which frankly is not one of my best skillsets lmao. Just gotta make sure to put that warning in the front if it's long post.

Nowdays, I also include chapter names and numbers about the relevant information I'm writing meta about in between () marks and itallics to further separate it from plain text, which might be helpful to people if they search for that specific plot point from the manga itself. Then if it's a particularly long meta, a tl;dr at the bottom if I can form a proper tldr.

Sometimes I also get struck by random thought and I just have to write it out haha. Sometimes I ask for aid and opinions on discord channels.

Any long metas should definitely have that "readmore" cutoff in the beginning, else entirety of tumblr or wherever you'll post the meta will hate you.

Step 5: Revision & Tagging

You can hold on from posting the meta the very same day and just keep it revised for a bit longer if you want to correct spelling mistakes or if you think you can maybe adds some more to it. Revision is just as important in writing meta as in writing something like fanfiction and I personally do a fair bit of both.

When tagging, I just use "opm meta" for all my opm related metas and then tag in fandom and characters that apply to the current meta and then some other related subjects like "mental health, character study" etc. I prolly haven't tagged my earlier metas that properly but eh... if you write on another platform and then copypaste it to tumblr, make sure that the plain text shows properly and doesn't create any weirdness.

Closing thoughts...that's about it folks, that's how I write meta and how I wrote this piece as well. Which took me roughtly 1hr 45mins to write down at my current writing speed but I've been thinking about this since yesterday haha.

Tl;dr: Inspiration, practice, creative process by saving images and thoughts as they go, writing and paraphrasing, revision and tagging properly.

[chuckeroo777]

Dungeon Meshi Volume 13 Part 1

Welcome back! Things are about to reach a breaking point! You know things are crazy when all six chapters of the volume have the same name.

Volume 13's cover is literally just the gang running away from a spoiler, so please accept these cute pictures of baby Marcille from the daydream hours.

A precious image.

Wishes, man. There's always a catch. Whether that be an evil genie, or a perfect unconscious wish, it never goes how you want. This one doesn't even let you say no thanks.

This is such a good fake-out. Now someone grab some zip-ties.

So, is Marcille going to struggle with impulse control for the rest of her life, or did it just eat her desire not to lead an army to the surface?

Sure you will buddy. *proceeds to, in fact, not be careful*

Oh god, if he defeats the demon, we'll be out of a job.

This is cool and all, but what happens to this avatar after the gang goes inside? Does it turn back into monsters? Does it simply vanish? It's totally gone next time we see outside.

There was probably a more literal translation for that onomatopoeia, but damn if that isn't perfect. I also like the detail that Mithrun lost his fake eye.

Happy 8/8 everyone.

Going a little out of order here, since Chapter 87 and Misc tales 13 go together. So, everything seems to indicate that the Demon and magic itself are one and the same. But where do spirits fit into all of this? Are spirits, like, sub-sentient demon bits? Are they micro-organisms that can use magic? Everything in this page sure sounds like gnomish magic to me.

Genuinely curious how the anime will handle these panels.

How? No, seriously, how did the ancients trap the demon? The demon is an entity of unlimited power. Why is it contrained to rules? We know it likes fulfilling desires, but what's stopping it from acting on its own? Why did it need to swap with Laios just to use its power for itself? It's never really explained how the demon came to be constrained. I understand the demon's current rules, but I don't know how we reached this point.

So much world-building in one panel. I don't really get how the demon managed such massive, world sweeping changes though.

The demon is exceptionally awful. It is manipulative, selfish, cruel, and it ultimately takes everything that matters away. But it didn't become that way because of its intrinsic nature. It learned to be evil by watching us.

Seriously, the exit is right there. What is keeping the demon bound to these dungeons?

Yeah, maybe should have figured that out before going right into the lion's den. (haha)

No, see, that's the beauty of Laios' plan. By focusing so hard on plan A, the lion will be completely blindsided by plan B.

I'm sure Falin would think it's cute.

She does her best not to show it... but this is a big moment for Izutsumi. No one has ever trusted her. No one has ever implicitly trusted her with something important like this. And the craziest part? She's actually going to do it. Laios is right to trust her.

One interesting takeaway from this story is the lesson that people are, by their very nature, selfish beings. Yet, we push through, and do the right thing anyway. I'm sure someone smarter than me could articulate it better. Something something, Laios' curse.

I have some thoughts on this panel. Check out my post where I go into it in detail!

I know this is a serious moment, but Laios just looks like a creepy chicken.

Laios failed the vibe check. He looked WAY too cool and professional as he chopped off the lion's head.

Laios doesn't have an evil bone in his body, yet we're getting a Laios villain arc anyway!

Oh no! What are our heroes going to do! Find out next post!

[quirkwizard]

How much of an individual do you think Dark Shadow is considered? Because he's fully sentient and sapient, and is capable of speech and dexterity. He's also capable of independent thought and feelings, like being sorry for losing to Bakugo/being possessed by Kuroiro and being afraid of Gigantomachia. I might be remembering wrong, but he also seemed worried for Tokoyami when he was being suffocated by fungi. Despite that he also seems pretty bound to Tokoyami's will, doing what he asks unless he's too weak or powered by darkness/rage, and rarely emerging when not being used for hero business. Is his Dark Shadow aware that he's a quirk? I suppose he has to be but is aware of the gravity of him being a "superpower?" Does he have a personality, because he seems a bit more peppy and rambunctious than Tokoyami. If Tokoyami were to pass his quirk onto his child or maybe have it stolen by AFO or something, would the Dark Shadow given/stolen be the same entity? Is it a sort of same mind replicated situation, or in OFA's case, kidnapping? I just realized I've been referring to Dark Shadow with he/him, but I'm pretty sure Dark Shadow is referred to as an it/its in the series, which raises a few more questions for me. To be clear I'm not necessarily asking you all of this, I just have a lot of questions about my favorite quirk that will likely never get answered and I ended up rambling. Oops.

See, this is one of the many reasons why I don't like to think of Dark Shadow as fully sentient and sapient induvial. It just raises a lot of questions and concerns around the world. Not only would he be the only example in the entire manga, something that was never hinted at with other powers, but it just opens itself up to a lot of moral issues of Tokoyami trapping this being in his stomach and sending it out to get beaten up on a regular basis. It's why I've always gone with the idea of Dark Shadow being more of an extension of Tokoyami. That whatever Dark Shadow is doing is just mouthpiece for Tokoyami's own thoughts and feelings. I just think that solves a lot of the problems with Dark Shadow's existence and could give us another shade to the more reserved Tokoyami's character, given what Dark Shadow is doing. At least that fits with why Dark Shadow seems to have such a strong connection with Tokoyami's mental state. It's just a much simpler and cleaner explanation for me.

[fandom-trash-xl]

EPISODE 3: DAIMA (Yes, that's the actual episode title)

Jaka-Jaan's already stuck in my head, that's a sure sign of a banger. Anyway, onto episode 3!

This episode using the series recap intro from the first episode totally didn't scare me for a second. If this is going to become a regular thing like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood's alchemy speech, we might be seeing Frieza a lot more this season (sure, the same shot but... yeah).

We're off to Demon Realm via the giant fish-like portal guardian, Warp-Sama, and Goku nearly blows the whole mission by being himself- I've noticed he's a little more childish. I don't think it's "Dragon Ball Super Brain Damage" bad but maybe because he's in a kid body again, he's taking the time to be a bit more silly and unfiltered.... unless the shrink also made them a little more immature.

The Warp-Samas apparently need an approved pin number to access and Shin can't use his mind link quick enough to tell Kibito- that'll be an uh oh later. And we're also hoping that Kibito will have the little ear illusion magic for Vegeta and Bulma or that'll be a second uh oh.

So, there's three Demon Worlds within the Demon Realm, basically in number hierarchy. Glorio's from the lowest, the third, but does some work in the first. "What kind of work?" (suspicious pause) "...This and that."

If he turns out to be an assassin or something, OH I am EXTRA buying his Funko Pop (or whatever easily accessible/affordable merch comes out first)! At the hotel, the fact that he had a gun seemed to be a tip off for the manager, so I wouldn't be surprised. I enjoy Glorio's vibes regardless.

We've got so many little worldbuild bits- the tunnel between worlds being closed off, gases from the volcanoes making the air heavy and hard to move fast in, the doom river that causes instant death... The fact that pretty much anything you could design as an OC or fan-creature here would fit in. And this is just the third world- as I typed that I realized how that sounds and oh this is going to be a Demon Realm class thing isn't it?

There's a statue left of Dabura that seems worse for wear- either because of just how long he was in power or the stone itself is sensing there's a new king in charge.

Apparently, Shin (and presumably the other Kais) is what's known as a Glind, so we've got new species classifications to work with! ...Are we retconning the magic life fruit origin thing or are we eventually going to come to that tree.

And we have to remember Toriyama's roots in gag manga by slipping in a fart joke

Of course, Goku's still hungry so they stop for some good old fashioned Demon Realm hamburgers- is it weird that after awhile they started looking really tasty actually?

"What meat is this?" "Don't ask." Oh. That definitely means it was a sapient at one point, doesn't it? Maybe that's what they do with all the rogue round-ears? There does seem to be some clear hostility, given they're very quick to start a bar fight- which Goku quickly steps into because you don't come between him and his hamburgers.

After a peaceful night's sleep, they wake up to find that the bar thugs stole Glorio's plane! (checks my GT notes because I'm sure I've seen this before)

Trying to predict what's coming next... From the previews, we might be getting lore on the Tagamis and I have a feeling that we might be meeting Panzy soon. Part of me's kind of hoping we get intermittent cut-ins to how it's going back on Earth.

Also, how I missed the expressive little commercial break in-between scenes! Love them!

EPISODES WITHOUT KNOWING HANVI'S WHEREABOUTS: 3

[yayakoishii]

finally watched the Black Clover movie!!

so many thoughts lol, so ofc I had to make a post sorting them all out,, [warning; spoilers to the manga!]

I liked the movie overall but there were some things that just didn't sit with me well. The biggest of which is where the movie fits into canon timeline– it would have suited better at some other point, I think. Maybe it's because I've caught up to the manga but considering everything that's about to happen and everything that has happened before, I feel like the placing is just not the best.

I liked the parallel of Conrad and Asta but the fact that 4 former Wizard Kings all say that the position is not enough to fix Clover Kingdom is a bit 😭 like, that's 4 vastly different people who worked their way up to becoming Wizard Kings. Surely, they know what they're talking about?! I have no clue how Asta can change the country to that extent (but I'm a big supporter of the idea of killing Augustus Kira Clover the first chance we get) but considering the latest arc, I can see the start of it happening in the aftermath of the climax.

I liked all the villains but Mr. Barrier Magic (I forgot his name...) was probably my favourite. I love that bit about how there's no right and wrong, just beliefs. Isn't that what it is a lot of time? A bunch of grey shades, a goal you believe in, and the means you use to get to that goal. But, means can be evaluated as right or wrong. I suppose the fundamental basis of this view is that there is no objective morality. Morality is always subjective and relative to each individual and culture. The philosophy student in me liked that bit~

I also loved the parallel of Princia Funnybunny (I'll never forget that surname 😭 it was so unexpectedly cute) and Mereoleona, especially considering the recent fight of Morris and Mereoleona where she also talked about loneliness. They are both similar but what makes them different is that Mereoleona had Fuegoleon and Leopold (and the rest of the Crimson Lions!). Although the two of them aren't the same level as her, they always believed in her and were by her side and kept pushing themselves against her. I don't think Princia had someone like that, making her lose faith in people– the reason she couldn't draw strength from comrades, unlike Mereoleona.

Honestly, the timeline and main conflict being 4 former Wizard Kings are the only two problems I had. The rest of the movie was amazing imho; the animation was really good and so was the music!

I was surprised to find the ending song was also done by Treasure. I felt like it was a k-pop artist when the song started but I wasn't sure– I didn't know Treasure had done two songs for Black Clover. It was really good too!

Over-all, the movie was a 6/10 for me, but that's just my opinion. I don't know what others felt about it and I don't really know any other fans to discuss this stuff with either so I ended up letting out all my thoughts in this post. This post is not meant as hate towards any character or the movie itself, it's just my perspective!

if anyone bothered to read this whole thing, I hope I didn't waste your time hahaha~

[rollinouttahere-writes]

Soooo,, that one piece live action huh?? Thoughts? Headcanons? If lucky were in there how would she fair??

I have so many thoughts about it, I'll say some spoiler free stuff first and keep the spoilers under the cut.

I have genuinely never cared for live action remakes and saw them as pointless, so no one is more surprised than I am that I wound up loving this one so much. The amount of heart and passion that went into it was insane, and I am praying for more seasons because I want to see what they'll do from here.

I loved that it was different enough to stand on its own because it helps to keep people from trying to compare the anime/manga to it. The more mature theme is interesting, and I do like how the Straw Hats were depicted in this. Nami was probably my favorite because Emily Rudd killed that role oh my god. It handles the emotional scenes well, but I will say that it hasn't made me cry as much as the anime did.

Other things I liked was the sound track that I've been listening to a lot. The thing they did with the bounty posters was so charming I loved it. The opening scene was literally perfect, and so were the sets and costumes. I also love that they got the japanese voice actors to dub it and have been rewatching it in that language just for that experience.

I give the series like an 8/10 overall. I have some gripes, but they're all minor and mostly boil down to feeling a bit rushed which was inevitable with the number of episodes given. I really want at least one more season because I NEED to see live action Ace and Robin.

Spoilers from here on out

All of my issues with it count as spoilers so here they are:

No Loguetown Arc, which was really frustrating since they already had the set built. Maybe if we hadn't of spent what was honestly too much time with the marines they could have included it.

Since this was more serious, I can understand killing off Merry, but why did Kuro get away??? The marines were there, there was literally no reason for the writers to let him get away with it.

No Hachi. I get that he would have been difficult to depict, but leaving him out entirely was a bad call because he makes several reappearances and is kinda important. It also makes me a little nervous for future seasons because if they aren't even willing to show Hachi my god do they have some much bigger problems ahead of them.

They really didn't need to spoon feed Garp's motivations to us, it was self evident enough without Koby stating it. Also rather than letting the world building speak for itself, they had Garp openly discuss the corruption. Show, don't tell.

All that being said, none of these ruined it for me, I still really enjoyed it!

As for how I would fit Lucky into it... I'm not sure? As much as I enjoyed the live action, I can't say that I feel motivated to write for it. I like the anime/manga characterization better. Sorry, this probably wasn't the answer you were hoping for!

[auxiliarydetective]

Hi hun polite reminder people make OCs for fun and don't necessarily want to stick to canon. Your One Piece poet is useful for people who want to research and adhere to canon fandom lore but don't make it a prerequisite please as if we have to run everything by you for permission. Your tone is dictatorial in the nicest way and it's not on to tag people in your post either as it comes off as a critical rebuke that they're not doing it 'right'

Alright, I'm gonna try to respond to this as best as I can. Since you took time out of your day to write this, it's only fair I do the same.

First and most importantly of all, I'm not trying to police anyone's OCs. You're right, making OCs is about having fun. None of the tips in my post are mandatory. I was just trying to give a guideline for people who might struggle with the world of manga One Piece (which is ultimately what the live action is based off and will turn into in huge parts if it keeps running). I, personally, think immersion is very important for my OCs. It makes me happy when they fit into canon as if they belong there and whenever something about my OC gets contradicted through later installments in canon, I get pretty upset. So, in case anybody also feels like that, I made the post. That's who that post is for. If you're not one of those people, you're free to ignore it. It's not a lecture, nobody is forcing you to listen and apply it. Hell, even lectures aren't mandatory.

You said it yourself. You recognized who the post is for, that means you read it closely. With that in mind, I don’t understand why you think I'm making my points a prerequisite. I never said that and I never said you have to run things by me for permission. I said you can message me if you have questions or need help, not "message me before you post your OC or else it's illegal". It's about people who want their OCs to be canon-accurate not having to navigate 1000+ episodes/chapters worth of One Piece lore if they can ask a single question and get an answer instead. Nothing else.

My tone, I'm guessing where you get the prerequisite part from. I'm sorry, but it's not dictatorial at all. Dictatorial is a term you should be very careful with using. It is pointed, yes, but that's the tone in a lot of Tumblr posts, so I just tried to match that. If I wrote that post like a handbook or something, that would sound like making things mandatory, and it would make it dull to read, and I didn’t want that. If you want, you can give me suggestions to improve my tone and I'll see what I can do.

Now, the last point, you actually completely misunderstood what I was trying to say. Almost all of the people I tagged are people I know who I consider my friends. I know that they have One Piece OCs and we talked about those OCs, with me throwing in my two cents of canon knowledge to try and help make them fit in because I thought they might appreciate it or they asked me to. That's what I'm offering in that post, in a condensed form, the same things I told and offered them, because I felt like other people could maybe use them too. I tagged them to ask them to help spread that post to other people so they can maybe have some security being thrown into the chaotic fandom that is One Piece through an adaptation that offers only a very limited view on it at the current point in time. I wasn't trying to say that they were doing anything wrong at all and I'm pretty sure that they know that because of our previous interactions. The other people are people I tagged who I have only rarely interacted with, admittedly, but who I know to either have ties to people with OPLA OCs because I follow them or who I know to be very friendly and willing to help people. Again, no accusations here. I just wanted to help people and reach a wider audience because my blog is fairly small and unpopular. Finally, I intentionally didn’t tag them in the post itself but in a comment so that it was even easier for them to ignore it. Generally, I'm not very versed in Tumblr tagging etiquette, so if it's really not okay to tag people like that, those people can tell me themselves and I won't do it again.

Which brings me to my main point of this little response letter: You’re on the internet, you have the liberty to ignore things. So, the post wasn't for you. That's fine, you can ignore it. Even if you're one of the people I tagged, you're not obligated to follow my request and reblog the post. You can still ignore it and move on. But instead, you took the time to write your message, so I took the time to respond. If this didn't clear things up, feel free to send another message, I'm willing to talk

[fraeuleintaka]

Half Time and More Merch!

This is the 41st post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 40 days left until release!

Today's topic: Half Time and some more Merch!

Woo-hoo! 🎉 We've reached the halfway point in my countdown towards the release of the Investigations Collection. We started at 80 days, 40 days with 40 posts have passed, 40 days and 40 more posts to go! 💃 Only 40 days! That's just a little over a month! Are you getting more excited? Because I certainly am!

I've been talking a lot about the Investigations Collection website, all the information we've gotten about changes and extras and everything, new art and all kinds of other details I've noticed in trailers and Co. I still have some topics left in that regard but it's probably not going to fill another 40 posts so I'm thinking about expanding my topic range, maybe to the content of the Investigations games themselves or additional content for Investigations outside of the games like the manga releases, for example. I'm not entirely sure though what would fit the best for the countdown to the collection specifically so I'm still thinking about it. If you guys have anything that you'd like me to talk about, feel free to tell me!

For today, I'm going to talk a little about some more merch I've found. These ones are available on the e-Capcom store, the store itself is Japan-exclusive but you can also order internationally via WorldShopping. (Never done this before so I don't know how well that works.)

The one item that caught my eye immediately is the Framed Key Art of the Investigations Collection! How awesome is that! It's quite expensive but wow, I'd love to have this on my wall! This art is beautiful enough that it definitely deserves that privilege.

Another one I love is this leather-like file with a stamp of Miles' image on the cover. Have your very own Organizer to sort all of your evidence and profiles in! 😄 Very thematically appropriate.

And speaking of thematically appropriate, there's even a tea cup with saucer themed after Miles and the Investigations Collection! Apart from the image of Miles himself on the bottom, they're really styled after the tea set Miles uses in the game. So pretty! I'm an avid tea drinker myself so I'm actually quite tempted to buy this...

The other Investigations-related stuff I want to mention is a floor mat of Kay's Yatagarasu's badge (interesting choice) and this cross-shaped acrylic stand of Miles in his pose from the collection key art. I'm a tiny bit disappointed that he's the only character who gets one of these. Several of the other Investigations characters would look amazing on these especially in their key art poses! It still looks great for him though! That pose of his is just epic!

[mutsukiss]

This thing is that mutsuki is an accidental trans character. He was written like one, without the intention of being one. HEAVY spoilers under readmore just in case

I don't think the western fandom was influential enough to cause a backtrack or explanation and from what I've seen about the Japanese side of the fandom Mutsuki is not understood as a trans man at all, but at some point later in the story there is this whole thing about how, technically, originally, in theory, Mutsuki does not present as a man because he is a man, but because he is disgusted about being a woman. Which from our point of view (mine, at least, but a lot of people agree with it too) could still be seen as a personal way of viewing transness or gender dysphoria at least, but this is a very actualized and "local" way of interpreting it and not what supposedly occurs in canon.

In canon Mutsuki is getting away from feminity and the woman identity, but he is not doing it with the intention of becoming a man; this is simply the quickest and most logical way of not being perceived as female. So initially it could have been a fitting thing for him to consider or want top surgery, maybe? But as the story progresses and the deal with his identity becomes clear and evolves this becomes unneeded. Transitioning is not a necessity, because he doesn't want to transition, he just wants to stop and get rid of anything that might associate him with femaleness. This is all without mentioning the differences in culture surrounding LGBT+ topics which undoubtedly exist but I'm not knowledagle enough to talk about, so just commenting it as a small note.

And as I mentioned the Japanese fandom picked this up with no issue (again, from what I've seen of people talking about it. Which is not much and does not represent everyone but you know) but here in the western and SPECIALLY the people in contact with the LGBT+ community (because there is a lot of people that will shut off any comments about Mutsuki being anything over than a girl, as it was so clearly said in the manga itself), we are used to seeing trans characters being portrayed I one way but living the trans experience in another, and Mutsuki just happened to fit unexpectedly well the latter.

His identity is a source of drama through the story, but he speaks about his identity in a very relatable way for trans people. His inner circle is unconditionally supportive when made aware of it, which is also something very attractive. He's accidentally a very nice transgender representation, at least for what you could be used to in popular media. He is not made fun of for it, his identity is not a comic relief, he experiences discrimination but it's not the main focus of his character arc, he is respected and loved by the people that love him without going through an "acceptance" period or discussion or making him the issue, or an issue at all.

So while, yes, he is a GREAT transmac chatacter, he is an accidental one, and no effort is made on him to transition because that was never his goal in the first place. Does that make him less trans? Eh, depends on what you want. If you want to follow what Ishida wrote and intended and say no, Mutsuki is a woman who went through x stuff and coped in this way, and when it all unfolded he admitted to not being a man, despite CONTINUING presenting masculine after the story ends, then sure. To me he's a trans dude!!! Idc abt what the author says or thinks. His character makes sense as a trans person, including the parts about his relationship with his sex and his identity as a woman. You can do whatever you want forever.

Am I misremembering or did they do Tooru super dirty in not letting him at Least get breast reduction surgery before the Quinx one?

I mean ofc maybe he didn't want to, maybe he prefers binding, but that is what we see, isn't it? Tooru's chest bound with Torso? He's a Quinx at that point, so he should have okay healing, right? So the bandages are probably for binding?

[chatonyant]

Typography my beloved and beloathed

I sure hope someday csp updates their text tool because for a manga program it sure sucks ass. I can hardly type in it without it lagging like hell and the fact that the fonts are listed in one giant list without grouping for font families is a crime :(

Also I want customizable text boxes. So bad. Like ok idk if I'm comparing apples to oranges here but illustrator (the program)'s type tool is just. So nice. It could suit csp pretty well too

Like currently csp has it that everything you type will always be on one line so you have to add the line breaks yourself

Which is a pain in the ass once you start inputting large amounts of text or even copy pasting something into a csp text box. But in illustrator you can do that but you can also drag and create a text box which then automatically constrains the amount of text that can fit into one space.

And that's not even getting into the more detail type work you can do in terms of tracking and leading in a easy to manage format. Csp does have leading and tracking but its a bit of a pain to manage. I do like how csp has a way to save certain fonts so I can swap around if I have certain fonts saved for comics but seriously, the list of fonts is a pain pain pain and I want at least a fucking search bar dammit. When there's options below to bold and italicize I'm just. Staring at it like is it switching to the bold/italic version of the font or is it going to do it itself (please don't do it on its own, just group the font families together and have it be like two drop downs.... the font then the weight... augh.)

Also wish it wouldn't default to some random font instead of the one I used last because it defaults to this font that starts with t and im just frantically scrolling up to look for helvetica to see if it looks nice,,,,

I'm still trying to find a font that complements my style and doesn't look so... out of place. Sometimes serifs look nice but often times look off and some sans serifs could work but I'm still going through them and trying to find them

Guess I'm sticking more to basic ones cause idk they tend to have the most weights

I've been using Arial but hm.... I'm gonna test out avenir and helvetica. I like mono space but they do not fit at allll. Maybe alata...? Or even futura....

[morporkian-cryptid]

@dying-suffering-french-stalkers

#it would be super interesting if they go the Dark Lupin/Lupin Double route that poster seemed to be teasing#where either lupin himself or a lupin double suddenly starts acting more like manga/wcfm lupin and freaks everyone out#bc current lupin isn't like that anymore#i haven't seen more than a few scattered episodes of parts 4 & 5 so idk if that fits in with the themes they introduced but i think so?#wasn't there a whole Situation with that and goemon in part 5? i've just seen clips and heard whispers but i think that's what was going on#oooo and if that DOES happen it would be delicious to see the whole gang but especially jigen (and pops) react to that#i realize that's putting FAR too much faith in the lupin writers who seem utterly uninterested in exploring emotional weight constructively#or at all#but p6e0 happened and now my brain is all *clown shoes squeaking* i can dream harold!#lupin iii#meta#tags

I absolutely DO want to see what the Gang and Pops' reactions would be too seeing Lupin go down a darker route.

Even though I'm not sure if that's explicit in canon, I've always seen Jigen as being kind of Lupin's safe-guard against exactly that. The Gang in general has that role, keeping his moral code in check, and Jigen specifically keeps him from being a danger to himself (he's a tether to keep him from going too far in his self-destructive tendencies). The Gang doesn't do that by actively stopping him (God knows that's never worked...), but by just... being here.

Because Lupin is actually the one who pulled them out of a darker place and gave them a moral code and a reason to be better (we see that with Jigen in almost every backstory he has: Jigen used to be a hired killer (and also depressive in TWCFM), before he met Lupin and became a thief. And we know less about Goemon's past, but in Part 1 as well as TWCFM, he is clearly an assassin too, and idk what he was by the time Bloodspray happened, but uuuuh the title speaks for itself).

What I'm saying is, Lupin kind of set an example for his partners, in a "killing is bad but now you're good and you'll stop killing" way, and that means HE can't break his moral code either. He set a higher standard for them, and that means he has to follow that standard as well. It's not just a question of being a hypocrite and losing the moral high ground, but rather the fact that Jigen and Goemon (and maybe Fujiko? idk) have come to respect and admire Lupin, and the fact that he may be a criminal but he's, at his core, a good person (and yes, I know that's up for debate, but this is MY character analysis post, hush). If he broke his moral code, he'd break the trust they have in him. And he can't do that.

Which is why it would be very interesting to see just that happen >:3

I should rewatch the Red Jacket episode about Jekyll and Hyde Syndrome.

[littleeyesofpallas]

I was going to do these at random but then i got it in my head to stage these as an alternative first round of fights like in the manga, even though we really didn't get to see most of those play out...

To start i feel like the most obvious match up that we missed out on would've been Zaraki fighting Driscoll: For one Zaraki works around the bankai theft by not having one, and his whole made for battle/blood knight character type plays directly with The Overkill. Kind of like in his fight with Nnoitra, it'd make for a great emphasis on what Zaraki's actual strengths are; not that he simply fights and kills people, but that his supposed infinite potential comes from being pushed to his limits and learning to adapt and overcome new opponents. By contrast Overkill only gives Driscoll more power based on killcount, even if the people he slaughters are weak and he doesn't learn anything from fighting them.

So, the fight could start with the two of them both hacking their way through waves of faceless low rank goons to draw a parallel, but in the fight itself Zaraki's emphasis would be on drawing on meaningful fighting experience even with no bankai, while Driscoll would rely on a stolen bankai and a superficial killcount. There could be a fun moment where in a fit of desperation Driscoll tries to boost his power by squeezing in extra kills, targeting more weaklings, and lashes out at Yachiru, but she deflects his attack all on her own, he's shocked and confused, and in the moment of hesitation Zaraki lands the finishing blow.

Much less thematic, but I feel like Bambietta, with The Explode, would've made for a better counter measure to Byakuya's Senbonzakura. She could've opened the fight with her projectiles and Byakuya would got through his usual routine of fighting at a distance and being dodgy and precise with his blocks and counters, until suddenly he'd realize there were less petals than before, and Bambi could explain how every time he "blocked" her Explode projectiles they turned some of his thousands of blades into bombs and blew up. And she'd taunt him about how many blades does he have left and how long can he keep up defending himself while sacrificing his petals. He'd smugly use his bankai to summon up its crazy number of petals and ask if her explosions can keep up with so many petals, but then we'd get the reveal and she'd seal it away. Then Byakuya would have the moment of stark realization where he has zero petals to fight with. And then he'd get blown to hell and back before ending up in basically the same situation he was in with As Nodt in the actual manga shoved into the back of a bloody crater.

Similarly I don't think there's too much thematic resonance in this match up but I like some of the kind of obtuse dynamic they could have. it's never properly addressed, but we do know that Candice is technically one of the newer Sternritter, as she's said to have less control over her Vollstandig when hers is involuntarily prompted. Giving her lightning theme I like the idea that maybe she's something of a prodigy herself. Obviously not as young as Hitsugaya, proportionally speaking, but a fast learner and someone who rocketed up the ranks of the Wandenreich as a genius technician of Quincy skills. Hitsugaya could have a little back and forth about what it means to be a genius, and the difference between instantaneous intuition and carefully practiced talent. It would prompt his bankai and how real power comes from sober self reflection and not self aggrandizement, but then she'd take advantage of his weather gathering, like he used with Tier, and use it to amplify her lightning, get one good hit in, Hitsugaya would brush it off and ready a counter attack, and she'd seal his bankai.

Also room for some kind of banter with Rangiku, I'm sure. Probably with her calling Rangiku old and starting a whole cliche back and forth over that.

Meninas deserved more love, and screen time, and a real fight to herself. I feel like the best way to really illustrate her schift as The Power would've been to have her, and not the early unrevealed PePe, be the one to fight Jidanbou. Not that the gate guardians even make much sense being involved when the Quincy didn't invade through the four gates, but still... I'd love to see little Mini just arm wrestle Jidanbou and/or the other gigantic gate guardians into submission effortlessly. Have Komamura show up with his bankai as the one thing even bigger than the gate guardians. And then Mini steals it, instead of Bambietta, and gets into a raw strength beatdown with Komamura himself as the biggest of the captains.

I'm still mad she never hulked out properly. We only ever got the one panel of her with a buff arm going after Liltotto when she got lovestruck. Unrelated to this iteration of alternate fights, but it also would've been neat to see her fight Kira; he'd try and utilize his shikai the usual way, but Meninas would just get bulkier the heavier Wabisuke made her to carry the additional weight. And then Kira would end up baffled and terrified in the shadow of a fully hulked out Meninas.

Maybe a little too obvious, but I feel like a proper wushu fight between Sui-Feng and Cang Du was stolen from us. It also would've been a perfect set up for the bankai theft because Sui-Feng could go full assassin but immediately run into the problem that if Cang Du's Iron skin can't be pierced, then she can't leave any marks to hit twice. So obviously that makes her only option the bankai, and he can swipe it from there. I feel like unlike most of the other captains Sui-Feng would get to have a cool moment where she still fights Cang Du to a standstill even without her bankai, but then of course he just sinks back into the shadows at the end of the first raid.

This one feels like a stretch, but for all the weirdness of PePe and the creative choices that went into him, I liked the little bit of his explanation of his powers where it wasn't just a romantic or erotic kind of Love that his power controlled, but that he compared it to the instinctive need to protect an innocent baby. And with Jizo being the patron deity of dead children, it would have been really cool to see him have some thematic play with Mayuri. I know it's not how his powers worked in canon, but I actually would've really liked if his power wasn't as directly focused on himself. So that he could provoke people to act on their strong desires to the detriment of logic, but without a lot of direct control over it. So he'd hit Mayuri, and Mayuri would shrug it off because he doesn't care about anyone and then without warning Nemu would be put in danger in the course of the fight and Mayuri would be compelled to protect her. And he wouldn't know what happened as he threw himself in the way of an attack. Then like everyone else he'd pull bankai and PePe could steal it, so that weird creepy cupid man could have a giant creepy baby. but more importantly Mayuri could quietly and furiously ruminate on his feelings during the interim training arc

I know Mayuri didn't actually lose his bankai with the rest during the first attack in the manga, but it felt like he should have since his was part of that batch of SS arc bankai we saw earliest and got kind of accustomed to throughout the rest of the Arrancar arc. (more so than Sui-Feng's at least) Actually in regards to that same sentiment, I feel like renji should have lost his bankai too, even though his ostensibly posed less of a threat than some of the more well honed captains'. It's a shame that so many of the lieutenants just kinda got lost in the background of this arc. It would've been really cool to see the gotei compensate the loss of their bankai by doing more tagteams and group fights

[deltaengineering]

Spring Anime 2021: Embarrassment of Riches

So this current anime season absolutely stinks, which just makes the last one look even more impressive. Well, maybe not all of it...

Zombieland Saga Revenge

First off, you don't need to tell me that the following is a severe outlier opinion. We good? Ok. ZLSR is, in a word, subpar. I liked S1 back in the day, but it was already in the process of getting lazy towards the end. S2 continues this trend and is basically just another idol show. And as someone who actually does watch other idol shows I have to say that it's not a particularly good one of those either. The zombie gimmick has mostly stopped mattering and we're just doing what every idol show does, only with the odd occasional sight gag. The alleged subversive qualities mostly amount to a flashback for Yuugiri, which is admittedly the best part of the show but feels like it barely has anything to do with anything. Apart from that, it's a bunch of generic idol plots, rehashed character beats, shoddy attempts at twists (while not connecting to any setups from S1), and the obligatory "idols give us hope" ending, which is terribly hackneyed and flat out bad. Tae gets further memed into the ground, because of course she does. And there's stuff that was simply never good to begin with, like Kotarou and his comedy schtick, which gets truly insufferable now that there's no qualities to distract from it. It really makes me think that S1 wasn't even all that good to begin with and seems like an attempt to turn this surprise success into an easy money longrunner with no edge and no ambitions. "The idol show for people who don't watch idol shows" indeed, but not the way you mean it. 4/10

Bakuten

But not to dwell on the failures, with the second show we're already above the cut — barely. This one got my attention with its really impressive performance scenes early on and it totally sticks to that, which is even more impressive. But besides that? Well, this is by far the most predictable show in a season where I watched an unambitious Kiraralike and put ZLS on blast for having no ideas. The characters are a mixed bag, some are cool (Shida, Asawo), some are very annoying (Mashiro), but those are the supports. The main cast is extremely one-dimensional, which is fine until they try to heap a ton of pathos on their lead, which doesn't go well. But I guess execution matters, and Bakuten is slick enough to get by. Writing this down in stark daylight I feel like I overrated this show somewhat (I actually put it over the next one originally, which definitely doesn't hold up when thinking about it), but I was indeed mostly entertained. 6/10

Yakunara Mug Cup mo

Yeah. Of course Mug Cup definitely doesn't invent or subvert anything either, but it's a pretty good Kiraralike that's always entertaining to watch. Explaining the qualities of such a nothing genre is as difficult as ever, but it mostly comes down to me liking the characters and it having nothing to annoy me. It's shorter than normal, which is a plus for slim shows like this. And yeah, you can make an excessive amount of dick jokes with the clay fondling. That helps too. Looks are just fine, pleasant but nothing out of the ordinary. Comfy low-effort anime. 6/10

Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song

This one is decent, but sadly still a major letdown. Because the first few episodes of Vivy were excellent and kicked ass, but then it became increasingly clear that the writing can't cash the checks the ideas wrote while the action starts running into severely diminishing returns. Vivy just keeps slowly getting worse and worse as it goes on, not by a huge amount each episode but by the end there's a pretty sizeable gulf between potential and result. Going into detail would probably be a little much for this venue because there's a lot, but from the top level view the issue is that while Vivy has good fundamental ideas and steals at the right places, it just isn't a smart show — it's schlock, and by the end, poorly thought out schlock that tries to smooth out every problem with liberal application of the big feels hammer and le epic twist at that. Yeah, couldn't tell that the Re:Zero dude was aboard here, for sure. That said, it still works pretty well as entertaining schlock that is not to be taken too seriously, and the characters are generally just very fun to watch even when they're doing stupid things. Still, I can't in good conscience rate this higher than Beatless, a show that looks like butt but properly executes on its ideas. 6/10

Super Cub

So this is 100% a Honda commercial, and I got really mad a Yuru Camp last season for being a blatant shill. Yet I'm feeling this, what gives? I think the main difference is that Super Cub is specifically a commercial for one product (and a very iconic product at that), while Yuru Camp is so all over the place that it ends up mostly a commercial for consumerism in general. And when Super Cub goes too hard on the product (which it does), it's at least pretty entertaining. That's something about Super Cub in general: It goes hard. Your regular Kiraralike this is not, because it's uncommonly slow, focused and moody - yes, it almost measures up to Yuru Camp at its best and demolishes it at its worst. Also, it's just extremely amusing to see sadblob Koguma grow a huge grizzly biker beard and become a badass outlaw dad to her goofy wife and cute daughter, all thanks to the power of afforable personal transportation. Needless to say, that can get unintentionally silly, but Super Cub has so much charm that it doesn't matter — it's great when it's good and still funny when it's not. 7/10

Shadows House

Shadows House turned up with a lot of potential, and I have to say it at least delivered on most of it. It has some problems; notably I'm not a fan of how the entire middle turned out to be a tournament arc of sorts that seems curiously inspired by Resident Evil memes, crest-shaped intentations and boulder punching included. I also think that this is a show that would be perfectly fine without explaining much, but I guess it is a shounen manga after all so we got dumped on eventually anyway. At least that came late - close relative Promised Neverland didn't show that much restraint. Shadows House is generally well written though, with great characters, interesting interactions and a great hook. But what really makes it memorable is that it's exceptionally good at the cute/creepy contrast, something that is often tried but rarely works as well as here, with great character designs and very appropriate production. I hope this gets a sequel, because it seems like it's just getting started. 7/10

SSSS.Dynazenon

Coming in with a fondness for Gridman, Dynazenon didn't have to do much to convince me. The surprise though is that it's not a rehash even if it's basically the same show, a character drama where occasionally huge and goofy fights break out. Dynazenon is Gridman done better, and the interesting part is how it accomplishes this - mainly by being far more conventional. I do appreciate that Gridman went for something weird and almost experimental, but that only really paid off towards the end while most of the show was a distraction/holding pattern. It just didn't feel like there was enough material for a full series there, more like a movie maybe, if even that. Dynazenon fixes this by just being a TV show, with an actual cast of characters that each have their own arc. And by spreading the material this way, Dynazenon ends up having a lot more nuance than its intensely focused predecessor, while having the same themes and not actually being any deeper. In a way, Gridman ends up looking like the spinoff in retrospect, while Dynazenon is the full package. 8/10

Thunderbolt Fantasy S3

So how good was this season? So good that Thunderbolt Fantasy doesn't end up at the top, that's how. And all the elements that made Tbolt such a sure thing are still there, big hammy puppets doing stunts and scheming never gets old. However, I do have to note that at this point, the writing appears to have gotten too comfortable. I don't expect it to ever top the amazing S1 ending, but at this point it's like Tbolt has stopped trying to deliver on endings at all and seems in the process of retooling itself into a longrunner instead. Barely anything gets resolved in S3 (the climax is that the climax of S2 is resolved again, for good this time... maybe), and everything else is just setting up plotpoints for the next season. Tbolt is truly lucky that it doesn't actually need to resolve anything to be a great time, but at this point I have to say that I'd appreciate it if they wrapped it up with S4. 8/10

Nomad: Megalobox 2

Speaking of sequels to shows I liked, Nomad doesn't so much improve upon its predecessor but steamrolls right over it. This is a tall order, since Megalobox was surprisingly good for a sports shounen and had a real nice, heartwarming ending that Nomad instantly negates for purposes of drama and everyone being extremely miserable. That sounds like a pretty terrible idea - and it would be, if Nomad wasn't as excellent as it is. To call it not the same show would be an understatement, because it's a true sequel, not just the same characters doing their thing some more, or new characters doing the same thing as the old ones did. Indeed my biggest problem with Megalobox was that it still closely adhered to its genre template and was very predictable; Nomad fixes this issue thoroughly. Nomad is about questioning what being a hotblooded shounen protagonist eventually leads you to, and how to fix everything you screwed up by being one. You could call it a deconstruction, but that term has been so abused for cynical, edgy "thing you like actually sucks" takes that I feel like it doesn't really fit here. Nomad isn't cynical at all, it's just a character drama about some boxers past their prime, and it being a sequel to a show that is indeed rather formulaic just enhances the experience. My biggest issue with it was that I really like what they did with Joe in this story, so the big focus on Mac's backstory felt like a distraction for a long time. But in the end that turned out to be absolutely necessary to make the ending work. The ending's just great, by the way, and I shall say not more about it. 9/10

Odd Taxi

Yeah boy, here's the show that has apparently become somewhat of a "greatest show you didn't watch" meme, which I can feel smug about because I don't need YouTubers to tell me what's good and followed this from day one. Anyway, Odd Taxi is indeed great, the greatest show in a few years even. What starts out as seemingly a relaxed hangout show in the vein of Midnight Diners quickly turns into a psychological murder mystery while never losing its quirky humor. The character writing is outstanding, with even small bit players being on a level that the average anime wishes it could have for leads. And the rollout of the mystery is exemplary, with answers given and new questions raised every episode with a satisfying and logical payoff in the end. This is also the rare anime that has rock solid production from the first to the last second; it's never really flashy but excellently done and highly consistent nonetheless. And the music just owns. I have a few complaints, mainly that there's a few logical weaknesses in the story (which wouldn't even register in a lesser show, but sticks out here since the rest is so immaculately constructed) and that the ending overextends on the emotions when the rest of the show is so reserved and dry in comparison. But those are only the reasons why I didn't give it perfect marks, and I almost did that anyway. 9/10