#I've started reading the manga recently and it's been fun :>

[layawayh2o]

Digital art and the Sketch (◕ᴗ◕✿)

Transcripts below

Toitsuka reita: So there was this hot chick and blah blah blah

Aiura mikoto: Kusuo~ why don't we all go to the store and find some new clothes, and blah blah blah

Akechi touma: Recipes for coffee jelly appear in cookbooks published in England as early as 1817. The earliest recipes call for coffee to be mixed with calves' foot jelly and sometimes call for isinglass or other clarifiers. After the introduction of packaged gelatin, most recipes call for the gelatin to be dissolved in the hot coffee and then molded.

In the early 20th century coffee jelly was promoted as a healthier alternative to hot coffee, as it was thought the gelatin would absorb excess acid in the stomach.

Jell-O launched a short lived coffee gelatin mix in 1918, but the dessert never gained widespread popularity outside of New England. Today, coffee jelly may still be found in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and other New England states. Durgin-Park restaurant in Boston, which opened in 1827, still offered coffee gelatin made with leftover coffee from the previous day as of 2016 blah blah blah

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Aaaaa Yuuna is so cuuutee 💗😆 Her hair is so prettyyy. But with the addition of the new Yuu I’ve come up with a theory that with the pattern the mangas have taken so far, they’ll start switching back and fourth between male and female yuus for the rest of the dorms:

Heartslabyul - Yuuken (Male)

Savanaclaw - Yuuka (Female)

Octavinelle - Yuuta (Male)

Scarabia - Yuuna (Female)

Pomefiore - Male

Ignihyde - Female

Diasomnia - Male

Just something I came up with that i wanted to share with you ^^ Also who is the manga artist for Scarabia 🤔

[Referencing the Episode of Scarabia!]

Lots of Yuuna-related asks recently (and for good reason!) so I decided to lump them all into one post :DD

Yes, Yuuna is very cute~ The alternating genders of the manga!Yuus has actually been a pretty popular theory for a while now, actually! Some believe this is meant to be the Yuus having the opposite genders as the Great Seven member of their respective books/dorms. But yeah, the pattern seems likely at this point.

The mangaka for the Episode of Scarabia is Majiko-sensei! They have previously contributed a chapter to the manga anthology. You can read more about their past works here.

I'm not sure if "[taking] care of [one's] appearance" is the right phrase to use (as it unintentionally implies other Yuus are slobs/don't care about how they present themselves, when that's definitely not the case)? Maybe it would be more accurate to say, "Yuuna has stereotypically feminine aesthetic tastes", though it's more immature and preppy than Vil's is. I think Yuuna has a cuteness that's more characteristic of Cater than Vil--but all three of them definitely have overlap in their interests in makeup, fashion, social media, etc. I feel like Yuuna would get along with them both!! We do technically see her interacting with Cater (they take a selfie before he departs for winter break) and are assumed to have already known each other due to the events of books 1 and 2. Too bad we don't really get to see them interact in those books... and that we won't see Yuuna interact with Vil for the Episode of Pomefiore. We'll have a new Yuu by then (which gets into my disappointment with never being able to fully follow a single manga!Yuu and their character arc through to the end of the main story...)💦

Yeah, it's nice to have variety in the manga!Yuus' personalities, skillsets, and interests! ^^ It makes them a lot of fun to follow, even if we know they'll only be with us for the length of one book/dorm.

I've personally really been loving Yuuta and Yuuna a lot. Yuuken and Yuuka are also nice, but I find that their general characters are kind of similar (athletic and level-headed) and don't differ enough to result in interactions unique from game!Yuu (with perhaps the exception of them being able to physically contribute to battles). This is not true of Yuuta and Yuuna, whose abilities extend to other areas and therefore have a larger impact on the world and its characters. For example, Yuuta's love of food + cooking skill has him shouting at Grim sometimes for not appreciating food, but it also becomes excellent leverage for sleeping over at Savanaclaw later in book 3. You can also see how Yuuna's outgoing personality would draw people to her and allow her to make connections.

The manga!Yuus also speak to the diversity of Yuus we see in the fandom. I know a lot of us were waiting for a girl Yuu (which we got with Yuuka), a Yuu of different body type (which we got with Yuuta), and a very femme presenting Yuu (which we got with Yuuna). Yuuken is also great because he was the first Yuu we got that actually had the ability and the confidence in his fighting capabilities to charge head-on into an OB fight.

As I state in my pinned post, manga raws generally come from Monthy GFantasy, which publishes new chapters of the Twst manga online each month. You must PAY to access those raws.

In the case of the Episode of Scarabia, the full first volume was released in today. It is avaliable on Kindle through the Amazon JP store. This is still something you would need to PAY for if you're interested in seeing the full thing right away.

I cannot provide full chapters to the public, as this is paid content that I receive from my own friends who subscribe to GFantasy and/or who bought the first volume of Scarabia on Kindle. You can make your own decision whether or not you wish to purchase for yourself; however, there is most likely a scanlation team that will put out an English version sooner or later. Again though, this would surely take some time to get done, especially when there's 4 chapters of Scarabia to translate.

[digi-lov]

— A Getting Into Digimon Master Post

▙▚ TOYS - ANIME - GAMES - COMICS & MANGA - NOVELS - CARDS ▞▟

I've been getting asked a couple times how to get into Digimon, so I figured I collect some posts and info in a master post!

Digimon is a multi media franchise, so there really is no one way to get into Digimon. But I hope this post can help people getting an idea what to look for.

Digimon Card Sleeve Artwork by Tonamikanji

Shout ot to wikimon.net for a ton of the information, and to Digimon Basic - an amazing resource for Digimon material!

▙▚ DIGIMON WEB

As I mentioned, Digimon is a multi media franchise, and there is some content of just general Digimon lore on Digimon Web. There some fun facts to read up upon! There's also the official Digimon Reference Book / Encyclopedia online.

• Digimon Encyclopedia • Appmon Encyclopedia • Agumon Expert Research Profiles • Digimon Journal

▙▚ TOYS

So Digimon, or Digital Monsters, originally started as a virtual pet toy. I made a Post about this origin and relation to the Tamagotchi frachise before. ▞▟ Check it out here >>

Besides that, Digimon released many many "Digivice" toys tying into the animes, but also figurines and much more. I don't have nearly enough expertise to cover them in more details, but there is a LOT! You can check out the LCD Toy history on the official website, and even that doesn't cover all of it!

▙▚ ANIME

The first and second season of the anime, and the surrounding movies, share a continuity, but aside from that all seasons are self contained and you can watch whichever you want.

Notably, Adventure recently got newly released blu rays with japanese audio and english subtitles! ▞▟ You can get them at the Crunchyroll shop >>

I know some people like the english dub, but personally, I honestly don't like it at all... I do really like the german dub, but I really recommend watching the Japanese version. It's my favorite and is considered canon.

Adventure: Digimon Adventure (Movie) (1999) •Digimon Adventure (Season 1) (1999-2000) Digimon Adventure: Our War Game (Movie) (2000) •Digimon Adventure 02 (Season 2) (2000-2001) Digimon Adventure 02: Hurricane Touchdown!! Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals (Movie) (2000) (Digimon the Movie is a super cut of all previous movies done by the dub team) Digimon Adventure 02: Diaboromon Strikes Back (Movie) (2001) •Digimon Adventure tri. (6 Movies or 24 Episodes) (2015-2018) Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Movie) (2020) Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (Movie) (2023) [Digimon Adventure: (Reboot) (2020)] Tamers: • Digimon Tamers (Season 3) (2001-2002) Digimon Tamers: The Adventures’ Battle (Movie) (2001) Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express (Movie) (2002) Frontier: • Digimon Frontier (Season 4) (2002-2003) Digimon Frontier: Revival of the Ancient Digimon (Movie) (2002) Savers/Data Squad: • Digimon Savers / Data Squad (Season 5) (2006-2007) Digimon Savers The Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! (Movie) (2006) Xros Wars/Fusion: • Digimon Xros Wars / Fusion (2010-2012) Appmon: • Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016-2017) Ghost Game: • Digimon Ghost Game (2021-2023)

▙▚ GAMES

Like the anime, Digimon games are almost all completely self contained. Essentially the only exception is a couple WonderSwan games centered around Ryo Akiyama. They're also almost all widely different! No Digimon game is truly like another! In the list below I put well known games in bold, and more obscure games, or the ones never released in the West in small. I also left out all "dead" mobile games.

· Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers (1998) (Sega Saturn) [JP only] • Digimon World (1999) (PS1) · Digital Monster Ver. WonderSwan (1999) (WonderSwan) [JP only] · Digimon World: Digital Card Battle (1999) (PS1) [JP only] · Digimon Adventure: Anode Tamer & Cathode Tamer (1999/2000) (WonderSwan) (EN release "Veedramon Version") · Digimon Adventure 02: Digital Partner (2000) (WonderSwan) [JP only] · Pocket Digimon World (2000) (PS1) [JP only] > Pocket Digimon World: Wind Battle Disc (2000) (PS1) [JP only] > Pocket Digimon World: Cool & Nature Battle Disc (2001) (PS1) [JP only] • Digimon World 2 (2000) (PS1) · Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan) [JP only] · Digimon Adventure 02: D1 Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] ·Digimon World: Digital Card Arena (2000) (PS1) ·Digimon Tamers: Pocket Culumon (2001) (PS1) [JP only] ·Digimon Tamers: Digimon Medley (2001) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] ·Digimon Park (2001) (PS1) [JP only] • Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit (2001) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) > Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit Ver. 1.5 (2002) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] > Digimon Frontier: Battle Spirit / Battle Spirit 2 (2002) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) ·Digimon Typing (2001) (PC) [JP only] • Digimon Tamers: Battle Evolution / Rumble Arena (2001) (PS1) ·Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer (2001) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] • Digimon World 3 / 2003 (2002) (PS1) ·Digital Monsters: D-Project (2002) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] ·Digimon Racing (2004) (GBA) • Digimon Battle Chronicle / Rumble Arena 2 (2004) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon World X / World 4 (2005) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon Story / Digimon World DS (2006) (DS) ·Digimon Savers: Another Mission / Digimon World Data Squad (2006) (PS2) • Digimon Story: Sunburst & Moonlight / Digimon World Dawn & Dusk (2007) (DS) ·Digimon Championship / Digimon World Championship (2008) (DS) ·Digimon Masters (2009) (PC) [Korea only] · Digimon Story: Lost Evolution (2010) (DS) [JP only; EN Fan Translation exists] · Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Blue & Red (2011) (DS) [JP only] • Digimon World Re:Digitize (2012) (PSP) > Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode (2013) (3DS) [JP only; EN Fan translation exists] · Digimon Adventure (2013) (PSP) [JP only; EN Fan translation exists] • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Hacker’s Memory (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon World -next 0rder- (2016) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) · Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016) (3DS) [JP only] · Digimon New Century (2021) (Smart Phone) [CH only] • Digimon Survive (2022) (PS4, Switch, PC, XBO)

There's also a couple Fan Games I've been enjoying, that I want to shout out here:

• Digital Partner by Aludeku • Digital Tamers 2 by dragonrod342 • Digital Monster NET DRIVER by kuhamaven / Alice Studios

▙▚ COMICS & MANGA

Digimon has several comic or manga adaptations, some longer but many short promotional works for new releases.

Although there's way more older Manga, I will start with a list of modern Comics/Manga, as we have received a variety recently!

The big one right now is Digimon Liberator! I've been loving it personally. It's a full color web comic, so it has not normal page layout and instead is just scrolling. When it first released I made a post with my Spoiler Free Opinion on the Prologue and Chapter one! ▞▟ Check it out here >> Read Digimon Liberator on the Official Website, GlobalComix or Webtoon!

But Liberator is actually not the only comic currently running!! Thanks to the Digimon Comic project we have FIVE more ongoing series to check out on the official Digimon Web site!

• Digimon Rikollection by Okutsuwa Waga • Digimon Paradox by Minato Ayumu • Digimon Knuckles by Soda Ichigo • Story of the Royal Knights by Yabuno Tenya • Digimon Seekers ~Witch of the Crossroads~ by Kariki Hajime

If you read any of the comics above, show your support by answering the survey on the website!

• C'mon Digimon: The capering monster BUN (1997) (Author: Izawa Hiroshi | Illus: Yabuno Tenya | Publ: Shueisha - Akamaru Jump) • Digimon Adventure V-Tamer (1998-2003) (Author: Izawa Hiroshi | Illus: Yabuno Tenya | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Chronicle (2003) (Author: Shisheni Okorarana | Illus: Moriyama Soh | Publ: Bandai) • Digimon Next (2005-2008) (Author: Okano Takeshi | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Xros Wars (2010-2012) (Author: Nakashima Yuu | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon World Re:Digitize (2012) (Author: Fujino Kouhei | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon World Re:Digitize Encode (2013) (Author: Fujino Kouhei | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015) (Author: Fukuda Ikumi | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016-2017) (Author: Akamine Naoki | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Universe Appli Monsters: Appmon Academy!! (2016-2017) (Author: Hirose Katsuki | Publ: Shueisha - Saikyo Jump) • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory (2017) (Author: Akamine Naoki | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Chronicle X (2018-2020) (Author: Moriyama Soh | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump / Digimon Web) • Digimon Dreamers (2021-2024) (Author: Yabuno Tenya | Publ: Shueisha - Saikyo Jump / Digimon Web)

▙▚ NOVELS

There two big web Novels of note for the Digimon franchise. Firs one is Digimon Seekers, which ran from 2023-2024 and consistes of 4 Chapters plus an Epilogue. You can read it on the official Website, but many fans noted the english translation being not great at certain points, so some dedicated fans edited the translation to fix the issues.

The second is Digimon Liberator, which is not simply a novel version of the web comic, but instead tells the story from the perspective of a different protagonist! From what I can tell, the translation for this one is better, although they sometimes mess up the card effects, so make sure to read the actual cards, which are included as pictures.

• Digimon Seekers: Official - Fan Edited Translation • Digimon Liberator: Official Website

▙▚ CARDS

Finally, what this blog is all about really, the Card Game. There have been many Digimon Card Games over the years, but I'm really only familiar with the current one. If you want to try learning it, there is a tutorial app in the Play Store, and a Rules video on the official YouTube channel that covers the essentials. There are also Fan made simulators to play online, with dedicated fan bases that you will surely find people to play with or show you the ropes!

If you just like the look of some of the cards, I encourage you to check the pricing on cards you got your eyes on. If the card isn't insanely diffcult to get and important for meta decks, you have fairly good chances to get some gorgeous cards for reasonable prices! I also collect Pokémon Cards, and let me tell you, the production quality of the Digimon Cards is leagues above.

[newttxt]

hi quip! i really like your one piece comics and i am curious how you do them! i'm not good at comics and want to be better at drawing them! how do you learn how to make comics?

thank you!

uh oh... im afraid u have caught me at the perfect crossroad of "bored at work" and "unrelated task ive been meaning to do but keep putting off."

this is long. i hope you like reading (and grayscale progress pics). and of course!!! disclaimer before we begin that this is just how I, personally draw comics. there is no "right way."

quip's comic-making process!

Switching my typing to make this more legible...

My process can kinda be broken down into 6 steps:

Brainstorming

Thumbnailing

Sketching

Panels & Text

Lines

Tones/Colors

1. Brainstorming

My brain is a leaky sieve on a good day, so I sloppily jot down ideas in my phone notes the moment I have them. This helps me when it's time to draw too, because if I feel art blocked, I can look through old concepts and see what catches my interest.

Otherwise, I love drawing for other people's writing. :) And if worst comes to worst, doing manga/comic page redraws in my style teaches me new things every time.

Once I have my idea, I'll usually make a bulletpoint list of "plot points" or "story beats" I want. Then I plan the comic with this format that I've adapted from a tutorial I read once. I'm going to use my most recent comic (original comic post) as an example.

I start in the third column, writing notes of what I'd want to see in each panel. I also include the dialogue (in this case, I didn't have to write the dialogue! it's from the fanfic linked in the original comic post!). I usually write the whole name like [Luffy:], but at this point I've drawn so much of these guys, just the first letter works.

I like to handwrite these notes to get an idea for how much text I'm putting in a single panel.

After I describe all the panels, I go back and separate them into pages. I can't tell you how to know how many panels to a page. It's whatever works for you. I just kinda know about how big each panel will be, and so I can feel when I'm probably running out of space. (Also. You can change things later. I don't in this example, but I add/drop pages/panels all the time.)

2. Thumbnailing

Thumbnailing—as the name suggests—should be done tiny. Too tiny to accidentally get sucked into details.

This is about marking down blobs where items/characters go, and figuring out the paneling. I'll draw and redraw these a bunch of times too.

This is also the most time-consuming/brain-working part for me. If I were in a zine that did progress percentage, I'd try to finish thumbnailing around the 50% mark (but I'm also a moderately fast artist, so your mileage may vary).

I think the terrible quality makes them charming, actually. I really like how silly they look. :')))

I will add, when you draw your "page" rectangle, make sure it's the same proportions as your actual canvas for the final image. You want an accurate idea of how much space each panel will take up, especially if you have a lot of text.

3. Sketching

This is my most recent change to my usual workflow, and it's saving me a lot of time. I make my thumbnails a bit bigger (each one about half the size of the final canvas), and I sketch these basic body forms right over them.

It just helps give me placement for my actual lines!

I usually draw these in a paleish color so I can lower the opacity and not get distracted by them while lining. The random darker parts are to either help keep two forms separate (like when two characters have their limbs all over) or to better define sections that were too sloppy/poorly proportioned.

I also think this helps my poses stay looser, because I have more dramatic/wriggly shapes that aren't too bogged down by proportions yet.

Sidenote: I CANNOT show this here, but sometimes this is when I take videos. Of myself. I prop my phone camera up and shoot a video of me acting each panel. :/// It looks really dumb, but it also shows me fun body language ideas like hand gestures, expressions, weight distribution, etc. Just pretend you're an overdramatic cartoon character, and try not to worry about your roommates or mother walking in on you doing odd things. (You can also use the video for anatomy reference later, but I usually just capture the vibe and don't try to copy the actual video frame.)

4. Panels & Text

Oh, boy. So, the panels are usually just straight lines (though it's fun to make creative exceptions, like a round panel to mimic looking through a spyglass), but there are some fancy rules that I don't strictly adhere to.

I believe (I have no technical training in this. Take everything I say with a grain of salt) the vertical gaps (between two side-by-side panels) should all be a consistent width and the horizontal gaps (between two panels on top of each other) should be another. The vertical ones? Should be thinner? Because you want the eye to easily glide between them, whereas the horizontal gaps should be a visual barrier to keep you from jumping ahead. Just something I've vaguely noticed.

There are lots of fun "default layouts" you can look up. Or keep it a consistent grid. I think it's fun to sometimes have characters/objects sticking out of panels and overlapping others. This is just a matter of taste, creativity, and inspiration. (Read Witch Hat Atelier... It has some of my favorite paneling...)

You may also notice I have already done the speech bubbles. This is, to me, a crucial step. This helps me catch early if I don't have enough room for all the words. It also lets me plan the art in each panel with the speech bubbles in mind. There's nothing worse than working really hard on a panel, and then you realize there's no room for the bubbles.

I also try to lay them out in a way that guides the eye! Even without art, can people tell where to go next? Better yet, if I want people to look at panels out of order (aka not left to right, in my case), can I use the speech bubble path to make them? Here's just a vague example of what I mean.

As an added bonus, doing speech bubbles early also allows me to be lazy! :) Ignore the comic; I'm not supposed to post it yet oops,, There's a whole lot of drawing to do on each comic page, and I am not wasting my time on stuff that will be covered up. So yes, if I hide my bubbles, there are a lot of unfinished lines trailing off into nothing. (As a bonus, if there's a part of a character you're struggling with—and it won't look weird to do so—you can move speech bubbles to just hide the problem area yayyy)

Making the actual bubbles could be their own whole tutorial, tbh, but there are some general guidelines I use.

Zoom out when you choose your font size. You want to know how it will look to the average reader, so it isn't super teeny tiny or way too big. You generally want to keep the same text size for all your pages/bubbles.

When I draw bubbles, I try to size them about one vertical letter height (and some change) around the words [left side]. This isn't always the case though, because humorously large or funny shaped text bubbles can convey different feelings [right side].

On Procreate, I set my bubble lines to Reference and just drag-and-drop the white fill on a separate layer below the lines. (Remember to turn Reference back off again when you're done, or your fill bucket won't work right when you're drawing.)

To get the white outlines I use to keep the bubbles from cluttering up the art, I literally just Gaussian blur an all-white copy of the lines + fills... and then I copy and merge it 5 times until it's opaque enough. This is a terrible way to do it, but it works for me. :')

5. Lines

This is the part that I can't tell you how to do. I literally just. Draw right over my wacky sketched body forms. Boom. Comic drawn.

I'll make three suggestions:

Don't focus on making every panel perfect. Give a little extra love to big ones or ones you want people to linger on. Otherwise, know that people are typically speeding through the art. It's way more important to focus on storytelling than art technique. In my opinion, a good story that's told well will always be better than a beautiful one told poorly. (Some comics are beautiful AND well-written... Alas, I am just a hobbyist who needs to get the ideas out of my head at top speed.)

Put your background lines on a different layer. Put your foreground lines on a different layer too, if you have those. Basically, I try to keep the main part of each panel (usually a character or object) on my lines layer so I can erase background/foreground/etc lines to ensure clarity/focus.

You can make background lines lighter colors too. I have too many numbers sorry. (1) Background. The stuff that's farthest away. Lightest lines. Few details; more focused on shapes and the suggestion of a background (I'm not good at backgrounds). (2) Midground. Same distance away as the characters are. Lines can be black. (3) Also midground, and also the same distance away. But they're very detailed, so I lighten them so they aren't so distracting. (4) The characters. Black lines for focus. For people who haven't seen the comic, I swear they are just hugging. This is SFW. D:

6. Tones/Colors

Do not. Do NOT ask me. I don't understand colors. I hate working with them, but I try because I want to improve. I hate doing anything beyond the simplest grayscale shading. Please go elsewhere for your coloring/tone advice. This is how my color picker looks 95% of the time. I have pre-set "percentages" of black that I got by lowering the opacity of a black layer and just color picking it. I don't even know the exact percentages I used. Good luck out there. Be better than me.

7. Sharing

This is a bonus step that I didn't mention earlier, but it's actually the most important of all of them.

You need a friend. Or maybe a groupchat or discord. A family member or coworker if you're really close like that. I don't know.

Find SOMEWHERE you can spam wips and be cheered on. Drawing comics takes a while, especially if you're trying to tell longer stories than I'd dare to attempt. If I don't force someone to praise me for every line I draw, I shrivel up and die.

Also if and when you post online, add alt text. I'll admit I'm the first person to complain and drag my feet on this, and I literally use a screenreader myself when my eyes hurt (strong prescription glasses wearer). Comics should be accessible, because stories are fun and everyone should be able to enjoy them.

***

Learning???

And I guess lastly, how do you learn to make comics? Two steps: 1) read them and 2) make them. This is the tragedy of creating things.

1) Reading them: I grew up reading comic strips, western serialized comics, and webcomics. I've always loved graphic novels too. Then in late middle school, I started reading manga (Death Note and Haikyuu were my first two), and now I'm trying to read more webtoons (sorry im so slow bree)!

I also... mass-consume doujinshi, thanks to proxy mailing services and bilingual friends/Google Translate/knowing some Korean. (I have an entire bookshelf of doujin, actually,,)

The thing is, it's not usually enough to just read comics. You also need to be thinking. :/ I notice paneling, comic devices, clever comedic timing, etc. as I go. It's just a lot of studying/learning while also enjoying the story.

2) Making them: You just have to start. :( Even if you think they're "bad." My first comics were actually just drawings placed randomly all over the page, connected by speech bubbles (yay... I was already practicing how to place bubbles to lead the eye around the page...). I was going to post a pic here, but I'm a coward. Backscroll my account and you can find some older ones though.

I also know my art in general improved dramatically when I did ten comics in ten weeks for my friend's fic. Don't do this. It hurt my hands/wrists. But do practice in moderation.

***

If you actually read all that... I hope it made even a modicum of sense. And maybe it was even helpful? Just know at the end of the day, there is literally no right way to draw a comic.

And if you aren't ready to go for it yet, you can start by just adding a couple speech bubbles to your illustrations or doodles! It's a way to add storytelling and dialogue writing to things you may already be making.

Yay. I love comics. :))))

[hellspawnmotel]

well you guys really called my bluff on this one, haha. I have a lot to say on the topic so this will probably turn into a long post but the answer really depends on this: what interests you about astro boy, pluto, and the franchise/tezuka's body of work as a whole? what do you want out of this experience?

if you're just looking for places to read/watch these things and that's it, I'll put some links here at the top so you don't have to dig through this whole mess.

you can read astro boy (original manga) here (there are occasionally missing pages on this website, if/when you run into those you can switch to this one which is harder to navigate but complete)

you can watch/download the 2003 anime (english sub) here

you can read naoki urasawa's pluto here

so you're interested in astro boy but aren't sure where to start: my opinion as someone whose point of view you respect for some reason

it didn't occur to me until recently that for a lot of people who follow me, your cultural touchstone for the concept of astro boy is most likely to be the 2009 american movie. I didn't watch that as a kid, I was 14 when it came out and fully into my "anime is superior to western animation" phase, but I've watched it now and well.... if you like it that's great! I did not. I'm not going to dwell on that, but I think it's worth noting that whatever your opinion on it as a movie is I don't really think it's a good representation of astro boy and its themes. moving on.

the manga

if you want the pure, unfiltered astro boy experience, this is as close as you're gonna get. it's gonna be a little haphazard though because the dark horse publication, which is probably the only way you're gonna find to read it in english, does not order the stories chronologically. I don't think that really matters because there's not a lot of continuity so as long as you understand the basic premise you can read in whatever order you want, and this puts a lot of really good stories first anyway so it's nice too. personally as far as all versions of astro boy proper go, the manga is my favorite. it's not always an easy read, for reasons I'll get into in a moment, and it's not always good either. some stories are phenomenal, some are just plain silly, and some are downright terrible. but given how long it ran for and how consistently and without breaks tezuka worked on not just it but all his other manga too I think that's too be expected. but even the bad ones I think are worth a look! this is the history of manga as a medium right here! and I love the manga, it's fun, funny, wonderfully drawn, compelling, shockingly dark at times, and just a fascinating read for those with an interest in classic comics.

all that said, I think it would be irresponsible of me to recommend it without also including a big fat disclaimer, which dark horse was kind enough to put at the front of the book.

if you have an interest or familiarity with classic/vintage manga, anime, comics, and cartoons, you probably saw this coming, but some of this shit gets REAL racist, most often in terms of how people are drawn. some of tezuka's biggest inspirations were the rubberhose american cartoons of the 20s and 30s, and all that implies. for whatever the opinion of a white american is worth, based on his writing I really do believe he had good intentions- he consistently speaks out against racism and bigotry in general, in astro boy especially. you can tell he was very passionate about it. but I'm not gonna defend the guy either, you can't be drawing people like that, even if it was the 40s-80s. a lot of the experience of getting into tezuka is reading a story where the moral is "racism is evil! end discrimination!" accompanied by straight up racial caricatures in the art. it's baffling and infuriating. if I could I would travel back in time and hire the man a sensitivity reader, but I can't, and he's been dead for 35 years so we'll never know what he would've done about it today. all we can do is take it as an opportunity to learn and do better. but, if all that puts you off getting into the manga or the series at large, I don't blame you!

with that out of the way, the size of the manga might intimidate you. there's a lot of it. lucky for you you don't have to read all of it if you don't want to! I've read the entire thing because I'm a completionist at heart, but I've had several friends come to me for a smaller and more manageable reading list, which is as follows:

(stars for my personal favorites, grimaces for "I did enjoy this one and I think it's worth reading but I don't feel good about recommending it". I also think "the artificial sun" and "atlas" are important reads if you're interested in the history of the franchise because they get referenced a lot, but they are VERY racist and I don't think theyre good enough overall to make them worth putting on the list despite that.)

that was long. next up:

the 2003 anime

I am not quite done watching this one but I'm pretty close so I feel confident in saying: on the whole, it's great! it looks absolutely fantastic for a tv anime from that era, the character and world design is top-notch, and overall it does a really good job adapting the best and most important parts of the manga into a continuous story, although it softens the blow of the darker moments quite a bit (which might be a good thing for you, depending on your tastes). it's pretty beloved by western fans, and for good reason.

I do have my issues with it, for one this might not be a popular opinion but I think they majorly screwed up on adapting the "greatest robot on earth" arc (my favorite arc btw, yes I might be salty), for another they really sand the edges off of uran's character compared to the manga and make her a lot more meek and girly. but that's just my opinion and if this show is the only one you've watched you wouldnt know that anyway. so don't let that deter you if you're interested, you'll be missing out on a pretty fantastic kids show.

so, if you're looking to really dive chest-first into astro boy as a franchise and understand all there is to know: maybe don't start with this one. it changes a lot from the source material and kind of does its own thing. but if you're just looking for a good story thats fun to watch and total eye candy, go nuts!

pluto

pluto by naoki urasawa is an adaptation/reimagining of astro boy's most famous and beloved arc, "the greatest robot on earth". it's also what got me into the franchise and one of my favorite manga ever! pluto reinvents the story as a detective thriller set in the aftermath of what is effectively, and obviously, the iraq war. it's brutal and harrowing, and beautiful and cathartic and hopeful. to me it is the gold standard for "dark and gritty reboot of a children's story" because urasawa adores tezuka and respects the original version, which was always a dark tragedy anyway, just presented differently. you might have seen pluto got an anime adaptation last year as well. I've watched it, it's pretty good! it doesn't change all that much (I don't like the few things they DID change but whatever) but I just think urasawa's artwork, paneling, and pacing are completely unmatched so I'd recommend the manga first. I'm not gonna be that asshole who insists you gotta read the manga over the anime though, if anime is easier for you you're better off having experienced pluto that way than not at all.

(if you ARE interested in both astro boy and pluto and are considering which to get into first, it's important to know that reading the arc pluto is based on will spoil a loooooot of things about the story. so weigh the pros and cons of that before making a decision!)

so, that's basically what I have to say. I haven't watched the 60s or 80s anime adaptations so I can't give insight on those, and I'm by no means an expert on any of this. I only started reading the original manga like three months ago and before that my memories of the other stuff was pretty faded, before I revisited it. if you're interested though I hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy yourself if you decide to take the leap! it's kind of a rabbit hole. I did not know what I was getting into when I decided to reread pluto, but I'm sure glad I did.

if you have any other questions about my personal opinions, feel free to shoot me an ask as well!

[kozachenko]

[Click for better quality]

Ok so as a sort of followup to that Yachie drawing, I did one of Yachie as well. I already had a pretty solid idea in mind (though tbh drawing her wasn't as fun as drawing Saki) but I'm overall pretty happy with this drawing.

Artist's Notes;

So I knew that I would never forgive myself if I completely missed the oppurtunity to give Yachie face scales, which is something that I haven't really seen many people do yet. I do feel like I could've pushed it a lot more, but I'm liking the direction my take on her is going.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to talk about some of my headcannons for how Hell's fashion works since I've had this on my mind for a while. So ever since I refined my own design for Zanmu, I really liked the idea of having there be some connection between her and Satori in their clothes because they're both the defacto "leaders" of their respective Hells, and then I had the idea of having Hell's fashion trends mimic real life history where it mimics whatever the upperclassman are wearing in someway? I've always been really fascinated with the idea of how Modern Hell works as a society and also how Old Hell was impacted by it's abandonment, and while I am aware that the animal realm isn't exactly Hell and is moreso it's own thing right next to it, I imagine that there would be some overlap in the fashion and culture due to their close proximity to each other. Of course, I still kept a lot of elements in from Yachie's original design, the only thing I really added to the outfit was the jazzed up sleeves and the bottom of her shirt as well as those cool triangle things ZUN added to her shirt in 19. I also have her some nice and sharp nails since I thought they fit her. I also tried adding some scales onto the tips of her ears though tbh IDK how well they read. Her colour palette also ended up becoming a lot more teal than I had anticipated, but I honestly like it as I love it whenever people make Yachie's colour palette and design a lot more teal. I also wanted to try and differentiate her face from Saki's, though I do plan on experimenting more on how to avoid same face syndrome, as it's a problem that haunts me in my dreams. There's not really much I can say here aside from "hee hee clothing rendering go brrrrrr" and how the Clip Studio Paint charcoal brush is really all you need for any given piece and it is literally the only brush I use aside from the occasional airbrush for lighting (sometimes) and the blend tools. I've been doing a lot more simple character art recently and I've just been waiting for a cool enough idea for a full blown piece.

Though now that I've talked about some of my headcannons about how Modern Hell works, I really just want a Touhou manga spinoff about Modern Hell. Like, please ZUN I'm begging you, just do it, it would be so fucking cool because Touhou 17 is literally the only time in modern Touhou when we've been to Hell proper, does modern Hell have any settlements of Oni and other Youkai? Does it have cities? Towns? Villages? What's the technological level of Hell? How do they keep sinners from pulling a Touhou 17 and summoning a fucking god to save them? Where do all the characters associated with Hell as of right now fit into everything? You can't just drop a character like Zanmu who is stated to essentially be the king of fucking Hell and then not elaborate further on how she fits into the general framework of Hell! Is she officially the king or is this more of a "true mastermind using the official king/ruler as a puppet" type deal? How does the Animal Realm fit into all of this? Did Hecatia purposefully create Hell so it would be right next to the Animal realm? Did it just appear there on it's own once Buddhism started popping off on Earth or was it established once Zanmu established Modern Hell? How long was Keiki a problem for, and how did that affect the rest of Hell? Seriously there are so many unanswered questions here and I don't know if I just need to read an interview Zun had where he was asked these same questions and if so please tell me because these questions have all been stirring in my brain for quite some time and I really wished we'd just get a new fucking manga instead of going over the same settings in Gensokyo over and over and over and over again dear god. Like, I get that there's still a lot to explore with what we already do have, but it would just be really nice to see the Animal Realm get a little more explanation as to how it fits into the overall grand scheme of Gensokyo's worldbuilding because that would just make such an already interesting idea for a setting in Gensokyo so much better.

I'm hoping to get the drawing for Keiki done before Touhou 17's 5 year anniversary, though I am willing to postpone that and take my time on it and I also have something coming up where I won't have access to my main drawing tablet for a while so it might be a while until I post again, maybe, who knows, consistent posting schedule? Who are they, I've never heard of them. I do fully intend on talking about my thoughts on Touhou 17 though, even if it's a day or two late, it's Touhou 17's birthday month so it still counts! Also because out of all the Touhou game anniversaries, this is the one I care about the most because Touhou 17 was the first Touhou game I played and 1CC'd(???) on normal, and even though it has plenty of flaws (i.e. the many missed opportunities for it's gameplay, how unbalanced the mechanics are and also screen visibility), I'm always going to have a bit of a soft spot for it and I think that the game's strengths make up for some of it's weaknesses in my opinion.

[tokiro07]

Something I alluded to in this week's Ichi review was that while I've been invested up to this point, I haven't been as completely immersed as I had been with Undead Unluck or Cipher Academy, which both captured and held me from ch.1 all the way to the end

I decided to chase that and analyze why Ichi wasn't connecting with me the same way

Looking back at chapter 1, the thing that hooked me was the setting; a world where only women can wield magic, and do so by passing tests posed to them by monsters who embody the individual spells. Even ignoring the premise that a man manages to break the status quo, that core concept alone was enough to spark my curiosity

From there, each chapter continued to expand on that setting - giving examples of the types of monsters we'd see, teasing the process of finding and facing them, showing glimpses of the society built by the women who use magic, their tools and their fashion, but something was still missing

Every week I found myself asking "what are we doing this for?" What was the grander goal, and who was going to stand in the way?

It wasn't until the most recent arc with the introduction of the World Hater that I really got the answer to that question - one of the monsters, moreso than any other, wants to destroy everything. In turn, our protagonist, more than anything, wants to kill it - regardless of whether or not it would save lives, he just knows it would be fun. It's a fairly simple goal, but a compelling one nonetheless, allowing me to not only be invested in the setting, but now also in the plot

But something was still missing

And it was only during this chapter that I realized what it was. Desscaras, The Strongest Witch, faced with a situation that her strength won't help her overcome, chooses to be open and vulnerable, and suddenly that something wasn't missing anymore

I was finally invested in the characters

I thought Ichi was interesting enough, for sure, with how unhinged he was and the themes that his philosophy suggested for the series, but I didn't know what the intentions were for his arc. Desscaras was silly and fun to watch, but I didn't have a good read on how she would contribute to the narrative. Kumugi was the only one I particularly saw thematic potential in from the get, which is why I latched onto her pretty quickly, but it was clear she was meant to be a slow burn and wasn't going to be getting a ton of focus for the foreseeable future

In other words, everyone in the cast had an interesting hook, but no one had shown any real depth yet, at least not to the extent that I wanted

But now I can see it

The flaw in Ichi's philosophy that makes him reckless with the life that he supposedly cherishes so much, the weakness in Desscaras' heart that necessitated she become the Strongest in the first place, and the connection forged between the two of them

Granted, I also said from the beginning that I expected that sort of connection to come up between Ichi and Uroro, so it's not like I couldn't envision how this story would deepen its cast, but just imagining how it would do it and actually seeing it happen are two different things. Now that we're seeing the bonds deepening between two characters, we're likely to start seeing it happen with others more and more often, though likely still fairly slowly

Now that I have a clear picture of how the cast will grow, I can definitively get excited for it rather than just projecting a hypothetical that I hope to see

I think this is also why there are so many manga in Jump that I don't get excited about

I didn't care for Kagurabachi from the beginning because I didn't care about the setting, plot or characters. It was only during the Rakuzaichi Arc, which really started focusing on the characters, that I started feeling invested, but I still don't care about the setting and only slightly care about the plot. In the Samura Arc, though, I'm starting to care a bit more about the plot, and I can see a bit more of interest in the setting, but I'm still not there yet. If it can clinch that, I'll be all in

There are other factors that matter, of course - art style, pacing, themes, etc. all contribute to my enjoyment, but I can look past the art and pacing if everything else works, and I can only care about the themes if I like at least one of the previous factors

By analyzing my experiences like this, I'm getting a clearer picture of my tastes and how I define the quality of a work. Hopefully this framework will help me better articulate my opinions going forward and give me a better approach to appreciating what I read

[absolutebl]

I've been out of the bl loop for a while (give or take a year tbh) and I am honestly overwhelmed at all the stuff coming up recently in bl... Is there top five you'd suggest from the past year among thai stuff (the rest bl-producing countries have a manageable lists of releases ig)

Thank you so much for your time and patience! :D

Top 5 Thai BLs from the past year? (2024)

Well it's a contentious field and there has been a lot, so I'll narrow it further and give you 2024 so far, from my personal favorites but specifically ones that I believe added to the zeitgeist in some significant way.

The Sign

YouTube

This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, PNR, fated mates, police procedural, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and slasher. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it. Was it a crazy unhinged mess +1 roll for damage? Yes. Yes it was. Did it manage to hold all those tangled threads together? No it did not. Was it also a charming, sexy, engaging, non-stop piece of entertainment? Sure thing. I think this show is basically my KinnPorsche, and frankly I’ve been chasing that dragon naga since KP aired. Is it perfect? No. But it was balls to the wall FUN.

Cherry Magic (Thai remake)

Grey

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth that really worked for me. With no-fuss execution from a consummate team (at GMMTV) and an OG lead pair (proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up). Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right - not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it stands strong. I, personally, like the Thai BL slightly better than the Japanese live action yaoi, but I think that’s because I just really enjoy Thai BL's style and I LOVE TayNew. Also all the kissing was both present and better in this version. As it should be from Thailand.

Century of Love

Gaga

This is a very pretty drama about a young man who fell in love with a nice girl 100 years ago, and when she died in his arms, he was cursed to live until he could meet her reborn self. Only this time around, she’s reborn into the body of a man. Or is she? I love it when Thailand gets all up in its own historical business and reincarnation and shizz. I like this pair (it’s not DaouOffroad’s fault I didn’t enjoy their first series.) Daou’s wushu is snazzy and we got a unique meet cute. (Erm… Remeet cute? Meet cute 2.0?) Ultimately, this is I Feel You Linger in the Air + First Love Again, rather than (as one might expect) Until We Meet Again or The Director Who Buys Me Dinner. The leads turned in great performances, although Daou outclassed everybody else on that screen. It’s a good story and a great BL and I can’t find any major faults with it beyond a certain level of camp that is sadly endemic to lakorns. It was, to put it succinctly, a VERY ENJOYABLE show. 

Wandee Goodday

YouTube

This is the only "typical" BL I'll be recommending on this list and that's because this is such a FUN show. A charming quintessentially modern Thai BL about a doctor and a boxer who start as a one night stand and then fall in love. Great rep for everything from Muay Thai, to safe sex, to FUN sex, to ace, to bisexuality, to smiley kisses, to the first legal gay wedding in a Thai BL. It’s a delight and I enjoyed (almost) every single moment of it. With out question it's best traits are active positive representations of green flag boys, communication, and grown-up relationships but the chemistry is on point too. Highly recommended as one of 2024's best pick-me-ups. (We need it, been a bit of a downer year.)

We Are

iQIYI

If Wandee Goodday is your happy pill, We Are is the warmest hug on the planet. Of the ones on this list, this is the only one I've already rewatched. 2x (High praise!) I loved show. It was slow to find its stride (I didn’t get into it until ep 6) but I’m so glad I gave it a chance. It’s a soft ensemble piece with multiple couples and very little plot, but I didn’t care because it’s not trying to be anything more substantial. Essentially this was a series of vignettes covering one year of uni for a queer friendship group finding love, new friends, and laughter. It’s not being harsh with us or it’s characters the way some offerings of this ilk have been (side eyes Friend Zone and Only Friends) nor did it tumble into Gen Y chaos. In fact, this reminded me more than anything of a refined and elevated Love Sick - just with older characters and occurring within a genre that has matured too. In it's own quiet way, it was groundbreaking. It has that close queer friendship group meets earnest gentleness that made me adore Love Sick and Make It Right so much. In other words, this was Thai BL at its finest, finding it roots again 10 years on, but also stretching upwards and showing us what it could do with that original seed. So? I adored it. Did it blow my mind? No. But it left me smiling and made me belly laugh quite a bit.

I hope you give these 5 a chance.

[sangytual]

Tagged by @yoohyeon (ty beloved 🥰)

Last Song: Wasted Summer by teamwork., Loote & John K

Favorite Color: Purple 💜😈🪻🫐👾 (specifically lavender tho and like the color of purple that the text is)

Last Book: Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune (I didn't like it) but I also just started Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Last Movie: rewatched Sprited Away recently

Last TV Show: I'm currently watching Prison Playbook which was prompted by it leaving American Netflix at the end of the month & also The Pitt (which is on max)

Sweet / Savoury / Spicy: sweet!! I've said this before but I even like my savory food to be a little sweet... 🍬🍭🍩🍪🍦

Relationship Status: single. now is the time to confess ur love for me 🫰🏻

Last Thing I Searched: the time of the basketball game I'm going to watch later

Current Obsession: I've recently been revisiting GOT7's discography but also, and as always this time of year, NCAA basketball 🏀

Looking Forward To: I'm literally awaiting my chocolate chip cookies to be done baking rn. But I've also started planning for my annual girls trip with my sister & cousin so that too. I wanna be on the beach right nowwwwww

Favorite Drink: I feel like this is asking about alcohol, but since I don't really drink anymore I'm going to say a classic taro boba 🧋 I need to go get one asap.

Song Playing 24/7: as always -> Betcha by Baekhyun 🙂‍↕️ but a recent song on repeat is Lullaby by GOT7

Current Favorite Character: since I'm watching Prison Playbook rn, I'm a big fan of Lee Junho (played by Jung Kyung Ho) but also byun baekhyun

Fun Activity I’d Like to Get Into: Photography 📸 but I don't really wanna spend the money on a nice camera rn so it'll have to wait. And I realyyyyy want to get back into yoga

Last Video Game: I literally only ever play The Sims 4

Last Comic: It was a Captain Marvel comic and it was also like 10 years ago. I should read another comic/manga...

Tagging (no pressure ofc 🫶🏻): @dojaejung @neonsbian @newporters @fleeceyang @28reas0ns @muteddaydreams @cdzen @oomfy @xlovz @sunminshine @baekslight @bunnybbh @baekslight @babyueare @baekhyunsbestie @sehnista @kimsmingyu @taengoo @hoforwonho @wonboos @donghyuckkies @neonun-au @jeonghanic @jeonsupershy @taeraenini @jinyoungtual @zerosbaseone +anyone who sees this and wants to do it!!

[thankskenpenders]

And now for something new

So, here's something I was never planning on doing, but I just couldn't shake the idea... Thanks Ken Penders is gaining a sister blog featuring an entirely different comic franchise!

Introducing... Thanks Steve Ditko, a blog where I read the Earth-616 Spider-Man comics, starting all the way back in the '60s! It's gonna be much more casual and less thorough than how I run things here on TKP, though, which I'll explain in a sec.

If seeing me post weird bits from old Spider-Man comics sounds fun and you need no further info, then just head right on over to Thanks Steve Ditko. But for longtime TKP readers, I know you probably have questions...

Number one: Why?

Spider-Man's always been my favorite superhero, and with the Spider-Verse movies kicking ass and my excitement building for the new Insomniac game, I've been in a Spidey mood. Inevitably, a thought occurred to me: Maybe I should actually read the comics that everything else is built off of and see the wildly varying contributions of all the original creators, rather than filtering them through big budget adaptations. If I can power through One Piece and all these other manga with hundreds of chapters, it can't be that hard... right?

And, well, after a few issues I quickly realized that my options were to either clog up my other accounts with random Spider-Man panels for years, or to just make a side blog. And so the side blog was born.

Two: Will this blog replace Thanks Ken Penders?

NO!!!!!!!!!

Okay but prove it

To allow the two to exist side-by-side, Thanks Steve Ditko will have a different format than what Thanks Ken Penders developed. Rather than an in-depth guided tour that critically analyzes every story beat of every issue, TSD will just be a place for amusing panels and brief thoughts as I casually read the comics at my own pace.

If you've seen me make a few tweets about reading Spider-Man recently, I'm basically just moving that to a dedicated Tumblr. It's a place for me to dump these things so that it doesn't fill up my media tab on Twitter for the next decade. (You know, assuming Twitter is still around in a decade.) There will be many issues where I only post two panels that I thought were funny. There will be issues where I don't have anything to say at all. Maybe I'll reach a run that I just cannot get into, and I start skipping around more. Who knows!

This may sound similar to what I thought this blog would be before it blew up. Aside from the simple fact that there's already mountains of Spider-Man commentary out there and therefore less of a void for me to fill, one of the main steps I'll be taking to avoid repeating the past is not enabling an ask box on TSD. I do not need people to ask me to go into ten times more detail on everything. I do not need to write seven essay-length responses to questions about Spider-Man minutiae every day. I do not need a place for people to chide me for not covering certain scenes, issues, or ancillary series.

It also won't have any kind of update schedule. I'm trying to keep it very casual. I'm reading these comics at my own pace, and if I feel like sharing a moment or commenting on something while doing so? It goes there. That's it.

(On the subject of format changes, I'm also listing the issue, writer, and penciller in the body of every post. This is a thing I wish I'd done on TKP so that people didn't misattribute every weird Archie Sonic panel I post to Penders.)

Three: So when will TKP come back from hiatus? You said it'd come back after you finished SLARPG!

I don't know! Sorry. I have a couple things on the backburner right now for TKP, but I'm not sure when I'll get back to proper updates where I read more comics.

I wanted to bring TKP back this year, and that's still possible. The main hurdle is that I want to reread my own archive (again) as a refresher, which is, uh. A lot of posts. I've developed a high standard for myself on here, and I feel like I wouldn't be doing my job right if I forgot half the ongoing subplots and character arcs and didn't bring them up in my analysis. Especially when I'm discussing the work of an author as obsessed with continuity as Ian Flynn. Unfortunately, the nature of this blog means that every time I go on another long hiatus for Life Reasons I have even more comic continuity to catch up on than last time.

(This is a big part of why I'm making Thanks Steve Ditko an extremely casual blog instead of promising to become a Lore Expert on 60+ years of Marvel.)

Mostly I've just been very burnt out this year after having finally finished a video game that took almost eight years to make. I haven't really had the energy for any creative projects, including TKP. But I feel a little bit of a spark here with Spider-Man, so I'm chasing that feeling to try to get back into the swing of blogging about comics - no pun intended.

So, basically, bear with me on this as I start this low-energy side project. But hopefully folks will enjoy Thanks Steve Ditko as its own thing, too.

Look forward to goofy shit like this

[boyslit]

tag game

tagged by @astro-osamu thx for the tag ^^

favorite color - this 👇 ough i once mixed several glitter colors to make a glitter bottle shimmer in this exact shade.... i miss it lol (is it any wonder Kafka is my favorite? teehee 🕸💥)

currently reading -eheh... um. i'm SUPPOSED to be trying to like. read actual books. ive got a stack i got from a good friend recently. i did manage to finish a manga volume (kenka bancho otome 1 of 2, lots of fun, we love a good crossdressing story here)

last song - Per la gloria d’adorarvi by Giovanni Bononcini - fun z lore: i took vocal lessons from grade 2(age...7?) to when I was about 16/17, this was one of my contest/recital pieces. the reason i had been listening to it is there's a segment of Skyrim wilderness music that sounds like a section of the song and my brain just beelined for it lmfao anyway here's a pretty rendition for your enjoyment

last movie - blinks. i dont really do movies bc my attention span is shit so ... it *mightve* been the Polar Express right before christmas lmfao good movie tho

last series - last one i finished was dunmeshi (again) but I've been watching eps of the 1984 Night Court here and there as my brain allows :3

sweet, savory, salty - i have a terrible sweet tooth but honestly i love savory and also fresh veggies a lot, spinch salad ftw

craving - honestly? baked salmon on a hot bowl of rice.... i love fish and rice. iconic combo. king of dinner bowls

tea/coffee - tea pls but it needs to have a flavor adjuster bc i can taste ALLLLLLL the tannins all the time in everything

currently working on - trying not to actually sing bc my voice is still out but mouthing along to per la gloria lol and still thinking about writing a new bit for my prohibition au <3

i started a new post bc that other one was rly rly long ><

uh no pressure tags: @littlekiara96 @rysingsun @laseratingfist @bug-the-chicken-nug @evilyaoimurdertime @fake-ascension @fill-this-night *squints* and anyone else who wants to play, i was trying to think of who ive seen around lately lol but like i said no pressure

[maleyanderecafe]

YOU SAID YOU HAVE SOME GOOD FEMDOM STUFF??? 👀 I'm always down to hear some cute men moaning and whining 😩💗

I mostly do manga and webcomic, but if you're looking for drama cd, I would suggest this translator since she has quite a lot of femdom content, though you'll probably have to find the actual sound tracks by buying them or searching for them on sound cloud.

My own translations are on baoto, though it is mixed with like some yandere smut and some other random things (like BL and other non-smut oneshots). You'll have to pick and choose from there since I mostly just choose whatever femdom stuff I want and translate it. I'll just give some ones off of it. Most of them are oneshots.

When I prank my handsome boyfriend, he's so cute, I can't stop teasing him - no penetration and mostly just handjobs.

Overthrown for the first time - Elite X Pretty Boy/ First Switch ~Soft Fluffy Wife x Elite Husband~ - these two are mostly switch stories but do have some femdom in it.

Be honest with me, Kyo - Older girlfriend wants to tease her virgin boyfriend - cute story about a couple and the boyfriend's first time.

Tsukiko-san wants to tease her younger husband - exactly what it says on the tin, newly wedded couple has sex

Miyoshi wants to make a Younger Dog Cry - basically a lady recently broke up after finding out she likes femdom and sleeps with a coworker after he asks her out.

If that's the case, then I'll do it - this one is a series with a reasonable age gap (28/40). It's very shoujo like in storytelling.

Some other ones:

Life of the Tachibana's ~ The Wife Can't Help but Dote on Her Husband! ~ - very cute fluffy smut one. I did the typesetting for this one.

If I Have a Chance, I Want to Warp My Boyfriend's Fetishes! - series is pretty cute. I think the couple is pretty switchy.

Anything by Necomiya is pretty good though they mostly focus on nipple play stuff.

Tonight I Will Have the Carnivorous Boy Yuki-kun - Yuki-kun is pretty cute though it does start off a bit dubconny.

If you are looking for yandere femdom smut, that's tough luck because I've been looking for a while too.

In the Doghouse - is the new recent one with a yandere in it. I haven't read all of it but from what I read it's pretty good.

My Cute Stalker Idolizes Me Too Much - this one is very cute, even if the yandere is very light (he's basically a stalker worshipper type) but he does get dommed so that's always nice.

Anyways, I usually translate the Chinese version of things so I can better my Chinese reading skills. Let me know if there's anything you want me to try translating. Typesetting is super fun.

[obscureaestheticist]

DC & MARVEL are awful at publishing their own amazing stories...

Read some western comics for the first time in a while this year. I wanted to start reading more in general anyway so I added comics and manga to the list. HOOOOOOOOO GGGAAAD DAYUM some of this stuff is good! I wanted to start with DC's Absolute & Marvel's New Ultimate. I've read mostly DC but have never fully gotten into a series or mini series before. These new books were meant to be jumping on points for newcomers so I wanted to give it a try.

And I gotta say... these need more attention... By their own publishers, I mean.

Even though I only really started in the last 3 months of the year, I get peoples frustrations with these being monthly releases and the fact that a lot these you HAVE to buy individually and not part of a magazine or some other form of collective release. At least until a volume release. On top of that these are NOT easy to find, not where I live, and not online either. You need a subscription service for the digital releases and you need to find a comic book shop to even buy it physical. These aren't cheap either! If I wanted to buy, say, a manga volume's worth of issues to try and catch up, its almost 5x that of a cheap physical manga volume. And the only place you're going to be getting a volume of some of these is at a book store, not a comic shop, just because there's way more bookstores generally. By the time those volumes have released there's no gaurantee the series that you like is even still running, because they havn't made it easy to even find these to read and it might've been cancelled due to low sales. So that leaves me with a problem... I either cave in and get a subscribtion or I pirate it. I'm poor af, of course I'm going to pirate it. MOST people will. Except they won't because barely anybody knows these comics even exist. There's little to NO marketing around any of these comics. Seriously, why aren't these in a magazine?! Why aren't these easily veiwable digitally? I don't want a subscription service just to look at a few books. I'm DONE with subscription services. Even if it's just a website where you pay to read online per series, or even throwing these into webtoon behind a paywall, it'll be infinitly better. At least that way people actually get to see the amazing work they're putting out there. And... yeah, the monthly wait on these is agonising. If the wait cannot be shortened then a weekly magazine is needed DESPERATELY, because there is NOTHING in the way of audience interaction for newcomers except a very limited fandom which might be gone in a few months just cause the series could be up and cancelled at the snap of their fingers. Their websites suck... Like, straight up, they suck. Nothing unique or stylised about them, not even a bit of background music or some flare, it's trailers for games, movies, and TV. Theres not even viewer guides for comics, bits of info on the world, or even those silly "who is the strongest/fastest/richest,etc" graphics like in old magazines. there's no fun. It's painful because the stuff thats out there is genuinly good. A lotta bad, certainly, but the recent stuff is thoroughly engaging. Another thing, the issue 1 crisis. If you don't know what this is, it's publishers resetting issues back to number 1 to bump up the price. It's disgusting. Especially when it makes it a NIGHTMARE to try and find the series you're looking for... and its same name as 8 other series only seperated by a date. THESE NEED TITLES! I was reading Ultimate Black Panther and Black Panther recently... Or rather, NEW Ultimate Black Panther: T'Challa vs. The Moon Knight, and Black Panther[2023]: A King Without A Crown. The naming alone causes frustrations when trying to navigate and find a story you might actually like. King Without A Crown is a title I just made up for the 2023 release. Its a great story, the art is some of the best I've seen in any comic. And the premise is very enganging, about T'Challa having been exiled from Wakanada, returned to watch over it as a secret protector and trying to reconnect with the people in places he believed he'd overlooked. To try and deepen his understanding as a king, and as protector of his country. It's Cyberpunk Crime Thriller Sci-Fi with a mix of central African mysticism. It even comes with an official map.

It got cancelled. Only lasted 10 issues... New Ultimate X-Men / Secret Society X Men is a shojo horror mystery set in japan inspired by major works of J-Horror... and it's FREAKIN' X-MEN Nobody talkin' about it. New Ultimate Spider-Man is about Peter, married to MJ, Father of 2, becoming Spider-Man after receiving word from the future that he was supposed be a hero and that it was taken from him, and Uncle Ben is alive in this... Nobody talkin' about it. New Ultimate Black Panther is kinda slow but it's about 2 warlords trying to infiltrate and take over wakanda who are posing as this world's versions of Konshu & Ra and leads to a greater conspiricy about Vibranium itself. Nobody talkin' about it. I LOVE the absolute series. I'm a DC fan, but these Marvel works also need more love, like... guys. Not to mention Spider-Man and Ult X-Men is fanfic and fanart GOLD! LIKE GET ON THIS SH!T NOW! There are other big issues i've got with western comics but I wanted to talk about it's accessibility. I love comics and manga a lot, it was what got me to start reading in the first place, and I want these cool stories to continue in a way that is like, actually enjoyable. I wanna talk about these with people, but there's no point if nobody is out there to enjoy it with. In the meantime, if you like these stories but can't afford them, make fanwork of it. Fiction, prose, poetry, art, music, silly comments, anything. Same goes for Manga and Indie works that you like. Don't let a company's incompetence stifle your ability to enjoy art that has ACTUAL passion behind it.

[worm-death]

Manga I Started in 2024

I read a lot of manga last year, and a lot of them deserve more attention, so I wanna talk about them. But I'll mention everything, the good and the bad

Claymore

I guess I am technically cheating with this since I started it in very late December of 2023, but the bulk of it was read in January, and I think it'd be a shame not to talk about it anyway. This was given to me as a "Secret Santa present" for MyAnimeList, and I'm really glad I got a seemingly random suggestion

Clare is part of an organization comprised of female fighters with half Yoma blood. The Yoma are beasts that ravage villages, and they're tasked with defeating the Yoma. But as the story goes on, Clare starts to discover the shady underbelly of the organization and life she's always known.

This was the first of what can be considered the fantasy genre for me, so this was a cool setting to explore. The story is mysterious and always kept me on edge. The fight choreography is impressive, and the whole visual style is unique and cool. There aren't many purely good or evil characters, making the manga complex and makes you more invested in each character. Clare and Raki of course, are the duo I always root for. Their older sister-younger-brother dynamic is charming.

Super Psychic Policeman Chojo

This is probably the biggest reason I wanted to make this list because I think this manga deserves a lot more love. I only decided to check it out because the character designs looked cool and flashy. I really like police/detective manga and anime, so this was perfect for me. Mix in psychic powers and silly humor and it's got everything I need.

Chojo is a police officer who's scared away all his work partners with his powers, except for when Ippongi is assigned to him; sometimes, Chojo's more scared of her than she is of him. Each chapter focuses on a new crazy case the two are faced with in the insane district of Chinjuku.

I love ensemble casts, and the manga is constantly adding a new character that leads to a fun story all the time. Chojo is a complete loser and obsessed with his model kits and tokusatsu heroes, which I love about him. The characters are all stupid to a degree, and it's extremely entertaining. The robot, Cop Bot, is probably the only straight man, but there's not a single character in this I consider truly serious. Goofy police antics are great, and I really encourage anyone to check it out. It recently had a cancelation scare, so I think it deserves way more love.

The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins

I first heard of this manga because Chainsaw Man's mangaka recommended it, but this quickly surpassed Chainsaw Man and became my favorite manga of the year.

The Ichinose family all wake up in the hospital to find out they all have amnesia, and although they don't know each other, they're all able to bond, and they know as long as they have each other, that's all that matters! But after they return home from the hospital, they've all left clues behind to hint at a much sinister past...

This manga seriously is the biggest roller coaster I've ever been on. Since it's short, it doesn't let you breathe for a second, which some people definitely don't like about the constant trauma, but as a psychological thriller fanatic, I was fully engrossed. There are a few stories that make me this emotionally invested, and this was one of them. I recommended this manga to a friend, and they told me they were actually yelling while reading this, it's definitely an emotional ride. The characters are interesting and mysterious, and I'm a massive fan of the art style, and I want to study it more. I will warn you, I'd only recommend this to those who can stand it, it's heavy and deals with a lot of dark subject matter that may not be suited for a lot of people.

Star: Strike it Rich

My friend pestered me for a while to read this, and I wasn't really sure I'd like it. I don't like sports manga of any kind, so it seemed like it wouldn't be for me. But man, I'm glad I checked it out anyway. This manga is INTENSE, fights are crazy and super impactful.

Nozomi Tenma has to give up her dreams of becoming a professional fighter when she severely injures her eye. So, she decides to create her own underground fighting facility with her best friends, a yakuza and a corrupt cop. One of the first fighters they hire is a mysterious and terrifying girl named Hina.

I guess it comes with the territory, but why is fighting manga so insane. Like, I can't even explain to people what's going on with Baki. And this has death cults and women built like actual beasts. It's awesome and insane in all the best ways. The fights feel explosive and impactful, and the underlying story is just as intriguing. It's kind of nice to let loose for once; there aren't many characters you can call "good". They're all vulgar and crazy, and sometimes it's just fun to watch people destroy each other with a bit of grounded fighting logic.

Witch Hat Atelier

This one probably doesn't need any introduction since it's about to get an anime adaptation, but that just gives me all the more reason to push people to check this manga out before it releases.

Coco has always wanted to learn how to do magic, but that's kept secret from anyone not born into a family of witches. But after she discretely catches a glimpse at how spells are cast, she unknowingly endangers her mother's life and now must be apprenticed to a witch in order to save her.

This manga's entire vibe and visual style feel straight out of a fairy tale children's book, so it stands out with a strong sense of nostalgia. The world is beautifully crafted and feels like one of the most lived-in worlds I've had the treat to experience. At the end of every volume, it details the different creatures, herbs, locations, different kinds of witch hats, etc. Every aspect is thought out carefully. The characters are all great and leave me warm as you see Coco's bond with her teacher and fellow apprentices. There's a certain magical connection you can easily form with the story and characters because of how in-depth the world is, you don't have to passively watch the characters go through experiences, you can come up with your own solutions to these witchy problems because the rules and casting system are explained well enough. So, this manga really sends you directly into the story, certainly something everyone should experience.

Ghost Fixers

By the same mangaka as Summertime Rendering, I was excited to see another work by him. It's pretty much just SCP Foundation: the manga, which is pretty awesome.

Hifumin has recently been made a Ghost Fixer and is partnered with Kirarazaka. Together, the are tasked with fixing the messes paranormal phenomena cause in Mikurigaoka.

It's hard to give this one much summary outside of that. There's been a lot of world-building to separate this world's versions of ghosts from the typical definition. As I said, it's more of an SCP-type thing, where it's not so much about busting ghouls but more like finding the source of strange and dangerous phenomena. The manga already has a lot of lore established and too many new terms to talk about in-depth here. The stakes keep escalating with each new case, and more of the story is unraveling, I'd highly encourage checking it out.

Gift of Poison

This is the only outright bad manga I read all year, and it's really bad...

After Gift steals paint from a friend, his classmate, Kadomi, records it and sends him further into despair, blackmailing him into doing worse and worse things.

And that's the basic premise, it's not all too exciting. I started reading this manga the day the first chapter dropped, so I kept expecting Gift to snap and do something crazy. this is where the plot would really get going, but it just doesn't. Kadomi is a loser who blackmails Gifts to steal from a local art store, asks out his crush, but then kisses Kadomi in front of her, stuff like that. It's pretty petty. Eventually, Gift's friends ask him why he's always acting so weird, and he confesses to only stealing from the art store. And they have his back entirely, so what's the big deal? Well, fast forward a bit, and he eventually confesses to having stolen his friend's paints as well. And now they've been sent into a fit of rage. Taima's been betrayed, and his girlfriend Kokomi thought they would never hide secrets from each other. It's basically just petty drama only teenagers would get so emotionally invested in. As an artist, I simply cannot understand why the reactions. I get it; art supplies are expensive; if my friend needed to borrow a little bit of something from me, I'd understand. I wouldn't punch my best friend. And the cherry on top of this whole stupid fiasco is the manga ends with a "HE SAID IT! HE SAID THE THING!!" moment where they say, "I was the gift of poison." Something like that, anyway, it's very stupid.

Some people argued with me on my stance on this manga, saying that these characters have some sort of mental problem, but that's never something mentioned in the manga or really even alluded to. The characters just seem petty, and either way, it's just a bad story because there's basically no payoff. I don't think poor writing should be excused with headcanons. The only lore we get into why Gift seems so unhinged is that his parents divorced, and for Kadomi, her supposed friends stole a sticker from her that meant a lot to her as a kid. As a child of divorced parents, I can confirm that it would not bring someone to the point of murder.,,

And one thing this manga has received some praise for is the art, but it's also not good? I think the color spreads look cool, but the panels themselves are rouuuugh. I swear a lot of these look like the mangaka just used 3d model bases and traced over them and slapped hair and clothes on them. A lot of the posing looks really stiff and awkward, and again, hair and clothes look thrown on at the last second. It's just not good at all.

Centuria

Another one I just decided to check out since I saw its first chapter release. But the art style is very unique and it's already paid off in the story.

Julian is a boy sold into slavery after his mother abandons him. He's able to form a found family with a woman who wants to be his new mother but also feels comforted by the other enslaved people on a ship. However, the crewmates go on a killing massacre, killing most of the slaves, but a god of the ocean disrupts the voyage and kills everyone except for the woman and Julian, one must sacrifice themselves in order for the other to survive, the woman, Mira, gives birth and then sacrifices herself, asking Julian to promise to take care of her. When she sacrifices herself, Julian is given the powers of the sea and the strength of the hundred slaves that were killed that day. Julian promises to live his life to the fullest for not only his sake but for his new baby sister, Diana, and the lives of all the other slaves.

Sometimes, I forget this manga is only 38 chapters so far because I feel like I've seen the characters struggle through so much. With how awful Julian's situation has been and still is, it's hard not to have an immediate connection with him. This has a similar vibe to Claymore in some ways, so I've been really enjoying myself with it so far. I really like the art style, I've never seen anything like it. And I'm honestly glad this series doesn't have any color spreads, it looks way better in black and white, it just speaks really well to the overall style. I think this manga has a large story to tell, and we'll see these characters go through a lot throughout their lives. It's too early to say a whole lot about this manga, but I think it's been great so far and has a promising future.

Yokai Buster Murakami

This was a genuine shame it got canceled so early, I really enjoyed this manga a lot for only ending up being 24 chapters. I love yokai, and that's all it needed to sell me.

Kuin is a low-level yokai hunter who's too afraid of the yokai to even do his job, but his friend Murakami logics his way out of any situation and can defeat any yokai on a battle of wits.

This is one of the few comedy manga I found really funny. It was fun seeing these ancient monsters have 21st-century logic applied to them. But it's certainly an acquired taste, this manga never got enough readership to stay afloat, unfortunately. There were definitely a lot of directions this manga wanted to go and a lot of characters that were waiting to get more development. But I'm still glad I got to experience it at all, and I hope to hear more from Daiki Ihara in future manga stories.

Magus of the Library

Theo has been bullied his whole life for his looks, and after some librarians come to town, he decides from then on he'll work hard to become a librarian and work in the Central Library, the biggest library in the world with the biggest collection of books.

A really sweet and refreshing story into fantasy with a real love for books. The manga handles a lot of real-world topics with so much dignity and honesty that it's a real treat. Racism, classism, and the erasure of history are all major conflicts within the manga, and we see the pretty grim world in which Theo lives. But what I love is this manga shows the unity of a simple love for books that brings people together. It embraces differences of all sorts and shows how everyone has value and how we'd never know other perspectives if we didn't give everyone the chance to shine. Theo has the ability to form such great connections with all sorts of people, and I really do love the light he shines on everyone. As a massive book fan myself, there's a lot I can appreciate in a passion for books.

Similar to Witch Hat Atelier, it has a vibrant fantasy setting with so much thought and care put into each of the main races, their culture, religions, regions, languages, and everything. Another world so well crafted that it feels like you're truly exploring a new world as Theo does.

Smother Me

Akio is given away to an assassin and is raised and trained to become one of Detroit's best killers, but after meeting a blind woman who shows him kindness, he suddenly feels the desire to put an end to the crime bosses ruling the city.

This was a surprisingly short read since it just ended today, a total of 15 chapters. Unfortunately, because of its incredibly short run, I didn't get a whole lot of time to attach myself to anything. It was definitely enjoyable, and the characters had a lot of intrigue, but it could have used a bit more fleshing out. Anyway, what originally drew me to the manga was the visual style of it. The color spreads look beautiful and trippy, and the art of the actual manga is just as unique. It goes for a sort of ink brush-type look with its lines, so it's a cool manga to look at. It's not a bad story, and you can get through the entire thing super quickly, so why not check it out?

Yattara

Now we're really getting into new, new manga territory so it'll be harder to talk about these. This one, as of writing this, only has 8 chapters out.

Yattara is a demon or monster-like creature who only wants to eat humans but decides it decides to treat itself. Children already have a better taste, but once it forms a connection with 3 kids, it realizes that the more it can form a connection, the better the taste. However, Yattara doesn't talk, so the 3 children don't know its motive, and the oldest sister, Setomi, and youngest brother, Yuma, see it as a savior. While the middle brother, Nanato, is very wary.

There are a lot of places I think this manga plans to go, and after the most recent chapter, I think it's going in another direction as well. The manga makes a lot of commentary about the hypocritical world of immigration politics, and we get to see this through the perspective of three immigrant children on the brink of death. The manga has mainly been confined to an apartment, but there's a lot I think the story wants to say. And Yattara has certainly formed a strange relationship with the kids, I still hope deep down it learns to love them instead of just wanting to eat them, but we shall have to wait and see!!

Bug Ego

Well, this one kind of speaks for itself; it was written by One; how can I not read this? But I can't believe I was sad that One wasn't the artist as well, because Kiyoto Shitara is an amazing artist able to convey the most viseral of emotions.

Kokudou introduces his friend, Hitsujiya, to the world of hacking in the real world. By performing a certain set of rituals, one can make anything happen. Getting to write your own dreams, grow taller, you name it. But while Kokudou has perfected these, Hitsujiya manages to mess it up in some way, leading him to some of the most terrifying fates.

One's never written anything this dark before and I'm all here for it. And it still sprinkles in that distinctly One sense of humor. The manga updates monthly, but it's worth the wait. Each chapter goes through an entire story, which would all be appropriate episode length. These hacks are fun but can always be twisted in the worst ways possible. It makes you feel bad for Hitsujiya, but these are the risks he takes if he wants to try these hacks. The unsettling stuff always hits you when you least expect it. Oh, cool, they're having a fun dream together, and then it's just "ah sweet, man-made horrors beyond my comprehension" type moments. It gives you whiplash in the most fun way possible; it's a wild ride I encourage people to read if you like a bit of comedy sprinkled into your existential dread.

Ryouta Killed His Brother

Man, I realize these are getting really dark, but that's the kinda stuff I like, lol. Another really recent one, so it's hard to say too much, but I'm very interested to see where it heads.

Hayato realizes his best friend, Ryouta, has progressively looked unwell and tries to look into it. Ryouta has to take care of his little brother since his mom died giving birth to him, but it's not so simple. Chi is harming him. Ryouta has killed him so many times to stop the torture, but no matter what he does, he always comes back, seemingly unaware anything even happened.

I wonder where this is planning to go. It subverted me after the 2nd chapter so I always look forward to where it's headed. I was almost worried it would fall into showing a terrifying death or Chi is a monster visual in each chapter, but the story is progressing, and I need to cut it a little slack since it's only 4 chapters in so far. But I'm interested and would say it's worth checking out, too.

Asura's Verdict

Asura's mother always told him that those who do bad deeds will always receive divine punishment, but he quickly realizes his problems can't just be wished away. A mysterious old man hands him a key that, when placed into someone's head, will send that person directly to Hell. So, Asura takes it upon himself to punish those that deserve it.

This manga gripped me instantly, I think the character designs are really good, and there's something very cute yet extremely unnerving about Asura's face and his perpetual smile. One complaint this manga has received so far is that all the bad guys over the top evil people. It makes it easy for Asura to make these decisions, but I'm hoping this is just in the beginning and Asura will come across more moral dilemmas in the future. But it is very satisfying to see awful people get what they asked for. The manga has been compared to Death Note, but I like this approach more. Asura is a naive kid who wants the world to be happy, he doesn't have a god complex (not yet anyway) and doesn't have higher ambitions, he just hates to see the people around him get bullied. But this manga seems a lot more interesting. Asura meets several kids on hard times and we can sympathize with them more. Plus, Asura can't sit there in the comfort of his own room writing names down on a notebook, he has to put himself in danger in order to stick the key in people's heads. Anyway, I like where this manga's going, and it recently got endorsed by Hirohiko Araki, so take his word for it.

Hirayasumi

Last but certainly not least, I started reading Hirayasumi last month for the latest MAL Secret Santa, and I was gifted another amazing manga.

Hirayasumi follows the daily lives of many people going through their ups and downs. Hiroto works part-time and spends the rest of his days doing what he enjoys, while his cousin Natsumi frets over debuting as a mangaka while attending art school. But there are a lot of other characters like the clumsy yet dedicated Yomogi and stressed new dad Hideki.

There are a lot more characters, but I won't get into that here. At some point, if a character gets introduced, you'll learn about them, which is nice. While Hiroto would probably be called the main character, there really aren't any. Everyone has their own equally stressful problems, and they can only bring themselves up with the help of everyone around them. It's a really sweet manga. I asked for an iyashikei manga, and it was more than delivered for me. The art style is really simple and welcoming, and all the characters are relatable in some way. For me, that would especially be Natsumi. As an art student myself fretting about a future career in the industry, there's a lot that whirls around my head, so I get Natsumi on a very personal level. And I even look like her too lol. But then there are many times when I relate to characters like Yomogi or Hiroto. There's a lot here for anyone to enjoy, and I think anyone should read this manga because I think it adds just a little bit of comfort to our daily stresses.

Misc Mentions

Alongside everything else I've started I've been continuing to read Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and this year I completed Parts 3, 4, and 5 and started 6, it's on the back burning till I catch up to Hirayasumi. I don't really feel like I need to make an entry for these though since it's y'know Jojo.

Only in 2024 did I start One Piece. I'm caught up with the anime but I'm extremely late to the manga party. And again, since it's literally One Piece, it needs no promotion.

There were a couple of new manga I tried out but decided not to keep following after the first chapter.

The Urban Legend Files: I was still coming off my Yokai Buster Murakami depression and so I really didn't have it in me to start a fairly similar premise. And it didn't hook me nearly as much so I just decided I didn't need want to read it. I've been open to checking it out again, maybe if I hear more good things about it, but as it stands, I'm not very interested.

Syd Craft: Love is a Mystery: The art style looked cute and one of my absolute favorite genres is mystery. However, romance is not. I think this would appeal to a lot of people. And if romance wasn't extremely integral to the plot, I'd probably enjoy it more since it seems like something a Detective Conan fan would be all over. This one simply isn't for me, but I think plenty of people could enjoy it.

Drama Queen: This immediately got hit by controversy because of the awful protagonist, and I have to say I'm in that camp. She's written to be awful, sure, but I draw the line at not respecting pronouns. In one of the first pages, she gets mad because someone refers to their partner as their partner instead of boyfriend or girlfriend. This draws the line for me between likably bad and just bad. I also felt like the politics of it are a bit morally grey. Some say it's more of a critique of imperialism, while others say it's anti-immigration. I have a feeling, or at least I'd like to think it's more about imperialism, but you never know. Anyway, this manga just made me feel icky and I dropped it real quickly.

Anyway, that's it. I just thought I'd spread the word on all the cool manga I read this year and hopefully get some much deserved eyes on these titles. I'd like to make this an annual thing even if no one else cares lol.

[quietbooklion]

What happened to Kings of Paradise?

Lately, I've been having some thoughts about Kings of Paradise mainly because how it just stopped updating for years. Aside from the manga adaptations and the NSFW stories that were recently released in the EN app, there hasn't been any kind of update in regards to the main stories for each of the characters.

When KoP was first released, I was honestly surprised by how very mature and sexy it was. Voltage really went above and beyond to deliver a story about an MC getting divorced and finding love again. Kiyohito stole my heart and of all the guys he's my favorite with Kaisei coming in second.

I stopped reading KoP stories after a while because I lost interest and when I found out the later season stories had this love triangle thing going on, I really couldn't find myself wanting to continue the title. Fun fact about me: I don't like love triangles. In the end, I haven't played the title in a LONG time. Not even Kiyohito could get me to replay it.

Even so, I was very much looking forward to the new love interests. Kaisei really was interesting and fun since he's so eccentric compared to the others. The one I was looking forward to the most was the doctor, Tsubaki. That man is so fine. I was eagerly anticipating his story thinking it could get me back into playing the title again.

And so I waited... and waited... and waited... and waited... and waited...

After literal years of no updates I started to wonder if it was dropped. My suspicions were confirmed when I looked at the JP app and saw that Tsubaki and Blood Moon were removed from the line up. Yes, you heard me, removed.

I was beyond disappointed when I saw that in the JP app. More so because this isn't the first time Voltage has dropped a title without giving it a proper conclusion, like how it was with Rose in the Embers.

KoP was fairly popular if my memory is correct, so I can't see why Voltage would all of a sudden just drop it and not give any kind of update. Now, I know that first and formost, Voltage is a company and if one of their titles isn't bringing in the money, it'll get dropped. That's just how it is even though I don't like it. Still, why KoP of all the titles if it was fairly popular to the point where Kaisei was added to the VIP room. It got a manga adaptation for christ's sake. Why drop it??

Also why put a lot of side stories inside the VIP room gacha? Now that really makes me mad that those stories are locked behind a gacha.

After seeing Tsubaki and Blood Moon getting removed and years of no updates, I think it's fair to say Voltage dropped it and has no plans to go back to it unless they announce something. Which is a shame because I know lots of people loved that game and the characters.

[gojosattoru]

Hello everyone! Hope you are doing well cuties! I've missed you all so much! ^^ *hugs* So I'm doing this post to announce that I will start taking commissions again. I have been working as an illustrator, it has been really fun, my boss she's cool and has nice ideas but the issue is... she doesn't pay me on time... and sometimes I wait till 2 or 3 weeks till she pays me.. I'm really needing to gain more money... I have been trying to find a second job but it has been difficult.. No matter the curriculums I send.. no one responds or they say i don't have enough experience....... I'm really getting frustrated..

So I'm coming back, fortunately I have been feeling much better lately thanks to my psychologist and my medication. I want start editing again and tho on opening commissions on Tumblr and for Twitter! I can make icons, headers for both websites (or for any other social media if you want) I too have been doing a lot of chibi drawings, (you can see them on my art page on twitter and my blog and sideblog @letsbeeart) if you are interested and you could help me, I would really appreciate it :) If anyone wants to request feel free, but if you could give me even a small ko-fi :https://ko-fi.com/gojosattorus it would be wonderful, if not it's okay i'll do requests nonetheless ^^ so the prices for the commissions are these:

Headers alone are 10$;

Icons (anime and manga) alone are 3$;

Batch of both they are 11$. 

Chibi Commissions: (i should say this, if you want to commission me chibis please ask for fandoms i'm into! Since I'm more familiar with them and gives me more motivation to draw it helps me a lot! Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail are good too ^^)

1 Character -> 25$;

2 Characters -> 35$

+ Characters -> 50$

with background -> 15$

It would be awesome if you guys could spread this post around as much as you can…Sorry for coming out of the blue with this.. I have been on hiatus for a month and a half due to my mental health and now I suddenly appear to open commissions (like i said i can take requests too you could give me a lil ko-fi if not it's alright too) but I have been thinking a lot recently since I don't gain THAT much and my boss always delays the pay day.. I should do something to gain more money! I have been practically doing nothing recently... So if you could support me, even just a lil it would help me a lot!.. Thank you for all your support, love, kindness and strength you have been sending to me recently and for keeping liking everything I do guys, makes me really happy whenever I see your messages ; U ; I will keep doing my most effort to create the best for you guys and I hope you like them and can enjoy too! Thanks for reading and to reblog. Anything you are interested in, or any doubt, you can always message me and we will talk things through. Wish you all the best and I love you very much!! 💖💖💖💖 Have a lovely day/night! *hugs* Take care!