#Imagine Tsubasa ending

[completeoveranalysis]

Well! We can safely call it on surviving another year. I just wanted to thank everyone who’s had fun with me along the way for the last twelve months - whether you left a comment, or messaged me, or said nothing at all and just read it in passing, it all adds up to such a wonderful time. 

Looking into 2025 we’re teetering right on the edge of the end of this giant journey we’ve been on for who knows how long. We have 13 more chapters of Tsubasa (with a few chapters of xxxHolic in the middle) and then that’s it! Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle will be completely liveblogged! Some of it more than once!

I’m rotating in excitement over that the closer we get. And of course that won’t exactly be the end - I’ll still finish xxxHolic at some point after that, and then there’s the Tsubasa World Chronicles and xxxHolic Rei, But! The main beast will be put to rest, and I can’t wait to see how that all ends.

But until then, thanks again for all your support along the way. It’s always an absolute blast, and I hope you’re enjoying it even a fraction of the amount I am. 

[askkurofai]

This is late AND unfinished but… hey, happy CLAMP day to the boys and Sakura!!!

[mishelkie-art]

Been working on some sketches of my mer!Zoro, since he's one of my favorite designs. What started as me figuring out what his markings look like under his bandana turned into some of them ending up a bit more uh... sluttier than I imagined 😅😆

And then, while drawing these, I started to spiral and wonder what Tera and Arashi would look like as well, what traits Zoro inherited from each parent. Well, all this pondering resulted in new mer designs!

I had already designed a human form of Tera which is on my insta, so all she really needed were some tweaks, but I hadn't drawn Arashi yet so I had to come up with his from scratch. Originally I had wanted to take more inspiration from Kurogane from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (sole reason being he and Zoro share the same English VA lol) and while I could see human Arashi wearing a similar outfit, I decided to make his overall look more distinct. I made him a blunette since a lot of the Shimotsuki have blue or blue-ish hair, and, like Zoro and Ushimaru, Arashi inherited Ryuma's huge-ass forehead 😂

Obviously, Arashi is a tiger shark, and originally Tera was going to be a leopard shark, but I ultimately decided to make her a thresher shark instead as I think the long tail matched her hair. This now makes Zoro half-tiger/half-thresher. Her eye color is a little detail I enjoy, as in fics I often find that people can't decide if Zoro's eyes are gold or silver, I prefer silver personally, but I made Tera's eyes gold in reference to that lol

I also wanted Tera to have an obvious sun theme, to go along with the Shimotsuki's moon theme. If I remember correctly, Shimotsuki Village was founded after the people from Wano drove off bandits, and Tera is the daughter of bandits, sooo... what if she was the child of the very bandits that were driven off? Maayybe there was a little Romeo and Juliet thing going on with her and Arashi? Maybe a diamond-in-the-rough bandit's daughter met the descendant of Wano's sword god and it was the greatest romance in One Piece history?!! Lol I just think it would be so funny if Zoro's parents were pretty much a Disney couple. She's the Megara to his Hercules, the Aladdin to his Jasmine, the Eugene to his Rapunzel 😆🤣🤣

Bonus for those who made it though my rant:

Other designs

[nonsensology]

So I've had these Grunkle Stan crackships on my mind for almost a year now. Could be interpreted as platonic, but I think there's great and fascinating potential if interpreted fully romantic. Full musings and explanations below (Warning: very disjointed and random).

Uncle Chan from Jackie Chan Adventures

Maybe Ford and Stan stumble across the Chans on one of their globe-trotting adventures. Both groups fight off the same supernatural threat and surprise each other with their ease and familiarity with the weird and fantastical.

I feel Uncle is kind of a weird in-between of Ford and Stan. He is knowledgeable but not a nerd like Ford, is generally cranky but doesn't get into trouble like Stan does, although he does have a level of disregard towards authority if it gets in the way of his goals. He's quick to do research instead of impulsively charging into a situation.

I think Uncle's dynamic with Stan would be hilarious. They would argue a lot on how to deal with a threat, but once they agree to work together, they could kick ass. Once he gets past his initial annoyance, Stan would probably enjoy Uncle's quips, even more so when he realizes that Uncle does not say them to be funny, he's just naturally snarky.

Uncle is never shown having any romantic interest or relationships, so I kind of headcanon him as ace, but I think it would be really interesting to see what kind of queerplatonic relationship he and Stan could form.

Jade and Mabel would probably hit it off immediately, and while Jade isn't as studious as Dipper, she also has an enthusiasm for the supernatural so she'd probably get along decently with him. She'd also probably think Stan and Ford are super cool, especially considering their lax attitude toward giving children weapons. Though they do still take the kids' safety very seriously.

Jackie is doubtful of Stan, much like he was with Viper, but seeing Stan look out for the kids would probably endear him a little. Ford might also help ease his worries, and maybe they both could have fun discussion about archeology.

I think Tohru and Soos could get along decently, though Tohru would find Soos' eccentric musings odd at first.

Additionally, Uncle's shop is in San Francisco, practically next door to Dipper and Mabel in Piedmont. The kids would easily visit each other every weekend.

Bruno Madrigal from Encanto

Stan has been to prison in Colombia, so I don't think he'd willingly travel there for fun, and Encanto Valley seems relatively closed off from the rest of the world, so I imagine their meeting is accidental, maybe a result of the Stans getting caught in a storm or something. They stay for a while in the valley while repairing their boat.

Stan might initially be outraged at the idea of the Madrigals not charging anyone for the use of their gifts, but perhaps lightens up when he sees how close-knit the community is. He'd still come up with ways they could show off their powers Mystery Shack style, probably butting heads with Alma in the process, lol. He might encourage Bruno to adapt a more showman-like approach to his seer abilities to make it more presentable and less intimidating.

Bruno and Stan connecting over their shared feelings of isolation from family is definitely what drew me to these two together in the first place. If they ever got serious about their relationship, I can imagine the biggest hurdle would be deciding if they should continue a long-distance relationship, since neither is keen on asking the other to be separated from their family.

Yuuko Ichihara from xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Major spoiler alerts for both series. It's been many years since I've read them, and Tsubasa had so many plot twists that even CLAMP (the writers) admitted they were confused by the end result. I also might be misremembering some details, so bear with me. Factoring in the plotlines for both series and Gravity Falls would make for an incredible AU fanfic that I unfortunately am not qualified to write.

Due to Yuuko's shop being in Tokyo, a whole ocean away from Oregon, I like to imagine some timey-wimey space mumbo jumbo allowing Yuuko and Stan to meet in the dream realm. Maybe at some point, Yuuko's shop would obtain a door connecting it to the Mystery Shack.

Stan and Yuuko both have a mischievous side, though Yuuko is generally more reserved. They could start out as drinking buddies, though I imagine Stan would probably favor a light beer, while Yuuko loves sake.

They also both use aliases (it is never revealed what Yuuko's real name is), but Yuuko would likely be upfront about it. As their relationship progresses, Stan would probably feel comfortable telling Yuuko his real first name, even after she tells him the supernatural dangers of giving your real name.

While Stan scams his customers, he generally sells harmless entertainment and trinkets, whereas Yuuko grants wishes and operates strictly on an equivalent exchange basis. To quote the wiki, "All of Yuuko's customers must pay a price in order to grant their wishes, which can be no more or no less than the one demanded, or else harm will come to one's way. She is not one to tell the customer the most direct way to solve their problems because in the end, it can only be solved with that person's own realization and resolution to change themselves... Her abilities are not unlimited and may almost seem like a curse as it appears that she is unable to do anything for anyone or grant any gift (other than feelings) without it becoming a binding transaction." 

When Stan finds out just how powerful Yuuko is, I think he might react with a mixture of hesitation and awe, especially when she reveals she knows about his past, and Ford being lost in the multiverse. I am on the fence on whether Yuuko would use her powers to bring Ford home sooner, or let Stan continue working on the portal because he's already close to completing it and this would be significant in defeating Bill.

I found that the main villain of Tsubasa, Fei Wang Reed, surprisingly parallels Stan. Both endanger reality to bring back someone who is lost, but while Stan does it out of love and devotion to his family, Fei Wang Reed only did it in an arrogant plan to prove himself a powerful sorcerer. And in Fei's case, the person is already dead. CLAMP's universe establishes that the dead cannot be brought back to life, and Fei's wish to do so would cause the universe to be destroyed. I wonder if Bill would factor Fei as part of his plans.

Stan also surprisingly shares a lot in common with Fai D Fluorite. Both use their twin's name (Fai's real name is Yuui), and for much of the series Fai's tragic backstory regarding his twin is unknown, and he hides his trauma under a laid back exterior. I think Stan would empathize a lot with Fai, after he finds out his backstory.

Kimihiro Watanuki is revealed to have been created to fill a void left by Syaoran after the latter wished to turn back time. I remember Watanuki's character arc involved realizing that people cared about him. "Don't disappear", "Continue existing". Stan would probably take Watanuki under his wing, much like he did with Soos. Watanuki might find life with the Pines family far more chaotic than he's used to, but slowly warm up.

Yuuko is revealed to have died a long time ago and has basically been in magical stasis due to Clow Reed's unintentional wish. When time finally moves forward again, Yuuko eventually passes on. She doesn't return in the canon series, but Watanuki is stated to have also suspended his time to wait for her return. In this AU, maybe she reincarnates in the past and reunites with Stan and the Pines in the present day.

[cureskies]

hello i am having hirogaru sky thoughts a year later than when everybody else was talking about it but this scene means a lot to me:

for one: seeing how ageha interacts with not only just ellee but ALL the kids in hirogaru sky fills me with immense joy because there is so much intent behind her words. she knows ellee is a child and when she gets upset she talks her down, validating her emotions even if they seem irrational because despite being the child of destiny she is a Child first and foremost and yeah sora these shoes just suck so bad. and even her teammates, the all powerful precures, are 14 at the oldest. she knows not to baby them but its made very clear that she understands her role as their friend and is always nudging them towards the right path.

this episode really solidified her character for me because in every single other show i've seen, i KNOW they would've had the main characters not believe ellee. the whole contrived "you couldn't possibly be that super awesome powerful (x)! your imagination is so cute :) go play with your toys now!" but immediately!! immediately as ellee claims to be cure majesty and sora, mashiro, and tsubasa are on the fence about it, ageha chimes in with:

"it could be true! she's the child of destiny."

and right after that you can see everyone start to think critically and eventually end up on the consensus that yeah, uh huh, this actually makes a lot of sense. because it makes SO. MUCH. SENSE. side tangent for another day but this show does a great job at not wasting the viewer's time. things that are obvious are made plain as day and i haven't felt any frustration with many of the plot elements despite being 30+ episodes in. having ageha to subtly drive the plot this way helps immensely because the characters and the viewer trust her and know that despite her not being the "leader" of the group, her having the most experience in life brings so many things to the table that are invaluable. cure butterfly you will always be famous to me

[easy-a-b10g]

THE GIRL WITH THE ENDEAVOR DOLL 

"Nova Kamiya, Izuku Midoriya, and Katsuki Bakugou all grew up together in the Shizuoka Prefecture, before Nova was born her mother moved to Japan from America after loosing her husband to a rouge villain attack making friends with Mitsuki and Inko during her stay, Nova grew up in japan alongside Kacchan and Izuku bonding more with the latter over their love of heros and missing quirks (and missing fathers lMAO) join this messy journey of love and soul searching between Nova and not just her childhood best friends but her future classmates aswell.  Stay tuned!!👀.  I'm trying to make it like A/B/O but I've never written for it so please be patient.😭

(A little on that a/b/o so your not confused in this story. In my a/b/o children can sorta be predestined to be alpha, beta, or Omega, like you can kinda tell by their pheromones and demures, or simply by their parents gender. It's kinda like the genetics of eyes if that makes any sense like how two blue eyed parents could have a blue eyed baby but if the parents of the blue eyed parents were all brown eyed parents they could have a baby with brown eyes or the baby could carry the gene of brown eyes. Like two Omegas male and female because I also believe that male and female Omegas can have children together as well as male and female alphas because you know male+ female =pup not necessarily Alpha+Omega=pup. So two Omegas have a baby and it could be an Omega but if their parents were all betas on both sides the baby could be a beta or carry beta genes???? Does that make any sense let me know )

Anyway Katsuki's parents are both alphas so he's an alpha Izuku's parents were both Omegas so he will be and Omega and Novas mom is an Omega and he father was an alpha and idk what I want her to be she probably going an Omega lol

   Feed back is greatly appreciated just please be nice. It's kinda proof read lol but not really. 

"Why are you being so mean?" Izukus voice trembled and whimperd with fear as he raised his fists in the air his distressed pheromones permitting the distance around them, "You're making her cry, Kacchan!  If you keep hurting her, uh ...I'll, uh... I'll stop you myself!"  These words tumbled from 4 year old Izuku Midoriyas lips as he stood at the end of Mesou Park, in front of his very best friend Nova Kamiya defending her from the bullies that decided to pick a fight with them.

  Nova was on the ground cradling her bruised arm, and her all time favorite Endeavor toy to her chest, trying to hold back tears and keep her sad smell to herself. She looked down at the doll which had been ripped in half, the stuffing was spilled all along the ground and even in her lap, with a trail leading to the other half of the doll which was left in the clutches of Katsuki Bakugou or Kacchan as Izuku and Nova liked to call him, he is the worst bully Nova has ever met. 

But first here's what happened.

Nova and Izuku had decided that bright Sunny Sunday morning that they were going to go down to Mesou Park and play heros together till super time.

Nova all but begged her mother everyday to see him since she couldn't last weekend, all because Izuku was at home sick with the flu, but her mother promised her as soon as he was better that they could play together again as much as she wanted but only until after Izuku got better.

She was so excited for this day, jumping with joy when seeing Izuku on the swing set at the end of the park waiting for her arrival. His favorite All Might figurine sat in his lap as he swayed with the wind on the rusty seat. 

 So you can imagine their dismay when halfway into playing Kacchan and his minions, Tsubasa and Tesaki or dumb and dumber as Nova like to call them, showed up to the park causing a ruckus and disturbing the other pups as they played. Nova told Izuku they weren't going to let them bother them today not like they did the last time and Izuku agreed with her and they continue to play without incident. 

 Up until Tsubasa had zeroed in on Izuku and Nova playing together by the swings and came over to spy on them from behind the giant tree near the swing set. That's when he overheard Izuku and Nova talking about All Mights Special combo moves and Endeavors furious flames before he decided that was all he needed to hear before he ran back to report his findings to Kacchan.

Izuku always chooses All Might when they played heros together always, just like she always chooses Endeavor. It's not like she likes him tho, no infact she thought he was a mean mean bully just like Kacchan and his friends, but his quirk stopped a lot of bad guys and in her book that was enough to make him a good hero despite his attitude. She also secretly really loved All Might just as much as Izuku did but she let him have All Might every time they played heros just to see him happy. 

Unfortunately for them Kacchan just happened to be one of THOSE moods today. "Are you guys seriously playing heros right now?" Nova and Izuku stopped playing and turn their heads to the voice addressing them. Tesaki and Tsubasa are seen snickering into their hands while they stand behind Kacchan who has his arms crossed with a smug smile on his face.

"Yeah so what?" Nova replies with a snark hands on her hips as she turns her nose up at him. "Well if your really a hero then how about you dodge this weakling!" He yells as he dashes for her, screaming she closes her eyes and braces for the impact of his push but it doesn't come, instead she feels a harsh tug on the doll in her hands. Her head snaps up immediately and she cries out for her special doll.

"Hey that's not yours!" Kacchan laughs at her waving the doll above her head once he was able to get it from her grasp. "Your a hero aren't you," he teased  "Don't heros share their toys? Hey guys catch!" he then throws the doll into the air over to his friends who then shove Nova into a involuntary game of monkey in the middle as she tries to rescue her stolen doll.

 With one final jump Nova finally claims the doll again but so has Kacchan and he's NOT letting go. "Let go of it Kacchan, give it back it not yous!" A tug of war begins between the two of them not lasting long before Nova could hear the tearing of the stitches as Kacchan continued to pull. "Wait Kacchan stop your going to-"

"RRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPP"

The doll comes apart at the seams splitting this way and that until the stuffing from the Endeavor doll comes spilling out around her and into the air like white dandelion ploofs, without warning Kacchan shoved Nova to the ground where she hit her elbow really hard against the metal bars of the swing set. That's when Nova finally let out a distressing smell, not a very strong one but one strong enough for Katsuki to wrinkle his nose at her in disgust. Izuku finally ran in front of her yelling at Kacchan and the others to stop their antics.

"Hmph. You both wanna pretend to be a heros?" Kacchan proceeds to blow up the half of the doll he managed to snag from Nova with a wide grin. The tears Nova tried so hard to hold back came spilling out. "Neither of you stand a chance at becoming REAL heros without a quirk not to mention your just going to turn out to be a bunch of weak Omegas so why bother." Laughing he and his friends finally jump Izuku and and Nova. Kacchan went for the other half of Novas doll, the others  went after Izuku kicking and shoving and hitting him calling him a Deku over and over again. 

Nova tried her best to protect her doll but unfortunately Kacchan was stronger than her. Kacchan snatched the other half of the doll right from her tiny hands and burnt it to a crisp. The ashes falling in Novas face slowly and silently much like her tears did. Kacchan and his friends laughed and taunted them both until they finally decided they were done torturing them and moved onto the next group of pups to mess with. 

Crying Nova moved to Izuku to make sure he was alright. Izuku was just lying there in the dirt looking up at the sky tears streaming down his face. Sniffling and wiping her own tears away Nova sat Izuku up and dusted off his clothes and hair and asked if he was ok. With a nod he started to cry harder, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to save your doll Nova, I'm so sorry." Pulling his hands to his face he started rubbing at his eyes, " It's not your fault zuku, Kacchans just a big ole bully whole likes to pick fights for no reason." Nova crossed her arms in anger. " Why does he have to be so mean just because he has a quirk does not make him any better than us!" She says with a huff grabbing a fist full of dirt and tossing it in anger. 

Here's the sad truth, all men are not created equal.

By the time they were both 4 years old, Nova and Izuku had learned that some kids have more power than others especially if you have the right secondary gender to back up that power. But that won't hold them back, if anything it pushes them to do even better. Being a hero is everything to Izuku and Nova. Despite not having their quirks yet they know they are going to be the fiercest heros around when they do get them! No matter how many people teased them for not having their quirks yet, they had each other to lift the other one up and encourage them to keep going and to keep believing that one day their quirks would finally show.

[codegeassfacts]

Okhawa Nanase (From Clamp) x Taniguchi Gorou interview From Newtype About the Character designs of Code Geass (Season 1)

There were seemingly Okhawa-san designs appearing on the magazine to illustrate the interview but I was unable to find the source or the againe, so i'll illustrate this interview with Mokona Apapa's final Geass designs **Will indicate Celiss (still the translator)'s personal note "...." Will mean those are direct quote she didn't rephrase.

*******************

Suzaku originally had a "sharper” look to him. Ookawa : “Originally I imagined him as having Chinese-like, sharp, single-eyelid eyes.” Taniguchi : “In order to have Lelouch stand out more, I had this design changed to a softer, rounder image.”

On the early design for Lelouch (white hair) Ookawa : “I imagined Lelouch as someone everyone will find to be "cool”; a beauty, to put it simply.“ Taniguchi : "We talked about Tackey & Tsubasa as well as early Kinki Kids.” (Popular Johnny’s idols in Japan)

Ookawa attended the Episode 1 sneak preview / test screening; according to her, a large number of reporters and other mass media-related personnel showed up as well because of the pre-show hype. When the 1st episode ended, the room went dead silent. With the fast-moving plot and the episode ending with Lelouch going “Die, all of you” as he Geasses the soldiers into killing themselves, everyone was left speechless. However, the momentary silence was later broken by tremendous applause. Taniguchi himself wasn’t at the screening, but he heard about what happened as well.

How did CLAMP come to be part of the Code Geass project? Producer Kawaguchi was the one who wrote to them first. That was the first time CLAMP heard from him, and also the first time they received a request to design characters for an anime. The members only met the director more than a year later; They were already on board the project when the characters and world view were nothing more than a vague concept. CLAMP offered some “interesting ideas” and these helped shape the world of Code Geass.

The character illustrations shown on the page (not the ones i'm using there) are preliminary designs; When these were first drawn Code Geass wasn’t about a war with an Empire but something different. Taniguchi said “We’re making a hit show”, and wanted to create a show which appealed to everyone. They ended up using the Johnny’s artistes (Tackey & Tsubasa; early Kinki Kids) as a sort of model for the characters (**probably for Lelouch; those Johnny’s artistes are usually thought of as “Prince” types, especially early Domoto Kouichi of Kinki Kids)

The character “Zero” was decided from early on, and is one of the characters left unchanged even when they adjusted the story. CLAMP members call Zero’s mask “Tulip” (because of it’s appearance) They wanted to create a mask never seen before in previous Sunrise shows. They were told to create a mask showing only one eye, and there were two possibilities for that, the other being the masks used in palaces (**…which kind of palace? Asian or Western? I'd say Western) Taniguchi : “When I saw Zero’s mask, my thought processes all came to a halt (laugh) It was extremely simple yet had impact.” The biggest merit of having CLAMP do the designs is that, according to Taniguchi, they can come up with things normal animator-turned-designers can’t. The clothes, for example, may seem impossible (**coughZeroandC.C.‘scostumescough*), but CLAMP still went ahead with them anyway with the simple reasoning that : “These are better!”

How did the designing process work? CLAMP members drew a certain number of illustrations, handed them to Taniguchi and he would later return it to them with his own comments. The designs would be changed according to his wishes and the cycle repeated. The comments ranged from “I want you to redraw just this part” to “I want you to add this part of the character with this part of that character and come up with a new character.” Taniguchi pretty much gave CLAMP free reign over the designs, telling them not to worry about what the CG world was like, and because of that they came up with all kinds of variations, from SF to Classical, for things like the military uniforms. There were altogether some 40 ~ 50 designs; C.C. also had traditional Japanese clothes as well as Western Barbie-style clothes. (**Now we know why C.C. cosplays so much. Taniguchi probably included them because he thought it would be a waste not to…) ***It's also interesting to note C.C.'s royal gown which appeared in the Mutuality artbook wasn't a command from the staff, Clamp made this one of their own, C.C. really was their favorite doll to dress.

Ookawa : “Taniguchi doesn’t like girls with big breasts.” (**This is true; Taniguchi is famous for being anti-fanservice. He supposedly hates “jiggling chests” the most, but it seems that since GunxSword he’s had to compromise on this area because frankly, sex sells) Ookawa : “Even though I drew all kinds of female figures and body shapes, only the flat-chested designs were returned.” (The unreturned designs = No Good) Taniguchi: “It’s not that those aren’t allowed (laugh) It’s just that when you transfer them on to the screen it usually ends up even more exaggerated, so I wanted to keep the original designs under control, at least.”

Taniguchi also likes having characters who have something different on one side of their bodies (**the “unbalanced” balance) Lelouch has one red eye, for example; Villetta’s and Jeremiah’s hairstyles also fall under this category. Taniguchi : “I like it. It’s sexy, don’t you think?” Ookawa : “You like characters with sex appeal, huh.” Taniguchi : “Sex appeal is important. CLAMP’s characters are all sexy. That’s another reason why we decided to request designs from you.”

Before doing the character designs, KimuTaka (Takahiro Kimura the other character designer of the Geass anime) spent every day copying CLAMP’s art from their artbooks and manga. After analyzing CLAMP’s art to his best ability, he then started on the character designs. He did his best to design them in a way so that the other animators would be able to draw them without deviating from CLAMP’s original artstyle.

According to Ookawa, Schneizel was designed with “Lelouch’s arch nemesis” in mind. The most time was spent on his design. Taniguchi wanted someone who could appear either good or bad and had a large sense of scale (**2 meters… okay so he probably wasn’t referring to height, but still)

Lloyd is the professor-type CLAMP is good at (**Ookawa’s own confession), but originally he wasn’t supposed to be that much of a mad scientist. It happened mostly because of Shiratori Tetsu’s acting (**In the audio commentary for episode 1 Taniguchi mentions that he gave Shiratori free reign over Lloyd’s character) Ookawa was surprised when Lloyd turned out the way he did.

Which characters do the CLAMP members like? Mokona (**she did the final character original art you can see on this post ) liked Clovis, so when she saw that he was offed after only 2 episodes she was really depressed. According to Ookawa, Clovis was killed off a lot earlier than originally planned. Taniguchi apologizes for this, and then remarks that Jeremiah, on the other hand, has survived longer than originally planned. (**The power of 2ch, indeed, as he was really popular in there and within the staff)

Taniguchi: “If you rewatch the first half of the show after watching episode 23, you might discover new things you didn’t see before.” He refuses to say what these things are, saying that this is an enjoyment exclusive to viewers who noticed themselves. (** He is talking about season 1)

Okouchi was the one who insisted that a mask was necessary in order for it to be a Sunrise anime.

Ookawa : “Director Taniguchi is someone who makes it clear what his likes and dislikes are, and this really helped our work. I like Cornelia, and I hope she can be happy.” (**I’m sure she’ll get along well with Fu-kuyama, that crazy Cornelia fan)

Ookawa seems to be a Lelouch fan. She says that she worries whenever Lelouch does something stupid or uses the Geass in a wasteful manner.

Translation By Celiss Galvea. Hope you enjoyed.

[typellblog]

Tsubasa Family - An Analysis

With this arc, we jump to an interesting point in the chronology - familiar in the sense that our narrator has already recounted its events, but nonetheless our first glimpse at his state in between his encounters with both Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade and Hitagi Senjougahara. Third in this trio of life-changing individuals is Hanekawa Tsubasa, and I think if this book has one single question to answer it’s why Koyomi isn’t dating her already.

Tsukihi and Koyomi’s talk about love brings this to the forefront of the narrative. Koyomi’s clear inexperience means he struggles to realise obvious signs of him having a crush on Hanekawa, and also allows Tsukihi to eventually convince him that he doesn’t and is just overly horny instead. It’s more convenient for him. He doesn’t really want to think about confessing because he thinks it would trouble Hanekawa, someone that he couldn’t possibly imagine being into him in return. 

I find myself coming back to the thing mentioned in the prologue, the essential similarity between Hanekawa Tsubasa and Araragi Koyomi. The difference between them and Hitagi or Kanbaru, who ‘live their lives facing forward’. To some extent it’s been obvious for a while - both of them putting others over themselves, choosing to act like a good person without really believing themselves to be one. The difference, then, is in Hanekawa’s strength of will, in being someone who can, at all times, in all situations, continue to do the right thing, despite not feeling any particular attachment to that process at all.

That’s one of the conclusions to this arc. The idea that the Sawari Neko didn’t take advantage of her pity, but rather rewarded her lack thereof, acting according to Hanekawa’s will instead of its own. Her desire to be ‘normal’ is the source of all irregularity in this incident. 

Koyomi is different. Koyomi can’t help but feeling for almost everyone he encounters. He’s careless, doesn’t always do the right thing, but despite it all will end up helping out anyone.

When Hanekawa saved him during the events of Kizumonogatari, she did it in the same way as she buried the cat. Calmly, coldly, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. She didn’t pity him, she didn’t look down on him, she simply saw him as an equal. 

So we are told in this arc, but one thing left unmentioned is that Hanekawa was in love with him. 

And while that’s a story for another time, it’s also a story we’ve already seen. Tsubasa Cat. This whole time, she was building up stress from not being able to tell Koyomi her feelings, he was unable to notice because of his idealized view of her in which she’d hardly think that highly of him, and as a result, out bursts Black Hanekawa, here to settle things on her behalf. Koyomi couldn’t become her hero, so she made one herself.

Once again I find myself wondering about the chronology here. Tsubasa Cat ‘skips over’ this first incident - the central trick, that there was never a difference between Hanekawa and the cat, is elided, in favour of making Kuro more of her own character. Perhaps a result of being separated by Kokorowatari in this one? 

But precisely because of that, we have an original enough scenario awaiting us in this arc. One where Kuro fights a hundred exorcist battles against Oshino and beats him every time, with the knowledge she has from fusing with Hanekawa. One where she holds back, avoids killing him, because she’s one with Hanekawa and still feels like she owes him. One where Oshino couldn’t defeat her exactly because of the depth of that combination - it’s pointless to exorcise the cat if the human wants to do the exact same things. Oshino’s style is always to balance things out, resolve the deeper issues. But it seems like Hanekawa’s issues are beyond even his deft hand. 

Another of the things that Tsukihi and Koyomi discuss is the vibe people’s clothes can give off - regardless of whether you’re wearing black or white panties, a person’s true nature shines through. A chaste person will seem chaste even in provocative black panties, and vice versa for a lewd person wearing white. Their only mistake - confirmed when Koyomi gets a good look at what Hanekawa is wearing early on - is to think that a person’s nature can be only lewd, or only chaste. This is a realization he talks about in Tsubasa Cat. Good people aren’t always good because good things happened to them. Sometimes one’s circumstances are so bad they have no choice but to be good. It’s not black or white. Good people sometimes act badly, too. Hanekawa Tsubasa is both. At the same time. 

Look at her reaction, when Koyomi exposes her. He has her briefly talking without the cat puns, confirms she does at heart have the same impulse to help him. She ‘showed no signs of guilt’. There’s no disconnect. Is there anything more Hanekawa Tsubasa than ‘seeming oddly cheerful’ while standing in front of your crush wearing only your underwear? She acts normal even in the most abnormal situations. 

The point of the Sawari Neko’s tale in the first place is that the cat and its victim are one. A virtuous person buries a cat, starts acting weirdly, is presumed to have been possessed by a spirit, but turns out to have been just doing that on their own. Just because they’re superficially viewed as a virtuous person doesn’t mean they won’t act out. It can make it more likely, in some cases. 

The way Oshino puts it, ‘turning out to never be a cat at all’ would be the worst outcome, it would leave Hanekawa stuck like that, in cat mode, permanently. It’s why he’s so worried about not finding a cat in the grave that it was first buried in, and why Koyomi nonetheless finds that the cat is there when the incident is over. Oddities, after all, are a way of shifting responsibility, something that we blame when we can blame nothing else. Rather than reckon with the fact that Hanekawa simply had the desire to do those things all along, we find it easier to resolve things by saying a cat made her do it.

This isn’t just a convenient excuse for Koyomi, who doesn’t want to think badly of her. It isn’t just a convenient excuse for Oshino, who completely failed in his role as a specialist here. It is, perhaps most importantly, a convenient excuse for Hanekawa Tsubasa, who, despite being fully conscious the whole time, still pretends she’s bewitched by a cat. 

That’s what Koyomi shouts to her. You’re still you. Stop trying to pretend you’re something else. Stop pretending that you’re weak-willed enough to get bewitched by a cat. Stop acting like your human vulnerabilities work as an excuse to become something entirely inhuman. Your life sucks, it really does, but trying to work off stress by attacking people isn’t going to change it.

This whole Black Hanekawa thing doesn’t really work if she allows herself to consciously acknowledge she’s putting on an act, because then she would realise the conflict between it and her usual maxim of always doing the right thing. Perhaps that conflict is what results when Kokorowatari separates her from the cat and it lashes out at her psyche?

But for that moment, Hanekawa writhing on the floor, unsaved even at the cost of Koyomi’s life, there’s a further interpretation I want to advance here. Koyomi shouts at her. He’s a bit cruel, a bit unsympathetic. Some of it’s his true feelings, no doubt, but he’s also trying to make her angry, get her to attack him. It seems to work. “Just die.” She repeats it for over two pages - only to reveal that at the end she’s referring to herself. 

We talked about vampirism as a representation of Koyomi and Kiss-Shot’s suicidality during Kizu. We mentioned that Hanekawa dealt with similar issues, but not how her oddity plays into that. Because in Tsubasa Cat it really doesn’t. But here there’s a whole other layer to it. If Hanekawa isn’t freed from the cat’s control within 10 days, it will become permanent. There will be no choice but to kill her. 

Does Hanekawa know this? She is the cat. If we take that seriously for a moment-

“Farewell. Go have a happy life.” the cat says to Koyomi when she leaves after meeting him at school.

“I will disappear after I hunt another five hundred people.” I? Who’s I?

The pain after being struck by Kokorowatari - in Tsubasa Cat, Koyomi says that everyone that the cat attacked was for Hanekawa’s sake, even herself. Here he says the same, that it can’t just be the cat’s random whim, because it’s been consistently and completely on Hanekawa’s side this whole time. 

Because when she picked the cat’s dead body off the ground she didn’t pity it, didn’t feel sorry for it. But she is the cat. When Koyomi shouts “There isn’t anything sorry about us, is there!?” is he talking to the cat, attacking Hanekawa, or Hanekawa, picking the cat up from the side of the road?

The Sawari Neko. Meddlecat, curse cat, whatever you want to call it, the pun is in the verb sawaru - to touch. Touching her will drain you. It will curse you. Regardless of her will. Because the cat, because Hanekawa, doesn’t know about her own power. She doesn’t know everything. 

The way Oshino puts it, Hanekawa’s parents are her fault. She acted in such an abnormally perfect way that they were unable to face her. Frankly if you’ll allow me to insert my personal opinion for a moment I think this is fucking stupid. In the anime you can pretend it’s just how Oshino puts it, but in the novel the narration makes it clearer you’re supposed to take him somewhat seriously. Hanekawa really did curse the people around her, purely through proximity. She ruined the chances of them becoming a proper family.

For that reason, as the cat,  she pushes Koyomi away, saying he’ll be cursed on contact with her. However, it’s too late. He’s long since been bewitched by the cat. So much so that he wants to die of it. 

Is it such a stretch to imagine that Hanekawa might feel the same? Someone like me, who curses everyone I touch, I should just die.

Koyomi’s rant, then, takes on a different tone. He’s desperately begging her to accept her current life because he doesn’t want her to throw it away.

Go on, say ‘I only know what I know’ like you normally do, because there’s still so much in the world you have to learn about.

He says this while dying himself. The question we had at the start, why a relationship between them wouldn’t really work, beyond Hitagi’s interference, seems obvious to answer now. Both of them keep so much to themselves, take everything on themselves, save everyone but themselves. This is the only place their relationship, on its own, could ever end. A mutual suicide. 

It takes Shinobu’s intervention, just as it did in Tsubasa Cat, to save them both. That similarity makes the difference so much more obvious. He doesn’t ask for her aid out of an understanding of the value of his own life. From start to finish, he refuses to believe that Shinobu actually cares enough to save him.

We might ask, as we did with Tsubasa Cat, about the placement of this arc. It’s fundamentally kind of odd, the ordering of the rest of the series aside, to put the two like this, having to recap the start and end of this one to fully explain the other.

I can’t fully answer that question. But one thing I can say is that Bakemonogatari couldn’t possibly have ended with Tsubasa Family. 

And that's all for now. Hanekawa stocks are rising a lot for me this time round. I barely remember what happens in Neko Shiro so that should be fun.

[koizumicchi]

ビュティホ (mona) English Translation

ビュティホ mona

Lyrics: Gom, shito Composer: Gom Arrangement: HoneyWorks

MV here.

-----

T/N: Keep in mind that Japanese and English aren’t my first language. I never claim my translation (attempts) to be error-free. As always, if you’re going to use or reference my translations, please do not claim it as your own and credit me.

-----

紐を結ぶ手が震える 幾千跳び続けた日々 自分に期待してるから 緊張が味わえる 少し希薄な酸素で 澄ます神経細胞 重力を無視する翼 努力という名の翼

Himo o musubute ga furueru Ikusen tobi tsudzuketa hibi Jibun ni kitai shiteru kara Kinchō ga ajiwaeru Sukoshi kihaku na sanso de Sumasu shinkei saibō Jūryoku o mushi suru tsubasa Doryoku to iu na no tsubasa 

My hands tremble as I tie the strings I continued to leap thousands of times day after day Because I have high expectations of myself I can taste my nervousness My nerves calming in The slightly thin air My wings that defy the gravity These wings that are the fruits of my own labor

Overture 湧き上がる オーディエンス味方につけ 想像を超えていく 姿見届けてね

Overture Wakiagaru Odiensu mikata ni tsuke Sōzō o koeteiku Sugata mitodokete ne

Overture I raise the excitement I will get the audience on my side I will surpass everyone’s imaginations So, come and see me with your own eyes

揺らせ！ Yurase! Shake it!

Beautiful

無駄かもしれない Muda kamo shirenai It may be pointless

Beautiful

痛いかもしれない そんな私の醜さまで 君に見ていてほしい 見ていてほしい

Itai kamo shirenai Sonna watashi no minikusa made Kimi ni miteite hoshī Miteite hoshī

It may be painful Even with how ugly I am I want you to see it I want you to look at me

努力で才能を超える マンガのヒロインのように 息切れすらも可憐な 白い妖精のように カーテンコール終わらない オーディエンスは浸っている 現実か分からないほど 景色は美しい

Doryoku de sainō o koeru Manga no heroine no you ni Ikigire sura mo karenna Shiroi yōsei no you ni Kātenkōru owaranai Odiensu wa hitatteiru Genjitsu ka wakaranai hodo Keshiki wa utsukushī

Surpass talent through hard work Just like a heroine from a manga My shortness of breath is enchanting As if it is a white fairy The curtain call will never end The audience can’t take their eyes off me The scenery is so beautiful That one cannot distinguish it from reality

Here we go!

Beautiful

まだ跳び足りない Mada tobi tarinai These jumps aren’t high enough

Beautiful

まだ浴び足りない こんな欲張りな私まで 君に見ていてほしい 見ていてほしい

Mada abi tarinai Konna yokubari na watashi made Kimi ni miteite hoshī Miteite hoshii

I haven’t had enough yet Even with how greedy I am I want you to see it I want you to look at me

超えられない壁に気づいた日 自分に価値が無いと知った日 そんな日々に舌を出して 私は今君と今生きている 最高の日を

Koerarenai kabe ni kidzuita hi Jibun ni kachi ga nai to shitta hi Sonna hibi ni shita o dashite Watashi wa ima kimi to ima ikiteiru Saikō no hi o

The day I realized I couldn’t overcome this wall The day I was made aware I have no worth I stuck my tongue out at those days With you, right now, at this very moment, I am living the best day I ever had

Overture 湧き上がる オーディエンス味方につけ 想像を超えていく 姿見届けてね

Overture Wakiagaru Odiensu mikata ni tsuke Sōzō o koeteiku Sugata mitodokete ne

Overture I will raise the excitement I will get the audience on my side I will surpass everyone’s imaginations So, come and see me with your own eyes

全部無駄かもしれない 醜く　痛いかもしれない そんな私の弱さまで 君に見ていてほしい

Zenbu muda kamo shirenai Minikuku itai kamo shirenai Sonna watashi no yowasa made Kimi ni miteite hoshii

Everything may all be in vain It may be unsightly and painful As far as to my own weaknesses I want you to see it

揺らせ！ Yurase! Shake it!

Beautiful

まだ跳び足りない Mada tobi tarinai These jumps aren’t high enough

Beautiful

まだ浴び足りない こんな欲張りな私まで 君に見ていてほしい 見ていてほしい

Mada abi tarinai Konna yokubari na watashi made Kimi ni miteite hoshī Miteite hoshii

I haven’t had enough yet Even with how greedy I am I want you to see it I want you to look at me

Beautiful

紐を結ぶ手が震える 幾千跳び続けた日々 自分に期待してるから 君とまだ味わえる

Himo o musubute ga furueru Ikusen tobi tsudzuketa hibi Jibun ni kitai shiteru kara Kimi to mada ajiwaeru

My hands tremble as I tie the strings I continued to leap thousands of times day after day Because I have high hopes for myself I can still savor it with you

ありがとう Arigatou You have my thanks

[crimsonprimrose-crime]

HAJI COLLECTION

It's Finals weeks, you know what that means... time to fixate on my favorite anime character. I did promise yall lol but it's mostly rough translate coz English nor Japanese are my mother tongue lol

(he's just so beautiful yall 😔🩷)

Table of Contents.

Part 1.

Haji, Love and Destiny [Rough Translation]

An interview with Director Fujisaki, Producer Omatsu, and Producer Ochikoshi

Haji: The Main Character

Originally, they wanted to call him Kuroi Tsubasa. They even enjoyed calling him ‘Tsubasa-kun’. Saya’s character is fix as they wanted to base her from the movie Saya. But, for this anime, they wanted three male characters to be Saya’s chevalier. A high school boy, a guy who turned into a chiropteran, and a guy who’s good with swords. They ended up merging all three to turn into Haji.

The Secret Behind the Cello

They wanted Haji to have this “stalker” vibes that “will always look after her” from the very beginning but they weren’t expecting him to use the cello as his weapon. The image of Haji is just some guy who received Saya’s blood and his image to be like a murderer. But they removed the murderer image. They then thought of just having him as a punching bag, who’ll receive all blows from the enemy and David will be the one to draw them in for Saya. They think it’s better to have someone who can protect you with their body (lol). They just can’t imagine Haji fighting at first. They even considered him doing judo but they think it won’t look good.

The cello’s purpose is originally just for the plot. They weren’t expecting it to be swung around like a stick. The cello is 30kg and was meant to store swords. Again, fighting with the cello is unexpected for them. Ever since it was used as weapon, the producers said they’ve rarely seen Haji open the case.

Characterization, Visual, and Fashion

They wanted Haji’s voice to be both sexy and lustrous. But they realize that he’s a character that talk less so they ended up with the voice he has now. They made him talk with less “masu” so he wouldn’t sound like a woman. (I didn’t understand that part lol sry).

For his character design, they made him dress in a hanging, loose manner. As to fit the “If you are in the future, you are not a person of the future. You aren’t also a person of the past. You are not a person and you don’t have a place to belong. You are a strange person” kind of vibe. They also wanted Haji to compliment Saya’s beauty, in a way. Saya who seemingly look like a normal girl who then stands out with a good-looking Haji. They also gave Haji a naïve and half-asleep look.

They were planning to make him talk and laugh more at some point. But he ended up not doing it. (why though ;-; we all want a happy, smiley Haji). Though they do want him to laugh at the end. They did made him talk more at the last seasons but only talked logically. Though they think that made Haji look really good and that he feels more human. Haji then became a character that went beyond the position he was placed in.

For his image, they wanted him to look like a beautiful young man like Bjorn Andersen. Haji’s original hair is supposed to be short until it was change to a long hair. It was due to them asking female staffs which is better. They all think the long hair suits him much better.  It’s effect is like when a character removes his glasses and then revealed a very much good looking person. The director even wanted him to pose with his right hand on his belt, untie his hair, and take off his jacket. (anyone wanna draw Haji in those poses????? That’s so hot tbh.) The very reason they dressed him with long costumes because it look better when they are fluttering. Haji’s fashion decision has taken more time than a small night.

(Bjorn Andersen's image.)

Haji’s Past

When writing the history [of Saya and of the Zoo], they thought of Haji’s background to be a child adopted by Amshel to be a potential bridegroom for Saya and is also his adopted son. That’s why he was able to move around the zoo. He’s not just a playmate to Saya. He also received education and lived a decent life. Also learned manners. Other than that, he is a “master geisha” because he has acquired all the skills necessary for life. He can cook, he can clean a household. Not good at fishing though.

Age and Setting

Haji’s 19 years old. He’s 15, or 2 years older than that at the beginning. He wants to surpass Saya. In Saya’s point of view, he’s a kid who suddenly grew much taller than her and turned into a good-looking older brother. Saya had mixed feelings about it and of Haji’s complicated gaze. They made him 3 years older than Saya to give him a much maturer position. As for his name, there are no other Romanian name that clicked. The word Haji has a surprisingly goo sound. A nickname-like word, close to Saya.

Haji’s Love

At first, Haji sees Saya as a close older sister. But sometimes sees his mother’s image in her. However, to bring out their awkwardness, they made them fight over trivial things and for them to also open up to each other. The director originally wanted them to just be a family than a romantic bond, like a older sister-younger brother vibe. But the producers sees the potential romantic relationship. Though they think that Saya doesn’t really Haji as a man. Haji gradually developed romantic feelings for her. But feared that if he confessed, their relationship will fall apart. The fact that he is holding back is what makes Haji so adorable. Haji’s expression of love is probably the most essential part. As he gets to know Saya, the more he gets shaken but it is his strength to control it. However, from a romantic point of view, both are very clumsy lovers. It’s hard to watch.

Haji is the most happy when he’s with Saya. If she wants him close, he is there. If she wants him away, he’ll watch from a distance. His aesthetic is to match Saya. Haji doesn’t ask for anything for himself, he takes great joy in giving or when she’s happy. He is smart, or rather, has the tendency to look at things very objectively. He looks at things from a distance which is why he can see everything around him. That’s why he thinks George is an amazing person because he was able to make Saya happy and that’s why he thought it is the right place for Saya.

The Fate of Saya, The Fate of Haji.

Everyone’s asking the director to make Haji happy but he often contemplated on what really makes Haji happy. For Haji, he believes that he only exist in the past. They hope that Haji’s longing to open up a future with Saya will be fulfilled. Haji’s wish is to free Saya from all the battles in whatever way she wants and that will make him really happy. Saya’s fate is always tied to something like that and Haji just want her free. Saya has lived her whole life wanting to be free and Haji’s putting all his energy to fulfill it. To Haji, it never mattered what he wants even if he’ll never have the kind of relationship he wants with Saya. Even if he’ll have to ‘fulfill his promise’ to Saya, he’ll be happy to do so. Though if Haji loses Saya, he wouldn’t be able to survive.

What change Haji is that he saw the Saya with the Miyagusuku family in Okinawa. He saw Saya smile. If he didn’t saw that, he would have continued that dark path of the promise. But somewhere in Haji’s mind, he saw a different path which Saya didn’t know. Haji didn’t mind to take that path even if he’ll die just to make Saya happy.

Haji is the star actor of the show. He paved the way til the end. He became the foundation of Blood Plus. Haji was the difference between Blood+ and Blood: The Last Vampire movie.

Watch out for Part 2! (Yall can correct me with other translations!)

[otomegamesandme]

Em's Personal Favorite Shoujo and Josei manga!

Since one (1) person mentioned they would like a recommendation list of shoujo and josei mangas, I decided to throw one together of my personal favorites! Some of these are well known, some aren't. I also kept it short, so it's more a sample of my tastes. Future lists will probably revolve around themes/genres, but for now here's this!

My Lovesick Life as a 90s Otaku

Demo: Josei

Genre: Romance, Slice-of-Life, Historical

This is a short four volume series about a middle aged mother who reflects back on her teen years and being a big otaku in the 90s. I honestly loved this? There were so many cameos of classic series, and I enjoyed the characters and themes in this a lot. It did make me cringe, just because it reminded me how me and my friends used to be as teens in all the good and bad ways. That relatability is also the reason I was a big fan. It does wrap up pretty quickly at the end, but for a short series, it's one of the josei series I've read that left an impression on me!

Magic Knight Rayearth

Demo: Shoujo

Genre: Fantasy, Isekai

It feels like a crime to not mention Clamp when talking about any of my favorite manga (Tsubasa Chronicles is my favorite Shonen and Chobits is my favorite Seinen, so they're really just winning). Choosing between this and RG Veda was difficult, but this is such a classic. I loved the characters, the world, and how the story reveals itself to be a gut punch at the end. If you still haven't read it, here's yet another rec post telling you to check it out.

Children of the Whales

Demo: Shoujo

Genre: Science Fantasy, Tragedy

This follows a group of people on a floating island, the Mud Whale, which is trapped in a sea of sand. One day, when they send people out to search one of the sunken islands in the sand for resources, they find another human, and through meeting her, learn the truth about their home.

The story telling in this is gorgeous. The mangaka said she was inspired by a lost journal she found, and you really get that feeling while reading it. This is also a series to read if you just feel like being Really Sad. It's one of my all time favorite series, but I did have to read it with breaks between volumes (for reference, I normally binge like five volumes a day when I'm really into a series). There's a rich world and history in this, and each detail feels so carefully considered and thought out. This is one of the series I wished more people talked about.

Dokuhime

Demo: Josei

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Tragedy

A group of orphan girls are raised to be living weapons by consuming poison. They're then sent out to enemy countries to seduce and kill the men in charge, as their bodies are all poisonous.

This doesn't have any official English translations and I came across it randomly one day and just fell in love. It's an older series, and there's plenty of triggering content here (violence and SA being major). But I loved this world and characters so much? My summary does not do it justice, but the dynamics with the main character and the three princes in the country she's infiltrating is so interesting. It also reads very much like a dark fairy tale, especially with how it's structured and the way it goes through each scene and chapter. I know this is likely too old and unknown to ever get picked up officially, but maybe if I get more people to read it, we can all bother seven seas via their licensing survey or something-

A Condition Called Love

Demo: Shoujo

Genre: Romance, Slice-of-Life

I don't think this needs a summary since it's a recent popular one lol, but I love messy characters who face consequences for their messy actions and are forced to grow as people!! I love when bad habits in a relationship get challenged, and it doesn't automatically lead to breaking up but trying to fix things. Hotaru and Hananoi just have my favorite relationship in any modern shoujo series I've read, and while the series isn't over yet, I can imagine them remaining a favorite for a long time.

Chihayafuru

Demo: Josei

Genre: Sports, Slice-of-Life (and romance in the background)

If you know about Chihayafuru, it's that everyone who talks about it is Not Normal about it lol I have never encountered a series with such a large cast where each one is given such weight and brevity as this series. I know it's about such a niche Japanese sport, but listen, the growth and story arch of these three main characters, and how they're affected by the people they meet and how they affect others and grow is just...so good. You want God Tier character work, this is the series you read.

Prince Freya

Demo: Shoujo

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure (and romance if you squint)

I love brutal shoujo. The first chapter of this was not what I was expecting, and it's probably because I went in blind. Anyway, this follows the story of Freya who lives in a kingdom trying not to get conquered by an Empire taking over the continent. The only person keeping the kingdom standing was the Prince, who was poisoned and killed. Since Freya looks almost exactly like him, she's forced to pretend to be the Prince of this country in hopes the kingdom won't fall to the empire.

Freya's character growth in this is a lot of fun to witness play out. I also really have been enjoying seeing the way the world keeps expanding and growing with each volume. I will say, the first few volumes have pacing issues, but by volume 3/4 it was all smooth sailing. I also really enjoy how unflinching it can be, and it doesn't shy away from death or violence when needed, but it also doesn't overdue it either. It's just a solid shoujo fantasy series, and the only bad part about it is waiting for the next volume to drop (Viz it's been 6 months, please-).

[completeoveranalysis]

[15]

The final piece of Yuuko’s existence follows him out of his dream and he watches as it fades away. 

But I also just had a thought!

Yuuko was there at Watanuki’s moment of creation - she was there the to see him first start to exist

And now Watanuki was there at the moment Yuuko stopped existing - he was there to see her finally fade away. 

I cannot even imagine how wildly unexplained this must be for someone only reading xxxHolic and not Tsubasa but WOW THEY REALLY REALLY DID BOOKEND END EACH OTHER HUH?

[tsunflowers]

list of which precures I think are lesbians

nagisa: we see her suffering from terrible comphet. one day she will see herself as bi honoka: lesbian hikari: I don't know her :(

saki: doesn't know she's bi yet. probably will swing more towards girls once she figures out mai: lesbian michiru: I think she would go on a date with a boy to gather intel and feel nothing but if she went on a date with a girl she would feel something kaoru: I can't imagine her crushing on anyone but maybe that'll change

I feel like I still don't know the yespre girls well enough but I do think karen and milk are both lesbians

love: bi but completely oblivious to romantic overtures from any gender miki: I could see her dating another girl one time but she's mostly straight inori: ally setsuna: lesbian

tsubomi: probably bi or lesbian but the idea of romance in real life is still kinda scary erika: girl who calls her friends her girlfriends and it makes tsubomi uncomfortable for reasons she doesn't understand yet itsuki: bi but around the end of the series and immediately after she'll explore her interest in boys more bc she never thought she could express that before yuri: lesbian

hibiki: lesbian bc if she dated a boy she'd be letting us girls down kanade: bi ellen: I just can't imagine ellen having a crush on anyone bc it's been so long since I watched the show ako: still too young to be interested and also the examples of romance she's seen are hibikana and whatever her parents have going on so she's sort of down on the whole concept

miyuki: well her crush is peter pan. I think she's not interested in romance in real life. maybe she will be someday, maybe not akane: I remember shipping her with nao but somehow it's funny to me to say she's straight. she did have a crush on brian yayoi: like miyuki she's more interested in fictional romance. if she dated someone she would expect it to be like in anime nao: bi. she's like makoto sailor jupiter where she thinks boys dont like her bc she's too tall so she has to date girls reika: lesbian

mana: canonically straight rikka: canonically into mana. lesbian alice: I think she's still working on developing her own self-image outside the expectations of her family, who would certainly want her to marry a man makopi: disease where instead of brain you have princess marie-ange. lesbian aguri: still at the age where she thinks romance is something that happens in a movie where a prince rides in on a white horse

megumi, hime, yuuko, iona: bi

haruka: lesbian minami: lesbian kirara: bi towa: bi

mirai and riko: lesbian kotoha: I don't see her ever being interested in romance due to her whole thing

ichika: bi himari, aoi, yukari, akira, ciel: lesbian ciel flirts with guys but it's like when a gay man jokingly flirts with a woman. no real interest

hana: I don't have a strong feeling for her. wait she was into homare that one time. bi saaya: I don't have a strong feeling for her either homare: I think homare's straight actually emiru: lesbian lulu: no interest in boys, ever. lesbian

hikaru, lala, elena, madoka, yuni: lesbian I don't know if they have lesbians on lala's planet though

nodoka: I think for most of her life she was like "romance is something that happens to other people" so she hasn't spent time figuring it out yet chiyu: bi hinata: bi asumi: doesn't have those feelings which is good bc can you imagine asumi trying to date

manatsu, sango, minori, asuka, laura: lesbian

yui: bi but oblivious, like love kokone: lesbian ran: bi amane: lesbian

sora: lesbian. replace every time she says hero with lesbian mashiro: she definitely thinks she likes boys but I'm not sure if she does tsubasa: his curse is that if he hangs out with anyone his own age ageha will keep elbowing him and raising her eyebrows and he has to be like "it's not like that!!" so he doesn't know what it is like yet ageha: I feel like she does kind of have straight girl who calls her friends girlfriend energy elle: I dont know what to say about elle due to her situation

komugi: lesbian in dog years iroha: I think bi but hasn't explored it at all bc she's told herself it's not important yuki: lesbian cat mayu: lesbian human

[kogameh]

"Angelic Lullaby", aka the supposedly recurring song in AGKokoro

Uh, I figured making a Twitter thread on this would be annoying (word limit/format-wise) so let's talk about it here instead.

You see this page from the first prologue? Yeah. Notice them singing and the music notes around them?

The speech bubbles were supposed to have proper lyrics, written by me. But long story short, I was REALLY under a time crunch and couldn't write one by the time I started the lettering process so I ended up resorting to the "gibberish" text as seen above.

You might also notice some music notes on these two pages---they're intended to play the same music as the page shown earlier.

But obviously, it's difficult to know that by mere texts and images (of course lol), so I'm mentioning it here.

The point is; yes there IS intended to be a recurring song in AGKokoro. You can't hear it. But I HAD plans on making you hear it.

How?

And now the long story:

The initial plan was not only to have the music and lyrics but to release a completely vocalized song with a Vocaloid and even a lyrical MV/PV to go with it, lol. (Yeah I do fuck around with Vocaloids [the software] too if you don't know)

I DID commission the music (since no way I can learn composing within that short of a deadline lol) but the lack of lyrics is the entire reason why I couldn't proceed with the rest of my initial plans.

Unfortunately as my deadline approached fast, all of these ideas had to be canceled and I didn't want to half-ass on any of these so o)-(

So yeah, I ended up laser-focusing on the comic and scrapped the rest haha.

I really meant it when I said my intention in doing the first prologue chapter was showing an amalgamation of EVERYTHING my "useless piece of shit" self could do. out of spite :')

So... yeah! That's how we end up here!

In the end, I still haven't written the intended lyrics for the song. I DO want to get back to it someday and WILL update the pages with the intended lyrics at the very least, haha.

The song is meant to be plot-relevant so I really don't want to half-ass it and prefer the lyrics to sound, well, good, y'know? The only problem is just finding the time for it orz

***

BONUS:

While drafting the pages, I imagined the songs to be something along the lines of Tsubasa wo Daite, Meru's song or Ashita Kuru Hi lol. The commissioned music piece ended up pretty different compared to all of these but it still sounds AMAZING!!

Here's a preview of it if you want to idk, listen with the pages or something.

(It's composed by Enokido-san, thank you for doing my comm!!)

Here's the original artwork intended for the MV/PV. I don't like this art anymore (the anatomy sucks and why is the hair drawn like that) so I really need to draw something new if I end up redoing the PV :3c

"What makes me mention this?"

Apparently Webtoon can put music in their comics and I'm jealous of that but its Webtoon Creators program only so like hell I'm giving the rights of my OCs to them :////

"WHY all of this matters, if at all?"

Because uh, it WILL be mentioned again and it WILL be an important thing to Kureha's character and his....uh. what was his "misfortunes" in the plot again? idk

"WHERE did the music come from anyway?"

Oh you've seen these pocket watches? They're actually music box-inside-pocket-watch kinda thing! Pretty cool, right?

Wow idk if you've read through that but, congrats if you do! Because this WON'T be my last long rambling post about OCs (idk why I haven't done more of it aside from the fact I'll be talking to a wall 99.9% of the time lol)

ANYWAYS YOU CAN READ THE FIRST TWO PROLOGUES OF AGKOKORO HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY

[wildflower-otome]

[Translation] 9 R.I.P. - Koharu - Heavenly Ending After Story

Source: 9 R.I.P. Stella Set Special Bonus Booklet Note: Major Spoilers for Koharu's Heavenly End below.

Our Beginning - Koharu Heavenly End After Story

Driven out from my village, I became a spirit that existed only for her—

My thoughts were preoccupied with plans for the future.

.....So that I could make Misa happy, I needed to become someone she could rely on. Not in the same way as I had up until now, as a spirit, it was best that I now live out my days as a human.

First, I had to look for a job. After that, I needed to find an apartment....

Luckily, I hadn't lost my abilities as a spirit. There should be no problem with me taking human form and living in society.

In actuality, although they were rare, there were other spirits who also did the same, living their everyday lives while pretending to be human. That said, such spirits usually ended up ostracized by spirit society, although that didn’t really bother me.

— As such thoughts ran through my mind, Misa made an appearance.

‘Koharu-san, you’re early today. It’s still 10 minutes until we were supposed to meet.’

‘'Could say the same about you.’

Misa and I had an outing planned for today, we were going to take the train to visit her older sister Tsubasa’s workplace.

Apparently, her sister was going to help her pick out some clothes.

‘Hey, wouldn’t it be easier if I didn’t go? I’ll just get in the way.’

‘Nothing of the sort. Not to mention, I’ve already told Tsubasa that you’re coming.’

‘S'pose it should be fine then.’

‘Alright then, let’s go. Before we head to the station though —here, take this.’

‘…..What’s with the card??’

‘Using this card will get you through the ticket gate at the station. Basically, you can use it in place of a ticket…..’

—With this simple explanation, I now understood.

‘Then, that means the ticket fare is already stored in this?’ 

‘Exactly. Convenient, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah, sure is…..’

.....Even now I was putting a burden on Misa.

‘What is it?’

‘.....Actually, I was thinking of getting a job.’

‘Huh?’

‘That way I can earn money and save for the future.....Someday I’d like for us to live together. Of course, I would make sure to go and see your family again when the time comes. .....You get what I mean by that?’

Her face bright red, Misa smiled happily.

‘I’m glad. You really are thinking of the future.’

‘’Course I am. Right now, I’m a burden to you, but eventually I want to be a proper support to you. So, until then, I'm sorry, but—’

‘Please don’t think that way. It’ll be the two of us living together in the future, so it’s not a question of either of us being a burden.’

 ‘......Heh-, you’re right there.’

It was exactly this sort of thing that I liked about her. Well, that among a whole lot of other things.

‘Speaking of which, I might take up a profession similar to yours.’

‘Ah, you mean like a chef or something like that?’

‘Yeah, something along those lines. Guess you could say it’s a dream of mine.’

‘.....With you as a chef, Koharu-san, and me as a pâtissier.....wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could open up a restaurant together one day?’

‘I like the sound of that.’

In the future that she imagined; I was there along with her—

That alone made my heart feel full.

.....Now that I thought about it, this might be the very first time I had envisioned the future.

‘Alright, let’s get going.’

Taking Misa’s hand as she stood beside me, we began to walk.

Misa squeezed my hand back.

The simplicity of this happiness lit a warmth in my chest.

.....I love you, Misa.

Too embarrassed to say it out loud, I whispered the words in my heart.

I could only hope that she understood how I felt.

[thelasttaleofthepari]

I passed my finals and am free from the prison that they call school (for a few weeks) so time to continue my AiStars Rewrite because I am better than Bandai

(also I am prone to forgetting things so if I repeat information from the last post,,,, just be patient w/ me please 😭)

Season 1 (continued???)

Main characters as usual are Yume, Koharu, Rola, Mahiru, Ako, and Haruka Ruka 

I said that S4 only had Yuzu, Yozora, and Tsubasa but we’re changing that– Lily now is also part of S4 and takes Hime’s spot since,, yk,,, Hime’s missing 

Hime disappeared a while before the S4 Selection (so she was there for her second year at FSA and was in S4 for one year, but is not there for her third year when the series takes place) 

Hime disappeared after an S4 concert (the same one that Yume and Koharu attend to in Episode 1 of AiStars)-- and Yume was the last person to see her (and the rainbow power was accidentally given to her here idk how just bear with me) 

Anyways uhhhhh what else 

Brands in the rewrite aren’t under a specific type; they don’t fall under cute, cool, sexy, pop coords specifically (so they can make coords that vary in types) and idols can choose what coord they want based on their preferred idol type 

We’re deleting that one FSA rule where you can’t make a brand if you’re not in S4 because I think that’s lame and stupid and doesn’t do much for the plot anyways 

So some characters still have the same brands (Lily w/ Gothic Victoria, Yozora w/ Romance Kiss, Yuzu w/ Shiny Smile) but some don’t 

Ako, for example, uses a brand that’s story themed– this brand is heavily connected with a film production agency and the agency and brand correlate stories (like if the brand released an Alice in Wonderland collection, the film agency would then release a movie based on Alice in Wonderland) 

I wanted to lean more into Ako’s acting side and thought this would be a good fit 

Haruka Ruka uses a brand called “DECO●LOUR MY WORLD” that follows a decora and candy concept

Oh and she’s also the princess of this land called “E-Magi Nation” (pronounced “imagination”) and everyone thinks she’s putting up a persona because there’s no land called the E-Magi Nation silly! Except no she’s dead serious she’s a literal princess from the E-Magi Nation and her home palace is actually made of gingerbread and candy canes thank you for asking 

Romance Kiss’ official concept says that its a “brand that travels around the world” and takes inspiration from different ethnic cultures, so I was thinking this brand would have a whole bunch of branches in different parts of the world with different top designers and such– Yozora (and later Mahiru) is the top designer of the Japan branch 

The muse of Romance Kiss is in charge of representing the different cultures of the brand 

The school coords in Four Star Academy also has various silhouettes rather than the typical “different tops- same skirts and shoes” pattern 

Here’s an example with an Ako Star Coord I designed 

(I didn’t design anyone else guys I don’t have any ideas I tried with Hime and it was a disaster so please be nice about the Ako design I tried my best) 

Also people can enter the magic fitting room thingie (I forgot what its called HELP) by using their Aikatsu mobile instead of their Aikatsu pass because idk I thought it’d be cool I’m not too sure about this idea though

Lets move on from most of the plot points and go to the end of the season 1 where the S4 Selection happens because I forgot SOOOO many things!! Yay me!

In Wind Dance, Haruka Ruka loses to Yuzu (but since everyone in S4 is a third year including Yuzu, Haruka Ruka gets the spot for S4 next year) 

In Bird Theatre, Ako wins the spot for S4 by beating Tsubasa 

In Moon Beauty, Mahiru beats Yozora and inherits the muse position from Yozora

Its here where Yozora announces that she’s taking a hiatus from being an idol to focus on being a designer (for Romance Kiss) (guys I need reasons to get the 25th S4 Gen out of Season 2 okay bear with me) 

In Flower Song, Lily wins over Rola and Yume,,, however, Rola wins over Yume and gets the S4 spot; Yume becomes Flower Song Class’ admin

TLDR: basically Rola, Ako, Mahiru, and Haruka Ruka are the 26th generation of S4 and are the S4 for Season 2, Mahiru (or Ako I’m not sure) becomes the leader for S4 and we say goodbye to our previous generation of S4 

Oh and Hime shows up at the finale! But like in a super mysterious way where we know its her but no one sees her and she’s just quietly lurking and its basically a hint to her being in the next season

Season 2

Ohohohohoho here’s the fun part 

OKay SO 

The top idol Hime Shiratori has shown up to Four Star Academy… with the Perfect Idol Elza Forte 

Idk why they’re there its probably to try to steal S4 away from FSA 

Anyways Elza does her big performance and she gets her Star Wings and everyone’s in awe and she’s made her name as a perfect idol you guys know the drill 

Hime says that she has returned to help her friend Elza collect perfect idols and get all the Star Wings like they’re Pokemon 

And because of this, she is currently residing in Venus Ark (not as a student she just stays there as a guest of Elza’s) 

The normal shenanigans happen, some Venus Ark characters get their pretty wings 

Oh and later, Hime does a performance (which is her big return back to idoling (which she kinda hates), just for Elza to get her sun wings) and gets the Earth Wings 

A big thing here is how Hime truly trusts Elza and wants her to achieve her dream, doing the one thing she hates (being back in the public spotlight) just so Elza can get her mom’s approval (this is important later) 

But you may be wondering…. if Hime got the Earth Wings… what wings does Yume get? 

LOL HAHAHA GUYS 

she’s not getting any wings 

(I swear I love her she’s one of my favorite characters I just gonna make her struggle… sorry) 

The lineup for the wings goes like this: 

Kirara has Mercury as usual 

Mahiru gets Venus (guys guys calm down I know that Elza has Venus canonically but I swear I have a good reason!!!) (the good reason being that I like Mahiru and Rola together and if Rola gets Mars then Mahiru should get Venus because in mythology-)

Mahiru got her wings due to a plot point in Season 2 where she has multiple muses in Romance Kiss to show the many faces of beauty in different cultures rather than just one– she implements this officially in a festival celebrating different cultures and does a performance and BAM SPR 

Hime gets Earth because it made the most sense to me 

Rola gets Mars and Aria gets Jupiter, like in canon 

Ako gets Saturn (I kind of pushed out Yuzu and Lily in Season 2 so that they play roles similar to Yozora and Tsubasa and Hime in the canon Season 2 of AiStars, so that Ako and Haruka Ruka can get their pretty wings) 

Rei gets Uranus and Elza gets Neptune (because *mumbling* the Sailor Moon ship) 

Haruka Ruka gets Pluto and her wings are made of candy because I said so 

Oh and Koharu’s back! She was in France for a bit learning more about fashion and Elza took her in and now she’s a cool fashion designer who loves Venus Ark with all her heart and having the time of her life 

Aria and Hime also have a sweet relationship– Hime actually meets Aria in Season 2 (rather than pre-show in AiStars), and the two connect 

The main reason they connect is because they were both muses of My Little Heart. My Little Heart was Hime’s brand before she disappeared, and after she did, the whole brand was running around to pick up the pieces 

They had a little reboot and got a new muse (our little fairy Aria) who became the new muse of My Little Heart 

Hime is sorry for the trouble and hate that Aria received after she became the muse but Aria’s very sweet about it with her– they get along quite well because Aria sees Hime as this cool older sister and not a top idol, and Hime is truly at her calmest with Aria 

Oh speaking of brands, Hime has a private brand in Season 2 to avoid the same thing that happened with My Little Heart (she’s planning to leave the spotlight again after Elza gets the Sun Wings) 

We’re gonna skip a lot of plot points because.. again… I forgot a LOT of the ideas I had I should really write these down 

Hime finds out that Elza was just using her the whole time and gets really really upset,,, and pulls a little revenge 

Can you guys guess what it is 

Lol Hime gets the Sun Dress… surprise(!!)

I know Hime is out of character here compared to canon but then again this is my rewrite and I can do whatever I want and I think she should be able to destroy a few dreams because of the betrayal she feels 

And everyone was like “WOAH!! How did she do that!! Gasp!! The Sun Dress is here again??!” 

So the main rival of Season 2 shifts from Elza to Hime

Uhhh skipping more plot points,,, but Yume is doing pretty great! She was kinda moping around after she didn’t get an SPR but she and Koharu made up and created a new brand called “Rainbow Berry Parfait” Yay!! 

So she’s kinda vibing because her best friend is back 

OH MY GOD WAIT I FORGOT TO MENTION 

So at the end of Season 1, because she lost the S4 Selection and was exhausted due to the rainbow power, she took a small hiatus 

She still trains a LOT, more than she used to, so she learns to control her rainbow power again idk how 

But you may be wondering,,, Yume has no SPR nor a sun dress, how the heck is she gonna beat Hime in the finale? 

Basically, Yume and Koharu,,, craft a Moon Dress by themselves– its not given from the system or anything but they literally make a dress that can rival the Sun Dress 

Each one of Yume’s friends help her too, like Mahiru making the crown, or Haruka Ruka helping get certain fabrics? Stuff like that 

And then in the near finale of the season, Yume performs in this Moon Dress (without wings) 

She activates her rainbow power and has a super powerful aura,,, except the rainbow from her aura then goes into her back,,, and forms a pair of wings 

And its sort of basically the system deeming her “worthy” of the Wings of Stars 

Yume wins the competition and beats Hime– so both of them sort of get what they want? Yume is at the top now because of her hard work and now her super rainbow power and Hime is finally lifted the burden of being the top idol 

Also Rei, Aria, and Kirara get Elza’s mom to give her a hug and they sort of mend their relationship from there 

And in the end of the season, Yume beats Rola in the S4 Selection, Mahiru, Ako, and Haruka Ruka win their S4 spots again

Rola decides to go to England to find out what being an idol means to her (and makes a cool rock band because I think that’s what she deserves) 

Koharu is now the top idol of Rainbow Berry Parfait– she leaves Venus Ark and opens a boutique that is also a candy shop because why not 

Ako is the top actress,,, ever; she’s getting film deals everywhere, every movie she is in sells out completely, she’s a big hit 

Mahiru is a supermodel, she’s constantly traveling the world for brand deals; one of the most influential people in the world 

I’m ngl I barely talked about Haruka Ruka,,,, oops I swear I love her 

I imagine that she gets her own talk show that’s super successful- I also remember making her have a rivalry with Yuzu so she probably beat Yuzu sometime in Season 2 but I never mentioned it until now 

And Yume is the top idol of top idols; she’s now the leader of S4 with her super successful career and now she’s just vibing 

Elza and her mom are working to mend their relationship good for them good for them 

Also Elza apologizes to Hime for using her because I think Hime deserves that apology; they don’t end up being friends again but they do end their little,,, whatever they had going on, amicably 

Venus Ark leaves Japan at the end of Season 2 and they’re gonna go to some other country to girlboss and be better than other idol schools good for them 

Hime actually stays in Japan! She now helps with Hotaru’s (Moroboshi’s sister) flower shop! 

Yozora is the top fashion designer for Romance Kiss in the Japan branch 

I think Tsubasa starts an idol agency because I think it’d be cool to have one of those and no one would do it better than Tsubasa 

And Yuzu and Lily make their own idol unit its literally a canon event 

And I think those are all my ideas so far for the series but if I remember any more ideas I’ll probably reblog this with the new ideas 

Also if you read this whole thing, I APPLAUD YOU BECAUSE HUH??? One of god’s strongest soldiers fr 

(Note: I swear the characters, especially the main six, are very close to each other I was just trying to get my ideas out so I didn’t focus on much on the relationships between characters) 

Also I definitely planned more for lore building like the origin of the rainbow power and how the aikatsu system works (because that thing is definitely sentient,,,) but that's all in Season 3 + 4 where there are new characters (,,,,my ocs,,, STOP SCREAMING I AM BUT A GIRL WHO WANTS TO INDULGE HERSELF IN HER LITTLE DELUSIONS!!!) so that may be a different post,,, maybe

(special tag for @elcall, I hope I did Ako justice 🫶)