#It's fun to find similarities with other BL series

[miss0atae]

Random thoughts about SOTUS episode 5:

In this episode we’re seeing the end of the freshy day contests with the Star Contest. Kong must shows Arthit that he will win all contests so he can be accepted by him and get his reward.

▪️ This episode was really centered around the Star Contest, apart from the last part. It's the second BL I watched where they focus some parts of the story on these type of contests. The last one I watched was Star and Sky: Star in My Mind. They also had, in the beginning, a contest that looked very much like the Star Contest in SOTUS. I think that's the only connection I can find between the two series. As for the hazings, I wonder if this type of contest is also very popular in Thai universities. It seems to be a huge deal in SOTUS and of course Kong must win. He already won the sport event, now it's more about winning the popular vote from the students or winning the vote of the jury who asks you questions. The Star Contest can be compared to a beauty pageant where two people from each faculty compete to be elected. They are judged on their physical appearance when they get the student's vote, but also on inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, talent, character through private interviews with judges and answers to public on-stage questions. In SOTUS, it's not only a beauty pageant but also a talent show because you also have to present an artistic performance.

▪️ Kong and Prae are the two contestants from the engineering faculty. In this episode, I felt like Prae was the woman version of Kong. They both have this vibe of girl/boy next doors who are empathetic and academy-gifted. When they appeared on the stage they were both styled with a classic yet cute outfits. Other contestants had bolder outfits, but it wouldn't have suited the personality of Kong and Prae. So the Star Contest started with the talent performance and the two future engineers chose to play guitar and to sing. Let's give a round of applause for the first appearance of a guitar in this series. A BL can't be right if you can't have at least a scene with a guitar. I know it became this running gag among BL viewers and many are annoyed by it, but I've come to appreciate having them. I don't mind them at all because I read once a good explanation about why we get these guitar scenes in Thai BL series. I can't remember where I read it, but it's definitely on Tumblr (I wished I reblogged it instead of liking the post because it would be easier to find it). Anyway, Kong and Prae decided to sing three songs to make the audience reflect on three different stage of their life: childhood where you get good time with your friends, puppy love and secret crush when you get older. If it's not giving you info about the main plots of the story I don't know how the series can be louder. I'm glad Kong and May had the chance to explain their choice because it wasn't really obvious to the audience when you just listen to them singing.

▪️ Then the Star Contest, turned to the interview with the judges. We don't get to hear the other contestants' questions and answers. We can only listen to Kong's part and of course he ended up having to answer to a question related to his views on the SOTUS system. It's a tough question, but Kong is the main lead and he is blessed with many qualities so he found the right way to answer it. I can't stop saying it again and again, but I love this character. He is nice but also very smart. He is the whole package. No wonder, Arthit always feels something when they are in the same room. He can't be indifferent, but we'll talk about that later. Of course, Kong won the popular vote prize. He also became the University's Moon too along side his classmate Prae who was crowned the Freshy girl of their year, the University's star. Another big win for the engineering faculty. No wonder they are insufferable, if they are usually winning all contests. All is in favor of Kong because he has the opportunity of winning his best prize: Arthit's acceptance but also a favor to ask. Kong was happier to have this, than all his other victories from the freshy day contests. The contests where a way of making Kong shines bright to his classmates, seniors but also most importantly to Arthit.

▪️ The last part of the series made it end on a bitter note because we are back to the hazings and the misunderstandings between seniors and freshmen. I've already said a lot what I think about the hazings, but I will view them as a plot device to make the story goes further. Of course, the freshmen's resentment must be high especially after they did their best during the freshy day contests. Suddenly, the fourth years came in with Deer as their leader. He said he came because he heard of complains from the freshmen and he is not happy with the way the third years are dealing with the hazings. We first saw Deer in the second episode and I didn't have a good feelings from him, so this part of the story didn't help change my mind. I appreciate he gives credits to the freshmen's views of the hazings, but the public humiliation of the third years isn't something I liked. It's not good and it's pointless. So if the seniors can do the same punishments they gave to the freshmen their actions would be okay or more understandable?! I don't get his point. I think Deer believes it will show he is fair and if the third years succeeded in accomplishing all the punishments it's not as bad as the freshmen think it is. I felt like Kong when he heard this idiocy. What is Deer trying to prove? I don't want to see the seniors doing these punishments. Even if they can make it, I don't really like the idea of suffering together is making us closer. I prefer working together can make us closer and stronger, but I guess engineering students in SOTUS think differently.

▪️ What I really like in this episode, is again related to Arthit and Kong relationship's development. Arthit insisted to attend the Star Contest which surprised his friends because he wasn't really known to be interested in it. They misunderstand the reasons why he wants to be there and I'm not even sure we can trust his explanations. I think he is drawn to Kong without even realizing it. When Kong appeared on the stage he gazed at him, the same way May was doing it and we know May has a crush on Kong. He pretended Kong's choice of performance wasn't good, but he felt something when he heard the explanations. Kong's answers on his views of the SOTUS system impressed him and he now knows Kong understand what he is trying to do with the seniors even if he doesn't accept all of what they are doing it. That's why he chose to vote for Kong. Most of Arthit's responses to Kong's actions are not conscious. He always ends up flustered by him. On the other hand, I think Kong is more conscious of his attraction to Arthit. He may not call it love yet, but he is so smitten when it comes to Arthit. He cares a lot about him. You can see his face changes and lights up when he sees Arthit in the room (only in scenes where they are together without anyone else). When Arthit was scolded by Deer in the last part of the episode, he became worried. He doesn't want Arthit to be scolded or punished.

▪️ Just wanna add that this scene was so cute and melted my heart:

▪️ Another good thing in this episode is the friendship part.

I really like when a BL series gives also a large part of the story to show the beauty of friendship and how platonic love can be so much important in life. I think a series is better when they don't focus entirely on romantic love, but when they show all the different type of love you can get. In this episode, Arthit had a conversation with Knot. We know the senior group is a close group of friends, but I believe Arthit and Knot are closer to one another. Knot is the supporting friend archetype in the story. He helps Arthit through the conflicts that they are dealing with, while often offering a moral support. This time, he helped Arthit keep his spot as the leader of the hazings by talking to the teachers. When Arthit came to thank him, he just reminded him they are friends and they will stick together. I'm currently watching We Are and I feel like Q and Peem's friendship remind me a lot of Knot and Arthit's friendship.

Now what’s going to happen in the next episode?

[jenyifer]

Hum I realized I haven’t shared any of my book recs on here. I know I should watch new bl. I plan on finding something in June.

Since I got broken up I’ve been reading lgbt books. My ex gf had been showing me things about being lgbt that I had never imagined before and without her I still wanted to learn to experience different stories. So I used my love of fantasy and sci-fi and started listening and reading as much as I could. I don’t really care for overly spicy things but I like when the characters are realistic adults. So keep that in mind with this list.

1. The House in the Cerulean Sea 10/10 Fantasy great characters and mc growth. Found family always gets me. The ending was perfect. I’ve listened to it 15 times and forced my parents and uncle to read it. I’m excited for book 2.

2. The Darkness Outside of Us. 10/10 Sci-fi Space. This book made me feel so much. Surprised me. Had me gasping for air in my cube to the point people had to ask if I was okay. Had me running to the car to cry as I listened to the last part. Go in blind and enjoy the space and gay of it all.

3. Dark Rise 10/10 Classic Fantasy It is incredibly rare any book surprises me. Most of the time I can guess the plot a mile away. Dark Rise hit me over the head a couple times had me crying. But it was so epic and adventurous reminded of the feeling I had reading David Eddings as a child. (Not that lgbt as I would have liked but… it was there I assume book 2 a lot more)

4. Iron Widow 10/10 Sci-fi Mechs Fantasy Post Apocalypse I adore a mechs and history. It was extremely exciting. I adore the main couple even though main girl is actually mentally unstable but you love her anyways.

5. The Extraordinaries 9/10 Superhero. The main character is lovably stupid aside from his ADHD which I can relate on. I loved the lesbian side couple. The story was fun felt like it was written for the early college me who loved superheroes.

5. Adam Binder Series White Trash Warlock 9/10. Urban Fantasy. It gives me flash backs to Harry Dresden and Iron Druid but not in the obvious way just in vibe. I love main characters being country. I’m from Mississippi not Oklahoma but I can relate to being a gay in a small town moving to a big city. I love the main couple. The mystery magic system was interesting. I wish it had a bit more romance actually. Just because I love the main couple and side characters a lot and want happiness. I wish I could get more people to read this one it’s wonderful a lot better than a lot of urban str8 fantasy I’ve read and it was my main category for years. The mystery element was decent. I need to start book 3.

6. Ocean’s Echo 8.5/10 sci-fi mystery the main characters are… so wonderful. They are extreme but I love them so much. I’ll protect them to the end of days. I have this book over it’s… I guess in the same universe book Winter’s Orbit because I think the mystery suspense is more intense in Ocean’s echo also much more spacey sci-fi. Romance is also arranged marriage but is VERY different from winters orbit. I wish… I wish this book wasn’t associated with the other because it gets unfairly compared because the narrator is the same etc but Ocean’s Echo is great in its own right and is definitely not a copy

7. Winter’s Orbit 8.5/10 MYSTERY sci-fi edging on fantasy. Arranged marriage. Slow burn. These characters are also 10/10 I love them. I have experienced an abusive relationship before and appreciated seeing a character with the scars a similar past. Often if a character is portrayed as in an abusive relationship they focus on the event but it effects Everything in your world. Even now I have these scars after 8 years. I loved the mystery it was the main focus which I liked. The romance felt natural.

8. Fragile Remedy 8/10 one of the first books I read it made me cry and was a good single dystopian gem. Had a real… divergent hunger games kind of vibe to the world from what I remember.

9. Lightning struck heart 7/10 classic fantasy this is what I said on my insta at the time “It is an extremely comedic fantasy adventure with wizards, unicorns, knights, and dragons. Right up my alley! However the ending was disappointing. I'll listen to the next book in the series and hope it improves. Just found character arch unbelievable in last chapters.”

10. A wish upon a star by tj klune ^follow up books I read like 4 of them 5/10 I did stop listening to it this is what I said on my insta “Well I continued listening the tales of verania series and made it to the original end of the series. I'd say if you want a gay fantasy comedy without too much thinking Listen to the audio. Narrator is the biggest part of why I didn't quit. Idk if I'll read the other books though it is very friendship is magic smooth brain ideas I've read”

Unable to finish (been desperately trying to find a lesbian story and finding nothing)

Girl, Serpent, Thorn 4/10 my review from insta “Unable to finish it. The world is interesting. The first 3rd seemed promising but after major conflict the writing goes way down. But the MC doesn't grow. The f/f is so shallow it made me roll my.eyes until I had to stop listening. Wanted the bad guy to win and kill everyone”

The Midnight Girls. So intensely annoying and childish. I couldn’t do it I think I made it to chapter 3 but it was a struggle.

In the ravenous dark. I got to one third of the audio book and had to stop. The universe was okay but main girl was very annoying. Was kind of hoping her and the ghost would be together not… not the weird bullshit that was going on. Idk what the end of the book was going to be but it was not for me.

I’ll post another with my current to read list. I’m really going through them now because I have to drive two hours a day to and from work. Give me your suggestions though please thank you.

[suzuran777]

Unreleased & cancelled BL visual novels

Recently I purchased some second-hand BL visual novel magazines, and while reading them, I realized just how many of these announced games were never actually released. I thought it could maybe be interesting to compile a list of these games. I will mention which games were officially cancelled, but the status of most of these games is completely unknown. Perhaps they will still be released one day, but some of these publishers also don't seem to exist anymore. The magazines I used to find most of this information are Binetsu Ouji, B's Log and Cool-B!

Ouka Otsu - Shinshuu Kikou Senki (【櫻華堕つ) Publisher: Fareastblade This story of this game was supposed to take place during the Second World War. A famous researcher called Dr. Kisaragi Akira made it possible for the Japanese empire to develop cyborgs with super human strength. However, the United States also developed cyborgs and their creator intends to destroy Kisagari's research. Kisaragi escapes and seeks the help of the few surviving cyborgs, who all have their own reasons for helping him even though they don't like him. Part of this game was released as an e-book and translations can be found here. I am surprised the developers stopped publishing information about this project because I frequently saw it in Cool-B. Back then they published a lot of information, CGs and even short stories. Their last blog update was posted in 2016 in which they explained how things have been difficult and they decided to temporarily suspend the project. However, they never returned to confirm when production would be resumed. Secretly, I still hope that this game will be released one day, there's so much content already and it all seems really promising, but the official website doesn't work anymore and the Twitter account was also deleted. Some of the staff who worked on the game did mention how they still wanted to complete the project one day, but it has also been some years since these tweets were posted,

Angel's Feather Onsen mono Publisher: Blue impact This was supposed to be the third, and final Angel's Feather game. Some Japanese websites mention that the game's staff left the company, which was probably the reason why this game was never released. The magazines mention how the name of this game was just a placeholder name at the time (literally Angel's Feather hot spring story) but I could not find if they ever announced the real title. Some CGs were published in magazines and it looks like it was supposed to be light-hearted fandisc, focusing on the characters spending time with each other and having fun at the hot springs.

White Shadow Publisher: Blue Impact According to the official website, which can still be accessed through Wayback Machine, the first information about this project was published in Binetsu Ouji in 2004. Similar to the third Angel's Feather game, there's not much hope that it will ever be released because the staff that originally worked on it quit. This means that sadly, Angel's Feather was Blue Impact's first and last BL visual novel series. It was supposed to be a post-apocalyptic story which takes place after a long-lasting war that destroyed most of the planet. Some humans survived, who clung to a small piece of land that had survived the disaster. The people who live could be classified into three types, normal humans without supernational powers, humans who have characteristics of other creatures (for example animal characteristics), and people with strong supernational powers. This game was also featured on the cover of Cool-B volume 2. The regular updates that were posted on the official website make it look like the game was almost finished before the employees quit, so it's really a shame it was never released.

Torus Zero/ 0 -Torus (トーラス・ZERO) Publisher: CORE This is another one of these games that is mentioned pretty often in older magazines and was also featured on the cover of Cool-B (volume 4). The publisher CORE, became quite well-known in the industry after releasing Messiah, but Torus Zero was the project they originally wanted to release first. Before Messiah was released, they also released another visual novel called Fanatica, which upon reaching the final ending, mentioned how the story would be continued in Torus Zero. Unfortunately some of CORE's staff officially announced that they couldn't continue their projects after a big earthquake struck Japan in 2011. Now there's actually a bit of hope for this project because a few weeks ago, the artist Carnelian, announced a completely new project called Tokyo Gentou/Tokyo Phantasmagoria. In the magazine article it was mentioned that similar to CORE, a new BL game branch called Procyon would be releasing this new game. In an interview published in Cool-B volume 111 they mentioned that they came up with some of these ideas a long time ago, so I do wonder if they will use some elements of Torus Zero in this new game. Originally, Torus Zero focused on protagonist Riku who somehow ended up in a world in which he was the only human.

Unnamed project Publisher: CORE This game was only slightly teased in magazines and according to old BL game info website BOY-S STREET, the images were only on the website for a short time before it seemed like the entire project was scrapped and replaced with Torus Zero. It was supposed to be a school setting, but the main character is actually a demon and has two personalities.

Tenrin no Guneval (天輪のグネーヴァル) Publisher: Madalabo/Claw Mark A sci-fi story in which shadow creatures attack earth. Humans with special abilities saved mankind from this crisis. These characters all have their own special ability, some use fire or wind to fight while others can distort space. Technology also advanced, and flying motorbikes called 'Guneval' are used. This game was announced in 2012 and surprisingly the website can still be accessed, however it has been removed from all upcoming game lists in magazines and the last update on the website was only 4 months after the game was originally announced. Other than the usual visual novel gameplay, it was also supposed to have battle scenes in which you could control the main character to fight enemies. I'm kind of sad they never released this game because it seemed pretty interesting! Madalabo is mostly known for their other game Hadaka Shitsuji which seemed to be...the complete opposite of the story described on this game's website. I also really like superhero themes and the art is nice, so it's really a shame it never got released.

Shokushu Densetsu (触手伝説) Publisher: Madalabo Another Madalabo project that never got released. The title means 'legend of the tentacles' so I think you can already guess what this game is about. In 2011 they released a short booklet with some of the game's concept art, the characters, and other ideas for different future games. You can actually still buy a digital version of the booklet on DLsite here! You might even recognize some of these early concepts, as some of them were eventually used to create Kanja S (Patient S).

Nihon ni Natta Yoru (2本になった夜) Publisher: HardG.Lab This is… a strange one, the protagonist Taki Naruse is an ordinary university student who's busy with his homework and assignments. One day when he's forced to do a large number of tasks he decides to go to his lecturer to complain, but Taki gets ignored and his lecturer suddenly decides this is a perfect opportunity to check the new drug he has been developing. Long story short, Taki suddenly grows another dick (yep...). His lecturer suggests Taki uses his body to sleep with other men to ''cure'' his condition. I think this game was announced somewhere in 2011 and they published some information about it in Cool-B, but the official social media accounts were all deleted eventually.

New World Order Publisher: Love Delivery (HolicWorks) "When you die, say hello to God for me". This game was announced in 2015 and takes place in the United Kingdom. It focuses on a young British man called Lyr who works as a pastor at a church. He’s good at material arts and also knows how to use a gun. Together with three of his fellow pastors, he’s on a mission to kill. These are not just normal pastors, they’re professional assassins. I made a separate blog post about this some time ago, so if you want to read more you can find it here! The project was unfortunately officially cancelled in November 2022.

Heimskringla Publisher: Tyrant (HolicWorks) A dystopian future in which people developed the ability to see when a dead person’s soul leaves their body. The world once fell apart, but was then revided once more. In this new distorted world, humans started adapting to the environment and refugees from all over the world drifted to this country. As a result of this, it became a melting pot of many different races and towns continue to develop their own individual cultures. Five people, with five completely different backgrounds and birthplaces, travel together towards a certain place. There is only one thing all of them are looking for. Death. This game was officially cancelled in 2018, but it's quite hard to find any traces of it because Tyrant's official Twitter account was also deleted. I also wrote a blog post about it which you can check out here.

Gekka Souei (月下双影) Publisher: NOEL Two childhood friends who became enemies due to unfortunate circumstances. This game was supposed to focus on protagonist Hayate and two groups of shinobi, taking place in a modern day setting. It was quite hard to find information about this game because even with Wayback Machine you can't find much on the website. I happened to find a pretty good image of it on Twitter, posted by a user who happened to save some of the wallpapers back then. A little bit of information about this game was published in B'sLOG and in Cool-B, but only in 2006. Looking at the little bit of information I was able to find on the website, it seems like they had quite a lot of plans and wanted to add roleplay elements to this game too, as well as a SFW and 18+ version of the game. The magazines introduced quite a lot of characters and the interview with the developers (in Cool-B volume 10) mentions that they had planned to create five routes. They didn't really specify which characters, but I assume it's the ones that can be seen in the main visual?

Psychedelic (サイケデリック) Publisher: LOVE&DESTROY Another game that is not officially cancelled, but the publisher is working on multiple new projects and the official website has not been updated since 2014. The game takes place in Shibuya, Japan and focuses on five good friends who always hang out together. Will these normal days last forever? They promoted this game as being ''all reverse'' so you could choose which character tops/bottoms which is pretty rare nowadays. In 2018 LOVE&DESTROY mentioned that the project was currently 'on-hold' and it's still unknown if they ever decide to create the game.

Tsukiiro Tanshikyoku (月色譚詩曲) Publisher: Adelta & MonstreCarameliser I think most BLVN fans immediately recognize Kurosawa Rinko's artstyle, who's well known for creating Hashihime and Uuultra C. This game is also not officially cancelled, but there hasn't been any news for years. It was announced in 2018 as a second collab between Adelta and MonstreCarameliser (a year before that they released the short game Umiiro Kyoushikyoku). The website still works, but it was only updated a few times in 2018 and once in 2020. The game focuses on Kaguya, a heir of a certain kingdom (probably some kind of god realm if I look at the names of the characters) who was only interested in women and spending his parents' money. His parents eventually give up on him and send him down to planet earth, in the form of a baby. A young shunga painter (shunga = erotic art) called Takemasu finds him and takes care of him. However, Kaguya grows much faster than the inhabitants of the planet and regains his adult body within a few days.

Hashihime Fandisc Publisher: Adelta Every time I mention this people ask me if they really announced it, but yes, two fandiscs even! A 'good end' and 'bad end' one. It was announced in 2018, but only mentioned once in a blog post and in Cool-B magazine. It is not officially cancelled but they haven't posted anything about it ever since. It's actually still in Cool-B's upcoming game list, however usually when a game gets cancelled it just one day disappears from the list, without any explanation, so I don't want to be too hopeful. I think it's very possible that it was announced because a lot of other games also have fandiscs so it seemed like a good idea at the time, but Adelta started working on Uuultra C after this and is currently working on their new game Ooe, as well as their original drama CD series.

No Thank You!! OVA Publisher: parade Not a game announcement, but I still decided to include it. One of the tweets announcing it can still be found here, and no it was not posted on April Fools'… I think it was mentioned again a few months after the original announcement, but it has already been 10 years and they haven't mentioned it ever since.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group E Round 1: #E8 vs #E1

#E8: Lesbian vampire & human go on road trip to escape the horrors

In a bleak world where music is banned and Vampires have emerged at the top of the food chain, a girl named Momo breaks past the barrier and connects with Fine, queen of the Vampires, and the two journey to find a safe haven where their races can co-exist.

#E1: Modern people transmigrate* to ancient Chinese fantasy world (BL)

People from the modern world transmigrating into the ancient fantasy world has become a common and everyday occurrence that the royal court in the latter has decided to moderate them. If you’re a transmigrator, you must report your existence to Lou Zhu, the master of Best Tower. Once you pass his test and prove that you are indeed a modern person, you can then be assigned to work in different areas of the government and be given a high salary.

Because of this promised benefit, many impostors have showed up before Lou Zhu. And one day, Zuo Yunqi shows up for this test. Is he an impostor, or is he an actual modern person?

But some transmigrators also choose to hide their existence out of distrust in the government. Where are they? And with their knowledge of science and technology, what are they planning in the dark?

*Transmigration = similar to isekai, but the world where the characters get isekai’d to is not always a western fantasy type.

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#E8: Vampire in the Garden

Propaganda:

This anime came out a year ago, but I literally never heard of it until earlier this summer because Netflix had it. You guys are SLEEPING on such a good series—it’s 6 episodes so it’s short, but it feels like a whole single film. The voice acting is so fun, the music slaps, the animation goes HARD during fight scenes, and it’s just so so good. The art style is pretty, and the scenery makes me lose my mind, it’s SO pretty. I need to write an essay one day about how VitG uses music to carry the story because wow that is 🛐🛐🛐 Also there’s a goofy looking dog named Connie that continuously appears and serves no purpose in the plot. Love that

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Racism, Self-Harm.

Child abuse & emotional abuse for Momo’s complicated relationship with her mother. Also emotional abuse for Fine’s past traumas and current strained relationship with other vampires.

This is a vampire anime, so there’s a lot of blood and fighting. There’s also a drug introduced in ep1 that mutates a vampire horribly.

Racism is human-versus-vampire shenanigans.

Self-harm for a scene where a human attempts to feed a vampire and for drug usage as mentioned above.

#E1: Are You Ok (You Yao)

[Admin: I could not find a single trailer of season 1 w/ English subs, and its OP seems to have been taken down on YouTube since Iqiyi, its producer (?), started their own channel. As such, I’ve cut a small portion of S1E01 instead, featuring the test the transmigrators have to take.]

Propaganda:

This donghua (Chinese anime) is based on a comedy novel with the same title, and the adaptation is just stellar. Instead of showing each character’s story separately like in the novel, the donghua combined everything. Because of this, there’s more focus on the plotty and political mystery aspect—but without losing the heart of the original. The entire show is still just as hilarious.

And for an adaptation with several original characters, for once I actually don’t mind it. I usually find such additions annoying, but in this show they really serve a purpose and also add to the enjoyment.

I also like the choice of animating it in 3D, like the one in video games. It fits the “transmigrate into a fantasy world” setting well. The donghua also plays around a lot. In one episode, they had one character sing and dance like in a musical, with the beginning of the song sounding like “Do you wanna build a snowman?” from Frozen 😂

Moreover, this is a Boys Love story, and with more than one couple, too! The secondary couple (Zhou Rongqi and Li Ke) even gets a very gay ending song that’s all about them. But since this show is from China, where censorship rules are strict, don’t expect anything explicit. Just think of it as another shounen with homoerotic undertones, except the homo is actually canon.

All in all, it’s a very fun show that doesn’t lack in depth. If you’re in the mood for something light but don’t want to miss out on plot, you should definitely watch this. And if you’ve never watched a donghua before, then you’ll definitely find this fresh and intriguing.

Trigger Warnings: None.

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

[scullymurphy]

I'm a HUGE fan of your Bending Light series because it painfully tugs my heart in the most satisfying way 💛

You've compared Bending Light to Italian Summer and Falling Dark to Scottish Winter. Can you explain what led to such different tones within the same series? I'm so curious about what inspired this choice. What do the two opposing tones mean to you, and how do they apply to the message you want to convey?

Thanks :))

Aww, thank you and I love this question! How lovely of you to come find me on tumblr and ask. 🥹

And I would say that the overall difference came from the idea of how going through a war would affect these characters. The lightness before contrasted with the darkness after. I love a good character arc, so I couldn't resist the idea of taking them through it and seeing how they changed.

When we first meet the group in Bending Light, they've been through some stuff, but nothing like what's to come. No torture or death, no real loss, no pain or deprivation. And they're teenagers -- delightfully self-focused and oblivious to what's going on around them. I loved that for them and wanted to enhance it, which is why I dropped them in their own little world in a tucked-away place. No adults or structure, a lot of independence and novelty. I wanted to convey a sense of being wrapped up in the wonder of daily life. When you're that age and having those kinds of intense experiences, every day is like a week and a month is a season. It really can't be replicated later. I was very inspired by the film Call Me By Your Name, which does this beautifully and in a similar setting.

And then about halfway through writing BL, I started thinking about how the characters would change based on what the war did to them. How would the trauma affect their personalities and actions and make them grow up? If it drove Draco and Hermione apart, how would they deal with that -- and how would other characters (especially Theo) come into play? I've always loved 8th year stories and it was obvious that I wasn't ready to be done with these characters. And then I also happen to be very familiar with the part of Scotland where Hogwarts is supposed to be located. Which, although incredibly beautiful, can be quite dreary and dark during the autumn and winter. So the dichotomy presented itself to me quite clearly with Falling Dark. The warm Italian summer before the war, the dark Scottish winter after.

Anyway, I hope this is illuminating! It was really fun for me to think about and write it out. Thanks again for asking. xoxo ~Scully

[killjoy-prince]

Do you have any shoujo manga recommendations? I recently read Sasaki and Miyato and realised that I have been severly missing out!

Sure!! Thanks for asking me!

First, in case you haven't read it yet, Sasaki and Miyano has a spinoff that starts six months before the plot of Sasaki and Miyano called Hirano and Kagiura also by Shou Harusono.

This one focuses on Sasaki's friend, Hirano and his new dormmate, Kagiura. I know Sasaki had extra stories with them but the spinoff gave them an actual story. It currently has about 23 chapters and a light novel with the light novel being the first thing that happens chronologically. No anime for it as far as I know. The back of the first volume has a timeline of where events fit (this came out when Sasaki was up to Volume 5)

Speaking of novels, Sasaki and Miyano has two novels, one focusing on the characters' first year and one on their second year. I haven't read them yet so I'm not sure what exactly happens in them but if you can, check them out!

OK, now for other recs!

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku by Fujita

This one is really cute! An office worker and otaku named Narumi Momose got dumped by her boyfriend when she got outed as one. Feeling awkward about running into him at work after the bad breakup, she quit her job and got a new one at a different company. This time, she's determined to keep her secret under wraps as to avoid another incident. However, this may prove to be hard when she finds out her childhood friend and fellow otaku Hirotaka Nifuji works at the company and almost outs her on her first day. She meets up with him after work to catch up and when Narumi tells him about her recent breakup, he asks her why not date an otaku. Specifically him. She rejects it at first but when he says he can help her in life, video games and with her booth at Comiket, she agrees.

There are three couples this series focuses on. The second couple knew each other since high school and have been dating for about a decade and work at the company with Narumi and Hirotaka. The third couple is the younger brother of Hirotaka and a gamer who goes to his college. It's a lighthearted comedy about office worker otakus and navigating their relationships. A lot of references to anime, video games, BL, GL, you name it. Like Sasaki, this was a webcomic posted on pixiv so the pacing and layout feel similar, at least to me. There are 11 volumes (6 volumes if you go by the English translation bc they combined two volumes into one for 5 of them and then the last one is by itself). I mainly got into this one bc Hirotaka was aesthetically my type. I remember seeing the first volume cover at kinokuniya when only the Japanese version was out and being like "I need to find out what this series is bc I need to meet him"

Kimi Ni Todoke by Karuho Shiina

This was a series I read when I was in high school. High school freshman Sawako Kuronuma has been feared and misunderstood by her peers all her life due to her appearance. It was so bad that her classmates call her Sadako since she looks like the character from The Ring. She had resigned to her fate of never making a friend until popular boy Kazehaya starts talking to her. The more time he spends talking to her, the more her world opens up and she starts making friends and experience things she hadn't been able to before this point. As they spend more time together, love blossoms between the two characters.

There are 30 volumes and 38 episodes. I read up to volume 18 and then stopped because that was the most recent volume at the time and I kinda forgot about by the time more volumes came out. But that was my fault not the manga because this series is really really cute!! A term I've coined for myself when I read this was whenever Kazehaya and Sawako were being cute together, I'd exclaimed "THESE ADORABLE LITTLE FUCKS!!" because they are so adorable to each other. The friends Sawako makes are really cool and fun in their own right. If you want some really cute, tooth rotting sweetness, I recommend this series.

Princess Jellyfish by Akiko Higashimura

Tsukimi Kurashita is a jellyfish fanatic that lives in Amamizukan, a woman only apartment building that houses other woman with their own fixations. They are considered NEETS and have a strict rule of no men allowed in their living space. Tsukimi's love for jellyfish came from going to a jellyfish aquarium with her mom before she died of an illness when Tsukimi was a kid. She goes to a pet shop regularly to visit a spotted jellyfish she's taken a fancy to that she named Kurara. When she sees that the employees put a moon jellyfish in the same tank, she fears for its life as the moon jellyfish will kill Kurara if not taken care of. However, her fear of talking to normal people lead to a misunderstanding with the employee until a stylish person comes to her rescue and they take Kurara back to Amamizukan. The next morning, Tsukimi finds out the stylish person she brought back to her home is an illegitimate son of a politician and cross-dresser named Kuranosuke Koibuchi.

There are 84 chapters and 11 episodes of this series. I read up to about chapter 74 before stopping for the same reason I did for Kimi Ni Todoke. It's a really fun time. The characters are funny and sweet, the situations are entertaining, it's just a fun o' time. And the art is really pretty!!

Skip and Loafer by Misaki Takamatsu

Mitsumi Iwakura moved from her small town on the outskirt of Ishikawa Prefecture to Tokyo to start high school. However, she gets lost going to school on the first day due to the culture shock and seems at a loss at what to do. That's when she meets Sosuke Shima who was late to school himself and travels with her to school. The series follows Mitsumi as she experiences school life in the city and meets lots of new people and makes friends with Sosuke along for the ride.

There's currently about 59 chapters and 12 episodes of this series. I started reading it when the anime was announced and I had a fun time reading it. I really enjoyed Mitsumi and seeing her learn and broaden her horizons as she goes to school and hang out with Sosuke and everyone else. It's a nice story!

Given by Natsuki Kizu

High school student Uenoyama Ritsuka is a guitarist in a instrumental only band with college students Akihiko Kaji and Haruki Nakayama. When going to his usual hiding spot for lunch, he finds Mafuyu Sato sleeping with a guitar with broken strings in his arms. Uenoyama offers to fix it and when he does and plays a note, Sato begs him to teach him how to play. Uenoyama is reluctant but gives in when Sato persists. After spending some time together, Uenoyama finds out that Sato has a beautiful singing voice and invites him to join his band.

There are 9 volumes, 11 episodes and a movie, with another movie on the way. The series focuses on three relationships. The first is the relationship between Uenoyama and Sato, the second between Akihiko and Haruki and the third between Sato's childhood friends Hiiragi and Shizusumi. The art is really pretty and the characters are so good!! I really enjoyed the story a lot! My favorite character is Hiiragi and I can't wait for the next movie to come out because they're gonna cover his story then and I wanna hear him sing!! (Also his seiyuu is Fumiya Imai AKA seiyuu for Akito Shinonome so double reason why I wanna hear it) Also, Imma use this as an excuse to post a page I really wanna see animated bc I can hear it so clearly in my head.

Bloom Into You by Nakatani Nio

Yuu Koito, lover of shoujo manga, always dreamed of being confessed to and experience that heart pounding feeling she sees happen in her books. However, when she's confessed to by a guy in middle school, she feels nothing and rejects him. Now starting high school, she's left confused on what her lack of feeling means. When she sees the student council president Touko Nanami turn down a boy, she asks her for help with her situation. But when Nanami confesses her love to Koito, will she feel that spark she's being hoping for? There's 8 volumes, 13 episodes and 3 light novels starring a side character. I'm up to volume 6 of this one and I'm really enjoying it!! The story is engaging, the charatcers are interesting. I like that Yuu isn't a pushover, she's a bit snarky and doesn't let Touko push her around. And I like how Touko comes off as a competent student council president but she has a more vulnerable side that she only shows Yuu. They pair nicely with each other.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun by Izumi Tsubaki

OK I know you know this one already but this wouldn't be a rec list made by me if I didn't include it. This is my favorite series ever. It's mecore. Me-coded. Me. Second year high schooler Chiyo Sakura finally gets the courage to confess her love to Umetarou Nozaki, a guy in her grade. However, she messes up the confession and says she's his biggest fan instead of "I like you". Nozaki, in response, gives her his autograph and then invites her to his house. She accepts but once they get there, he has her do inking on a manga he makes. Turns out, Nozaki is a manga artist under the pen name Sakiko Yumeno and he's had his eye on Sakura for a while because he wanted to bring her onto his team as an inker. She agrees to join so she can get closer to him.

There's currently 14 volumes, 12 episodes and an OVA split into six 5-mintue parts. This series has me dying of laughter with every chapter. The characters are fun, the story is fun, it's just a fun time! There are three main couples with some side couples and duos that get their own time in the spotlight as well. The main ones are Sakura and Nozaki, Sakura's friend Yuzuki Seo and Nozaki's screentone assistant and first year Hirotaka Wakamatsu, and Nozaki's background artist and third year theater club president Masayuki Hori and "Prince of the Drama Club" Yuu Kashima. Other characters like Mikoto "Mikorin" Mikoshiba, Mayu Nozaki, Yukari Miyako, Ken Miyamae, and Mitsuya Maeno all bring their own brand of fun to the table. This series made me laugh so much I couldn't read it in class to slack off because I'd laugh out loud and disrupt class. I've yet to read another series that made me do that. I cannot recommend this series enough. Please read AND watch it if you have not already. Nozaki is starting to gain awarness. I lose my mind whenever I see it happen. I wanna see it happen. It's been 13 years!

Imma put an honorable mention here because I haven't read or watch it yet but I've heard Horimiya written by HERO and illustrated by Daisuke Hagiwara is really good. I wanted to but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

That's all I have for right now! If you've already read/watched all of these already, lmk and I'll list some more!! Hope you enjoy! ^_^

[teaveetamer]

i read through a lot of your analyses and i still can't tell what some of your stances are, but i just wanted to know how much you agree with my own stances on edelgard and dimitri/3H.

3H is obviously not a well thought-out political treatise on the ramifications of war and different styles of political change. it just isn't. it ends far too quickly and is too simplistic to ever be anything similar.

what 3H is incredible at is character writing. this is why i simply don't understand why people "hate" edelgard OR dimitri. neither of these people are saints. they've both done horrific things. but they both portray trauma in such fascinating and complex ways that you rarely see in videogames. the parallels they have and the way they see the world are just so compelling to me that i actually avoid finishing CF/SS/AM because it always leaves me feeling so emotional afterward and sometimes i just want a nice comfort game.

that being said, i do take issue with the way dimitri's arc resolves. i think it's extremely unrealistic how he just "snapped out" of his intense mental problems. as someone who has also struggled with mental health, it's a very slow process and often it feels like one step forward, two steps back. i wish that they had left his recovery a lot more incomplete, or that the game had lasted longer so his recovery felt more organic.

this is why i prefer edelgard purely as a character because i think the way she represses her emotions completely and is slowly corrupted by her inability to trust or love herself is a story that makes a lot more sense to me.

I'm not sure in which respects my stances are unclear, but I'm always happy to clarify if you just ask! Keep in mind that this blog is like three years old at this point so if you go back far enough you'll probably find contradicting things, as my opinions have developed and changed over the years. So if that's the problem just assume the most recent stuff is the most accurate.

I will say that while 3H can have some very good character moments, I also think it's incredibly disappointing in a lot of ways. The plot, writing, and worldbuilding being so messy just doesn't give the characters a good foundation to stand on, so character moments often come across extremely hollow to me.

I could name countless examples but I think the most obvious one that everyone picks up on is Gronder Field. First, we're told that this is extremely sad and difficult for all of the characters involved, despite never or almost never seeing the students from different houses interact with each other at any point during the main story. If you don't recruit then it's entirely possible to go the entire Academy portion of the game without seeing a single cross-house interaction beyond the house leaders.

They all point to the feast they had after the battle of Eagle and Lion in the Academy part, but that happens entirely off screen. It's not even really described beyond "it was fun" and "we were all sitting together". Emblem Claude in Engage gives a better idea of what happened there than 3H ever does. A piece of DLC for a completely different game in the series describes what is supposed to be a key interaction better than the game it was actually from!

And then you actually get there and it's contrived AF. There's literally no reason for the BL and GD to be fighting each other at any point but they all kill each other anyway. There's no fog of war. Characters will even recognize each other before they fight and then continue fighting each other anyways despite having absolutely no reason to?

And then it just ends and we're all told to feel very sad about it, but why should we? It's not earned. These characters don't know each other or care about each other, most of them weren't even on opposite sides. It comes across as feeling dumb and unearned, which makes the characters reacting to it completely 100% straight as if it were this huge but unavoidable tragedy come off as confusing and overwrought.

Edelgard's writing as an entire other can of worms that I've gotten into too many times to count, so I'll try to keep this short.

I'll preface this by saying I don't have a problem with people liking or relating to Edelgard in any way. Also, just because something has problems doesn't mean you can't have found meaning in it. I can tell you really enjoy the character anon, and that's great! I wouldn't want to take that away from you.

Buuuuuut since I'm giving my opinion here... I don't agree with her being a well written depiction of trauma. I feel like, especially now, the fandom tends to engage with the Edelgard we all wanted instead of the one we actually got.

Again I'll use a specific example (well actually two) to illustrate my point.

It's hard to take her trauma seriously when it's immediately undercut by her doodling pictures of her crush, getting embarrassed about it, and getting teased. This happens twice. They do this twice! Once in the explore section immediately after Ladislava and Randolph literally die right in front of her, and once after you could have potentially killed Claude and she's talking about being locked in a fucking dungeon!

Like it blows my mind that more people don't talk about this, especially the latter example. You have just potentially killed someone. She's sitting there. Talking about being locked in a dungeon, tortured, and experimented on. And then your character's reaction is to tease her for doodling a picture of you. And they did this two times, so it's not like it was an accident!

So like how am I supposed to read this, exactly? Either the entire scene is bunk and you're not really meant to take the trauma portion seriously, it's all just a big joke, or... or you're supposed to find teasing someone going through a genuine trauma response endearing and enjoyable..? It's just. I've been looking at this scene and the numerous other Edelgard scenes like it and I just don't get there. I don't understand how to read this in a way that isn't incredibly belittling or sexist or SEVERELY undercutting what should be a serious character moment.

But people want it to be this serious, well-written character moment for her. I don't blame anyone for that, because that's what I would have wanted too! But it's just... it's so crazy disrespectful on every level, to treat a female character's trauma like it's a funny quirk or an opportunity to flirt/tease? I can damn well guarantee that no male character would be treated with that amount of disrespect, and we know that because Dimitri exists and at no point is his trauma ever played for a joke or undercut like this! It's not perfectly written, but it's written with respect to the subject and the character.

There's an absurd degree of sexism baked into the writing of 3H that just doesn't get addressed by the fandom at large, so I kind of find it frustrating.

And worse, sometimes when you try to engage with that and critique it you're shouted down or treated as if you are the problem, like I somehow spoke the sexism of the game into existence just by pointing it out.

I could go on but I'll cut myself off here

[arktaisch]

Bring on the mutant clones!

So apparently, the way to get a good, 'proper' wuxia drama these days that isn't yet another Jin Yong or Gu Long adaptation is to make a well-constructed fanfiction-style re-imagination of a JY or GL classic. That way it can be simultaneously fresh and familiar. And if the writing, acting, action sequences, etc. are good, it's so much fun and I love it. These past few years, I really enjoyed watching "Word of Honor" and "Mysterious Lotus Casebook", both of which are clear cases of this. (Note: I haven't read the books for WoH or MLC, so this is based on the dramas only.)

"Word of Honor" is obviously heavily inspired by Jin Yong's "Smiling Proud Wanderer" (Xiao Ao Jiang Hu), except redone as a BL/danmei. It even keeps the various orthodox sects from XAJH (the Five Mountains Sword Schools Alliance! plus the Shaolin, Wudang, Beggars, etc.) as part of the setting, features a hunt for a MacGuffin (key to some ultimate power or other), and is full of that flavor of treachery and scheming for power reminiscent of XAJH. It's been a while since I watched WOH, so I've forgotten most of the details, but I remember getting a strong XAJH vibe from it.

"Mysterious Lotus Casebook", which I just finished watching and loved even more than "Word of Honor", has more of the feel of Gu Long's "Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword" (Xiaoli Feidao series, book 1). Come on, the protagonists even have the same surname: Lotus Li (Xiangyi/Lianhua) vs Flying Dagger Li (Xunhuan)!

Both of them can pass as scholarly types (though Gu Long's Mr. "Number Three in the Exams" Li more so) and went from a high status position to retiring from the jianghu for ten years. Both are clever, tricky types who live by their wits.

Both of them pushed their female love interests (and deceived them) onto their 'friend' who actually hated/plotted against them. The protagonist comes off better (as in, I don't want to punch him in the face quite as much) in MLC than in "Sentimental Swordsman" --- he doesn't treat her as his property to be traded away. And in theory the female character had more agency in MLC, though I felt let down by the actor here. I think she was supposed to be more driven by guilt (because she broke up with the male lead right before his supposed death) rather than sadly pining after and still in love with him. It would have worked better if she came off as being genuinely in love with the other character, but on screen it feels like she was just worn down and never liked him that much. So as a 'fix-it' to that aspect of "Sentimental Swordsman"… maybe. In theory.

They both get the "enemy is someone you thought you had good relations with" trope (admittedly a common one in wuxia)…

…While their real friend is called "A-Fei" and is a top-notch swordsman. And both A-Fei's are plagued by a professional seductress (who uses drugs and poisons) who clings to/falls in love with them!

They both meet their number one fans. Dagger Li actually marries his in the end, but in MLC that only happens in the eyes of the real life fans (the subtext is definitely there, though I prefer to read it as platonic bromance). The whole thing is funnier in MLC, with Fang Duobing starting out as a naive doofus who claims to everyone he's a disciple of (supposedly dead) Li Xiangyi, including to the man himself and to A-Fei who knows the truth. Then he feels so betrayed when he finds out the truth, and that was all done really well in the show. Another similarity: the girl in "Sentimental Swordsman" has a kick-ass granddad, while Fang Duobing has his mom (another great character), the leader of Tianji Hall (I love a good mechanism specialist).

There's an actual book in-world that lists the top-ranked martial artists! The MLC one seems to be updated regularly, even. That was also a thing in "Sentimental Swordsman", with characters constantly citing the book at each other, and some were completely obsessed. It's kind of a running joke in both.

Solving all the mysteries (and the tomb raiding!) was reminiscent of Chu Liuxiang, another Gu Long protagonist (my childhood favorite). And for non-wuxia influences, Li Lianhua reminded me of Howl from "Howl's Moving Castle" with the lying and slithering out of situations, not to mention the cool-looking mobile home!

So yeah, instead of trying to get a fresh take on adapting a book that's already been adapted like twenty times and offending the purists if you make too many weird changes, file off the serial numbers and take a few steps to the side for a more interesting and coherent re-mix! And set it in a fictional dynasty so you can use fake historical figures and kingdoms to suit your plot without worrying about slandering real people (while I love Jin Yong's use of actual history, even he ended up changing some characters in later revisions because of that) or how much the characters are allowed to affect things on a bigger scale. Plus you can update and improve on the things that were annoying or outdated in the "classics". You're free to change the meaning of the tale to suit yourself without any need to distort the intentions of the original writer.

That's not to say it's impossible to come up with completely new wuxia stories, but building new variations on old stories is worthwhile, too. And beneath any surface similarities, each version has its own story to tell. That said, ninety percent of everything is crap… so besides these two shows I liked, there were a bunch of ones I didn't, whether an adaptation of an old wuxia classic or something newer. (Some of those may improve in later episodes, but I guess I'll never know…)

Long live the mutant clones!

[allthefujoshiunite]

Hello @allthefujoshiunite, can I ask what anime that you watched this season? I watch Kaijuu no. 8, thanks to your reviews (and I love that series).....Is it just me, but I kinda ship the mc with his young kouhai who always believe in him.....

My top 3 fav this season are :

- Tadaima, Okaeri (wholesome BL, also one of my comfort read)

- -Black Butler : Public School Arc (yes the ship is problematic but you cannot deny the shipper when you watch it. I'm not shipping SebasCiel but I'm not anti too. Their canon relationship is complicated but great story)

- -Wind Breaker (bucchigiri but way better and loveable mc)

Hope you'll like them.....

Helloooo! My TV is busted as of now (and for some reason I decided to rewatch a couple of House MD episodes for nostalgia and now i’m stuck in a rewatch hell xD) so I took a short break from anime. It’s strange; I never had a TV and was perfectly content watching anime on my laptop, that is until 2 years ago… My dad insisted I got my brother’s old TV bc he wants to watch the news or whatnot when he’s visiting me and now I can’t do without it lol

But anyways, enough about me. Tl;dr is that I still haven’t started Kaijuu but super happy that you’re liking it and my review was what led you to watch it 👀 I started watching Tadaima Okaeri and Wind Breaker as well, definitely see the Bucchigiri similarity you mentioned. There’s also the 3rd season of The Duke of Death and His Maid, it’s still cute.

As for other series I enjoy this season:

The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio: Two high school classmates are in voice acting/idol business and they have totally different characters. However, they end up having to co-host a radio show and present their persona like they get along really well. LOVE this one. Chill, sweet, interesting, love that both young women have their own aspirations and shortcomings.

Astro Note: A nod to Rumiko Takahashi’s Maison Ikkoku. A recently unemployed chef gets hired to cook for a shared boarding house. Lots of eccentric characters and a fun, upbeat series.

Bartender: A hotel, soon to be opened, is in need of a bartender. And they do find a bartender that would satisfy the extremely picky owner but he refuses to work there, claiming he’s ‘afraid of heights’. This is one of those edutainment series where you follow a story and learn about cocktails in the mean time. Might not be appealing to a lot but it’s totally my jam! I don’t drink often but love me a good cocktail ~

Where Does the Doomsday Train Go?: Most people are turning into animals that can still communicaate using language and Shizuru is determined to find her lost best friend. Thus, four young girls embark on a train that’ll take them to Harajuku. This one is weird as hell and that’s a plus in my book! The main characters’ dynamic gets stale at times, but the absurdity keeps me hooked. It’s extremely hard to put into words so you have to check the first episode to see if it works for you. XD

Other series that I watch for now, feel ‘eh’ and might drop depending on how they go: Vampire Dormitory, A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics, Oblivion Battery, An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, A Condition Called Love.

These are the stuff that I watched at least 2-3 episodes from and will continue after I finish rewatching House and get my TV repaired xD The season is packed as always! Thanks a lot for sending the ask ~

[scarefox]

Can we finally stop demonizing NC / sex scenes or pitting them against each other to find out which one is more valuable and worthy of existence due to better cinematography and conveyed deep emotions?

Most NC / sex scenes do have a purpose besides fitting in a genre and age rating where they can be shown (talking about the BL/GL/QL realm here... not like american hete action movies with random banging out of the blue). Majority of NC have some storytelling, some character information or development in it. Even if they are not romantic or not artistically shot. A lot of people just don't see it or refuse to see it because some still see it as "sex = a dirty emotionless procedure for the depraved"

But here are some examples of information you can gather from NC scenes that often get overlooked because usually people just look for love and desire:

trust level in the partner

fun / happiness with eo

desperation & longing & hornyness (<- also nothing bad btw everything depends on context and consent)

character looks for distractions with the sex

carelessness for themselves

are they egoistic in bed or do they care for the others pleasure too

do they like to spoil the other? do they like to get spoiled?

are all involved parties actually really into each other?

level of experience (side not: first timer of course will be reserved and more shy... SAME FOR FIRST KISSES)

self-image (shy? confident? self-hate / guilt??)

some like it wild and hard some soft and slow, none of that is superior to the other it's literally personal taste

are there some fetishes and kinks at play (possible hint for a characters psychology, doesn't have to, can be)

even hidden feelings can be shown, like FWB who turn into more or a couple who's falling out of love and just doing it out of rutine

btw masturbation also counts as NC, it doesn't matter if the character is solo sexually active or with others.

And you can just enjoy watching NC scenes without trying to find justification for it. It is literally legal and natural (heck even some social animals like watching other animals banging). You are also not intruding their privacy... it's literally just actors who just play pretend who all gave their consent to show these scenes of them to the public...

And no NCs are literally not the same as porn. ESPECIALLY when we talk about BL NC scenes because bruh, majority of it is so not explicit. All we see is foreplay and a bit of make out or aftermath, but there is rarely actual display of sex beyond that. Except for like Bed Friend and KinnPorsche, Love In The Air kind of spice level. And even they are 'just' on normal western level of sex scenes. The only kind-of-"""BL""" that is actually softcore is "The shortest Distance is Round" the main is even an actual porn actor and I bet some of the others too, the are just not listed on MDL. [all the trigger warnings for that movie series btw]

Does that mean there HAVE to be NC scenes in everything? No. It's basically an artistic choice and depending on what the creator wants to show and for what target audience they want to create. Same as when creators say they don't want to show much. 🤷‍♂️ But the less you show the more you have to tell via other ways. Which is sometimes frustrating for me when they cut the sex part (which again, is totally fine) but then the characters behave like nothing happened, nothing changed. OR THEY DO behave differently but nobody shows or says why! And if you are vague the audience has to fill the gap with their own imagination which can vary a lot from tame to horrible. It feels like I am missing out on their path.

But I do side eye everyone who calls a BL bromance just because it had one soft kiss in it. Or people who call a BL boring when they don't have sexual tension within the first 3 episodes.

Ending this with a nice quote I recently heard in a video about a similar topic:

"Just because something makes YOU uncomfortable, doesn't mean it is automatically something bad. It first of all just means it is not for you and that is ok." (unless it is indeed something bad and not legal then that's a different topic)

[maleyanderecafe]

Hello I don’t know if you have any iOS devices but do you have any recommendations for iOS games with a male yandere love interest

I did actually make a list regarding mobile games, but that was a while ago, so its probably best to update that. I'll split them into two categories of ones I've played/watched and ones I haven't.

IOS Games I've Played/Watched

Dangerous Fellows from Lucy Dreams - I think this one actually does have spin off game called Dangerous Shelter though I'm unsure if there's a yandere in that one (though the yandere from Dangerous Fellows, Lawrence, does show up in that one)

Killing Kiss from StoryTaco - made by the same creators as Dangerous Fellows, this one is a BL game where you play as a pickpocket named Ryu to get a formula from the underbelly of Grey City. The yandere is this one is Clark though mostly in his ending.

Otome Chat Collection - generally the premise is that you text guys in different stories, but there is one yandere in this one, namely Izumi, who very quickly gains affection for you quickly. It's pretty short though, but it's fun for what it is.

In Search of Haru - the main character was bullied when they were younger but a boy named Haru came to help them. Years later she wants to come and find him. Seems like a short game and the yandere in this one is Haruka Fujisaki, though it is brief and a mostly possessive scene.

My Psycho Boyfriends - I'll be honest, I wouldn't play this one unless I was super bored because of all the grammatical errors, but this one does have a yandere and a fairly intricate story.

Yandere Boyfriend Leo/ Yandere Classmate Aiden/ Yandere Richman June/ Yandere Stepbrother Dean - I'm lumping these together because while they have the same story, they're generally similar in premise which is basically a story told through texts. Also has a lot of grammatical errors, so I wouldn't play these one unless you're okay with that. In my opinion, Yandere Richman Junes is probably the best one.

Mystic Messenger- pretty obvious since this is one more the more famous yandere mobile games, but there are 2-3 yanderes in it (depending on interpretation)

IOS Games I've haven't Played/Watched

Unholyc - I have yet to fully play this game, but it is similar to Mystic Messenger in terms of playing it, though way more sexual. The premise is that you are an Unholyc (like a succubus basically) who gets three guys into a contract with you to become a fully fledge Unholyc. The yandere in this one is Eater. Probably a future recommendation, since I have to get through this one.

Princess Closet - about a girl who becomes a fashion model surrounded by handsome men. I haven't played this one, but considering there is a switch port, I might just try it on switch. The yandere in this one is the photographer Akito Shinonome.

Any of the Ikeman Series games - I believe have at least one yandere or at least a male character that is possessive. Not really sure but I have seen screencaps of it.

My Puppy Fiance - this one is about the female lead having to find a boyfriend or else they get forced marriage and instead they pick up a dog like boyfriend! I know the bulter has a yandere ending. Might watch this one as well.

Jimi-Kare : My Quiet Boyfriend - this one I watched a bit of because the female lead basically trains him to be a bit more assertive. He turns into a yandere in the dark ending.

Liar! Uncover the Truth - a mystery game revolving around the female lead after breaking up with her boyfriend leading to meeting a bunch of guys.

There are probably more that I have yet to mention or are only in Japanese, but here are some. There are also some on this website here that has a ton of other recommendations for yanderes as well!

[robotlesbianjavert]

do you have any horror manga recommendations? I've been reading them a lot lately

ooh that is a very very good question!! and honestly if you've been following me for a while you've probably seen my catalogue of horror manga lmao. as much as manga is my preferred medium compared to anime and ykno i have a casual fondness for horror, it actually takes me a while to work through new manga DX DX i do have a couple of stuff i can probably suggest, though.

(since you're actively seeking horror, i'm gonna take a guess and assume you're not really in need of any major trigger warnings, since a lot of these recs include gore/violence/sexuality/abuse/general skeeziness, or at least can anticipate that you're gonna run into unsavory stuff, but you can follow up and let me know if there is actually something i should take note of.)

One thing I find with horror manga (and horror in general, but manga especially) is a common big genre drift with things action or comedy or adventure or something. A lot of the well-known names on rec lists have horror elements rather than being primarily horror, or the horror influence ends up downplayed as the story goes on. but still excellent. If I have recs in the realm of "horror-lite/influenced", I'd say:

Kemono Jihen by Sho Aimoto, kid joins a detective agency in Tokyo meant to resolve supernatural incidents between "kemono" and humans.

Dandadan by Yukinobu Tatsu, a girl who believes in spirits & ghosts and a boy who believes in aliens become friends! And a lot of things happen because the creator assisted for Fujimoto of Chainsaw Man fame, so it has a lot of the same off-the-wall, irreverent humour. While it's not as tight or classy as CSM, it's still a fuckin fun romp with nice horror moments.

Both of those I actually need to catch up with, haha. I'll actually recommend Can You Just Die, My Darling? as well, although I'm not sure if you're the anon who recced it to me first. Much stronger on the horror & violence elements, but it's another one I still have to catch up on.

I'm trying to avoid the obvious recommendations that you can get off any list, like Junji Ito or idk. Tokyo Ghoul, Dorohedoro or something like that. But special shout out to Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. I'm most familiar with the 2006/07 anime series rather than the games (besides a couple of let's plays) and the manga, but I watched it with my sisters when I was young, LONG before I considered myself a horror fan, and I still consider those question arcs to have some of the best horror sequences ever experienced blind. Hugely influential.

In a similar vein to trying to avoid obvious recs, I know that Shuzo Oshime has gotten more popular as of late, but I've been working through Blood on the Tracks, which is about really insane mommy issues, so if you're cool with that!! You can also check out his other works that I haven't gotten to, but yeah I think he's

For probably my biggest recommendations though - the first one is a short-ish read, I think it was only one volume? The other two were excellent recommendations from my friends!

Helter Skelter by Kyoko Okazaki is about how fucked up the modelling & beauty industry is. There's also a movie adaptation that I haven't watched it.

Hikaru Ga Shinda Natsu (The Summer Hikaru Died) by Mokumokuren, a relatively new BL ongoing series about two friends who live in a rural village - except one of the friends had disappeared months ago in the mountains.

And my actual personal favourite recommendation, Kurosagi: Corpse Delivery Service. It's about a team of students at a Buddhist college who start a company to deliver corpses. They also solve murders along the way! This is a really great series and pretty easy to get into, I think - there's some ongoing plot, but a lot of the arcs are more episodic in nature. A lot of fun discussion on Japanese culture and views on death, it's funny, the gore and horror art are just great, it's just a cool unique series. The only thing is that while I believe it's completed, it's not fully translated in English - I think translations only go up to chapter ~89? So while there's story threads that are unanswered, the translations don't end on a cliffhanger at least.

I do have a "To Read" list compiled after going through some other rec lists / Youtube videos about horror manga. I can't speak to the quality of these yet, but they must have been intriguing enough for me to write them down. Here's a selection of them, not including general creators I wanted to check out:

Dai Dark by Q Hayashida of Dorohedoro fame

Doubt, Judge, and Secret by the guy who did the Higurashi manga.

Another

The Serial Killer is Laughing in the Rain

As the Gods Will

Jagaaan

The Horror Mansion

Fear Infection

Mushihime

Homunculus

Ichi the Killer

Mister Arashi's Amazing Freakshow

PTSD Radio

Dementia 21

Dark Hideout

Halloween Desetsu

The Quiz

Mantis Woman

Presents

If you've read any of those, or get to them before I do, or read any of the prior recs let me know your thoughts!! Always down to chat horror.

Aside from that. Well Digimon: Ghost Game was pretty fun when I was watching it. Had some spooky ooky moments. If you like Digimon o:

actually i'm going to use this opportunity to again reiterate how validated i was when horikoshi had that comment about how he'd like to try doing horror when one of my prominent thoughts when the MVA arc was running was how much potential the guy had as a horror artist and how it could really free him. my goddamn vision.

[dummerjan]

Getting to Know Your BL Mutuals - Tag

rules: answer the questions and @ some people. include the tag ‘g2ky BL mutuals 2022’ on your post so we can find everyone’s answer.

tagged by @baby-droll thank you :) <3

(I am including everything I've watched in 2022, not just what was released this year.) What have been BLs that took you by surprise this year? Definitely KinnPorsche. I've never had so much fun watching something and I am so glad I got to experience it while it aired even if I only started watching after the 5th episode had aired. Since May my life has been entirely consumed by KinnPorsche and my life has been the better for it. Bad Buddy surprised me as well, it is so unlike other BL series I have seen and Ohm and Nanon are amazing actors. I watched it within the span of 24 hours and the last scene and line were so lighthearted and funny I didn't even feel sad. Never have I laughed so much even though something was over. The Eclipse took me by surprise with how openly political and critical of society it was. Last but not least I have to mention My Tooth Your Love, it might win an award for silliest title but the story itself is anything but silly. Both of the protagonists read as autistic to me - my favourite kind of character: unintentionally autistic. I couldn't adore them more. It is a true comfort watch and I continue to be surprised by the healthy communication and boundary setting displayed. More people should give it a try despite the silly title and odd premise. It is so much more and not at all a typical BL, though still typically Taiwanese. What have been BLs that you felt a bit disappointed with this year? The Eclipse to an extent. It kept getting better with every new episode until the last, I think, three episodes. How the curse related plot got wrapped up was very unsatisfying and clumsy, though they still did great with the relationship aspect. Similar goes for Minato Shouji Coin Laundry, it just was too long and I didn't care about any of the side couples and it got repetitive. I was also disappointed and wholly underwhelmed by the Korean BL series I've watched (Blueming, To My Star, Wish You). I've seen so much praise for the first two but they just weren't for me and I had a hard time caring for any of the characters. The acting felt very stiff and I found it difficult to make sense of the emotions they were supposed to feel when judging by their faces they seemed dead inside to me. What has been your favorite BL this year? KinnPorsche, no surprise there. Favorite BL couples (not just of 2022) This is hard and why they are my favourite is due to very different reasons. A lot of the time I care less about couples themselves and more about the story they help to tell. But some are also proper OTPs of mine for which the relationship is the main draw. - Pat/Pran - Akk/Ayan - Kinn/Porsche - Vegas/Pete - Kim/Chay - Teh/Oh-aew - Tutor/Fighter - Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian If you had to suggest a BL for someone what would it be? Regardless if someone is familiar with BL or not, my top pick would be I Told Sunset About You. Though I think it is barely BL compared to other series. Same goes for Gaya Sa Pelikula. What's your non-BL favorite this year? I have watched mainly BL and everything before KinnPorsche is hazy. I am having a hard time remembering other shows or movies I've seen this year and nothing I would call a favourite of mine, I think. Derry Girls S3 was disappointing, Skam Italia S5 was such a treat and I really liked it but it hasn't stayed with me that long after watching it.

@blventingspace @thiansong @supernovasimplicity @fanfictionroxs @mvickym @varis-world (But there are also several others where I am not sure how much BL they watch aside from KinnPorsche - tagging always makes me anxious.)

[domokunrainbowkinz]

honestly I may as well just become a manhwa blog or something LOL anyways have some more manhwa posting 🤓

titles discussed:

the sea's nocturne (18+)

traces of the sun

one-room TA (18+)

villains are destined to die

I'm trapped with the male lead in a horror game (18+)

between the lines (18+)

the 11th school trip

the sea's nocturne (18+) - see I thought this was pretty good at first, it's a more low-key story about overcoming anxiety and accepting love into your life but by ch 45 I think I see the pattern this manhwa is most likely going to follow (they get together, they take a break due to the MC's lingering anxiety, they get back together, something else comes up and the break up again, then they get back together etc) which is fine, but I'm personally not a fan of these stories. I do understand the MC's thought pattern and his actions do make sense in the context of the story, but idk something about this one just made me go "hmmm I think that's enough for me, good luck babe". maybe I'm just not a fan of the anxious MC archetype (the only exception is yuuri katsuki loml, something abt the way he was written just Clicked with me)

traces of the sun - I need to read the novel for this one, I really liked it!! a dungeon crawler action BL manhwa in the vein of "necromancer survival" with really cool fight sequences!!! the main draw of the story though is the MC and his journey of healing and overcoming his trauma and survivors guilt. I was rooting for him the entire story and I felt so sad about his situation like pls a crumb of happiness for my boy PLEASE!!! it's about feeling trapped by your past and wallowing in guilt and refusing to move on but you have to, bc despite what you think u deserve to live!!! I WANT TO LIVE!!!!!! honestly I was kinda eh about the romance bc the ML is a manipulative little bitch (derogatory) so it was hard to tell if he was genuine or not (even tho there are hints throughout he was down stupid bad even if he doesn't recognise it himself) but I still loved how it was clear that the MC is cared for a lot by him and his squad of hunter friends. definitely rec this one!!!!!

one-room TA (18+) - still pretty early in serialization but I feel it in my bones this ones gonna be a banger. it's SUCH a funny read and what's great is it pokes fun at typical tropes u find in BL manhwa, like they brought shit up that I sometimes think about when reading 😂 the humour is so good and the characters are all such a delight to read about. I thought this was just gonna be a fluffy comedy series but then they suddenly hit you with the discussions on social anxiety and overbearing parents, so it definitely isn't just a surface level comedy series. there's a moment where it actually made me tear up which I consider a huge accomplishment. anyways I'm keeping my eye on this one, I hope it keeps up the writing quality!!! (sidenote but I am like 90% convinced the author was a bio major bc like there were a lot of cell biology references, like yeah maybe they just googled some shit but some of these references are so specific 😭)

villains are destined to die - A BANGER!!!!! I absolutely love the FL in this and I just want her to catch a break so badly!!! I love how this one puts a lot of emphasis on how the FL's life was prior to being transmigrated, as how she was brought up heavily affects the decisions she makes throughout the game. her anxiety about the precariousness of her situation and the tension in her quest to survive the story is also palpable, and u just cannot help but root for her to beat the game and stick it to all the people out to get her. the MLs are also all interesting in their own way and its honestly not super clear in the beginning who the actual ML is. ofc predictably my fave ML is callisto, his interactions with penelope are so fun to read and u can see how they are more relaxed around each other, as well as how they're able to connect due to the similarity of their situations. anyways I'm waiting for season 5 in my mouth plspslsplssplspslslspslslslslspls I'm nothing 😩 I ended up reading the novel through the jankiest fan translation I've ever encountered and I am so excited for Certain Scenes to be adapted aaaahhhhhh

I'm trapped with the male lead in a horror game (18+) - really enjoying this so far, the setting gives such strong RPGmaker horror game vibes, it really reminds me of the witch's house, esp with the premise being it's a mansion that fucking hates you and you're trying to escape. I have a feeling the MC isn't actually a player that transmigrated, I feel like she gained sentience and is trying to escape the game / the curse that trapped her in the mansion. I'm honestly a lot more interested in the mystery of the mansion rather than the rship between the FL and ML, but they do have a good dynamic as of recent chapters. the ML starts off extremely wary and untrusting of the FL for obvious reasons, so it was nice to see him slowly trust her and understand the fact that the house curses it's inhabitants, so he's able to see why she does certain things and doesn't blame her when he can clearly tell she was manipulated into harming him by the mansion.

between the lines (18+) - this one gives such strong "semantic error" vibes except that I like dohu 500x more than sangwoo bc he is so fucking funny and much less frustrating to read about. I love love LOVE the relationship between the MC and ML, they do get off to a rocky start but they quickly become very sweet with each other!!! we love a wholesome couple who have nasty disrespectful sex!!! they're both giving autism x autism and I honestly love that for them. I would highly rec this, especially if you love a "me and the bad bitch I pulled with my autistic swag" dynamic, like dohu's autistic rizz is unmatchable 😩

the 11th school trip - only 2 chapters out for this manhwa but I'm camping I got my popcorn READY, it's an adaptation of a novel by the same author as "traces of the sun" so I'm so excited to see where it goes!!! right out the gate the art is so unique and colourful, it actually reminds me a bit of how "semantic error" coloured its panels and used certain effects (some of the panels remind me of pop art, it's very cool!!!) anyways I obvs don't have much to say I'm just putting this here so hopefully more ppl read it and camp with me ⛺️

[allthefujoshiunite]

Hello... can I ask a link to your review on anime, "Buddy Daddies"? Sorry I can not find them, or are you writing them in your twitter? I just finished the anime, and now I can say it's one of my top favorite anime ever....! Can I ask for your BL recs that have the same vibe as Kazuki/Rei, please?

Also from Sk8 between Reki/Langa and Joe/Cherry and Adam/ Tadashi, who are your favorite ship? And why? Whichever your answer is, can I also ask BL recs that have the same vibe as them?

Sorry if I ask too much, please feel free if you want to answer them or not....Thanks for sharing your recs and reviews, you are my best guide on BL manga/manhwa...... I knew you first time from your A to Z BL challenge and then I found your blog. I hope you know that founding your blog and tumblr means so much to me.... Please just answer (if you want) any time you want whenever you're free....🙏

Hi again! I answer these asks whenever I have time & energy, so no need to apologize. ^^ Time to recommend some BLs and answer your questions!

As to why you couldn't find Buddy Daddies (BD from now on) review on my blog; because I haven't reviewed it. Neither on my blog nor my Twitter. When I was about to finish the seasonal first impressions (I had two reviews left, BD and High Card), the major earthquake happened and I took a break. After that, the political climate and the economy have been so bad that I didn't have the energy to spare for my blog. I still write reviews (mostly of books, on my Instagram, but in Turkish) and occasionally talk about stuff on Twitter but that's it. One other minor reason that made me feel reluctant to write on BD was because my thoughts on the series is quite negative. I didn't finish it, and not sure if I ever will. But I did like Kazuki and Rei together, the mighty "sunshine x emo" trope, and happy to hear that you've found something you felt so passionate about!

I'll recommend 3 titles that have a similar pairing. I'll also add my reviews from my blog, you can head there to find additional information such as the publication status, where to read, screenshots etc.

It's Just a Dream... Right? by White Eared: If you like supernatural elements, are okay with reading ongoing, mature content, then I highly recommend this one. I've reviewed it before, you can check it out here.

The Neighbor I Desire by Makoto: If you like the "I just can't leave you alone, I have to take care of you!" trope and when characters share a table, eating together, this might be up your alley. Another title I've reviewed for my Friday BL corner.

Oh! My Assistant by MILA & AngryMonster: You said you've found me through my A to Z Challenge so you've probably have seen this but in case you haven't. Another puppy seme with an uke that's not exactly an emo, but fails to convey his emotions. Here's my review, but Tapas has removed this one from their library and now it's on Lezhin. You can find it here (All Ages) and here (Mature).

As for Sk8. It was a fun show to watch but I wasn't deep in their fandom. I can understand the appeal behind Adam/Tadashi and found Joe to be really cute ~ Joe/Cherry have that enemies to lovers vibe that starts off as something strictly physical. Hence, I can recommend Glasses Cloth & Playlist. I know the name is weird but it's short & completed, and I highly recommend it. You can find out more about it here in my review.

That's all I have for you! Hopefully you'll find something that suits your taste and my recommendations were at elast close to the vibe you're looking for. Enjoy, and let me know what you think of them if you ever get to read one!

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

11/26/2023 – 12/02/2023

Sunday

Starting off this week’s Manga Sunday a bit differently with some BL this early morning (as one does). I finished Hello to Happiness first, and honestly I’m just baffled by it?? I got on board with the solid art and the unconventional top and bottom, but these last two chapters were so obviously rushed to hell and the story just ends with a last page time skip that flopped like a dead fish? What the hell even happened… It’s almost comical if it wasn’t so depressing. The beginning of the series felt like it actually had something substantial to say about its characters and their journey to finding love, but then it ends like a bad slapstick bit… It’s enough to drop the rating all the way down to like a 2/10 for me. This whole thing was just bizarre.

Shuumatsu, Kimi to is next, and I think I’ve just found a new mangaka that I really vibe with… The art is really charming, but there’s an air of unsettling energy and subtle tension that keeps things engaging. This was also a pretty innovative and realistic way of portraying a slowly encroaching zombie apocalypse, though I suppose we all got some first-hand experience at what a global emergency would look like recently… ha. I do wonder if there will be a point to this apocalypse so closely paralleling real world events, but maybe it’s just meant as a cheeky homage. What I’m really interested in is the dynamic between the two leads, and how the desire to consume will manifest in their relationship…it’s so refreshing to find a BL that seems to have actual themes.

In that same vein, I read another one of this mangaka’s works, Frankenstein’s Friend. To be honest, I’m a little blown away. This was a really strong oneshot with a clear thematic thread throughout. Ultimately it’s pretty fluffy, sure, but the slight twisted undertones are so juicy. Victor creating Frankenstein, granting him his own name…only for his own creation to change beyond his expected parameters, and Victor changing himself in response out of duty and his own sort of love… Creating artificial life and love only for it to become real… These two being molded for each other, the creator turning on himself in his ambition to create… It’s rare that I find such a layered BL. This manga is a 9/10 for me, and I’ll definitely be following this mangaka’s other works in the future.

Following a banger with another banger, it’s a new chapter of Oni to Tengoku!! God, every day I feel so grateful that this manga got a full serialization. I love love love love seeing Aoki and Tengoku be stupid lovesick old men. This chapter was fantastic as always, with plenty of romance scenes but also moments of introspection on Aoki’s part. But oh my god, that page with Aoki’s body in the foreground and his arm as one of the panel gutters…the sense of space and perspective was insanely good. Tengoku’s sincere look into the camera was also insane…I’m realizing now that Tengoku and Kusuriya’s Jinshi have a similar energy lol. This new student couple also looks fun, it’ll be interesting to see Aoki and/or Tengoku try to impart some wisdom onto them as older gays. And of course, we’ve got the classic “on a mountain hike but suddenly slipping and falling down a hill and spraining an ankle” setup. It’ll be fun to see Tengoku come to Aoki’s rescue.

Reading Takatora-kun to Omegatachi is really like, “wow they finally invented feminist studies but for men”. It’s pretty funny, but I do genuinely enjoy this manga; it’s probably the first and only omegaverse thing I’ll ever like because it actually takes a sociological perspective to this setting rather than using it as a vehicle for sex (not to say that pwp or omegaverse as a whole is a bad thing, it’s just not my thing). In this new chapter, first we get another look at Enma’s internalized…misomegany? It seems like the lesson he should learn is that even “stereotypical” omegas deserve to be respected as their own autonomous people and not just the societal roles that they conveniently align with (feminism 101). I also liked the detail of all these boys wearing swimsuit tops at the beach – I guess since they can get pregnant and thus…lactate (?), their chests carry the same sort of connotations as breasts do? Takatora giving a sociological lesson on beta mentality is also genuinely fascinating; first of all, it’s funny to me that women in this manga just avoid the whole secondary gender thing altogether. I wonder if they still have normal misogyny in addition to yaoi omega misogyny…it seems like they’re a dwindling population, though, so maybe they’re facing more of a pedestalization/caged bird scenario. Second, the rundown of how betas are influenced by an alpha-focused culture and thus share its values was weirdly on point. I love how this mangaka embraces modern sensibilities in their writing, and isn’t afraid to actually unpack these philosophies and ideas in their work. I have no idea how this story is going to progress, but I’m excited for it regardless.

I saw some positive word for Green Green Greens on Twitter so I checked it out, and I’m feeling pretty conflicted about it. On one hand, golf is a dumb and environmentally destructive sport so I don’t want to care about it at all, and it irks me that we have the pattern of “serious female character coaches the main amateur male character in her area of expertise only for him to become better than the girl” because it feels so…like, I’d rather have the girl be the main character instead, rather than a tool for the male lead. But where I start feeling conflicted about this manga is how I actually really like their dynamic, and the male lead feels like a down to earth guy who actually does some introspection on his behaviour. Their conversation about comparing yourself to others and still striving to reach a pinnacle of achievement anyway felt nuanced and real, and I think the writing for this series could be pretty strong. But again, it’s about golf, so I don’t think I’ll continue reading it. In comparison to the other recently started sports manga about a guy being inspired to do a sport because of a girl and gets weirdly good at it, I definitely liked Green Green Greens more than Two On Ice, so let’s see which one survives in the magazine longer.

A pretty fun chapter of Undead Unluck, but I don’t have much else to say about it.

Wow, a rather dark chapter of Oshi no Ko today. I’m really intrigued by this theme of Ruby and Aqua trying to piece together the “real Ai” through this movie and through all the people who knew her, and it calls into question just what a “true self” even is. Even if Ruby can look the part and play the part, in the end she still can’t truly understand her own mother and embody her. Or at least, she’ll never be able to fulfil everyone’s perception of who Ai was (including Ruby’s), because they all have their own perspectives and interpretations of Ai. It’s as if Ai was this magnetic and elusive force that drew everyone in but still kept them at a distance, keeping the true essence of her character away from prying eyes…such an interesting character. I liked Nino’s line about how her words wouldn’t even affect Ai – really emphasizes her almost terrifyingly single-minded ambition. Which of course, then really heightens the intrigue of her pregnancy…

Uwagh…Magilumiere…those humanoid Kaii……my guess is that they’re genetically mutated magical girls…? Seeing the blood splatter everywhere was definitely spooky. I liked the little Kaii history lesson a lot, it’s interesting to see how they evolved to mimic what humans fear (feels very Chainsaw Man).

One Piece 1099: Very cool to get some more Kuma lore and learn about how the Pacifistas came about. It feels like we’re finally filling in some of the pockets of missing information that we’ve had for a while.

Tiny SpyFam chapter today, but the implications already have people scrambling to make theories. Much like everyone else in the comments, I also hope we can get an Anya backstory arc soon. It would certainly open the world up extensively, I think.

Cipher Academy 50: OBORO KARAOKE AHHHHHHH Wow a three way prisoner’s dilemma huh… Woah the social studies teacher is kinda… Umitsubame and Oboro Jojo-posing is super cute… Ah, Oboro… Another great chapter, as always (evidently).

We watched the first episode of House season 7…or rather, we watched half of the first episode of House season 7 because we skipped past all the Huddy scenes and those were like half of the runtime. I guess they wanted a goofier first episode after the heavy season finale before, but I just didn’t really care about what was happening. Also why was Chase being so creepy, ewww.

Monday

Some more House today, as is tradition. The first episode was pretty heavy, with the siblings weighing their lives against each other’s, but I was mostly distracted by how annoying I found all the Huddy scenes. Then the episode about the children’s book writer was pretty good, I resonated with the author and also with House, as an enjoyer of children’s lit myself. As my friend said, it was very mecore. The medical mystery was satisfying to solve, too. Then there was the schizophrenia episode, and you can really feel the show’s age as the “confession” was so overly dramatic that it felt like she just confessed to murder or something.

Tuesday

We only had time for one House episode today, and it wasn’t a particularly good one. It was the one about the middle aged mom having a baby and her adult daughter being surly about it, and I gotta say, the adult daughter Really can’t act at all… She sucked the air out of every scene she was in. Besides that, the medical mystery was incredulous enough to stretch believability…and by that I mean I thought it was a little bullshit lol not one but Two cancers, with one of them treating the other one and her baby?? And then she just drops dead as some sort of narratively noble sacrifice? The adult daughter scooping the baby up and being like “I’ll make sure you know she was the best mom ever” was cheesy as all hell. Beyond that, I liked Dr. Cheng even though I knew she wasn’t going to stick around, and I liked the Hilson parenting moments.

Wednesday

Another episode of House, and it was wholly unmemorable other than the fact that the patient and his uh, friend, reminded me of TomGreg from Succession.

Thursday

A whopping three episodes of House today, and the only one that really stood out to me was the one where a girl seemingly contracts smallpox from a shipwreck. I really liked the challenge in this one, because not only did they have to rely on historical sources to solve the mystery, they also had to deal with the quarantining measures and an authority figure they couldn’t easily manipulate. House putting himself in danger for his beliefs and Masters immediately knowing how to appeal to his intelligence were also fun bits.

Friday

I was in the trenches (busy)

Saturday

I could’ve done without the little recap portion in the beginning, but overall I really loved today’s SpyFam episode, and I think it capped off the cruise ship arc well. Each of the Forgers trying to carry out their own missions is fun to watch, and Anya was super cute when she was trying to help Yor… And then the final fight between Yor and the katana guy was also really satisfying. My favourite little sideplot is the smell guy’s beef with the hearing guy – their toxic yaoi energy is off the charts… I liked the little detail of that one crew member ducking for cover when he misinterprets Loid’s grunt as a bad thing rather than a “I did it” thing. The rough little animation of Anya squirming and being dragged away by the daycare lady was also really cute. I do wish…that it wasn’t so noticeable that all of the passengers were like six different character models being copy and pasted with the colors changed. And that, if they’re going to use the same walk cycles for them, could they at least stagger the cycles so it’s not so obvious… My main gripe with the SpyFam anime has always been its reliance on human 3D models and how silly they look…but of course, I get that they probably only do it out of necessity. I don’t blame the studios specifically, I just wish that the anime industry wasn’t the way that it is…but that’s depressing to think about, so let’s move on.

NOT SHEN JUST PRESENTING HIS ASS HIS WHOLE TIME truly the sexiest sluttiest man in Undead Unluck. Top is fun, his voice actor’s doing a good job, and I love the cut between his and Fuuko’s argument and the dead silence of Shen still lying on the ground. The snappy directing I loved so much is definitely back in full force in this episode. NOT THE CLOSE UP ON VICTHOR’S DICK AS FUUKO IS EXPLAINING WHY SHE KNOWS IT’S HIM ah it’s because she can see the Clothes UMA. Of course. Nothing else. I feel like the animators have a lot more fun animating human vs human battles than human vs giant monster ones, if the Gina fight and this one is any indication when compared to the Spoil fight… I guess the size of the monsters make it hard to convey fast-paced and kinetic momentum. At this point, whenever I see the red color grading maybe I should prepare to witness peak.

SPEAKING OF PEAK AHHHH I LOOOOOOVE JUIZ STRIKING HER SWORD AGAINST THE GROUND TO LIGHT THE FIRE AND VICTHOR JUST PULLING HIS KATANA THROUGH HIS BODY TO BLOCK HER AND AHHH TOP JUMPING IN TO KICK VICTHOR’S HAND AWAY IS SO COOL, I do wonder why Victhor doesn’t try to kill Fuuko with his own hands (he seems to be relying on his copies to do the work), but I suppose since he’s the main body, Andy’s inside him and fighting back against that action. AHHHHHH SHOOTING HIM IN THE HEAD AND THEN SHOVING YOUR HAND INTO THE WOUND AND GETTING SPRAYED WITH BLOOD, TRYING TO REACH ANDY…THAT’S SO FUCKING METALLLLLLLLLL AGHHHHHHHHHHH THE KISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS having your first kiss while covered in the other person’s blood is the best. The subtle animation of Fuuko’s reaction immediately after and then Andy softly taking her thumb out of his head and Fuuko being embarrassed and fidgeting before going into tsun mode and running, everything is just so so so so so so so good. Also I like that she has her tie tucked in between her boobs, and that her go to bra is a utilitarian sports bra. Truly a woman of the people.

I’ve said this before but I LOVE how Undead Unluck treats romance as the normal thing that it is rather than some super scandalous act that can’t happen until the very end of a series, but even in that context it doesn’t stop the romance from being special and meaningful and heartfelt. I love that it’s slightly ambiguous whether it was Andy or Victhor who says “You’re one hell of a gal” to Fuuko – perhaps they aren’t completely differently after all. I also love how there’s volumes of To You, From Me and the Kopepan Panda plushie around Fuuko’s pillow, it’s such a little detail but it makes it feel like Fuuko is so loved. Oh and the flowers are from the kids, of course…that’s so cute… YESSSSSSSSS THEY KEPT IN TATIANNA WAVING HER PLUSHIE AND FUUKO WAVING BACK WITH HERS THIS IS SO PEAK… Okay, we’re finally back…we’ve never been More back… Unfortunately the previous three episodes and the way they botched Shen’s smile will permanently downgrade the anime to a 9/10 at the most, but I’m just so glad we don’t have to look at goofy 3D zombies anymore.

A pretty okay episode of Kusuriya. I love how Jinshi and Gaoshun hear about how Maomao’s curiosity might lead her to use human corpses as medicinal ingredients and all they can do is nod at each other knowingly like “yep, that sounds like her”. Maomao is such a freak and I love her. Uhhhhhh okay, they had me until the minute long sequence of a montage of previous clips being played at like 50% opacity over a rotating 3D model of a plant?????????? And they’re trying to pass it off as some meaningful and solemn meditation on mortality????? This is so funny but also baffling, but considering the contents of the rest of the episode, I have to assume that they were just trying to fill the time…but damn if it isn’t goofy as hell. Also a lot of close-up eye imagery in this episode, which is funny after Undead Unluck had a lot of those too. Kinda wish I didn’t end Anime Saturday with this episode, but it is what it is.