#It's so good I highly recommend the anime and the manga

[casentine]

Scraps

[canadianlucifer]

While I was reading Blue Exorcist I didn't fully register just how dark the Illuminati arc was, but watching it animated... holy shit.

I could not imagine going through what Izumo has and is going through. And being in the place of any of the other students? Dealing with unkillable regenerating zombies speaking to me in broken up bits saying they want to go home? Having so much pressure to do things most adults wouldn't be able to do? AT 15 YEARS OLD??

I feel like this is the turning point for the series bc it goes from "heehoo funny with epic fights and some character bonding" to "everyone you love is going to die if you don't fight right now. This world is bleak and horrifying under the thin veil we have created and the fate of it rests on your shoulders, all of you."

[lazycranberrydoodles]

boss lady doodle that i started during cringetober but didnt finish (i rewatched way of the househusband yet again.) nya

[isan0rt]

Me, rambling, at 11:15pm: ... And that's how the meaning of Machiavelli's "The Prince" is commonly misinterpreted however Kabru DunMeshi perfectly illustrates the principles Machiavelli discusses in his work-

My spouse, exhausted: maybe it's time for bed.

[monstrsball]

quick everyone watch all six seasons of natsume yuujinchou so you can watch season 7 with me and talk to me about it

[heylookliisten]

if you could go on a date with one singular anime character who would it be and why

spent way longer on this than i should have lol

im not really into anime anymore but honestly, i would have to go with lavi from d.gray-man

d.gray-man is one of the two anime’s i really loved. he’s something called a bookman and the nature of that job requires giving up attachment to those around you to record the worlds history

however, as the anime progresses, lavi begins to change and genuinely begins to feel and build on the relationships with those around him

that being said, i think lavi would treat you so well on a date. he would spend a lot of time making it special and one of a kind because his whole life he never was able to fully have a connection with someone romantically or platonically. he would want this to be one history needed to know about. plus he’s goofy and kind hearted which is exactly my type. all in all lavi is a 100% good guy and cutie so of course i’d go on a date with him

[comicaurora]

hi red!! i'm doing an analysis of sun wukong's (and journey to the west in general's) impact on modern culture for my world mythology final, and for some reason i'm having a hard time finding sources. is there anything you can recommend?

The fact that Journey to the West has contributed an enormous number of tropes to modern media is very clear when the media in question is examined, but I don't know of a specific secondary source that's already done that analysis for you. However, this IS a very good excuse for you to plow through a metric buttload of shonen manga, since the lineage is basically Sun Wukong -> Son Goku -> like a solid third of all shonen action heroes written in the last forty years.

Dragon Ball kicks things off:

Started in 1984 and almost unquestionably the most influential manga ever made. Its first arc features the weird super-strong monkey-kid Son Goku - which is just the japanese pronunciation of the characters of Sun Wukong's name - meeting up with a wacky crew of thinly-veiled expys of the Journey to the West crew, with teen inventor Bulma filling the role of Tripitaka, Oolong the pig-man filling Zhu Bajie's role and Yamcha the desert-based bandit as Sha Wujing.

Hijinks ensue, and while the story drifts pretty far from Journey to the West's original plot, it actually stays pretty solidly referential in weirdly unexpected ways. Several the villains of the week are JttW references, and even the later appearance of three more Saiyans lines up with the surprise reveal of three more Wukong-like mystical apes in the original story.

The connection between Dragon Ball and JttW is very unsubtle and a frequent reference in the chapter covers and supplemental art.

Not every subsequent JttW reference is the result of Dragon Ball popularizing it or anything, since it was already enormously popular, but I think it's pretty hard to extricate Dragon Ball's influence on anime and manga from the original influence of Journey to the West itself.

One way that a distinction can be drawn is in the differences in characterization between Goku and Sun Wukong himself. A lot of the next generation of shonen protagonists were kind of Goku-alikes - pure-hearted dumbasses who only care for the three Fs: Food, Fighting and Friendship.

But the original characterization of Sun Wukong is not really all that similar. He's a trickster, sure, but he's far from a young, friendship-motivated goober. He's profoundly intelligent, pretty much the most well-educated entity on the planet, and routinely brings up that he's centuries older than most of his peers. The Goku-alikes from the later decades of shonen anime are tellingly far-removed from that original characterization. So you get characters based on Goku's cheerful idiocy, but it's just a small subset of the broader influence of Journey to the West on the space of literature.

In general, Journey to the West frequently shows up in very small, bite-sized tropes in other stories. It's less "this is wholly based on Journey to the West" and more "oh, I know where they maybe got this idea/aesthetic/power/weapon/villain of the week from." There are way too many to list, but some of the ones that tend to jump out at me are-

Sneaky characters with monkey motifs:

Tricksy, highly mobile characters who fight with a staff:

Characters afflicted with a magical restraint artifact that allows a much weaker character to stop them from misbehaving:

Specific esoteric weapons, eg. magical fans, rakes, gourds, namedropping The Sword of Seven Stars, etc.

Villains with prominent ox or pig design motifs:

Characters whose primary combat strat is just making Shitloads Of Disposable Copies Of Themselves:

Honestly it just keeps going like this. It's kinda everywhere. Finding the JttW in things is my favorite conspiracy theory rabbit hole because it's 100% harmless and more often than not completely correct.

[shigayokagayama]

What are the biggest losses between the manga and anime? I just finished watching mp100 and I'm curious what the manga has!

ok biggest losses are kind of hard to define because like. anime and manga are two inherently different mediums and there are a good amount of cuts that improve pacing and then a good amount of cuts that people sort of argue over the merit of so im just going to go for biggest differences. i would also highly recommend reading the manga just because it is a pretty different experience tonally along with the minor plot differences and cut scenes + theres a bunch of omakes that both flesh out characters that dont get too much focus and have some really good bits in them. putting the rest of this post under a cut bc i ramble

mogami arc

this one is kind of inescapable i feel like but the anime version of the mogami arc had a LOT of things trimmed for a couple different reasons. season 2 already got an extra episode in order to do the fire scene as a cliffhanger so with the way things shook out the director had to choose between a. cutting a bunch of stuff out of separation arc to make it one episode so mogami arc couid stay three episode or b. cutting a bunch of stuff out of mogami arc so separation arc could stay two episodes. imo they made the right choice, whats even the point of adapting mob psycho if you dont get confession arc right, but some of the cuts to mogami arc will be dearly missed and others will be fought over to the end of time. cuts include:

minori being established as a brat in a video everyones shown and the video being part of how reigen deduces shes possessed (reigen deducing her possession in the manga is generally just a lot better done and after you read the manga the scene in the anime feels so awkward because you know whats missing

the psychics deciding to band together to beat this little girl to death to save themselves and shinra stepping between them to protect her and getting utterly thrashed, not by mogami, but his fellow psychics

reigen trying to convince mob to leave without him and call for help while he distracts him which leads to this

the general mogamiland section lasting a lot longer and being more brutal (notably the stray cat mob feeds getting killed in front of him)

mob getting fucking torn to pieces by spirits during the fight instead of ambiguously dying offscreen

generally would recommend if nothing else reading the manga version of this arc and confession arc because i feel like these are the only two where you lose like. a significant amount of the story and themes from the cuts. speaking of....

2. WHY THE FUCK DID THEY CUT THIS I WILL BE MAD UNTIL I DIE

maybe its just because i reread this arc on its own probably 50 times before the anime came out but this is the only arc where the cuts actively piss me off because there is absolutely no reason they had to do it. they cut a bunch of important shit, left in things that didnt need to be there, and added scenes that contribute literally nothing to the overall point. if they just did any one of those things or combo of two of those things i wouldnt be as mad but it feels like they put a bunch of filler in then speedran the actual story

cut #1 that pisses me off: HOMOPHOBIA?????

THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A HEART IN HIS EYE. WHY DID THEY NOT INCLUDE THIS. THIS IS THE CULMINATION OF TERUS ARC. THIS IS HIM SEEING THE PERSON HE HAS IDOLIZED AND DEIFIED IN HIS HEAD AT THEIR LOWEST AND STILL CHOOSING TO LOVE HIM, AND THROUGH THIS HE IS CAPABLE OF BEING LOVED EVEN THOUGH HES NOT PERFECT BECAUSE NO ONE IS. WHY WOULD YOU CUT THIS?

cut #2 I NEED WHOEVER CUT THE DIALOGUE FROM THE FIRST PANEL IN PRISON

the lack of inclusion of the first panels dialogue along with the cuts to the mob and shigeo conversation (WHICH WE WILL GET TO) make me think the person who adapted this arc fundamentally misunderstood what was happening. this line. is. THE POINT. THIS ISNT SOME SEPARATE SCARY THING. THIS IS MOB. HE IS CHOOSING TO DO THIS BECAUSE HE IS SCARED AND ANGRY AND HURT BUT HE IS IN CONTROL OF HIS ACTIONS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN.

cut #3 HE DOESNT WANT TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS ACTIONS

this entire conversation is so good and i was looking forward to watching it voice acted for so long and its just. gone. for me the "i am shigeo kageyama who are you" reveal felt like a gut punch because the opening being "i knew i would be needed" made me go "oh hes like possessed or his powers are sentient or something" and this conversation was the slow unraveling of my view of these as two separate people and instead as a scared, traumatized teenager who has convinced himself that the parts of himself he hates are something else outside of his control instead of an intrinsic part of who he is because if he's convinced that the parts of him that are able to feel desire and frustration and anger and malice are him then he'll lose all these relationships he's worked so hard to cultivate as his perfect, non confrontational self. and of course that isnt true. all his friends and loved ones are making their way to the center of a damn hurricane because they see he's in distress and want to help him. but he cant see that so he pushes them away. ugh. mob. protagonist of all time.

cut #4 WHY WOULD YOU CHANGE THE COMPOSITION OF THIS I CAN LITERALLY SEE HOW THIS WOULD BE ANIMATED IN MY MINDS EYE W

can you imagine how beautiful this would be in motion. just. god.

cut #5 HE WAS TALKING OUT LOUD. REIGEN HEARD ALL THIS

:(

cut #6 the bowling arc

so the scene where reigen takes his shoes off is supposed to be a lot more solemn bc like. taking your shoes off before killing yourself is a trope in japanese media (ive heard it started in media and bled over into real life but i might have it backwards?). reigen knew he was probably going to die. anyway i cant take this scene seriously because of this edit

the bowling arc.

cut #7 WAAAAAAAAAAAA

WAAAAAAAAAAAA *sniff* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

cut #8 homophobia again

rip pensive fruity tea sip

cut #9 mob threw the cake directly in reigens face on purpose

i literally experienced every stage of grief realizing this got changed. why. its so perfect. why would you change this.

3. World Domination arc

so WD arc is in a very interesting place where it had a lot of scenes cut but unlike the other two most of the cut content youre like. yea probably best not to include that. ill start with the good content that got cut then go into the weird content

serizawa got his power drained by toichiro. i am quite sad this scene didnt make it in because its sorta heartbreaking

teru fighting off the claw assassin is shown and we see that teru can both make shadow clones AND hold a barrier while attacking, he seems to be the only esper with this ability!

the reason dimple could tell mob's family was alive is that there was no sense of grudge at the house which would have been left behind by people passing in a violent manner

mob briefly goes unconscious during the start of the toichiro fight and dimple possesses him and says "shit"

dimple possessing mob shoots shibata with a gun

we get mukai lore.

it doesnt make any sense and just raises more questions but we get it.

toichiro has a team of telepaths to recap where everyone is because this arc took an entire calender year to update

literally everyone shows up to fight shimazaki. i cannot stress enough how many people show up to fight shimazaki. it would be faster to list espers who dont show up to fight shimazaki

the middle school delinquents show up and start fighting the claw grunts literally completely out of no where and this is never brought up or referenced ever again

when mob and ritsu get home ritsu says all their stuff is in boxes and they need to hurry and redecorate the house before their parents get home which implies that shou packed the entire households worth of belongings into boxes and hid it somewhere before lighting their house on fire which is such a funny mental image that i cant even be mad at it. loony toons ass plot point.

4. other random interesting cut things

takenaka is just generally more of a bitch during alien arc. "ah i think they took him" remains one of the funniest goddamn panels in the manga

peak

alien arc overall is a lot funnier in the manga, i have a slight preference for the manga version just bc theres a lot of really good bits that didnt make it to anime but the anime version is so heartfelt and nostalgic it makes me happy

between omakes and small things that got cut or changed for the anime teru just feels way more fleshed out in the manga. like. anime teru is a completely different person. its hard to explain if youve never read it.

the all girls school part originally went right before the ghost family stuff and was the beginning of mob's existential crisis about why spirits and people get different treatment but tbh it works well where it is i just wish it werent. like that.

the scene where ritsu and teru shake hands was teru draining ritsus power which he seems to have learned to do from encountering ???%

teru.

ow

thats all i can think of off the top of my head, im sure ill realize i forgot something some time after posting this but. yeah. read the manga its good

[vesperaink]

Friends, my necromancer!Tango/grimreaper!Jimmy, Team Rancher modern with magic apocalypse AU, Graveyard Shift, for @mcytblraufest's Reverse Big Bang is here!

But wait there's more--go read chasing crimson written by @aliferous-ly, beta'd by @dibs2win, my fantastic team for aufest. If you love enemies to lovers, unlikely partnerships, and the power of soul-bound magic weapon contracts, this hilarious + dramatic 22.9k fic kicks off from this comic!

chasing crimson

Jimmy Solidarity works for the esteemed god of Death, reaping lost souls and taking care of unsavory characters. He's recently finished his training, and is determined to do well on his first solo mission. Perhaps this "Tango" would be a good start. Only, the god of Death disappeared years ago, and Necromancer Tango Tek's long since discovered a way around dying. He can't say he enjoys Jimmy swinging through and killing him where he stands, though.

Thank you to my team for being as feral about this AU as I am, and kicking everything about it up to 110. I had so much developing this world with them!

Thanks to @onawhimsicot for helping me with the comic's dialogue, fixing my composition woes with "just add more smoke," and encouraging me to complete it in full color! Check out Cadence's aufest fic, I take it back (ill follow till I fly or till im dead), a Cult of the Lamb AU about follower!Tango and Lamb!Zedaph, the meaning of devotion, silly experiments, eldritch transformations, and...the most platonic slowburn ever?

Lastly, thank you to the aufest team for another wonderful event! I had a blast again, and was giggling kicking my feet at everyone's reactions during claims, I loved every single one of them. Graveyard Shift is definitely an AU I'm coming back to. As always, my askbox is open if you'd like to chat, and I'd love to be tagged if anyone makes anything <3

Timelapse / AU art chatter under the cut!

While Graveyard Shift is the amalgamation of many of my interests, the main premise for this AU is loosely inspired by the webcomic, I'm the Grim Reaper, in both its apocalypse themes and its aesthetics! Not a required read, but highly recommend if you enjoy this au, as well as the anime and manga, Soul Eater!

I came up with a lot of AUs for this event but necromancer!Tango and reaper!Jimmy have been rattling around in my brain in separate AUs since before I started brainstorming for aufest. So I smashed them together, naturally.

(Unfortunately I didn't record all of my process, but most of it is here! CW for flashing; song is Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene by Hozier)

I could go on forever about concept art and character design if anyone's curious but here's some fun bonus details about this comic:

Originally, Tango's outfit was going to be more like his Dungeon Master outfit but I wanted the setting to be more modern and Jimmy stole the fantasy cloak vibe from him already lol

Jimmy's entrance of lightning is my nod to the Life Series final death sound

The scarf Jimmy's wearing is designed to be a boneyard shawl

The panel of strange text reads "Protection Three" in Galactic :)

+ The name "Graveyard Shift" was thrown at me by Cadence in like 3 seconds flat after i spent 2 days agonizing over a name for this au LOL

[merakiui]

mera!

i heard you’re back into azul after the skully take over!

i have an azul magical girl thought i thought you’d like hehe >:)

hear me out..

azul x darling in place of kuro sensi and irina in the shed scene… HEHEHE azul’s tentacles sprouting out of no where and latching into darling and massaging her out of no where! oh no!

maybe it’s magical girl darling who’s pulled into the school’s supply shed in gym in a surprise attack!!

maybe he’s apologizing profusely telling darling how he can’t control it (if he’s unmasked) when he knows full well that he’s mastered control of his other limbs at the ripe age of 3 under the sea.

or if he’s masked up, his tentacles sliding under her pretty hero costume as he mockingly comments how tense she is. “of course she is with his tentacles poking and prodding her everywhere!!

https://youtu.be/IhlkokQHaxU?si=s1kpez0sCx_jcYGn

(scene in question in case you haven’t seen assassination classroom, HIGHLY RECOMMEND)

maybe they go further than azul mischievous tentacles intensely massaging her back and shoulders and they decided (“on their own” he says in a tizzy) that she needs a more thorough massage then before and know just the spot to hit.

one time when in vacay i was trying to get a massage but i fell asleep on the beach hours before and got sun poisoning 😣😣 hope darling’s massage goes well lol!!

loved the skully posts 💕

- phantom anon

AAAAAAA ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM MENTION IN 2024?!?!?!??! I LOVED THAT ANIME SO MUCH WHEN IT WAS AIRING WAAAAA!!!!! Floyb's VA actually voices Karma,,, hehehe. Do with that information as you please (assassin Floyb and koro-sensei tako...... do you see the vision!!!!)

Omg the shed scene....... after the recent manga update I am even more insane about his tentacles. OTL villain tako giving his magical girl a massage that is borderline erotic.......... waaaa powerless in his grasp, so all you can do is grit your teeth and try not to moan because WOW he is surprisingly good at easing the tension in your shoulders and rubbing out any knots in your back...... and ohhh where is that one tentacle going,,, the one prodding between your thighs!!! >_< you'd call him a pervert if you could get the word out, but all that really slips out are gasps and little breathy moans,,, and Azul just insists he has no control over this!!! Really, he'd stop this at once if he could (lie)!!

Hitting that perfect spot inside you and you're trying to threaten him (you'll cook each of those tentacles of his into takoyaki, you swear!!!!), but the tentacle pistoning in and out of you is melting all coherent thoughts.... massage so good both inside and outside that you're stumbling out of the supply shed in a daze,, sucker marks printed all over your body. 👁 👁 next time you see that stupid villain you're killing him dead!!!! >:( (or maybe not... that "massage" keeps you up at night with all kinds of thoughts. <3)

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

is there a way to experience arknights that doesn't involve playing a gacha game? i kinda wanna see what it's deal is the girls in it are really hot

Yes there is!

There’s an online tool that lets you read the visual novel story sections: https://akgcc.github.io/cc/story.html. It lets you read the main story, event side stories, operator records (mini stories focused on specific operators), it even has modules (upgrades to operators that cost a lot of resources but also give you a short story blurb when you unlock them). It usually takes a bit for new stuff to get added, so it can’t really let you read along with the current ongoing events (unless you can read Chinese, the CN server is 6 months ahead of the global server and I think the story reader gets updates for their stories but I haven’t checked, it might just be the ones on global).

There are 2 8-episode seasons of an Arknights anime covering the first 2 parts of the main story. They’re called “Arknights: Prelude to Dawn” and “Arknights: Perish in Frost”

There are a handful of official manhua covering various groups of characters, including one for the main characters at Rhine Lab (American science company with a lot of well meaning characters working for a flawed corporation with ethics issues) and one for Blacksteel (the mercenary group with Franka, Liskarm, Jessica, and Vanilla, who I’ve been posting a lot about. The new event side story is about Jessica so that’s why. The mangadex fan translations of this one were tagged as “girls love” and then the official translation made it even gayer, highly recommend for foxgirl dragon girl yuri). As well as a few others. There’s even the mostly lighthearted Rhodes Island test kitchen series about different operators making different foods from their cultures and backgrounds and stuff, it’s very cute. Official translations are here https://www.arknights.global/comic but for the ones that haven’t been fully translated you can usually find them fan translated on mangadex.

Speaking of mangadex, there are also 2 other comic/manga/manhua things you can read. There is the light hearted 4 panel series “Arknights Operators!” that has short, usually comedic, comics about various operators and their lives on the Rhodes Island land ship. I don’t think it’s explicitly canon (it has a gag about Hoshiguma bumping into door frames bc she’s so tall, but her “canon height” is 5’11” [no one likes the canon heights]) but it’s pretty fun and cute.

And what I think is the last thing I have the mention is the Arknights anthology manga series. It’s explicitly non-canon as the comics are all made by guest artists, but it is officially published by Arknights. It was only published in Japanese but scanlators have translated a large portion of it and it’s very good.

[mastermatoyas]

Isekai/Isekai Adjacent Recommendations Post - Female Protagonist Version

So since a few people are sharing their own isekai recommendations, I figured I'd make a post of my own. Most of these are Korean manhwa, most of them lean more towards romance fantasy than action, and all of them have female protagonists.

The reason for this is that, after noping out of Mushoku Tensei like half an episode in, I now refuse to read/watch any isekai with a male protagonist unless it is recommended to me by like three people that I actually trust.

Anyway, recommendations!

All Time Favourite: Ascendance of a Bookworm

Summary: after dying in an earthquake, a book-loving young woman finds herself reborn in the body of Myne, a sickly peasant girl in a world where books are luxury items reserved mostly for the nobility. Horrified by her circumstances, she resolves to make her own books... and everything snowballs from there.

Why I like it: The worldbuilding in this story is absolutely fantastic. The protagonist is an extremely fun character, and plays really well off the supporting cast. The series is called "Ascendance" of a Bookworm because, in the process of trying to bring books to the masses, Myne brings massive changes to both her own life and the world around her.

Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it's heartbreakingly sad. Sometimes you get lovingly detailed descriptions of printing presses, medieval economics, and soup.

A lot of these recommendations are romance-focused, but Ascendance of a Bookworm contains very little romance (arguably none for the protagonist, depending on how you interpret Myne's relationship with a certain character). Because of that, this is the one I would most recommend to people who are not interested in romance.

There is a manga for this one (and an anime), but it isn't finished. The light novel, however, is finished and has a complete official translation. Unlike a lot of light novels, the prose is actually pretty good, too! I would highly recommend the light novel if you're looking to get into this series.

Possible Second Favourite: Concubine Walkthrough

Summary: High school student Yona gets quite literally sucked into the world of the VR game Concubine Walkthrough. Now stuck in the body of the villainess, she has to beat the game and escape this virtual world in time to take her college entrance exams.

Why I like it: The premise seems fairly cliche at first, but unlike a lot of romance fantasy isekai that stay strictly within the realm of fantasy, Concubine Walkthrough is actually science fiction. It's also a tale of palace intrigue, the cruelty of the modern (well, near-future) world, and - yes - it is a love story.

It's hard to fully explain why Concubine Walkthrough is so good without spoiling it, so I won't say any more than that. Just that this is a journey worth undertaking.

Other Recommendations, in no particular order except maybe alphabetical

How to Win my Husband Over:

The protagonist wakes up in the body of Rudbeckia de Borgia, a novel villainess destined to die at the hands of her husband, Iske van Omerta. In order to survive, she begins a campaign to suck up to those around her and convince them that she is not a threat.

Rudbeckia ("Ruby") is a complex and troubled protagonist - a heart-rendingly realistic portrait of a woman who has never felt truly safe in her life. This story comes with massive content warnings for family violence, eating disorders, and self-harm/suicide. Some people find Ruby to be a really frustrating character, since her inability to trust others causes a lot of conflict in the story. I personally really like her, because her inability to trust others causes a lot of conflict in the story.

I'll Save this Damned Family:

The protagonist wakes up in the body of Tara Elias, who is - you guessed it, a minor villainess whose entire family is doomed to face execution. In order to save her entire household, despite the fact that most of them suck as human beings, Tara must use her wits to enter the arena of fantasy politics, throwing her support behind the illegitimate Prince Kyle. (Yes, for some reason most of the people in this one have normal-ass modern names).

The political intrigue in this one is incredibly complex. Tara is incredibly clever, but she doesn't always succeed - she is often outmanouevred, which adds a real sense of tension and urgency.

There's kind of a sideplot early on about Tara losing weight, which some people might find inherently distasteful. However, she goes about it in a normal and realistic way, and the story makes it clear that her worth as a human being isn't tied to her weight, which is actually kind of a big deal for a Korean manhwa.

Mother's Contract Marriage:

Lyrica is a normal eight-year old girl. No, really, she's completely normal - she has no memories of any past life, nor has she gone back in time after facing any sort of grisly fate.

Her mother, on the other hand, suddenly changes one day. Formerly a neglectful drunk living in the slums, she finesses her way into the imperial ball and secures a contract marriage to the Emperor, catapulting Lyrica into the glamorous life of a princess overnight.

Of course, as the audience, we figure out pretty quickly that Lyrica's mother has gone back in time, and is using her knowledge of the future to save both of them from a terrible fate. The story isn't actually about that, though - it's about Lyrica charming everyone around her, finding out about her own magical powers, and unknowingly fighting back against the darker side of the nobility.

The art style is absolutely gorgeous, and really sells the fact that this entire story is being filtered through the perspective of an actual child.

Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom:

Children's fashion designer Lily Lee wakes up in the body of Abigail, the evil stepmother from Snow White. She resolves to shower her eleven-year-old stepdaughter, Princess Blanche, with affection, and to browbeat her distant and cold-hearted husband into doing the same.

This one is extremely sweet and heartwarming, while also dealing with some seriously heavy topics including body image and pretty much every kind of child abuse. Both Abigail and her husband, King Sabrian, are fundamentally good people dealing with some extremely difficult circumstances. Blanche is a sweet kid who has been forced to become mature beyond her years, and who wants nothing more than a loving family.

The Crimson Lady:

Karen Heyer woke up as the heroine of a romance novel. Since then, she has lived through the same year one hundred times. No matter what she does, she is destined to die a painful death at the end of each year - no sooner, and no later.

Having been hollowed out into a broken husk of a person, she resolves to become a serial killer, hoping that death - rather than love - might bring an end to the cycle.

This one seems to be getting close to its conclusion, and every chapter is a massive goddamn cliffhanger. It's one of those stories where every time a mystery is solved, it just brings up more questions, and I WANT TO KNOW UGH.

The Fantasie of a Stepmother:

Shuri was brought into the Neuschwanstein family as a child herself, raised by the ailing Marquess for the sole purpose of protecting his four children after his death. Despite being despised by her four step-children, Shuri nevertheless managed to shield them from harm, and looks forward to finally having a chance to live her own life after the marriage of her eldest step-child.

Instead, however, Shuri wakes up seven years in the past, right after the death of her husband. She must now relive her entire experience of raising the Neuschwanstein children - but is this an opportunity to repair her bond with them?

(Note: yes, Shuri was a child when she was married to Marquess Neuschwanstein. That marriage was not, uh, consummated. I would not call her husband a good man, for a number of reasons, but CSA isn't an element of this story. Important to note because that could obviously be a deal-breaker for a lot of people.)

This is one of the most popular romance fantasy manhwa around, and with good reason. The art is beautiful, the story is intricate, and the characters are vibrant and likeable. Also, the original web novel was written by the same author as How to Win my Husband Over.

The Glamorous Life of a Fake Mistress:

This one isn't super popular from what I can tell, but I'm recommending it because it's actually one of my favourites.

Sally, a common dancer, was taken in as the mistress of Duke Casis Estaban, who desperately wants to divorce his wife, Elysee. Although Sally falls in love with Casis, he remains cold and professional towards her, treating her as a mistress in name only. Elysee torments Sally behind the Duke's back, eventually torturing her and killing her.

After finding herself sent back in time, Sally initially attempts to avoid getting involved with Duke Esteban. However, after realising that this would simply transfer her fate to another person, she makes a deal with Casis - she will be his fake mistress and help him secure his divorce. With the knowledge she gained in her first life, both of the future and of noble etiquette, Sally sets out to achieve her goal.

Along the way, she gives a lot of very modern advice to noblewomen about sex, relationships, and self-esteem. I honestly just like this one because it's a breath of fresh air - Sally is a genuinely kind person, and I think it's easier to root for her in a way because she is a real underdog, as a commoner in a world of nobles and a mistress in a world of "respectable" women. Also, we love a girls' girl.

Villains are Destined to Die:

Probably the most popular isekai romance fantasy out there at the moment. The protagonist wakes up in the body of Penelope Eckhart, who is both the villainess of an otome game and the protagonist of that game's hard mode. The protagonist never actually managed to beat the game, having instead witnessed Penelope's constant deaths at every wrong turn.

Terrified of her fate, and deeply resentful of everyone within the game world, Penelope resolves to survive and beat the game.

In a pattern you may have identified, I like this one because of its protagonist. Penelope is cold, paranoid, and views the people around her as game NPCs. She tries to manipulate others without developing any attachments to them, focusing solely on her own survival. She isn't an inherently cruel person, but caring for others is a luxury she cannot afford.

[lilyofthevalleyys]

just wanna say i have wind breaker brain rot right now (the manga)

10/10!! highly recommend reading/watching it!

i’m hoping that i can find the manga but i dont have high hopes. some merch maybe? the chance is probably really low too though :/

more photos under the cut! + me talking about them

also i really want suo’s earrings but they’re impractical so i probably can’t get them 😭 maybe next time 😔

also please tap on the photo for higher quality!

also x2, there blood in the second photo, not a lot but just a warning!

LOOK AT THEM

i haven’t watched the anime on my phone to screenshot yet so i don’t have any good pics but KIRYUU <33 he’s the longish haired person. can you tell he’s my favourite. and Nirei being best supporting character <33

i had mixed feelings about kiryuu at first cuz i was uncertain about his vibe BUT HES AMAZING

kaji is a favourite too!!! his headphones, lollipop and hoodie is so iconic. i also love his parallel to sakura! sakura has someone to ask advice for who’s similar to him :))

introducing the four kings of furin/bofurin!

MOMOSE, the zojo king (the guy with a hood and sweater paws) we don’t know much about him yet (i hope we get more) but i just like him so he’s a favourite! so my top three are kiryuu, kaji and momose, in no particular order

tsubakino, the jikoku king (the one in the second frame)! the way the whole town just accepts them!! and their crush is treated like any other normal crush! they’re so older sibling vibe i love them so much

hiragi, the tamon king (the one in the third frame)! the dad of the group and the one who pops those stomachache pills/tablets like it’s nothing. tbf having to deal with the leader of furin, who legit yells into the broadcast mic thing, isn’t easy 😭

mizuki, the komoku king (the guy in the first frame)! nothing much is known about him either but he’s seems serious and is the strategy person of furin. also he takes off his glasses when he fights which is just really cool

also i realise i haven’t said this but the one with dual colored hair (kinda like todoroki shouto) is the main character of the manga, sakura, who’s goal is to be at the top of furin! he’s got ✨ trauma ✨ but he’s slowly learning to accept and rely on people :)) he also blushes at any kind of romance (and also when he’s shy or embarrassed), even hand holding. i don’t know how he’s gonna date people honestly

and of course, the leader/representative of furin, hajime umemiya! he’s really just like an elementary school kid, as Suo says. hes the sunshine character who you wouldn’t wanna piss off. he’s also the one who united furin with the four kings when they used to be a dog-eat-dog kind of school, so major respect to him!

(the next one contains a bit of spoiler on suo?? idk but just a warning. it’s more of a mini analysis)

a more formal introduction of suo and nirei, sakura’s vice captains and the supporting characters! nirei is good with people and collects information on people in his notebook. he’s the sunshine in the trio, and the other two are the sunshine protectors! suo is a joker, but don’t let that kind face get to you. he’s like the main instigator of most of the (harmless) shit that goes down in 1-1. he’s also mysterious with little information about him. oh and he doesn’t eat?? not in front of other people at least. i really wanna know his backstory tbh

but also:

suo. hes mostly easygoing with a smile on his face all the time. but also freaking scary when pissed off like if someone was looking at me like that i’d run and never look back. yes sakura is right, that’s not the face of someone who’s kind, not in this case. i’ll make a post psycho analysing him later

but he takes fourth on my favourite character list! then tsubakino, umemiya, nirei, hiragi, tsugeura, kusumi, suzuri, choji, togame, the twins etc. the list goes on.

point is: wind breaker is great and i highly recommend reading/watching it.

thats all! imma go make a post analysing suo later, because seriously he’s so mysterious. thanks for reading!

[ithildinwrites]

anime recommendations

it was really hard to limit myself bc i’d recommend all the stuff i’ve watched but then this thread would be too long so! i’ve linked my anilist below if u want more recs from there bc i record them all :)

JUJUTSU KAISEN

ongoing (manga completed)

47 eps + 1 movie

genres: adventure, dark fantasy, supernatural

notes: jjk is hands down one of my fave animes. it just has so many cool characters and the growth that they go thru is so cool to watch, plus the power system is really cool (albeit a little complicated) and it really keeps you on your toes so i always rec this one

HAIKYU!!

ongoing (manga completed)

90 eps (inc. ova's) + 1 movie

genres: comedy, coming of age, sports

notes: hq is one of those feel good animes. gen always makes me so so happy and it always puts me in a good mood. v minimal sadness and v focussed on the character's growth and their relationships with each other. underlying themes of overcoming stuff and becoming a better version of yourself etc. and it focusses on other teams as well, not just the main team. i love love hq with my whole soul and it'll always be so so special to me, i can't not recommend it like i could talk about it for hours

ATTACK ON TITAN (SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN)

completed

94 eps (inc. ova's)

genres: action, dark fantasy, post apocalyptic

notes: aot has one of the best, if not the best, written stories in media, like not just anime. i think it's the best written thing i've ever seen in my life. some things you don't even notice unless you rewatch and you realise how much of what happens later has been hinted at since the very beginning. it's insane how well written it is. gen such an incredible piece of media and no one who wants to get into anime can not watch it, i think it's a must. it was the first anime i ever watched and it just hooked me straight in.

DEMON SLAYER (KIMETSU NO YAIBA)

ongoing (manga ongoing)

63 eps (if watching mugen train as eps not movie)

genres: adventure, dark fantasy, martial arts

notes: i feel like i don't commonly see demon slayer be recommended to people despite it having such a good story, which is insane to me. a lot of people put emphasis on other shows for being heartbreaking / devastating but no one ever mentions demon slayer and it broke me honestly. it's just so devastating in so many moments but that's what makes it so good! you get to see different perspectives, including some from the demons and it explores people changing their opinions on things and how this organisation works and people's motivations, and ofc follows tanjiro on his journey to save his sister and turn her human again.

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD

completed

64 eps

genres: adventure, dark fantasy, steampunk

notes: oh fmab my beloved! it's focussed on two brothers trying to get their bodies back after they messed the up trying to bring their mother back from the dead (they're alchemists). they're v young and also in the army so it's super interesting seeing the missions they go on and the other people in the army they're close / not close with. the enemies are also v well thought out and idk everything in this show is just done so well which shows why it's so highly rated on imdb and myanimelist. it also has such a good ending which is so rare with shonen like i do think hq and fmab are the exceptions to that lmao

HUNTER X HUNTER

completed (i think?) (manga ongoing)

148 eps + 2 (non canon) movies

genres: adventure, fantasy, martial arts

notes: hxh is so good???? yes, it's kinda long but all the arcs are so different it's worth it. the way u get to see gon and killua grow so much from the beginning and how their friendship evolves and the skills they learn and the people they meet is so cool. the show is pretty lighthearted in the first few arcs but it gets darker the further you progress and it all comes to a head in the chimera ants arc. greed island is my absolute fave arc i just adore it sm u get to see killugon flourish! they have one of the best, if not the best, friendships in anime

BLACK CLOVER

discontinued (i think?) (manga ongoing)

170 eps + 1 (non canon i think) movie

genres: adventure, fantasy

notes: i gen never see anyone rec black clover except one friend who told me it was good and i gave it a shot. when i tell you i was hooked so fast???? yeah it's kind of a typical mc has no powers type plot but the found family is INSANE! the black bulls have such a strong bond and they're all outcasts who found each other after yami recruited them it's so cute. they also all develop and grow into their powers and grow stronger as the series develops and it's so cool seeing all the magic knight squads and the arcs are so good. so many arcs so much cool stuff and it's not even finished yet. the found family got me hooked and now im stuck here forever

FRIEREN: BEYOND JOURNEYS END (SOUSOU NO FRIEREN)

ongoing (manga ongoing)

28 eps

genres: adventure, drama, fantasy

notes: one of the prettiest animes i've seen. the music and vibes really remind me of lord of the rings (one of my alltime fave movies ever). it feels so beautiful and fantasy-esque. also it gets quite sad when u think about it but somehow also maintains this really lighthearted whimsical vibe. it's so cool seeing frieren's journey with fern and stark and at the same time getting flashbacks from her original journey with himmel, heiter and eisen even though it was a long time ago but we still learn more about them. v cosy anime.

BLUE LOCK

ongoing (manga ongoing)

24 eps (not inc. s2 which is currently airing)

genres: sports, thriller

notes: bllk is the anime i've recommended the most to people i think. smthn about the vibe in s1 (s2 wasn't out atp) hooked me and then i went and read the manga and just fell more in love with it. idk maybe it was bc it's so crazy seeing an mc like isagi bc it isn't very common to see someone push for working alone and not in a team. maybe it was the bond and relationship he has with his teammates and friends and rivals but it just got me and i've recommended it to so many people and gotten so many people to watch it lol

FRUITS BASKET

completed

63 eps + 1 movie

genres: romantic comedy, slice of life, supernatural

notes: fruba is prob the only shojo on this list even tho i've watched other shojo's. fruba just hit the hardest. it's got elements of fantasy in it and really goes into exploring the backstories of so many characters, not just the main ones, and you learn about them and why they are the way that they are. it's so cool bc it's a story about not only romance, but healing and saving people and friendship! so much friendship! the mc, tohru, is one of the sweetest girls ever i adore her.

KAIJU NO 8

ongoing (manga ongoing)

12 eps

genres: adventure, sci fi

notes: kaiju no 8 reminds me of attack on titan a lot: the whole becoming a kaiju thing and also wanting to protect the people around him plus building bonds w the people in the defense force with him and being surrounded by strong people. the character designs are also so cool and the kaiju are so interesting. also super refreshing to see an mc in his 30s bc i feel like that's not very common but it's cool bc he's like everyone's dad and OFC FOUND FAMILY yk the drill it's like my fave trope ever you'll see it's a common theme

WINDBREAKER

ongoing (manga ongoing)

13 eps

genres: adventure, martial arts, yanki

notes: i actually have two posts on windbreaker, u can read pt 1 here and pt 2 here! anyways yk the drill: found family. that's out the way now, let's talk about our mc. his name is sakura haruka and he's super strong and ofc he's been thru shit. he doesn't take affection v easily and people being nice to him makes him flustered so he's shy and blushes a lot bc he's not used to it. it's cool seeing people supporting him and his friends being there for each other and how they protect the town and all the enemies or enemies turned friends. it's cool seeing all the kids help each other idk. i've seen it be compared to tokrev a lot but i really don't see the comparison lol

YURI!!! ON ICE

completed

12 eps

genres: sports

notes: you're prob noticing a theme with the sports animes but what can i say, a girl needs a break from the sadness shonen hits u with lol. okay! yoi is so good; first of all animation, it's mappa so ofc it's good come on now, they've done aot (s4 onwards), jjk, csm and hells and bf. this anime got me so interested in figure skating like it's gen so cool seeing all the routines people come up with and how it goes from a mess of a routine at the start of the season to the end! also super inspiring seeing a character like yuuri who struggles with anxiety bc it makes it feel more real to see a fictional character go thru that like yk he still goes out there and skates despite it all idk it's cool

LINK CLICK

ongoing

23 eps

genres: supernatural, drama, fantasy

notes: the best way to describe link click is mindfuck. it's INSANE. so much happens and stuff links back to other things in ways i didn't even think was possible. it's abt these two guys and one of them can go into photographs into the body of the person who took the photo and they use this to solve people's questions and find stuff etc and ofc it evolves into more serious issues but it's just super cool. so well written and incredible animation as well. idk if it classifies as anime bc it's in chinese but i couldn't Not put it here it's just too good

THE ELUSIVE SAMURAI

ongoing (manga ongoing)

12 eps

genres: adventure, comedy, historical fantasy

notes: i finished this kinda recently bc the episodes were just airing but it's so good! the animation is insane and again, found family!!!!! they're just a bunch of kids and the mc is the son of the shogun who is super good at being elusive and running away and the others are his retainers, or his most trusted guards. they're all kids but they're so talented and he's gathering more and more supporters to his cause and it's so cool seeing how they overcome their obstacles like enemies bigger and stronger than them but they still push thru to try and get his kingdom back

VIOLET EVERGARDEN

completed

13 eps + 1 movie (movie sucks ass tho don't watch it)

genres: coming of age, steampunk

notes: so beautifully animated it's insane. every episode is done so wonderfully and it makes me so emotional. i think i cried watching every episode. it's about this young girl named violet and she's been a child soldier for most of her life but then someone close to her dies and tells her "i love you" right before he dies so she goes on a journey to find out out what love is basically and just meets so many people on her journey. it's really sweet.

AKAME GA KILL

completed

24 eps

genres: action, dark fantasy

notes: without saying too much and spoiling it, this is one of the most unexpected animes i've ever seen. there's a group of people who are all v strong and talented and they're classed as criminals. i don't remember everything that happened bc it's been years since i watched it but i remember it being so good and being unable to predict anything that happened bc it all came out of nowhere. all i can say is, don't forget who the series is named after (akame).

HIGH CARD

completed (i think?)

24 eps

genres: action, adventure, fantasy

notes: high card reminds me of kingsman a lot and that's a good thing. it's such a cool concept to give different playing cards different abilities and people who have those cards get those powers. plus the fact that they're an organisation masquerading as a normal business makes it cooler (this plus them dressing all formally is what reminds me of kingsman)

TRIGUN STAMPEDE

ongoing (manga completed)

12 eps

genres: space western

notes: maybe some of the best animation i've seen in a series. vash and nai are so tragic i can't stop thinking about them even after it's been ages since i finished the anime and the other characters are so cool??? i love how vash has a skewed sense of like morality if that makes sense bc he wants to not hurt anyone but that in turn hurts people and it's just cool and nai is also so interesting. i don't want to spoil anything but the designs and everything are so on point AND THE MUSIC IS AMAZING! i haven't even talked about wolfwood but we'll be here all day if i start he's awesome

HELLS PARADISE

ongoing (manga completed)

13 eps

genres: action, dark fantasy, psychological thriller

notes: hells is considered one of the dark trio with chainsaw man and jujutsu kaisen but i don't see as many people talk about it as they do with the other two which is such a shame bc it's so good. there's bits that fuck with you so much like i was convinced i was being gaslit at one point but it's just so good and the worldbuilding and fantasy elements on the island are so insane and well done. the mix of characters is also so cool bc there's so many different ones with different motives and they gotta work together it's just cool

SK8 THE INFINITY

ongoing

12 eps

genres: adventure, sports

notes: sk8 is incredible like idk how in 12 eps they managed to make me like so many characters including all the side ones like cherry, joe and miya but also introduce a villain and a conflict, make a fight and resolve it all and we even get a beach episode! the underlying yaoi makes it even better like that scene with langa and his mother and the "reki my love... for skateboarding" like they knew what they were doing. anyways incredible character building esp on reki's part. i love seeing how down he gets bc he's more relatable that way yk like he's the sunshine character who's outwardly so happy but he gets so self conscious as well idk i see myself in him a lot i love reki

FREE!

completed

41 eps + 3 movies (i think? free is confusing okay)

genres: sports

notes: last sports anime i promise. free is prob the most emotional of all the sports animes i've seen and it's not even that bad. can i entice u with the one bed trope bc they fully did that in the show w 2 of the male characters. anyways it's a swimming anime and the mc is haru who loves the water and he only swims freestyle. he has a group of friends (one of them being his childhood bestie) and it all starts when his old friend comes back from school abroad and he's different. i love free a lot i feel like it's very realistic too

okay we're done, here's my anilist so u can see the other anime's i love bc i promise there's good stuff on there :D

[arkus-rhapsode]

Manga Recommendation: Tower Dungeon

So looks like Arkus Rhapsode is here to recommend another fantasy manga after the last one. So this time we're going for a bit of a different flavor with the series Tower Dungeon by by Tsutomu Nihei who you may know as the creator of Blame! and Knights of Sidonia.

Now I've known about this series for a bit even though it is relatively new. Having only started last year in Monthly Shonen Sirius. But I remember its announcement from people like Manga Mogul and hearing Makoto Yukimura (Author of the incredible Vinland Saga) recommending it. Now I always loved Sword and sorcery so I was gonna read it eventually, but it just wasn't translated. However, now being able to read the available chapters, I can say this is a very different type of fantasy series.

The premise is very basic: An evil sorcerer has killed a nation's king and kidnapped a Princess and now the royal knights need to ascend the "Dragon Tower" to save her. One battalion has conscripted a young man named Yuva for assisting troops medically has found he has impressive strength. Now Yuva must strengthen himself for the journey ahead as they explore the deadly tower.

Now like all simple premise stories, the real strength is in execution. And unlike the other fantasy series I've talked about before which have bucked the trend of "RPG fantasy" be leaning more into a traditionalist fantasy stories a la Tolkien, this goes for the more realist fantasy of something like Berserk or Dark Souls.

The world of Tower Dungeon may have things like magic and dragons, but it is a dingy, dirty, and lacks any frills. Knights wear heavy armor and people are covered in blood and scars from their adventures.

The mighty Dragon Tower itself? The most iconic thing about this series and the basis of the adventure? Looks like this. This isn't an opulent tower, this is a massive imposing structure where monsters dwell.

However, unlike some grim dark or edgy fantasies, this world isn't indulgent in its darkness. The violence and death are never cool or cheap. They are simply the way the world is. Even when magic exists, the world is still like Medieval Europe and all the "joys" that come from it.

The people as well are similar. These aren't romanticized or polished fantasy archetypes that often come with the idea of a Dungeons and Dragons style adventure, these feel like average joes plucked off the streets having to do a job. If you are say a fan of something like Chainsaw Man, this sort of post modern emphasis on people acting like regular weirdos and not some "anime characters." And I think that is something quite nice that even in a fantastical world, we can see our regular selves in them.

But that's just the story, what about the art? Well if you've noticed this series does have a very minimalist style. Something similar to that of Land of the Lustrous or Chainsaw Man. These almost scratchy and not the most detailed designs that make use of their simplicity to create this very unique atmosphere.

Creature designs themselves are less fantastical and more grody. Feeling as if they come from an off shoot of man rather than some majestic beast. Right down to the cat people.

This series is still new and sadly hasn't been officially translated yet. I've had to use mangadex to read this, so my heart goes out to the translator team. I can understand that this may be a niche that's not for everyone, but its something that feels like such a good sign for fantasy as a genre. A genre that I think has somewhat been stagnated in popular belief with the greater emphasis on Urban Action manga and the reliance on escapist fantasy anime like isekai. To see a more dirty but down to earth take on the premise, I highly recommend it.

[theriverbeyond]

what series scratch the same "itch" as TLT for you? Recently finished the trilogy and feel empty and have found nothing to fill the void in my chest (lol) that TLT had in the weeks I was reading it. I have already experienced homestuck, when thhey cry, and most of the other "big names" of similar media. Any format works as long as its good. I like morally grey characters (Ianthe), well written female leads, character driven narratives and lesbians (in that order.

1. Princess Floralinda and the forty-flight tower (by Tamsyn Muir. excellent audio book narrated by Moira Quirk, same voice actor as TLT)

2. All of Tamsyn Muir's other novellas and short stories (The magician's apprentice, The house that did 16 loops of time, undercover, chew, the deepwater bride, etc)

Next up is entirely my personal and extremely picky and subjective preferences of brain zing, ranked in order of me remembering them

Chainsaw man manga (i read this 5x back to back when I first got into it in 2021. part 1 is complete, part 2 is still updating. part 1 can be experienced as a complete work. the anime is very good but the first episode is not as good as everything after it)

This is how we lose the time war book (feels sorta like fanfiction but the prose is gorgeous)

Interview with the vampire tv show (it's fun, it's camp, there are a lot of gay and bisexual people making really terrible decisions and being very hot)

Gurren Lagann anime (my favorite anime of all time. the women characters are not good, as is typical of many animes. the bathhouse episode can be skipped in its entierty without losing any plot. the overall story is really good and gives me that zing)

Arcane tv show (i watched this in full once and every since have just watched a caitvi + jinx whump clipshow but it did give me that zing. i do not care about the men)

Fullmetal alchemist manga or FMA brotherhood (really good and at this point a classic. royai is the queerplatonic campal blueprint i will not be taking critique at this time)

Revolutionary girl utena anime (watch the sub, do not watch the dub, the dub didn't make them gay. it's really good but heavy TWs and also it is paced like a 90's anime so: slow with a fair amount of filler, which can be good or bad depending on your preferences)

I have complicated feelings about Baru Cormerant and recommend reading up on content warnings if things like violent homophobia and very intimate portrayals of being a colonized subject are things that would upset you. It felt a little too personal to my life for me to like... think it was "fun" or whatever like it felt uncomfortably personal (and also subjectively I didn't super enjoy the pacing of the latter 2 books) but it did make me feel a lot of things and think a lot of thoughts. if the blurb sounds like something you are interested in then I recomend giving it a shot and then you can decide what you think of it yourself

Ancillary justice book (liked this one a lot, but havent felt motivated to read the sequel)

Other fun Studio Trigger animes such as Promare, Cyberpunk 2077, Kill la Kill

Nausicaa and the valley of the wind manga (the movie is good but the manga spanned 10 years, is gorgeously rendered, and goes MUCH more in depth especially wrt climate philosophy and such)

Slay the Princess video game (on steam but also I got into it just by watching letsplays online. It's really good and REALLY interesting, i love how it uses the visual novel format to its story advantage to pull of some incredibly cool story twists. Highly recomend!)

I feel like I am forgetting things that made my brain zing. My childhood special interest was CATS the musical (stage play and 1998 recorded production) and i definitely got brain zing from that but I don't think it has a lot of taste overlaps with tlt. this post really went off the rails but in my defense, it is after midnight