#Japanese Box Office Records

[comickergirl]

M26 breakin’ some DetCo Japanese box office records, ya love to see it. XD

[alwaysalreadyangry]

very interesting to me that this summer we have Oppenheimer - big budget anti-nuclear film, making a record-breaking amount of money at the box office already for a number 2 opener, selling out images everywhere - and also that in Asteroid City we see nuclear tests happening in the background as a form of bleak humour - like, these characters are not going to be OK twenty years down the line. The film assumes we know how bad this is and lets us work it out ourselves... But it's still there. Made me pull a horrified face, like - oh god.

As nuclear treaties die and nuclear weapons proliferate I'm serious when I say that we do need more mass culture about how the bomb will kill us all. Keeping everyone fucking terrified of these things - reminding people that they exist and are terrifying weapons of mass death and genocide - is unironically a political good. How do we do this in a way that isn't exploitative? I don't know. There's been so much discussion of Oppenheimer not showing the Japanese and Korean dead, of it not showing the terrible effects on the native Los Alamos population or the population of the Pacific who were poisoned by nuclear testing. But I'm not sure it's better to introduce, say, a group of Japanese people just to watch them die in agony, especially as the film is about how disconnected people like Oppenheimer were from the mass death they caused. He can't even look at the photos. He's a coward. The film knows it. But it also enacts his looking away. For good and for ill. I don't know the answer! I'm not dismissing people who find it disgusting how it looks away! I'm also not dismissing people who would find the opposite exploitative and disgusting too!

an interesting response to it has been that we get anti-nuclear groups both praising the film and saying it doesn't go far enough to show the true horrors... We need everyone in the chain of command to remember that we need to keep these fuckers unexploded, untested, undeployed. Popular art and discourse can help with this. Is it an artist's responsibility? I don't know. If that's your chosen topic, maybe. How do we do it without exploiting the dead. Is a question you can ask.

[doamarierose-honoka]

Ten years ago, musician Usman Riaz grabbed a pencil and started to sketch.

He might have hoped, but didn't know at the time, that it would start him on a path to making history.

That initial drawing became The Glassworker - Pakistan's first ever hand-drawn animated feature film.

It follows the story of young Vincent and his father Tomas, who run a glass workshop, and a war that threatens to upend their lives.

Vincent's relationship with violinist Alliz, the daughter of a military colonel, begins to test the bond between father and son.

Usman tells BBC Asian Network the characters ultimately come to learn "that life is beautiful but fragile, like glass”.

He describes The Glassworker as an "anti-war film" set in an ambiguous and fantastical world that takes inspiration from his home country.

“I wanted to tackle issues and themes that would have been difficult to tackle if it was based in Pakistan," he says.

The country doesn't have the thriving film industry of neighbouring India and there is no government support or incentive for budding creatives like Usman.

So The Glassworker was a passion project, he says.

“These 10 years for me have just been purely driven with passion and obsession.

“Since I was a child, I have loved hand-drawn animation and there's something so magical about it.

"The beauty of the lines drawn and painted by the human hand always resonated with me.”

Usman says he travelled the world looking for mentors and his search took him to Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli.

The influence of the Oscar-winning artists behind classics such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke can be seen in The Glassworker's own style.

Usman says the industry veterans at Ghibli were also the ones who encouraged him to start the production himself.

After raising $116,000 through a 2016 crowdfunding campaign he founded his own studio, Mano Animations.

From there it's been a painstaking process, especially since full production started in 2019.

“What you are watching is essentially a moving painting,” says Usman.

“Every single frame you see, whether it's a background or the character moving, it's all drawn by hand.”

Usman says that, so far, he hasn't made any money from the project and has been unable to pay his wife Maryam and cousin Khizer, who he recruited to help him.

But there's hope that the labour of love could be the start of something bigger.

Usman Riaz says he's always been a fan of animation

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is another experienced industry figure Usman turned to for advice about getting The Glassworker off the ground.

She directed 3 Bahadur, a computer-generated tale that was Pakistan's first-ever animated feature film.

On its 2015 release it broke box office records, even surpassing US imports and dethroning previous record-holder Rio 2.

Her studio was also the country's first female-led animation studio, and she understands the challenges of getting started better than most.

“Everything in Pakistan is driven by passion” she says. “I had to run pillar to post.

“We're a country that has limited access to electricity and our industry is heavily taxed.

"We're unable to import computers and hardware needed for animation.”

But Sharmeen – who is going to direct upcoming Star Wars film New Jedi Order – says The Glassworker could be a “monumental step” for Pakistan’s animation scene.

If it finds commercial success, she believes it will “ignite” something in the country, but there are barriers to home-grown animation becoming a red-hot trend.

The Glassworker is partly about the romance between characters Vincent and Alliz

Arafat Mazhar from Lahore-based Puffball animation agrees that “the technical skills are already there” in Pakistan despite there being “no formal training or schools available”.

But “how do you not censor yourself?” he asks.

It's a question facing any Pakistani filmmaker who has to deal with its strict board of film censors.

“Every time there's a good film that comes out that's sincere, the state ends up censoring it,” says Arafat.

He doesn't believe the rules are likely to relax soon.

Akira Toriyama: Fans reflect on Dragon Ball creator's legacy

Stranger Things season five teaser excites fans

Is Hollywood finally doing anime right?

Sharmeen agrees the government will only encourage the domestic film industry to grow if they work to "provide opportunity to create a level playing field for us to compete with the rest of the world".

“There is a lot of scope in Pakistan for animation," she says. "We've just never been given the opportunity to create it."

She shares Arafat's pessimism about the pace of change.

"Unfortunately, it will just be a few filmmakers who have that passion, who will continue to create films," she says.

But Sharmeen says she is eager to see how the world embraces The Glassworker.

"I know that there is so much in there that will touch people's hearts," she says.

Usman says The Glassworker has an anti-war message

Usman will finally get to find out how audiences react to the work he's spent 10 years pouring his energy into as The Glassworker goes on general release.

He says he hopes to “put Pakistan on the map” and show it can stand up to the giants across the border in Bollywood.

But he admits the process has been “gruelling”.

“It is extremely difficult, but we've done something nobody has ever done in the country before," he says.

"I think we've created something special that can stand toe-to-toe with the rest of the animation produced in the world.”

Listen to Ankur Desai's show on BBC Asian Network live from 15:00-18:00 Monday to Thursday - or listen back here.

[wooahaeruby]

Chapter 22: Crazy In Love

Chapter Word Count: 4,358

Anything in Bold Italics are Korean/Another language.

Master List | Prev | Next

Did Jihoon lie to Ruby when he said he was going to hang out with Seungcheol? No. Not exactly.

He was going to hang out with Seungcheol, they were going to go to the gym together then get some food since Ruby would be caught up in online meetings all day since their grandparents were being picked up from the airport the following morning. He walked into the office-guest room and said he was going out with Cheol for the day to work out and eat. They gave him a kiss and asked that he just texted them if he’d be home for dinner. 

What he didn’t tell them was that he was going to sit down with Seungcheol and have a very serious conversation that has been eating at his brain for the last couple weeks since Christmas. They stayed up until midnight. Ruby was buzzing with excitement, saying it was a tradition in her family to open gifts at midnight, which he was gladly ready to indulge them with. 

Thinking back had his heart fluttering. 

When the clock struck the first seconds of Christmas, Ruby ran to the second bedroom and returned to the living room with a few wrapped gifts and a gift bag. He had taken the liberty to take the gifts he had all wrapped up in his duffle bag and pulled the bag over beside the couch. Jihoon wasn’t…the best at wrapping gifts so a few days prior he managed to get to Joshua’s room and begged him to help wrap everything. The latter was glad to help, showing him how to wrap and tape things up before sending Jihoon on his way. 

Ruby pushed him to open his gifts first, wrapping themselves up in a blanket and hugging their knees, watching with bright, child-like wonder. He swore there were stars in their eyes. 

Jihoon went for the smallest of the gifts first, wrapped in shiny silver paper with a red bow stuck to the side of it. He was careful to peel the paper apart but Ruby made a sound of annoyance and he rolled his eyes, smiling as he tore the paper off. It took him a moment to process what he was looking at, but when he did, he let out a sound of amazement. Jihoon knew he had mentioned to them once prior that he was looking for a specific box set for an older anime he really liked. All the websites he found were selling it for an outrageous amount so he wasn’t interested but… 

“ Where did you find this?” He was quick to flip around in his hands, eyes wide as he read over the Japanese characters. 

“ When a few of us went to Harajuku and you stayed back since you were tired. It saw it on display and I knew you wanted it so I had Hannie hide it for me.” 

“ How much was it, it was so expensive-” 

“ Don’t worry about it.” Ruby waved him off, motioning towards the other gifts. 

With him starting from the smallest, Jihoon grabbed the next up in size gift, quite large in reality, wrapped in red paper with a black bow. Much like the first, he wanted to unwrap it carefully, but to make them happy, he tore it off, stopping dead in his tracks at the label that stared back at him. It was a recording mic, another item he had been looking at for a while but decided not to get since his current one was still working just fine and was of similar quality. 

The mic before him was the same brand, just the newer, more expensive model. It had been sitting in his wishlist for so long because he wanted to justify the purchase with his old one breaking, a sale, or something. He slowly finished removing all the wrapping paper and looked between the gift and Ruby who was grinning at him from ear to ear and the bond swelled with happiness. 

“ Do you like it?” They whispered so quiet he could barely hear it. 

He gave a gentle nod. “ I- Yeah.” He nodded once more, laying his hands flat on the box and looking over the pictures on the box. “ How the hell did you hide this?” 

“Shua’s room.” Ruby snickered. “ It wasn’t too hard to convince him.”

“I love it.” Jihoon let a smile spread on his lips, “ Thank you.” 

They pushed the much larger wrapped box towards him and the gift bag. It left a decent dip in the cushion which had him cocking his eyebrow before reaching for it. 

When he went to lift it, he was surprised at the weight that he was met with. For someone who didn’t work out regularly, it would be heavy, at least nine kilograms if he had to guess when he lifted it into his lap. 

“ Why is it so heavy-” He chuckled, starting to pull off the black wrapping paper, laughing even louder at the gift. “ Really? A weighted blanket?” 

“You said you wanted one for the studio! Plus it helps with my anxiety and I know you get anxious even when you lie about it!” Ruby pointed to the weight of it. “ Nine kilograms. Think you can handle that, beef cake?” 

“ I think I can handle it perfectly.” 

“Good because I got one for myself so now you can use one at the studio on the couch and one here when you are with me.” 

Jihoon placed the blanket aside, eyeing Ruby. “ Did you take Mingyu with you to carry it?” 

“Oh god no, he can’t keep a secret to save his life.” 

“Yeah… He has never been able to.” 

Ruby reached over and pushed the gift bag closer towards him, “ This one was more of a joke but it turned out too good.” 

“ A joke?” He started to pull the tissue paper out and tossed them down to the floor. Reaching in his grabbed a handful of the fabric and pulled it out, “ It’s a sweatshirt-”

As the black garment unfolded and he was met with the embroidered pattern, he sighed but was failing to hold back the smile. From beside the sweatshirt he held up, he saw Ruby grinning wide, eyes scanning over his face. 

“ A red panda.” 

Jihoon didn’t know what else to say as he took in the visuals. It was a red panda, sitting in a computer chair that looks a lot like his in his studio with a computer set up that looks almost exactly like his… Even the clutter on his desk. There were empty red cans on the ‘floor’ surrounding the creature and the lyrics from his song, ‘This is Red Too’ embroidered in red above it all. When he looked over the lettering, the ‘I’ was dotted with a red diamond and fourteen little stars littered above it all. 

“ Hyeji helped me get one of the GoSe visual artists to draw it all out then I had it commissioned by someone Jamie knows.” 

“Are the stars-” 

“Twelve for the guys, one for you, and one for me.” 

He laid the sweatshirt flat on his lap, letting his fingers run over the colorful threads, taking in all the details. Each star zigzagged up and down, colors seeming to be in age order if he had to guess. The first star was a light blue color, the new two white, which he assumed was 95 line due to their microphone colors. The next four were silver, an army green, another silver, then sparkly red, representing 96 line. For 97 line, he saw another white star, a glittery black threaded one, then another red star, followed behind by a silver star. For the last three, there was a white, black, then silver star. All fourteen accounted for. 

“ I know it’s silly, but I thought it would be cute-” 

“I love it, Ruby-ah.” He cut them off, not realizing there were tears welling in his eyes until one rolled down his cheek. “ Shit- Why am I crying- This is dumb.” 

Jihoon wiped his tears away, laughing to himself as Ruby reached out and pulled his hands away from his face. He felt so stupid for crying, he didn’t even know what exactly he was crying at. The bond fluttered and buzzed with worry but he held tightly on their hands, giving a wobbly smile to Ruby. 

“ Ruby-ah,” Jihoon cleared his throat and shook his head. “ My love, thank you. All of this…Thank you.” 

“Anything for you,” Ruby ran their thumbs over his knuckles, bringing both of his hands up to kiss them. “ You are my soulmate after all.” 

“ You need to open your presents.” He cleared his throat again, not bothering to move as they laced their fingers together, feeling the bond's warmth spread through his limbs, easing his soul. “ They won’t be as good as yours but…” 

“I’m sure they will be perfect, Jihoonie.” 

Slipping his hands out from theirs and reaching into the bag, Jihoon looked over the differently wrapped presents and pulled the first one out. He placed it before them, knowing he had an order in which he wanted to give them. 

Ruby reached out quickly and tore the paper off the box, the bond humming with excitement. He watched their expression change from excited to surprise, gripping the box with both hands. It was a pair of highly rated noise canceling headphones. Ruby’s old pair were from their time in college and one side didn’t work anymore. With work and traveling, they haven’t been able to get a new pair so he took it upon himself. 

“ Wah, this is great.” They flipped the box over, brushing all the wrapping paper to the floor and smiling ear to ear. “ Thank you.” 

Jihoon gave a hum, pulling the next present from the bag. It was a decent bit larger, and he handled it with care as he placed it in their lap. “ Careful with this one.” 

“Careful? So if I shake it-” Ruby grabbed it with both hands but he panicked and grabbed their wrists. 

“ Do not-” 

“I’m kidding~” They laughed, he glared, but they were slow to wrap it and pulled the unmarked box out. 

Curious eyes met his but he nodded towards it for them to continue. Gently, Ruby opened the box and lifted the lid, gasping quietly at the contents. The gift was a suggestion from Minghao when he was making a list of ideas, a porcelain tea set. Ruby had loved when the two had tea and said something about normal tea not tasting the same since. He had a few options of color, but the warm, terracotta color of the twelve piece set seemed the best choice for Ruby. 

Reaching into the box, Ruby lifted the kettle to run the tips of their fingers over the glazed clay. They placed it back in its designated space before closing the lid.

“ Did Minghao-ah help?” 

Jihoon cringed, “ Is it that obvious?” 

“It’s a traditional tea set, it’s easy to guess.” Ruby gently placed the box on the couch behind them, shimmying back and forth in their seat. “ Now I can make tea for both of us and Minghao-ah and it will taste even better.”

“You can’t get mad at me for this one, okay?” Jihoon reached into his bag and pulled out a thin box wrapped in dark blue and silver striped paper. “ Promise me.”

Raising an eyebrow, Ruby nodded, pursing their lips. “ I don’t trust that but…I promise.”

He handed them the box, only two more left in his bag. “ I’m serious.” 

“I know, it’s kinda cute.” They ripped the wrapping paper off and froze. “ Jihoonie…” 

“You promised you wouldn’t be mad!” He exclaimed, feeling the annoyance budding in the bond. 

“ This is a brand new laptop, Jihoonie.” 

“You. Promised. You. Wouldn’t. Be. Mad.” He punctuated every word with a gentle slap to his leg. 

“ I promised before I saw what it was.” 

“You already promised, can’t take it back.” 

Ruby drummed their fingers over the box, their eyes narrowing into a glare. 

“ Your laptop has been having issues since it’s getting old, you were complaining so I got you a new one, as a present, so you can’t get mad at me.” 

They scoffed and continued to glare at him. “ Is that your argument?” 

“Yes.” He gave a firm nod, crossing his arms over his chest and squared his shoulders. 

Both of them held eye contact before Ruby deflated and pouted. “ Thank you, Jihoonie.. I’m still mad at you.” 

“No you aren’t.” Jihoon reached down and pulled out the last two gifts. One was a thin, small box that could be held easily in one hand while the other was quite thick and rectangular which he kept in his lap for the time being. He handed the small box first. 

With speed, Ruby shredded the simple snowflake patterned paper off, only to giggle and hold the small package with both hands. “ I’m going to use this every day!” 

He laughed, shoulders shaking and a stupid smile on his face. “ That’s why I got it. It will keep your coffee, tea, or whatever warm since you always complain about it being cold.” 

They were already opening the box and their expression went from smiles to a heavy eye roll. “ I’m not even surprised you got the mug warmer in red.” 

He was trying to hide the smirk threatening to spread on his lips. “ To remember me.” 

“ Ew, vomit, stop.” They fake gagged and fell into the back cushions of the couch. “Cheesy.” 

“ Then you’ll hate this.” Taking the gift from his lap, he let them take the gift, looking it over. “ This is a two part gift, and a team effort.”

“Team effort?” 

“Open it and you will see.” 

The last gift was one that really was a team effort and one of the hardest to put together without Ruby finding out or someone else spilling the beans on accident. Mingyu and Soonyoung were the biggest offenders of that so both had to stay on a strict, limited information diet. Since the break the month prior before The Dome Tour, he gathered the guys when Ruby wasn’t around and they were gladly willing to help put the gift together. 

Ruby successfully unwrapped the gift and stared down at it with curiosity, taking in the cream colored bound binder with a picture cut out of the first team picture Ruby was featured on the front. They snickered before opening the first page and the bond bursted with amazement. 

On the first page was the candid photo from the airplane tarmac back in September. Jihoon had their suitcase in his hand, standing like a ‘gremlin’ (Soonyoung called him that when he sent the picture over) and smiling like an idiot while Ruby looked so done with him. He remembered the day fondly, loving how Ruby was slowly becoming a part of his proper family and starting the unknown chapter in the newly shared life they now had. 

The second page was pictures from the time in New York with Maknae line, a rag-tag collage of the pictures and little notes Seungkwan, Dino, and Vernon wrote. They were buzzing with delight and they continued to flip the pages. Selfies with the guys, shots that photography staff captured between them but couldn’t be posted, and plenty of candid shots from him. He even…wrote out some little notes and lyrics he thought of that couldn’t make it into a song but he wanted Ruby to hear. Page after page was something that made the contentment in their soul grow until they got to the end of the first book and pulled out the second one below it. 

“ The second one is empty.” He stated, watching them open to the first blank page. “ I thought…With all the changes going on, the ungodly amount of pictures everyone takes, and other little things… We could fill the second book with pictures, notes, whatever it will be of our life…together.”

“That sounds…” Their voice sounded a little choked up, lifting their eyes from the scrapbooks to tearfully meet his own. They were smiling, albeit wobbly, and hugged the first book to their chest. “ Amazing. Absolutely amazing. We can fill it together, every step of the way.” 

“ Come here.” Jihoon opened his arms, watching them quickly place the books aside and practically dove into his arms until his back let the arm rest and he let out an ‘oomph-’. “ We can document all our memories. All the pictures we take. Everything.” 

Ruby pushed back his hair, placing a gentle kiss to his lips, and he melted into the little message to his scalp. “ Merry Christmas, Jihoonie.” 

“Merry Christmas, my love.”

“ You work out too hard when something is on your mind, don��t hurt yourself.” Seungcheol grabbed the bar Jihoon was bench pressing, racking it back up on its stand. 

Jihoon let out a huff, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. “ Ah- I’m fine, I’m just a little distracted.” 

With a shake of his head, Seungcheol patted him on the shoulder and went to grab his bag. “Distracted gets you hurt, let’s call it a day.” 

“ Hyung- We’ve barely started.” 

“ And you can take one day off with your seven day workout schedule. Plus I’m hungry and you promised me food.” 

“Can we eat in the studio?” Jihoon asked almost nervously and Cheol nodded. 

“ Totally, but I’m picking the food.” 

A shower in the changing room and the trek to his studio not an hour later had them sitting on the couch with boxes of Thai takeout. Conversation over food was mainly about the new BooSeokSoon song and the video recording, some ideas for the very new Album being released in April, and Caratland. Meetings for the infamous concerts/fan meetings would be starting soon to get the ball rolling for the weekend-long event. 2023 only just started and things were going to be long and tiring coming in the next couple weeks. 

“ Mmmm, alright.” Seungcheol dropped his empty take out container on the small coffee table, kicking his slides off and curling his legs up under the weighted blanket Jihoon got for Christmas. “ Tell me what’s on your mind. I know you too well to not see the cogs turning inside your head.” 

Jihoon rubbed his hands together nervously, letting his eyes gaze around the room as he mulled over his words. “ I-” He started, swallowing down the lump in his throat. “ I got something- I want to do something but I want your opinion on it.” 

Quickly he stood and went over to his desk, reached behind the monitors and pulled out a jewelry pouch and a small ring box before shuffling back. Seungcheol had an inquisitive look in his eye but kept his face neutral. Each of the members had a ring box like this, it held their group rings that were given every new full length album. 

“ It’s been on my mind for a while. I bit the bullet after the new year’s event and got a necklace but then I internally panicked because I didn’t know if it was a good idea so I asked you if we could hang out-” 

“Wah, Jihoon-ah.” Seungcheol chuckled quietly, “ I’ve never heard you ramble this much before. Start from the beginning.” 

Jihoon swallowed that lump again, looking down at the pouch and pulling out the simple silver chain he had bought. “ I…Love Ruby-ah. I feel like I haven’t shown that enough but they are always caring for me and supporting me. Everyone knows how much the group rings mean to us, it’s our connection, and I wanted to…give some to them to wear on a necklace. As a symbol that I love and trust them enough to have them in their possession.” 

Seungcheol let out a dramatic gasp, bringing both hands to his chest and throwing his head back. “ Oh my heart- I’m a sensitive man, please.” 

“Hyung! Be serious.” 

“I am! I’m seriously thinking you are one of the cutest people in this group even if you hate being called cute!” 

“Hyung-” Jihoon scoffed and made a sound of complaint. “ Please.” 

Seungcheol tugged the blanket higher up on his legs, putting his hands up in surrender. “ Go on, go on.” 

It took a few moments before Jihoon continued, taking second and third rings from the Teen, Age and An Ode albums out of the ring case. He unclasped the necklace and slid the chain through the rings before re-clasping it. “ I want these to be a promise to them. A promise of how I feel about them…A promise of the life I want us to have in the future…together. I want to spend the rest of my life with them before I want to, not because fate tells me too…” 

The older man looked over at him, the hair on the back of Jihoon’s neck standing up as he was being perceived. “ Jihoon-ah…Are you thinking what I think you are thinking?” 

Silence blanketed the two of them as Jihoon spun his rings between his fingers, lost in his own thoughts. 

There was a joke that he made many times between the members that he has never been in love yet he has written about it so many times. He’s written countless songs, poems, compositions all about the one feeling that everyone says feels so light and rejuvenating, and feeling it was almost exactly what people said and more. 

Love was overwhelming. It was an ever evolving feeling that takes many forms between friends, family, and partners. To him, love was a confusing feeling at first when he and Ruby got closer. It was different from the love he felt for his friends or his family. It sparked and ignited a flame within his heart that warmed him when he was cold and pushed him to be wholly himself. It was euphoric and breathtaking, making his heart beat faster and his thoughts scramble. It was no longer the scary, unknown feeling that he couldn’t put a word to, but a blossoming feeling that he could always have within his reach. 

He gnawed on the inside of his cheek, placing the necklace now adorning the rings back in the pouch, closing it securely. 

“ Do you…believe I’m crazy for thinking about it?” Raising his eyes, he met his friend’s soft gaze, a smile spread on Seungcheol’s lips.

“ I don’t think you are crazy, Jihoon-ah. I think you are in love.” 

“Do you see them?! ” Ruby was bouncing on their toes, head whipping around the airport arrival area. 

He fixed the hood on their head, making sure their mask was on properly. “ They just landed, it will take them a moment to get through with their things.” 

They felt anxious and excited, they barely slept the previous night until he pulled them to bed and held them down to sleep. It only took twenty minutes of them rambling before sleep took hold much to his delight. Their grandparent’s flight wouldn’t land until mid-afternoon so he needed to find some way to get them to rest. 

Jisung had picked them up with another security guard, the latter sitting with the van at the pick up line while Jisung stood beside them. 

“I’m excited.” 

Jihoon simply nodded, sliding his hands into the front of his sweatshirt, gazing around. At his own insistence, he had Ruby speak to him in English more since it was probably easier to communicate, but Ruby promised to be there if he needed a hand. 

He…didn’t give them the necklace yet. Every time he wanted to, it didn't feel right and between moving, organizing, and their grandparents coming, he wanted to wait. He wanted it to be right. 

Ruby linked arms with him, leaning their body weight against him. “They are gonna love you.” 

Slowly the time ticked on until Ruby tensed and was rushing away from him and Jisung. 

“Papa!” They yelled, rushing through people until they crashed into a man’s arms. 

“There is my little bear!” 

Both Jihoon and Jisung were hurrying to catch up, Jisung more panicked at Ruby’s jetting off than anything. 

“My baby-” Mimi pulled Ruby from her husband’s arms, pulling them into a hug. “Oh my baby, I have missed you so much. Look at you.” 

Mimi held Ruby’s face in her hands, smiling lovingly at her grandchild. 

“Mimi, Papa,” Ruby stepped back, quickly wiping their eyes and reaching for Jihoon’s hand, pulling him up towards where the three of them stood. “This is Jihoon. My soulmate.” 

Mimi gave him a once over, still smiling, tears making her eyes look glassy. “It’s very nice to meet you, Jihoon. We’ve heard so much about you.” 

Papa…Papa looked at him more critically, his expression stern as he held out a hand. Jihoon took it, feeling the firm grip the other man had which he matched easily, straightening his shoulders. “You better be taking care of my grandbaby. It’s nice to meet you, Jihoon.” 

“It’s nice to meet both of you too.” His words came out a little stuttered but Jihoon held firm. “Welcome to South Korea.” 

Ruby’s bond fluttered with happiness. “Let’s get you to the hotel to rest, it was a long flight.” 

“Oh please, I slept almost the entire time!” Mimi grabbed her suitcase handle and motioned towards Jisung. “Who is this young man?” 

“Security, ma’am, just in case.” Jisung answered flatly, offering to take both of their suitcases. Mimi was happy to hand hers over while Papa held onto his. 

“So Jihoon, where can someone get some good food around here?” Papa asked as the group exited the airport. 

[dynared]

So doing a slight follow-up to the "Voltron is leaving Netflix" announcement, I should note that it's not exactly Netflix's fault here. Not fully anyway.

Netflix signed a deal with Dreamworks where the rights to the original shows would expire unless renewed. Since then Dreamworks signed a first-look deal with Hulu, then their parent company NBC Universal founded their own streaming service in Peacock (your home for WWE pay-per-views and reruns of The Office). So Dreamworks is merely collecting what is owed. Dreamworks meanwhile, has the option to re-air the show on owned affiliates like Peacock, although when it comes to Netflix originals, they've only done it for one show, a Puss in Boots spinoff, which airs on Peacock.

So now that we've established that this is not Netflix killing a show for taxes, or doing something personal to slight you, the viewer, I do think the timing is very serendipitous for all parties involved. Dreamworks no longer has the rights to make Voltron material, although Universal does have the right to co-distribute the original series still. WEP, Inc, master holder of the Voltron license, sold the rights to Amazon MGM Studios, who, even as we speak, are currently building sets in Australia for the live-action Voltron movie.

With the Transformers recording weaker and weaker box offices (Transformers One lost to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice despite great critical and audience scores), there is now a massive giant robot-shaped hole in theaters since the Robots in Disguise are likely going to be taking some time off.

It also doesn't help that well, Bob Koplar, head of WEP and producer on the Voltron movie, kind of hates Legendary Defender from interviews with the man. He's on record during VoltCon 2020 saying that Dreamworks "did not get Voltron" which is why he was unsurprised that their attempt at a LA script that was going to use Legendary Defender as a base was rejected (leading to Dreamworks losing the license to make new material) and during VoltCon 2023 flat out said that his movie will NOT use the names of the original team, since he didn't want the series to be tied down to those names. So no Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and Shiro. Instead, you're probably getting five pilots named Ken, Joe, Ryu, Jinpei, and Jun. (Probably not THOSE names, but you get my point).

So, Voltron leaving Netflix is not really the fault of anything but contract expirations. However, everyone seems really happy with the idea of VLD disappearing forever and being replaced with a brand-new big-budget movie.

[pochqmqri]

A few months ago, when All Stars F first hit theaters in Japan, I saw some posts from the Japanese side of the fandom that Cure Supreme had a stronger form where her skin "turned brown," which confused me. Even the film director, Yuta Tanaka, and character designer, Nishiki Itaoka, acknowledge it as such in an interview:

Cure Supreme exists as a misinterpretation of Pretty Cure Q: How was Cure Supreme Born? Tanaka: Cure Supreme is a being that only takes an extremely narrow-minded view on Pretty Cure. They see Pretty Cure as only something strong and cool, simply imitating them. If she only understands those superficial aspects, then she truly doesn't get what makes Pretty Cure so strong and allows them to rise above all hardships. In her mind, isn't that all there is to Pretty Cure? By conveying this, we wanted to reaffirm what Pretty Cure has been depicting for the past twenty years....and that's the kind of image born from her existence. Itaoka: In terms of the design used in the story, we started by designing Cure Supreme, then split her off to create Puka, then into the strong Supreme ẞ, as well as her pre-transformed state Prim...other characters were derivatively designed from her. The director gave me notes to start drawing from, but I ignored it all at first. When he looked at the final thing, he had a look of "What the heck is this?!" on his face, lol. What is the "B" that Itaoka-san mentioned? Tanaka: Though it's not specifically stated in the film, the darker-skinned Cure Supreme was referred to as "Supreme ß" among the staff. The gigantic one is "T." The one we first meet is "Supreme Origin." Itaoka: Rather than appear cute, ẞ has a totally cool look, or would it be called "devilish"? The highlights in her eyes are rabbit-shaped. It was introduced as a crest on the back of Cure Supreme before she became ẞ. It's an aggressive design unique to the film.

At the time, there wasn't any screencaps or footage of this form, so I wasn't sure what to make of it. Eventually, the anime comic, which took stills from the film to adapt it, released, as well as the Blu-Ray which came out a few days ago, so I got a better look at "Supreme ß."

...Yeah. For the record, compare this form with Cure Supreme's base form.

She's usually pale as a ghost, mostly because she's an alien. So why is that, when she gets more evil, she turns brown, like a human complexion of brown? Like what are they trying to get at here? That brown skin, along with her black costume, is an indicator of her sinister power?

I get that she has a further stronger form where she's all giant, monstrous, and purplish-black, but I don't see how brown skin relates to that at all?

I haven't seen the film, so I don't know the intricacies of the plot, but it seems that the basic gist is that, Cure Supreme starts out as a villain and ends up becoming good by the end. And judging by how she's been portrayed in promotional material, her skin turns back to normal once she becomes good. What a really great message to send.

All Stars F has been the highest-grossing PreCure film at the box office in the franchise's history, and I understand why, it's a huge love letter built across 20 years, but this piece of colorism that can't be ignored acts as a blemish over it, and the franchise as a whole.

I've been a PreCure fan for about ten years now, and it's been one of my top interests. There are a lot of things I love about it, and things I don't. When "Star Twinkle Pretty Cure" first came out five years ago, I was so ecstatic to see it introduce Elena/Cure Soleil, the first Cure on a main team to have dark/brown skin, that I got to see someone like myself in one of my favorite franchises, but more importantly, that children with darker complexions in Japan could grow up seeing themselves in her. That's why I've been so disappointed that after StarPre, they seemingly gave up on continuing racial diversity, and we haven't had someone like Cure Soleil since.

That's why how they treated Cure Supreme in this film stings so much, because if their message is that brown is evil and pale is good, and that the girl who turns brown when she becomes more evil is a "misrepresentation" of what PreCure is all about, what does that say about Cure Soleil, who also cameos in the film fighting against Cure Supreme and her forces?

And Cure Supreme is not the only recent example of this franchise's colorism. They did something sort of in the opposite direction. Also last year, "Otona Pretty Cure" aired, and we got several new designs for the Cures from a few older seasons, all grown up...and their skin lightened. Most notably, this happened to Saki/Cure Bloom and RIn/Cure Rouge, and even in the anime itself they literally show a flashback scene of Saki when she's younger and more tan, and Rin as an adult de-ageing to her younger self and becoming slightly more tan. So no, you can't claim it's "just the lighting" here.

What are they trying to say here too? One could say that it's because they stopped playing sports their skin became lighter, but we still see Rin play soccer as an adult, so that doesn't apply to her. I think it's an implication that, as Saki and Rin grew into adulthood, they felt pressured to keep up with societal beauty standards, where lighter skin is "better," so they used skin whitening products. This might have been interesting if they tried to portray it as a form of criticism, but they don't even acknowledge it. Tied with the fact that Saki and Rin lose most of their sporty and tomboyish natures as they grow up, it makes it seem like being tan is something "to grow out of" for women. I find this especially bizzare when OtonaPre had several background characters of diverse skin tones/ethnicities, something I praised them for, and would like to actually see in the yearly PreCure anime.

For "Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure," we got some concept art of Manatsu/Cure Summer, and a lot of people noticed that she seemed to be slightly more tan in her beta designs. It's a little difficult for me to judge personally, but I'm including this here because TroPre also frustrates me. It's a tropical-themed season and yet almost every character is as pale as a sheet, and you take that in with the fact that this is a season that heavily focuses on makeup. Given the severe amounts of colorism in the makeup industry, as briefly mentioned earlier with skin whitening products, it just shows how little care both Toei and Bandai have about sending a healthy and positive message about skin tone diversity post-StarPre.

Going further back, in "Happiness Charge Pretty Cure," one of the main themes is a network of "international" Pretty Cure, so we have girls from all over the world, and, how the girls of non-European ancestry are depicted are generally really bad ranging from stereotypes to a lack of skin diversity. In the American Pretty Cure team, the Cure in Native American clothing is barely different in skin tone compared to her white peers. The (Asian) Indian Pretty Cure team are barely brown at all. The Egyptian Pretty Cure is as pale as a sheet. The Hawaiian Pretty Cure team is actually relatively well portrayed in terms of skin tone, and they are how the characters in TroPre should have been designed like. I will concede the fact that there are people from those nations who look just like those girls, but when the majority of your franchise is filled with girls of mostly unchanging pale complexions, would it kill the character designers to branch out more?

There are more examples of colorism in this franchise but I feel those are the most major ones I can bring up. A major theme of PreCure nowadays is that "anyone can become a Pretty Cure," from aliens, to boys, dogs, etc. But I now find that message absolutely patronizing with how most of the Cures end up having the same pale and skinny assembly-line-style body types. It makes what they did with Cure Soleil feel like a miracle, and for that, she remains my most favorite Pretty Cure. She came with her own problems too, such as the merchandise lightening her skin or even turning it orange, the amount of screentime she got in StarPre, the prejudiced fandom not buying merch of her compared to other characters, but with how she remains an anomaly, I have to continue defending her. I want this franchise to do much better, and that's why I care a lot about this issue, as well as getting more masc girls like Akira/Cure Chocolat, more disabled girls like Nodoka/Cure Grace, an actual plus-sized Cure, and so on.

[l4v3nd3r-bl00d]

i thought i'd do an updated introduction post since i’ve been so inactive, so new mutuals/followers can know more about me!😊❤️

my name is kittie, i am 18, i have been diagnosed with autism & adhd since i was 15 (important to know because it explains why i am the way that i am lol) i don’t mind what pronouns you use for me, literally any are fine. i am just a person. 😁

i first started collecting violet exacts in 2019 however my collection has grown pretty slowly since i can’t hold down a job because disability.. disables. 🥲😭💔

i enjoy old things quite a lot, at the moment my main areas of interest are in: gothic architecture, silent film era (georges méliès films are my fav), skeleton keys, children’s books & toys from the 40s-70s, taxidermy, postcards, and vintage fashion/lingerie from the 40s-70s.

i also cosplay, i just don’t post it on the internet very much, my favourite anime are: kamisama kiss, vampire knight, nana, paradise kiss, love live, k-on, the future diary and chobits.

my main/oldest special interest is japanese fashion subcultures! (lolita, mori kei, fairy kei, dolly kei and cult party kei to be specific)

i don’t game regularly but my favourite games/game franchises are: american mcgees alice & madness returns, fran bow, sally face, little misfortune, stray, silent hill, elder scrolls, resident evil, skyrim, bloodborne, life is strange, the walking dead, the last of us and batman: arkham knight.

some of my favourite shows/movies: ahs (obviously), the office, dexter, the walking dead, its always sunny in philadelphia, lost, kamikaze girls, ghost world, sharp objects, wayne, a series of unfortunate events(both the series and the movie), gummo, ginger snaps, donnie darko, twin peaks, black mirror, and every wes anderson, tim burton and a24 project ever.

okay now here is a dump of all of my fav albums because i feel it’s very telling

blonde redhead - misery is a butterfly & 23

scarling - sweet heart dealer & so long, scarecrow

air - le voyage dans la lune & talkie walkie

oingo boingo - only a lad

brennan wedl - holy water branch

daniel johnson - hi how are you

teen suicide - dc snug film/ waste yrself & i will be my own hell

fox academy - luxury beverage

sidney gish - no dogs allowed

s.maharba - s.maharba

mcr - i brought you my bullets, you brought me your love & three cheers for sweet revenge

katie jane garside - lullabies in a glass wilderness

roar - impossible animals & i’m not here to make friends

candy claws - ceres and calypso in the deep time

imogen heap - speak for yourself

ricky eat acid - three love songs

dandelion hands - bleak week

catatonia - equally cursed and blessed

mort garson - mother earths plantasia

black box recorder - england made me

lady radiator - bounce energy hear me out

coma cinema - posthumous release

color filter - sleep in a synchrotron & i often think in music

jenny01 - jenny01 best & cluster

otto benson - songs before bed

marysgate - special memory

fear before the march of flames - the always open mouth & odd how people shake

the avalanches - since i left you

elysian fields - queen of the meadow & ghosts of no

leslie gore - i’ll cry if i want to

my bloody valentine - loveless

smashing pumpkins - siamese dream & mellon collie and the infinite sadness

jack off jill - clear hearts grey flowers

colour filter - sleep in a synchrotron

elliot smith - xo

panic at the disco - a fever you can’t sweat out & pretty odd

maple bee - chasing eva & home

nastyona - another secret

heartsrevolution - kitsune hearts japan

rasputina - transylvanian regurgitations &cabin fever

chris vrenna - american mcgees alice

queenadreena - taxidermy

bunny boy - Shelly & the bunny tree & did the angels come to kiss you

hole - live through this & celebrity skin

akira yamaoka - silent hill 2

hooky - something to look forward to

jack stauber - micro pop & pop food

satanicpornocultshop - arkhaiomelisidonophunikheratos

sparklehorse - its a wonderful life

susumu yokota - symbol

every album by the cure ever

i’m not very interesting so i don’t have a whole lot to say about myself on a personal level, i just like to share the media that i enjoy lol. don't be shy to message me if u ever wanna talk, especially about anything music, fashion or fandom related, just a heads up though that i sometimes really suck at replying(i apologise in advance)🥲

here are links to my other social media if you want to follow me elsewhere, though all personal accounts, not violet or ahs related.

tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kittiebot?_t=8pZwtHs5DjU&_r=1

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kittiebot13621?igsh=MnFpbzlpaWo0enpn&utm_source=qr

pinterest: https://pin.it/4Rlko08SX

spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/qenp8br378218on2h77lzldq8?si=-sS3g8ATQECdosiCSmBVyw

- kittie😇❤️

[1997thebracket]

Round 5 - SEMIFINALS

It's the battle of albums and anime in 1997! Which will be the last anime standing?

Revolutionary Girl Utena: If it cannot break its shell, the chick will die without ever being born. This sentiment, originally found in Hermann Hesse’s 1919 novel Demian, features during a repeated sequence in the 1997 anime Revolutionary Girl Utena. Hesse is far from the only reference to philosophical, surrealist, or heavily symbolic text in the show, which trades in visual metaphor and multi-layered subtext. Revolutionary Girl Utena follows the story of Utena Tenjou, a young orphan who aspires to princehood-- challenging or outright circumventing the place of gender in that aspiration-- and is entangled in a series of duels centered around a girl named Anthy Himemiya. Written by Kunihiko Ikuhara, Chiho Saito, and Yōji Enokido (known collectively as Be-Papas) and soundtracked by J.A. Seazer and Shinkichi Mitsumune, the show has an instantly recognizable style, combining lush fairytale visuals and French-inspired architecture with a choir that functions as a sort of Greek chorus to the internal worlds externalized in combat. Utena is a story about many things, arguably all things, taking a surgical scalpel to adolescence and using the flat of the blade as a paintbrush, leaving a deeply human, visceral work of art in its wake. It has been massively influential on feminist, queer & sapphic, and otherwise gender-deconstructive or gender-subversive modern media. Smash the world's shell! For the revolution of the world!

Princess Mononoke: Cut off a wolf’s head, and it still has the power to bite. Princess Mononoke is a critically acclaimed animated film created by globally renowned director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, released in 1997. The film tells a complex environmental story, set in a fantastical ancient forest based on late Muromachi period Japan; we join a young warrior, Ashitaka, who becomes embroiled in a conflict between the inhabitants of the forest and a mining town encroaching on their land. At the heart of the story is San, a human girl raised by wolves, and Lady Eboshi, the leader of the mining community. Princess Mononoke is admired by Ghibli and non-Ghibli fans alike for its beautiful hand-drawn animation and its exploration of the themes of nature, industrialization, and the delicate balance between the consistent push of humanity and the weariness of a long-surviving environment. It was the highest-grossing film in Japan for 1997, and also held Japan's box office record for domestic films until Miyazaki’s 2001 release Spirited Away; for many, these films also filled a long-existing gap for skillfully-crafted Japanese animated films appealing to the wider Western market.

[winterfieldfrontiers]

Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram grossed over ¥14.2 billion, breaking several series records

The highest-grossing Japanese film of 2024 so far. also the highest-grossing Case Closed film with only Japan box-office in 12th and top 40 worldwide japanese film!

Movie 27 was praised by critics for its direction, writing, action sequences, suspense, emotional, musical score, but was criticized for animation quality and film's ambition storytelling.

[kissimor]

My Hellaverse ocs and sona

Sinforosa

The most popular and woman in hell Sinforosa born Sasha she died in 2020 from Desert Rose poisoning she has zero memory of the days of her death and reason why she was killed but in life she was a college student and reasoning musician but was killed by deranged fan who buried her body in rose garden, in hell she made a deal with the Vees she is both a famous pop star and pornstar she is kind and sweet and sickeningly nice but is extremely vain and has a huge fear of being seen ugly by anyone and her stage persona is very different from actually persona being sexy femme fatale dominatrix she talks differently on and off the stage, off stage she talks very sweet and sugary while on stage she talks in a sultry and sexy way and is well known for her love of sweets and anime (also her style of singing would sound differently on and off stage on stage she sings like a typical sexy pop star while off stage she sings like a Japanese idol) she is pansexual

Webster

This is Webster he is a former member of Angel dust’s crime family who left the crime family after falling in love with Sinforosa in life he was member of angel dust’s crime family and was a close friend of Angel and Molly in life he died by gunshot in the back in the 1940’s he is a joyful and very enthusiastic but he can be anxious and he is very confident but gets embarrassed by Sinforosa’s flirts as well heartless towards his enemies guy he traces of a Italian accent and likes to collect firearms and practice his sniper skills he is straight

Melly

Melly a poor moth demon who literally was rigged by the system in life she was hospitalized for most of her life and had only a few friends which are Sasha(Sinforosa) and Ken(Kitsu) she died on hospital bed from asthma in 2021 she is calm and collected but has a lot of depression and is very lazy she talks she likes to sew and make clothes and actually wanted to be a tailor she also likes to listen to mediation music in her free time her voice sounds kinda gruff due to her breathing mask she is heteroromantic asexual

Kitsu

Kitsu is a lovable and very likable fox demon he was computer science and engineering student and died in fire in his dorm in 2017 he is childhood friends with Sinforosa and Melly and he is a nice supportive guy who is completely against conflict he barely has any negatives beside he is very kinky compared to other bell citizens and does have a timid streak he likes to play video games and watch videos on his phone his a bit of a mix of a japanese and Canadian accent he is gay he used to date Dante when he was new to hell but is now dating Lex

Q.J.

Q.J. Or Quincy Jane This chick is Velvette’s older twin sister and was her biggest supporter in life and her rising in hell but was sexually assaulted and by Valentino she died in the early 2000’s her cause of death was a red room which is basically is people get put through torture and murder and the process was recording and posted on the dark web so yeah a lot of trauma she generally feel like her sister abandoned her but buried it deep down until the incident with Val causing her to breakdown and runaway her personality is Spunky and Sassy Girlboss like her except she is more wiser and more maternal girlboss but she has her negatives are basically she had a lot PTSD and Bottles up her feelings until they burst and boil she likes to watch romcoms and generally is a old romantic and has British accent like Velvette and a similar voice but has a more maternal tone she is Bisexual

Dante

Dante is well trained bodyguard and hitman and Kitsu’s Ex and is Sinforosa’s Bodyguard and he is stoic and quiet and has a huge fucking temper which makes sense for him being a wrath ring citizen he likes to box and lift weights he has a southern accent and deep intimidating voice and is Bisexual

Gidget

Next is Gidget she is in life she was a office worker from the late 1970’s she died from throwing herself into a lake and drowning she is loyal Christian and very religious and is a Loyal and super intelligent person but suffers from self-loathing due to her not knowing why she is in hell and thinks she failed as a Christian she has a valley girl accent she likes to cook and help out when she can and is lesbian

Lex

Lex this guy used to work for Vox better later quit to do his own thing in life he was a Art student who died of a overdose in the late 2005’s and is a well laid-back, comedic, a huge art buff and very eccentric his negatives are extremely self-doubting and has extremely bad anxiety issues he likes to paint, hangout with Kitsu, he loves anime and partying he is pansexual

[tumbloggingattheendofitall]

Alrighty

(admin stuff includes : today is July 31st, 2024. I've been having this theory in some form since early in 2023, like about the month after the Return Tour completed in Japan. And it's finally come time to write down my potential prescience. I also want the record to show that in an effort not to shove my potential theory into the fandom's circuit, I'm posting this privately for now. I will make this public either after WWWY2 has finished, if my theory becomes the collective one before then, or if my theory is disproven before the time in which I have theorized.)

All said, there's a prerequisite understanding going into this. You must be willing to buy into the idea that MCR5 is Real and it is Coming. If you have that prerequisite met, other helpful things to have include

Knowing some MCR lore, broadly

Being aware of the specific ways MCR has been opaque and cryptic in the history of the band. Good examples include the lead-up to the Return announcement

The sheer time scale at which they Plan these things

Can't hurt to also know about Gerard's old interviews in which they talked frequently about the ways the Smashing Pumpkins influenced the trajectory of the band, and the ways that this directly contributed to the tinhatting of the fandom in the Hiatus Period

All to say, I believe that I'm being backed up by the methods that MCR have often taken to breadcrumb about their plans in ways that are effective, but only if you have a certain level of colloquial understanding of their particular style of dropping breadcrumbs. Which, in my experience, is a long haul sort of thing - less 100-meter-dash, more cross-country-marathon. Like the aforementioned Smashing Pumpkins inspo being used as the foundation for why exactly MCR would definitely be reuniting in 2019 - the original interviews mostly happened between 2007-2009 iirc, and that's still easily a year ahead of when the breakup really happened.

So. My theory, which is dated in its current iteration to this moment (but I'll backdate my officially going hard into it back to Halloween 2023 because I think that's about the time I realized how much the breadcrumbs of it all impacted my opinion here) begins with, duh, MCR5 is happening. I believe it, I Know it, and I won't be discussing the decade and a half of knowledge I'm using to make the claim, you just have to accept it. It's happening. The when and where are the big question marks, much the same way that pretty much everything about What's Next With MCR are also huge question marks.

I think I know the answer is what I'm saying. All this big preamble exists just to say, I think I know when and where and all the rest of the answers. I think I've known since... Ok I guess it's actually November 17 2023.

Theory : I believe MCR was a driving force behind the addition of Day 2 of WWWY Festival. I believe that the box office draw of this band gave them plenty of social currency they could leverage into legitimately getting a bunch of festival organizers to add a second day. I think the only caveat any reasonable event coordinator might have would be that the first date would have to sell out first before a second day could be added. I also think MCR aren't stupid and collectively were Aware that their presence at the festival would absolutely bring those sales through the roof.

I think they've had this plan since at least the Australian/Japanese leg of the Return, in some form. I think they may have finessed and altered it, may have even intentionally delayed it due to Frank's side time with LS Dunes - and perhaps a mosaic of other factors I don't have access to or knowledge of. But I think the plan is as follows with regard to what Will Happen. MCR will take the stage on Day 1 of WWWY2 and they will play The Black Parade, start-to-finish. They Will Not play the stage show that they killed in Mexico, in fact I'm willing to bet they will undersell their own theatricality for Day 1. This is important and intentional. I am willing to bet they will fill the time with B-Sides if needed - maybe even mixing the B-Sides with the original release. That wouldn't surprise me. The point is, I believe they will at least play KAYF and All The Angels. I Don't think they'll play anything from other eras on Day 1. But I'd argue that if they do, it'll be as an encore, a 3-piece-set encore. Blood isn't part of the encore by the way in this version of the set. Either it's the final song of an encore that's just their most loved B Sides after the entirety of Black Parade, or, it's the last song before an encore of 3 songs - Vampires Will Never Hurt You or Skylines and Turnstiles as the first, Helena, You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us, or TYFTV as the second, and Kids for the third. I'm willing to concede I have strong preferences for specific picks, but I also don't think it matters what is done there - I think what matters is, it'll be a 3-song encore set that the band finds emblematic of each of the Non-Black-Parade eras. Who knows, it could be all Non-Album Tracks. An encore could even just not happen - very like them, in some way. The point is, my theory is, Day 1 of WWWY2 is about being a prelude to Day 2, and underselling themselves in that prelude.

I think at the end of Day 1's set, the official site will be updated - next 5 tour dates will appear, or some other announcement if they're feeling generous, something cryptic à la the Return teaser if they're not. Again, this is a prelude - all window dressing, actually. It's why I think they're going to undersell their theatrical bent for this performance.

I think it'll cause uproar, of course, because people will wanna know why they went so Under Expectation, underperforming, whatever. I think the girlies and gays will be rightly Irate at the Horrors for the performance on Day 1. I think it'll be exactly what they said it would be right down the line, and the MCRmy collectively will be Upset. But hopeful.

I think day 2 will be insane.

You see, I remember exactly where I was when Foundations dropped, and I think that's the level of warning they intend to give for anything that comes next. It's not that they didn't leave breadcrumbs for Foundations, it's that until it had actually blindsided the collective MCRmy, nobody had the answer for what those breadcrumbs added up to, just a lot of guesses.

Day 2: they will open the performance 'as usual' with The End and, likely, Dead!. Maybe they'll be really cheeky as it were and get through Welcome To The Black Parade, but I think they'll monopolize their time, so they'll start like they did the night before, but with more theatricality (either marginally or overtly). I also think that by either the end of Dead! or WTTBP, The Thing will have dropped online. My hope and strongest theory is, no warning, they will drop MCR5 in its entirety online and then proceed to perform it in its entirety with the remainder of their set.

(Alternatively, they will still perform the whole thing, but the online drop will be a complete list of tour dates, and/or album announcement.

Otherwise, I could see an Ultimate Greatest Hits Mashup as the set, with either, both, or all being dropped online, either over the course of their set or as one giant Drop at some strategic point during or immediately following their performance.)

What will be dropped, and when, is still a lot of variables based on which breadcrumbs I'm parsing and in what ways I'm analyzing them. My strongest feeling, though, is that Day 2 will neither be a repeat of Day 1, nor will it have anything to do with The Black Parade except in that they're using that as a ... window dressing and prelude to what's Actually Happening. And while I'm willing to concede there's multiple possibilities for what's Actually Happening, I think there's some breadcrumbs that strongly suggest, What's Actually Happening is an album release party that will correctly shatter expectations and cause a collective MCRmy meltdown.

Anyway I kinda look forward to being proven so stupidly wrong, but God can you even Imagine if I were right? Lol

[synergysilhouette]

Renaissance and Revival-era Disney movies that I wish had different directors, writers, and/or songwriters

Original lyricist/composer(s): Matthew Wilder & David Zippel

Desired lyricist/composer(s): Stephen Schwartz

I'm a big fan of Stephen's work for Disney, and I was really shocked to learn he was the original person intended for Mulan's soundtrack. However, due to Disney having an issue with him working for Dreamworks at the same time, they decided to remove him from the project. Given how Schwartz has a talent for making really epic, dramatic songs, it feels like "Mulan" should've been up there in scale with "Pocahontas" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" due to the trinity's dark vibes and storylines.

Tangled

Original Songwriter(s): Glenn Slater

Desired Songwriter(s):Stephen Schwartz

I personally found the songs in the film to be very lackluster. "Mother Knows Best" is AMAZING (and it's reprise is the best Disney villain song, I swear), but that's about it. Nothing else drew me in or stood out to me musically. Given Stephen's track record with me, I think I'd be replaying this soundtrack more often if he put his magic into it. We can keep Alan Menken as the composer, though.

Original Director(s): Nathan Greno & Byron Howard

Desired Director(s): Jon Musker & Ron Clements

I personally wasn't impressed by Tangled; Rapunzel, Gothel, and Pascal were the best parts of it. Given Musker and Clements' track record with Disney films, I think I would've enjoyed the project more if they were the heads of it (though I do like Byron's other Disney projects).

Raya and the Last Dragon

Original Director(s): Don Hall & Carlos López Estrada

Desired Director(s): Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko

Let's say that due to the lack of Asian-centric media in the west and Raya's story of uniting divided lands, Disney already foresaw the potential comparisons and rather than skating around to dodge them, they decided to do one better by having the original creators of "Avatar: The Last Airebender" direct the film, with the end goal to make it almost like a spiritual successor to ATLA but still something distinct, and the directors' emphasis on finding a clear direction for the SEA story and wroking with the SEA screenwriters would've made for a stronger narrative--and it's likely Raya would've had a different personality/design to avoid comparisons to Katara and Korra.

Original Songwriter(s): None

Desired Songwriter(s): Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda probably feels like a repetitive choice, and I'm unsure if he would've felt comfortable working on RATLD and "Encanto" at the same time (they were released the same year, btw), but I do feel like given his involvement with two animated Disney films (and two live-action films later down the road), he's essentially one of the people kept on Disney's list of people to use, similar to how the renaissance era used Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Stephen Schwartz a lot. Plus his music with James Newton Howard's score would make the world stop--plus this AND "Encanto" coming out the same year would definitely break records in box office for COVID films (Raya testing the waters first, with it's success encouraging more people to see "Encanto" in theaters).

Wish

Original Director(s): Chris Buck & Fawn Veerasuthorn

Desired Director(s): Hayao Miyazaki

Don't laugh, and don't judge me. I've wanted a Hayao Miyazaki-directed Disney for a LONG time--I was hoping that it'd be one inspired by Japanese culture, but it doesn't matter as long as he brings his creativity--that said, that probably means he should be the screenwriter for the film as well, at the very least in collaboration with Jennifer Lee and Fawn Veerasuthorn. If you know his filmogrpahy, you know he comes up with beautiful and thought-provoking cinema, and "Wish" is exactly what that should've been. Plus he said his favorite Disney films are "The Little Mermaid" and "Peter Pan," so I take that as a green light for Disney's anniversary film! Plus it could open up the door for him to direct/write future Disney films based on the film's box office and Hayao's experience working with the company (which I PRAY would be positive).

Original songwriter(s): Julia Michaels, Benjamin Rice, & JP Saxe

Desired Songwriter(s): Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez

As I've said on other posts, it's ridiculous that Disney hasn't utilized the husband/wife team more outside of the "Frozen" franchise (though they have worked on Disney-owned projects, such as Pixar's "Coco" and Marvel's "Wandavision"), and after "Gigantic" was cancelled for whatever reason, I think they should've been the first people on Disney's list for potential songwriters for the film.

[fearsmagazine]

Academy Award-Winning "THE BOY AND THE HERON" Returns to Theaters Nationwide March 22nd, 2024.

In celebration of the Academy Award win for Best Animated Feature for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s latest feature, THE BOY AND THE HERON, GKIDS, the North American distributor for the Studio Ghibli library of films, is proud to bring the critically acclaimed and award winning feature back into theaters nationwide, beginning March 22nd. Bring back screenings will include exclusive bonus content featuring an introduction from the film’s composer Joe Hisaishi, who received a Golden Globe nod for his work on the film, and a recorded drawing session with supervising animator Takeshi Honda, who was honored at this year’s Annie Awards with a win for Best Character Animation.

Bring back screenings will be in both the original Japanese language, as well as the English-language version, which features the voices of Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson and Florence Pugh.

The weekend’s achievement at the Academy Awards marked a second Oscar for legendary director Hayao Miyazaki, who earned four previous nominations and won his first Oscar for Spirited Away (released in 2002). He was also recognized at the 2014 Governors Awards with the Academy’s Honorary Award for his exceptional contributions to cinema. Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and THE BOY AND THE HERON are the only two hand-drawn films to win in the history of this category, which was established by the Academy in 2002. It was additionally the first Oscar win for producer Toshio Suzuki, who previously earned three nominations. The win continued Studio Ghibli’s extraordinary Oscar run, which includes 7 total nominations, with 2 wins. The win also marked the first as a company for GKIDS after 13 nominations in the Best Animated Feature category.

THE BOY AND THE HERON is GKIDS’ highest-grossing release of its 16-year history and Studio Ghibli’s highest-grossing film in North America. To date, it has earned over $46 million at the North American box office, also hitting the milestone of highest-grossing original Japanese animated film of all time, domestically.

GKIDS released THE BOY AND THE HERON in cinemas and IMAX nationwide on December 8, 2023, marking the first title in the Studio Ghibli catalog to be released in IMAX premium formats and opening at No. 1. The film was released in the U.S. in its original Japanese with English subtitles, as well as in a new English-language version featuring the voices of Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson and Florence Pugh.

THE BOY AND THE HERON made its international premiere at the Opening Night Gala of the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Tickets to all five TIFF screenings sold out in record time and the film received glowing reviews, placing in the top three for the TIFF People’s Choice Awards. For Best Animated Feature, THE BOY AND THE HERON has won the BAFTA Award, the Golden Globe and several prestigious critics awards including the New York Film Critics Circle and Los Angeles Film Critics Association honors. It was also recognized by the National Board of Review as a Top Film for 2023 and won two Annie Awards in 2024. In addition, THE BOY AND THE HERON Composer Joe Hisaishi garnered Best Score nominations from the Golden Globes and the Society of Composers and Lyricists, and was celebrated at this year’s Annie Awards with the Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award.

About “THE BOY AND THE HERON” After losing his mother during the war, young Mahito moves to his family’s estate in the countryside. There, a series of mysterious events lead him to a secluded and ancient tower, home to a mischievous gray heron. When Mahito’s new stepmother disappears, he follows the gray heron into the tower, and enters a fantastic world shared by the living and the dead. As he embarks on an epic journey with the heron as his guide, Mahito must uncover the secrets of this world, and the truth about himself.

[lily-orchard-gossip-blog]

Lily’s claim that anime that is popular in America is not popular in Japan is pretty absurd.

Example: in America, Neon Genesis Evangelion is very well known mostly among the anime community, but in Japan, it’s considered a major cultural icon, as iconic as Star Wars is in the USA.

Also, I’m pretty sure most of Studio Ghibli’s output has broken numerous Japanese box office records, so there’s that too.

Her claim only makes sense if you follow the idea that everything in the world centres itself around America.

It's an incredibly western centrist/colonial mindset.

[a-student-out-of-time]

The Eternal Endings Cast and History: The Down-Timers

//Hey everyone, Mod Bubbles here! I bring you some more of My Thoughts.

//Having gone through Danganronpa: Eternal Endings with my friend Timeline Anon, I can say it's one of the most unique and interesting fangans we've seen thus far. We had no idea how it would work, but somehow it really seems like it can.

//One thing that really piques my interest isn't just that the cast is in the afterlife, but the fact that all of them come from very different points in history. That's something I think is worth speculating on, especially with how it may play into their characters, both in terms of their places in history and the context from where they're from.

//There have always been small historical tidbits in DR, both canon and fangan, but Eternal Endings is the first one I've seen that specifically has real-world events playing a role here. Our protagonist, Krystal Willard, died in 2021, specifically referencing how the travel restrictions imposed during the height of the Pandemic were being lifted.

//This game specifically doesn't take place in the same timeline as the Hope's Peak saga, since the founder of the talent program is another figure altogether, but I thought it would be interesting to examine the eras each of them are from.

//As a bit of shorthand, I also decided to borrow some terminology from Eric Flint's Ring of Fire series (a great book series btw), where people from the past are referred to as "Down-Timers" and people from the present/future are "Up-Timers."

//This also just gives me a chance to talk about history, which I enjoy doing : P

//So, without further ado, let's get into it.

THE DOWN-TIMERS:

Zhao Ying (1903-1932)

Hailing from the furthest back in time is Zhao, a personal favorite of mine, who was the Ultimate Singer. Just from that time frame, she would've been around for the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Warlord Era, the rise of the Nationalist Government and the very early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Just days before her death- on February 18th 1932- the Imperial Japanese conquered Manchuria and established the puppet state of Manchukuo.

There's also a bit of an anachronism with the PRC's flag being there, given that the design wasn't adopted until 1949, but that's probably for the benefit of a modern audience.

Anyway, Zhao is an entertainer and doesn't really make a lot of commentary on these conflicts. She's a singer, a dancer, and an actress, and had an upcoming role before her death. This is very interesting because the 1920s and 30s represented the emergence of cinema in China. The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, a 16-part box office hit, was released between 1928-1931 and represents one of the first martial arts action films, but has sadly been lost to time.

Zhao was more than likely a silent film star, although 1931 brought the first Chinese sound film, Sing-Song Girl Red Peony, so it's possible her voice has been recorded as well. If I had to guess, Zhao probably lived around Shanghai, given that it was the center of the Chinese entertainment industry in this era.

One of the most overlooked aspects of Chinese history is that, while China itself was never colonized, it was forced to make Concessions to outside powers. These were pieces of territory in major cities like Shanghai, which were effectively enclaves of foreign territory that were exempt from Chinese law and provided a foothold for European Empires, America, and even Japan to exert influence and trade.

A byproduct of this is that many gangs and secret societies were allowed to operate with impunity in the Concessions, which resulted in prostitution, drug dealing and gambling being quite common. This probably explains why Zhao isn't a fan.

However, the saddest thing about the losses in Zhao's life? She was a mother.

Given that the photo says 1932, this had to be around January or Early February, meaning Zhao's boy, Wang Wei, couldn't have been more than 2 or 3. In-story, she's in tears over leaving her son behind and wonders if he'll even remember her.

Not to make the hurt worse, but given that Shanghai would be occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1937-1945...well, I'm going to hope that the poor kid and the rest of her family made it out.

Earnest Mikkola (1910-1945)

Speaking of World War II, Earnest would've been around for it and its prequel. Essentially the Indiana Jones figure of this setting, Earnest was a worldwide reputation as an explorer, having discovered new animals, plants and even civilizations. His expeditions took him quite a ways around the world, but it's his death that catches my attention.

See, Earnest is Finnish. I've seen some people worried that this means he was one the side of the Axis during the war, but this is a misunderstanding. See, just months after the Invasion of Poland, Finland was on the receiving end of an ultimatum from Stalin. Because he felt the border was too close to Leningrad (today St. Petersburg), he demanded Finland hand over some land to provide a buffer zone or else. The Finns said no, obviously, and thus began the Winter War.

To put it simply, while the Soviets ultimately got what they wanted, the Finns gave them a pretty bloody nose in the process. In just three and a half months, the Soviets suffered over five times as many casualties as the Finns and their international reputation suffered worse.

The conflict was also ultimately pointless, as Finland- while it didn't side with Germany- formed what was an alliance of convenience. When Operation Barbarossa took place, the Finns actually occupied much of the Karelia peninsula, even more than they had before. This lasted until 1944.

That's when Finland pulled an Uno reverse card and sided against Germany, starting the Lapland War, where the Finnish military tried to push all Axis forces out of their borders, and this lasted until April 1945, just a month before victory in Europe was declared.

How does this relate to Earnest? I guess it depends on where he was during the Lapland War, whether he was at home or elsewhere in the world, and whose side he was ultimately in favor of. Could that be why he was poisoned? It remains to be seen.

Yun Jung-Hoon (1936-1952)

Continuing with the war trend, here we have the first one to ask a historical question: local fly boy Yun. Even just from the patch on his shoulder, I could tell what his deal probably was before Krystal even spoke with him.

Sure enough, Yun here was a pilot in the Korean War. For those who don't know, Korea- which had been occupied by Japan since 1910- was divided along the 38th parallel North after World War II. The Soviets occupied by the north and established a communist government, led by Kim Il-Sung, while the Americans occupied the south and established a non-communist government lead by Syngman Rhee.

If you're only familiar with the North/South divide in the modern day, this is where it began. In the Spring of 1950, Kim lead an invasion to unify the country under communist rule, and because the South was militarily weak at the time, he thought it would be easy and conquered all the way down to an area called the Pusan Perimeter. Of course, America and a United Nations coalition force arrived to push them out.

They managed to push their way up to the northern border, where it seemed possible to conquer the North...only for the newly-established People's Republic of China to send hundreds of thousands of troops to support the North. They pushed the front lines south, where it stagnated around the 38th parallel for the next three years.

Based on his death date, if he died in battle, I'm guessing it was either in the First Battle of Hook or The Battle of Triangle Hill.

Yun also asks Krystal about the outcome of the war, but he decides he doesn't want to know and instead says he needs time to mentally prepare himself. I can't say I blame him, given that the war he died in was ultimately just a stalemate and technically never really ended.

Oumar Dembélé (1939-1969)

Another personal favorite of mine, Oumar is hilariously melodramatic, but also quite empathetic and emotionally-conscious dude. He's a relationship counselor and a published author, which is very interesting.

Oumar is Malian, and with that time frame, he would've been born when the country was under French colonial rule. At the time, Mali was called "French Sudan" and was ruled as part of French West Africa, a federation of eight colonies in the region. Mali and Senegal both achieved independence as the Federation of Mali on June 20th, 1960, although their status as a federation only lasted two months.

Even under French rule, there was a considerable divide between Northerners, particularly the Tuareg people, and Southerners. Under independence, the country's first president, Modibo Keïta, moved quickly to establish a single-party state, nationalized a great deal of services, and withdrew from the French Community in favor of closer ties to the Eastern Bloc, although economic problems lead to them rejoining the Franc Zone in 1967. He would later be deposed in a coup the following year.

This doesn't mean Oumar would've stayed in Mali, of course. In fact, I get the impression he probably moved to someplace like France to become as prominent as he had. This probably would've come in the wake of the Algiers War, when France saw many years of economic growth.

Oumar's death is also equally interesting and horrifying to consider, given that he was specifically crushed in a small venue.

This was a case of human crush injury. This is when a crowd of people is so tightly packed together (4–5 people per square meter/2.5 square feet per person), there's no room for them to move or even breathe.

The 1989 Hillsborough Disaster is a pretty infamous example of that, where 72,841 people compacted together in a stadium designed to hold just under 40,000. The result? 766 people were injured, 94 died and another 3 later died of injures they received. The crowd was so packed that even people who had died were still held up through the pressure.

Personal space is important.

Bonnie Clark (1959-1978)

And here's Bonnie, easily the saddest character in the game and I can't blame her at all. Out of all the Down-Timers, she's the one we actually learn the most about in her introduction. She has the vibes of an all-American girl, with a very fitting accent and everything.

She had a friend group that she frequently went to the arcade with, and she worked at a place called Don's Diner. How do we know? Krystal finds a picture.

"Now disgraced" in this context likely refers to Bonnie's untimely death. If any of you are familiar with the Terrible "Accident" PSA on workplace safety, you can probably imagine what happened. It's easily one of the most horrific ways to go, not gonna lie ^^;

Beyond that, there's not too much to really say with her in terms of historical context, given that she's a pretty archetypal small town girl, albeit much more pessimistic than many other examples. That could relate to how the 1970s were a difficult time for America, both economically and socially, due to factors like OPEC's oil embargo due to the Yom Kippur War.

That being said, it was still a time of significant social, scientific and technological progress, although for a teenager trying to make end's meet, that probably would've been a small comfort.

On a much lighter note, Bonnie got to enjoy some of the classic video games of the era: Pong, Space Invaders, Breakout, Death Race, Asteroids, Galaxian and many others.

Fernando Gomes (1958-1984)

And here we have our local himbo, Fernando. He's a pretty laid-back dude and his bio states that, while he's attained worldwide fame for his surfing skills, he prefers to stick around his home town and stay in the lifeguard job he's had since he was a teenager.

Even if you know history, it's almost easy to forget while talking to him that Fernando would've spent most of his life under a military dictatorship.

The Fifth Brazilian Republic, which was established after a coup on April 1st, 1964, was a brutally repressive government. Strong anti-communist policies, hard-line conservatism, political repression, mass censorship, curtailment of freedom of speech and the widespread killing, torturing and deporting of dissidents were all commonplace, particularly in the 70s.

So common, in fact, that the decade between 1968 and 1978 is also called the "Years of Lead."

Despite this, Brazil adopted a highly diversified and developmentalist economic model that helped boost their economy, and they developed the slogan "Brazil: Love it or Leave it." Fernando, ironically, seemed to adhere to that slogan given his love for his hometown.

Of course, Brazil would eventually return to democracy, but Fernando would fatally hit his head on a rock before he could see it happen.

Sonechka Morozova (1978-1996)

And another favorite of mine, Soneckha is our local magical weirdo, whose predictions of the future have been far more accurate than chance would suggest. She's also not disappointed that she's dead, but rather than she didn't end up as Queen of Hell like she wanted.

She's also very interesting in that, while she doesn't seem to play well with others, she'll respect you if you respect her in return, such as not giving her a nickname and understanding what a soothsayer is.

Timeline-wise, Sonechka would've been around for the latter days of the Soviet Union, the Chernobyl Disaster, the collapse of communist rule over Eastern Europe, the independence of the Russian Federation, the 1993 Constitutional Crisis and the First Chechen War.

It's not hard to see how, given that she has the ability to predict the future to a supernatural degree, she likely saw these events, and watching them play out probably shaped a lot about her personality and outlook.

My biggest question is how she wound up dying of hypothermia in the middle of the summer, as July is actually the warmest month in the country.

Petra Nightingale (1987-2006)

First introduced as "Scene Kid," Petra is definitely someone whose design would grab your attention. Her talent was a bit of a surprise to me, but her attitude, not to mention her sweet personality, really make her well-suited to caring for seniors.

Petra is English and would've been a 90's kid, so her time might've been spent with things like classic shows, crisp packets with prizes in them, Mr. Blobby and that time when the console wars were between Nintendo and Sega.

In terms of social and political history, the 90s saw the end of Margaret Thatcher's time as prime minister, the restoration of relations with Argentina after the Falkland War, the latter half of the Mad Cow Disease scandal and the Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to the Troubles.

Petra also mentions she's from Brighton, and during her childhood, she would've seen the city become much more prominent, which resulted in housing prices going up and a lot of people moving away. Would that have influenced her decision to start caring for seniors who couldn't afford to move.

I think the most interesting part to consider is that, as a senior caregiver, Petra has probably met a lot of veterans from Britain's various conflicts, from both World Wars to the various colonial conflicts to maybe even people who were in conflict with the IRA during the early days of the Troubles.

Not that I think it would've made Petra a judgemental person, as she seems very nice, but someone so young and very clearly quite lonely could have had her worldview shaped quite a bit by vets from these conflicts. I just think it's interesting to consider.

Vivian Wright (1966-2015)

Finally, the most recent Down-Timer and one from an era most of us are familiar with, Vivan was a Canadian teacher who was killed in a car accident. She's actually the first one Krystal meets after arriving, and we see that, while Viv is pretty nice, she also definitely has those anger issues.

I think most of us know what she would've been around to witness just before her death, but in terms of her adolescence, she would've been around for things such as Trudeaumania, civil rights for the First Nations, the many political tensions within Quebec and Terry Fox's famous attempt to run cross-country.

As the Ultimate Teacher, Viv probably has a lot to share on these topics, and I think it's interesting to consider how she could potentially be the one to help her fellow Down-Timers accommodate to the discoveries that came after their deaths. It's an interesting possibility.

//So there you go, some historical context for each of our Down-Timers, which I think could potentially play a role in their characters, arcs and motivations in the story. It's understandable that a lot of them probably have values that we today wouldn't agree with, but the same could be said of us and the Up-Timers, who deserve their own essay as well.

//This is also my way of saying "Go check out Eternal Endings, it's genuinely interesting and I want to see more!" : P

[aliquickly]

"Demon Slayer" (鬼滅の刃, Kimetsu no Yaiba) is a popular Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. It follows the story of a young boy named Tanjiro Kamado who becomes a demon slayer after his family is slaughtered by demons, with his younger sister Nezuko being turned into a demon herself. Tanjiro's goal is to find a way to cure his sister and avenge his family.

The manga was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from February 2016 to May 2020, with its chapters collected into 23 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. It gained immense popularity, becoming one of the best-selling manga series of all time.

"Demon Slayer" was adapted into an anime television series produced by Ufotable, which aired from April to September 2019. The anime received widespread acclaim for its animation quality, character development, and emotional depth. It helped propel the series to even greater heights of popularity.

The success of the anime also led to the production of a feature film titled "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train," which adapted the Mugen Train Arc from the manga. The film broke numerous box office records in Japan and internationally, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time in Japan.

The "Demon Slayer" franchise includes not only the manga and anime but also various light novels, video games, and merchandise. It has become a cultural phenomenon both in Japan and worldwide.