#Jiro Kuroda

[crehador]

sasara and rosho both got high fives from jiro and saburo!! well from saburo, jiro and sasara were doing something else lol

ichiro and doppo did some cute hand shit too and KAMIO WAS RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE FROM KURODA FOR SOME REASON LMAO

[anime-to-the-t]

[castellankurze]

P R I N C E S (S) for jiro

P   :   PARTNER.   what does your muse look for in a partner? looks / personality?

The Venn diagram of what Jiro was looking for and Mitsuko Ashikaga is a circle.  She’s a bit more soft-spoken than he expected (Jiro’s closest experience with the ladies of higher standing in Doman culture was his father’s wife Hiroka, a decidedly un-Mitsuko personality) but if his image of her is bluured at the edges it’s only because he’s so lightheaded when she’s around.

R   :   ROMANCE.   is your muse a romantic or a cynic?

A romantic.  Despite the tumultuous years and his unfortunate origins, he finds himself too blessed to be cynical.

I    :   I LOVE YOU.   does your muse find ‘i love you’ easy or hard to say?

It took some time getting there, given the gulf between them, but once the dam burst it came as easily as breathing, and he reminds Mitsuko every morning and night, just in case she’s forgotten.

N   :   NAUGHTY.   what is your muse like in bed?

Gentle - man has to be when he’s twice his partner’s size and can deadlift without a thought.  He’s certainly not lacking for enthusiasm, however.  And besides, Mitsuko loves the orchards when they’re in bloom, and if nobody’s around...

C   :   CHOCOLATE.   does your muse like chocolate? which one is their favourite?

He’s had a bit of it but he’s not wowed - a bit too sweet for him.  Jiro prefers tea.

E   :   EMBRACE.   does your muse like hugs? what are their hugs like?

Jiro gives strong, firm hugs, but they were a rare occasion until he and Mitsuko became more comfortable around each other.  For him it’s more about having her near than the act itself.

S   :   SWEETHEART.   did your muse have a childhood sweetheart?

Well, he had a childhood crush...and against all odds, she wound up in his arms.

[hydranomago]

“Iwasaki is not the ‘child’; he’s the pet.” 

-- Kengo, on Iwasaki’s role as Sasara 

Kuroda and Kengo: (talking about how their character roles are like father and mother respectively in DH) 

Kengo: “I once thought that Iwasaki (as Sasara) had the ‘child’ role between us; but today I’ve confirmed it.” 

Iwasaki: “Huh?” 

Kengo: “He’s not the ‘child’; he’s the ‘pet’.” 

Everyone: (already laughing like crazy) 

Iwasaki: (SasaShook) “Eh? Chihuahua?” 

Kengo: “Rei’s the person holding the leash saying ‘Go Sasara! Go get ‘em!’ while Rosho is shouting ‘No! No! No!’ and trying to stop Sasara from charging forwards, (insert Iwasaki imitating a dog here) but he’s still charging without restraint; this represents Osaka Division’s tireless and relentless power. The only person who can portray this energy is Iwasaki.” 

Iwasaki: (adjusting blazer dejectedly) “And here I thought I was the child...” 

Subaru: “Chihuahua more like? (quoting from song with Haruki & Amasaki joining) ‘This is a chihuahua VS a Siberian tiger’.” 

Iwasaki: “EH? WASN’T I SAYING THAT TO ROSHO AS A BRAG?! (SasaShook x2) My own diss came flying back to bite me! The context has become weird!” 

Source: Division Talk Battle 

Bonus: 

Subaru’s facial expression 

[twilightronin]

Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell 1974

[tsunflowers]

descriptions of the five core voicerangers. i interchangeably call them idol sentai songer and just voicerangers bc I refuse to decide on one

red voice/kitano jiro: annoying, stubborn, no filter. has a quiet intensity that makes him difficult to ignore. also he dresses super slutty which is hard to ignore as well

when he was traveling he experienced a traumatic event that nearly killed him and changed his outlook on life. I haven't thought of what the details of it are bc I don't think they would ever need to come up but I think he was somehow confined or immobile for a long period of time and that remains a trigger for him. the whole time he was going through this he was thinking of all his regrets and the things he would never get to do so after surviving it he was like "I never want to have regrets. if something like that happens again I want to go to my death knowing I left nothing undone." which is... one way to cope

eventually he realizes that living every day planning for his own death is not actually very healthy and begins to focus on enjoying every day for what it is and not worrying that he could die at any moment. the rest of the team also is like "stop acting like you're going to die! how could that happen when we're here to protect you!" and he's like "omg. I love you guys. we should all get married"

his story is a little dark but I love when a character acts flippant bc they have an insane amount of stress or trauma that they're trying to cover up

blue voice/fujishima kenta: I think I kind of based him on kaoru from sidem without thinking. lmao. he's very prickly and often gets in arguments with jiro when he thinks he's being unreasonable, but he can't help being caught up in jiro's energy even though he hates it. when they were in high school his relationship with jiro was full of him bonking jiro on the head with a textbook and saying "it can't be helped" while giving jiro his notes. that vibe hasn't really changed. jiro really appreciates that kenta still treats him exactly the same but kenta won't hear it bc he's super tsuntsun

he's a gifted singer and piano player, although before becoming an idol he had a job that took up a lot of his time and prevented him from spending much time on his music. however, he still found time to give music lessons to underprivileged children. that's his secret cute side showing through

he has to learn to be more sincere, both when pursuing his own interests and when interacting with others

yellow voice/satou akihiko: guys who say ehe. he's a six foot man who loves cute and girly stuff and it's completely normal. no one is ever like "isn't it weird for a guy to put my melody stickers on his phone case" and he never has to defend himself to people. he is a little bit easily flustered, especially by jiro's antics, and he's always trying to get him and kenta to stop arguing. he's kind of the rock of the group as the most honest and emotionally stable member

it's tough bc I don't want him to feel any shame regarding his hobbies but I also want his growth moment to be him being able to put his own interests over other people's requests and desires and I feel like that behavior would have developed from feeling that he had to conceal his interests to avoid harassment. I think he's always trying to help other people and avoid conflict at the cost of his own happiness and I guess that doesn't have to be related to getting bullied for his girly hobbies

black voice/kuroda machi: the only one to have her theme color in her name. she's an engineer and so is her mom. both of them worked on the idol sentai project developing the suits and robots. moreso her mom but machi jumped in as soon as she was finished with school bc she had grown up alongside the project and was so passionate about it

she greatly admires and envies people with "natural talent" like her mother, bc she thinks she's not actually that smart and had to work harder than everyone else to get where she is. this sometimes causes friction in her relationship with her partner suki, who is a robot that can do everything perfectly on the first try. suki has to tell her "it's only bc of the hard work of people like you that I'm able to do this. I can do a sequence of steps perfectly, but think of how many times the programmers had to try to code that" which makes her feel better. suki is always good at lifting machi's mood but machi feels good bc she's suki's field mechanic and she's the only one who can support suki in that specific way

silver voice/sandai suki: the third generation (daisan) in the line of idol robots, which is where her surname comes from. she has sparkling silver eyes and a captivating presence. it's not a secret that she's a robot, which causes her to feel unsure if the company is marketing her as an idol or as a product. after a series of solo lives where she feels uncomfortably like it's the latter, she's the one to request machi form a unit with her so that the vibe becomes "two idols" and not "the amazing idol robot, here for you to gawk at!" machi was already traveling to gigs with her as support staff and would learn suki's dances while they were working with choreographers to input the moves so she seemed like a natural choice. that closeness led to them becoming gfs

bc she's a robot made to be an idol, she's always bubbly, cheerful, and smiling. she has feelings other than that, but it's hard for her to express them, both on a physical level and bc she knows that it's not what she was made for. telling people to fuck off with a smile or ending a list of things they did wrong with a wink comes more naturally, bt she struggles to express sincere worry or anger. it's something that she works on with machi and the two of them begin to tinker with her facial rig to allow her to makes expressions that aren't cute. she isn't equipped with tear ducts but when she saw her face in the mirror contorted in anger for the first time she wanted to cry from happiness

[akkivee]

sometimes you just actually pay attention to the news part of your hypster membership and find fun things when you do lmao so apparently they’ve been asking the teams’ seiyuu what their fav song from their rivalling team is. since mtc vs fp is a little ways away yet still, we haven’t gotten their list yet but for bb vs dh and mtr vs bat:

dotsuitare hompo

iwasaki (sasara): fav song- “ore ga ichiro” it was the first song he listened to and he thought it was so cool, it blew his mind!!

kawanishi (rosho): fav song- “ohayo ikebukuro” it’s a good song to listen to when he heads out in the mornings

kuroda (rei): fav song- “ikebukuro west game park” the bros’ cypher, rhythm and singing is the perfect in every way!

buster bros

subaru (ichiro): fav song- “ahh~ osaka dreamin’ night” each line was skilfully done

ishiya (jiro): fav song- “ahh~ osaka dreamin’ night” the technique behind the song that brings out the osaka sound, energy and its lyrics are amazing

amasaki (saburo): fav song- “ahh~ osaka dreamin’ night” he was born and raised in osaka so he thought it was a perfect representation of osaka. he sang it a lot

bad ass temple

hayama (kuukou): fav song- “papillon” he’s been playing it as his cool down bedtime routine and it helps him get a good nights rest

sakakihara (jyushi): fav song- “the champion” he wants to be a champion too!!

takeuchi (hitoya): fav song- “the champion” really drives home that they’re the undefeated champs

matenrou

hayami (jakurai): fav song- “bad ass temple funky sounds” it expresses how wonderful nagoya is

kijima (hifumi): fav song- “sougyaran bam” the song shines brilliantly through hayama’s talent!

itou (doppo): fav song- “moonlight shadow” man, it’s a hard song to sing but it’s amazing

[valkavavaart]

no one asked but i wanted to do all of this in one sitting lets go.. this is long im sorry

1. favourite character 

jyushi, kuukou, ramuda.. i will not pick between them

2. least favourite character 

jyuto.. also saburo but he’s growing on me

3. favourite division

nagoya, baby!

4. favourite buster bros member

legally adopting jiro.. thats my boy i love him

5. favourite mtc member

rioooOoOOoOOoOoOoOOo i dont care the other two but like id give my life for riooOoOOOo

6. favourite matenrou member

doppPOOoOOOoOOOoo but also dr jakurai jinguji if ur out there...

7. favourite fling posse member

r a m u d and a.. whos that

8. favourite character song

UMMM drops and moonlight shadow both slap...?

9. favourite rap battle

its gotta beeeeee battle battle battle? i dont rlly listen to them much i just think abt the art where ramuda and jakurai are like face to face except we KNOW ramuda is barely like 5′0″ and jakurai is a big tall 6′4″ish man so how are they this close is ramuda sitting on his knee?? is jakurai kneeling?? is ramuda on a box

10. favourite tdd member

again.. ramuda lmao.. like esp tdd ramuda his outfit is so cute hes just so tiny..

11. your otp

UMMMM i like getting into a lot of ships?? id say my favs are probably like.. gendice or riodice maybe?? and ichikuu.. rn im like rlly into hitoya/jakurai too i want those old men to hold hands (i wanna draw them but idk any good poses for old dudes who r also boyfriends)

12. your notp

anything involving saburo uMmMMmm.. im not rlly a fan of samatoki/ichiro & tdd era samatoki/ichiro ESPECIALLY rubs e the wrong way.. i also dont rlly like jyushi/hitoya or kuukou/hitoya they just rlly rub me the wrong way

13. how did you get hooked on hypmic

ok so on twitter all my friends and the artists i follow got rlly into fire emblem three houses and i didnt own a switch at the time but i was like "cool i'll like find a bunch of artists that draw this and i'll UHHH maybe get hyped for it idk" and one of the artists was riryou_ on twitter who was posting like mochi blyeth and i was like omg so cute... and they spoke abt like hypmic a bunch too and i was like "oh i vaguely know what hypmic is (based off of all the samatoki memes and sasara fanart i’d see), maybe i should get into it??" then they like posted jyushi and i was like "oh he looks so dumb i need to know more" and i HEARD jyushi and i was like "actually he's adorable and i love him!!" bc i have a soft spot for like.. crybaby chuunis, and then downloaded the game and was like "wtf!!! where is jyushi" and thats why im here..

14. a character you identify with

im not assigning myself a hypmic kin!!!!!!!!

but i’ll pick doppo bc 1. never trust a doppo kinnie and 2. i too need a therapist

15. favourite character design

KUUKOU was designed specifally to cater to me here is exactly why

-SHORT KING. (HES THE SECOND SHORTEST BOY?? WHAT THE FUCK??? HE’S TALLER THAN RAMUDA SO GOOD FOR HIM.. BUT YOU’RE TELLING ME SABURO THE FUCKING 14 YEAR OLD IS TALLER THAN MY BOY KUU!??!?!?!? SHORT KING!)

-his hair. i cant draw it but i like it

-hes like >:3 all the time 

-he has?? fucking fangs

-cat boy energy

-the like contrast of him being a monk and then him also just being a little bastard.. love that

-i like his jacket

-his dumb fucking boots..

-he comfy

-radiates chaotic energy

-one of his eyes is usually like slightly squinted?? i dont know why he does that but i like it

-he wont hesitate.. bitch

-i forgot this was supposed to be like based on his design and went on a long ass ramble abt his personality but like sshhh you wont see that.. delete

-piercings... the big one looks like a stretcher? i like that

-his speakers that look like the dragon w the bell are cool

-again short king rowdy boy

-he has long eyelashes and wears eye makeup.. thats cute..

- >:3

16. a character you'd cosplay

again kuukou looks comfy but thats a lot of layers.. itd be rlly warm right..

id say maybe jiro! ichiro would be my next choice idk i like their jackets

17. a character you thought you'd like + 18. a character you thought you'd dislike  

ok so i just put these together bc like actually.. before i got into hypmic when all i rlly knew was vague fanart of the characters and that jyushi is my man i did a tier list to like get my opinions on them down.. and sometimes i look back to it and im like.. AHAH...

as u can see i was on board for jyushi as soon as i got here... but i thought sasara and kuukou were rlly neat and like i figured i'd like ichiro bc mmm... but honestly im not that big on ichi SFGKHDLF...

meanwhile in the bottom tier... jakurai, jiro, dice, rosho, ramuda, hifumi... the irony that i actually rlly like all of them... rosho took a while to grow on me but he's really good.. meanwhile hifumi probably still isnt a character im like SUPER into but i do like him..

heres my current tier list tho LMAO

19. buster bros or mtc?

hnn.. its gonna have to be buster bros...

i like jiro and rio a lot and dont rlly care for the other 4 but like.. i think i like bb and their dynamic and find them more sympathetic than mtc lmaoo... like ichiro went through a lot for his bros..

samatoki also went through a lot for nemu but hes stinky as hell and i think he's stupid. but i will not write an essay on that.

20. fling posse or matenrou

fling posse BABYYYYYY i love those funky little lads.. i like matenrou a lot too but like fp just appeal to me a lot more and i rlly love their dynamic.. i could talk for days abt fp...

21. mtc or matenrou

matenrOUuUuuUUuUUuu again i do not care mtc aside from rio.. i dont rlly have strong thoughts on matenrou lol i like their friendship tho :)

22. favourite hypmic seiyuu

saito soma or takaya kuroda.. saito soma bc i generally love his voice and also he voices other favs of mine (yamaguchi hq, 2wink from enstars..) and takuya kuroda bc im literally a simp for kazuma kiryu from the yakuza series,

also ive been insulting samatoki so far but i actually like his va like the man has the range?? between voicing samatoki hypmic and leo enstars?? HELLO????

23. a song you didn't like

basically anything by mad trigger crew SBJFGKJHLDSF the only song i actively remember by them is whats my name.. i only play it for rio..

UMMM otherwise i guess like??? new star.. sucks bc i actually rlly like saburo's va but i feel like he doesnt rlly get the best parts/songs...? that being said i like songs w him in it so

24. a hypmic headcanon

ummmmmmm i cant think of anything lol snnzzz.. i saw the hc that ramuda was the one that like dyed jakurais hair and it was so cute..

25. favourite solo song

wasnt this already a question or can i not read.. whatever my brain is like gya gya gyaran gya gya gyaran bam gya gya gyaran bam gya gya gya gya gyaran bam

6. favourite mc name

they all fucking suck LOL

evil monk is very literal and i like that. i also like that 14th moon ties into jyushi's name and everything..

UHHH i guess doppo cause its literally just his name LMAOO and i think doppos a cute name

7. the most attractive character

i know i said that kuukou is designed to appeal specific to me but gentarou? pretty boy. love to see it thank you saito soma. also tdd era jakurai.. maybe its just cause i like the manga art a lot but... dr jakurai jinguji if ur out there

28. a kink

PARDON.

29. favourite life quote & 30. favourite rebuttal or punchline

i dont wanna give a serious answer to either of those so on a completely unrelated note, i think abt this a lot

[kaoarika]

*internally screaming*

It was 4 AM when I started writing this, I attempted to be a good and patient woman to NOT use the internet or see twitter for spoilers or the summary of the BB’s 2nd single Drama Track and I’m still in a whole mess of emotions because I read it after midnight, and it mildly ruined my night (at least not the whole day).

I just want to go back to the days where we all thought that the BBs were the most normal bunch of the original 4 divisions. 

So, uhm... thanks... I hate it :)

In all seriousness, though... spoilers ahead!

There’s LOTS I want to unload right here. From the way King Record releases the lore/info/canon, that leaves not too much into imagination just when they decide to dump EVERYTHING in just a couple of weeks from release from one thing (i.e. manga) to another (i.e. single/album releases).

It’s not only about the fact that it was obvious that Amayado was the Yamada’s dad, once the hints were clear as the day as info was revealed (i.e. Kuroda Takaya was asked in a recent interview about how he was cast as Amayado, one of the things he responded was that the staff gave on detail for his character as “someone who may be the ‘final boss’ and ‘the father of someone’”, or the lyrics from his own song (theorized to be responses for the BBs solos, music PRETTY well inspired by “Ore ga Ichiro”). I mean, come on.

I feel angry at this because, from the looks of it, there’s lots of sh*t that the Yamadas went through when they were younger, and the fact that they were some of the children victims affected by the WWIII thing, and the probability that Amayado (as if he deserves to be called by his name or real last name, lmao) wasn’t the “father of the year” either in the past, and the fact that he can... easily pay Jiro and Saburo a visit to... what? to force them to be stronger, to know their potential, to them betraying Ichiro...? 

Also, dude here is still mysterious as hell, you know... he is DEFINITELY pulling strings behind the scenes, he might have his own interests (and using CW for his own purposes)... and it makes me wonder more about Ichiro and his siblings... what I’m basically saying is that, the heterochromia doesn’t sound more as a “joke”, or for simple aesthetic character design purposes to me, anymore (?) (EDIT - if you go to Amayado’s profile in the official webpage, the subtlety isn’t subtle anymore, and you can see he also has heterochromia, HOWEVER... *insert thinking emoji here*).  “Father of the year”, right here. Ichiro did what he did (lying, more lying) because he wanted to give his brothers a better life... Amayado might be “looking after” them at a distance, but provoking them was such a dirty trick :))).

...The thing about Nemu... I don’t like it, lol. It was SO eventually going to happen that she was going to be recruited to be part of Central Ward in one way or another (it was also somewhat of a popular...? theory I saw back when she was introduced last year)... the last 2 chapters of the BTB manga give the perfect set up about it, actually (as it was ALL PLANNED ALONG): Nemu doesn’t like the way her brother acts and her views of unneeded violence are also pretty clear... heck, it definitely caught Ramuda’s attention, too. 

Now, the thing is... we don’t know if either Nemu is in there in good faith (like, for real, Party of Words seems to have good intentions on the surface, but we all KNOW that below it, it isn’t like that... I mean, if they would give me benefits -as a woman- and promises that the world “might change to a better place”, I MIGHT have wanted to work with them, too)... or that there’s a slight possibility she was brainwashed to be in (also, 19 years old seems pretty young in my book to be working as “vice-chief of internal affairs”??).

There’s also a chance that Samatoki knows it because Jyuto might told him about it. There’s a chance he kept getting released (because he is a Yakuza), not because Jyuto is just doing it because he likes it (or the whole “corrupt cop” thing), but because it was an order from above him - hers, his younger sister. But he blames Ichiro, because the info he received might have been manipulated, too, from starters... that he might influenced her to be part of CW’s government (and Ichiro obvs didn’t know ANYTHING about it until... just this one track).

Speaking of brainwashing, I have been thinking about this for a while, and the introduction of the real-deal hypnosis mic might be it. Clearly, the whole bit about Sasara doesn’t remembering much about why he and Samatoki fought, because it wasn’t like him... doesn’t sound too farfetched to think that the hypmics might be involved in some way or form. May be even the “real deal” one, too (and Ramuda might know about it and he might have taken it and used it, but he simply acts like he doesn’t know ANYTHING). I don’t discard at all it might have been also a base on why TDD disbanded, too (UGH, it’s still hush, hush, lol... but tbh, with all this dump of events in one track... MORE was going to kill us????). We already know they affect the humans’ psyche, after all, manipulating wasn’t out of rule... especially manipulating the users’ emotions.

For one, I really liked that we did saw DTH interaction with other divisions members (even if it was Sasara & Rosho vs Ichiro, and Jiro & Saburo vs Amayado), even if it clears out that there’s really not much bad blood between Sasara and Ichiro (kinda implying it isn’t too much bad blood between Sasara and Samatoki, either), but it was very stressing seeing the whole “KIDS, DAD IS HOME” little act with the other party involved. Really hoping that Ichiro clarifies stuff between his brothers again, and... you know... have all three of them TALK about it.

Hey, King Record, can we have some chill in canon lore material? I know you basically gave the fandom 5 months to chill before DTH and BAT’s reveal, but... I ALSO WANT THE CHARACTERS TO CHILL A BIT? AND NOT JUST IN SONGS?!

Geez, I miss those innocent days from early 2018 quite a LOT.

This looks quite a mess and I accept responsibility for it, it’s juuuusssst... imagine trying to not scream at your cellphone in the middle of a family reunion... and keeping these thoughts for more than 3 hours.

[anime-to-the-t]

[castellankurze]

I was bored and out of roulettes to run the other day, so I decided to make Jiro’s family.

This got long so the writeup’s behind a cut.  Don’t say I never do your dashboard any favors.

Top (left) - Lord Heihacheiro Kuroda, Daimayo of the northeastern region bordering the Bay of Yanxia.  Heihachiro was known as a just and equitable lord who balanced the iron-handed dictates of distant Imperial rule with even-handed treatment of his subjects, taking advantage of his friendship with Lord Kaien.  Despite that, he often had a reputation for a stubborn streak of his own, and rarely permitted himself to be argued from a chosen stance; he was also firmly of the belief that a man’s character was unimpeachable barring the condemnation of his peers, an old and outdated view under modern Imperial Doma. He was slain in the failed Doma Rebellion, when the Fortunate Sons of the XIII Imperial Legion marched in support of their brethren in the XII and burned Kuroda Castle.

Top (right) - Hiroka Takimoto, wife of Heihacheiro.  A daughter of a minor clan from northern Doma, where the mountains border on the Azim Steppe and the fierce xaela tribes roam the land.  Hiroka spoke three languages and could write in fluent Doman and Hingan and it was said that as a warrior Heihacheiro’s finest strategy was to marry her, for though she was pale and often weak of health, her sharp mind would lead to a revitalization of the Kuroda lands which had then fallen into difficult times.  Despite that, their marriage was a political one and it was said Hiroka did not particularly like her husband very much, considering his character a relic of bygone times, and it was said that between her and Lord Kaien, she was the more likely of the two to argue down her husband.  Hiroka went missing following the Doman Rebellion, but eventually was found in the port city of Kugane, having fled with a few personal riches which she has since used to fund a growing mercantile business.

Mid (left) Ichiro Kuroda - Firstborn son of Heihacheiro, Ichiro was the darling of his people.  Energetic and dynamic, rare was the day when Ichiro was not seen attending to a dozen different distractions, taking over the running of his father’s fields at a surprisingly young age.  He was also highly talented with the blade and on visits to Doma Castle would often seek practice bouts with the samurai of nearby Monzen.  He kept his hair unfashionably short in flagrant defiance of tradition, claiming it merely served to impede his vision when permitted to grow - a claim often considered an underhanded jab at his contemporaries.  During the Doma Rebellion Ichiro Kuroda gathered what forces were willing to fight against the Garleans and sent his brother to safety before sallying out to meet the Imperials in the field, intending to strike down their leadership himself.  It was said that he slayed a full platoon’s worth of men before crossing blades with Decurion Celsus pyr Nerva, who cut him down.  His body was never recovered following the battle, an act held as proof of Garlean perfidy, and he is yet mourned and celebrated by the remnants of those who dwelt within the Kuroda lands.

Mid (right) Jiro Kuroda - The legitimate Jiro Kuroda, secondborn son of Heihacheiro by his wife Hiroka.  Jiro was a more enigmatic figure, standing ever in the shadows of his father, his elder brother, and his...other brother, prone to sudden mood swings and unpredictable behavior.  Perhaps discomfited by his status in life as the ‘second’ son, Jiro nevertheless showed promise with a sharp mind for figures and transactions, though in time these manifested as a talent for underhanded dealings, and despite the distance between Kuroda Castle and the capital, it was quietly said that Jiro Kuroda knew more of the Doman underworld than the crime lords themselves, and had contacts in the Confederacy of the Ruby Sea as well.  Heihacheiro was loathe to rebuke his son for his eccentricities, seeing in him a possibility wherein one day the Kuroda lands might become a powerful center for trade.  The Garlean response to the Doma Rebellion ended that dream, however, as Jiro literally dragged his unconscious half-brother from the killing fields and escaped aboard a refugee ship, only to fall victim to that selfsame brother when he was caught serving as an information broker to Garlean agents in Radz-at-Han, strangled and left for dead in a darkened alley of the kind he had come to know so well.

Bottom (left) Ryoko Inomata - Also known as ‘Ryoko Twintail’ a reference to her preferred hairstyle.  Ryoko was born in Yanxia, a poor child to poor parents who left home at the earliest age possible with dreams of becoming a renowned actress and singer.  In this quest, she defied the odds and proved herself a quickly-rising star in the theaters that catered to the landed and wealthy.  It was in one such performance she caught the eye of Heihacheiro Kuroda, who at the time was passing through a particularly acrimonious period with his wife Hiroka and found himself smitten with the talented beauty.  Not realizing he was, in fact, married, Ryoko quietly returned the Daimyo’s affections for a period of several weeks while he visited Lord Kaien in the capital.  It was only after he’d returned to his lands and her belly began to swell she realized the enormity of her error.  Swallowing her fear, she bought passage to Kuroda Castle and came face to face with the man’s wife.  Precisely what transpired will never be known - perhaps Hiroka intended to hang Ryoko’s presence around the neck of her philandering husband - but Ryoko was permitted to stay safely in the Kuroda lands, playing to smaller, but nevertheless devoted attendees.  When her child was born she named him Longtail, but in secret his name was Jiro, chosen in defiance as a name meaning ‘second son.’  Ryoko was slow recovering from her pregnancy and remained ill of health long years afterward, and when her son was not yet ten years of age she died tragically young, mourned by adoring fans that spanned half the breadth of Doma.

Bottom (right) Jiro Kuroda - Also known as Jiro Inomata, Jiro the Long-tailed, or most simply Longtail, he is the actual second-born son of Heihacheiro Kuroda, preceding Jiro Kuroda proper by nearly two years.  Named for his most distinctive feature - a tail nearly twice the length of that boasted by most raen, Jiro was a hardworking and diligent, yet nevertheless brooding child.  After his mother’s death, he lived with this family or that, working whatever chores needed doing that day.  Though his parentage was never spoken of aloud, it was all but an open secret amongst the Kuroda family.  Ichiro in particular was quick to reach out to Longtail, favoring him with an inclusion to the training of the blade he was undergoing himself, while Lord Kuroda oft permitted the peasant boy to attend his son as friend and bodyguard, which enabled the young Longtail to live, if not at the Lord’s table, than within a good double arms’ reach.  His relationship with his other half brother was less cordial - a quirk of genes had given Longtail pale hair like his grandsire rather than anything resembling his mother’s soft red, and the two of them bore a startling resemblance to one another, a fact which sat ill upon both.  Longtail dreamed of one day being acknowledged his father’s son, a dream he thought dashed when the Garlean Empire laid siege to Kuroda Castle and Ichiro bade him spirit his younger brother away from the fighting.  This he did unwillingly, only for his path to cross the site of his own father’s demise amidst the confusion of the night.  Distraught and enraged, Longtail struck out at the slayers of Lord Kuroda only to be shot by an arquebusier and left bleeding out amidst the fields.  He awakened days later aboard a ship fleeing Othard, having been rescued by his half-brother, an act which proved tragically ironic for the would-be Lord Kuroda when Longtail caught him selling information about the refugees to spies of Garlemald.  Once more enraged beyond words, Longtail closed his hands around his brother’s throat and emerged from the alley into which they had disappeared now styling himself the true Jiro Kuroda.

[hydranomago]

“Please say (praise) more.” 

-- Kengo, being embarrassed 

Iwasaki: (praising how Kengo embodies Rosho as a character completely) 

Iwasaki: “You think he’s only calm and collected; but when he needs to be fierce he attacks the opponent without hesitation. Also, this time in ‘Warau Osaka’ I added a ‘Let’s get ‘em!’ right? That was Kawanishi’s brilliant suggestion; he is excellent at timing and performance!” 

Kengo: (embarrassed but still going strong) “Please say (praise) more.” 

Everyone: (laughing) 

Amasaki: “Once he’s embarrassed, he becomes like this!” 

Source: Division Talk Battle 

[somanyhumanbeings]

Kuroda Seiki, Kitao Jiro (1908)

[angelloverde]

"Mo Soul" Player Playlist 13 February

1. Fun Lovin' Criminals - Love Unlimited 2. Charles Bradley - Ain't It A Sin 3. The Menahan Street Band - Make The Road By Walking 4.  Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin' 5. Lucy Pearl - Don't Mess With My Man 6. Stephanie McKay - Tell It Like It Is 7. Leon Bridges - Coming Home 8. Joe Tex - Buying A Book 9. Otis Redding - Cigarettes and Coffee 10. Johnnie Taylor - Hello Sundown 11. Takuya Kuroda - Rising Son 12. Hiroshi Suzuki - Cat 13. Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media - Breeze 14. Masaru Imada Trio - Green Caterpillar   15. Kenji Hino - Black Orpheus

If you really want to enjoy music and help musicians and bands, buy their lp’s or cd’s and don’t download mp3 formats. There is nothing like good quality sound!!!

(Angel Lo Verde / Mo Soul)

[akkivee]

the abema program was a lot of fun!!!!!! of course the yamada family kicked ass but dh seiyuu put up a valiant effort!!! (except when, y’know kawanishi-san and iwasaki-san betrayed kuroda-san in the haiku battle and then iwasaki-san was betrayed by his team in the last battle lmao)

and the anime preview!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i started screaming when jiro started talking and his mouth was moving with his words i’m——!!!!!!!!! this is really happening!!!!!!!!!! hypmic anime!!!!!!!!!! and ichiro summoning his speakers is just one step away from being a magical girl transformation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i’m so hype this is going to be so much fun!!!!!!!!

[puroresulist]

Puroresu Best Bout Listing for December 2016

All Japan Pro Wrestling

Takao Omori & Manabu Soya vs. Kento Miyahara & Jake Lee, 12/18 @ Korakuen Hall Naoya Nomura & Jake Lee vs. Yoshihisa Uto & Takuya Nomura, 12/20 @ Shinkiba 1stRING

Big Japan Pro Wrestling

Kankuro Hoshino vs. Abdullah Kobayashi, 12/18 @ Yokohama Gym Hideyoshi Kamitani vs. Daisuke Sekimoto, 12/18 @ Yokohama Gym Kohei Sato & Shuji Ishikawa vs. Masaya Takahashi & Takayuki Ueki, 12/30 @ Korakuen Hall

DRAGON GATE

YAMATO vs. Naruki Doi, 12/25 @ Fukuoka International CIMA & Dragon Kid vs. Shingo Takagi & T-Hawk, 12/25 @ Fukuoka International Eita vs. Jimmy Kagetora, 12/25 @ Fukuoka International

DRAMATIC DREAM TEAM

Shuji Ishikawa vs. HARASHIMA, 12/4 @ EDION Osaka Daisuke Sasaki & Tetsuya Endo vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Mike Bailey, 12/4 @ EDION Osaka KUDO, Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi vs. Daisuke Sasaki, Shuji Ishikawa & Tetsuya Endo, 12/10 @ Hakata StarLanes HARASHIMA vs. Shigehiro Irie, 12/25 @ Korakuen Hall

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa, 12/10 @ Sekisui Heim, Miyagi Yuji Nagata vs. Manabu Nakanishi, 12/17 @ Korakuen Hall

Pro Wrestling NOAH

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Minoru Suzuki, 12/2 @ Korakuen Hall Atsushi Kogi vs. Taichi, 12/2 @ Korakuen Hall Takashi Sugiura vs. Minoru Suzuki, 12/3 @ Korakuen Hall Go Shiozaki & Maybach Taniguchi vs. Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr, 12/3 @ Korakuen Hall Atsushi Kotoge & Daisuke Harada vs. HAYATA & Tadasuke, 12/14 @ Shinjuku FACE Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Masa Kitamiya, 12/24 @ Korakuen Hall Naomichi Marufuji vs. Takashi Sugiura, 12/24 @ Korakuen Hall

Pro Wrestling ZERO1

Yusaku Obata & KAI vs. Kohei Sato & KAMIKAZE, 12/10 @ Shinkiba 1stRING Yusaku Obata & KAI vs. Akebono & Shogun Okamoto, 12/18 @ Shinkiba 1stRING

WRESTLE-1

Masayuki Kono vs. Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio, 12/9 @ Korakuen Hall Kaz Hayashi & Kotaro Suzuki vs. Koji Doi & Kumagoro, 12/9 @ Korakuen Hall Yusuke Kodama vs. MAZADA, 12/9 @ Korakuen Hall

MISC/INDIE

GUTS World - Masked Mystery vs. Shota, 12/3 @ Shinkiba 1stRING GUTS World - Keizo Matsuda & YUJI KITO vs. Kenichiro Arai & Buffalo, 12/3 @ Shinkiba 1stRING   RJPW - Shinjiro Otani vs. Taka Kunoh, 12/7 @ Korakuen Hall Michinoku - The Great Sasuke, Shu Brahman, Kei Brahman, Ultraman Robin & Mothra vs. Killer Crock GAINA, Harley Quinn #2, Dead Shot #1, Gungjin Minila, 12/15 @ Korakuen Hall Ganbare - Ken Ohka vs. Atsushi Maruyama, 12/22 @ Shinkiba 1stRING BASARA - Isami Kodaka vs. Trans Am ★ Hiroshi, 12/25 @ Korakuen Hall BASARA - Koji Kanemoto, Ryuichi Sekine & Ryota Nakatsu vs. Abdullah Kobayashi, Masaya Takahashi & Takayuki Ueki, 12/25 @ Korakuen Hall Apache Army - Koji Kanemoto vs. Kintaro Kanemaru, 12/25 @ Shinkiba 1stRING K-DOJO - Kengo Mashimo vs. Kaji Tomato, 12/25 @ Blue Field K-DOJO - Shiori Asahi vs. Yuki Sato, 12/25 @ Blue Field FREEDOMS - Violento Jack vs. Daisuke Masaoka, 12/26 @ Korakuen Hall FREEDOMS - Masashi Takeda vs. Miedo Extremo, 12/26 @ Korakuen Hall Kanemaru Retirement Show - Kintaro Kanemaru, Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda vs. Daisuke Sekimoto,  Ryuji Ito & Yuji Hino, 12/27 @ Korakuen Hall Hard Hit - Hikaru Sato vs. Joshua Robinson, 12/29 @ Shinjuku FACE Hard Hit - Yoshihiro Takayama vs. Takuya Wada, 12/29 @ Shinjuku FACE TAKA/Taichi Produce - Minoru Suzuki vs. Taichi, 12/30 @ Shinkiba 1stRING New Years Wrestling - Kazusada Higuchi & Yoshihisa Uto vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani & Konosuke Takeshita, 12/31 @ Korakuen Hall

Joshi Selection

Stardom - Kyoko Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Thunder Rosa & Holidead, 12/4 @ Shinkiba 1stRING OZ Academy - Dynamite Kansai vs. Mayumi Ozaki, 12/11 @ Korakuen Hall WAVE - Ryo Mizunami & Misaki Ohata vs. Sumire Natsu & Rina Yamashita, 12/16 @ Korakuen Hall JWP - Nakajima vs Command Bolshoi, 12/18 @ KFC Hall SEAdLINNNG - Aja Kong & Arisa Nakajima vs. Yoshiko & Sareee, 12/21 @ Korakuen Hall Stardom - Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani, 12/22 @ Korakuen Hall Stardom - Kyoko Kimura & Kagetsu vs. Yoko Bito & Kairi Hojo, 12/22 @ Korakuen Hall Marvelous - Kyoko Kimura vs. Takumi Iroha, 12/25 @ Shinkiba 1stRING JWP - Arisa Nakajima vs. Hanako Nakamori, 12/28 @ Korakuen Hall WAVE - Yuu Yamagata vs. Ryo Mizunami, 12/29 @ Korakuen Hall Ice Ribbon - Risa Sera vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto, 12/31 @ Korakuen Hall Ice Ribbon - Nanae Takahashi vs. Maya Yukihi, 12/31 @ Korakuen Hall