#Kaname Productions

[ghostdrinkssoup]

homura’s time travel magic is such a genius way of showing the nature of kyubey’s system and how the girls were never at fault for the pain their wishes caused. taking responsibility for our moral failings within an exploitative system is part of how the system enslaves us. it leads us to wonder whether the outcome would’ve changed if we made different choices. homura blamed herself for not being strong enough to save madoka. she thought the system could empower her by giving her autonomy over her circumstances. but all she does is repeat the same month over and over again, her autonomy stripped from her. madoka’s fate is inevitable because no one can survive the system while working within it. it’s only when madoka rewrites the rules that she can make substantial change. and even then she doesn’t break the rules enough to stop kyubey from finding loopholes because none of their mentalities have shifted away from his worldview. even while rebelling homura takes personal responsibility for madoka’s death. both in the first timeline, the timeline when homura mercy killed her, and the final timeline when madoka became god. homura cannot save madoka if she never forgives herself. that’s the root evil of kyubey’s system

[tetheredcloud]

i ate w this one🛀

[wizardboycloudy]

walkin 2 school…. what do you think they’re talking about

[moltenmoon]

art block has been beating my ass lately

[gauronsbf]

I recently got the full metal panic mission book for the s1 anime, here are the character pages, definetly a must for full metal panic lovers

[wlwcatalogue]

A Gay Girl's Guide to Takarazuka

L to R: Sagiri Seina, Ouki Kaname, Amami Yuuki, Asumi Rio, Wao Youka, Asaji Saki, Shiraki Ayaka

If you’re queer and into theatre or Japanese media, chances are that you will have heard of all-female theatre company Takarazuka Revue… but it’s also equally likely that you won’t have checked out anything of theirs. For those who are curious but were intimidated by its over 100 years of history, or who just want a quick primer to ease in, click below!

1. Why get into Takarazuka?

L to R: Rei Makoto in Tiara Azul (2024), Yuzuka Rei

For those into androgynous women

As you probably already know, Takarazuka's big selling point is that it's an all-female theatre company where the male characters are played by women. The actresses are expected to continue presenting that way off-stage, which in practice means a lot of handsome women with short hair in binders and men's clothing... Why that might appeal to people who are into androgynous women (or GNC/enby folks) is pretty obvious.

Reality Check:

Sadly, after "graduation" (i.e. leaving Takarazuka), nearly all such actresses will transition into feminine presentation and take on female roles. It's similar to the "lesbian glasshouse" idea in Class S yuri, but for gender non-conformity. That said, there are some notable counter-examples: Shion Yuu and Nanami Hiroki have basically refused to change their presentation after graduating (the latter still frequently plays male characters in both anime and stage productions), and things are more relaxed lower down the rungs too.

L to R: Wao Youka & Hanafusa Mari, Sagiri Seina & Sakihi Miyu

For those into butch/femme pairs

Just as roughly half of Takarazuka's actresses specialise in male roles (otokoyaku/男役), there is another half specialising in female roles (musumeyaku/娘役). On top of that, Takarazuka is split into five different troupes, and for any given production, the male lead and female lead are automatically assigned to that troupe's "top star" (leading otokoyaku) and "top musumeyaku" (leading musumeyaku) - the "top combi".

Unlike leading pairs in other theatrical traditions, the "top combi" concept extends to them being marketed as a pair in interviews, magazine features, TV programmes, etc. Just watch the mini TV special where Sagiri Seina and Sakihi Miyu visit Tokyo Skytree and Sumida Aquarium-- it's basically a date, and is described as such by the commentating TV announcer. Likewise, Wao Youka and Hanafusa Mari were interviewed about being a "golden combi" by women's magazine Fujin Kouron (though to be fair this was after they had, improbably, managed to win a Kikuta Kazuo Theatre Award - an award for individuals - jointly, for their "splendid performance as a combi" in 2004's Boxman).

Taken to its extreme, there have been cases where the Japanese public have been convinced that a top combi was dating, as with the immensely popular 1980's pair Daichi Mao and Kuroki Hitomi... It's no wonder that the actresses themselves frequently describe it as being like an arranged marriage.

Separately, due to certain reasons, it's practically part of the job description for top musumeyaku to adore their top star partners. This, in theory, inadvertently creates a safe space for any top musumeyaku who could be gay for their stage partners... Just to illustrate, during her graduation speech, Hinami Fuu repeatedly referred to her feelings for her top star partner Hokushou Kairi as koi (恋), a word specifically denoting romantic love, and nobody blinked an eye.

Reality Check:

Due to conservative attitudes in both Japan and Takarazuka itself, most actresses go on to marry men, including many of those named above. Vanishingly few are publically out, though former otokoyaku Higashi Koyuki (stage name Aura Maki) is a queer activist and was one half of the first same-sex couple to be married in Japan, and another former otokoyaku, Misuzu Aki, has been living with her female partner in Europe for years. Just, well, don't forget that being married to a man isn't necessarily evidence of heterosexuality.

L to R: Asumi Rio in The Poe Clan (2018), Sagiri Seina in Rurouni Kenshin (2016)

For lovers of anime and manga

Takarazuka is probably best-known as the inspiration behind Revolutionary Girl Utena, Revue Starlight, Kageki Shoujo, and Sailor Moon’s Haruka and Michiru, but did you know that it also inspired seminal works featuring androgynous female leads such as Princess Knight? If you enjoy “prince-type” characters in yuri, you’ve got them to thank

Apart from inspiring anime and manga, Takarazuka also does quite a few animanga adaptations itself! Most famous are their Rose of Versailles musicals, but other popular adaptations include Ace Attorney, Rurouni Kenshin, Lupin III, Boys Over Flowers, and Hagio Moto’s bishounen vampire vehicle The Poe Clan. They’re also doing a Castlevania musical this year!

Wao Youka & Hanafusa Mari in Phantom (2004)

For the theatre nerds

Female Phantom of the Opera, duh

Jokes aside, Takarazuka’s unique position in the theatre world can't be overstated. As a rule, all-female productions are either smaller-scale, one-offs dependent on the work, or part of a theatrical tradition completely separate to Western-style plays or musicals (hello, Chinese Yue opera). Takarazuka is the exception: it offers productions comparable in size and scale (and budget) to the largest West End and Broadway musicals - it just so happens that it's all-female.

If the all-female aspect doesn’t excite you then why are you here, then let me emphasise again: Takarazuka is totally worth checking out as a production company in its own right. It is very much a part of the broader Japanese musical industry, and one of its powerhouses at that. Just take a look at some of these clips from past productions (all around 5 mins or less):

(a) Maeda Keiji - a musical loosely inspired by real-life samurai Maeda Keiji; features an uncannily convincing horse performed by two people in costume which needs to be seen to be believed (b) Ephemeral Love - a period piece about the doomed love between Prince Rudolph of the Hapsburgs and his lover Marie Vetsera (c) The Man Who Never Sleeps - a biographical musical about Napoleon Bonaparte (d) Casino Royale - an adaptation of the 2006 James Bond movie of the same name (e) BADDY - an off-the-wall sci-fi comedy featuring loads of velvet suits, silly shellfish outfits, and queerness.

Wao Youka and Hanafusa Mari in Dracula (2011)

2. Random Queer-ish Trivia

It's pretty common for former otokoyaku to be cast in WLW roles: Sena Jun headlined the 2018 Japanese production of Fun Home, Otozuki Kei cameoed as a lesbian escort in 2022 LGBTQ-themed J-drama Kojinsa Arimasu, and Seto Kazuya played the owner of a lesbian bar in 2024 yuri J-drama Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko. (Incidentally, Sal Jiang, the original creator of Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko, has mentioned being a fan of Sena Jun when she was younger)

Otokoyaku are sometimes mistaken for men, with amusing results: Yuzuka Rei was thought to be a “host” by a passer-by while talking to her fans, and Houshou Dai has mentioned being hit on by a woman before. But the prize goes to Todoroki Yuu, who like many women once had to rebuff unwanted advances from a man—except in her case, he thought that she was a guy

Before entering Takarazuka, Sou Kazuho – eventual Snow Troupe top star – went to a co-ed school and had long hair. To her confusion, this didn’t stop her classmates from asking her to play a male character (possibly the male lead, IIRC) in the school play. They saw her as an otokoyaku even before she did!

Continuing with the high school theme, former Cosmos Troupe top star Wao Youka has boasted about how in her high school days, she received more Valentine’s chocolates than her brother, and in fact second-most out of her year. Important note: she went to a girls’ school

Speaking of Wao Youka, her 2011 Dracula (see photo above) - from @cryoverkiltmilk's “Cunt Dykecula” post - wasn't actually a Takarazuka production! Since Wao was acquainted with and later married its composer Frank Wildhorn, some assume he was the one to cast her, and that Hanafusa Mari was brought in due to being her old stage partner. But Wildhorn had wanted Wao to play the female lead. It was she who insisted on Dracula. And Hanafusa wasn't just a third party... she had been Wao's manager since 2007, having retired from the stage after graduating and only just returned with 2010's Dietrich. (She played Edith Piaf, legendary chanson singer and “very good friend” of bisexual icon Marlene Dietrich, played by Wao.) Dracula was the swan song for their partnership, with Hanafusa going on to conquer the Japanese musical industry as she had Takarazuka-- but it marked the first, and so far only, time a top combi performed as romantic partners after graduating.

On a separate note, renowned queer photographer Leslie Kee has been responsible for taking the cover portraits for Takarazuka's offical monthly publication Kageki (歌劇) since 2010. You should definitely check out his ongoing "Out in Asia" project – he's taken literally thousands of photos of out queer people in Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan in a bid to raise visibility

Lastly, in November 2015, Takarazuka City became the first Japanese city outside of Tokyo to announce its support for same-sex partnerships… though this may of course be a total coincidence.

Flower Troupe in Takarazuka Fantasia (2015 Taiwan tour)

3. Where to Start?

Nearly all Takarazuka shows since the 1990's are available on DVD (earlier ones are on VHS), and these recordings are very well done - they have great video and audio quality, are well-edited, and use a large number of camera angles

They do livestreams and live broadcasts of performances as well! You can watch a livestream from your mobile or PC by spoofing your location. For a more communal experience, if you're in Japan, Taiwan, or Hong Kong, you can catch live broadcasts of Grand Theatre performances at a local cinema

VODs of selected productions are available on various platforms, including Amazon Japan, though this still requires location spoofing. If you're actually living in Japan, you can also consider subscribing to Takarazuka's official TV channel (yes, that's a thing) Sky Stage - they do a lot of reruns of past performances

With that done, here are several recommendations if none of the productions mentioned throughout the post caught your eye!

(a) Elisabeth - Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay's musical about Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi") of Austria and the fall of the Hapsburg Empire, featuring an (inevitably very sexy) personification of Death and fantastic music. Takarazuka has done many, many productions of this, so just search them and pick whichever looks most appealing - but you won't go wrong with the 2014 Flower Troupe production, which has a very strong cast and a more refined version of the staging

(b) Phantom - Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston's adaptation of Phantom of the Opera. Though obviously not the ALW version, the music is actually pretty great and Takarazuka goes all-out on the costumes and stage magic. All the productions are wonderful, but my favourite is the original 2004 version (which is also the one which went viral on Tumblr before - thanks, @wheel-of-fish!)

(c) Rose of Versailles - no list would be complete without Takarazuka's representative work, buuut I wouldn't necessarily recommend starting here if you're looking for a typical musical experience. There are loads of productions to choose from - note that these are split between a version focused on protagonist Oscar, and another focused on Marie Antoinette and her lover Fersen - but the 1991 Moon Troupe production is my personal pick

(d) Casanova - a light-hearted romp in which Casanova is reimagined as a charming playboy who falls for the feminist-minded daughter of Venice's mayor... only, she doesn't know his real identity. The very catchy music was commissioned from Dove Attia, the producer behind French musicals Mozart, l'opera Rock and 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille. Check out the performance digest here!

(e) Shinjuu: Koi no Yamatoji - Takarazuka puts Chikamatsu Monzaemon's tale of the doomed love between a commoner and a courtesan to a classic rock score (see this clip!). An Edo-era work that doesn't just focus on samurai and nobility, this romantic tragedy offers a grounded look at the social pressures of the time. (Though if you do want to watch something focusing on Japanese nobility, I highly recommend Takarazuka original and guaranteed tearjerker Hoshiai Hitoyo.) There are quite a few productions of this, but I've only watched the 2014 Snow Troupe one, which was very good.

Thanks so much for reading! Please feel free to DM me or send an ask if you have any questions~ I definitely want to do a follow-up post on musumeyaku, and maybe delve into Wao and Hanafusa's history (it's messy, but fascinating)... but we'll see!

[gallusrostromegalus]

As someone a bit too young to have seen Bleach the first time around, AEIWAM is still consuming a crucial portion of my brain cells. So imagine my surprise when I looked up Tousen, the reason you started this behemoth of an alternate universe, on TV tropes.

Among other shocking revelations...

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE JOINED AIZEN OF HIS OWN FREE WILL IN CANON???? What do you MEAN, TITE KUBO, that the reason your Tousen wants to destroy the Shinigami is that his crush died of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE???

Who is this man and what has he done with my eternally suffering Tousen?

You understand why I had to take custody of this poor bastard.

I can respect what Kubo was going for- Aizen was right in the fact that Soul Society does suck, and the extended canon is that Tousen's crush was killed by her husband, everyone knew it, and nobody would prosecute the husband because he was a Noble. Canon Tousen is, more or less, suffering from the same kind of rage-based brainrot that is unfortunately so common these days- the idea that because a system is imperfect, or ever corrupt, that it's a good idea to tear the whole thing down/restart the universe (the real Path Of Least Harm is of course, the much more complicated and frustrating work of Dis-and-re-mantling the system piece-by-piece without leaving vulnerable people to fend for themselves, but that isn't as emotionally satisfying or fun to draw as senseless destruction, but I digress).

but his arc is only barely on the page at all, mostly after his death and contains one of the blandest and most obnoxious tropes- fridging- and the whole thing falls flat. It also fails to explore the FASCINATING angle of disability and tbh, racism in soul society- two VERY fucked up things that would very much justify his rage. But it's shonen and the series was deep in production hell at that point, and tousen was far from the only victim. I still don't know what the fuck Gin's deal was.

ANYWAY,

Notable changes between Canon!Tousen and AEIWAM!Tousen and some art under the cut:

Kakiyo is Kaname's adopted sister, and despite looking nothing alike, since they re-incarnated in soul society at the same time, they regard themselves as twins.

Kakiyo does kind of a lot in the plot before her demise- she's responsible for introducing Kaname and Komamura, teaches Zaraki and Yachiru how to read, and unintentionally helps Aizen by recommending him to be promoted to third seat in the 5th division, because she and Kiganjo were thinking about starting a family soon, and Aizen would make a good stand-in for her while she was on maternity leave.

She also gets to do a bunch of stuff after she dies too!

The characters in Tousen's name approximately mean "Necessary Scholar" and make an allusion to a legendary scholar from China who came to Japan to find the elixir of immortality for the emperor. He returns with an elixir that stops the emperor from aging, and the emperor kills him so he can't make anyone else immortal (the emperor doesn't age, but he's still vulnerable to stabbing, and gets stabbed). I thought that was an extremely fun literary allusion so I'm leaning into it- before he becomes a Shinigami, AEIWAM!Tousen took over the library run by his ans Kakiyo's adopted godparents, and ran a children's literacy program. he has a special interest in information sciences and educational methodology. even among nerds, he's a mega-nerd.

Kakiyo meets and marries Gosuke Kiganjo, who goes back to West 51 to meet his beloved's brother and the weird giant monk that runs the library with him. Kaname is immensely fond of Kiganjo, and has no qualms being the best man at their wedding. He and Gosuke are good friends for the first few years of the marriage, until Aizen gets his claws into Gosuke and slowly drives him insane.

In AEIWAM, Tousen is cursed into going along with the plan by Aizen. Aizen was just going to make Kiganjo kill him, but Gin is getting impatient with Aizen's hogyoku progress, and persuades Aizen into cursing Kaname into compliance instead with a Forbidden Bakudō: Kyuunodo — Ningyō Kugi Saiyaku (人形釘誓約, Puppet Nail Covenant)

I do keep the canon!Tousen's reputation for being pedantic, unecessarily critical and generally kind of boring. The reason for AEIWAM!Tousen's reputation is different: He is kind of a pain in the ass, because he is in Horrific Pain and Deeply Traumatized and that makes people irritable to say the least, and he deliberately cultivates a reputation for being Boring to keep people far, far away from him- and hopefully, far from Aizen as well.

An underrated bit of Canon!Tousen is that Suzumushi is not his zanpakuto. Suzumushi was Kakiyo's zanpakuto, and we see him take the sword from her coffin in the manga. Which is insane because it means HE ACHIEVED BANKAI WITH A ZANPAKUTO THAT WASN'T EVEN HIS. Dude is SEVERELY underrated as a swordsman. In AEIWAM, Suzumushi is still Kakiyo's zanpakuto, and only BARELY clings to life on the last reserves of the Spiritual power Kakiyo put into her before Kaname finds her. Suzumushi persuades him to take her up, enter the academy and bring Kakiyo's killer to justice (Suzumushi has fallen to Aizen's illusion and doesn't know who the killer is). She kind of glosses over how they bond, but she more or less crawls into his soul and supresses Kaname's native Yume-kon that would have been his own Zanpakuto spirit if it had been allowed to awaken. She did make an entirely new Shikai and Bankai for him- the chime that makes people lose conciousness is entirely new, the AOE of Just A Shitload Of Swords was Suzumushi's original Shikai. The Bankai of a space where anyone not touching the sword experiences no sensory input? Suzumushi made it first and foremost as a refuge for Kaname when the pain of the curse became to unbearable.

The biggest difference, of course, is that Kaname lives through the Aizen Arc and gets a Happy Ending: Once he wakes up after the battle, he is free, and chooses to marry the wolfman he's been in love with for centuries. Here's some art of them, finally home:

[demifiendrsa]

Japanese illustrator and animator Mutsumi Inomata has passed away on March 10, 2024 at age 63. A cause of death was not shared.

Inomata is best known as one of the main character designer on a number of Bandai Namco's Tales of series. Her past works includeTales of Destiny, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Rebirth, Tales of the Tempest, Tales of Innocence, Tales of Hearts, Tales of Graces, Tales of Xillia, Tales of Xillia 2, Tales of Zestiria, Tales of Berseria, and Tales of Crestoria.

Within anime, Inomata worked as an animator at Ashi Production from 1979 until 1982, when she and some animators from Ashi Production left the company and founded Kaname Production. There, she worked as character designer and animator on such anime as Acrobunch - The Quest for Treasure, Plawres Sanshiro, Leda - The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko, Once Upon a Time, and Watt Poe to Bokura no Ohanashi, among others. In her later freelance career, she drew character designs for such anime as Future GPX Cyber Formula, Saitama Bōsō Saizensen Flag! Shinimonogurui no Seishun!!, and Brain Powerd. She also drew the illustrations for the Utsunomiko and The Weathering Continent novel series, both of which later inspired anime adaptations.

[yuurei20]

Interview with Twst Music Composer Ozawa Takumi from the Soundtrack: Q: What was the production process like for the theme song ‘Piece of my world’ (Disc4-39)? Ozawa: "Right after it was decided that I would be involved in the music for this project- I immediately started working on this theme song. It begins with a tune for dancing to, and then at the interlude the rhythm adopts a waltz-like, classical atmosphere, and then it returns to something more danceable. I enjoy the structure of this song very much."

I had never really done music for an all-male group before, and there are 11 members in the Night Ravens—it was my first time directing so many people. Recordings were lively and bustling like Night Raven College itself, as if we had all come together for a club activity."

"There are multiple versions of the song, each with different variations in the performances and interludes, and I hope everyone is able to enjoy what makes them unique.

I also directed the voice actors in their performance of [Piece of my world -NRC 17 ver- Full size] (Disc3-04) featured in Chapter 5 of the main story. Their performances and singing were wonderful; they were perfect."

"I didn’t have very much experience with recording songs by voice actors, and I was awestruck just by being in the same room. ‘Absolutely Beautiful Full size’ (Disc3-05) also appears in Chapter 5, and we recorded it at the same time."

"I was also responsible for writing its lyrics, but to be honest, I very anxious about this one up until the moment that the vocals were recorded. The power of the voice actors' singing is truly incredible.

Vil-sama presided through Aiba Hiroki-san’s voice, and the charm of ’It’s not just about strength!’ was portrayed with complete clarity. Jamil raps during the song and Futaba Kaname-san gave an incredibly skilled performance, which is another highlight to listen for."

-Ozawa Takumi (Twisted Wonderland OST interview)

[blunemone]

3.5 cms Madoka Magica Phonecharms!

PREORDERS ARE OPEN AGAIN: https://blunemone.bigcartel.com/product/madoka-magica-phonecharms

[ecargmura]

Blue Lock Episode 38 Review + Final Thoughts - No Longer PNG Lock

I don’t care what you say about this episode and the entirety of Season 2 as a whole. Call it PNG Lock; call it Powerpoint Lock; call it whatever you want. I was entertained, so I like it! The whole finale was crazy and I honestly can’t wait for more as you know a Season 3 is on the horizon with what the ending showed.

Anyways, the finale is basically what happens when Rin awakens his flow, which is a more ominous depiction compared to his competitors who had more of a positive depiction. He can hyper analyze his opponents, detect their weaknesses and use it to his advantage. Unlike the other instances where it mainly benefits the user without hurting others, Rin’s Flow feels as if it’s intended for harming his opponents, as his move against Niou did feel like he was purposely harming him. It’s basically berserk mode for Rin.

Though, I have to say, despite the animation being subpar for these past three months, the one-minute additional time segment was seriously well-animated. Like the quality upgraded so much just from this segment alone—heck, it’s not even CG! It feels like I’m watching an anime film with the cinematography and how each character is moving so fluidly. I especially loved the part where Isagi swoops in to take the final goal, securing the win for Blue Lock.

To be honest, Isagi was a bit meh as an MC to me, but this season really got me liking him a lot more than before. I like that, while he is affable, he’s not afraid to be selfish and will steal another person’s glory to do so. In fact, the last goal he made wasn’t for Rin; it was for him and his ambitions only. His actions actually affect those around him, which I like. This actually causes Rin to mark Isagi as his rival as Sae acknowledged Isagi as the one who could change soccer and not his own brother. It’s also thanks to Isagi that the Blue Lock project is able to continue and allow Ego to continue his nefarious schemes to raise the top striker. It was nice seeing him change from the kid who lost because he passed a goal to the guy who stole the ball from Rin and made a goal. That’s his ego, after all.

The season ends with a phase 2 called Neo Egoist League. I wonder how many phases there are and just what sort of trials await the Blue Lock players. From what I know, this next phase will be global as the Blue Lock players will be on teams in different countries. That’s why white German boy Michael Kaiser was trending and still is even after like what, 12 hours, after the episodes aired? Also, he’s voiced by Mamoru Miyano who seems to be voicing blonds in sports anime recently as he was Atsumu from Haikyuu and voiced Kei Kaname from Oblivion Battery in the spring season. I haven’t read the manga, but I know a lot about Kaiser due to research. I honestly believed Tetsuya Kakihara would voicing Kaiser as he is native German, but I do hope he gets casted as Ness as he speaks more German than Kaiser does!

Also, Kunigami shows up too with a very changed appearance. That doesn’t look good for the viewers, fans, fellow Blue Lock players and Chigiri. Will we ever get a side story about what happened in Wild Card? I’d love to learn about it—why does it exist?

FINAL THOUGHTS

It sucks that the second season was a product of rushed production. An anecdote I read stated that the animators had to cut some frames to meet deadlines, hence why Blue Lock became the annoyingly memed PNG Lock. The additional time segment in the final episode of the season showed that if they weren’t rushing, the quality of the matches would’ve been really good. I get that 8Bit was busy with both the Episode Nagi movie and Season 2, which both came out this year.

Regardless of the issues, I actually enjoyed this season a lot. Yes, it’s not visually appealing, but I still liked the story and what the next phase of the competition came with. I liked seeing Isagi meeting these new characters and seeing what they’re like. I liked Hiori, Karasu, Otoya and Yukimiya thanks to this new season. It’s also nice seeing the world building expand with Blue Lock players having to face off against the national U-20 team and what sort of people the opponents are. The standouts are easily Aiku, Sae and Sendou—Shidou doesn’t count because he’s a Blue Lock player. I’m still surprised that Aiku and Niou are under twenty years old—they look so old for their age.

The first few episodes was nice to see as Isagi has to be teamed up with new people and we also see other characters paired up with new people to see if they got chemistry or not. After that, the U-20 is introduced. Seeing how much fans they have really showed the difference between them and a bunch of teenagers in a competition. I also liked seeing the beef between the Itoshi brothers and how Rin is dealing with it from his perspective.

Though, what surprised me the most in the second season was the voice cast. They really did a crazy job with the casting, especially with the U-20 cast. If you look them up, they’re practically names you see in recent anime. Not only that, but even the characters’ childhood selves and their parents get amazing voice actors too. You didn’t expect Sae’s childhood self to be voiced by Boruto Uzumaki’s voice actress, right? Or how Chigiri’s sister Koyuki is voiced by Mem-cho’s voice actress? Heck, they even casted Mamoru Miyano as Kaiser! You know what that means? The characters that will appear in the Neo Egoist League will get crazy casting as well. Given how popular Blue Lock is, casting choices will be a lot more rigorous. I’m still praying for Kakihara to be casted as Ness. It’d be a waste to not cast the native German speaker as the German speaker—the anime already casted Subaru Kimura and Wataru Komada as other characters in the show.

I also liked the increase in comedy from the Additional Time segments at the end of the episodes. They’re so hilarious and very fruity. I seriously loved the YukkiNagi segments where they compared players to animals and then Rin comes in annoyed, but still participates too. I feel like the writers for these segments really amped up the scenarios for this season because the animal comparison thing was seriously hilarious. They know what the viewers want!

I guess if I were to pick out gripes that are NOT THE ANIMATION, I guess it’d be a lack of Raichi? I have a bit of a soft spot for him, so the lack of Raichi screen time saddened me a bit. Other than that, I’d love to learn more about the other U-20 characters that aren’t the central ones a bit more. Too bad that there are already so many characters that not all of them, whether they be from BL or U20, will get the screen time they deserve.

I do wonder when they’ll announce Season 3. I just hope they have a better production schedule next time. I’ll be waiting patiently for when that comes! Let me know your thoughts on the final episode and Season 2 as a whole!

[otome-archive]

Brothers Conflict Sweets Parade Bromide Cards

Credit: Product listings found on ebay from Cherden's Doujinshi Shop. I assume the scans are also from these product listings. These images are easiest found on Pinterest (because the Tumblr search function is nonexistent).

Context: These are from the 10th Anniversary celebration! They released with another Sweets Parade bromide set (the brothers are in suits!). If you didn't pick up on it, our brother pairs are carrying the same foods! I haven't found a card featuring Juli (or Ema) and Louis seems to be carrying the same food as Iori and Kaname, but I don't think he's meant to be part of their pair.

[bunnymajo]

Here's my genuine recommendation again for Genmu Senki Leda, a 1985 direct to video film that encapsulates everything really lovely about 80's anime artistically.

Featuring designs and animation direction from Mutsumi Inomata (Tales franchise)

Music from Shiro Sagisu (Evangelion, Kare Kano)

The late Hiromi Tsuru (Bulma) playing the titular character Yohko

Directed & partially Written by Kunihiko Yuyama (Pokemon, Goshogun, Wedding Peach)

Animation produced by Kaname Production, a smaller studio in the 80s made up of former Ashi Production staff

It's also not very long, so if you're a big Japanese animation buff or want to learn more about what was going on in the 80s, I think you owe it to yourself to check it out.

[enswap]

Coming this way is 2wink, the brothers who are together as one happy melody!

★5 [ Leader of Twin Stars ] Kaname Tojo ★4 [ Pair of Meteors ] HiMERU

A technopop unit led by Kaname Tojo. They're a mischievous unit known for their bright and flashy fanservice. They excel in playing by ear and adapting flexibly to any situation, so their media work focuses on capitalizing on their experience portraying such lively and vibrant personalities, such as playing children's TV show and variety show personalities, acting as live commentators, and hosting events. Their theme color is neon. They are affiliated with Cosmic Productions.

[ notes under cut ]

these two cards gave me so much trouble *sobs*

on top of trying to letter kaname's name (which.. was kind of successful? it looks a little off to me) and not having many cards to work off of, these two are also dont have faces very similar to the twins

hopefully they don't look too off and i'm just being overly critical LMAO!

[bengiyo]

Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka Ep 5 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Sakae rejected Kazuyo properly, and she coped with her disappointment by joining team Sakae and Soga. She helped Sakae prepare a series of surprises for Soga's birthday. Unfortunately, her boss derailed those plans, and Kazuyo got mad at Soga for not recognizing Sakae's feelings. Thanks to the added support from Kazuyo, Sakae took a step forward and told Soga about his feelings. Soga was a bit surprised, so Sakae told him to think about it. We left on Soga's ex-wife calling him and Sakae's ex showing up at his house.

Mizuki is pretty. I hope he isn't revealed to be a demon twink.

Episode 5: He's returned. What now?

Oh, I don't like Mizuki. You can't put relationships on a shelf like a toy you're bored with and just come back to it.

I love Kazuyo so much. She got Soga to admit he has more than feelings of friendship for Sakae, and then immediately called Kaname when something suspicious was going on.

Mizuki listening in at the sauna is a great gay joke. This sauna is a place only for men, so straight men could talk about their psrtners here without worry. But because Sakae and Mizuki are men, he can chase them out of the space.

I really love the squad reacting quickly to this development. Sakae may intend to be done with Mizuki and can say that without lying, but whatever emotion brought Mizuki back must be faced to get him to move on.

Ah, he got kicked out for cheating and is now hoping to land softly with Sakae, who he knows is a pushover and a sap.

I don't like Mizuki. He bailed on Sakae and is now just gonna be back and chatting with customers. Everyone knows!

Even if it's just Soga's worries, I like that this show is willing to show Sakae being intimate with another man.

Come through, Kazuyo! She is a great character for accelerating the romantic pace of this show. She reminded Soga that he could lose to a determined ex, and also chided Soga for not telling Sakae he plans to move back to Tokyo. The devil works hard, but Kanda-san works harder.

Spies and thieves! I knew he was a liar who lies with his face!

"Is he better than me?" "Yes." NOW GET OUT!

Soga, can you not walk in at the most dramatic moment???

Okay, he got jealous, Sakae pushed that he isn't a fickle person, and we learned that Soga and his ex-wife are working on having a productive relationship even if it's no longer romantic. We also got a multi-angle stationary kiss.

Another problem character next week!

This show continues to be excellent. Japanese teams heard that I wanted more adult romance and they are here to deliver. We have issues with exes, because adults have histories. We have an active support network that challenges our leads to face each other properly. Our leads can speak with each other. This is what I have wanted for so long.

[beardedmrbean]

Mutsumi Inomata passed away on March 10. She was an artist responsible for designing the characters in many Tales series games. Somebody needs to keep a close eye on Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura, we can't lose any more JRPG artists this year.

The official Twitter account for artist Mutsumi Inomata announced on Monday that Inomata died on March 10. Her family held a private funeral.

The announcement added that Inomata's death was "sudden," and she still had the draft for a new illustration that she had only started drawing before she died.

Inomata is perhaps best known for being one of the main character designers for Namco's (later Bandai Namco Entertainment) Tales of series of role-playing games, alongside Kousuke Fujishima. The company offered its condolences and sincere thanks to Inomata in a message on Monday, adding that the connection fans of the series have to Inomata's characters "will shine forever in their hearts." Inomata was the solo character designer for Tales of Destiny, Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Rebirth, Tales of the Tempest, Tales of Innocence, Tales of Hearts, and Tales of Graces, and collaborated with other character designers for individual character designs in other installments of the series.

Within anime, Inomata worked as an animator at Ashi Production from 1979 until 1982, when she and some animators from Ashi Production left the company and founded Kaname Production. There, she worked as character designer and animator on such anime as Acrobunch - The Quest for Treasure, Plawres Sanshiro, Leda - The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko, Once Upon a Time, and Watt Poe to Bokura no Ohanashi, among others. In her later freelance career, she drew character designs for such anime as Future GPX Cyber Formula, Saitama Bōsō Saizensen Flag! Shinimonogurui no Seishun!!, and Brain Powerd. She also drew the illustrations for the Utsunomiko and The Weathering Continent novel series, both of which later inspired anime adaptations.

Source: Mutsumi Inomata's Twitter account ________________________________________

Not someone I'm familiar with, but I know she had to be stellar, if she wasn't there'd be more information about her instead of a laundry list of all the things she created and projects she worked on.

Having a bad run Akira Toriyama and now Mutsumi Inomata, I don't know if they're the same circle but I imagine they probably knew each other and crossed paths in their industries.

Oop and they both did Dragon Quest, there it is.