#King Crimson manga icon

[soo-won]

Akatsuki no Yona chapter 60 magazine vs volume

Hi everyone! I managed to get my hands on the clip out of the magazine version of chapter 60 from Hana to Yume issue 17/2012, and as we don't have much trace from the magazine versions of the chapters from then, i thought it would interesting to share my findings! First, the color page: the editor text says "What will become of Yona and the others? The suspens is agonizing, but?!" (baby trio time!!!!!!) Otherwise it advertizes volume 9 and how well it's been doing. It was the first ever volume to get a special edition and cover with a new drama CD and comments from the seiyuus! Something that I can't help but find a bit ironic is how they really highlight Takuhiro Sakurai as Tae-jun on the bottom right and ah yeah...this didn't age too well.

Behind the color page, it shows that Hana to Yume was (already back then) having a special Yona Crimson Festival campaign. This is when belated Kentaro Miura drew an illustration of the whole main cast that could be win in a lottery, with a reproduction of the special cover of volume 9, autographs of the seiyuus from the drama CD and Kusanagi, and a totebag with Ao that I had never seen before. Miura apparently said that he just ended up drawing the whole cast since it grew a lot (since the time he had only drawn Yona and Hak I assume).

Then to the chapter in itself. I know Kusanagi started really making changes between the magazines and tankoubon(volumes) in relatively recent years so I didn't expect to find any difference here honestly but I found a few! I also find it interesting to see her author's note, the summary of the plot and presentation of the characters etc all around.

So! Page 2 and the first page of the chapter. No change with the manga page from the volume we know of here, but I thought it would be interesting to share for what's below. I honestly am a bit too lazy to translate the whole synopsis as I don't think it says anything novel or specially interesting (I can still do it if someone insist), but I found the characters presentation sweet since it's different from the one we've been getting for every chapter for a while, and it's very cute too since it's specially for this flashback mini-arc.

Yona: Kouka Kingdom's Princess. She is an only child who lost her mother at a young age. She is preciously raised by her father and King Il.

Suwon: Yona's cousin of three years older. He has been gently watching over Yona like a little sister ever since he's little.

Hak: The successor of Mundok, General of the Wind Tribe. Later on, he'll become the servant and bodyguard of his childhood friend Yona.

Now on to page 4: Yona's hair and face were redrawn on the third panel! The movement lines next to her head were erased too. For the text and font, you can also see that the font of the first bubble was changed for the default one, and that they're formated it slightly differently in the last box. We don't often think about the original lettering in manga and how they can also change between raw and volume do we?

Page 7: It's not like this change matter much, but I was so surprised and happy to find out that this iconic page had been modified as well. The third panel that showcases how lively Kuuto is was completely replaced with people playing music. I think the volume version indeed conveys Kuuto's atmosphere much better (like why would Yona be so amazed at two men talking and drinking really), but it's interesting to find out that back then they struggled to find what to put there precisely. From a creative process pov this is so relatable lmao.

Other than these two pages before, I haven't noticed any other change, but I thought I would share Kusanagi's author comment!

"I'm so so happy. I can't believe Miura-sensei drew me an illustration of Yona(and of the whole main cast at that!). This boost me up even more to do my very best! Thank you so much (happiness)."

Nothing special on the last page, but if anyone wondered if there was some editor text here to tease the next chapter...well no there isn't nfjbfhjbg. I so wish I could get my hands on chapter 61 too...

I'm not sure if I'll be able to get my hands on much more of those but I also got chapter 24 with this one, and I noticed a couple of things I'd like to share as well so stay tuned for that :)

[junithys]

Passing Thoughts 7

Misnomers About Urusei Yatsura Fans

Typically being a fan of Urusei Yatsura is associated with being a fan of Lum, but although she is the poster girl (and I would still claim that Moroboshi Ataru is the main character, perhaps not as much in the remake) - Oshii's version of the narrative deeply explores each of the characters psyches pretty deeply, so while Lum is an icon, I would argue that she doesn't make the series; there are even some fans who don't particularly care for her, and that is perfectly valid. I watched a video of a YouTuber reviewing the first volume of the manga and they were grumpy because they felt that they were supposed to like Lum... Takahashi Rumiko's stories have so many characters, so it's okay to not like one of the main characters!

Lum is in my top five Urusei Yatsura characters, but truth be told, I like Moroboshi Ataru more (not sure about the 2022 version yet, I'm speaking of the OG series, OVA, and 6 films). If you watch the entire 1981 series, it is impossible to just see Ataru as just a womanizer, there are many more layers to him and every other character, that will slowly slide into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle as you progress through each episode. Great anime script writers, like the writer behind a lot of the Dirty Pair series (Hoshiyama Hiroyuki), worked on the show and it left me with moments and episodes that made me consistently have a different perspective on certain characters or got the gears in my head turning.

tl;dr - Lum is not the main appeal of Urusei Yatsura in my opinion, there are a lot of really memorable characters; ergo I suggest watching the 80s series over the 2022 adaptation.

As an aside, this is an interesting tidbit, but many of the background compositions in the original Urusei Yatsura are arrangements of Beatles songs! I suppose it's the case like with the musical compositions of Inoue Daisuke, namely Beginning (Mobile Suit Gundam), being a replica of King Crimson's "Lizard". It seems that back in the day, before the advent of the internet, international borrowing was not as strict as it would be today (with music rights). That being said, I'm glad that the Beatles songs exist as backing tracks in the 1981 Urusei Yatsura OST, they add such a haunting feeling to this adaptation of the manga!

[mistytpednaem]

the answer to your tag is "fuzz". 1, 3, 6, 30, 47

yayayayayayayay

1) Fave Jojo? I remember it being Jolyne when I read the manga but let me tell you, Netflix sure is Trying me

3) Fave anime opening? GREAT DAYS GREAT DAYS GREAT DAYS. Honorary mentions to Traitor's Requiem, for how rad the alternate versions are, and Bloody Stream for being the first Jojo opening to ever put stars in my eyes.

6) Fave stand? OH NO THAT'S A REALLY TOUGH ONE... oh god. hm. In terms of design, probably Black Sabbath (actually that's an easy one, haha), but in terms of abilities... I think I have to give it to Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Fuck the King Crimson memes, Who Shot Johnny Joestar is THE most confused I've ever been reading Jojo and I kind of loved it?

30) Rank your order: Jojo main villains OH MAN THIS ONE'S EVEN HARDER... pls don't look at these too closely, the rankings could change at the drop of a hat. I am extremely malleable

Yoshikage Kira still takes the top spot, I think. Probably the most realistic Jojo villain (bearing in mind that that's a WILD metric lmao), fun to watch, easy to root for AND against, meets a satisfying and appropriate end. I love you Part 4.

HMM. hm. I think Enrico Pucci takes this one because he's so damn compelling. Though I am finding that I don't have much to say about him right now... I blame Netflix Jail.

Okay I'm putting Funny Valentine in this spot because I find him to be a pretty well-written villain by Jojo standards, and I love his stand and I love the magician shtick he's got going on, but Jesus Christ dudebro Funny Valentine fans are the WORST

You may be surprised that Diavolo ranks so low, but the thing with Diavolo is that all the other villains so far did not have their writing muddied by the final arc of their respective parts and I did not need to read thousands of words of fanfiction and good takes or engage in Watsonian analysis to forgive that blunder. Though uhhhh I'll grant the brain worms give him a honorary number 1 spot.

Dio Brando (PB) may not be the most believable villain in fiction, but there's something to be said for how hard he carries Part 1. Not to mention this quintessential experience.

DIO (SDC) does nothing for 95% of the story and he still manages to be iconic, and I think that's very sexy of him. Plus, we wouldn't have Pucci without him.

There's nothing wrong with Kars, really, and him being this low doesn't mean I hate him? In fact I do quite appreciate the Ultimate Ace Icon. I just don't have a lot to say about him either.

I don't hate Toru either! On the contrary, I do love me a fuckboy, and I honestly waffled on naming Wonder of U as one of my fave stands. But man, uh, the shake-up to the usual Jojo formula did not work out for his potential impact as a character, and I have to wonder if DavidPro is going to do anything to help that when they animate Jojolion in 30 years.

THERE'S ONE MORE DID YOU FORGET

47) Moment you wish could have happened? God I'm sure I could think of So Many if pressed but I saw somebody else answer this with "Doppio should have interacted with Trish" and now all I can think about is that.

[sofiaa01753684]

〔 j o u r n a l 2〕

26 | O8 | 22

Hirohiko Araki

Hirohiko Araki is an illustrator and creator of history known for works such as "Jojo's Bizzare Adventure", "The goregeous Irene" and "Baoh". It is well known that unlike other mangaka and illustrators of this type, Araki has a more anatomically correct and realistic style.

Hirohiko Araki, born in Sendai on June 7, 1960. He made his debut under the pseudonym Toshiyuki Araki (荒木 利之) in 1980 with his Busō Poker one-shot, and began his professional career with the short series Mashōnen B. T., Baoh: The Visitor, and Gorgeous Irene.

The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise is one of the most iconic in the world of manga/anime. Master Araki's work has been used as inspiration for many subsequent works, especially in the shōnen. Many are the works and concepts that influenced Araki during his life to finally create his greatest franchise. Join me as we delve into the inspirations that brought JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure to life.

JoJo's drawing style changes over time, shifting from classic 80's action story characters to androgynous but much more elaborate and detailed drawings. This development is all the more remarkable when one also considers the details of the illustrations of earlier works such as Cool Shot BT and Poker Under Arms.

However, it wasn't until Bao: The Visitor that the style that would characterize the early JoJos caught on. In its early days in the 80's, the fashion for super strong and powerful men was at its peak, with films starring Stallone and Schwarzenegger or manga like Fist of the North Star.

In addition to the drawing itself, JoJo's also has a quite striking color selection. This is because Araki studied the color theory of Paul Gaugin, a post-impressionist artist he knew in his youth, and for whom he has shown great admiration.

At the beginning of 2009, the Louvre Museum organized an event called “Louvre invites comics”, where works by Nicolas de CrécyW, Éric Liberge, Marc-Antoine Mathieu, Bernard Yslaire and, of course, Hirohiko Araki were presented. The mangaka's fondness for the world of fashion is not unknown, since he was young he was interested in the fashion magazines included in the library of his house. Among his declared favorites are Dior, Versace and Moschino. who he said was fascinated by how he mixed beauty and humor.

Araki also takes inspiration from the musical world, having characters called "Killer queen", "Scary monsters", "King Crimson", "Aerosmith", "AC/DC", etc... This has caused several Copyright problems since in the anime had to change the names to others from the original concept.

That's why I really like Araki's work, since in addition to making very entertaining stories that I really enjoy, I'm also introduced to characters with names of bands or songs that I like and, in turn, they introduce me to bands/songs that I can hear.

[multiedits]

Don't swear at us if you don't like the result, it's not always easy, we can do something different for you if you want

Your limit of requests during the period before they are closed is three, but please put it all in one question

We make:

🌈 Moodboards / Aesthetics (You can also choose: Colored or Transparent background)

🌈 Image Boards (Yes, pls if u mean this Moodboard then you need call it that)

🌈 Icons/Reply Icons

🌈 GIF icons

🌈 Stimboards

🌈 Wallpapers / Board Wallpapers

🌈 Headers

🌈 Instagram Boards

🌈 Layouts

🌈 Glitters

🌈 Stamps

🌈 Blinkies

🌈 Graphics

🌈 Userboxes

What we do:

✅ We make things with characters. We can also make a not characters things, for example, just some things by color or category. You can also suggest a style and color for things (for example: can I ask to make a moodboard (character) in orange, pink and black colors; can you make the character's aesthetic sad/fun?). We also do something based on your headcannons

✅ We can make several or two characters in the same things (with any themes)

✅ We make ship things

✅ We make AU things

✅ You can also choose the icon shape

✅ We make pride things

✅ We make Wallpapers for all devices

✅ Crossovers things

✅ OC's things

Blacklist:

(Feel free to tell us about something problematic)

Characters:

Suguru Kamoshida (Persona)

Haiji Towa; Monaca Towa (Danganronpa)

Marty Armstrong (Lisa RPG)

Professor Pyg; Victor Zsasz; Arthur Fleck (DC)

Hisoka Morow; Illumi Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)

Jack (Underworld Office)

Jared (Doll Eye)

Belle; Beast; Gaston (Beauty and The Beast)

Nanami Kiryuu (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

William Afton; Michael Afton; Nightmare Freddy; Nightmare Chica; Nightmare Foxy; Nightmare Bonnie; Nightmare Fredbear; Plushtrap; Nightmare; Nightmare Balloon Boy; Nightmare Mangle (Five Night's at Freddy's)

Kakashi Hatake; Jiraya (Naruto)

All "Wonder Killers"; Shuichiro Sawaki; Frill; Dot; Hyphen; Kirara (Wonder Egg Priority)

Black Hanekawa (Monogatari)

Moonfish (Boku no Hero Academia)

Alessi; Funny Valentine; Sports Maxx (JoJo's Bizzare)

Kevin Thompson (Daria)

Prince Phillip; Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Ariel; King Triton; Prince Eric (The Little Mermaid)

Prince Florian (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)

Tate Langdon (American Horror Story)

Archie Andrews (Riverdale)

Marty McFly (Back to the Future)

Margaret Robinson; Hobo; Jealousy; Kenneth; Lucy Simian; Mr. Yoshida; Alison Sandra Gator (The Amazing World of Gumball)

Mr. Labrador (Peppa Pig)

Felix Kranken (The Walten Files)

Lynera Skalbi (Hiveswap)

Daki (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Selever; Garcello; Sky; Tabi (Non-canon! Friday Night Funkin)

Real People's / YouTuber's etc. (Characters from Movies/Series it's okay)

Sources:

Simpsons

Creepypasta

American Dad

Killing Stalking

South Park

The Office

Vivziepop Media's

Bojack Horseman

Porkchop and Flatscreen

Family Guy

Country Humans / Country Balls

A large Number of Horrors (Ask if we are Comfortable with Someone, before requesting)

SCP's

Attack on Titan

Wizard of Oz (1939 film, all others WOZ sources is ok!)

Something that contains Minecraft materials (like Aphmau, Dream SMP, Minecraft Story Mode, etc., Only canon Minecraft game and Minecraft Earth)

Saya no Uta

Films about Real Wars

Fanganronpa's (It's not include YTTD)

GTA

Future Dairy

Hetalia

"Yaoi/Yuri" mangas

Obey Me

Happy Tree Friends

Yarichin Club

Camp Camp

Boyfriend to Death

The Magnus Archives

Magical Emi, the Magic Star

Senran Kagura

Magical Angel Creamy Mami

Persia the Magic Fairy

Elfen Lied

LapFox Trax

Crush Crush

Alien 9

Eddsworld

The Midnight Gospel

Love Letter

The Arcana

Nekopara

Citrus

Yandere Simulator

Crimson Gray

Ships:

(All here okay if it's platonic or other)

King Dedede x Anyone (Kirby)

Poison Ivy x Males; Harley Quinn x Joker or Batman; Streaky x Anyone; Someone from Red Lanterns corps x Anyone; B'Dg x Anyone (DC)

Junko Enoshima x Anyone; Tenko Chabashira x Males; Byakuya Togami x Toko Fukawa; Hifumi Yamada x Anyone; Teruteru Hanamura x Anyone; Ultimate Imposter x Anyone; Someone from "Warrior's of Hope" x Anyone; Toko Fukawa x Komaru Naegi; Hiyoko Saionji x Anyone (Danganronpa)

Jasper x Lapis Lazuli; Steven Universe x Spinel; Emerald x Someone from "Off Colors" team; Yellow Diamond x someone who's not Blue Diamond; Blue Diamond x someone who's not Yellow Diamond; Fluorite x Anyone; Fusions x Fusions with same characters (Steven Universe)

Courage x Anyone; Eustace Bagge x Anyone; Muriel Bagge x Anyone (Courage the Cowardly Dog)

Tails the Fox x Rouge the Bat or Wave the Swallow; Dr. Eggman x Anyone; Scourge the Hedgehog x Anyone; Metal Sonic x Anyone who's not Robot (Sonic the Hedgehog)

SpongeBob x Anyone Who's not Patrick (SpongeBob SquarePants)

Lemon Demon x Anyone; Ships with Skid and Pump; The Mom x Anyone who's not The Dad; The Dad x Anyone who's not The Mom; Boyfriend x Anyone who's not Pico or Girlfriend (Friday Night Funkin)

Bakugo Katsuki x Izuku Midoriya, Ochako, Camie; Eijirou Kirishima x Females (Boku no Hero Academia)

Boss x River or Eugene (Underworld Office)

Yoshi x Anyone; Bowser x Anyone; Donkey Kong x Anyone (Super Mario)

Bill Cipher x Anyone; Dipper x Wendy; Mabel x Pacifica or Wendy; Stan x Anyone; Ford x Anyone (Gravity Falls)

Zim x Dib or Tak or GiR; GiR x Anyone; Dib x Zim or Tak; Tak x Zim; MiMi x Anyone; 2k x Palindrome; Zib x Anyone (Invader Zim)

Inosuke x Zenitsu; Zenitsu x Nezuko (Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Gregg x Anyone who's not Angus; Angus x Anyone who's not Gregg (Night in the Woods)

Kaoru Kurita x Anyone who's not Momoe Sawaki (Wonder Egg Priority)

Kristoph Gavin x Anyone; Alita Tiala x Anyone; Miles Edgeworth x Females (Ace Attorney)

Oscar x Lola (Shark Tale)

White Choco Cookie x Males (Cookie Run)

Jamie Russo x Anyone (The Amazing World of Gumball)

Alberto x Giulia (Luca)

Any ships from FNaF

Any ships from Bunnicula

Canon Lesbians x Males; Canon Gays x Females

Ships with Childs

Crossover Ships

Pedo/Incest/Zoophilia/Abuse/Selfcest ships (themes related to good self-esteem, just self-love like "how beautiful I am" - thats okay)

Aesthetics:

Stonercore (And all others with Dr*gs, Alco, Cig**ettes, but if Character have Cig**ettes on all images it's okay and we will tag it like: "tw: cig**ettes")

Gorecore

Traumacore

Goblincore

Apocalypsecore

Other:

Flags of Real Countries, Islands, States etc.

Real Spiders and Scorpions

Abuse family, friendship, love (rivalry and enmity it's okay)

Sexualities who's never will be valid (like TikToksexual; Petsexual; G*resexual; etc.)

Old/Pink Lesbian Flag; Sunset Lesbian Flag with 7 Stripes

DD/LG; Fetishism; 18+; S*x; etc.

Misgendering Characters

Erasing canon Characters Orientations

List of Shapes for Icons:

Circle

Square

Heart

Rhombus

Star

Octagon

Polaroid

DNI:

Racist/Believe what "blackwashing" and "reverse racism" is reality

LGBTQ+ phobic

Anti-MOGAI

TERF/SWERF

Exclusionist

MAP/NOMAP

Transmed/Transcum

Sexist/Anti-feminist

Gender critical

Ableist

Antisemitist/Xenophobic

Nazi

If you support r/pe and ab/se

NSFW/DDLG/18+ blog (It's okay if you have some NSFW/DDLG/18+ posts, but it's not okay if all your posts it's NSFW/DDLG/18+)

Support "Super Straight's", "Super Gay's", "Super Lesbian's", "Super Bi's" (or if you)

Thank you for reading 💗

— Mod's GíR and Tãils

[popmusicu]

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Pop Culture Musical References as a New Way of Music Discovery

For those who are not very familiar with manga and anime, I’m going to contextualize briefly, and if you do, please go take a shower. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is a manga written and drawn by Hirohiko Araki, which began in 1987 and is still being published nowadays. Araki’s work is famous because of his unique art style, which illustrates each manga frame with the composition and details of a pictorial work, and it has a story with very unpredictable plot twists that border on the bizarre (hence its name).

There are many remarkable aspects of this work, and I could develop a complex analysis of each one of them. However, in this article I will briefly talk about the influence of Pop Culture Music on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (A.K.A Jojo).

As many people know, Jojo is full of musical references, since the very first chapter. Among the most popular references I can remember, there are Queen, King Crimson, AC / DC, Oasis, Michael Jackson, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Lady Gaga, Wham!, Green Day, The Police, and many many others.

Musical artists are generally referenced in Jojo for a deeper development of characters, avatars, places, or objects that are named after these bands. For example: There is a superpower called "Killer Queen" that can turn any object into a remote bomb. This is a reference to the song “Killer Queen” by Queen, whose lyrics says “She's a Killer Queen, gunpowder, gelatine, dynamite with a laser beam, guaranteed to blow your mind anytime”. The rest of the song is also related to the character who possesses this superpower. Curiously, the physical appearance of this character is based on David Bowie. At first, you might think it is a random thing that this character looks like David Bowie and has powers based on Queen (Killer Queen, Sheer Heart Attack, Bites the Dust). But it turns out that David Bowie is a multifaceted artist, whose performances are radically different one to each other. That said, it is important to note that the appearance of this Jojo character is specifically based on Bowie's appearance at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, in which he performs Under Pressure alongside Annie Lennox. It is also the same year that Jojo Part 4 (the saga I’m talking about) began to be published. In conclusion, this reference could be interpreted as a tribute from Hirohiko Araki to Freddie Mercury.

References of this nature can be found throughout the entire Jojo series. You might think that Araki is taking advantage of the fame that these bands had already sown before. Despite there is some truth in it, Araki has shown a strong artistic commitment to his manga and the inspiration he draws from musical artists. In an interview, Araki talked about how Prince influenced his story writing: when he was singing Prince’s songs in karaoke, it was difficult to keep up with him due to the unpredictable changes, which often made him lose the beat. In the same way, he wanted to draw twisty stories that not only impressed his readers, but also challenged him as an artist. This method has led to story gaps that are often taken with humor by the fan community, as some of them are too big to ignore them. However, the most remarkable thing in this whole topic, in my opinion, is Araki's contribution to Art.

In countless occasions, Araki has put his artistic method above rigid plot coherence in order to use his manga to lead readers' attention to art pieces that seem important to him. When Araki refers to the Mona Lisa, Clint Eastwood, The Creature of the Black Lagoon, or Italian food, he is not only adding popularity to his work, but is also resignifying Pop Culture icons to awaken interest in the most curious fans and show this icons to the new generations.

It is thanks to Araki that I have been able to really discover Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and King Crimson from a renewed perspective. I would never even be interested in them if it wasn’t for him (I hope you don’t hate me because of that haha). I just wanted to share Araki’s work so you can discover music the same way as me. Because I think it’s a much more motivating and encouraging prospect for learning about music and Pop Culture.

(In case you're interested, I'll leave a short video of musical references in Jojo <3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrDt9ZKvI9U)

- Sebastián Muñoz Obregón

[a-crimson-lion]

Parallels, Parallels, Parallels

[We got a double hitter, fellas. For the sake of courtesy, you may want to leave if you don't like Bakugo bashing. Just a fair warning.]

Part 1: Kacchan and Deku

Like it or not, Horikoshi made it his mission to make sure that his protagonist Izuku and Katsuki had heaps of parallels.

For the most part, it's really prominent.

Katsuki acts as a foil for Izuku. He was born with a powerful quirk, Izuku was quirkless. He's loudmouthed and abrasive, Izuku's softspoken and understanding. He has no inate will to help people by default, Izuku will leap to the defense of an innocent person before he can think. The list goes on.

The best way it's highlighted is during the U.A. Entrance Exam: Katsuki gets in on only Villain Points. Izuku gets in on only Rescue Points.

On another note, Izuku and Katsuki both represent various aspects of luck and work. All Might once said something along the lines of "There are those who gain power through luck, and those who work to earn power. Know the difference." This fits some of the more prominent characteristics of Izuku and Katsuki.

Katsuki's Explosion quirk is essentially a very big play of luck. That's not to say he doesn't work hard, but the work he does accomplish is more for maintaining his high position, and less about going further beyond. Izuku is different. Getting One for All was incredibly lucky, but the work Izuku had to put in to obtain and control the quirk was definitely not just luck. He cleaned and entire beach just to get the quirk, and as of now, he only recently learned to control 8% of OFA, as well as 20% in short bursts and 100% without reprocussions when a small child is connected to him and actively reversing the damage. And said small child's quirk is a freak mutation, so someone has to stop her quirk to make sure Izuku isn't erased from existance when he isn't actively on the bone hurting juice.

Which brings me to my next point: going beyond.

There are only three major instances where we see Katsuki seriously push his limits (no, Howitzer Impact doesn't count because:

It's a super move.

By itself, it doesn't really result in major reprocussions.)

The first time we ever see something close to Katsuki reaching his limit is during the infamous Katsuki vs Ochako fight at the Sports Festival. Katsuki manages to pull off a gigantic explosion seemingly out of his ass, defeating Ochako and her well thought out plan at the cost of his arms starting to experience strain. The second instance is during the final exams, where Katsuki is trying (and failing) to take down All Might, even blasting past his gauntlets' safety precautions and going so far as to try and bite All Might's hand when he's out of stamina. The third notable occasion is at I-Island, where he pushes past his already reached limits in order to help take down the powered up Wolfram.

With the potential exception of the third example, there's nothing all that special about him pushing past his limits.

His motivation is just that he wants to win, end of story. He wanted to beat Ochako? BOOM, big explosion. He wanted to beat All Might? BOOM, big explosions, but he still fails (remember that the only reason he passed is because Izuku is selfless and came back for his sorry behind). I-Island is more of the same, but in that instance he's working towards a team goal, AND he's rooting for All Might, so admittably the circumstances are different.

So how does Izuku going beyond differ from Katsuki?

Well, unlike most shonen anime, when Izuku goes beyond, there are actual consequences. Izuku tries to save Katsuki from the sludge villain? Izuku gets scolded for being reckless (even though the Pros were just standing there, using quirks as an excuse while Katsuki was going trigger happy trying to free himself, and yet he gets praise). Izuku saves Ochako from the Zero Pointer? He breaks his legs and an arm, though he thankfully avoids being turned into a bloody pulp. Izuku tries to save Shoto from himself? He ends up permanently disfiguring his hand after he decides to go all out against Shoto, and eventually gets the incentive to learn what would later become Full Cowl. He wants to save Kota from Muscular? He screws his arms up so bad that he can no longer use them at full power unless he wants them to stop working altogether. The thing about Izuku going beyond is, aside from gaining consequences, he also gains something from the experience.

He got All Might's attention during the Sludge Villain Incident. Ochako saved him after saving her from the Zero Pointer, allowing both of them to pass and eventually leading up to Ochako becoming a close friend of Izuku. Shoto accepted his fire side, and Izuku eventually learned Full Cowl in order to stop breaking his bones as frequently. Kota stops hating heroes, and Izuku eventually teaches himself Shoot Style.

What does Katsuki get from his experiences? "Be stronger."

Which is terrible advice for someone in his position; the proper advice would be to "Be smarter." He should have lost his fight with Ochako and realized that big explosions won't always fix his problems. He should have fought All Might and realized halfway that defeating him would have been impossible, and thus (even reluctantly) decide to cooperate with Izuku. The I-Island incident is the only exception I'll give him, simply because his reasons for going beyond were slightly more noble than normal. And before you bring up Katsuki's quirk's limitations, remember that we didn't see those again until he was fighting ALL MIGHT, WITH HIS GEAR ON. He would have been toast sooner if he didn't have his gauntlets.

But hey, that's my personal opinion. What do I know?

Part 2: King Explosion Murder and Endeavor

Stop me if you've heard this one before: If Izuku equals All Might, then Katsuki equals Endeavor.

Unfortunately, that comparison isn't too far off.

Both of them are egotistical manics looking to surpass All Might (and in Katsuki's case, also Izuku) with powerful quirks and prominent positions of power. They also both have a tendency to use people to meet their own ends. Katsuki didn't give a crap about his fellow teammates during the Cavalry Battle, going off on his own multiple times and not even bothering to recall their names. In the manga, Mina even stated that Katsuki only picked her to counter Shoto's ice when the Cavalry Battle is over, and its been stated that Eijiro only got aboard Katsuki's team because he brought up "taking down Midoriya." This sounds awfully similar to Endeavor (or Enji Todoroki) using his wife Rei in order to "create" a perfect heir (Shoto) in order to surpass All Might.

They're also both sore winners. Shoto lost to Katsuki in the final round of the Sports Festival, and Katsuki has to be chained up because he refuses to accept the victory. Meanwhile, later in the series, Endeavor rages when he's given the position of Number One Hero because he's seen All Might's true form, and suddenly everything he's worked for is for naught, at least in his eyes. Katsuki and Enjialso tendend to be assholes to certain people in particular. Katsuki was (and still is) an asshole to Izuku because he was quirkless and therefore useless (and maybe to some extent, Katsuki feared Izuku's innate heroic nature, so he tried knocking him down to avoid future competition, even if, by Katsuki's words, Izuku wouldn't be competition because he didn't even have a crappy quirk). Endeavor was an asshole to Shoto, sending him through brutal training that no four year old should be subjected to, isolating him from the rest of his family, and driving his mother to insanity, leading to his iconic burn mark on his left side.

What really gets me infuriated about the both of them is how Horikoshi tries to parallel them with actually decent human beings, usually through their redemption arcs.

Katsuki has been compared to Izuku by All Might himself, stating that the two of them are both sides to the same coin: the saving hero, and the winning hero. This comparison would be fair IF Izuku wasn't already learning to be a winning hero (and being a saving hero by default) while Katsuki has yet to show a desire to save beyond his desire to win.

Meanwhile, Endeavor gets parallels to Shoto. "Earlyroki," as Shoto was often referred to by his peers after he opened up, was an ironic reflection of his father, only relying on his ice power in a nearly condescending manner, and also adopting his father's lone wolf attitude. Then there's the whole deal with Endeavor getting a scar on his left side to match Shoto. There's no being subtle with the symbolism.

Although, and this is an unpopular opinion, I do like some aspects of Katsuki and Enji's redemption arcs. For Enji, we're shown that even if he's seemingly willing to change his ways, not every person has to accept his attempt at reconnection. A bad person can turn a new leaf and people are allowed to still not trust them. We don't see this in Katsuki's redemption arc, since everyone is somehow in unanimous agreement that Katsuki didn't do anything seriously wrong. Even though he did. And that's infuriating, specifically for me. What Katsuki's arc IS doing right, is that he actually has the potential to change. He may have abused Izuku for well over a decade, but he's still a kid; he still has time to change, and the changes are starting to form, however subtle they may be. I wish they were less flip floppy in progress and that people in the fandom and in the series weren't exaggerating it so much, but we can't have everything. At least he's better than episode one Katsuki by a notable margin. Meanwhile, Endeavor's been stuck in his ways since he married Rei. He can still change, but his habits will be harder to remove since he didn't learn early on enough that his actions weren't exactly moral.

Well, that's my two cents. If you read it, hope you enjoyed.

-Crimson Lion (13 August 2019)

[craveanimeblog-blog]

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Fan Favorite Character Lives the Bizarre New Fashion Style

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind is the fifth part of Hirohiko Araki's series, and follows Giorno Giovanna, the son of former series villain Dio Brando, as he joins the mafia group Passione in order to change and reform them into reputable thieves and crooks from the inside. The anime adaptation premiered last October, and can be currently found streaming on Crunchyroll.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was originally created by Hirohiko Araki for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1987. Currently the second longest running series in the magazine with over 100 volumes collected, the series tells the story of the Joestar family, who are each entwined in a destiny battling outrageous foes. The series has been split up into eight parts, with each part following a different generation of the Joestar family.

Manga authors all have their own art styles, but there are few as distinctive and iconic as Hirohiko Araki's illustrations for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Over the course of his nearly 40 years as a manga artist, Araki has created some of the most recognizable characters, poses, and scenes in the history of the medium – in fact, so many other series pay homage to him that spotting JoJo references is practically a sport at this point.

But where did Araki's wild designs come from? How did he get the idea for Jonathan's dramatic hand pose, part 5's avant-garde outfits, or all of those stylish chapter covers? ...From museums and fashion magazines, of course! Today, we're here to shed some light on how classical art and fashion illustrations inspired the unique look of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and how JoJo's cultural impact eventually led to collaborations with the likes of Gucci and the Louvre. Strike your favorite pose and join us!

While some characters in the fifth season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind didn't make it to the finish line, others capped off the series in fates worse than death! Diavolo got stuck in a "death loop" wherein he will never stop dying for eternity thanks to the new power of Golden Wind Requiem, and poor fan favorite Polnareff may have suffered an even worse fate! Losing his body thanks to the powers of King Crimson, Polnareff found his mind now trapped inside the turtle that harbored Giorno and company for so long.

As we saw from the last few episodes of season five, Polnareff managed to still be a much needed asset to Giorno, Bucciarati, and the rest of the Stand users as they attempted to put an end to Diavolo and take over the Passione gang themselves. Unfortunately, Silver Chariot was affected by the arrow that granted folks the ability to wield Stands and went berserk, with both heroes, and Diavolo, attempting a mad dash to get the arrow.

In the finale, it was revealed that the supporting character of Stardust Crusaders was no longer able to return to his now defunct body and decided to have his "ghost" reside within the turtle for as long as he could. Cue the post credit scene of Golden Wind where we see a stoic Polnareff watching over Giorno receiving "tribute" from other mafiosos, all while still in the body of said amphibian. Whether or not Polnareff will eventually return to a human form is still up in the air for anime fans, but we certainly wouldn't mind seeing a "bizarre" reunion between Polnareff and Jotaro in the future.

What did you think of the final status of Polnareff in the finale of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind? Do you see him making another appearance down the line within the franchise, for those watching the anime? 

[cookinguptales]

books I’m getting rid of (part 1)

So I’m moving!

One thing that means is just. Getting rid of a lot of shit because I don’t want to move it. I’m going to be doing a lot of destashing, but this post is specifically about books. These are just the books on my bookshelf; I’m sure I will find many more by the time I’m done, and that’ll be in part 2.

I’ll be donating at least 25% and using the rest for moving expenses. I’m thinking Immigration Equality, the Hispanic Federation, or Dysautonomia International for the donation? But I’m open to suggestions.

Anyway, I didn’t want to futz around with how much to charge for the books, so let’s just say $5 for the paperbacks, $10 for the hardbacks, plus shipping. (Let’s say like $3.50 a book for shipping, unless we’re dealing in a lot of hardbacks or something. I think that’s about right for media mail + mailer? If you’re getting a ton of books or you’re outside the US, we’ll talk.)

Feel free to haggle or ask questions about edition, condition, translation, whatever.

I loved some of these books, I hated some of these books. Some were for class, some for pleasure, some gifts from people who did not know me very well. All of them are taking up a lot of room.

PB — paperback HC — hardcover

Fiction:

Sister (Rosamund Lupton) (PB)

The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Bertolt Brecht) (PB)

Firebirds Soaring (fantasy anthology) (HC)

Killing Time (Caleb Carr) (PB)

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs) (PB)

Hollow City (Ransom Riggs) (HC)

The Tale of Genji (Murasaki Shikibu) (PB)

Time cat (Lloyd Alexander) (PB)

Inkspell (Cornelia Funke) (note: this one is pretty beat up) (PB)

Peter and the Starcatchers (Barry/Pearson) (PB)

Jazz (Toni Morrison) (PB)

Faust I & II (Goethe) (PB)

Deep Secret (Diana Wynne Jones) (PB)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare) (PB)

The Harder They Come (Michael Thelwell) (PB)

The Grey Fairy Book (Andrew Lang) (PB)

The Crimson Fairy Book (Andrew Lang) (PB)

The Green Fairy Book (Andrew Lang) (PB)

Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier) (PB)

The Master & Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov) (PB)

Antigone (Sophocles) (PB)

Season of Migration to the North (Tayeb Salih) (PB)

Ancillary Justice (Ann Leckie) (PB)

Ancillary Sword (Ann Leckie) (PB)

Ancillary Mercy (Ann Leckie) (HC)

Non-fiction:

From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fanta and Fan Cult in the Mind of the West (Susan J Napier) (PB)

Purity and Danger (Mary Douglas) (PB)

As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto (Julia Child) (HC)

The Study of American Folklore: An Introduction (Jan Harold Brunvand) (HC)

Missions to the Calusa (John H. Hann) (HC)

Too Good to be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends (Jan Harold Brunvand) (PB)

Everyone Eats (E. N. Anderson) (PB)

The Return of Martin Guerre (Natalie Zemon Davis) (PB)

Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft (Paul Boyer, Stephen Nissenbaum) (PB)

The Revolution of Peter the Great (James Cracraft) (PB)

The Souls of Black Folk (W. E. B. Du Bois) (PB)

Kitchen Secrets: The Meaning of Cooking in Everyday Life (Frances Short) (PB)

Russia: People & Empire, 1552-1917 (Geoffrey Hosting) (PB)

Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation (Mary Daly) (PB)

Oprah: The Gospel of an Icon (Kathryn Lofton) (PB)

Gleanings in Buddha-Fields (Lafcadio Hearn) (PB)

Food & Culture: A Reader, 2nd Edition (Carole Counihan) (PB)

Women & Religious Traditions (Leona M. Anderson) (PB)

Major Problems in the History of Imperial Russia (James Cracraft) (PB)

Comics/Manga:

(All TPB/tankoubon & in English unless otherwise noted.)

Vagabond 1-3 (Takehiko Inoue)

Marvel Adventures Avengers 1

The Little Book of Hindu Deities (Sanjay Patel)

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Saga I (Brian K Vaughan)

Hatter M 1-3 (Frank Beddor)

Trick 'r Treat: Tales of Mayhem, Mystery, and Mischief (John Griffin)

Muppet King Arthur (Paul Benjamin)

Foiled (Jane Yolen)

Unwritten I (Mike Carey)

Adventure Time 1 (Ryan North)

Violent Cases (Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean)

The Underburbs (haley-bore)

The Clockwork Girl  (Sean O’Reilly, Kevin Hanna)

Scott Pilgrim #3 (Bryan Lee O’Malley)

Haunted House (Mitsukazu Mihara)

Adventure Time Encyclopedia (Martin Olson) (HC)

Other: A study Bible, man, idk, I mostly just used it for class (PB)

[bebelasquid]

My Semi-Daily Blog 9/26/18

“Today is the day to talk about something near and dear to my heart as of recent and that has been the manga and anime series “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.” Through it’s use of color, character, and upright confusing at times creativity I had discovered something new about myself. This series made me feel a type of passion and fanaticism over something that I hadn’t felt since I was a child watching “Star Wars.” 

Some context, throughout my life I’ve had somewhat of an identity crisis. I was always seeking the best way to look casual and be able to blend into a crowd. For the longest time I didn’t believe that I was worth enough to try and stand out more than I had to. But in my junior year of High school I was scrolling through Hulu and saw “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure” in my recommended list, my friends had talked about it a year back so I decided it couldn’t be that bad for someone who isn’t into anime. Looking at the first episode along showed me something that I had missed so much in my TV shows, color! The colors of the show were immediately eye-catching, the blue hair of Johnathan and Zeppeli’s  clothes stood out so much to me. Going even further into the series I was blown away by part 3′s colorful stands and part 4′s unique yellow sky’s and pink drama! Those colors seemingly triggered something in me, I started wearing more clothes that I was afraid to wear. Originally I was scared to stand out so I wore black and dark shirts but now I find myself in bright oranges, light green shoes, and a bright pink backpack to boot. 

Next came the character, the character of the series itself. It was one of the Shonen Manga that had created the genre and where many would be based off of but they all lost some of the creativity in following. Jojo jumps between time periods and world geography to show the adventures of each respective Jojo whether it be the fate of the world or the the mystery hidden in a small town. The ability to vary so heavily in protagonist and setting while still making it feel fresh and its own is something not all can achieve. The sheer tonal differences can leave one wondering if it’s even the same series at times. One great example is the contrast between parts 3,4, and 5. Part 3 has our protagonists travel from Japan to Egypt in order to stop a great evil which has recently re-awoken to terrorize the world in an amazing globe trotting adventure. Part 4 takes a mile back to focus on a mystery in a small town and the bond between friends and learning to grow stronger with teamwork in the face of hidden danger. Part 5 is a tale about a gang in Italy who through their own personal struggles come to face their leader in the name of the greater good to make sure that other children don’t have to grow the way they had to. Having such different characters and arcs while still maintaining a high level of quality is astounding. This wondrous aura surrounds the series that can only be described as “Stunning.” 

Finally, the confusing creativity that wraps the series up in this tightly woven, iconic, and constantly evolving style. Looking at how the series began and comparing it to the series now it’s almost unrecognizable. The typical and genre defining part 1 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure borrows heavily from typical tales of good versus evil in an epic battle, but by part 7 of the series the lines are so blurred and the characters so defined yet so mysterious in their alignment is part of the appeal itself. The introduction of Stands in the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure series is integral to some of it’s greatest strengths. Stands started off with seemingly basic abilities and an overall “Buff Dude!” design with stands like Star Platinum and Magicians Red but get more and more varied as the series continues. Each stand being a representation of the characters fighting spirit leads to a plethora of unique and varied designs that draw from each other, from the more humanoid stands like Crazy Diamond and The World to the straight up abstract like Bohemian Rhapsody and Skye High, the former of which isn’t even bound to a single visible form or design. The powers they posses such as drawing meteorites towards themselves and erasing time in intervals leads to such amazing and interesting battles between these beings. Powers like The Spin also bring an interesting tide to battle with it’s mysterious and seemingly endless possibilities. These are not battles of brute strength but battles of wit and ability. Many battles can comically be explained as “You’ve outsmarted my outsmarting! But too bad for you because I was 50 steps ahead!” It knows how to reach into you like the stand Osiris and hold you until the end. 

In conclusion, I’m a nerd who really likes Jojo and I didn’t get to talk about my favorite stand Killer Queen and it’s alternate ability BITES ZA DUSTO! AND ALSO FOR THOSE WHO DON’T UNDERSTAND KING CRIMSON’S POWERS, THEY WORK LIKE THIS! IMAGINE THAT YO------------------------ AND THAT’S HOW IT WORKS, GOODNIGHT AND GOOD REST!