#Magic knight rayearth manga updates

[mahou-furbies]

Magical girl sequels and reboots! (series under cut)

[edit July 3, 2024] updated with Shugo chara & MKR, they really keep cranking these out!

Sailor Moon - remake, faithful to manga (anime)

Cardcaptor Sakura - sequel (manga and anime)

Ojamajo Doremi - is about young women who grew up watching Ojamajo Doremi and now get to meet the Ojamajos (movie)

Mermaid Melody - sequel about Lucia’s daughter (manga)

Tokyo Mew Mew - remake (anime)

Precure - crossover sequel (?) about the Splash Star and Yes5 Cures as adults (anime)

W.i.t.c.h. - reboot (comic)

Winx Club - reboot (animated show)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - sequel (movie)

Shugo Chara! - sequel (manga)

Magic Knight Rayearth - remake? (anime)

[kodanshamanga]

NEW Kodansha Print:

🗡️Magic Knight Rayearth, Volume 3🗡️ By CLAMP

🔮CLAMP’s masterwork is now in a new translation! This manga classic forms the centerpiece of any CLAMP collection and is also a great introduction to girl-powered adventure manga

[lgbtqmanga]

New Releases May 21, 2024

After We Gazed at the Starry Sky (manga) vol. 2 by Bisco Kida

That fateful encounter at the planetarium changed Subaru Miyazawa’s life forever. After all, that’s where he met his true love, Tougo Amase, photographer extraordinaire! And now that they’re officially together, every day is a kind of happily-ever-after! That is, until the day Tougo admits that he’s planning to move away…so where does that leave Subaru?

Cocoon Entwined (manga) vol. 6 by Yuriko Hara

The Lady of the Cocoon, who, cutting the tresses as precious as her life, abandoned the academy. The girls left behind are shaken by that loss. Amidst this, Christmas night arrives at long last. Will a miracle occur on the holy eve? The thread of fate tangles, frays, and, from the past and present, spins towards the future…

Confessions of a Shy Baker (manga) vol. 4 by Masaomi Ito

Toshimitsu Yamamura lives together happily with his boyfriend of many years, Gonta Tsubakisaka, but in his everyday life Toshimitsu isn't really… “out.” After his vehemently progressive employee had the idea to list their real estate business as LGBTQ+ friendly, Toshimitsu has been very anxious about accidentally outing himself, and he often channels his anxiety into baking incredible treats for his carb-conscious boyfriend. With the love of his boyfriend and his love of baking, maybe Toshimitsu will steadily become more comfortable being his authentic self!

Heat × Beat A Shut-In Omega Becomes an Idol! (manga) by Ken Homerun

As an omega abandoned by his betrothed alpha mate, shut-in Minoru shares his heartbreak with the world in the form of music. But when one of his songs catches the attention of famous idol Hijiri, Minoru is suddenly swept from the lonely solitude of his room and thrust into the spotlight — as an omega idol and music producer performing alongside his two alpha bandmates, Eiji and Tatsuya!

For any other group, this could prove a recipe for controversy and disaster, but Minoru isn't worried; his lingering attachment to his former mate keeps him from acting on his omega instincts. For a while, he's even able to throw himself whole-heartedly into his new role, learning to embrace the world he'd once retreated from, and even growing closer to his bandmates and fellow idols, especially the frank and affectionate Eiji. But Eiji is hiding a secret of his own — a connection to Minoru's past that might shatter the tentative trust and affection that's been growing between them.

Magic Knight Rayearth (manga) vol. 3 by CLAMP

Three girls who couldn't be more different meet on a school trip to Tokyo Tower--and find themselves beamed into a parallel world called Cefiro, where the mysterious Pillar has recruited them to avert a calamity! With the help of a motley troop of rogues and wizards, they will unlock the power of three transforming giant dragons known as Rune Gods and rush to the Pillar's aid…but there's more going on at the heart of Cefiro than they know!

Contains updated translation and lettering created for the 25th-anniversary release.

The Man Who Shattered My World (manga) by Osamu Moriya

Tachibana is a handsome top who exclusively has no-strings-attached sex with slender, pretty men. When he picks up the brawny, confident Kuzumi on a whim, he doesn't expect much to be different… except Kuzumi flips the script on him.

Kuzumi is merciless in his attentions, and Tachibana finds himself helpless to resist. In one night, everything Tachibana thought he knew about sex and desire gets turned on its head, and he finds himself coming back for more. But can he trust Kuzumi with more than just his body - or will he be discarded by the other man as soon as he gets bored?

A top vs. top BL love story swaying between pride and desire!

My Girlfriend's Not Here Today (manga) vol. 1 by Kiyoko Iwami

Pent up and tired of her apathetic girlfriend, Asahina Yuni turns to an anonymous online account to let it all out. It’s just another day of doomscrolling after class when Asahina gets swept away in conversation with the beautiful, outgoing Taki. When Taki turns out to be following Asahina's private account, it’s cute…right? Taki would never blackmail Asahina…right? With every new lie, the web of secrets and erotic desire grows ever-tighter!

Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection (manga) vol. 8 by Naoko Takeuchi

Teenager Usagi is not the best athlete, she's never gotten good grades, and, well, she's a bit of a crybaby. But when she meets a talking cat, she begins a journey that will teach her she has a well of great strength just beneath the surface and the heart to inspire and stand up for her friends as Sailor Moon! The original Sailor Moon in a new, affordable edition.

She Likes Gays, but Not Me (manga) vol. 1 by Akira Hirahara and Naoto Asahara

Based on the critically claimed novel. High schooler Atsushi Andou has always hidden the fact that he’s gay. But one day, he sees his classmate Sae Miura with a BL book-a small moment with major consequences. Atsushi longs for a “normal” happiness with a loving wife and a biological child, but what can he do when he’s not turned on by women?

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat (manga) vol. 4 by Sakaomi Yuzaki

After their curry party, Kasuga and Nomoto have grown closer than ever before. Now that they have both recognized the nature of the feelings they hold, and with Valentine’s Day coming up, will they be able to successfully express it to each other?

Tied to You (manhwa vol. 1) by Chelliace and WHAT

Wooseo Shin was never one to believe in fate…until a ring of red thread appears around his finger, that is! This ring marks a person’s meeting of their soulmate, and with it, neither can fall asleep if the other is absent. This development is not a welcome one for Wooseo, who decides to keep it from his close friend and crush Jiseok Kang at all costs. Because as fate would have it, the person with Wooseo’s matching set is Jigeon Kang—Jiseok’s older brother! When Jigeon proposes that they start sharing a bed, if only to combat their joint insomnia, Wooseo reluctantly accepts…but as the two spend more and more time together, feelings start to get messy. Will Wooseo be able to survive his new life tangled up in between these two brothers?!

Tokyo Babylon CLAMP Premium Collection (manga) vol. 3 by CLAMP

Subaru Sumeragi is an onmyouji and the current head of the Sumeragi clan. When Subaru joins a phone call between three mysterious girls, he is startled when they declare him to be an enemy and use a mantra against him! Will he be able to get down to the bottom of things?

The Yearning Fox Lies in Wait (manga) by Nmura

The year is 1920, the 9th year of the Taisho Period. Lifelong philomath Kiyo Fukasaku is ecstatic when he's admitted into the Imperial University, and can't wait to begin his new life in the nation’s capital…that is, until he gets lost and already finds himself on hard times on his first day in the big city. Luckily, he runs into Ozaki, an eccentric, seemingly well-off man who invites Kiyo to stay in his mansion after he learns about his financial troubles. But there's more to the handsome stranger than meets the eye. It turns out that Ozaki is a fox spirit who had some sort of connection to Kiyo's grandfather, Seishirou, and he invites Kiyo to live with him as a way to repay Seishirou's kindness. But just what kind of relationship did Ozaki and Seishirou have, and what does it mean for Ozaki and Kiyo?

[2000mallow]

EVERYTHING IS TAGGED: author/artist, series, character(s), manga/anime/game art *↓ tag list + info ↓*

[>order; alphabetically a-z] MAIN TAG LIST (series) Ace Attorney ✖ Alichino ✖ Angel Sanctuary ✖ Atelier Baroque Chobits ✖ Clover Death Note ✖ D.Gray-man Final Fantasy X / X-2 God Child ✖ Guin Saga .hack Kaleido Star Magic Knight Rayearth ✖ Megami Tenshi (smt series) Neon Genesis Evangelion Pandora's Tower Ranma 1/2 Tsubasa Chronicle ✖ Tokyo Babylon Vampire Knight ✖ Wolf's Rain x/1999 ✖ xxxHolic Zelda: Twilight Princess Original art Artist List Kohime Ose Shinobu Tanno Jun Suemi extra tags: transparent pngs only manga ✖ only anime ✖ only game personal favorite art unknown (missing tags, help is appreciated!) REBLOGS

feel free to request or submit something! if i get anything wrong please let me know and it will be updated! make sure to include the post URL in it! (e.g. this post is /753180868781146112)

Thank you!!! personal/main @kan-bu + my art @saint-end <3

[engshoujosei]

Magic Knight Rayearth (Parts 1 & 2)

2 omnibus (3-in-1s, Dark Horse), 6 volumes (Kodansha), 6 volumes (Tokyopop), another print version will be coming out by Kodansha soon.

Licensed by Tokyopop (expired), Dark Horse (expired), now Kodansha.

CLAMP’s masterwork Magic Knight Rayearth—now in a new translation! This update of the manga classic forms the centerpiece to any CLAMP collection and is also a fantastic introduction to girl-powered adventure manga—perfect for fans of Sailor Moon and She-Ra. While on a field trip to Tokyo Tower, three teenage girls cross a magical portal and are transported to another world called Cefiro. There they are summoned through the last remaining strength of the Princess Emeraude, who believes the trio will become the magic knights who will save her, as prophesied by legend.

Related Series Tsubasa - Reservoir Chronicle (Alternate Story, licensed. Shonen.)

Anime Start/End Chapter (Part 1)

Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1 (S1) Ends at Vol 3, Chap 15 (S1)

Anime Start/End Chapter (Part 2)

Stars at Vol 1, Chap 1 (S2) Ends at Vol 2 - Story Diverges

Tags:

Adapted to Anime

Adapted to Game

Age Gap

Alternate Reality

Appearance Different from Actual Age

Appearance Different from Personality

Beautiful Artwork

Female Fighter/s

Isekai

Knight/s

Magical Girl/s

Multiple Couples

Multiple Protagonists

Parallel Universe

Sacrifice/s

Star-Crossed Lovers

Sword and Sorcery

Swordsman

War/s

World Travel

[magicaldogtoto]

Considering that Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card moved the setting from the late 1990s to the 2010s, and Sailor Moon Crystal also reset the main cast to be in the 2010s, do you think it’d be acceptable if I wrote a Magic Knight Rayearth one-shot (maybe more in the future) that also quietly updated the setting to contemporary times?

Comic book time is more noticeable in American superheroes than in manga, but it’s something that I was thinking about.

[wanderersrest]

Administrator's Notes: Goals For June and July

Hello! I hope you've been enjoying what I've been putting up on the blog so far! As we are halfway into June, I want to start things off with a thank you to everyone who has been liking all of my stuff so far. I'm still new to Tumblr, so I'm sorry I haven't reached out to everyone who has reblogged my stuff before now. I'm not ignoring you, I'm just learning the ropes a bit.

Anyhow, I'd like to give you an update for some things I have planned that I am writing up in the future. Here is a list of potential posts that might make their way onto the blog withing the next couple of months:

Mecha's "Not Like the Other Girl" Problems, which is a rant similar to my spiel about Iron-Blooded Orphans but much, much longer. This is probably going to be the next long-form post that follows up this one.

Some Idle Thoughts on Magic Knight Rayearth, and yes, I will be comparing the anime and the manga. No, I won't be covering the OVA.

A theory on what happened to The Disastrous Life of Saiki K's original English dub, featuring Gintama.

Some Idle Thoughts on Working!! & WWW.Working!!. I might also include Servant x Service as part of this Idle Thoughts post. Also be prepared for the word paratext to be thrown about a lot.

Some Idle Thoughts on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

NICO SWEEP!!! (I refuse to elaborate)

Some Idle Thoughts on Gun x Sword.

Outside of that, I have a couple of bigger ideas going through my head. I plan on covering Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans at some point, but I'm going to try for something a little bit more official. Like something a bit more focused than the Idle Thoughts posts.

And if you enjoyed An Abbreviated History of Mecha, I might do something similar. Let's not lose our heads though. It's gonna be on the back-burner for now, but let's just say that I'm really feeling it. It's gonna be a bit meatier than An Abbreviated History of Mecha though, since the focus will be on a trio of games. Games whose power knows no bounds!

Okay enough. It's gonna be on Xenoblade. It'll probably be at least four posts, though don't expect me to talk about Xenoblade X. I have nothing against it, but I also haven't played it. Maybe if I get around to playing it I will cover it in the distant future, but that's not going to be anytime soon.

As for An Abbreviated History of Mecha itself, I have some more plans for it. I'll probably post something about it separately though, so stay tuned for that if you're interested. I'm also thinking of compiling them all together in a single post that I will most likely pin onto the blog.

[bookclub4m]

Episode 191 - Dark Fantasy

This episode we’re discussing the fiction genre of Dark Fantasy! We talk about horror, grimdark, violence, amoral protagonists, epic fantasy vs small scale fantasy, the importance of tone, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

Berserk by Kentaro Miura (Wikipedia)

The Citadel of Fear by Francis Stevens (Gertrude Barrows Bennett)

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Shadowland by Peter Straub

Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn

Twice Cursed edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane

Other Media We Mentioned

Dark Souls (Wikipedia)

Elden Ring (WIkipedia)

Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP

Pet Shop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino

The Library at Mount Char by  Scott Hawkins

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (Episode 147 - Contemporary Fantasy)

Monstress by  Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Wikipedia)

Ravenloft (Wikipedia)

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

Leech by Hiron Ennes (Episode 184 - Horror)

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (Episode 176 - Fantasy)

Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher and Clayton W. Snyder

Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday (Wikipedia)

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and various artists (Wikipedia)

Children of Men (Wikipedia)

The Children of Men by P.D. James

Fables by Bill Willingham and various artists (Wikipedia)

Deerskin by Robin McKinley

Links, Articles, and Things

Dark fantasy (Wikipedia)

Category:Dark fantasy anime and manga

Category:Dark fantasy video games

Grimdark Magazine

20 Dark Fantasy by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson 

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang

The Changeling by Victor LaValle 

Jade City by Fonda Lee

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

The First Binding by R.R. Virdi

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, April 2nd we’ll be talking about the format of Non fiction Graphic Novels and Comics!

Then on Tuesday, April 16th we’ll be giving an update on Media we’ve recently enjoyed!

[princess-viola]

Last Song Listened To: Let's La Cookin' Showtime, the first ED for Kirakira Precure à la Mode (but the version sung by all the VAs and not the regular version)

Currently Reading: Does the Magic Knight Rayearth II manga count even though I haven't touched it in a few months lmao. GOD I need to get back into that. And I have some actual books I got from the library a couple weeks ago I need to start too ahahah.

Sweet/savory/spicy: Look, I'm Puerto Rican - I love spicy food all day long.

Obsession: (glances over at my collections of Transformers toys and Pokémon cards, and I only got into Pokémon cards this damn year) I also really like trains, like I know 'trains' are like the stereotypical autistic special interest but goddamn I've also been obsessed with them since childhood.

Relationship Status: I am literally aroace so, I mean.

Last Thing I googled: 'Type effectiveness calculator' (I was playing Pokémon and I suck ass at remembering type effectiveness against dual-type Pokémon)

Currently working on: A Pokémon fanfic that I haven't even started posting yet because I haven't even finished writing chapter 1 and wanna write a few chapters before I start posting it so I can have a bit of a buffer. (If I had my laptop, I'd also be working on my Precure fan series that I haven't updated since 2021, but I don't)

Aaah it feels weird to tag people so I'll just tag three mutuals and that's it: @alex-eh @wynnwave @ratioalae

Get to know 9* people ask game!

Tagged by: @misses-anonymous Hi! Lemme drop some facts about myself :)

Last song listened to: Gold by Unprocessed, though it switched over to Portrait by the same band before I could finish this :P

Currently reading: Not really reading anything at the moment, though I have some fanfics I really gotta catch up on! Like The Delphi Solution by Creamium.

Sweet/spicy/savory: Hmmmm hard one, probably gonna have to go sweet!

Obsession: Transformers :D It's taken over my life completely <3

Relationship status: Taken! For 7 years ;) (love you Noodle <3)

Last thing I googled: "track your parcel" :P I was awaiting a gift from a friend, did the google search while I was at work and it said it had been delivered already ;)

Currently working on: A fic that was meant to be for Halloween, but unfortunately I've been having bad headaches lately that have stopped me from writing. I will hopefully have it done soon though, despite being hella late :P It's an AU thing where Pharma and Trepan are catty vampire friends , and Pharma goes to make Tarn a snack ;)

*Tagging: aaaa I'll just tag a few, @rhewkath <3 and @matrim-cauthons-hat :D

Thanks for tagging me! <3

[lasclvip]

Magic knight rayearth manga updates

MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH MANGA UPDATES FULL

MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH MANGA UPDATES SERIES

They’re hugging each other but they’re crying – they want to know why she had to be killed.Īnd that was the end of that. Right after Emeraude gets her last wish of being with Lord Zagato, the three are transported back to Tokyo Tower, mere minutes after a flash of light occurred.

MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH MANGA UPDATES SERIES

I really liked how the series ended though. He literally died trying to keep her alive – even he knew the cost of her death. He fell in love with her too but he loved her so much that he was willing to take the blame, the fall, for it. It’s a really good twist that, at the end, Emeraude revealed the reason why she brought the three girls over was to kill her – she was being selfish and fell in love with Lord Zagato when she shouldn’t have. The world’s stability literally depends on her prayers, thoughts, and wishes. They seem more human and not blown out of proportion with the exception of Emeraude, at first. I really like the characters in this series, though. I also like that they’re actually different from one another but they’re all still very similar. They don’t seem like all powerful – they all have their flaws, even if it’s not completely noticeable in the manga. The girls are funny and you can relate to them – I know in a lot of ways, I could relate to Hikaru, Fuu, and Umi at different parts of the stories. You can basically show all the major events happening in quick succession and readers won’t get bored right away because there isn’t a drag – it doesn’t even exist!Īs for the plot itself, I think this is one of CLAMP’s better stories out there (especially since it’s actually completed) despite it’s very low volume count. It cuts out all the unnecessary parts that usually puts people off from it. It also cuts down on time and it gets right to the point. A lot of these manga forget they have characters and their stories that needs to be carried instead of having to go around the world (and maybe beyond) just to get a glimpse of the world around them. On the other hand though, it could be a good thing because in a lot of fantasy-esque series, they tend to go on forever. What are their roles besides helping the girls around the world? Because the whole thing is based on how the pillar thinks, it’d be interesting to meet more of the people who lived there besides Clef, Presea, Ferio… I would love to have known what happened to them after the incident or at least during. Well, “some world building that’s missing” isn’t how I should have put it. Not to mention, we could also miss a huge chunk of characterization and then a little bit more understanding about why the girls are the way they are. We get from the get-go that the land changes based on the pillar’s, and the people’s, hearts. It could be a bad thing because there could be some world building that’s missing from Cefiro. Now, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It’s very quick pace and a lot gets done over the course of three volumes (or one omnibus). However, it’s rather short as a manga series. And, oh, does it hurt so good.įortunately, that’s not the case with this series. There are so many series that I want to try to read but at the same time, I’m so worried I’m going to be burned again by your stupid deux ex machina. You either confound me or I adore you to where I want to be proud that I’m a huge fan of yours. This blog post will contain spoilers please read after the cut if you’ve already read the manga. But how are a bunch of junior-high-school kids supposed to defeat the might of the handsome and sinister Lord Zagato… with only an exceedingly strange bunny creature named Mokona as their guide? All information come from Manga Updates.

MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH MANGA UPDATES FULL

Umi, Hikaru, and Fuu are three schoolgirls out on a field trip to Tokyo Tower… when suddenly a strange voice summons them to Cefiro, a world full of monsters and magic! They have been brought here as the last hope of the Princess Emeraude, who believes they are the Magic Knights, foretold in legend, who will save her realm. Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Mecha, Shoujo, Supernatural

[joyouart]

I will be closing my shop this week in solidarity with fellow Etsy sellers to oppose the rising fees their platform is imposing on creators despite their record profits in the past year.

Etsy’s platform brings in over 80% of my sales income. With a following as small as mine, leaving Etsy to go to Shopify, etc. is not a realistic option at this time for me.

Etsy policies hurt small businesses: Mandatory ads that makes our fees expensive and unpredictable, a Star Seller program that forces unrealistic expectations on us, and ever increasing fees.

For more info or to help our cause, visit: https://bit.ly/3wQXzXM

If you would like to support me and my art, please consider following me on Instagram to get the latest updates on what I’m up to!

[jewlwpet]

“Lantis... I HATE him!”

Nova’s reasons are certainly not valid, but this is nonetheless a Big Mood by the time she says this (episode 25). Magic Knight Rayearth was brilliant, but by this point, I am so disenchanted with Magic Knight Rayearth II.

[kodanshamanga]

#NewMangaDay starts with the long-awaited print of :

🔥Magic Knight Rayearth, Volume 1🔥 By CLAMP

🔮This update of the manga classic forms the centerpiece of any CLAMP collection and is also a fantastic introduction to girl-powered adventure manga.

[sailorstarr-chan4]

Anime I’m Currently Watching:

exluding ones I’m rewatching because I almost always juggle my faves in the mix

* = read the manga first

- My Roommate is a Cat - Magic Knight Rayearth (II)* - Angelic Layer* - Cardcaptor Sakura* - DN Angel* - Excel Saga - School Rumble  - Ultra Maniac*

Long Term Anime I’ll Eventually Finish: 

- Ranma 1/2* - My Hero Academia - Samurai Champloo - FullMetal Alchemist (2003)* - Rin-ne - Maison Ikkodu - Kekkaishi  - Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle* - Mermaid Melody* - Wolf’s Rain  - Yona of the Dawn 

Hiatus/Don’t know if I should finish....: 

- Urusei Yatsura  - Ah My Buddha! - Baka & Test: Summon the Beasts - Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic - A Lull in the Sea - La Corda d’Oro ~~ primo passo~ - Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! - Pretear (only on hiatus cuz none of the links I found play it properly!) - Aria the Animation  - Flame of Recca  - Deltora Quest  - Tales of Zestria  - Lucky Star  - Azumanga Daioh  - Nichiojou  - Spice and Wolf - Pandora Hearts - Peach Girl - My Bride is a Mermaid

Any recommendations on which ones I should try to finish ASAP? ^^”

[kajaono]

Canon poly relationships

Todays media gets more diverse every day but we still have a huge lack of poly relationships. So i decided to collect all the poly relationships I am aware of and that are confirmed CANON in this post. Sadly they are often limited to three people and not really diverse, mostly containing white, abled bodied, cis people.

Be aware this posts contains slight SPOILERS. I will mention if they are still together and alive. Feel free to add further confirmed poly relationships. I will update that post from time to time.

Updated: 11.08.2024

Polo/Cayetana/Valerio - ELITE

This triad first appears in season 3. Polo and Valerio are  in the show confirmed as bisexual. Polo is already shown in an another poly relationship in season 1 but it is not necessarily healthy and not 100% build on consent so I am not featuring them here. The triad below is really happy, healthy and cute. Sadly they split up by the end of season 3 and one of them dies.

Eliot/Parker/Hardison - Leverage

They are confirmed canon poly outside the show by the writer. The ending of the first arc can be easily read as a wedding vow. The woman , Parker, gets kissing scenes with both dudes. And they are all really affectionated toward eachother with a lot of hugs. There is a second arc: „Leverage Redemption“. I haven’t watched it yet, so I can not say how they treat the OT3 there but as far as I am aware they are still together, happy and alive. And Parker is confirmed to be on the spectrum.

Leverage Redemption:

I only have watched season 1 so far. In Leverage Redemption the team comes back together to steal stuff. The OT3 still works perfectly together, Sadly the actor of Hardison was so busy with other projects that he was only able to stare in the first two epsiodes and in the finale. And they gave Eliot a girlfriend, so the Ot3 is sadly split up a tiny bit... which is a shame. But in the end they are together again, and as far as i Know Hardison is more in season 2, has a lot of emotional scenes with Eliot, who appearnetly is hevaily bi-coded in season 2?!

Wolfgang/Kala/Rajan - Sense8

The show was originally planned for five seasons. If you know the poly relationship is coming you see bits of the build up throughout the first two seasons but because the show was cancelled after the second season the relationship was kinda rushed in the two hours finale. Anyway, it is still wholesome to watch. The triad contains two people of color. They are happy, alive and together.

Lito/Hernando/Dani - Sense8

Nobody knows to be honest. Lito is confirmed to be gay (so shouldn’t actually be romantically or sexual attracted to Dani), Hernando is probably bisexual. But sexuality is really fluid in this show. Anyways, they are confirmed to be a family with multiple sex scenes, kisses and dances. They are also happy, alive and together

Lantis/Hikaru/Eagle - Magic Knight Rayearth

As far as I am aware they are only confirmed and explicit canon the manga. And the manga is from the 90s so the poly relationship has some flaws but they are happy, together and alive in the end. Hikaru confesses in the manga she wants to marry both Eagle and Lantis.

Miranda/Thomas/Flint - Black sails

Again a case of: nobody knows. Miranda and Thomas are married. They are having, as confirmed in the show, an open relationship. And Miranda loves Thomas. And Thomas and Flint are in love, while Flint also sleeps with Miranda. Sadly they are only in season 2. One of them dies, but the other two come back together in the end and are really happy and really in love.

Jack/Izzy/Emma - You me her 

I have watched the first three seasons. This show is about the married couple - Jack and Emma - who want to spice up their marriage life again and both hook up, seperatly, with the call girl Izzy. Of course they all fall in love with eachother. It is the straightest queer show I have ever watched, with A LOT of drama. But the characters call themselved bi and poly which is really refreshing to watch. And this show has one of the healthiest potray of sex I have ever seen on TV. In the end they are alive, happy and together. The show is closed in five seasons.

Neo/Miw/Shin - 3 will be free

This is a Thai crime drama, closed in one season. You can find it on YouTube for free with englisch subtitles. The story focuses on Shin, the son of a mafia boss, Neo, a male prostitute and Miw, the manager of a Go Go bar. After they commit a murder in an act of self defense, they are forced to run away together and fight back against the mafia trying to hunt them down. The show is super well written. It has no Hollywood clichés and thats really refreshing to watch. It has a trans mtf main character, bisexual coming outs, gay coming out, sex work is work, don’t touch women, metoo and many more important messages. I can highly recommend to watch it. Beware many people die in this show. Not the trans character and also not the poly main characters. In the end they are alive, happy and together

Ben/Ryn/Maddie - Siren

Its a fanatsy show about mermaids, which aired on Freeform. It is closed in three seasons and can be watched on Disney+. After a few fishermen accidently catch a mermaid, her sister, Ryn, transforms into a human and comes into town to find her. Maddie and Ben, an already established couple, find her, discover her secret and hide her. Both Ben and Maddie show romantic and sexual attraction towards Ryn in season 1, but if this was already supposed to set up the polycule or just to show how alluring Ryn is, considering she is a siren... is unclear. The romantic relationship is established in season 2. The triad has sex, shared kiss and even has love confessions. Sadly the triad breaks up in season 3 and one of them dies (as far as I know) and then the show got cancelled. So better stop after season 2.

Marc x Layla x Steven - Moon Knight

Its complicated. Technically this ship isn’t poly, because it only consists of two people. And if you ask Marvel they are definitely not poly... but lets face it... they are kinda poly. So for those of you who have never watched the show: Marc and Steven are two personalities sharing the same body. Are they two parts of the same personality? Well... here it is where it gets compliacted. Because yes... they are... at the beginning. But eventually they are two different personalities sharing the same body, but independent from each other. And they are both in love with the same woman, Layla. Marc is even married to her. Steven, not so much. he just fall in love with her because he just met her. And Layla loves them both. Seperate from each other. Are they poly? You decide. In the end they are happy and alive. Together? We dont know.

Honorable mentions

Here I am mentioning shows I have not watched (yet) but that contain poly relationships in the main cast. So there can be some errors, feel free to correct me

Gossip girl - the reboot

I am really not aware how well gossip girl is writing poly relationships (no offense) but by the end of season 1 they are together and happy.

Edit: at the end of season 2 they are not together anymore because they split up for drama reasons and then the show got cancelled. The writers nevertheless confirmed they were always ment to be endgame and will always end up together.

Professor marston and the wonder women

The movie is about the writer who invinted Wonder Woman. He was in a poly relatinship with two women back then which is also shown in the movie. One of them dies in the end (which you can not change, considering it is based on a real life person) but they are getting their happy end nevertheless.

Castlevania

Appearntly it is heavily implied that they are loving eachother, two of them are also in a relationship but it is never a 100% confirmed in the show itself. Not long ago Netflix made the tweet below so they are still kinda confirmed to be poly? I have no knowledge what the writers are saying about the topic.

 The Expanse

I stopped watching the Expanse after episode 1 so I can not really say anything about the poly-ship in this show, but it is definitly worth mentioning that here we have a poly ship that contains of more then three people. They are called PolyBelterFam and are all married together. If i am not wrong they are also a minor ship?

The bastard son & the devil himself

This show is on Netflix. As far I know the two boys are a couple and most of the fandom focuses on that. But there are multiple polyamorous scenes between the three characters: sharing one bed, hugging, cuddeling, hand holding. While the poly relationship is not a 100% explicit confirmed in the show itself, all of the actors confirmed it in different interviews. They are alive at the end and together

Las Chicas del Cable

The spanish show is about four female telephone operators in the 1920s. There is a lot of drama, social as well as romantic. According to @ dylan-is-deryn (thank you for your help) Carlota is dating Miguel, but then meets Sara and they're very attracted to each other, and Sara and Miguel also have chemistry. It seems that Carlota will cheat on Miguel, or that Sara and Miguel will get together, but instead they all get together.

They are not together anymore and the show has a really bad ending for all main chatracters, so beware

Riverdale

I honestly have no idea how we ended here, and considering it only happened in the finale i wouldn’t argue it is good poly representation but its endgame. Like always, watch Riverdale on your own risk.

Trigonometry

Its a british TV show by the BBC and is realstic. Its about a happy married couple who meet a third person and start a poly relationship. As far as I am aware it has a happy end but has some dark topic, such as alcolism and cancer.

Deep Night (Ken x Seiji x Japan)

Thank you @made-in-rivendell​ for brining this show to my attention. Like “3 will be free” this is a Thai BL series. It is closed in one season, with 8 episodes. The story takes place in a host club. I have not watched the show (yet) but accoring to made-in-rivendell the polycule is canon, happy and everyone is alive.

Minor Poly Ships and poly characters

Newly added here - to make the post even longer - I decided to add poly ships that are formed by side characters but still there for a long period of time.

The Wheel of time

Alanna has formed a poly relationship with her two male warders. It is explicit shown that the two male warders - Maksim and Ihovn - are also in love with eachother and we see them cuddeling together before they get up with Alanna to have sex with eachother... which is not shown btw. The relationship of the three is openly discussed by the other characters. It is also mentioned that Alanna would be more then happy to greet even more people in her polycule. While we see them together on screen multiple times over the course of multiple episodes, we sadly do not have good shot or promo pic of all of them together, so I am taking the BTS pic of the actors. Remeber: They are backgrund characters. By the end of season 1 they are alive and still together.

Ted Lasso

The character Dano Rojas is confirmed poly in the finale. But it is already implied a few seasons earlier. Him being poly is not part of the plot. I think apart from two scenes we never see him with his girlfriends.

Avenue 5

This sci-fi show has Hugh Laurie in the main role. His character is poly. I think apart from this pic you never see his spouses.

Our Flag Means Death

The character of Spanish Jackie is poly in the pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death. She appearntly has 20 husbands. So far we saw one of them. But the sequel is confirmed so I will provide further informations soon

Our flag means death (2)

OFMD also features a poly triad in season 2. Containing the characters Jim (who is played by Vico, an actor who is poly irl as well), Archie and Olu. The relationship is not a 100% explicit poly but heavily implied. At the end Olu falls for another woman. It is not clear if she will join the triad but it is suggested by the other three.

Books with poly couples

On multiple requests we now have a new categorie. Poly couples in popular, in english avaiable, book stories

Mark/Cristina/Kieran - The Dark Artifices

This is a triology written by Cassandra Clare, who also wrote the Mortal Instruments aka Shadowhunters. The book is set in the shadow-world and mostly revolves around Emma Carstairs and her best-friend and parabatai, Julian Blackthorn. The story focuses mostly on the forbidden love between two Parabatais and the general political struggles in the shadow-world. You need some knowledge about the previous books to understand this one. Emmas friend Cristina falls in love with the faerie Kieran and the half-Faerie Mark. Its more of a subplot but nevertheless present from book 1 onwards. They are all alive and together in the end

art by @cassandrajean​

Zetian/Yizhi/Shimin, Iron Widow

This book was written by Xiran Jay Zhao, you can also find them here in tumblr. The book is kind of a poly Pacfic Rim fan fiction. But believe me: nothing can prepare you for this book. It is about Wu Zetian who lives in a world where the army fights with big mechas, called Chrysalis. Zetian joins the military to take revenge for her older sister. Slowly she discovers that the whole operating system of the Chrysalis was only build to oppress and control women and people who are “different”. The story starts as the typical love triangle but Zetian quickly decides that she can do better then just one boyfriend. So she takes two. All three are bisexual and it is multiple times implied that Zetian is genderqueer. The book is dark. Zetian isn���t a hero, she is kinda a villain but you can totally understand all her actions, even though you might not agree with them. Go queen, burn the world. The book ends with a cliffhanger. Xiran Jay Zhao is alredy working on a sequel. Most likely it will be published mid of 2024.

In the end the are not happy, not together but alive.

[gocrazygostupidtheories]

AH AH OW OW OW

I’ve been trying to look into sources of story inspiration for Amphibia because I am not smart enough to predict what will happen, and I think I’ve found a few connections or patterns that can help predict certain story beats and character mysteries based the sources Matt Braly has said to us (excluding his personal life events for obvious reasons), or just sources for people who know these topics better than I do.

For the actual plot itself, he’s said his general love of fantasy has, but the more specific sources include:

The Dark Crystal (I’m assuming just the first film.)

Chrono Trigger (going for the first game too because I am lazy.)

Magic Knight Rayearth (originally a manga, so I’m trusting the source material.)

Studio Ghibli films directed by Hayao Miyazaki

The Legend of Zelda (again, very general and I think he’s referring to the first game?)

Lord of the Rings (I don’t know if he means the film trilogy or the books so I’ve tried to mash together both.)

Batman: The Animated Series

Gargoyles (Disney)

I honestly cannot be bothered to do the lower four and I will probably update it once I get around to it. If anybody has any more, please tell me. It should be noted that I’m not an expert, and I didn’t even know some of these existed, so I may miss a few things or get something wrong. If that’s the case, please tell me! I’m basically going to go through these one by one, and then do an overall summary for both groups of things that can be seen as inspiration in Amphibia so far, and stuff I find slightly alluding with mini-theories mixed in. So, whoopee. It’s a long, long post. It is important to remember not every event or bit of information I’m listing will absolutely happen in Amphibia, but I am finding similarities between other inspirations or things that may match up with the character.

THE DARK CRYSTAL

The Dark Crystal’s plot is that said a shard of the Crystal of Truth was shattered, and that brought around two races: the Skeksis, and the Mystics. Jen, a Gelfling, has to restore the shard to the Crystal to save Thra, the planet this is set on. Already we have mentions of crystals, fantasy and other-wordly planets.

The designs and set are very mediaeval-fantasy, specifically English mediaeval-fantasy. Creatures are often enlarged and over exaggerated animals, the Gelfling are almost fae-like and the Skeksis being disturbing fusions of various creatures, part reptile (alligators do exist in Amphibia, seen in Scavenger Hunt as an example), part predatory bird (herons and many, many more) and part dragon. Bugs do appear quite a lot, often oversized ones. Surprisingly, there are no real-life amphibians to my knowledge. There’s also English inspired buildings in Amphibia, such as the Tudor mushroom-cottages in Wartwood and many of them having English accents. 

Though it’s a movie meant for kids, and is rated PG, it’s surprisingly dark? Like, I can’t speak for people who grew up with it but most have said how they were terrified of it when they were younger. One of the directors, Jim Henson, said his main intention was to bring back the darkness of Grimm’s fairy tales and it was unhealthy for kids not to be afraid (bonus detail, he produced The Muppet Show, which has been referenced in Amphibia through Kermit as a special guest). It in includes, but is not limited to: genocide, war, the end of the world, climate change but make it mystical, body horror, way too much murder, animal abuse, death, totalitarianism, emotional ambiguity, harmony and the balance of power and immortality. I think we can all guess where Matt took inspiration for certain events happening so far, or what we can see happening soon, especially with the “immortality” part if he does include such a topic. 

Oh, and many of the other characters of varying relevancy we’ve grown to love die. And the main character’s love interest does get stabbed in the end and temporarily dies as a sacrifice for a ritual. And the main character, for a while, just blankly stares and cries in shock holding her dead body. But, do not fret, she does get revived and the two kiss as the land is restored. Go wild, shippers, and good luck Plantar and Grime fans.

The Crystal itself is almost like the heart of Thra, and is linked to the wildlife and its well being. It is linked with all living things and its energy reverberates all around Thra. The Crystal is actually sentient, and can communicate verbally on rare occasions through projections and images. It nourished itself through the light of three stars (we’ll get to that later), and while nourishing would release an intense beam of light that had healing properties on direct exposure. However, it was shattered in an attempt to cleanse evil from a groups’ souls when somebody gave into their evil nature. The crystal, in a daily ritual, prolongs peoples’ lives and can suck the essence out of living beings, turning them into slaves. It’s also purple. I’ve seen, and do enjoy, the questions as to why purple is such a prevalent colour in Amphibia, so here is my poor contribution: a lot of these are actually seen in Amphibia. The entire episode of Anne Hunter (it does sound silly, but then again, Matt has said some of the most important scenes aren’t the most plot relevant episodes)? The projection of Sprig? The hunting dance? Also, the more obvious examples of the bursts of energy being released when a gem is recharged in a temple, and the fact the box is considered to be so dangerous. My guess is that a possible fourth gem is missing or lost, either hiding somewhere in the box or in Amphibia. I would say the purple is just an Anne thing, but the fact it is so prevalent throughout the series makes me think otherwise.

A trio of some kind! The Three Suns/Brothers (Greater, Rose and Dying Sun) are a trio of stars Thra, orbits. Whenever all three of them fully align (people have said it looks like an eyeball, and with no shame that I will update eventually) which is a once in almost a thousand years event, it forms an intense beam to the crystal. The Three Brothers have their own folklore, where they all compete to win the hand of the daughter of the moon and return to battle again in an alignment. I don’t really think I need to explain this one. There are also Three Moons known as Three Sisters, but they aren’t nearly as significant or relevant to the original movie. 

The Skeksis remind me of Valeriana for some reason? Maybe it’s just a “thing with a sharp beak in black cloak”, but there could be some connections. Originally, a fallen group of UrSkeks (tall, luminescent, psychic and from the furthest reaches of the Uni-Verse possible, basically like angels) were banished to Thra, and attempted to separate their good and evil selves through the crystal, but accidentally created two races from that division. The Skeksis were basically born pissed and had a huge fear of mortality and used the ritual to prolong their lives. They believed themselves to be the Lords of the Crystal and kept it in their very delightful silly little castle and hid themselves in black cloaks. When the crystal was restored, they transformed back into UrSkeks, who wore white cloaks. Now, I don’t think Valeriana’s evil or that afraid of mortality, but it could link somehow? Sadly, I’m not smart enough to think of why. 

The Gelfling Clans, seven of them, are matriarchies, and women are pretty important and powerful people in the story. Matt has stated he was more interested in having a female main character for the story from some Studio Ghibli Films, so we’ll add this one to the “respects women” in this list. 

CHRONO TRIGGER

In a fictional alternate universe to Earth, the lead characters travel through time to explore and adventure in different eras of time. It could also be considered an isekai, considering how different these time periods are, from the prehistoric wilds to the future cyber dystopia. 

The isn’t a trio but instead a main cast of six: Crono, the silent yet fearless katana-wielding protagonist, Marle, the runaway princess, Lucca, Crono’s childhood friend and a genius inventor, Robo, a friendly and curious robot from the future designed to assist humans despite his robotic counterparts slaughtering them (remind you of any characters?), Ayla, a prehistoric village chief with unmatched raw strength and Frog, a former squire cursed to be in an amphibian form. There is an optional seventh character named Magus who’s a powerful sorcerer. Though, you can see a few similarities with some of them and characters in Amphibia. Marle is a blonde-haired, sheltered but vivacious and strong-willed girl who hates royal life and escaped into the Millenial Fair (a fair with all kinds of games and inventions) where she met Crono. Ever since her mother passed from illness, her relationship with her father has been broken, and you can fix it in the game as they finally recollect. She’s a healer, but her magical element is ice, and has techs (gadgets) that deliver strong water damage, but has a weakness to fire damage. Or, possibly the chief Ayla, another blonde haired, decisively confident and fiercely courageous woman who is physically the strongest in the game, and though she cannot use magic, uses her physical prowess and her hands. Another similarity is with Lucca, the inventor. She is classified as intelligent, inquisitive and shrewd who deals with problems head on. Raised in an environment where inventions were always present, she sometimes gets annoyed at her father for neglecting her for his creations, and witnessed her go through a horrible accident that left her unable to walk. Though she is physically weak and slow, she is a long-range combatant who uses techs that deal mass amounts of fire damage (her magical element), and occasionally has her father make new techs and special equipment for her. 

Early on in the game, we find out the future is desolate as a creature called Lavos who has been dwelling under the Earth, has awoken. Also known as the Destroyer of all Life, Lavos is an alien that came to Earth to drain its energy, produce genetically enhanced spawn, and continue the cycle. He is summoned by Queen Zeal, a secondary antagonist who is fixated on Lavos in a desperate attempt to become immortal and will inevitably destroy the world unless he is stopped. He has three forms: the outer shell, black with orange highlights, a humanoid form wearing armour that does remind me of Darcy, and the Lavos Core, a creepy scuba-diver looking guy. The game has multiple endings, from Lavos destroying all of humanity to Crono dying while defeating Lavos and nearly all of the characters moving on. Though, that’s only if you forget to re-acquire him. Then it’s happy. 

MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH

Three 13-14 year olds on a trip to Tokyo Tower are summoned to the world of Cephiro as the Magical Knights to save Princess Emeraude, the pillar keeping the world in balance, from the malicious Zagato. To do so, they have to revive their respective Rune-God they get their power from, and avoid Zagato’s minions while retrieving rare items. Except for the Princess Part, it seems like a pretty solid, though varied, inspiration from the plot or prophecy of Amphibia.

Though the girls are complete strangers except for a single interaction, they do become incredibly attached quickly. With their red, green and blue colour scheme (them?), each girl embodies the element they represent.

Hikaru, the protagonist, is red and represents fire: tomboyish, honest, brave, mature despite her innocence and incredibly strong despite being mistaken for a ten year old due to her height and attitude due to her kendo training she attends as her family run a dojo. She possesses the strongest heart out of the three and is the most enthusiastic about being a Magical Knight. It also helps that she's the strongest out of the three, shown with swords, bows and arrows and magic. 

Umi is blue and represents water: despite her beauty and elegance, she is incredibly doubtful, over-protective and arrogant. Because of her upbringing as an only rich child with doting parents, despite her seeming calm and collected, she is really spoiled with a short temper, and because she speaks her mind, comes across as selfish. However, she does mean well, and cares alot about her friends to the point of over-protecting the two and worrying endlessly about them. She denies all the good or caring things she does by other people and is completely clueless about love and relationships, which is unfortunate as her biggest fear is being left alone. In battle, she is calm and poised while remaining loyal and proud, wielding a fencing sword and focusing on speed and effectiveness. The Rune-God (basically like helpers for the Magical Knights that form a huge fuck-you mecha) she had to revive, Selece, involved her choosing her friends or embracing the ritual to gain more power, to which angrily she chose the former, which was the right answer, and slapping him in the process. 

Fuu is green and represents wind: despite always smiling and her polite attitude, is a strategist. She’s blunt, accurate and insanely logical. She’s quieter and more reserved than the other two, but she constantly stays calm and tries to think her way through a situation. She’s incredibly good at archery, and uses a bow and arrow before switching to a heavy sword only she can wield later on, focusing on defence and spells, and has an affinity for video games, mathematics and computer programming. She has an older sister who she loves and adores, but her parents are never mentioned. Unlike the other two, she probably has the best knowledge about love and romance, and her relationship with a guy is not questioned and is more obviously implied. 

Though the colours are switched around, and having “brains, brawn and heart” is the base for nearly all trios, we can see some comparisons here, and if they are inspired and fully taken from it, some slight implications. We came to the conclusion that Marcy had siblings, so I feel like she’d have an older sister, and since Sasha’s family owns a pool and with her behaviour, we can assume she’s pretty pampered too. There’s a cool theory I reblogged by @fermented-writers-block about their theory that Sasha is related to water contrasting with Anne’s fire motif, and hopefully this is another addition to that theory-pile. And, if they are linked to three elements, we can assume Marcy is linked to air (she has been associated with butterflies, so maybe that could also mean something?). 

Despite the seemingly more trope-y aspects on the surface, there’s just one slight plot twist near the end. They end up killing Zagato and go on to see the princess. However, it is then revealed to us she’s not doing great. The knowledge told to them from the start is actually a farce, and the reason why the world is in dismay is because Princess Emeraude was distracted from her duties because she fell in love with Zagato. As the pillar, she had to spend her entire life devoting herself to prayer in keeping the balance, but because of Zagato, began to think about more things than just Cephiro. The only way for her to stop being the pillar was for somebody else to take her place when she was dead, so she decided to summon the knights as the only people who could kill her. Zagato, who was also in love with her, abducted her and imprisoned her in hopes that she couldn’t summon them. When she did, he decided to protect her so they couldn’t come and kill her, sending out minions in hopes they’d kill them. So, basically, the real reason why the knights were originally summoned was to kill the person who sent them here, that quickly became to kill two people for being inlove under the guise of kidnapping and dark magic and have just murdered her lover trying to protect her from the people she summoned. And she is pissed. She turns into a darker form and beings to fight them in grief and rage, and realising they have no choice after being on the defence, murder her too as they cry. The whole theme of “love solves everything”, a common theme in magical girl stories and one that has been demonstrated in this one, gets two people killed because that’s what they embody. Their love was seen as selfish and evil, and they have just killed two people who would have been the types they would have been sworn to save like in all those other fights. It’s safe to say after they return back home, the girls are traumatised and cope in their own ways, from being silent and reserved (Hikaru, which we’ve seen Anne do from the mentions of Toad Tower and alot after the events of True Colours) to blanking out (Umi, remember Sasha zoning out upon entering the Plantar’s home?) to bottling up feelings of grief (Fuu, and do I even need to expain this one), and that this has changed them significantly. Though the damage has been done, later on, Hikaru is chosen as the next pillar and ends up destroying the corrupt system that prevents any more damage being done, and choosing to uphold those values of love. Princess Emeraude did not wish just to end her own life, but also the cycle that would harm others too. 

This is just so, so much, but hopefully you get the gist. Since Andrias is all about undoing the prophecy, I can’t say for certain that undoing or ending it is necessarily good, but I don’t think it’s bad either. Since this show does live it’s moral ambiguity with certain topics and open perspectives about most things (thankfully child murder isn’t one of them), and with the limited information we have about the box and the Core, I can’t say for sure which route it’s going to go. All I can say is that it’s going to get messy. Though it does sound a bit doom-and-gloom, it still does remain a typical fun, run-of-the-mill manga with magical girls and mechas, so don’t worry too much, except for the more depressing bits. 

It’s also serves as a feminist criticism of the shoujo drama, and alot of anime and manga in general: about how purity and innocence are attributed with naive young girls, and how adult, independent and strong women serve as villainous forces. It shows the slight horror of the situation as Hikaru says in the last words of the manga, “It can’t end like this”. Unfortunately, it did. They have been stripped of their innocence as they’ve just murdered two people and their former innocence is gone as they’ve arrived back in their world. People, especially women, are nearly always punished for being in love or gaining their own sense of identity outside of an oppressive system in Magic Girl Rayearth. Princess Emeraude having her own sense of agency and desires instead of constantly caring for the people is seen as a bad thing, and once she does mourn over her lover, turns from basically the embodiment of “young, pure shoujo girl” to “adult, corrupted villainous woman”. Women falling in love, especially adult women, are corrupted and renounce their “innocence” because of their political power and maturity. Women are expected to physically and mentally be “girls'', and that’s that. And honestly, I give so much kudos for Matt Braly, along with other creators, going against that (ironically while writing this, it reminded me of a response from him I cannot find for the life of me where he stated the complaints of Anne’s character he got from) and having such wonderful female characters. 

STUDIO GHIBLI FILMS (DIRECTED BY HAYAO MIYAZAKI)

Films include: Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Nausicaä: Valley of the Wind.

I grew up with some of these myself, and let me tell you from first hand experience that some of these are terrifying for children. I’m very glad the next generation of kids, and some adults and teenagers looking back, are experiencing the same thing with our favourite 13 year olds breaking down in tears as they are injured and possessed. On the other hand, some of these are some of the most comforting and magical things to watch, no matter what age you are. These films can go from light hearted comedies and comforts to tear-jerkers real quickly. 

But, no matter the film, there are usually more sensitive topics being discussed such as growing up, fear, change, family and especially the devastating effects of war and industrialism. Miyazaki often uses whimsy to explore these themes but still remains in touch with the core message, which I feel Matt Braly does do. He has described Amphibia’s core message to be about “past friendships and changing yourself for the better”, but also includes maturity, tolerance, the devastation of war and industrialism, the dangers of escapism, toxic friendships, culture, the importance of role models and parents, trust, death, denial and power which can be quite a lot to handle, especially for its structure. It explains it and demonstrates it in a way kids can understand, but also in a way that doesn’t feel patronising to older audiences. 

From a quick browse at interviews, Twitter and Reddit, he has stated the protagonists from the specific movies Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and though technically not a Ghibli film, Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind inspired him. But, I’m also including Princess Mononoke as it was apparently the movie that got him into animation. I will discuss things I noticed in the other films too, but I feel like these ones are the most prevalent in inspiration. 

Spirited Away could technically count as an isekai. It follows a ten year old in the world of Kami, working in a witch’s bathhouse in order to free herself and her transformed parents back into the human realm. It’s the most popular film the company and he has produced and is held in high regard virtually everywhere, and for very good reason.

Spirited Away terrified me as a kid. And I mean yelling at the TV, covering my ears and eyes, forcibly turning it off and nightmares. One of my gripes is having written children just. Not be like children and act more like sunshine. And I think that Chihiro as the protagonist is just so well done, especially for a child audience. Chihiro’s not exactly a ray of sunshine: she’s stubborn, scared of nearly everything but with no survival instinct in her and starts the movie sulking and unfairly whining. But, she’s a ten year old, and that’s how ten year olds think and act. They’re not exactly blooming flowers, they’re ten year olds. And, in my opinion, by having her flaws well-established but also understandable to a less or more mature audience (either from relating easily to knowledge of the time), it is so much better seeing her mature, learn, grow and get what she wants versus a stagnant character who’s happy all the time except for maybe one dramatic scene. I’m glad Matt Braly embraced making his main character, and other characters, more inherently flawed and not just constant beams of sunshine (slight bias, but I just prefer my dynamics like that) that makes it all the more better seeing them flourish and upsetting seeing them suffer. 

The isekai in this isn’t wished for or exactly good, either. For Chihiro, she’s constantly having to work while being picked on by her colleagues for being a human and smelling like one, being given the worst jobs and guests to handle and also being threatened to be turned into livestock and eaten. Chihiro is stuck in this situation because of her parents’ greed and over consumption, and she even Haku, someone from the Kami world, tells her to run as soon as she can for her own protection. The world is dangerous and foreign to her, without the comfort of her parents or family to help her and instead relying on her own abilities, so it’s no wonder she hates it. Because of her hard work and attitude compared to the constant greed of the others, she gains the respect and admiration of her colleagues (a few in particular) against Yubaba (or Natsuki), the witch. And because of her allies she can get through certain obstacles, such as almost forgetting her original identity, escaping other spirits or helping a customer fully get clean. She’s tough and brave, but she’s also incredibly vulnerable, breaking down when she fully processes the situation she’s in and acting in childlike ways. We can see similar parallels in Anne. She is dropped into Amphibia unexpectedly and spends her first few days stranded in the wilderness where everything wants to eat her, and then has to warm up to villagers who refer to her as a monster and a beast. Both characters learn how to adapt and overcome their situations with the help of allies and family they make along the way, and end up changing themselves for the better.

Unlike the devastating film that is Spirited Away, on the surface, Kiki’s Delivery Service doesn’t seem like much of a heartthrob. It’s a story about a 13 year old trainee witch who leaves her home for the first time to start her training in a big city. It seems like a typical coming of age story, but it’s just executed so well. Kiki, the main character, was a source of inspiration for Anne’s character. While it may not seem likely comparing the two on paper, both characters go through the very, very complicated process of adolescence and dealing with sudden maturity and independence from their family. In Anne’s case, however, it is forced independence, but both characters manage to make their way in this new and strange place through befriending people and making their connections (both literally find their new homes by helping their found families, in Anne’s case helping Sprig escape and befriending him and in Kiki’s case helping the locals and gaining their respect). Both characters become the local oddity of their respective homes, human or witch. But, because of their new setting, they find themselves growing or realising certain things about themselves, sadly being insecurities. Kiki is a loving and energetic but aloof girl that doesn’t know how to interact with the city kids her age, who cannot afford nice shoes or has a specific special talent like other witches, and because of the constant stress of her delivery job from various factors, she grows physically and mentally exhausted, or burnout. Her magic starts fading as she loses faith in herself and she loathes associations with the things she once loved: she cannot fly, and she cannot talk to her cat, Jiji. At the end of the film, while she gets the ability to fly again, she can no longer talk to her cat, but she is content and happy with herself. The film shows her progression and departure from immaturity and shows the loneliness and terror of maturity and growing up, but also shows how it has changed her for the better, and not the worse. In Anne’s case though? We’ll have to see. She has significantly improved, and has shown being significantly more mature and independent, but she’s also gotten a lot worse and probably hasn’t reached her lowest point, which is slightly terrifying. In Anne Sterminator, we’ve seen her and her parents, specifically her mother, struggle with the topic of her maturity too, which though addressed in the episode (communication good), may be a bit of a bigger problem than we think, considering her change in attitude towards the Plantars over the course of Season 3A.

Nausicaä was actually one I hadn’t really heard of until recently, but I heavily recommend you do. It’s really, really good. It is about a princess of a valley in a post-apocalypse world where poisonous spores grow into jungles with strange bug-like creatures. It heavily digs into themes like anti-war/violence and environmentalism, and the designs are just beautiful.

Miyazaki has stated that Nausicaä “is not a protagonist who defeats an opponent, but one who understands, or accepts. She is someone who lives in a different dimension”. Nausicaä, despite being a brave and skilled fighter, hates fighting and is incredibly humane and empathetic towards all kinds of life. She’s incredibly intelligent and skilled, especially for a sixteen year old princess, studying the Sea of Corruption (that is ironically the spore jungle) and its inhabitants, almost knowing how to communicate with them and also being an amazing windrider. Nausicaä is a fusion between the princess of the Odyssey with the same name, and a folk hero “The Princess Who Loved Insects”. Miyazaki said she is “governed by some kind of animism”, as she is, unknowingly, part of a prophecy as the hero “clothed in a blue robe, descending upon a field” (her main colour is also blue, by the way, and descending? Like how we’ve seen Anne levitate and with all the star references?). I have not read the manga, so I cannot confirm this, but she also apparently has psychic abilities, such as telepathy. 

TL;DR 

Anne’s Calamity powers could end up really good, really bad or both, but it could be “good power, bad context”. Marcy may have an older sister she idolises, and sadly, the possibility of neglectful parents and siblings, while Sasha (though we could all tell already) is rich and spoilt, she has a broken family from a single incident, probably the divorce, or something that could have led towards it and has something going on with her dad. Sasha, contrasting to Anne’s fire-inspired abilities, may have water-based ones if she ever were to access her Calamity powers. Marcy’s abilities are more uncertain, but air-related abilities could be likely. The prophecy is sketchy and possibly corrupt as Hell, and we are in for some world-breaking (literally) shenanigans. The Core may have been created in a desperate attempt to remain immortal. I’m begging that my silly theory on “the invasion with Darcy will bring an eclipse” will be right. The shippers will maybe have a ship become canon, but at the cost of an almost death, or even an actual death. Plantar fans and Grime fans are nearly definitely fucked as there is a high chance of death. The real villain is the strive for power, more obviously with Andrias, and if the Night is different from the Core, more literally the embodiment of power. For the constant purple, there may be a fourth purple gem which could be what that frog in the mural is holding in the opening that could be the sort of power-source or heart of Amphibia that maybe got put in the box or is hidden somewhere in Amphibia.