#Mal watches the reboot

[gojuo]

so i finished watching the first ep .... as usual i got some shit to say

first of all why not just adapt the manga? why make an original story WITH the same characters set in the SAME universe but NOT the original story from the manga you are adapting? like whyyy i genuinely do not get it. second of all, where is milly. literally where is she why is she getting replaced with a drunken man WHERE IS MILLY????????? and why is meryl not yet a journalist? why is vash's bounty 6mil instead of 60 billion? did they imply that July hasn't been blown up yet?? HUH? does that mean one of the most important events that made vash vash hasn't happened yet? so does that mean we are way back in the past? i mean i guess it doesn't really matter bc it will probably happen as the story progresses because this is an original story therefore i can't even use the manga as a guide anymore ..... but most importantly, why does vash look like a damn tiktok eboy now AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIS ICONIC BUTTONED COAT STUDIO ORANGE!!!!??? WHAT DID YOU DO!!!!! i fcking hate that zipper jacket HE LOOKS SO MODERNIZED! especially with the change in his glasses :( .. and that leads me to the biggest problem: the original trigun had this classic western atmosphere to it but trigun stampede just .... does not have that. like what the fuck are those cyberpunk type guns and those modernized clothes... that flair of spaghetti western is pretty fucking lost in stampede and it makes me sad bc that's what gave the original such attitude and uniqueness :(((( that's just gone now especially with that forgettable ost :(

[asherthephoenix]

Coderra real! ... It's not as fun when the ship is actually canon.

Hoo boy time to share my long ass hc again

So right at the beginning of ROTI we see Sierra hugging Cody tightly right? Sierra also mentions during AS that she uses her phone to contact Cody and the reason she started having hallucinations is because Mal broke her phone and she no longer had a way to reach him. Wether some people like it or not, this proves that Sierra and Cody remained in contact during the ~year and a few months in between WT and AS. I hc that they’re both from Mississauga, just opposite sides of it, so with only a ~45 min drive between them they had no issues seeing eachother after the show ended & hung out super regularly after WT. Sierra def calmed down a bit overtime and as he actually got to know her as friend and not just “weirdo who harasses me nonstop” Cody just ended up liking her more and more. He had plans to ask her out, but then she got called back for All Stars while he didn’t and didn’t get the chance. He watched the season and was rightfully horrified at Sierra’s behavior, but realized that Sierra’s biggest problem was that she was attached to him to an unhealthy degree and clearly there was something wrong for her mentally. We know from his contestant bio Cody is rich af and gets a huge allowance, so when she returned home from AS Cody put his foot down and said he was going to enroll her in therapy to help her get better and she agreed that was probably a good idea. Therapy not only helped sierra find out she was severely autistic but also taught her important strategies and coping mechanisms for her childhood trauma that led her to being the way she is (I have a whole separate hc about that if anyone wants to know) and overtime actually did make significant improvements. She still loves Cody more than anything else, but she learned the importance of, yk, realizing he has boundaries that she needs to respect. Around 1.5-2ish years after she started therapy Cody determined she made enough improvements and asked her out, and given they were both dedicated to putting in the work to make the relationship healthy it lasted & at the time of the reboot they are married with 3 children.

Being realistic, gen 1 is probably never coming back to total drama outside of cameos; I can certainly see them doing another speaking cameo with some of the more popular characters like what they did with Owen if the reboot ever gets a third season but I’m very doubtful we’re ever gonna see sierra or Cody again and if we do it’s gonna be a like, split second cameo. In the hypothetical scenario that Cody and sierra were to both come back for another season, I really wouldn’t want coderra to become canon unless they at least mention sierra being enrolled in some kind of counseling AND she never does anything shitty to Cody at all during their seasons run. Making Coderra canon without Sierra being called out for her problematic actions doesn’t exactly send the best message.

I do plan on tagging this with the TD tags and stuff so for anyone seeing this who doesn’t already know me, DNI if you can’t respect the fact that I ship fanon coderra, thanks

[descendantofthesparrow]

y'know i wanted to ask: what's your honest opinion about descendants 4: rise of red? do you think its linear to the story at all?(you probably heard this before) or do you think its a divestment to what the point of descendants 1-3 were trying to put across?

well, the story/point of 1-3 was kinda 'you can choose who you want to me/you can choose your own destiny/you are not your parents/nothings written in stone' and-with how fucking wild the plot for ROR looks so far-it seems like they're KINDA trying to follow the base story of descendants but they're also just blatantly trying to soft reboot the series so they can go off and make more movies that are fully separate from the og movies/characters, (esp with how its clear they didn't even watch the OG movies because for some reason they think Mal turned into a dragon in d1(SHE DIDNTTTT))

so its like they're trying to be like 'D4~!' but also trying to quietly push all the original content to the side for their new stuff and D3 IS ONLY 5 YEARS OLLLLD

anyway so like-both i guess, they're playing it off like its the next movie of the series but also-its so wildly disconnected from the 3 movies that it feels like a new movie instead with references to the OG series(like how Auradon prep is a brand new building cuz they didn't get the old one and how they blatantly ignore the og canon(which is admittedly flimsy) and now suddenly everyone went to school together before Auradon was created instead of being from their actual time periods (MALEFCENT DOESNT KNOW HOW A FRIDGE WORKSSSSSS SHES NOT A 2024 ALT KIDDDD) and were resurrected by FG at king beasts orders to be imprisoned on the isle without their magic forever to suffer a fate worse than death(yes thats canon).

again-anyway-to sum it up- its both. they're "attempting" to follow the storyline(which was lowkey nonexistent) but also make ROR its complete own thing to be able to ignore everything 1-3 set up for the universe(it has terrible universe building but we all love it anyway)

[xoangel-dust]

Yet another Total Drama Controversy Meme: SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR SEASON TWO OF THE REBOOT

Favorite Character: Dawn - I’ve been a fan of hers even before the season aired back in the day (I was able to watch the French version that leaked). She’s probably considered “overrated” today but she’s still a decent character.

Despised Character: Chase - he’s funny but…then he opens his mouth and how he treats Emma irritates me.

Favorite Season: Total Drama Island (2007/2008)- I can rewatch this season many times over it still holds up to this day .

Despised Season: Total Drama Action - this season just makes me mad. It broke both Duncney and Gwent up, derailed the four of them and it dragged way too much for having a smaller cast.

Most Overrated Character: Julia - I feel like they tried way too hard to get people to like her and every “villainous” act she’s done as been OFF SCREEN! Then they made her the villain for season two of the reboot which just made her worse. I never saw the appeal and genuinely didn’t like her from the beginning.

Most Underrated Character: Dakota - she was done SO dirty during revenge of the island and did not deserve being exposed to radiation.

Favorite Couple: Alejandro x Heather - their chemistry is UNMATCHED, they’re made for one another and I genuinely cannot see them not being together and married.

Despised Character: Gwourtney - don’t hate me y’all but I’ve always found them to be so fake. They were “friends” for maybe one episode during world tour then Gwen kissed Duncan. Not to mention them probably voting for one another in said season. Then all stars happened with Gwen saying,”oh Duncan and Courtney weren’t together when I kissed Duncan!1!1!” Then we have Courtney’s list being exposed showing that she didn’t actually want to take Gwen to the final 2 or whatever. Nothing but backstabbing. (Plus I ship Gwen with Leshawna!!)

Favorite Song: Her real name isn’t Blaineley - Blaineley deserved it. It’s a hilarious and catchy song.

Despised Song: Shearing Sheep - horribly off beat which makes it hard to listen to.

Favorite Episode: If You Can’t Take The Heat - easily top 5 of my favorite episodes of the series. Entertaining from start to finish, Heather getting locked in the freezer after getting her eyebrows burned off HILARIOUS! Beth being the reason her team was on a losing streak.

Despised Episode: Sunday Muddy Sundae - looking back I think action derailed her the most of this episode just…stress…the way Mal just MAGICALLY found her list pisses me off to this day. The way everyone turned on Courtney simply for playing the game.

[negative-total-drama-takes]

I try not to hate on things because there's someone out there who really likes it...

Anyways, I HATE.

Chris Mclean x Any Camper

Chet x Lorenzo

Kitty x Emma

IF YOU SHIP THESE. GET OUT.

I hate Mal. I hate the STUPID LOVE TRIANGLE. I hate Ezekiel, I always find him to be annoying and pitiful. Screw you, Devin, and Carrie. I hate you and your stupid crushes.

I hate you, Dave. I hope you fall into a hole with a bunch of mold and mud, and you die.

And lastly, I hate people who spoil. I know the reboot came out 2 or more years ago, but I haven't had access to watch it. Stop telling me every beat that happens. I hate it. I hate you.

Anywho, thanks for listening to my Ted Talk :)

.

[pienhime]

current MAL watching progress

(ill replace edgerunners w finally watching darling in the franxx and then the trigun reboot, and tmmn with is the order a rabbit and run thru that)

[medea10]

My Review of [Oshi no Ko]

Oof. The spring anime season of 2023 was kinda lax with the sequels and reboots. This was welcoming news for me as I was happy to take on any and every new anime that dropped. And I was ready to give the top prize to Skip and Loafer or even My Love Story with Yamada-kun. But then, this anime smashed in like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. This anime was already seen as the most, highly-anticipated anime to enter this season. Of course, the creator also made Kaguya-sama. It’s going to be awesome! And that’s stiff competition as Demon Slayer and Dr. Stone both returned with positive feedback. On the day of its official release, the first episode alone was seen as #1 on all of MAL. Gee, how long did it take for the FMA fan-idiots to nuke the score of this series? About four weeks. Guys, get another hobby.

Besides becoming the #1 anime on MAL with just one episode out, Hidive received the highest amount of traffic to their website for the first time ever. The music video released by YOASOBI for Oshi no Ko trended for a full week and as of May 17, 2023, the video reached 100 million views. Add to that, YOASOBI’s single has been dominating on the global Billboard charts. Manga sales have exploded. This anime is definitely one to behold. Let’s hope that nothing happens to the anime to make it falter.

Before I talk about the synopsis, I should really go a little further when it comes to the first episode. We all know, the average anime episode is roughly 21-25 minutes as it varies. This of course doesn’t include the length and time of recaps, openings, ending themes, or previews. But then, you get several episodes that are 40-50 minutes. I call that the, “Aniplex wants your attention episode”. Yeah, it’s because most of those I see are in Aniplex animes. Especially the Monogatari series. But in most cases, these are just the first or last episode. I just learned to accept it and enjoy the extra-long episode of SAO or Demon Slayer. Plus, it’s just their way to fill in as much content for the season. Oshi no Ko’s first episode clocked in at a whopping 82 minutes. This first episode alone could have been a feature-length movie. Japan actually did put the first episode on the big screen weeks before the television premier. This seems to be a missed opportunity for Sentai Filmworks.

A REQUEST: I do have a request for those blindly stumbling upon this review. If you are reading this part and have not watched at least episode 1, I kindly ask that you close this page and go watch Oshi no Ko’s first episode. Do not even read the synopsis to the episode. It is best that you go in blind. If you have already done so, please disregard this message and let’s get at it!

Ai Hoshino is an idol in a group called B Komachi. She is loved all around Japan. One particular fan (Sarina) loves her dearly. It’s the one thing in her life that gives her joy as she is currently battling a rare form of brain cancer. She dies. She was only 12. A doctor (Gorou Amemiya) who befriended her kinda got into Ai shortly after Sarina’s death. And now he’s hooked. One day, Gorou gets the surprise of his life as one of his incoming patients is 20 weeks pregnant with twins. And surprise, it’s famous idol Ai Hoshino.

Oof. I’m sorry, seeing them talk to a 16-year-old girl who is pregnant is not a pleasant topic I like to talk about nowadays. You all know the country I hail from and how angry I get talking about real world topics.

Gorou took care of Ai for the next twenty weeks to ensure a safe and healthy delivery. The night Ai went into labor, Gorou was murdered by a man who asked him about the whereabouts of Ai. In his final moments, Gorou recalled a conversation he had with Sarina about what it would be like to be the children of a famous idol.

With that, Gorou died and is reincarnated as one of Ai’s twins (named Aqua). The other twin (named Ruby) was Sarina reincarnated. We watch Aqua and Ruby grow as Ai’s children. But their identies were shielded from the public due to fear of Ai’s career being ruined forever. Still though, when Ai is with her children, it’s some of the happiest moments of Ai’s life considering her life prior to idol fame was dreadful. As for the kids, Aqua got into acting and Ruby got into dancing. And even though it took several years, Ai’s popularity began to grow past just being a teen idol and was ready to perform at a super dome. This happiness was shattered.

The stalker that killed Ai’s doctor stabs Ai in her residence and with Aqua as a witness. In Ai’s final words, she was able to give out a sincere “I love you” to her children. Ai is dead. The stalker killed himself. The children’s biological father could be the source of all that has just occurred. Aqua is ready for revenge.

Now, at age 16 is when the real story begins for Aqua and Ruby. Ruby has ambitions of becoming an idol like her mother, but Aqua wants her to steer-clear away from that business because of what happened to their mother. That doesn’t stop Ruby’s ambitions as she ends up restarting her mother’s old idol group B Komachi. As for Aqua, he gets several television appearances. He has no interest in that stuff, but this is the only way to get answers about Ai and their possible biological father as he might be the key or the reason behind Ai’s demise.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Oh good! Rie Takahashi is in the main cast. Oh…she plays Ai. That’s just sad. So, is Ai still technically a main character even though she gets killed by episode 1? Just curious! As for the sub, Sentai has a dub out. My premature thoughts went straight to Monica Rial. I’m sniffing around to see if she’s even in this. I can sense Rial up in here.

several research voice actor moments later

Okay, Monica Rial isn’t part of the main cast…but her sister is. I was close and thought that either one or both Rial sisters were going to be there. I thought these people did a good job considering the major hype to the anime. I know I usually never give glowing recommendations for any dub done by Sentai. This, they did fine with. This is my first time hearing most (if not all) the main cast.

JAPANESE CAST: *Aqua is played by Takeo Ootsuka (known for Tem on Beastars)

*Ruby is played by Yurie Igoma

*Ai is played by Rie Takahashi (known for Emilia on Re:Zero, Tomo on Tomo-chan is a Girl, Megumin on Konosuba, Ena on Laid-Back Camp, Sumi on Rent-A-Girlfriend, and Mash on Fate/Grand Order)

ENGLISH CAST: *Aqua is played by Jack Stansbury (known for Mendou on Urusei Yatsura 2022)

*Ruby is played by Alyssa Marek

*Ai is played by Donna Bella Litton (known for Ran on Urusei Yatsura 2022)

SHIPPING: This…can get really ewwie really fast.

Gorou’s obsession with Ai was borderline Lolita fetish. A grown-ass man obsessing over a 16-year-old idol can get really creepy really fast. I do give him props as he remained completely professional as Ai’s OB-GYN. Now, what happens when Gorou dies and is reborn as Aqua? Oh, he loves Ai! It’s just that Aqua was careful as humanly possible. That’s my tip-toeing around the scene where Aqua turns down being breast fed by Ai. Ruby doesn’t mind drinking from Ai’s teat.

16-year-old Aqua kept getting asked by his castmates for the reality show he was in what his ideal woman was. He tip-toes around it, but we all know he’s describing Ai. His mother! A woman who died over 10 years ago. And again, HIS MOTHER! Though, nobody else knows that fact so he just tip-toes around it by being as discreet as humanly possible. Because of Aqua’s looks, he’s a prime target for thirsty girls at his school. But thanks to the reality show he was in; he ends up in a fake relationship with Akane. Totally doesn’t help that Akane starts acting like Ai! Because those two “hooked up” during the reality show, they must keep up appearances with their relationship in the public eye.

We could end that shit topic here if not for little miss Kana being little miss tsundere whenever Aqua is around. Oh boy, Kana is a true tsundere here.

SADDEST MOMENT: That first episode killed it in more ways than one. There’s no doubt that every main character here has had their hardships in the past. Ai had parents that abandoned her and she winds up in an orphanage. When Ruby was Sarina, she was suffering from that rare brain cancer where it was a struggle just to walk. And as for Aqua, they never did find his original body. But I was not prepared for what happened when Ai answered that door in episode 1.

I was thinking that stalker guy was the father of Aqua and Ruby and we’re going to have this whole thing throughout the series. Instead, when I watched this guy try to kill Ai, I immediately got flashbacks of Selena. Oh yeah, who could forget that death?

Yes, everything about Ai’s final words killed me. The animation, the delivery, everything! And Rie Takahashi knocked it out of the park!

DO THESE STORIES LOOK FAMILIAR TO YOU?: So, I might be going out on several limbs here but hear me out. Watching Oshi no Ko, do you draw any kind of correlation to any character’s backstory and seen it with an actor who might have gone through this same sort of thing? This story delves into the dark side of the entertainment industry and mostly in Japan. But being American, I can’t help but draw connections to the sad stories I would see in the entertainment industry in the U.S.

When I watched a crazed fan attack Ai, I will always immediately think of what happened to Selena. Seeing Kana try to stay relevant due to being a child actor, I think of a lot of child stars that went on after the height of their careers and while there are some success stories, there’s…well, it didn’t end well for actors like Bobby Driscoll and Dana Plato. Look both of those up, it’s quite tragic. I know these are American actors and most of the story is revolved around what happens in the Japanese entertainment industry. I’m just using these an example because I learned about these tragedies and lived through some of them (especially Selena’s death). Despite all of those stories being decades old, a lot of dark things still take place in this day and age. And with the addition of social media, being an entertainer has become worse.

The Akane storyline…ouch. First of all, social media comments are toxic. I will admit, I used to “Egosurf” a lot in my 20s when I was somewhat relevant on certain sites. It did not do well for my mental health. But I’m not like Akane. I’m not an entertainer. I’m a dork that likes to write reviews for animes and proud of it. If someone on Tumblr tells me I suck, I just ignore it. I probably won’t even see it knowing me. Tee-hee! Back to the matter at hand though. Akane wasn’t really seen as anything special in the reality show she was in with Aqua. She didn’t stick out as much as her other co-stars. Despite it being kinda like a reality show, these kids are still acting or doing what their supervisors say. Akane decides to do something impulsive and it backfired. BADLY!

This resulted in people on social media exploding with hatred for Akane with the most disgusting of messages telling her she’ll never act again or just blunt ones that say “Just die”. Despite the episode clearly stating this is a “work of fiction”, you know they got inspired by the real-life tragedy of Hana Kimura. Kimura was a female professional wrestler for the most part. In 2019, she was in a reality show called Terrace House. During an episode, Kimura got in a verbal argument with one of the castmates. From what I’ve read, they asked her to stir the pot a bit and fight with the other castmate. After this episode aired, fans took to social media and posted a lot of hate-filled messages towards Kimura. This sent her in a deep depression. Two months after this episode aired and all of the horrible messages were blasted at top speed, Hana Kimura committed suicide.

I don’t want to say Oshi no Ko blatently used this one particular story for the Akane storyline. But I’m also not saying that either. This is eerily too similar. It also doesn’t help that this episode aired days before the anniversary of Kimura’s death. I know it’s coincidence, but weird-ass timing. Thank God Aqua saved her from jumping off the bridge. While Oshi no Ko is a work of fiction, what happened to Hana Kimura was not. And bullying the woman’s family is not helping anything whatsoever. Yes, Kimura’s mother is pissed at the anime for airing a story similar to the events that drove her daughter to suicide. She has that right! Don’t bully her because she’s mad at everyone involved with Oshi no Ko. If I was in her shoes, I’d probably be pissed too and for a long time too. Moving away from that dumpster fire…

And the biggest kudos goes to Hidive. At the end of episode 6, they put up a message to prevent suicide and well, you know what? I’m going to do so here too.

As someone who has unfortunately been in dark places like some of these characters, I encourage others to seek out help as well.

ENDING: Since the events of episode 1, we watched what Ruby and Aqua want to do with their lives. Ruby is committed to becoming an idol like her mother. Slowly throughout the season, she and Kana joined Ai’s old production company and started up the idol group Ai was in, B Komachi. It was just the two of them until the end of the reality show Aqua was in. That’s when Aqua suggested to his castmate Mem-Cho that she should become an idol in the B Komachi revival. This is an interesting mixture for an idol group with the daughter of an idol (though nobody knows that fact), a former child star, and a Youtuber that’s 25 going on 16 depending on her applications.

Kana puts up a brave face in front of Ruby and Mem-Cho. But you can tell that Kana is scared. She’s been tossed around since becoming older, nobody bought her single when she recorded songs, her own mother even gave up on her, and all of these rejections kinda caught up to Kana. Regardless, Kana went up on stage with Ruby and Mem-Cho as a rookie idol. B Komachi got their chance at an idol festival to perform. It’s a start compared to a lot idols in other animes. On stage, it was clear that the audience was mostly there for Mem-Cho due to her popularity through the reality show and her Youtube channel. But Ruby got some attention from an audience member who remembered the original B Komachi and noticed Ruby kinda got that same aura as Ai.

Kana felt a little despair while performing on stage. But then we get a déjà vu trip as Aqua is in the audience doing a glow stick dance. Yeah, it was a lot like what happened when Ai was performing, doubt was swarming her, and then the twins start doing a glow stick dance. I guess the performance went well. It’s just that after that we see more tsundere moments from Kana. Mem-Cho finally sees that Kana likes Aqua. And then there’s some friction when we learn that Kana and Akane know each other and are rivals. And when I say rivals, I mean they are like Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak in the first season rivals, they are catty bitches. They’ve been at it since they were children.

A popular anime is about to be adapted as a stage musical. Akane and Kana are set to be in this production. The gentleman that Aqua has been in contact for a while now set him up with a role in that same stage musical. This theater company was apparently where things changed for Ai when she was an up-and-coming idol.

Could this be Aqua’s big lead to possibly meeting his biological father? That’s a question that won’t be answered today. At least season two is greenlit.

Soooooo…after watching episode 1 and the hype that came along with it, did the rest of the season grab my attention? Yes. It totally did. I mean it wasn’t at the hype it was when I had just watched episode 1. After one viewing of episode one, I had to tell anyone who would listen to me that this was awesome. There were however several other episodes that grabbed me. Yes, it was the Akane-centered episodes. Let’s just say any time I saw moments with Kana and Ruby trying to do idol stuff before Mem-cho came were a little boring. I just felt like they were just there and nothing else. Probably just a reminder that yeah, they exist, now let’s go back to Aqua doing what he’s doing.

Am I excited for season two? Oh yes, I am. I’m doing my best not to look at any manga spoilers. It’s hard. Every so often, a spoiler drops on Twitter and you just want to look. Or someone on Youtube will say something about a new chapter and you just want to take a quickie. NOPE! I’m going to stay strong and just practice good patience.

Medea read up about Aqua and Ruby’s father

No self control whatsoever! Not one iota of it. Whenever season two drops, it’s going to be a biggie. Will the anime continue to be a smashing hit when it returns? That’s for the future to decide. I truly hope for the best. As long as they stay with the original material and the same studio that’s animating it, I think we’ll be good. Full recommendation!

FINAL (IDIOTIC) THOUGHT: So, is Ai going to be the next member of Franchouchou on Zombieland Saga?

…I’m going to sit in the corner and think about what I just wrote.

All 11 episodes are available on Hi-Dive.

[pikespendragon67]

AND NOW, Time for Another Pikes Check-In Update Thingamajig!!!

Basically this is just where I post current interests/events in life to see if other people are currently sharing the same interest, or if people just wanna catch up on things.

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO:

What I'm Watching

Seasonal anime: Summer season's just starting so of the ones that caught my interest at the moment are the following

Might see if Helck is good when it airs

I'm getting tempted to reactivate my Netflix account for My Happy Marriage but ehhh maybe when Beastars airs again. I do like stories where characters go through absolute shit but get better lives and heal from their experiences

Undead Murder Farce: I really like the character designs, and I love the snark of the protagonists. Hopefully it's like Appare Ranman but with Victorian England instead of 1910s-1930s America

Jujustu Kaisen season 2: Sucks that the airing schedule seems to be whack (first 5 episodes will be normal, but then it's gonna be on hiatus until like. October) but I love the OP, ED, character interactions, and the Digimon joke.

Bleach TYBW: Bleach was my choice of shounen as a youth and it's got me in an iron grip of nostalgia. Is the writing terrible at times? Yes! Do I still love it? Yes...for certain characters nowadays

Apparently Nier Automata's making a comeback? Hope so. It was hinting at big stuff when it last got hiatus'ed

MAL says Dungeon Meshi is gonna air this season but I doubt that

I'm also gonna watch the new Superman cartoon since a friend's letting me borrow another friend's Max account (I COULD technically reactive my account, but I hate how WB cut most of their projects & library for tax write-offs). And I'm 2 episodes away from finishing Iruma season 3, so once I'm done with that, it's onto Saiki K to watch during my lunch breaks when there isn't a seasonal anime to watch. ...Though I'm kinda wondering if I should swap it for Nanbaka now... Eh I already had the poll, so might as well stick to the poll until I finish Big O

What I'm Playing:

Just finished the 2nd labyrinth of Persona Q. I'm not really looking forward to replaying the 3rd labyrinth since it's horror themed. (Plus this was around the time I actually had to start playing with a guide because of a few FOE puzzles. Gonna be distracting to do so as I play). That being said I love that this combines EO dungeon exploration with Persona combat. Makes me wonder if I should try to get back to EO4 or see if I should get EO3 on modern consoles

Other potential interests: Ghost Trick (got the special edition right when I was in the middle of my Persona Q replay), 999 on Vita (solves the issue of not being able to play the updated version at work), possibly get back to Personas 2-5 (after I read the manga for the first game; keep forgetting to do that), maybe explore my Steam library since I have a few games there now thanks to the summer sale, maybe get back to playing Fantasy Life until I get to Al Majiik (though I forgot how tedious it is to grind for jobs). Just man. While I'm sad there's no FEMC for the P3 remake, I'm still super excited for it

Though with that being said it feels weird to buy games I already own just on different consoles. It'd be one thing if there were remakes/reboots, but nah. I just have Nier on both PS4 and Steam now. Game collecting's a weird hobby, but one I enjoy nonetheless

Other Stuff:

Anxiety spiked a bit today after seeing discourse start to pop up here again & cringing at past mistakes I've made, hence the checkup post you see now

While I'm cool with my job, I don't like how it consumes so much of my free time/energy. If I can get paid enough to work 4 days without me having to do 10 hour work days, that'd be pretty neat

Barbie movie's in a few weeks oh boy

Another con's happening at the end of the month, but it will be like 3 hours away. Gonna go with a friend then but hopefully my car sickness doesn't kill me.

Then the next con I definitely want to go to is in September

And after that I'm gonna see Hadestown with another friend

Not sure what to do for a Halloween shindig with friends. And it might be the brainrot talking but I kinda wanna go as Shinjiro from Persona 3? Though I also want my coworkers to recognize my costume, so I might need to start looking for Vampire Hunter D attire now.

THUS ENDS THE CHECKUP!

[fandommemequeen]

my 2023.

yearly retrospective time LETZ GO!!!

last year i said 2022 sucked but uh,, 2023 was definitely worse :'o)

with the rise in queerphobic legistlation, school getting progressively harder to stay on track with, my dad dying, and just everything else that ive had to endure this year, its been difficult. but.. i somehow made it.

and you might be wondering how i got through everything. did i touch grass and magically everything was sunshine and rainbows? buy some overpriced self help book or online course that changed my life? No <3

i just,, did what i normally do. i played video games, talked with my friends, watched youtube, brainrotted over fandoms, listened to music, came up with cool outfits, somehow made it through skool, drew, wrote, cosplayed, roleplayed, made kandi and crafts, and just overall found ways to find joy in the small things, which goes a long way when youre trans in a world where your joy is an act of rebellion.

i also had some cool fandom moments this year! season 7 of siivagunner has been AWESOME, return to dream land deluxe was great even if it fricked with the lore a little, THE TOH FINALE WAS SO FRICKIN GOOD, marios madness may be my new fave fnf mod, NPMD THREW ME BACK INTO MY HATCHETFIELD FIXATION, i FINALLY got the kirby planet robobot soundtrack cd and the limited edition quiznos training game physical edition, i found ways to actually enjoy WDY again and leave behind itz toxic fandom, i got into pokepasta, tintn, gogos crazy bones, playtime with percy, inside job, tadc, i started listening to mal blum and against me and chonny jash, im currently being dragged into eggotama as we speak and im getting back into mpdsap,,

but the fandom that had the most impact for me this year was the june archive and restoration project. getting into TJA led me to discover bowlbys other works and get into one of the best fandoms ive ever been in, thanks in part to the june archive and restoration project fanserver. ive met so many cool people through that server, and getting to chat and VC with them has always been a blast. [yknow what? shoutout to all my friends that ive loved talking with all throughout 2023 yall are awesome]

back to life stuff for a moment here, i got to do a lotta cool stuff this year! i FINALLY homebrewed my 3ds [with a bit of help from jaco xd], GOT TO SEE THE HAUNTING OF NIGHT VALE LIVE, put together some awesome cosplays for gencon and halloween, im getting better at rhythm games, i got SECOND PLACE in my skoolz national cybersecurity codebreakers competition, i had an awesome bday, i went to go see barbie [my first movie in theaters since lockdown] and fnaf and both were AWESOME!! all of this despite everything thats happened in 2023!

and as for my creative projectz,, DIGIVERSE REBOOT EPISODE 3 FINALLY RELEASED BACK IN MAY!!!!!! holy frick i was SO PROUD of that,, in addition, ive been doing character reveals for gamerz epic megamix take, i created the doomed timelines awoken au, and ive strengthened my artstyle into what it is today while learning how to use my drawing tablet :3

in addition, getting into TJA and watching bowlbys animation legacy made me think about my past as a creator, and i started work on giving my old book ocs from my days in the TWOW fandom the care and attention they deserve, even if it means some slight redesigns or rewrites. speaking of TWOW, EWOW IS OUT AND IM GETTING BACK INTO TWOW AFTER YEARS!! feelz good to be back, and im hoping i can maybe properly host a minitwow at some point in 2024!

overall 2023 wasnt great, but i stayed silly and had fun despite it and i think thatz very swag of me!

now, every time i do one of these things, if i do an overconfident "bring it on" type message at the end i almost always end up regretting it, AND i am absolutely terrified about 2024 so i am not taking my chances!

so i leave u with this sentiment towards 2024 instead:

i gotta survive The Horrors anyway, might as well stay silly and do what i like while im doing it :3

[irlwakko]

finally watched the first six episodes of the reboot (thank you internet archive) and all i’m saying is i need Mal and Scary Girl to be besties for my mental health

[best-underrated-anime]

Frequently Asked Questions

Please read this post before sending me any new questions.

Note: Reblogs will be disabled since I’ll be constantly updating this.

Last updated: Feb. 11, 2024

What is your standard in determining whether a show is underrated?

I have no set standard. I allow a show into the tournament on a case-by-case basis.

I may keep in mind MyAnimeList ratings, but ratings are not absolute. Some shows may have low stats on MAL, yet have strong voting power on Tumblr. And since this is a site where most users are USAmericans, I cannot count popularity in home country.

Appeals for/against a show also heavily impact my decision, as I haven’t watched a lot of the titles submitted.

New rule: Shows that had made it to Tumblr’s Top AniManga Fandoms are automatically disqualified

Update: Tumblr’s Top AniManga Fandoms for 2023 is out!

Do you still accept submissions?

The tournament has already started, so no.

Did you accept shows that were popular when they came out but have lost traction since then?

I had said that I would accept them, but then I opted to evaluate them manually because some of such shows that were submitted don’t really count as underrated. Like Kekkai Sensen. Nobody really talks about it now, but its “historical impact” is still there.

Did you accept reboots of older shows?

If both the original and the reboot aren’t that popular, then yes.

If the original is popular in English fandoms, then the reboot was disqualified.

If the original is only popular in its home country, then I had reviewed the reboot manually to see if it should be allowed into the tournament

Has a certain show been submitted?

Please check the Final List of Submissions for your answer.

Why is my submission not on the Final List of Submissions?

It was most likely rejected. You may check the Tentative List of Submissions to find out why.

Why was my propaganda submission/revision rejected?

It could be one or more of the following reasons:

It’s too short

It’s not convincing enough. Only talks’ about submitter’s personal experience, leaving readers with no idea what exactly about the show led to such an experience. (But sometimes I make exceptions for this)

It contains spoilers

It contains controversial opinions unrelated to the promotion of the show

[stfu-im-thinking-abt-blorbo]

Thoughts on each TDI Reboot episode, going on 4. SPOILERS UNDER THE READMORE.

Chase actually thinks he didn't do anything wrong cutting Emma's breaks wtf. And comparing Emma's anger at him to the horrors of child acting. Actually gross, get him out of here.

Priya and Millie besties yaaaay

Wayne and Raj have an existential crisis bc of MK lol

Really hoping the show isn't building up to Emma wanting Chase back by the end of the season. She deserves so much better.

If Scary Girl doesn't get to kill someone by the end of the show I will be very sad.

Since when does Chef Hatchet care about the safety of the contestants? He's not as bad a Chris, of course, but he wouldn't go out of his way to stop them from using the plunger harpoons.

Raj: "Murder is not nice."

Wayne: "Dude, you're so deep!"

Ohhh glitchey effects for Scary Girl.

Rip Wayne

Rip Wayne x2

BOWIE AND RAJ REALLY DO BE THE GAY COUPLE RIP RAYNE SHIPPERS WE WERE HALF RIGHT ABT ONE OF THEM BEING GAY

WAYNE IS SO SUPPORTIVE THO

Also its just now hitting me that they actually said "gay" multiple times without dancing around the word. I know shows are way more progressive than several years ago, but it still makes me feel so happy that two men can just be romantic and lovey-dovey on screen without it being a joke.

MK: "There is zero screening process to get on this show." I'm beginning to think Damien isn't the only one who didn't watch the show before.

Literally tho, Chris mentions Duncan's parole officer in the first episode of the series and Duncan make multiple threats to the others and if memory serves he gets sent back to jail in All-Stars. On top of that, Duncan has mentioned multiple times in All-Stars that he met Mike (while Mal was fronting) when they were both in juvie. Plus everything with Izzy happened on the show soooooo

Rip Priya's face. Owie oochie ow

What if Damien is the one to win bc of how hard he is trying to get booted.

So long Scary Girl, you were absolutely squandered. Can't wait for you Death Note esque spin-off.

Wayne, Raj and Bowie were absolutely the highlight of the episode for me. I know they obviously were not the focus at all, but like I said it genuinely makes me so happy that gay characters can just exist and be treated like everyone else without being jokes or with some huge fanfare. And Wayne being so enthusiastic about supporting Raj for when he's ready to come out is the icing on top. Oh how far we've come since 2007.

Other than that, it seems like I was wrong about Bowie being the new Heather. He isn't exactly doing a whole lot besides some funny quips. In fact that's kinda all that's happening with everyone. Besides Emma and Chase, there's a substantial lack of conflict, even then that's not much and is one-sided. But this is only episode 4, so here's hoping 5 picks up something.

[zsskayrd]

Decided to finally get around and watch the reboot. Finished the first 10 episodes so far, thoughts underneath

-First 2 episodes are rough and a weird place to start as an introduction

-First ep really grossed me out, I could have done without the maggots

-I don’t think they even imply Gwen and Ben are cousins till like the end of the second ep and its a blink and you’ll miss it kind of thing

-Wrestling episode very fun, should have started the show with this one

-Bummed the aliens have normal voices, especially Heatblast, they just sound like a dude

-I see Cash and JT made it but they couldn’t put in ghostfreak, smh

-Gwen’s shirt keeps cycling between a cat and a rabbit

-Ben’s a theater kid

-Steam Smythe “my generation made Hindenburgs, Titanics!” Cool dude you made stuff that crashes and explodes

-Ben gives no shits about a secret identity

-Civilians don’t give a shit about aliens, just another Tuesday for them

-Damn this Ben is even more irresponsible with the Omnitrix than OG series

-Pretty sure covering a dragon in crystals would kill it? Like it wouldn't be able to breathe?

-Gotta love Hex

-So far it’s nice that Ben and Gwen’s bickering hasn’t been as present as it was in OG

-Not a fan of the transformation sequences, looks like Ben’s getting devoured by a inflatable costume

-The fact that Stinkfly is voiced by the same person who does Mikey for TMNT is incredibly distracting

-Max really isn’t much of a character, more of just a presence

Turns out the order on HBO is out of chronological order, so that sucks, but I don’t think it’ll matter much since its in the vein of the OG series with being episodic. Some of the episodes do feel like they needed longer than 11 minutes but other than that its not a terrible start. 

[fearidescent]

So... Reboot: The Guardian Code

Disclaimer: At the moment of writing this, I have only watched three episodes of the original Reboot series. As such, I can’t really judge whether TGC is faithful to the old cartoon or not, except for really obvious details. I do plan to watch the rest of the series, when I have some time.

I am, however, a fan of Code Lyoko, and since everyone who’s heard of both Code Lyoko and TGC has compared those two, well, I’ll just jump on the bandwagon and see how TGC holds up in comparison to Code Lyoko.

The good: I quite like the look of cyberspace in this series, and I do think that the missions that the guardians carry out have more potential to be interesting than CL’s “defeat monsters and deactivate the tower, rttp” plots. In Code Lyoko’s fourth season, the group goes to “replicas”, and I think it would’ve been more interesting if those replicas were modeled after the computer they were in, except with a tower of course.

I also love, love, love Vera. Hands down, best character, everyone else can go home. I really liked the episode in which she tried giving herself emotions, only to find herself unable to deal with them. Intensely relatable, if you’re a volatile emotional wreck like me.

Okay now for:

The bad: I get that they had to keep the guardians’ faces hidden so the Sourcerer wouldn’t find out who they were irl, but I think their cyber-selves could have been a bit more stylized. I don’t necessarily mean stylized like in Code Lyoko (lord knows I can’t take any more “large forehead” jokes), but stylized as in, a bit more cartoony, but just a bit, since the main characters in the original reboot also looked fairly realistic.

I also think I would have liked it better if they kept the Sourcerer a bit more in the shadows, more of a force that’s at work behind the scenes but that we don’t see directly. Hell, maybe even make it vague if he’s a human or a virus!

On the other hand, that might be a bit too much like Code Lyoko. Moving on...

And the ugly: Okay, I just finished watching the last episode of TGC and I just gotta vent about this, but people, can we get rid of fucking love triangles? I mean, can you say strangled by the red string? Vera doesn’t even have emotions, why the hell does Parker think she’s romantically interested in him OR Trey?

I also think that they had a lot of subplots that they dropped the ball on. Either literally, in the case of the spheres subplot, or figuratively, in the case of the DIS. The spheres are built up as this huge plot point, the key to the past of the technology, but they only show the content of one sphere and completely forget about the second sphere by the end of the season.

They may pick up these plot threads in a next season, but I am seriously doubting a second season will happen, what with all the hate this season has gotten even before the official release.

Also, if they made a Code Lyoko reboot, claimed it as non-canon (as I’ve heard people say about TGC), and yet include the main characters of the original series only in the very last episodes as secondary characters at best, I think I would be pissed too. I mean, yeah, there’s a chance that they’ll play a bigger role in a next season, but still... Pissed.

Either make it a full reboot, or focus more on the things that people love about the original, you cowards!

One final thing: Honestly, if they actually claimed that this was a Code Lyoko reboot, I would’ve been more ready to believe it than I do the fact that it’s supposed to be a Reboot reboot. If it was a true Reboot reboot, I think they should have focused more on life inside the net, and how it differs from the human world. I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but that was what the original series was about, life for the programs inside the computer, right? Maybe have a subplot about the guardians experiencing culture shock when inside the net, or what have you.

I bet the rights to Code Lyoko were more expensive than the rights to Reboot, and that’s why they tried to brand this as a Reboot reboot.

Anyway, those are my thoughts about Reboot: The Guardian Code. Do you agree? Do you disagree? I gladly invite discussion, as long as it doesn’t attract trolls.

[ratsoh-writes]

Okay, suggestive

A bug lands on SO's shirt (SO has tatas btw), SO panics and takes off the shirt, the f*cker gets inside the bra, SO takes that too and all in front of skele.

For the main 10

Pff under the cut for mentions of bra-less humans

Sans: bro, he doesn’t even care your tiddies are out. He’s laughing too hard. First of all, seeing your datemate screech and strip all because of a little moth has got to be one of the funniest things sans has ever seen. He’s wiping a tear from his eye sockets when he’s done, and then spamming you with bug puns.

Papyrus: he’ll make a surprised “eep” when the bra comes off, but as soon as the bug is in sight, papyrus puts a hand on your chest to grab the bugger and let it outside safely. Sorry little bro, but only he gets to touch his datemates lovely not-in-use milk and fat sacks!

Star: like papyrus, once the bra comes off, he just full on grabs the spooked stickbug. But his hand lingers and brushes over your chest first. There’s no words needed. You know it was 100% on purpose. Perv. You can’t even grab his ribs back to get even. He’d like that.

Honey: he’s making the whole situation worse by screeching and running from the loud carpenter bee as well. When it goes down your shirt, honey is yelling at you to take it off faster as you strip frantically. “GET IT OFF GET OT OFF!! ITS ON YOU!!” Finally the poor traumatized bee flies out a window

Red: he’s giggling and struggling to help you pull your shirt off so you can free the little beetle stuck in your bra. But red is laughing too hard and gets his fingers stuck in the bras clasps. Normally he’s really good at this and can undo the bra with just one hand. Poor guy is going through it right now. It’s hard taking this seriously

Edge: he takes this 100% seriously. In fact, he’d just tear the bra off with a claw because of how terrified you are of them spider in your shirt. But seeing you are wearing the red lacy one that you can absolutely never get rid of, he restrains himself. Edge would be devastated if you lost that bra. He does help you out of it, then feeds the spider to doomfanger. A just end to a disgusting perverted bug

Mal: he’s sitting back on his couch, sipping his soda and watching with an amused grin like this is the latest comedy show. And to make, it is. He doesn’t help you get the bug off until you’re just in your bra and yelling at him to help out lol. It takes all mals willpower to not put the ladybug up to your face to “show you” what was in there.

Cash: when he rushes into his room at the sound of your screaming, cash is greeted by the sight of you with your tiddies on full display trying and failing to brush off this moth who WILL NOT LEAVE. You finally manage to yeet the thing out a window while cashs brain is rebooting. He’s torn between “must protect datemate” and “ooooo boobies!” right now lol

Oak: he’s laughing and helpfully holding the door closed for you as you strip off your bra to get rid of the offending stink bug. Willow was on the other side of the door and heard your frantic screams. While oak tries to explain through giggles to his worried brother what’s going on, you unfortunately get nailed several times by the stink bug. You reek by the time you chuck the bug outside. Oak helpfully offers to take a bath with you. You know since you’re already half naked anyways ;)

Willow: Your horrified scream and struggling has willow ignoring his bad back so he can pick you up. He has you balanced in one arm while he strips your shirt off with the other. You frantically take off your bra to reveal the offending WASP inside. Willow is a true hero. This bad*ss crushes that wasp in two fingers before it can even think about stinging you. Your grateful kisses make all the later back pain worth it.

[melodicaprils]

vito my beloved <333

yeah i agree, when i was watching pattique (or however its spelt) n i saw max, i was like "mal what r u doing in this season"

i was so sad when mal died like my jaw dropped im so glad ppl think the same way

at first, i was excited for the reboots version of mike bc its 2024 n theres more info abt did now so maybe theyll actually get it more right

then i remembered how they didnt even portray zee's leg correctly..... soooooo........

idk i would yap more but this is already very long

why was there a glass of water in this scene? did mal leave that for him? does mal care about him slightly more than the others, enough to not wanna see him die (? i don’t think he can die but um. it would start hurting after a while) of dehydration at the very least? were they friends before mal was forced to go dormant? was he also friends with manitoba, considering his torture method lets him use his lasso and burn pictures of the guy he hates being romantic with the girl he likes? or does he just hate them less than the others? do they also hate him less? am i looking too far into this? probably. whatever. i just like the idea that at least one of the headmates was nice to mal when the others weren’t.