#Might be my fave rebels screenshot

[horatio-fig]

Zeb just checking mid mission, no biggie.

[eirenare]

Hi hi~! Life update here

Hi there!

Yes, I'm still alive lol, it's just that 85% of my social media time I currently spend it on Twitter (I refuse to call it how Elmo Muskrat wants the site to be called lol), and 15% I spend it on Bluesky (which, by the way, if you wanna find me there, I'm Eirenare too there lol).

I'm still very veeeeeery much in my Reylo brainrot haha, so yeah, you might see me posting or reblogging every now and then some of it, although I've been as well into some other stuff lately (Elden Ring for example), so you might see me posting about that too, so just a heads up there about it (and don't worry, everything I post here, regardless of what it is, as usual it'll have its tags and spoiler warnings, a "read more" if need be, etc).

My energy's been specially low for the past months though to be honest, so I can't guarantee I'll be very active around here (except for private messages, I'll be checking these every little time), just that every now and then I'll come here and post or reblog some stuff, probably Reylo and other things Star Wars or series/movies, life updates too, maybe will share in a bit of my Elden Ring brainrot and theories as its DLC approaches and I get more and more excited.

Anyways, here's some random life update stuff and anecdotes that I wanted to say before I log off for the night here:

I fell into the Kalluzeb (Kallus x Zeb, from Star Wars Rebels) rabbithole some time ago and it was, and is, neat, I love them so much

earlier today I had churros and hot chocolate as desert at lunch time and I was in cloud nine all the while I chomped on them

apparently my brain won't cease to come up with new Reylo AUs which is amazing and so much fun but also if I ever showed you guys screenshots of my Google Docs you might just faint because there are just so many things there between WIPs I'm currently working on that are already on Ao3, future things to go on Ao3, vague WIPs, AU ideas... and my energy is running so low and I'm working on various Ao3 WIPs so yeah lol I don't think I'll ever write even half of the fics I noted down

I watched Barbie at the cinema and it became one of my new comfort movies and one of my fave movies of all time

somehow I'm not as bad as I thought I'd be at Elden Ring even though I'm clumsy, a scaredycat and my tunnel vision goes lvl 100 when I'm playing videogames which usually means "good luck remembering to look at your stamina bar and using key items", so seeing myself not get too stuck on bosses was unexpected and neat (in fact, funnily enough: somehow this game even makes my anxiety lower at times and it barely increases it at all even when I'm fighting bosses, go figure lol)

I had the chance to buy Final Fantasy XVI at a much cheaper price than release price but because at that site I didn't see any warning that it was temporary, by the time I went to buy it, it had risen price again so now I'm awaiting once again for both better prices and for my wallet to recover

my brother bought a PS5 back in spring and a copy of Star Wars Jedi Survivor and, since we live in the same house, I did play that game and it was amazing asdfgffdgfjfb there were only a very few things I didn't like that much but holy shit was it good, some stuff even felt tailor-made for me in ways I wasn't expecting but that I enjoyed very much (and also the tears, the rivers of tears I shed on certain scenes lol) and now I'm super hyped for the 3rd whenever it is that it'll happen

the official Star Wars accounts at Twitter have been posting quite a bit about Reylo and the sequels and Ben for the past days (and I gotta say, the account from Spain even added some extra Reylo flavor in some tweets that other accounts didn't which is curious) and I'm clowning kinda hard, hoping that DLF finally realized most of the people actually like a lot Reylo (or don't mind it) and the ST, and hoping (always hoping, always dreading to hope too much, but hoping anyways) that we'll get Rey and Ben reunited in her movie

Anyways x2, enough anecdotes and thoughts for the night, see you around lovely people~! <3 Hopefully soon lol, but if not... *looks at 2024 fast approaching* if not, then I'll 100% be around to gossip and scream for when the Rey movie begins production and talks begin and all that stuff, lol.

Good night~! :D I hope you have a great day and/or a good sleep~! <3

EDIT: looooool apparently this was my 100th post in here and I got a free badge for my profile so yay, nice~ x) XDD

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket, SE02, Ep24

This is a buildup ep for the finale. looks like furuba’s tradition for awkward buildup eps continues as this ep is clearly divided into two parts: machi & zodiac banquet.

-Killing the Vibe (furuba style):

Usually when writers buildup an emotional moment, they either go with it right away or if it is not its time, they slowly dissolve it or gradually redirect the story somewhere else. But the most important thing is that you hold on to the feeling they worked so hard to build but know that it will be dealt with later. Usually this is done with minor visuals such as quick flashback to the main event & the character taking deep breath ignoring it. But it is acknowledged that now it is not the time. Furuba doesn’t do that. If they build high moment & decide it is not the time to continue with it, they drop it abruptly, using the ending ost as a closing sign....which is odd cuz this is not episodic eps but continuing plot. They did it twice now: (a) tohru’s nightmare ep 19. it was treated as cliffhanger, but the next, we opened with yuki’s narrative where we see tohru normal. I know tohru’s issues will be dealt with later, perhaps season 3. But the nightmare moment was left hanging weirdly!! we never saw tohru deciding not to focus on it or anything! then (b) the kyo/tohru moment on stage & the symbolic tearing image ep23. Big moment which I  know will be focused on later. But it is so freakin odd that we see them so normal in their daily activities..as if nothing happened. Not a slight visual hint that either one is troubled... I praised how in ep, 23, they showed tohru face worrying abt bits & pieces here & there. These visual hints connects the plot.. For a moment I thought Cinderella play is a filler!! but I don’t think so, since 3 major things happened (Tohru’s near confession, machi’s opinion of yuki, arisa’s recorded outburst) two of which dealt with this ep. I know they want the focus to be on yuki, seeing that his plotline is moving smoothly without awkward breaks, but why not smooth out the other’s plotline with minor visuals without the jarring jumps. Ending ost is not automatic shifts in continued plot. Oh well, it is a minor thing I felt, no big deal.

-Machi pov is here!:

I never expected to see machi today! nice surprise! So machi is not only lonely, she lives alone! that’s odd & tragic! how can a junior high school student live alone? since when was she living alone? & her mom calling to check on her or insult her or scold her! I never wanted a phone call to end this fast. Machi’s monologue was amazingly done. Rather than describing her feelings to us or stating what we are already seeing, the words came cold.. automatic.. slow.. without much emotions. Exactly imitating how machi feels abt herself. DULL. She never thought abt things such as fave color or fave place. never thought abt anything that requires personality or preferences. The imagery they used while she was walking in the street is epic! It explained her mentality! honestly even if she said nothing around that time while she was walking, the image would’ve done enough! Machi was able to see the change in yuki cuz she was able to sense that yuki too was dull/boring or felt he felt so. Now he laughs, jokes, interacts, & joins outside school activities. Negating the dull persona. Now, it is only her. machi questions if she can do the same but her question comes out loaded with her negativity. Instead of can I do the same? it is “ why Am i here? Her bad habits are pulling her back & resisting the change.

- Since they’re deciding to embark into the romantic aspect of mach/yuki & to further add contrast to his interaction with tohru, machi is shown so struck by yuki’s presence, she falls. Typical romantic moment that I appreciate for machi who thinks she isn’t typical girl. but dull girl. Yuki finding the leaf & being happy that she treasures it adds to his self-esteem as it tells him that he is worthy to be treasured. I love machi’s indecisive responses! It gives her personality! as she is reluctant between denying or telling the truth. She was never in such situation, so she doesn’t know what to do!! blushing red like her leaf, machi didn’t only go with friends, she also learned her fave color! yuki, developing the future boyfriend detective sense like kyo, guessed it that machi likes red. You remember things abt ppl you find interesting! Machi felt that perhaps to yuki she is not dull, but interesting enough to want to learn things abt her!

-Tohru is a grown woman!!!

trust me to take 5sec interaction that involves my girl & write a deep analytic paragraph! Call it building sandcastles out of nothing but I don’t care! XD. tohru deserves some spotlight! I’m a bit disappointed that the scene is shown form a far to include yuki & shiggure..(WHY???. They can have their moment later! let my girl have a screenshot for a change!!) & the art quality is the lowest in the ep, lol & but whatever~~~ let’s focus on the positive side! my tohru bought sth for herself!! tohru who spent her hard earned money on buying candy ingredients for the filthy rich sohma’s instead of paying her tuition fees?!! tohru who wore a worn out swimsuit for school & didn’t see the value in buying new one ?! tohru whose school bag have seen better days as hiro said?!! tohru bough herself a scarf with pompom!!& she’s PROUD!! & she goes & shows kyo!!!! cuz she loves him & cuz in SE01 he was mad she doesn't buy herself stuff & cuz she knows he’ll be proud of her & cuz she want show off her cuteness & get his attention & cuz she wanna tease him!! Did you see my girl deliberately hit him with the pompom??? my girl is feisty!! She teases!! Tohru has this feisty, forward personality that she hides but peeks in certain instances!! Like when she teased kyo that he’s still scared of the stain on the wall..like when she calls him cute later this ep!! I’m so happy for every tiny teeny moment of tohru where she is herself & not the worrying mom or friend, when she is focused abt what she shows & what she wants & right now she wants kyo to notice her! GIRL HE ALREADY DOES! you are killing him already tohru..he’d be dead by now if he wasn’t a cat with 9 souls! XD.

-Yuki is leaving Akito’s side:

coming to the big moment in this ep. Akito is loosing yuki. Not only yuki decided by himself to attend the banquet that he avoided last year, he also talked to akito & forgave him for everything before. Yuki is letting go of the past. Forgiveness is a cure ppl! it’s the hardest achieved cure. it cuts the ties to negativity & free the person from the painful feelings. Akito knows she’ll be loosing a zodiac member soon! she reacts the same way she did with hatori! violently resisting change, violently making a statement that I’m the ruler of you. However, unlike when it was hatori, no one came to her. Kureno stopped her. but the rest went to yuki, to the rebel, to the one who caused her pain & rage. Akito is not only loosing yuki...she is slowly loosing all of them.

- Yuki continues the next step in his growth & frees hatori from his sins. By allowing himself to accept that he is not a helpless victim, yuki was able to see the others plain as well. Before, in his mind, he was the only one suffering, others are cruel, but now, he sees the criminal who erased his friends memories was also suffering all along. Perhaps yuki thinks that akito is suffering too? That’s why chose to forgive her & tell her that I don’t hate you anymore or hold grudge.

Side Notes:

I’m so glad kakeru had so little to do with machi & yuki interaction here. He is a character that demands spotlight & if his role was bigger, machi would disappear, it will be another yuki/kakeru moment. Also, since machi/kakeru parallel aya/yuki, you bet kakeru will be more involved between them in order to get closer to his sister & fix the gap like aya did, so I appreciate the moment of only yuki/machi now as it is unique moment without any parallels involved.

After learning of Shigure’s correct line, I can now see how things would’ve been better for akito, if she learned from yuki’s rebellion. loosing one is less painful than loosing them all, which she will. Shigure was eager for her to be spared the pain. or he might be eager for sth else entirely! but he wants this to end.

Shigure sure wasn’t himself this ep! he was restless & his jokes were all over the place, he nearly caused a misunderstanding between hatori & Mayko. I think shigure is hearing the curse breaking!!!!!

Rin & kyo!!!! I never knew I needed this!!! like last ep, I was celebrating hana & kyo, & the return of kyo & haru!! but rin & kyo is unique duo since it is not a teasing dynamics! it is a we-are-too-similar dynamics! XD

Kazuma is luv!! ugh!! my heart! what a man!! so caring & kind & ever so gentle! look at him going to rin to invite her! no kid should be alone in new years! look at him teasing his son!! look at him out polite tohru! just look at him!!!

I appreciate that the boys (kyo,yuki.haru,momiji) have different body types from each other. however, since kyo’s body changing is mentioned in the story many times, they focused on showing him growing since the 2nd ep of season 2 & more so in the beach arc & they steadily continued ever since!!! this ep, even with the low quality they showed his Adam’s apple & he is taller next to shishio. Also his baggy clothes help defy the lanky art style. With yuki, since his beauty is mentioned in the story, they’ve been focused on his face, giving him HD quality beauty all the time, but not much when it comes to his body. but today, he looked a lil bit older in machi’s scene? I duno if it is the new clothes or they’re finally allowing his body to grow?! I hope so. They are still making him so lanky as his legs were only a bit meatier than machi’s in the fight scene, but hey lankiness is the show’s art style, just look at hatori </3. They focused on making Momiji baby as it is mentioned in the story that he doesn’t look like a highschooler at all, but I swear he looks a bit older this ep!! right???

Speaking of hatori, hello there~ doc~ I never knew I needed hatori in Japanese clothes this much! It hid the lankiness & gave him the adult manly look he deserves!! so hot!!! I heard his grunt in my heart as he took his clothes off! XD. Soyou’re attached to the school sensie now~~ a lit bit worried your filthy buddy is putting hands on her..huh? oh!, if only you knew that your goofy pal is the master mind behind your new love story! I think he knows tho~

I never expected machi to be that cute!!! machi/yuki is so cute!

Rin sleeps sitting...like a horse? rin didn’t feel haru? i thought horses are as jumpy as cats! lol

Tohru & kyo are having quality flirting time with no interference from either shigure or yuki. lol.. shishio is amazing! XD

Kureno has the DVD now..let the war begins!!!

[entamewitchlulu]

Arc V Month Day 12: Favorite Ships

ohohohoho, did you mean my favorite day??  I love talking about ships, I love exploring possible character dynamics whether those are romantic, platonic, sexual, antagonistic, or whatever, and Arc V is FULL of great character dynamics as well as great potential ones that while they never interacted much or at all in canon, I still think would be really fun to play with

I could talk for hours about ships, and I have a LOT of faves within Arc V (arc v was actually the beginning of my multishipping tendencies, before this I was a strict single-ship-per-character type), but for the purposes of time and space I will talk only about my “starter pack” as I like to call it lol.  Tho, if you would like to hear my thoughts on any other Arc V ship, please don’t hesitate to drop into my askbox!  I love to talk about this >w<

Escapeshipping (Asuka/Osiris Red Girl)

One half of the ship may not even have an actual name, but that doesn’t stop me from being in love with this little rarepair.  I’ve always liked the idea of bi Asuka, but before Arc V, there really wasn’t a female character I really enjoyed shipping her with.  Arc V came to the rescue by giving her a gf (it also gave Crow a bf...Arc V said gay rights).  Even though all we get of them is one flashback, it’s pretty clear that the two of them were close, close enough for the Osiris girl to confide in Asuka her treasonous thoughts and to want to save Asuka by bringing her along in her escape rather than simply escaping on her own.  And it’s the Osiris girl’s sacrifice that drives Asuka to be as much of a rebel against Academia that she is.  That’s the set up for a powerful tragic love story right there, and we only had half an episode -- that’s pretty epic imo.

Chaperoneshipping (Gongenzaka/Sawatari)

I named this rarepair, so it has a special place in my heart lol.  I just think it’s probably one of the funniest, and yet sweetest ships I’ve got for Arc V.  The two of them are pretty much diametric opposites -- Sawatari never stops moving or talking and is super full of himself, while Gongenzaka is based on standing completely still and has a pretty healthy understanding of himself and his limits.  Every single interaction they had was gold, as the two of them have such different ideals and beliefs, but they play off of each other so well.  They’re literally the tol gay + smol gay and I love them and their banter a lot -- plus, I legitimately think that the two of them are pretty good for each other.  Gongenzaka can help ground Sawatari but also take care of him when his inevitable loss of confidence spirals back again, and Sawatari can put an exasperated smile on Gongenzaka’s face and help him loosen up here and there.

rest are under the cut so this doesn’t get TOO long lol

Darkrebelshipping (Shun/Yuto)

This is one I haven’t actually paid as much attention to lately, but I still do really enjoy it!  It’s a little cliche, but I just find their relationship pretty interesting.  It’s clear that they’re close friends who trust each other, but there’s also a lot of friction between them because they have such fundamentally different value systems.  They both want the same things, but what they’re willing to do to achieve those things is very different, and seeing how that effects the two of them in different situations is very interesting to me.  Plus, I just kind of love how they both look like they would go to Hot Topic together lol.

Moonblossomshipping (Ruri/Selena)

Am I using my own screenshot edit for these two?  Yes, yes I am, because despite my deep and abiding love for this ship, they never officially got to interact while not possessed lol.

As the above mentioned lack of interaction notes, this ship is mostly in my head, but I think it has a lot of interesting potential as a dynamic.  Ruri and Selena may be parts of the same person, but they have some unique differences that make their potential relationship intriguing.  Selena is a very headstrong person who rarely thinks before she acts, acting on an innate sense of justice that may be skewed because she rarely takes the time to closely examine where that image of justice is coming from.  She’s an angry and impulsive person determined to prove herself, and yet she’s also very disciplined in other places.  Ruri, on the other hand, comes from a much softer world, and from what we’ve seen of her, she also has a strong sense of justice -- though her views on it come from a place of sympathy/empathy and a desire for compassion towards others, rather than Selena’s warrior-like take on making justice happen.  That softness + Selena’s sharpness makes for a great contrast, and the fact that their two worlds are pretty much perfectly opposed in the struggle in canon also sets up for some great star-crossed lovers shit which I’m ALWAYS into.

And outside of that?  They just are....so pretty.  They have the best aesthetic together.  I was shipping them somehow before Ruri was even revealed, I am here for the long haul.

Duskshipping (Dennis/Yuuri)

Here’s another ship that gave me less than half an episode of content and made me go absolutely wild over it.  Yuuri and Dennis may have only interacted for a few moments and only twice overall, but there’s something about those moments that still captivates me.  The whole concept of Yuuri being this terrifying force that people run to the side of the hall to avoid, even as a child, but then being met by a laid-back, cheerful greeting from Dennis, fascinates me.  Dennis isn’t scared of Yuuri at all, in fact, he seems to find Yuuri amusing to some degree.  He’s the only character in the entire show who hasn’t immediately viewed Yuuri as some terrifying monster.  Part of that may be simply due to Dennis’s cheerful + semi suicidal personality, but I think there might be a little more to it than that, especially since Yuuri doesn’t seem at all annoyed at Dennis’s lack of respect.  There’s this sense of relaxation to their interactions, as though they’re used to hanging out, as though they’re comfortable with each other.  For people like the two of them -- Dennis, with his self-loathing covered up by a mask of cheer, and Yuuri, with his monstrous, malicious glee towards destruction, that unspoken comfort with anyone, much less people so different from each other, feels very important.

Stealthshipping (Sora/Tsukikage)

This one hit me like a frieght train all at once.  For most of my favorite Arc V ships, I got the sense that I would like them early on into their character introductions.  Basically from the moment I saw most of them, their first interaction or even their first introduction alone, I had the feeling I was going to love them as a ship.  These two?  I had no idea I was going to make THIS my favorite ship for the two of them...and honestly, my only romantic ship for either of them.  And like, why would I have?  Their first interaction is where Sora kills Tsukikage’s brother.  Angsty, to be sure, but I barely thought they’d even meet again.

When they did, however, and how it all played out after that, I was smitten.  Two soldiers who met on opposite sides of the conflict, who had every reason to hate each other, and every reason to destroy each other, who found themselves slowly, slowly putting that unease aside for the common goal ahead of them, until they became a team to be reckoned with.  Sora apologizing for what he did to Tsukikage’s brother and even offering to atone any way Tsukikage wanted as long as he could save Yuzu and Yuya first, Tsukikage putting down his grudge “just for now,” slowly becoming the two of them coming to each other’s aid and fighting like a team?  It was so powerful.  I definitely need to create more content for the two of them.

Genesishipping (Ray/Zarc)

Let’s be honest, we all ship this one a little bit.  They’re the penultimate tragic, antagonistic couple, even if they probably never actually met in the past.  They’re perfectly opposed forces, creation and destruction, and Ray is more than willing to come back over and over again to fight Zarc, while Zarc builds pretty much his entire self around being able to defeat Ray again.  Plus, considering all of the bonds between their counterparts? It’s obvious that in another life, these two would have been friends, or even lovers, which just makes their actual first meeting all the more tragic.  They have a wealth of possibilities to explore, and it’s one of the most popular ships in the fandom for a reason.

Appleshipping (Rin/Yugo)

otherwise known as THE CUTEST OTP....I don’t know what to say about Apple that I or others haven’t said before.  They are such a power couple.  They’re so sweet and wholesome, but they’re also inherently kind of tragic.  They grew up in a world that didn’t want them to survive, but they did.  Yugo’s pure love for Rin, and Rin’s motherly nagging, probably out of fear that Yugo’s happy nature might end up with him getting hurt in this awful world they live in, hiding her own deep love for him back, is just such a sweet, beautiful combination.  The way they constantly work together and constantly think of each other is just so sweet and lovely, and I love them a lot.

Lustershipping (Yuzu/Masumi)

The ORIGINAL Arc V gays, the one I shipped before I even started watching the damn show.  Shallow bit out of the way first, but they’re a pink/blue ship, and their color schemes together are GORGEOUS, which is my weakness.

Past that, though, this is the first pair of significant f/f rivals we’ve gotten in YGO to my knowledge, and I’ve found lately that I’ve become something of a sucker for some brands of rival pairs.  They’re antagonistic, but it drives them both to be better, and they shit-talk each other, which is great to see with an f/f rival pair, but they end up being super respectful and even grateful to each other for pushing them to get better and better.  And if you don’t think Masumi’s got a crush on Yuzu at the very least, I don’t know what to tell you lol.  She gave the girl a ROSE.

I’d love to play with their continuing relationship more with the pair of them as rivals who eventually become friends before they know it, and then perhaps something more :)

Pendulumshipping (Yuya/Reiji)

And here we are.  You all knew it was coming if you’ve been here for longer than 10 minutes, lol.  Yuya/Reiji was my fave from the beginning, and it only grew and grew and grew until it became my most important and favorite OTP of everything I’ve ever shipped.

I’ve told the story a million times, but I first began shipping them when Reiji imagined he was dueling Yuya while testing his pendulum cards.  What kind of a person do you have to be to move someone as immovable as Reiji, who’s spent his entire life making himself strong and unaffected for the task ahead?  What kind of person do you have to be to stick in Reiji’s mind like that?  And for a while, it felt very one-sided to me, though I played around with the idea of Yuya eventually returning those feelings -- still, back then, I felt almost guilty about the ship because more than one person called it potentially abusive, and I could see where they were coming from -- canon at that point had shown them as antagonists towards each other after all.  And then canon kept trucking along and showed me that it wasn’t just that at all -- a seed of trust was starting to blossom between the two of them.  The moment that Yuya called out Reiji’s name by his first name out of concern to see him trapped with the Council, that’s when I realized they absolutely did both have some level of trust in and care for each other.  And when Yuya shouted out his trust in Reiji despite Roget’s revelation about Reiji’s father, proving that he did trust Reiji and his judgement after all, and when their tag duel arrived, and Reiji decided he would throw in with Yuya all the way, that he would stand behind him and believe in him til the end and the two of them fought together, that was it.  It’s place as my favorite OTP was sealed.

There’s just something so soft and gentle about them, despite their beginnings.  They don’t have the same antagonistic air to them that most main ygo protag/rival pairs have to time.  Despite their beginnings, they were always on the same side, and it was never about trying to one up the other, even at their last battle -- it was always about working together for a common goal, and making the other better.  And I just really, really love that.

[inklingofadream]

Till Things Are Brighter trivia, since I got a bonus chapter up this week

-I have everything through the end of 2011 up in a detailed outline on my whiteboard, through chapter 18 or so, depending on what might get dropped or expanded (the order of Daisy and Gertrude chapters has already been swapped a couple times)

-My gdoc has half a chapter that literally doesn’t happen until like. 2016. But I was so excited about Helen screwing with past!Jon I wrote it ahead of time. She ruffles his hair and it stays in ringlets for like a week afterward. Jon is distressed, confused, and upset about the state of his hair

-Half the decision to send Daisy to 2011 specifically is to keep some of my obscure faves alive... I’ve been living with this story in my head for so long that I forget no one else on earth cares about the potential for Daisy-Gerry-Evan-Naomi friendship. It gets me very

[id: screenshot of Unraveled showing a red-tinged image of disheveled Brian David Gilbert,  captioned “Why am I the only scholar in time break studies?” /end id]

-Annabelle is almost never in my outline. She was supposed to show up around chapter 13 at the absolute earliest, but probably not until well after, like mid 2012 times. She’s in chapter 11.

-Should I try to nanowrimo ttab? Obvs the rules say no prestarted projects, but im a rebel.

-in my notes, tumblr tag, and journal i almost always abbreviate it as ttab. So I do tend to refer to it in my internal monologue as titty-abs.

[yokikanas]

Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu ED

I absolutely love this anime, like really. It’s amazing, because Katsugeki ultimately redefines the historical genre in anime, by pushing onto us the relationship of a samurai and his sword from a different standpoint. Of course a samurai depends on his sword ALOT because it’s a ‘kill or get killed’ world for him, but for swords, it’s a different case and that’s what Katsugeki derives it’s concept on.

Initially, I wanted to start dissecting the OP but as I was doing the screen shots, I realized that the ED is actually a direct “prequel” to our OP and here you can see why!

First, we are introduced to the ED with a full moon. We later find out it’s a reflection on the water because ripples dissolve the image and the camera then pans out.

On the water with the moon’s reflection are a dozen of lanterns. In Japan, this custom is known as “Toro Nagashi” and it’s done on the last day of the “Bon Festival” which is celebrated to honor the dead. Making paper lanterns float on water is a way of sending the departed back to the spirit world. Originally, it started as a Buddhist custom but now Japan commemorates big events like the Hiroshima bombing with the Toro Nagashi as well.

A sword comes into focus and it seems to be wet because water is dripping from the hilt. However, since we are handling with sword boys and departed people, you could say it’s symbolic of the swords saying farewell to their previous masters.

Next we see their former masters in order of Izuminokami+Horikawa, Mutsunokami, Tonbokiri, Tsurumaru, Yagen. Firstly, we have the Shinsengumi as recognized by their flag and their iconic haoris. The person nearest to the camera seems to be Hijikata Toshizo, the owner of Horikawa and Izuminokami. If you look at his waist, you can spot two hilts with blades of different lengths - Izuminokami is the longer one, Horikawa is the shorter one. The Shinsengumi is most famously known for their raid on Ikeda Inn, which is carried out at night in an urban area.

Next we have Sakamoto Ryoma and his wife, Narasaki Ryo, watching western ships depart from Japan. Sakamoto is known to welcome the ideas of western lands and liked technological advancement and thus, had guns as part of his weaponry, even though he wielded Mutsunokami. I like how they depict the ships as a silhouette against the sunset because the Japanese people used to call foreign ships as “black ships” or Kuro Fune.

Next we have a silhouette wielding a spear, which is clearly Tonbokiri since he's the only spear in the team. The silhouette is enough to recognise Tadakatsu Honda by because he is commonly associated with either Tonbokiri or an antler-like Kabuto/helmet. I can’t recognize what specific event this appears to be but Honda is mostly known for the Komaki Castle incident. Since there’s no river or castle in this picture, I can’t really tell if it was the Komaki Castle Incident or the Battle of Sekigahara.

This was the hardest scene for me to type and to identify who is the guy wielding Tsurumaru - possibly made vague because of his long list of masters - but my intelligent guess is that this was the last Hojo clansman, Hojo Tokiyuki, who tried to re-establish the Hojo clan by rebelling against the shogunate. Since the man was up against the shogun, he would be fighting against the military hence probably more necessary to be on horse-mount in order to get a one-up. That’s just my guess, but I’d like to point out that Ufotable might have deliberately left the former master as vague as possible (like it literally could be anyone from the Hojo clan) because in game, Tsurumaru’s quite rather different from the other swords since he is more based off the tales and rumors about him, rather than his sword school or lineage of masters.

This one is yet another hard scene to explain, since Yagen was a beloved sword of Nobunaga, but I can confidently say that this is Yagen because of his white hilt. As to why, he’s left on a stand as Nobunaga walks away, I’m only left to speculations so if you know the reason, do message me! Anyways, I’m guessing that Yagen was left on display because you can clearly see two swords poking out from Nobunaga’s holster. One of it is shorter and seems to be a size of a tantou as well, and the only other Nobunaga tantou the game has introduced is Fudou, although Ufotable hasn’t announced any cameo/minor role other than the Mikazuki team. Again, this is speculation but the confirmation of Yagen’s hilt is good enough to show us that this is his former master, Oda Nobunaga.

Then, we have Ufotable making good use of their graphics team with my favorite part of the ED. Sakura petals, a seemingly significant thing when it comes to samurais, swirl in a storm (just like when the Saniwa summoned the rest of the second unit) to show us a sword is manifesting and in different angles as the camera circles around it, the sword gives us the illusion that it’s an Uchi, then a Waki, then a tantou. (fucking fave scene cus of that, thank you ufotable)

Then we have Horikawa walking into a garden as sakura petals blow in his face, assuming he was the sword that had just manifested since Izuminokami explained in ep 2 that he’s a newbie. (And I didn’t screenshot this part but Horikawa friggin smiles when he notices his partner is Izuminokami. SO CUTEEEEE. I really like their partnership, and I just hope people appreciate them more)

And as usual, Izuminokami looking hella handsome. He’s possibly standing there in wait for Horikawa before they start their mission since they’re both in their battle uniforms, so assuming that, Horikawa could have been just assigned his first mission as soon as he was crafted and this was how they met before the first ep of Katsugeki.

The camera zooms out to show a bare but blooming garden. It seems quite similar to how Hanamaru depicts the garden as well, the only difference is that there are wisteria trees (the purple/violet trees) amongst the sakuras and I find that this is quite a foreshadow because you actually see wisteria trees in the OP as well. (More will be explained in the OP analysis post)

But yet again, the camera zooms out again to show us a beautiful citadel background with an even more brightly-lit room than the backgrounds they offer in game. They should totally make this background available in the game LOL it’s just too gorgeous and I can totes imagine putting Ichigo in the middle of this, he’d look too perfect!!!!!!!

Anyways, this was such a beautiful ED. Slow, yet majestic. Kalafina’s voices really suit the slow buildup of this anime (and the ED), especially when you realize that the ED is a tribute to their former masters and the new beginning of their new life with the Saniwa. 

Ufotable seems to like to chuck a lot of symbolism into the OP. For example, a wisteria tree has a lot of symbolism that relates to the swords:

The tree has quite the long life, so it symbolizes ‘immortality’ and probably refers to our swords having to deal with an equally long, if not immortal life.

In terms of love - from the exterior, the wisteria expresses sorrow, because of it’s hanging vines. However because it’s incredibly durable, it also symbolizes the heart to endure in spite of rejection. For our swords, this seems to be the case because they do mention their former masters in the anime and some of them seem unable to move on from their past dreams, but there are other swords like Izuminokami (and eventually Mutsunokami) who endure and carry on with their new life as swords for their new Saniwa.

I could go on about the sakura trees being a representation of ‘life and death’ and the black ships being a representation of a ‘new era/new life’ but it’s almost 3am and I want to sleep. LMAO. 

Personally, I love how Ufotable purposefully leave all the master’s faces vague and make the swords very prominent in their respective frames since it’s an anime about them. It also could mean that we’re seeing the scenes from the sword’s perspective (as seen in Yagen’s scene, where the camera setup makes it seems like we’re looking longingly at Nobunaga’s back, as if from Yagen’s perspective). Looking forward for the future episodes now!!!