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doorbloggr · 3 years ago

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Friday 1/10/21 - Media Recommendations #20

Contents: Deltarune

I'd been meaning to get to this one for ages, so once again, I think to make it easier on myself, and my readers, today I am only recommending the latest videogame creation of Toby Fox. This ended up being quite an extensive article, so I split it into sections:

MY CONTEXT

OVERVIEW/PREMISE

GAMEPLAY

PRESENTATION

CONCLUSION

Deltarune (Chapter 1+2)

Toby Fox

1. MY CONTEXT

So context for my own gaming experience going into Deltarune, I have never actually played Undertale. Back when Undertale was getting big, it was only a PC game I think, and I just don't play games on PC. I probably should but yeah nah. Soon after it got popular however, I watched a comprehensive Lets Play of Undertale by Rubber Ross and Barry Kramer, and their voices for Sans and Papyrus are still to this day how I imagine those characters. Through that Lets Play, I experienced both the Pacifist and Genocide runs, and got intimately well acquainted with the characters and world Toby Fox had created, and how the actions of the player can shape how we save or ruin that world.

As a general context, I have always been a person who likes the idea of turn-based, random encounter fantasy RPGs, but the deepest I really got was Pokémon. I've been trying to change that recently, and after beating Monster Hunter Stories 2 a while back, I wanted to try more of the genre. Turn based battles are a lot more my speed than pure skill, like fighting games I've become sick of, and RPGs seem to be big on story, so when I heard the Deltarune demo had an update, I thought this is finally the time to jump into that world.

Going forward in this review, I'm gonna try and stay broad and unspecific with my descriptions, so as to not spoil. I may discuss some gameplay themes and characters, but I'm avoiding giving specifics away. I really think you need to experience all parts of the game yourself first.

Minor Spoilers for Undertale and Deltarune Ahead

2. OVERVIEW/PREMISE

Deltarune is a project of love. Pure charm and personality ooze from every aspect of the game. Dialogue is clever and snarky, and that charm even leaks into item and location flavour text. The setting and themes are fun, but with a bloodstained silver lining that is best appreciated by mature audiences. I guess I should just explain the premise?

Deltarune puts you in the shoes of a human named Kris. For unexplained reasons you live in a world of monsters and you are the only human. And by monsters, I mean curious looking critters of a variety of shapes and sizes, since, there is really nothing monstrous about them. One day at school, Kris and classmate Susie end up being transported to a whole different world where dark fountains construct monstrous subworlds, and it is up to the chosen ones, the lightners Susie, Kris and darkner (dark world native) Prince Ralsei, to seal the evils of this dark alternate world.

Deltarune is still a work in progress, and as the subtitle of this article suggests, 2 Chapters of a possible 7(?) have been released, and it is unknown at the time of writing if the rest will come out when the game is done, or as more standalone chapters.

3. GAMEPLAY

Deltarune borrows a lot of theming and game loop premise from its parent game Undertale. The tag line of Undertale was: the RPG where noone has to die. This is because the encounter based battle system is built on two courses of action to take. You may FIGHT enemies and reduce their HP to zero, or you may ACT, and talk the enemy into leaving the battle. Deltarune is built on this same system, but with extra layers. Kris is the stand in for the Undertale MC, who has the options to FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, SPARE, or GUARD. Most of those options were in Undertale too, but Guarding is a new addition where you earn Tension Points, or TP, for not engaging the enemy at all.

This TP is used for extra powerful ACT actions, or for special moves of the other party members. This is the main big difference in gameplay loop. Since the player controls a party now rather than just one person, each party member can specialise in different action types. Kris's ACT can incorporate input from other party members; Susie for toughness and Ralsei for softness, in general. Susie is the powerhouse, and if you chose the violent route, she does more damage. Ralsei is the Mage, and can heal allies, as well as use magic to resolve fights peacefully. Those extra abilities use TP.

In most turn based RPGs, there is a back and forth, where the player chooses actions, and sometimes there is a timing aspect to how well those actions perform, and then there's the enemy's turn, where most of the time you just have to wait and let it happen. Undertale and Deltarune have this truly unique system where the soul of the party members, represented by a heart, is directly controlled on the enemy's turn. It's a mini game unique to every enemy type, where you must move the heart around to dodge their attacks, and how good you dodge will decide whether you take a lot of damage, or even none at all. Deltarune adds an extra layer onto this, where if you make the dodge closer, so that the enemy only JUST misses, you earn TP, and open up more options for your next turn. I found this extra detail really endearing, and I made a lot more riskier moves than if there was no incentive to.

I probably mentioned it above, but just to close out this section, the option to either ACT or FIGHT opens up two types of play. Chapter 1, being a sort of intro part, does not differentiate, but the distinction becomes important later. ACTing to SPARE an enemy earns you money, and in Chapter 2, will lead to befriending monsters. FIGHTing will also earn you EXP in Chapter 2, making your options to hurt enemies more powerful. In Undertale, this difference in playstyle actually changed the ending in real time, and from what we know of Deltarune, it is likely going to be the same case.

4. PRESENTATION

Undertale had this unique visual charm to it that may have been a limitation of its Independent Development, but it was probably also a stylistic choice. Deltarune builds on the same type of artstyle, adorable pixel sprite graphics that bring a lot more colour and depth than its predecessor.

Many, but not all characters have little character portraits in their textboxes, and they change expressions to match the situation, and its so cute.

Character and enemy design are so top-notch. A team of designers have been brought on this time, and every one of them have brought gold to the table. Every random battle encounter is dripping with personality, as you learn how best to sweet talk your way out of battle, or how to best destroy them. Most recurring NPCs are lovable, and those who you hate, you love to hate. Dialogue is witty and hilarious, and the writing is fun.

The chiptune style soundtrack is phenomenal. Although I think Undertale's common enemy battle them was more memorable, that may just be that I have become more familiar with it. All character and boss battle themes are so catchy and energetic. Toby Fox is a master of high energy... fun music. It gets stuck in your head, and your brain bounces around at high velocity.

5. CONCLUSION

Ok so this review is already like 3 times longer than a normal Media Recommendation Article, and like 5 times longer than I planned it to be for this one game, so I should probably wrap it up here. Deltarune is a game experience I put off playing for way too long, and now I can't hold my excitement for when the next part comes out. And important to keep in mind, it is essentially a demo, in that it is just a taste of what's to come, but it is a damn meaty demo that will keep you engaged for many hours.

Chapters 1 and 2 are packaged together as a free game on most game platforms at this point, so there's nothing really stopping you from giving it a try. I don't usually rate my recommendations, but since I wrote this more like a review, I might as well...

Deltarune Chapter 1+2: 9/10

Please play it!

#blog #blogpost #media recommendations #videogame recommendations #deltarune #undertale #tobyfox #deltarune spoilers #undertale spoilers

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theorangedeath · 5 years ago

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Some webcomic recs

Webcomics are as underrated as they are varied. I mostly read printed comics now, but there’s no way I’d have gotten there had I not found webcomics before - believe me, I tried, but this damn hobby is super inaccessible to a beginner, not to mention expensive. Webcomics are like fanfics in that regard - hell, some of them are fan comics - in that there’s something for everyone, all within your reach, but in order to find something you like you have to either 1. Get very, VERY lucky, 2. Be prepared to read a lot of bad stuff in order to get to the good stuff, or 3. Hear about them from people you trust.

I was a 2 - i would read anything, back in the day - and while i’m not as unconditionally enthusiastic as i was, there are still some gems I wish got the same appreciation as some talents in the industry. I’ll spare you the rest of the article (dm me for comic rants though), let’s get to it!

note: all the comics are numbered as “1″ because tumblr messed up the google docs formatting

Comics i still follow as they update because either tumblr starts posting about them right away or they’re on tapas

Check Please!

https://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/

I’m probably not the one introducing you to Check Please, as it’s one of the most popular webcomics out there, thank god. The parts of the fandom i’m familiar with are cool and wholesome, just like the work itself. It’s about a southern gay kid, Eric Bittle, who joins the hockey team in his college. It’s impossible not to love every single character there, the sports drama elements are great, and the format is like solidarity put into panels. The Samwell Men’s Hockey team’s motto is “we’ve got each other’s backs”, and there isn’t a single part of the comic that doesn’t 100% incorporate that.

Heartstopper

https://tapas.io/series/Heartstopper

The 2000s so far have been a rough contest for the title of “sweetest ya romance” but guys, we found it, we can stop now. Nick and Charlie are in highschool, Charlie is gay and out (not by will), Nick plays rugby because apparently that’s what british jocks do. Can i make it any more obvious? It took me a while to fall in love with the artstyle but when i did i fell HARD - the creator is re-drawing some of the older chapters, though, so your experience might be different. The story’s captivating right away, and you want everyone there to be happy from pretty much page 1. The creator also writes ya prose, and some of her books are about other characters from the same school. I love all of them, but Radio Silence is my personal favorite. She also has two novellas about Nick and Charlie themselves, available as e-books.

Charity Case

https://tapas.io/series/Charity-Case

I rarely start new webcomics anymore, but boy, this one got me FAST. and that was even before I realized it’s a polyam love story, which i love but is surprisingly rare in webcomics - at least the ones i know. Julien, an irresponsible young musician, resorts to sharing an apartment with two roomates who are a couple. I fell for the unique, gorgeous artstyle first, and by the time i realized i’m also super invested in the story and characters, it’s already become one of my favorites. Plus, Julien’s hair looks so soft!

The Property of Hate

http://thepropertyofhate.com/TPoH/

THIS is what comics should be. There’s so much passion here, not just for the story but for the storytelling as well - and the two aren’t as separated as you might think. A young girl is recruited by a TV man to be a hero. The world they enter seems nonsensical and arbitrary at first, but as they travel she discovers its logic, stories and secrets. She will also, as her title suggests, need to save it. There’s so much i love about this comic that i don’t know where to start, so i’ll just say this: it’s absolutely inspiring, in every sense of the word. Also, read the creator’s duck comics, they’ll make you feel things.

Webcomics i occasionally remember to catch up on, get blown away all over again by how good they are, vow to check them regularly for updates then forget. And repeat

Wilde Life

https://wildelifecomic.com/

I think this is the first ever webcomic i read that had a plot? I got on the wagon at around chapter 1 or 2 and it’s hard to believe it but it only gets better with time, even though it already starts at 100%. Oscar moves to a new town and immediately makes friends with a ghost and a grumpy teen werewolf. It has both monster-of-the-week type problems and overarching plots, and reading it feels nostalgic and brand new at the same time. The fantasy world has this special feel to it, that makes me miss growing up in the american wilderness even though i, well, didn’t. Plus, the creator is cool as hell. I knit her a hat in high school in exchange for a commission.

Sfeer Theory

https://sfeertheory.com/

This comic got me through a hard time and i’ll forever be grateful for that. Also, it’s really, really good. This is another case of a comic where you fall in love with the art right away and before long you find yourself caring very much about the characters and the story. You might also find yourself growing out your hair to style it like Luca’s. If you’re me it’ll be a lost cause, so, uh, keep that in mind. Luca works as a technician at the prestigious Uitspan university. A mysterious, powerful man is looking to change that. While the comic’s biggest strength is probably the gorgeous, fascinating worldbuilding - and Luca’s hair - the characters are also ridiculously easy to relate to, even if we don’t know anything about them. Even the most meaningless extras are somehow compelling thanks to the dynamic, rich art style. And did i mention the hair? If you like it, you won’t be disappointed by everything else Little Foolery makes.

How To Be a Werewolf

http://www.howtobeawerewolf.com/

I almost didn’t read this one! My brain has decided i don’t like werewolves and i don’t know how to reverse that. But then i saw Elias’ body language and it was extremely fun and friendly, and so was the rest of the comic, and the rest is history. Malaya knows she’s a werewolf, but seeing as she doesn’t know any other werewolves, dealing with that is hard. That is until Elias discovers her and decides to help, along with the rest of his pack. It’s filled with family and solidarity feelings, some dark mysteries and themes, and the art is beautiful and expressive.

Monsterkind

http://monsterkind.enenkay.com/

Another case of read-everything-this-creator-makes-it’s-all-amazing! Wallace, a social worker, moves - or rather, is moved - to District C, which is mostly populated by monsters. His heart’s in the right place, and apparently so is his apartment, because his neighbors are cool as heck and agree, some of them reluctantly, to help him get his bearings. There’s a mystery to uncover, some monsters to help and a dashing tea octopus to woo - for Kip to woo, anyway - and it’s all a delight to read. Every single character brings their own lovable-ness to the table, and even with the darker parts, reading this comic kinda feels like being hugged.

Comics that no longer update

The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal - finished

http://tjandamal.com/

Guys. guys! I’m pretty sure this is my all time favorite comic, web OR printed. I have the printed version, i still read it online occasionally, a lot of the songs mentioned in it are now saved on my spotify, i had it as my phone background for a good couple of years, the whole package. Amal comes out to his family and it ends with him having to drive to his sister’s graduation in Providence. There’s a guy in his kitchen who just so happens to need a lift there, and he’s willing to pay, and Amal’s too hungover to argue. What follows is the best roadtrip story ever. I’m seriously considering getting my license just to recreate that route. I just really love this story, okay? Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, the creator’s music taste is GOOD.

Prague Race - to be continued in text

https://www.praguerace.com/

The fantasy aesthetic to end all fantasy aesthetics. And the characters are good and interesting. And the world is well built and leaves you wanting more. AND there’s a cat. And it looks so good! Leona is irresponsible and spontaneous and gets her friends in some weird shit that leaves them trapped in a strange world, dealing with several curses, trying to survive and make sense of it all. I could spend a lifetime looking at the art and die happy.

Shoot around - finished

https://www.webtoons.com/en/drama/shoot-around/list?title_no=399&page=1

A girl’s basketball team and its coach, Jeff, deal with a zombie apocalypse. They make the most of the post apocalyptic world. There’s drama, friendship, found family, love and hope - it’s basically everything a zombie apocalypse narrative should be. And i love how the creator plays with the colors from chapter to chapter!

Rock and Riot - finished

https://tapas.io/series/Rock-and-Riot

It’s cute! It’s fun! It’s a 1950’s queer ensamble cast high school drama! It’s what Grease would’ve been like in a better timeline, except we still got it in this timeline. The artstyle fits perfectly with the story and characters, but if you want to see what’s the creator capable of now, read their newest comic, Project Nought. It’s a cool sci fi story and just like in Rock and Riot, it’s super easy to connect to every character there.

Alright there’s a lot more but i somehow wrote 4 google docs pages of webcomic recs in one sitting (this is what i’m able to focus on? Really, brain?) and i think that’s enough for now. Like i said, please dm me if you want to talk about anything here, rec some of your own, listen to my rants or tell me i’m a nerd. Or all of the above. I might make a similar post with print comic, but right now i have some dogs to pet. Keep being cool!

#webcomics #webcomic recs #check please #heartstopper #charity case #tpoh #wilde life #sfeer theory #how to be a werewolf #monsterkind #tj and amal #prague race #shoot around #rock and riot #i have a tendency to rant #i just!! have a lot to say ok #many opinions

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codetrainwreck · 6 years ago

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Code Geass Season 1 Interview Collection

All of these interviews were translated/summarized by Celiss @ GameFAQs

CLAMP Summary of the Newtype Ookawa Nanase x Taniguchi Gorou interview. Note that the early designs on that page are by Ookawa Nanase, but the finalized CLAMP original art (not to be confused with the finalized KimuTaka character designs) were done by Mokona, a different CLAMP member. All info listed are from Ookawa and Taniguchi themselves; dialogue in ""s means those are the parts I didn't rephrase at all. - Suzaku originally had a "sharper" look to him. Ookawa -- "Originally I imagined him as having Chinese-like, sharp, single-eyelid eyes." Taniguchi -- "In order to have Lelouch stand out more, I had this design changed to a softer, rounder image." - On the early design for Lelouch (white hair) Ookawa -- "I imagined Lelouch as someone everyone will find to be "cool"; a beauty, to put it simply." Taniguchi -- "We talked about Tackey & Tsubasa as well as early Kinki Kids." (Popular Johnny's idols in Japan) - Ookawa attended the Episode 1 sneak preview / test screening; according to her a large number of reporters and other mass media-related personnel showed up as well because of the pre-show hype. When the 1st episode ended, the room went dead silent. With the fast-moving plot and the episode ending with Lelouch going "Die, all of you" as he Geasses the soldiers into killing themselves, everyone was left speechless. However, the momentary silence was later broken by tremendous applause. Taniguchi himself wasn't at the screening, but he heard about what happened as well. - How did CLAMP come to be part of the Code Geass project? Producer Kawaguchi was the one who wrote to them first. That was the first time CLAMP heard from him, and also the first time they received a request to design characters for an anime. The members only met the director more than a year later; they were already on board the project when the characters and world view were nothing more than a vague concept. CLAMP offered some "interesting ideas" and these helped shape the world of Code Geass. - The character illustrations shown on the page are preliminary designs; when these were first drawn Code Geass wasn't about a war with an Empire but something different. Taniguchi said "We're making a hit show", and wanted to create a show which appealed to everyone. They ended up using the Johnny's artistes (Tackey & Tsubasa; early Kinki Kids) as a sort of model for the characters (probably Lelouch; those Johnny's artistes are usually thought of as "Prince" types, especially early Domoto Kouichi of Kinki Kids) - The character "Zero" was decided from early on, and is one of the characters left unchanged even when they adjusted the story. CLAMP members call Zero's mask "Tulip" (because of it's appearance) They wanted to create a mask never seen before in previous Sunrise shows. They were told to create a mask showing only one eye, and there were two possibilities for that, the other being the masks used in palaces (...which kind of palace? Asian or Western?) Taniguchi -- "When I saw Zero's mask, my thought processes all came to a halt (laugh) It was extremely simple yet had impact." The biggest merit of having CLAMP do the designs is that, according to Taniguchi, they can come up with things normal animator-turned-designers can't. The clothes, for example, may seem impossible (*coughZeroandC.C.'scostumescough*), but CLAMP still went ahead with them anyway with the simple reasoning that "These are better!" - How did the designing process work? CLAMP members drew a certain number of illustrations, handed them to Taniguchi and Taniguchi would later return it to them with his own comments. The designs would be changed according to his wishes and the cycle repeated. The comments ranged from "I want you to redraw just this part" to "I want you to add this part of the character with this part of that character and come up with a new character." Taniguchi pretty much gave CLAMP free reign over the designs, telling them not to worry about what the CG world was like, and because of that they came up with all kinds of variations, from SF to Classical, for things like the military uniforms. There were altogether some 40 ~ 50 designs; C.C. also had traditional Japanese clothes as well as Western Barbie-style clothes. (Now we know why C.C. cosplays so much. Taniguchi probably included them because he thought it would be a waste not to...) - Ookawa -- "Taniguchi doesn't like girls with big breasts." (This is true; Taniguchi is famous for being anti-fanservice. He supposedly hates "jiggling chests" the most, but it seems that since GunxSword he's had to compromise on this area because frankly, sex sells) Ookawa - "Even though I drew all kinds of female figures and body shapes, only the flat-chested designs were returned." (The unreturned designs = No Good) Taniguchi: "It's not that those aren't allowed (laugh) It's just that when you transfer them on to the screen it usually ends up even more exaggerated, so I wanted to keep the original designs under control, at least." - Taniguchi also likes having characters who have something different on one side of their bodies (the "unbalanced" balance) Lelouch has one red eye, for example; Villetta's and Jeremiah's hairstyles also fall under this category. Taniguchi -- "I like it. It's sexy, don't you think?" Ookawa -- "You like characters with sex appeal, huh." Taniguchi -- "Sex appeal is important. CLAMP's characters are all sexy. That's another reason why we decided to request designs from you." - Before doing the character designs, KimuTaka spent every day copying CLAMP's art from their artbooks and manga. After analyzing CLAMP's art to his best ability, he then started on the character designs. He did his best to design them in a way so that the other animators would be able to draw them without deviating from CLAMP's original artstyle. - According to Ookawa, Schneizel was designed with "Lelouch's arch nemesis" in mind. The most time was spent on his design. Taniguchi wanted someone who could appear either good or bad and had a large sense of scale (2 meters... okay so he probably wasn't referring to height, but still) - Lloyd is the professor-type CLAMP is good at (Ookawa's own confession), but originally he wasn't supposed to be that much of a mad scientist. It happened mostly because of Shiratori Tetsu's acting (In the audio commentary for episode 1 Taniguchi mentions that he gave Shiratori free reign over Lloyd's character) Ookawa was surprised when Lloyd turned out the way he did. - Which characters do the CLAMP members like? Mokona (she did the final character original art) liked Clovis, so when she saw that he was offed after only 2 episodes she was really depressed. According to Ookawa, Clovis was killed off a lot earlier than originally planned. Taniguchi apologizes for this, and then remarks that Jeremiah, on the other hand, has survived longer than originally planned. (The power of 2ch, indeed) - Taniguchi: "If you rewatch the first half of the show after watching episode 23, you might discover new things you didn't see before." He refuses to say what these things are, saying that this is an enjoyment exclusive to viewers who noticed themselves. - Okouchi was the one who insisted that a mask was necessary in order for it to be a Sunrise anime. - Ookawa -- "Director Taniguchi is someone who makes it clear what his likes and dislikes are, and this really helped our work. I like Cornelia, and I hope she can be happy." (I'm sure she'll get along well with Fu-kuyama, that crazy Cornelia fan) - Ookawa seems to be a Lelouch fan. She says that she worries whenever Lelouch does something stupid or uses the Geass in a wasteful manner. - CLAMP will still be doing the designs for the sequel, or perhaps have already done them. --- Animedia Q. Is it true that the Emperor is invading countries because he is looking for (Geass) "ruins"? A. In episode 19, General Bartley said "The Emperor decides which country to invade going by the location of the ruins" (I'm not sure how gg translated this). It is unclear whether this is truly the motive behind the invasions, but as the General has been investigating this for a long time, his statement that there are other such ruins, at least, must be true. Since a gigantic Geass mark surfaced on the Kaminejima ruins, it appears that it is somehow connected with the Geass. (Well duh) Q. What exactly is the "Mental Elevator" (Intellevator) the Emperor mentioned? A. This is still very much a mystery. However, because this is something coming from the Emperor, it may have to do with the mystery of the ruins he is said to be searching for. (...Double duh) Q. What is the 2nd Imperial Prince Schneizel looking for? A. Bartley and co. are picking up where Clovis left off with his investigations, which is why they went to Kaminejima. It seems that they have a vague suspicion on what the Emperor's objectives are, and intend to get a jump on him. At this stage this is all we are able to infer. It is probable that there is a certain something the Britannian royalty all wish to obtain. (...? Immortality? Pizza? And Schneizel vs Emperor, go! If Schneizel isn't a bad guy, or had nothing to do with Marianne's assassination, Lelouch should just team up with him already >__> With Suzaku, the Emperor would be dead in a day) Q. After episode 23, what will become of Britannia's "Area 11"? A. As we have just reached the part where the next step of the battle would be to destroy the Britannian government office (the palace-like building with flags), the answer to this question will have to depend on the outcome. Should the Black Knights triumph, Japan may have its rights restored while the Britannians may be forced into a vulnerable position this time around. (Take away all their cellphones! That'll teach 'em!) However, both the Chinese Federation and the EU, names which have repeatedly come up in the show, are both keeping an eye on the situation. How these two forces will act is something to look out for in the future. Q. What happened to "Good Morning'd" Orange? A. I too am surprised. Even though it's amazing that he's made a reappearance in the show, it's "Good Morning'd" after all. (Meaning the line destroyed the serious, cool mood of the scene XD) It seems that after the Narita battle, he was picked up (in the same sense you pick up rubbish / abandoned animals), turned into a subject for experiments and then modified. I'm sure many viewers have already realized what happened because his silhouette is in the OP. The resurrected Orange can't be beat! (Literal translation = "is the strongest") Q. What happened to Shirley's "memories" erased by the Geass? A. Basically, those memories will not return. The Geass works only once. Having seen the memo with her own handwriting, Shirley made her own inferences and somehow managed to grasp the truth of the situation. Although there was a subtle scene in episode 23 where she reacted to the name "Lulu", with the situation becoming increasingly hectic, her chances of meeting Lelouch again will diminish. (What does this mean? She's not going to get her chance to confront Lelouch about the truth after running away from it in episode 22?) Q. Will Kallen's real identity never be revealed to her friends in school? A. Although Suzaku already knows about it, he didn't say a thing about it in school, so as long as Suzaku and Kallen herself keep quiet no one will know. However, in episodes 24 and 25 Kallen, along with Zero, may storm the government office. What will become of the school when the settlement becomes a battlefield...!? (Are they hinting that the school will be in danger --> Black Knights come to the rescue --> Kallen's identity is finally revealed?) *The caption for Nunnally's picture: Sayoko's position itself has become somewhat ambiguous. There isn't a single person left who is protecting her... (I noted this because this sounds bad. Protect her, Arthur!) *The caption for Milly's picture: Having given up on Lelouch, she plunged headlong into the engagement with Lloyd. However... (However...? JUST JOIN THE BLACK KNIGHTS ALREADY!) Q. If the settlement is attacked, what will become of Nunnally and Arthur? A. In episode 23, it appears that the school is still somewhat safe and peaceful. Although Nunnally was frightened, she still has "the mysterious" Sayoko-san with her. Sayoko was told by Diethard to "Stay as you are and wait for further orders." (Episode 21) Things should be alright. Is Arthur with them!? (No, he's obviously outside taking down mechs left and right) However, should Japan achieve independence, Britannian schools would be in danger. *The text below (not in the blue boxes) written by the magazine writers (not the CG staff) says that if Lelouch doesn't go back to Ashford, Nunnally's safety will be "a candle in the wind". However, since this is his beloved sister we're talking about, it makes sense to think that he will definitely return in episodes 24 and 25...!? (...did they really need to end the sentence with an interrobang?) Q. Will "Chigusa"-san join the Black Knights? A. Chigusa-san = Villetta. She's currently cohabiting with Ougi and living a life reminiscent of the Showa period (...loving couple, wife waiting at home etc?) The octopus wieners she made for Ougi's bentou truly had a lot of impact. However, because her memories disappeared not because of the Geass, they will return someday. With that the two of them will become mutual enemies, which will make things difficult. *The lower text says "There is no way a Britannian female Knight will pass all her days living a lovey-dovey life in secret. But don't cry, Ougi!!" (I... want to see him cry >__>) Q. When will C.C. give the OK to Lelouch the Geass user? (This is the literal translation of the question; it seems that what the question is trying to ask is: Exactly what does Lelouch need to do in order to fulfil the terms of the contract?) A. This is far from clear. It seems that C.C. sealed the contract with Lelouch with a certain objective in mind. This contract is valid until that goal is reached. (Does this mean that once her wish is fulfilled, she can / will take Lelouch's Geass away from him?) For Lelouch, his goals are to defeat Britannia and the Emperor and also to create a happy world for Nunnally... However, what C.C. stands to gain from these goals of his remains a mystery. Q. Is Wall h4x Suzaku's (okay, so it actually says wall-runner Suzaku) physical prowess that of a normal human being's? A. Yes, he's a normal human being. It's just that he possesses extraodinary physical capabilites. It seems that his excellent Knightmare piloting skills has to do with him being unexpectedly compatible with Lancelot, and nothing more than that. Lloyd of the Special Dispatch was quick to notice this. (...? What about Fake Okouchi and Real Okouchi's previous hints about there being a secret behind his abnormal physical strength? Unless this answer is supposed to be a red herring?) Q. With Euphie dead, is Suzaku's mental state alright? A. He can't be alright, can he? That's not the usual him. If you listen carefully he said "Ore" (? He was still Boku-Suzaku during the phone conversation though, but I might have missed him saying "Ore" in episode 23), even though he had been using "boku". However, it seems that that is Suzaku's original personality. Up till now he's been faking his personality because of what happened with his father. He can no longer continue his facade now that he's snapped. Rather than saying that he will be somewhat like a beast from here on, it would be more appropriate to say we will be able to see Suzaku's real personality. Q. Why is it that up until the very end, Suzaku still doesn't have a "cellphone"? A. It's because there is a clear rule regarding this; Elevens and Honorary Britannians are not allowed to have one. It's a Britannian rule. This was probably decided in order to nip any possible insurrection in the bud. Also explains why Cecile-san had to personally come and get Suzaku (in episode 17) Q. After episode 23, what will Suzaku's next move be? A. To take revenge? For Euphie. Against Zero! Perhaps he isn't thinking about the future at all. Although he's fighting as a Honorary Britannian, it seems that he's just rushing headlong into the battle with personal grudges to settle. However, he pretty much cannot die due to the "Live!" Geass on him. A rather painful future may be awaiting him. Q. Who is more amazing? Suzaku vs Lelouch 10-point showdown! 1. Knightmare piloting skills: Suzaku 2. Hunting ability: Suzaku 3. Game skills: Lelouch 4. How they treat Nunnally: Lelouch 5. Popularity with the girls: Tie 6. Popularity with the guys: Suzaku 7. Studies (Science/Maths): Lelouch 8. Studies (Humanities/Arts): Lelouch 9. Independence (Cooking): Suzaku 10. Independence (Money concept): Lelouch (Lelouch wins 5-4. Lelouch is actually pretty good at cooking (It's part of his official character profile, IIRC; Sayoko also mentions this in her Diary section for DVD vol 2's booklet) Some of the reasonings behind the Lelouch vs Suzaku results are pretty nonsensical, actually. For example: 9. Independence (Cooking skill): Suzaku Lulu has been feeding Nunnally ever since their childhood days. His cooking skills are absolutely perfect. Suzaku received a strange Onigiri (Cecile's) Therefore... ...What does that have to do with cooking skills? >__> If anything that only proves Suzaku isn't human. As for Popularity with Girls, it's a tie because while Lelouch may have a hidden fanclub at school (I forgot who said this... FO?), Suzaku is popular with older women. This is also part of his official character profile; Suzaku admits it himself in the booklet for DVD vol. 03. However, he denies being attracted to them, but considering his first love (a house maid) happened when he was 3 years old... >__> Suzaku wins in the Popularity with Guys section because Lelouch doesn't really mix around with other students, only with his fellow Student Council members. This isn't really fair considering Suzaku probably has a hard time getting along with other classmates as well, but I guess that all changed after Euphemia knighted him. Though I think if it had been Zero vs Suzaku Zero would have won hands down. Zero has Diethard (Obsessed stalker), Tamaki (Tsundere) and Orange (also a stalker when you think about it >__>) --- Taniguchi Some interesting stuff from the Taniguchi interview: - Taniguchi appears to be hinting that Suzaku will have more scenes in the 2nd season. He mentioned that for viewers who want to watch this show thinking of Lelouch and Suzaku as double protagonists (Like Kazuma and Ryuhou in S.cry.ed; however, officially, Lelouch is the only protagonist in this show; everyone else is a supporting character), this motif will come up from here on. (He probably means that the difference between Suzaku and Lelouch will be made even more obvious in the future) - We'll be seeing more of Lelouch romantic relationships (probably in the 2nd season) According to him they decided not to put too much focus on those in the first 23 episodes because it would only complicate matters. It was necessary to show what Lelouch's primary focus is (Destroy Britannia; happy world for Nunnally) - V.V. will be a key person in the 2nd season; same goes for the mysterious long-haired Chinese guy (? Girl?) shown in episode 23. - By episode 26 (Taniguchi probably means 1st episode of the 2nd season; it seems that he's thinking of Code Geass as one whole continuous season) viewers will be able to see what Lelouch currently has in mind and what he intends to do next. - In case the sequel wasn't greenlighted (they already received the OK for it back in December last year, at least), they had an alternative route prepared for the story to take, one which would have ended the story in episode 23. It would have been a non-conclusive ending though; according to Taniguchi it was more of a "psychological" ending for Lelouch (think EVA ending) - By Taniguchi's own admission, the real story has only just begun. --- Kawaguchi The Kawaguchi interview itself is quite strange. It feels as though Director Taniguchi, Scriptwriter Okouchi and Producer Kawaguchi all have different interpretations regarding the show. On the subject of the phone conversation at the end of episode 23, Kawaguchi says that Okouchi originally wrote the scene intending to dramatize the mistaken nature of Lelouch and Suzaku's friendship (lit. trans: how it continually "passes each other by"), but Taniguchi said "If you need to confirm it, then you're not really friends" (The "After all, we're friends, aren't we?" line) and had the meaning of the scene changed. So... are they truly friends or not? I suppose they're "friends" in the sense that they truly care about each other, yet at the same time they can't be "true friends" because they're still hiding all sorts of secrets from each other. Kawaguchi, at least, is adamant that Lelouch and Suzaku cannot be considered friends. I'd like to see an Okouchi-only interview next to hear what he has to say on this matter XD Also, Kawaguchi referred to Lelouch as "Lulu" twice in the interview. Kawaguchi is a big fan of Lulu Quality, indeed. --- The infamous phone call in 23. Producer Kawaguchi actually offered an explanation in his interview on why Lelouch has Euphie's number. We know that he definitely has her number saved because "Euphemia" showed up on his cellphone; we also know that calls from unknown people show up on his phone as "No Number" (episode 13 -- assumed to be a call from Ougi and episode 15 -- Mao) Basically the (lame) explanation is: "They must have exchanged numbers on the deserted island (laugh)" I wonder what name Euphemia saved Lelouch's number under though. She can't possibly have saved it under "Lelouch"... she's not that much of an airhead... right? >__> Though "Zero" is a lot worse, but not as much as "My First Love, Eheh <3" --- Fake Okouchi questions from 2chan 1. (Did Suzaku know that Zero = Lelouch at the end of episode 23? If so, did Lelouch realize it as well?) No comment. 2. (When exactly will episodes 24 and 25 be aired during the summer? Will they not be aired first via Biglobe's internet streaming?) I don't think so . We weren't able to secure the slots in time. It's a little thick-skinned of me to say this, but to make up for it the animation and the directing etc. will be impressive. 3. (It seems to me that Suzaku is more important to Lelouch than Lelouch is to Suzaku. What exactly does Suzaku think of LuluNana?) To Suzaku, Lelouch is more of an old friend. As for Nunnally, rather than her being just the sister of a friend, it appears that he thinks of her as an important person. 4. (Will Lulu and C.C.'s line "Bestow upon me the mark of destruction! Consecrate it!" used in the pre-airing CMs appear in the show? A word about this line please.) I don't think the line will appear in the show. The lines said in the CMs are more like "catch copies" <"catch phrases" in English> 5. (Did Suzaku see V.V. or C.C. in episode 22? What was the reason behind it?) <-- The light silhouette in front of the Gawain It was C.C. It's somewhat like the mirage(?) of C.C. only Lelouch could see in episode 1. He saw it because he has the Geass potential. 6. (C.C. talked to Marianne in episode 23. Is Marianne in the World of C?) No comment. 7. (How does C.C. go about choosing Geass users? As long as they have potential everything's fine? For what reason did she choose Mao and Lelouch?) It's a secret, but the main criteria involved in the choosing is related to the bloodline as well as where and how the person grew up. 8. (In episode 7, C.C. said "The blood does not rebel" (Children take after their parents) Whose blood was she referring to? The Emperor's or Marianne's?) Both, I suppose. C.C. was teased *by Marianne* a lot, so I think she just wanted to get her back for it *by claiming that Lelouch takes after her?* 9. (Who's stronger: V.V. or C.C.?) It depends on what you mean by "strong", but if you were to make them fight each other mano-a-mano I think C.C. would be declared the victor. 10. (Will the "Lelouch being good at household chores" character setting be used in the future? Is it true that he made Zero's costume himself? Will such hidden character settings appear in the drama CDs etc?) I think the scenes that were cut from the show *such as the kiss with Kallen?* as well as the character settings that have yet to be shown will be included in the drama CDs and such. *He didn't actually state a specific media* 11. (What's the meaning behind the OP shot in which Lelouch rides a horse? What about the mugshots? Whose hand is it in the scene showing someone trying to grab hold of the person floating with the Geass mark?) Horse-riding is a sort of reference to piloting a Knightmare *they're "mares", after all* It implies that his (Lelouch's) main role isn't to pilot a Knightmare *he's more of a commander*, unlike Suzaku. Also, his elegant way of spurring a horse onward shows his prince-like quality / nature. This is further supported by the background, which was drawn with the Britannia homeland in mind. As for the mugshots, I think that those show the key characters whose actions help move the story forward, but I fear that only the director knows the truth of it. As for the hand, I think it's probably Nunnally's. (Actually I don't know either, but the skin-tone is the same as Nunnally's) 12. (What is the debt from 7 years ago? Will it be revealed in the 1st season?) The "Debt" doesn't only refer to one specific thing. One of it has to do with the Kururugi family forcing LuluNana into confinement *in a storage shed, no less* 13. (Will the Emperor's past cronies and Knight appear in the show?) That would depend on the 2nd season. 14. (Why is it that even though Nunnally calls Marianne "Okaa-sama" (polite), Lulu calls her "Kaa-san" (informal)? It's rather strange for royalty to do that.) I think perhaps it's a sort of code showing how he respected, trusted and in a way depended on his mother. The same goes for Suzaku calling himself "Ore". *Meaning it's a sort of clue about what goes on in their heads* 15. (How much time has passed in the show between episodes 1 ~ 25?) The actual length of time is made ambiguous, but I suppose it's quite close to the broadcast length in real life. *About 6 months?* 16. (The difference between a Knight and an Elected Knight (Suzaku, Guilford) please.) Originally, the term "Knight" is a general one referring to all Knightmare pilots. Elected Knights such as Guilford and Suzaku are those chosen by the royalty as personal protectors. It's just that for the convenience of the conversation there are times where the term "Knight" actually refers to "Elected Knight". 17. (A hidden character setting, please. Anything is fine.) In the early planning stages, Rivalz was named Radner *? Katakana = "radona"; I have no idea whether this is a name or whether he's referring to another famous person or what* and had a much bigger role. In a way, he had an evil side to him, more so than Lelouch, and was truly "bad company". However, if he was to be made into someone who had too much in common with Lelouch, Suzaku's existence would have less of an impact and thus changes were made. 18. (Will the period in which LuluNana lived by themselves be shown in the show? Or will these be covered by the Picture Dramas and Drama CDs?) Unknown. 19. (Was the Marianne shown in episode 22 part of C.C.'s memories? Why did Suzaku faint?) Rather than say that was C.C.'s memories, it would be more appropriate to say that was a scene showing her "vision". *That's exactly what he says in katakana* Suzaku collapsed because of C.C.'s shock attack. 20. (Villetta once said "Britannia is scary" when she was still Chigusa. Were those her real feelings?) That was her reacting to having been seriously wounded and having lost her memories. Besides that, she felt peaceful during her time with Ougi and was also influenced by his way of thinking. 21. (What are the requirements for the reactivation of Suzaku's "Live!" Geass? How will it affect him, exactly? Make him go berserk?) He will return to his original way of living and become more and more honest. *His "boku" personality is a false one used to protect himself* 22. (Are there plans to use the cut Zero / Kallen kiss scene (Source: Megami Magazine) in the future?) It is true that that scene was cut. A lot of adjustments were made around episode 20. The kiss event was to give Kallen courage after she lost her nerve to continue to act as a member of the Black Knights. Originally there was supposed to be a sequence of scenes showing her remembering the kiss, shaking off her hesitations and fighting whenever she was about to be discouraged. 23. (A word about the Emperor and Marianne, please.) No comment. 24. (What is the relation between V.V., Suzaku and Nunnally?) For Suzaku and Nunnally, it's just as I said in the answer for the 3rd question. As for V.V. and Suzaku, no comment. At the moment V.V. and Nunnally are not connected. 25. (A word about the future of the Ashford Academy Student Council members.) The school will become a part of the battlefield due to various calculations *? from which side? Nina...?* 26. (A hint about love relationships. Also, a word on why Euphie fell in love with Suzaku. Is Suzaku no longer a virgin?) No comment. *Yeah, 2chers like asking which characters are virgins. See: Virginity Theory* 27. (Kaguya called herself The Goddess of Victory. Did something happen before this to support her claim?) Unknown. --- Ura de Net Geass! Participants: Tanaka Kazunari (Tamaki VA) Yoshino Hiroyuki (Secondary scriptwriter / series composition) Kawaguchi Yoshitaka (Producer) Morotomi Youshi (Producer, MBS TV station side) - An 8 hour meeting was held to determine C.C.'s name and real identity. Supposedly none of the participants ate or drank throughout the whole thing (Okouchi: "Give me something to eat!") According to Yoshino, whenever he thought the meeting was about to come to an end, someone would start up again and the meeting would continue with no end in sight. XD - The title "Code Geass" was a fairly last-minute decision (the tentative title was "Lelouch of the Rebellion") The production team were in a panic over the lack of a proper title; "We need a title to design the title logo!" etc. - Yoshino: "A strange scriptwriter joined around episode 12." (referring to himself) According to him, for episodes 1 ~ 11 all he did was comment on Okouchi's scripts: "Oh, I like this. I don't like this. This is cool." etc. Okouchi got annoyed and told him "Why don't you write the scripts then?" (Yoshino wrote the scripts for episodes 12, 13 and 19) Dark Okouchi >__> - Mao's repetitive clapping didn't exist in the scripting stages; Taniguchi was the one who later added it to make him "more annoying". Also, according to the producers, the Mao arc had the highest ratings o__O - Originally, Toudou was supposed to join Lelouch's side much earlier. They talk about the Diethard and Toudou shot in the ED. All are baffled by it; conclusion: "Only Taniguchi knows." - Okouchi wrote the script for episode 18; according to Yoshino, Okouchi told him: "Isn't it exciting, leaving viewers wondering whether Lelouch Geass'd Suzaku?" Yoshino: "So how are you going to wrap this up?" Dark Okouchi: "I'll think about it later!" XD Each time Yoshino asked him if he's thought of it yet, Okouchi would reply: "Not yet." Seems like Okouchi is a fairly laidback character XD - Yoshino ended up writing the script for episode 19; supposedly he requested to do it, saying "Oh well, if (Okouchi) wants me to write a script, I might as well do the island arc." (he's more or less the fanservice supervisor for this show) According to him (and the Newtype Taniguchi + Fu-kuyama interview), this was how Lelouch's trap was supposed to work: Lelouch successfully digs a proper hole --> However, a boar appears behind him --> Lelouch tries to Geass it: "Lelouch Vi Britannia orders you to SIT!" --> Geass doesn't work on animals --> Lulu Quality Tragedy (Wait, isn't this just like that one fancomic? o__O) However, Taniguchi changed it all, telling Yoshino: "Well, in the first place, Lelouch isn't capable of digging such a hole..." - The reason why the writers made Kallen stand on Gawain's shoulder instead of getting into the two-seater cockpit with Lelouch in episode 19: "There's no way Kallen will hand over the 2nd-pilot position to anyone else once she's in there." Good point. - Will we see Gawain engaging in electronic warfare? Maybe, maybe not. However, officially Gawain is equipped for it (Druid System) The producers and Tanaka all agree that Gawain is pretty much a h4x mecha in this show. - According to Tanaka, right after the airing of episode 22, 3 of his friends rang him up asking "What the hell was that? I need to know what happens next!" etc. According to Kawaguchi, "some of the viewers may have been satisfied with the handshake in episode 22, but actually, a lot more people would have been upset..." - After episode 23, the production team received letters from fans saying "Okouchi is so evil", "Dark Okouchi" etc. According to the 4 of them, Okouchi doesn't like that. Realizing Okouchi may be listening to this, they start sucking up to him, saying things like "Okouchi is a wonderful person!" "He's an... *long pause* honest person!" Tanaka: "I love Okouchi!... okay, moving on..." XD XD XD - Tanaka says he isn't allowed to talk about episode 24, but he dropped some hints, like: "I had no idea that part in episode 23 was a foreshadowing" and "So that was what that person was doing". Okay...

#code geass #interviews #translation

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robertdrozdzunit04 · 3 years ago

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Research rougelike Games

Guns Reborn

Guns Reborn is an FPS rougelike game taking multiple elements from games like borderlands and risk or rain to create an addictive rougelike shooter that I haven’t seen before or since. One of the features i want to use from this game is how fast death is, for example you die a lot in the game but you respawn real quick and get back into the action, thats what i want for my game, since my game is a fast paced shooter i want the player to die and just quickly get back into the swing of things. Another element of this game i like is how different weapons have different elemental attacks and different enemies are weak to specific elements and the player has to get the right weapons to kill these specific enemies, i kinda want to have a system that random element power ups drop into the game and change the damage type of your weapon for a short peroid of time, i would also like for random enemies to get different elemental buffs and depuffs to keep the player moving and on their toes. The game also has semi-randomized levels but that is not what i want to do for my game, i want to designed my own levels so the player has more fun playing it and allowing me to construct a fun playground for them to run around and jump in and with a randomly generate level you never know if the level will be fun or not, or even work.

Rouge Shooter

Rouge Shooter is an extremely customizable game you can customize everything from your crosshair to like actual gameplay elements like background of your character, the enemies and upgrades that you will get in the game, and this is not even the actual game part this is all in the main menu. Im liking some of these elements such as choosing the random upgrades and enemies that the player might encounter but genuinely it just seems kinda pointless for my game and it will feel like adding content into the game for the sake of content and not cause it will add anything to it. The artstyle of the game also looks kinda dated, like it looks like those Doom clones you would get from cereal in the 90s, the UI also looks really clunchy and blocky and just not appealing to look at or use, the UI of the game should be good but basic and easy to understand, all the information needed should be displayed in the most minimal way possible which this game just doesn’t do. I do really like how the enemies and their attack patterns are really random thats what i would like to have in my game, the problem with their system is that the look of the enemies doesn’t match the attack patterns. i could fix this by having the enemies be some sort of horror mutants so it would make sense why such enemies are either shooting you or dashing at you. The Game also has a random selection of weapons that range from standard guns to like garbage pickers which is very funny to me and something i would like to have in my game, since my game is that kind of game that doesn’t seem what it seems, its deff hiding something so like having some random cutesy weapons and then having like doom style super weapons is something i really want in my game.

Risk of Rain 2

The Main Element i really like about Risk of Rain 2 Is the random levels and enemies, each run is completely different with what you will encounter and that what a lite kind of system of that in my game, like having random enemies spawning In pre-made levels is exactly want i want and the way risk of rain 2 does it fits really well in my game. I feature i’ve seen all these games have are like numbers on the enemies showing the damage you have done, i believe that is really cool but not sure how well its gonna fit in my game so i will experiment and see if it will work but it will give the game that arcade rougelike feeling im going for. The game also has a money and chest system where you have to collect money to unlock random chest to get items and new weapons, i don’t think i will have this since the player already has access to all the weapons just they have time limits but having a sort of money would be kinda cool like allowing the player to use the money to buy new items and powerups but not sure that im gonna do that since it will slow down the game.

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entamewitchlulu · 7 years ago

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Homura’s Flash Reviews [Winter Season - First Impressions Edition]

so for the first time in my life, I’m watching seasonal anime as they air. Mostly it’s because TeamFourStar are doing a show called Anime FMK, where viewers vote on the shows they watch each season and they talk about them, with the opportunity to “fuck” or “kill” each anime each week. Up to one anime per week can be killed permanently, or removed from the watchlist for the rest of the season, if it gets two or more kills from the three panelists (please check out FourStarBento, the show is honestly excellent and their discussions are amazing to listen to)

Anyway, I watched their first ever season in the fall and I hadn’t watched a single show and didn’t know what they were talking about despite still enjoying their discussions. So this season, I’ve decided to at least get a taste of every anime they’re watching, though I will get to kill it immediately for myself if I don’t like it.

Without further ado, here’s my First Impressions of this season’s Anime FMK shows, along with my “Love At First Sight/Kill At First Sight” rating.

Ancient Magus Bride

Depressed and alone, Chise decides her only recourse is to sell herself into slavery, as she is a coveted entity known as a Sleigh Beggy, humans who produce endless amounts of magic. She is bought by the strange mage Elias, who understands little of humanity and human emotions. Despite their strange relationship, Chise finds a strange new home among Elias and the rest of his household, finding her own strength and will to live in the process.

With beautiful visuals, incredible world building, haunting soundtracks, endearing characters, and a marvelous examination of a less than ordinary (or even desirable) relationship, this show is probably easily one of the strongest from the fall season, and I am SO looking forward to continuing it after having caught up last season!!

Love At First Sight, will def watch this one to the end.

Hakyu Hoshin Engi

What is this one even about? I guess some…demon slaying kid who got his family slayed by demons is going to go slay a whole list of demons so that he can defeat the demon empress.

Anyway I quit halfway into episode 1. The character designs are DISGUSTING and have no sense of good, clean designs, opting instead to clutter everyone up with a billion things, the story was rushed and they had to spell everything out for you, and the only female apparent in the show is the Evil Seductress Demon, I guess. Put this one back in the early 90s where it belongs.

Kill At First Sight

Junji Ito Collection

HAHAHAHAHA YEA RIGHT I’M NOT STUPID ENOUGH TO PUT MYSELF THROUGH THIS I WOULD NEVER SLEEP AGAIN

I DIDN’T EVEN WATCH A SINGLE EPISODE SORRY GENTS

Kill Before First Sight

Kokkoku

Juri is the only member of her family who’s really trying to make something of herself, with her brother being a NEET and her father recently laid off. But when her brother and nephew are kidnapped, her grandfather activates a magical time stopping artifact to go save them, dragging them into the attention of some kind of occult cult.

have only gotten through one episode of this one, but I’m very intrigued; this is an eerie, creepy sort of anime with probably some good family stuff coming up later, so I’ll keep with it for now.

Tentative love

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

Set in a city where three percent of the population are professional hitmen, a private detective investigates a mayor’s corruption with the hitman who was hired to kill him, but instead decided to protect him.

Ehhh from one episode, I’m not really feeling it? I’ll watch a bit more, but idk. They threw a FUCK ton of characters at you in episode one, and tbh the show feels a little like Durarara, which did the same thing, and I didn’t finish that one. I was more interested when I thought that the main character was a woman, but no, turns out it’s a cross dressing man, which is...interesting, I guess. So far they haven’t made a man in a dress joke so I’m tentatively on board with it.

But other than that, it’s a ridiculously bloated cast, a gritty setting, already quite a bit of violence against women, and I’m not really sure what the Point is.

Tentative continue

citrus

LOL YEA RIGHT LIKE I’M ABOUT TO WATCH THIS GARBAGE I CAN’T WAIT FOR TFS TO KILL THIS ONE

Kill Before First Sight

Hakumei to Mikochi: Tiny Life in the Woods

A charming slice of life about Mikochi and Hakumei, two young women who are only 3.5 inches tall, living in a tiny world with other tiny people and regular sized, talking animals, and a society populated with the most endearing and lovely magical elements.

This show!!!!! Is Pure and Wholesome!!!!!!!

Hakumei and Mikochi are like This Married, and even besides that, it’s literally just The Best show to kick back and relax to. There’s barely any conflict, and any conflict that does arise is solved within half an episode, as each episode contains two short stories about the idyllic life of these two lovely young ladies in the woods.

Love At First Sight, will continue this one to the end!

Killing Bites

I guess this one is about a world where rich people bet on blood matches between animal people, which sounds fascinating in concept but in practice…..nah

I noped out halfway through episode one, despite some interesting animation and fight choreography, there’s was a graphic attempted sexual assault scene in the first two minutes (VERY graphic, even though the perps get murdered violently in the next couple of minutes it made me Very Uncomfortable). Male animal people get full on animal transformations, but the girls only change enough to keep their faces cute and their boobs visible. It’s very much straight up fap material, which if that floats your boat, whatever, i guess, but I’ll be skipping this one this season.

Kill At First Sight

Darling in the FranXX

A mech anime that’s sorta like Pacific Rim if Pacfic Rim was an ecchi. That’s about all I’ve got to say on the summary. There’s something about robot dinosaurs and a girl who has their blood in her who can’t keep a drift compatible partner before her very nature causes them to die in the cockpit, but I forget.

Honestly, this is the one that disappointed me the most. The animation is fucking incredible, the character design is God Tier, and the presentation is literally one of the best I’ve ever seen in an anime. The mood, tone, and atmosphere are all done amazingly, and every character, despite having very little on screen time, feels unique. I found the girl with the robot dinosaur blood incredibly fascinating and endearing, and the main male character was actually a very soft boi that I was enjoying. Something about this show was very, very entrancing and I kept finding myself becoming super engaged in it during episodes one and two.

But every time my engagement was high, I’d be knocked out of it violently by some ridiculous fanservice. Main Boy picks up Main Girl’s underwear for some reason by accident, Main Girl is straight up naked in their first encounter (to be honest, I actually wasn’t too upset with this part, I thought it was done artistically if that makes sense? but what all comes after it kind of detracted from that). And then the partner ship piloting? The girl is standing in a bent over, very suggestive position with the boy right behind her, and the boy’s piloting handles protrude from the girls’ butts. And not to mention all the off color jokes they made about such positioning in the show itself.

After that, I put it down, but I’m actually really disappointed, because what atmosphere and mood I did enjoy from the show was incredibly well done. This could have been an excellent show. I feel like it might be something I attempt again sometime, because I do like Studio Trigger’s works and there was some grain of goodness in it that made me want to keep watching, but for now, I’m leaving it to focus on the other shows on the list.

Kill, but it’s reluctant

Pop Team Epic

The only way to describe this show is meme culture incarnate; it’s based on a 4 panel manga and it’s just…..WEIRD.

But it’s a GOOD WEIRD and oh my god, this show is the fucking best; this show is going to save all of anime forever. I love the kawaii artstyle, I love both Pipimi and Popuko (and their gay shit), I love the fucking OFF THE WALL shitpost humor.

Honestly the only thing I don’t really like is the Bob Team Epic segments, mostly just cause I’m very sensitive about weird art styles and the art style makes me uncomfyyy haha. Other than that!!! EXCELLENT show and I’m looking forward to continuing.

Love At First Sight

A Place Further Than the Universe

Mari Tamaki always chickens out when she tries to do something different with her life, but she’s determined to make her second year of high school different! When she meets Shirase, the daughter of an Antarctic scientist who went missing on an expedition, she ends up joining Shirase’s quest to get to Antarctica!

Oh god this show is literally the fucking cutest???? All of these kids are so sweet and determined and I’m super invested in their quest from just the first episode! It’s super charming in both writing and animation, and I can’t wait to see what happens when they finally make it to Antarctica!!!

Love At First Sight

#long post #homura reviews #anime winter season 2018 #okay here we go now this is the correct post

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nightwingxy · 7 years ago

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This is Sayaka Maizono, She is a character from the First Danganronpa. While changing profile pics on another account, I was reminded about how I found out about her & my love for her and decided to tell that sory.. Bare with me this story does get a bit wierd/Weebey at times,though i'm 98% sure i'm not a weeb. How I found out about her was rather interesting/strange. Back in my senior year of HighSchool, In September or October of 2014 I think. I was in my English class skimming through an issue of Gameinformer I had on me, Issue 258 "The Horror Issue" Which had a alien isolation cover. As I was near that end at the review sections I saw an image that peeked my interest, 2 Really Really cute/beautiful anime girls in an awesome looking artstyle, standing next to a ripped dude with crazy anime hair about to fuck shit up, with what looked like of TV's behind them And I looked at the review, and it was for a game called Danganronpa 2: Goodbye dispair. I also saw that it was for the Vita, a handheld I still to this day love and praise with all my heart, and got more interested. Then I saw it was a point&click game and my interest went down. Though I was interested in the 2 girls in the image, as well as the art style they were in, so later on that night I looked up the artist, rui komatsuzaki, and found a lot of his art on some site, Zerochan I think. And While scrolling though the Pages of art I came Across what Looked like concept art or whatever of This extremely cute/Beautiful Girl in a School Girl's outfit with Dark Hair, and I instantly loved her design (2nd and 3rd Pics). I saw that her name was Maizono Sayaka, which I found out was a direct translation of her name in japanese, with her localized name being Sayaka Maizono. So I goggle imaged searched her and found this image, where I noticed her hair was more blue than black (4th Pic). Then I came across This image of her (5th Pic), and That's when I realized.... I was kinda in love with her. And I say that as someone who Didn't watch anime or hentai, read any manga, and is 98% sure he's not a Weaboo. But Something about her drew me to her, and I wanted to know more. So I checked out her page on the Danganronpa Wiki. For her personality it said "Seeing as she's an idol, Sayaka has a cheerful, sweet, and supporting personality. Despite her idol career, Sayaka actually enjoys cooking." Which I liked. But I also saw that she was the first to die, which bummed me out a little, but it didn't stop me from looking up more info on her and more pics. Like I said earlier she was the closest thing to a real anime waifu I've ever had. Like before i've obsessed over some other Game characters, Including some fighting game characters like Cammy from Street Fighter, Morrigan from Darkstalkers, The Smash Version of Zero Suit Samus, and Hitomi from DOA, along with non FG characters Hatsune miku and Magurine Luka From Vocaloid. But this....this was different. Unlike all those other characters, who I thought were cool and/or looked beautiful/hot, in addition to maining them in their respective games, save for Miku and Luka. Maizono was Someone I wanted to be with, someone I wanted to spend time with, someone who I had romantic feelings for. Someone who wasn't real. That last part hurt more than knowing she died. And she was the closest thing to "love" or a Girlfriend I've ever known/had at the time. Like During High School Getting a girlfriend wasn't a top priority, I kinda wanted to have one, but Didn't mind being single. There also wasn't too many girls I had a crush on, aside from 1 or 2 specific girls, who which I didn't try to become friends with or purse a potential relationship with because it wasn't wasn't a top priority (Doing good in shcool hanging out with friends was), and I was SUPER socially awkward around new people (still kinda am), especially girls, with a major example being Me trying to be funny to a girl I liked back in freshman year. It was embarrassing AF, I pretended it never happened &Never talked to her after that. Never talked to the Other Girl I had a crush on from Sophomore Year through the rest of High School Either. There was also the occasional cute girl I walked by between class periods but that was it. Sayaka Maizon was the closest thing to "Love" I was ever going to get. Even if that was just me looking at pictures of her before going to bed (no not like that you creeps.), and Wanting to be with her, very, very much so. I loved her to death and I thought about her a lot for a good chunk of my senior year, Though by the end I didn't think about her as much if at all. About a Month Later I was in a Bose electronics in Carlsbad and in one of the display rooms they were playing a clip of frozen, from the First time in forever reprisal song when Anna & Elsa are at the ice castle, which rekindled my Love For Princess anna, and the rest is history.As for Maizono, I would occasionally see her picture when scrolling through the downloaded photos on my phone, and I would briefly reminisce about our time "Together" and my Senior year, then move on to the next photo. And Earlier tonight when Changing profile pics for another twitter account I have I decided to go with Maizono as I wanted to keep an anime girl as my profile pic there, &got thinking of this story. Was gonna tell it there but decided I should talk about it publicly, as I felt ok coming out about this, Since it's old news by this point. As it stands Maizono is on top of the Regular Waifu list (for now), as Princess Anna is still the one true waifu at the moment (and is separate from that list) despite not really thinking of her much recently, though I tried. Also despite my love of Maizono and the Vita, I only now have pics of her on my vita, and is is the wallpaper on the bottom 2 menu screens with all my PS1 classics. With that, My Maizono story comes to a close. I still think she is pretty amazing, and still is still someone special to me....despite never playing the games or watching the anime, The latter of which I might do now once I finish one punch man and watch castlevania,

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phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess · 8 years ago

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Respect Fanartists & Fanfiction Writers

Listen, and do so carefully... because this will be said once.

Fanartists & Fanfiction Writers put a LOT of time, effort, emotion and skill into making things that you enjoy for free, friends.

Sure, it takes you a minute to stare at artwork that someone spent weeks on; or 15 minutes tops to skim through a fic that may have taken days... so you just see it as something to be consumed, and in a lot of frustrating cases, your RIGHT to have provided.

For one, providing feedback in the form of comments or reviews/asks is always appreciated. That’s awesome and we love it!

Sending ask after ask or Private Message after Private Message demanding they make you something specific... NOT okay. OR, worse, falsely befriending them in order to get them to make you free art/fiction, is alternatively what the creative side of the fandoms calls ‘a dick move’.

See, here’s the thing... if you are friends with someone, you are there for them. If you friend them with the ulterior motive of getting them to draw you a specific picture, or comic, or write you a highly-detailed fanfiction... then you are being a manipulative drain on their life.

Like, listen... even if someone reblogs a ‘Writing/Art Prompt’ post, you cannot sincerely anticipate they will answer every single request they get. There might be duplicates, the person receiving them may not like one received, they may lose energy or focus, or just be busy with the real world. To harass, to send additional follow-up asks bothering people? Not okay.

It used to happen more frequently in the past, but it’s rising up again.

Consistent harassment of the creative sides of fandom (encompasses gifmakers, SFM makers, all the types, etc.) just drains the creative batteries worse than a lack of comments/reviews on new art/fiction does.

It puts them under pressure to fulfil your demand, which is not okay. Hell, assholes in certain fandoms used to do CALLOUT posts on artists and writers who didn’t fulfil the requests they demanded. It was ridiculous?

Let’s not go back there.

So here’s the thing.

>You like their artstyle? Yes. <You would like them to draw you something? Oh yes! >Are they doing commissions, or would they be willing to do one? They are open to commissions/Oh, I will politely ask. <They are open to commissions and you can afford what you want? a)Yes (Proceed) b) No. You can save up to commission them later. YOU WILL NOT HARASS THE ARTIST FOR FREE ART (that includes trying manipulative tactics such as making up sob stories, falsely befriending them, and/or claiming you don’t trust internet banking options*). [*If you distrust paypal, or certain sites, you can actually buy preloaded/disposable credit cards (which are basically gift cards), that you can put the required amount on and use to pay. There are alternatives, just ask.]

>>>You can afford it, and what you are asking fits what the artist has said they are comfortable drawing for you? Yes. ~Ask them if they are happy to take this commission and provide the details necessary. ~Accept that it will take time, and effort, don’t hover trying to get them to finish it faster. ~Do not try to change the deal mid-way through the commission. E.g. if you paid for greyscale, don’t demand colour, or one character but now you want too for the same price, or withhold payment until you get your way. That is a major dick move, and your name will circle through the artistic sphere as ‘difficult’ and ‘untrustworthy’.

There have been a few notable people out there that have tried to get free art this way, and thought artist-hopping would make sure no one found out. But, buddy, if you know one artist, they know ten more, and it branches out from there... who do you think has the most feedback for creators, but other artists and writers? They will all find out, eventually.

>Not being able to afford it, it not a good excuse to hound the artist to change their prices. Listen, if you’re at the store and can’t afford the new action figure you want... you can’t haggle with the poor storeclerk at the counter (but numerous people have tried that? Is that where you have learned this from?) for a ‘better price’. You might counter, ‘but the clerk can’t set the price and an artist can’. Listen, lissen here fucko mccoconuts, the artists on tumblr charge an obscenely low pittance for the amazing art they do... like, barely anything. A coloured sketch? Some artists will do it for five bucks because they’re too goddamn afraid you whiny little bastards won’t agree to anything more; they are downselling their hard-earned artistic abilities.

And fanfiction authors? They have to do it for free because NO ONE pays for writing. Ask, and they will tell you almost all fanfiction commissions fall through, for one reason or another... but mostly the idea is considered absurd.

If you cannot afford it now, then either save, or maybe ask if the artist is open to a payment plan. E.g. If you requested a five-page comic at $60 coloured, by the way an obscenely low price compared to real-world prices, you could ask to pay it in two lots, or something of that nature. It depends on each artist as to whether they are amenable to it. Never assume.

>Not being able to afford it does not mean, ‘befriend the person and try to feed them your headcanons in the hopes of free art’ (nor the old, ‘so my birthday’s coming up... do you think you could make me _____?’). If that’s the whole reason you have ‘befriended’ them (manipulated them into thinking you are genuinely offering altruistic friendship) then you’re an absolute cactus, mate. A conglomeration of pricks, that is to say.

You don’t make friends to get things. And if you do, perhaps you need to re-evaluate your priorities, you drongo bastards, people are human beings not vending machines.

Sometimes, if an artist or writer gets inspired by the stupid headcanons you share at 3am your time and like 9am their time... accidental art or fanfiction happens. It’s spontaneous, fun, a gift based on mutual feedback and conversation. But to anticipate being rewarded simply for your friendship, is wrong.

ESPECIALLY, and I cannot stress this enough, especially if you try to feed the artist a headcanon... then ceaselessly pester them as to why they haven’t made the fiction/fanart of it yet? Everyday? What the fuck is your problem?

>Why is it so expensive? It isn’t. It really fucking isn’t. I’ve covered this. Also, everyone is so damn quick to say “But art is haaaaaard” when told to draw something themselves, because an artist doesn’t want to, but just as fast to question why that artist (who has learned that skill and ceaselessly practised until they have their own artstyle that you like enough to think about commissioning) is charging you MONEY for something you WANT (not NEED).

You will not actually die if you don’t get a pic of your OTP fucking in a jacuzzi, suzy. So just calm ya tiddies and carry on.

>Why won’t you draw my headcanon? Did you commission the artist? No? Then fuck off. They have their own life and ideas... and if you harass them, others who are less polite are going to have something to say about it. Especially the adults who pressure young artists to make them shit all the time... you will be found and shamed you bastards. >Why won’t you write my detailed headcanon? Same as above. But also, aren’t you the person who keeps saying ‘but writing is easy’? How about you write it yourself. One of the many things you will be told to do to yourself if you don’t stop pestering writers. That goes for bothering writers/artists here, on AO3, ff.net, DeviantArt or any random site they’re affiliated with.

- - - -

The biggest question is what makes you feel so ENTITLED to their work?

And that’s really what it is. “I want it. Make it for me.”

Oh sure, you can cover it in pretty words, “But we’re friends”, “But I can’t afford it”, “But I’m feeling so down recently, maybe this elaborate 15k OTP headcanon I want you to write will make things better, don’t skimp on the smut! XD” ...it all amounts to, “Hey, you should reward me for liking your art/writing. If I do not get it immediately, without cost, I will pester you either brazenly, or subtly... I may even pretend to be a genuine friend, to get what I want. You owe it to me.”

And, really, from the bottom of the creative community’s hearts, I’d love to just remind each and every person who feels this way... that you are not a good person, at heart, and can fuck right off out past alpha centauri where such disrespect might be considered flattering... because it sure as hell isn’t on earth.

Fanartists, Fanfiction writers, put up with this all the time.

It’s the sixteen asks they don’t publish, all demanding things.

It’s the excitement cut short when they thought they had a new fic review, but it’s actually just someone trying to get them to write them something.

It’s the person in your chat always giving headcanons, many you don’t agree with, and then checking in to see if you’ve drawn/written them. Relentlessly.

It’s the Private Messages, dozens of them, requesting you do something specific for someone, something that will require time and effort on your part but not theirs. And the angry messages that follow if you turn down their demands.

It’s the angry ‘callout’ posts from people who you’ve said No to. The people who were told, “I’m not taking requests, but if you would just see my commission post for details...” and were abhorred at the idea of PAYING for ART they WANT????

And more. There is always more, worse, unending, frustrating.

This goddamn barrage hits some more than others. Some acquiesce for the sake of peace, but it will not end if they do; because once someone gets free art, or fiction, they’ll demand again and again and again...

- - -

And as you can imagine, like a ceaseless cascade of waterfall over a cliff-face, eventually it erodes the joy, the fun, the creativity of your art or writing, or any of the other artistic abilities (e.g. gifsets, photomanips, videos, animations, etc.)

But the reality is, these groups (plus the whole gamete of other creative types out there) are putting time, effort and skill into making something; whether it’s free or a commission, and you need to respect that.

So please, be kind to the people who are putting their abilities out there, often entirely free, for the sake of enjoying something they love with the rest of the fandom. Respect them, don’t demand, and remember that a comment on what you enjoyed about their work can mean the world of encouragement.

Thank you.

#long post #stop fucking pulling this shit #fight me #i have two fists and no mercy

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animesavior · 8 years ago

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“Even an adventurous crew like this one deserves a calm and relaxing day now and then. How many years…no, how many decades has it been since I could just sit around and take an afternoon nap in the sun without a care in the world? While I wondered the seas alone, I would lay my head down, not knowing if it was day or night, and dream of my long lost comrades…and Laboon. However it was precious little solice for when I awoke the fleeting joy became a press of loneliness. Yet, what could I do but repeat the cycle again. In those days I could find peace neither in slumber, nor in my waking hours. But now, if I listened carefully…I can hear my new friends all around me. I know I died and I am now nothing but bones but…I’m so very happy to still be alive. […] I’ve no doubt that this time of quiet will soon be replaced by the roaring sounds of adventure, a prospect I welcome wholeheartedly. But now, it’s a moment to rest one’s bones. Laboon, it seems that the next time we meet, I’ll have quite a few stories to share, old friend. Until then, I’ll keep dreaming of you, and I hope you’ll keep waiting on me.”

- Brook, One Piece (Ep. 384)

The Toonami Trending Rundown for March 18-19, 2017. A big milestone for the better cartoon show this week as Toonami celebrates its 20th anniversary. And it would be a night to remember with some great moments including Jack getting chased down by the Daughters of Aku, and while trying to excape he kills one of them, learning that Aku’s loyalists aren’t all just “nuts and bolts”. Meanwhile, Beerus ramps up his power, hoping to see the full potential of Goku’s SSJ God abilities, and we end off Toonami’s current run of One Piece as Brook settles down and attempts to fit in as the newest member of the Strawhats.

On Twitter, Toonami and every show would successfully trend in the US and Worldwide during their respective East Coast airings, in addition to both #Toonami20, which was a hashtag used to commemorate the 20th anniversary, as well as #SandWhaleAndMe, as Toonami showcased the first part of the 5 part miniseries by Production IG. In addition, being One Piece’s final night, fans would make sure that show would go out with a bang, as #OnePiece would trend from the duration of its East Coast airing to its West Coast airing. Samurai Jack would also produce a character trend for the very first time with Aku, as 50 years on and after destroying all the known portals back to the past and hoping he would eventually die of old age to no avail, Aku has pretty much lost all motivation to try and kill Jack.

On Tumblr, both Samurai Jack and Dragon Ball Super would reach its trending list in addition to Tokyo Ghoul, as Toonami showcased a promo for its upcoming debut next week.

Finally, in a first for Toonami programming in the social media scene, both Samurai Jack and Dragon Ball Super would make the top two positions on Nielsen Social’s top 5 most talked about shows on Twitter and Facebook, the 16th and 17th time a Toonami show has made it onto the list since we started recording this feat. This would also be the second week in a row for Samurai Jack to reach the list in addition to becoming the 2nd time a show has reached the #1 spot, meanwhile this would be the 9th time in the 11 weeks it has aired so far that Super has made it onto the list.

Among some of the other features to commemorate the 20th anniversary, Adult Swim along with Titmouse created this short film titled "Exquisite Corpse". You can check it out below.

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As the Spa Island mini-arc comes to a close, it pains for me to say that unfortunately due to flagging ratings, high costs in airing the show further, and perhaps a need to shake things up programming wise, among other things, Toonami has pulled the plug on One Piece’s run on the better cartoon show.

Initially as One Piece made its grand return to the block in 2013, things were great as Toonami enjoyed great ratings and social media buzz for the show alongside its Big 3 Shonen Jump counterparts in Bleach and Naruto. But as time marched on, ratings began to lag for multiple reasons, and by 2015 One Piece fell all the way down the schedule from 1am all the way to 2:30am and eventually being the lowest rated show on the block besides the rerun (and sometimes even being out-beaten by the rerun). At that point, the signs were probably there that the show’s days as a Toonami show were numbered. Granted, despite its shortcomings ratings wise, we all thought it was at least doing well enough to stay, and it did for a while, though we know now that it was no longer the case.

Quite a few factors likely played a role in One Piece’s demise. Some blame One Piece starting on episode 207 instead of episode 1, as newer viewers didn’t get to experience the events in those earlier episodes. To use a recently aired example, when Brook recalled his days with Laboon, Toonami never got to showcase the Strawhats encounter with Laboon, so the emotional aspects could’ve been lost with some people. Meanwhile, some blame the show not being able to catch up with the pace of the most recent dub episodes, being aired once a week. And although this is subjective, others have also commented that the show’s “goofy” feel and artstyle, for lack of a better term, could make it hard for some to take the show seriously, especially in regards to the show’s emotional moments.

Of course, One Piece’s sheer length may have played a part in its eventual demise. The show is presently up to 782 episodes and counting, which is getting right up there among the lengths of soap operas, and combined with the franchise having some heavy continuity, no doubt that some have been turned away because of the commitment. I myself was even turned away initially into One Piece because of this until Toonami’s airing got me interested. And even for those that are committed, with Toonami so far behind from where Funimation is at with the dub, much less where Japan is at (we ended at 384), along with the show only airing once a week and the show itself having no end in sight, it would have been near-impossible to catch up. Hence, this is why many decided to binge watch the series at their own pace instead, and this would show in the ratings.

And on that same note, there has been a bit of a backlash lately in regards to the amount of long runners on Toonami. When JoJo came on late last year, every single show on at the time save for Gundam and the 3am rerun would last on Toonami for at least two years. That doesn’t really give much room for a turnaround to get newer shows unless an expansion is in the cards, which we are seeing with the 11pm timeslot. While long runners do help with consistency to the block’s ratings, and no doubt the reason these shows are long is because of their immense popularity and demand for more, it doesn’t help if the popularity and overall buzz of said shows wear down. Both One Piece and Naruto have had some ratings fatigue as of late for various reasons, which is partly why they ended up at the back end of the block for the last few years. Meanwhile Hunter x Hunter fans have pleaded to Jason and the crew to keep that show at least at 1:30am for fear that it could suffer the same fate. And while JoJo’s and Gundam are doing fine for now, we feel that they could be doing much better. If you want Stardust Crusaders and IBO Season 2 to come to town, giving those shows the ratings support will help.

While Jason has promised more shows are still to come, possibly with expansion, but in regards to One Piece, it might have opened the can of worms in regards to cost considerations. With the direction things were going, One Piece would likely have been pushed to 3am or later to make way for those new shows. With most fans too tired to watch past 3am unless they used a DVR, the programming department at Toonami likely unable to pay high costs for a show so late, and Funimation and Toei likely unable to lower the renewal costs, Toonami decided it just wasn’t worth it anymore.

The problem could also go all the way back to the show’s days when 4Kids was the distributor. First impressions can often play a big role if a show becomes a smash hit or not, and with 4Kids poor handling of the show, fans were understandably turned off, and those first impressions among newer viewers were squandered. When Funimation took control, it would be too little, too late, as Toonami cancellation and the days of CN Real was upon the channel, and One Piece had to go elsewhere to gain its fanbase. One Piece would eventually rebound and gain immense popularity through other means and eventually another Toonami airing, but in comparison, the likes of DBZ and Naruto each received much better first impressions from both the Toonami and general audiences and both franchises currently benefit from massive nostalgic fanbases to this day in the US, something which we are seeing with the continued success of Dragon Ball Super and the hype for the upcoming Boruto series respectively.

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In the end, for one reason or another, One Piece just never caught on among the Toonami and general American audiences as much as we hoped and various factors each played a role in One Piece’s hopes of staying on Toonami unsustainable. Combined with the demand for more variety from viewers and the need to keep Toonami growing overall, it was no surprise that changes had to be made. While I’m sure One Piece’s Toonami viewers and even the Toonami crew themselves did everything they could to make the show work, there just wasn’t enough support to realistically keep the ship going without Toonami running into significant problems both financing and timeslot wise at some point. And as we all know, the growth and health of Toonami as a whole is much more important than one single show.

While One Piece is a beloved show to many of us, and will likely continue to be for years to come, the reality is that Toonami just can’t continue airing a show if millions of people don’t agree and watch it week after week on the better cartoon show. While the One Piece fandom is anything but a vocal minority, with millions continuing to enjoy the manga and the show on streaming sites and disc sales around the world, in regards to Toonami viewership, even Jason DeMarco himself has mentioned that “One Piece fans have been far more vocal about the show on the internet than they are focused on watching the show on TV”.

And as Jason himself has regularly said, television is a democracy and people vote with their eyeballs. It’s the reason why Naruto Shippuden, despite having the same issues with not being able to catch up with the dub and constant complaints about filler, wasn’t put on the chopping block as well, for now at least. It’s the reason why the likes of Attack on Titan and Sword Art Online have been big hits both inside and outside Toonami’s reach despite discontent from the vocal minority of detractors (as we have seen with the success of Ordinal Scale in theaters for instance), and will both likely be back at some point to air their respective sequels. And it’s a big reason Toonami mainly focuses on action oriented anime and cartoons, as the likes of slice of life, sports anime, and live action, while big on other outlets, were pretty much flops when Toonami experimented with such shows. In this case, while there were plenty of eyeballs watching, there just weren’t enough watching per week to keep One Piece running much longer.

Consider this to be a big wakeup call to fans of every current and prospective show on the block, that if a show makes it on Toonami, it has to pull through when it comes to both Nielsen ratings and overall buzz. If the show does well, all will be good as we’ll get to enjoy the show in its entirety, and if a sequel were to come, the odds will be good if not all but assured that the show will return. If not, changes will be made and another show will get its chance instead, as we saw with One Piece leaving and Tokyo Ghoul on its way. It doesn’t matter what the critics think of a show, or what your opinion might be. The moral of this story is that if you truly want a show to stay, continue to watch and enjoy, but don’t be complacent and not watch thinking it will be there forever. As the old saying goes, you don’t know what you got until it is gone.

Personally as a fan who got into One Piece via Toonami, it is pretty disappointing to ponder what could have been for this franchise, but what it did do for Toonami social media wise is one worth celebrating. During its nearly 4 year presence, One Piece would use its opportunity the best it could and no doubt fans made sure their voices were heard. The hashtag #OnePiece would trend in some capacity a grand total of 137 weeks including 19 times during the Long Ring Long arc, 29 times during the Water 7 arc, 39 times during Enies Lobby (including a marathon during Christmas 2015 showcasing the finale of that arc), 11 times during the Lovely Land arc, 35 weeks during Thriller Bark, and was a perfect 3 for 3 during the Spa Island Arc.

The show also produced 26 different character/in-show content trends, some of which occurred multiple times, including 19 characters (Arlong, Brook, Chopper (including Chopper Man), Franky, Foxy, Kuma, Laboon, Luffy (Including Afro Luffy), Nami, Robin, Olvia, Sanji, Saul, Shanks, Sniper King, Spandam, Usopp, and Zoro), 2 attacks, (Buster Call and Third Gear), 1 response to an event (RIP Merry), and 3 story arc names (Enies Lobby, Impel Down (Which we never got to), and Water 7).

No doubt One Piece is a part of that great legacy Toonami has made that made millions of people into anime fans and for their respective success, Toonami owes a lot for One Piece, and One Piece owes a lot to Toonami. Unfortunately, things weren’t going as well as we all hoped and Toonami decided it was best to part ways. While no show can be able to fully replace One Piece, we do hope you continue to support the block going forward or at least the shows you enjoy as it continues to showcase great anime to American audiences. Sometimes change can be good and if Toonami can use this opportunity to keep bringing in new shows, the loss of this show will at least sting less. And who knows, we could be seeing the next generation of top tier anime air here soon enough that could inspire fans both new and old like One Piece did for us.

That all being said, we have seen time and again that nothing is impossible for the better cartoon show and perhaps one day One Piece could return to Toonami stronger than ever. We saw it when Toonami first brought back One Piece back in 2013, and who’s to say it can’t happen again when conditions improve? For now, if you want to continue watching One Piece, check out the DVDs/BluRays and Manga as well as checking out new episodes on FunimationNow and Crunchyroll. Funimation is presently hard at work with dubbing season 9, and while Toonami won’t be there to commemorate One Piece’s future milestones at least for now, the franchise’s popularity looks a lot stronger than before Toonami joined the fray. It will be interesting to see where the One Piece franchise goes in the years ahead as the quest to find One Piece continues.

So on behalf of the Toonami Faithful, bon voyage, Strawhats and thanks for the memories. We’ll miss you.

Starting out as a mere idea by Mike Lazzo, Sean Atkins, and Jason DeMarco, Toonami has grown over the past 20 years to be a major phenomenon and has played a major role for why Anime is as popular as it is today. I personally started watching Toonami when I was a young kid around 1998-ish when I stumbled into Cartoon Network one afternoon as Toonami was airing Sailor Moon. While back then, it was strange to be enjoying a “girl show”, I was instantly hooked, and along with DBZ, the ThunderCats, and later Gundam Wing, I became intrigued and later became a fan with what would we all know today as anime.

We may or may not have realized it at the time, but Toonami turned out to be something special as it helped jumpstart a golden age for the anime industry as many shows were created and/or brought over to American shores partly in response to Toonami’s success. Of course, we reaped the benefits of this golden age, as we were introduced to a plethora of both anime and action cartoons, many of which we have grown to love, and some we still enjoy today. The four dark years when Toonami was off the air aside, the block was, is, and likely will continue to be a “gateway drug” for millions of anime fans, and perhaps more to come.

What makes Toonami successful, at least to me, is that it is not necessarily one show. What makes up Toonami is the 9 great action anime/cartoons that it presently airs now, plus the hundreds of shows that it aired in the past, as well as the many shows that will make its way to the block in the future (whether there are new franchises or sequels to popular Toonami shows), not to mention the packaging and adventures of TOM and SARA. From its smash hits to its underrated gems, Toonami has always had something for everyone. Add in the occasional music video, movie or animated short, game review, or other special feature Toonami has every week, and you got something millions tune in or DVR weekly every Saturday.

If Toonami taught us anything these past few years, it’s that nothing really is impossible. A few years ago, it was thought to be impossible that Samurai Jack would get a 5th season. Fast-forward to today, and here we are, talking about what’s next. Hell, Toonami returning was a miracle in itself. While many have sought a return during its hiatus, the dream never became realistic until Mike Lazzo and the Adult Swim crew decided to run Toonami and some of its past shows during April Fool’s Day 2012 and possibly see if there was interest. The response was a clear yes, and so here we are today seeing Toonami continuing to do as they do best.

And of course, the future looks bright for the better cartoon show in the months and years ahead. With Samurai Jack’s return continuing to impress and FLCL’s return also on the horizon, more original productions might be on the pipelines ahead. New acquisitions will also await, whether they are smash hits or underrated gems, each hoping to see their full potential in the west, including Tokyo Ghoul which begins next week. Previously successful Toonami shows including Attack on Titan, Blue Exorcist, One Punch Man and Sword Art Online among others will be among those to watch for in regards to Toonami potentially airing their respective sequels at some point ahead. And of course, barring any other dips in popularity and cancellations, the likes of Dragon Ball, Gundam, Hunter x Hunter, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Naruto each looks to continue to impress Toonami audiences for months if not years to come. Of course, if you have anything in mind for Toonami to show, we always recommend you sending your show requests on appropriate outlets (ex. their Facebook and tumblr message boxes). You may never know if millions of other folks, the distributors, and the Toonami crew will agree and try to make it happen.

The next 20 years or so will be one to look forward to and we could see a lot more to come ahead. And if you ask me, the success of Toonami, its partners, and even its competitors will all play a key role for the future prospects of anime and action cartoons in the west in the years ahead. Could we see a second season of another beloved Toonami show? Further expansion? A comeback for movies? The next anime boom if it’s not happening already? Or could it all just come crashing down in the end? Nothing is certain, but nothing is impossible, and we could be seeing some great things ahead. Of course, it takes two to tango, and if you do wish to keep Toonami going for another 20 years, keep supporting Toonami and the anime industry overall as always.

We continue on creating that legacy this Saturday, as Tokyo Ghoul will make its long awaited debut on the better cartoon show at 1am, while Gundam Unicorn will showcase its second half at its new time at 2am, and Naruto Shippuden will continue on at 2:30am. On behalf of the Toonami Faithful, thanks for all the memories, and here’s to many more.

Legend: The shows listed are ordered based on their appearance on the schedule. Show trends are listed in bold. The number next to the listed trend represents the highest it trended on the list (not counting the promoted trend), judging only by the images placed in the rundown. For the Twitter tweet counts, the listed number of tweets are also sorely based on the highest number shown based on the images on the rundown.

United States Trends:

Toonami/#Toonami [#4]

#Toonami20 [#1]

#SamuraiJack [#1]

Aku (From Samurai Jack) [#2]

#DragonBallSuper (Also during the primetime presentation) [#1]

#SandWhaleAndMe [#1]

#DBZKai [#1]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#2]

#GundamUnicorn [#1]

#HunterXHunter [#1]

#Shippuden [#2]

#OnePiece (Also during the West Coast airing) [#1]

#GhostInTheSHell [#1]

Worldwide Trends:

#Toonami20 [#2]

#SamuraiJack [#3]

Aku (From Samurai Jack) [#4]

#DragonBallSuper [#7]

#SandWhaleAndMe [#8]

#DBZKai [#8]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [#8]

#GundamUnicorn [#7]

#HunterXHunter [#8]

#Shippuden [#8]

#OnePiece [#1]

#GhostInTheSHell [#7]

Tweet Counts:

Toonami [13.9k tweets]

#Toonami [7,729 tweets]

#SamuraiJack [10.2k tweets]

#DragonBallSuper [4,800 tweets]

#DBZKai [1,767 tweets]

#JoJosBizarreAdventure [2,027 tweets]

#HunterXHunter [2,259 tweets]

#OnePiece [6,100 tweets]

Tumblr Trends:

#tokyo ghoul

#samurai jack

#dragon ball super

Notes and Other Statistics:

#Toonami: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @blumspew and @adultswim started the trend in the US.

#DBZKai: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @FUNimation started the trend in the US.

#HunterXHunter: @WhoTrendedIT reported that @VIZMedia started the trend in the US.

Special thanks to @coreymbarnes, @jmb70056, @TheNextHokage and others I forgot to mention for spotting some of the trends on this list.

Eat Up. Only Toonami on [adult swim] on Cartoon Network.

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aerisse-remade · 8 years ago

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literally just me complaining abt vocaloid/its fanbase

ok i got a good starting point so its Time to Complain

before i start complaining im just gonna say that some of these were taken from my ooooold pet peeves posts on tvs that i made in like. 2013. so if you see those now, keep in mind that i may no longer be bothered by certain things or ive just become less harsh in general. but some of them i still agree w obv. also i dont mind if anyone who actually reads this wants to add on to this post or to start a discussion (pls do!!!! i love hearing others thoughts) but pls either send me an ask, an im, or just reply bc i dont want to have a long chain of reblogs

also sorry again @ app users

i really cant stand certain headcanons, but the absolute worst ones are that the male vocaloids are huge perverts or even pedophiles....or any vocaloid in general. leave them alone!!!! why do u hate certain vocaloids so much that youd call them a fucking pedophile??? pedophilia isnt cute or funny, its fucking disgusting. and this might be very presumptuous of me but if you hc any vocaloid as a pedo you're disgusting too. [also if any pedos are reading this (bc i know some of you freaks go into the search) if you interact with this post or me at all, you'll be reported and blocked]

i also hate when ppl call any vocaloid (or ANY character for that matter) shotas or lolis. bc yknow...those terms are rooted in pedophilia, and once again pedophilia isnt cute or funny. like this literally isnt up for debate, if you try to defend that shit you'll also be reported and blocked

listen....i know vocaloids dont have canon sexualities so all hcs are valid...but when ppl hc luka or mayu as straight i die. i mean i hc most of the vocaloids being lgbt+ but especially luka and mayu. luka is like the biggest lesbian and mayu is also gay af

this one might be controversial?? idk but it kinda bothers me when ppl take a japanese vocaloid, change their skin colour, and then say theyre poc now. like japanese ppl arent white so werent they poc before?? like im genuinely confused. is the term poc for nonwhite ppl in general or specifically for darker skinned nonwhite ppl? bc ive seen both ways. also the issue here isnt making a pale vocaloid darker (bc im all for that!!! we need darker vocas) in general, its just when ppl imply that japanese ppl are white ig. (if you cant tell already im white, so if i said smth wrong, please correct me!)

i hate when ppl whitewash leon and lola. like ik they dont have official designs, but they are still canonically black (not to mention the whitewashed designs for them are ugly af....especially white, blond hair + blue eyes leon). also i dont like whitewashed merli, wil, bruno, and clara either

speaking of bruno and clara, i hate how even their official designs were whitewashed due to racists complaining abt their old designs!!! like. ppl literally sent death threats to the artist of their original designs

i hate pikos design. its not even anything in particular, his whole design is just ugly imo

i hate yohioloids boxart. i absolutely cant stand the way the artist drew his face, it looks like that generic straight girl fujoshi anime artstyle. i hate it lmao

this one also might be a big no-no but i honestly cant stand the western producers' fanbases? i cant even get into most of the western producers works. i like ghost as a person (they seem pretty cool), and i like their instrumentals, but i dont like the vocals/rhythm of most of their songs? and their fanbase is just....annoying. they treat ghost like a god or smth (which they themself is uncomfortable with!!) and idk basically im just tired of seeing ppl shit themselves over communications. this isnt supposed to be hate either, im just genuinely confused nd tired. also circusP's fanbase is also annoying bc i feel like his songs appeal to edgy 12 yr olds (like circus monster and insanity) who constantly spam his comments sections with "lol im psycho too!!!". i havent looked into his comments sections for a while now so if this has changed then im glad ig

when ppl call galacos hair rainbow....like, blonde, brown, yellow, red, and blue dont make a rainbow. mayus hair is rainbow tho!!

speaking of mayus hair, it bothers me when ppl forget she has rainbow hair?? especially fanartists. i understand if you know she has rainbow hair but you didnt include it bc its hard to colour in. its ok. but like....straight up forgetting?? im confused how do yall not notice it

also when ppl think mayus bday is December 5th. like yeah its her release date but her canonical bday is may 6th. pls im so tired of ppl saying "happy bday mayu!!!" on dec 5th but nobody saying shit on her actual bday....

also this might b petty but i dont like how most ships involving mayu are het. Let Her Be Gay

when ppl say mayu is a ritsu rip off...,like the only design similarities they have are those little hat things and the piano motif. thats it. also they were designed by the same person (hidari) so ofc theyre gonna have some similarities

this might be elitist of me but when ppl claim to be "vocaloid trash" or hardcore voca fans yet they dont know who unpopular vocas like big al and mew are. also when these same ppl (those who claim to be hardcore fans) cant even name a single producer

recolours and genderbends. u know what im talking abt...,the bs "shion family" or mikuo, luki, etc. theyre boring tbh

also when ppl think kaitos last name is canonically shion....like he doesnt have a last name. same with meiko being sakine. meiko sakine is a fanloid, not the actual voca meiko

obnoxious fangirls/boys in general. yknow, the "lenkun is mine!!! xdddd" kind. pls...,.grow out of that phase already...

ppl who call vy2 roro. or ppl who think thats his canon design. pls im so tired

ppl who think gumi extend/lily/cul/merli/etc look like "sluts". like bye

ppl who draw/make mmd models of voca appends, yet their "append" design is exactly like mikus

ppl who dont source their art or dont source it properly. zerochan and weheartit are not sources.,,,

ppl who complain abt there being "too many vocaloids". like vocaloid isnt even marketed to you, theyre marketed towards music producers lmao. let producers have a wide selection range

ppl who think vocaloid is a weeb thing. like yall will call literally anything japanese weeb shit. like....not all vocaloids are even japanese. and even if they were, smth being japanese nd having anime styled mascots doesnt automatically make it for weebs. vocaloid is a professional software. im so tired of seeing ppl like "omg im such a weeb im listening to vocaloid" or "im reliving my weeb days by listening to vocaloid" or "if u listen to vocaloid ur a weeb" fuck outta here w that bs

now this is a personal thing, but i just cant stand voca crossovers with mlp..,,im so tired of everything being ponified

ppl who hc rin and len as siblings AND ship them. like its fine to ship them if u dont hc them as siblings but if you do....,yall nasty. incest is nasty

i really dont like kailen, kaimi, yuki/kiyoteru, kairin, gakurin, etc. theres more ships i dont like but i'll probably make another post abt that sometime

honestly i dont really care for most f/m amd m/m ships in general? gimme the wlw

ppl who ship the child vocas (ryuto, yuki, una, oliver) with adult vocas without aging them up. i mean even if its aged up its still kinda weird but not aging them at all is Bad

....also heres a super petty and personal one. when ppl say that white ppl cant kin/id with most vocaloids. like some white kid thinking theyre miku is in no way comparable to actual real world racism. as long as theyre not claiming to actually be another race it shouldn't matter. get mad over smth that actually matters lmao

basically just kin drama in general. like its fine to be uncomfortable w doubles but like....dont harrass them or send them hate or anything. let them be

also ppl who take vocaloid at face value and cant have fun. ykno, those ppl who are like "how do yall ship software and make headcanons for them?? get a life lol". like hey. its fun. let us be

theres probably more but i cant think of them rn. if i do think of more i'll just compile them into another post and call it part 2 or smth lmao

#mayu.txt #long post #like. really long #i wanna tag this as vocaloid for organization but i dont want it in the actual tag #so im just gonna write some more tags #bc after the first 5 tags nothing counts/goes into the actual tag #but itll still show up on your blogs tag #so yeah #vocaloid

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dangankinthings · 8 years ago

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Self care for a Seiko who misses their Ruruka, who they had a crush on, and likes sweets, soft things, purple and pink!

macaroons

I’m not sure what it is but macaroons always remind me of Ruruka! So I thought that you might enjoy these, since you said you liked sweets! These are crisp when you first bite into them but they’re chewy on the inside, and they come in raspberry (my personal favourite), vanilla and chocolate!

rock candy

I mean, I’ve included rock candy on many self cares previously but that’s because of how versatile and super yummy they are! They’re always pretty due to the way the rock candy forms in pretty crystals, almost like gems, and this can be bought in pink and purple, like you said you liked!

love hearts

I, well, love(!) Love Hearts, and I see them a lot! If you’re unfamiliar with them, they’re really cute round disks of kinda chalky but still sweet candy, with hearts and little lovely phrases engraved on them, like ‘I Love You’ or ‘Call Me’, etc.! These ones come in little rolls, though I’ve seen them in long rolls before!

plushie

Again, there’s that macaroon theme that always reminds me of Ruruka, so I decided to include this adorable plushie/pillow sort of thing, especially since you said that you enjoy soft things, ehehe!! It looks like a macaroon, of course, and it comes in purple!

pillow

I saw this pillow and immediately thought that it would suit you just fine, dearie! It’s both pink AND purple, two colours that you said you liked, and it keeps the candy theme I’ve had going in this self-care running smoothly, right? It’s a pillow with strawberry and grape Nerds printed on it!

sticker

I know that it’s not a soft item or candy but I felt the need to include this! I really love this artstyle it’s so cute oh my gosh, I think it’d be the perfect reminder or comfort for you, Seiko!! Look at Ruruka’s adorable smile!! Anyhow, it’s a die-cut vinyl sticker as per usual, and you can stick it on any flat surface you’d like!

I hope that you like these items that I’ve picked out for you, Seiko!! If you’d like any changes or anything just ask and I’ll be more than happy to get that sorted out for you, sweetie!! ^^ - Mod Ibuki!

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recentanimenews · 5 years ago

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Does Boruto’s Time Skip Arc Fit the Tone of the Original Naruto Anime?

Over the course of 2/3rds of this year, some of us on the Crunchyroll Features team embarked on an incredible journey known as THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH. We went through all 220 episodes of Naruto and got to see everything from incredible fights to a whole lot of filler. For someone like me, it was a fun way to watch a series I completely missed out on since by the time I stopped watching anime around 2003, Naruto really hadn’t become the popular juggernaut it’d eventually become.

Since the Rewatch, the creators of BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS clearly were reading along and thought, we should totally do something that fits into this very specific feature. This new time skip arc of Boruto was intriguing to me as someone who’s only watched Naruto and not ventured past that, especially with the idea if they can recapture the style, feel, and storytelling of a series that had its last episode over ten years ago. So, with Naruto still fresh in my mind, is this new arc going to be reminiscent of the main story or more in line with a filler arc?

Coming to Boruto with very little knowledge of what’s happened in the series and everything else that transpired in Shippuden, it’s a bit intimidating to dive in considering I’m missing over 600 episodes of content. Boruto actually seems to understand that there might be people like me coming to this arc who aren’t following along with the current product. You get a good mix of seeing folks you’d remember who are now older. That included me exclaiming, “Choji, you look old!” Plus, you get a good introduction to Boruto and how he is as a character before we get to time warping.

There are some odd things for newcomers such as Naruto being cold to Boruto and Sasuke no longer being the poster child for Hot Topic, but it’s nothing that is confusing in any sort of way. Boruto also does a decent job of showing off its villain for this arc and explaining their motivations and powers pretty quickly, despite them clearly being around previously. Once Sasuke and Boruto find themselves back in the Hidden Leaf Village of the past, that’s where the show really showcases that it knows what it’s doing. Since that happens at the end of an episode, Boruto immediately lets you, the viewers, know you’re going back to the past by switching to the classic Naruto next episode music.

The changing of music continues throughout the rest of the arc as now all of the backing tracks are ones you’d constantly hear in Naruto. It’s such a smart decision that they could have not made and instead stuck with the Boruto soundtrack. Hearing those older tracks gives you a nice warm feeling, and it’s legitimately true nostalgia—which is weird for me to say since I’ve only just watched Naruto, but it still works all the same. It’s as if you’ve unearthed this unseen Naruto arc that never aired during its initial run from 2002-2007. If you weren’t paying attention to the screen and were just listening, you’d think this was actually Naruto.

The artstyle doesn’t really change from how Boruto has seemed to look previously, yet the younger versions of Naruto, Sakura, and everyone else looks the same as you’d remember them. Their designs fit in with the style that Boruto uses and doesn’t hinder or hurt these older characters in any sort of way. The only knocks I’d have against it is that the animation doesn’t seem to be as experimental or wild as Naruto could be at times, although there haven’t been any big fights for it to really do that. Also, I kind of with they’d switched from 16:9 to 4:3 for when they’re in the past, but I get that’d probably be a tough switch considering everybody involved in production is so used to creating shows at that aspect ratio now.

Now, let’s talk about this arc’s story since that’s the crux of the whole thing. The abilities of Urashiki that they described certainly make this whole story possible in a way that’s believable, and it’s placed just before the Sasuke Retrieval Arc to ensure Sasuke doesn’t run into himself. Sasuke basically putting the rules of Back to the Future in effect so Boruto doesn’t mess up the future is funny, and there’s even a moment where you get worried the show might take one of the plot points of that film series. The writing seems pretty good throughout as well, but then you have to see aspects like Sexy Jutsu again which is still groan inducing. If you put kid Naruto into something, that’s gotta show up apparently. We can only hope this arc doesn’t end with a fart joke or with some of the bad ways Naruto would try to implement humor.

All of the other trios show up as well which gives you a good chance to remember how these characters were as kids. Obviously this arc hasn’t completed yet, but if we don’t get some ridiculous Boruto versus Rock Lee encounter, I’ll be very disappointed. It would have been easy to just make this an easy nostalgia cash in arc, but the writing thus far has captured what made those early Naruto arcs so fun. The determination of Naruto, his ability to try his best despite being racked with the guilt of Sasuke leaving, and allowing Boruto to see this new side of his dad that it seems he’s never witnessed before. Despite this arc not having Naruto as the person leading it, he’s still a big proponent that it keeps the soul of the original Naruto and gives you new character moments with someone who’s been well developed for almost twenty years in anime.

Through six episodes, this doesn’t really have the same feeling that even the best filler arcs of Naruto had. This is certainly much more in line with the adapted source material, since we’re not meeting characters and having them immediately not mean anything. Although, this actually has the same problem that Naruto filler had in that we know that Naruto can’t have anything bad happen to him. Unless Boruto is going to go off in a completely shocking direction, he’s not going to die, get gravely injured, or get any affliction that affects his future self. If that does end up happening, you’d presume to think it’d get solved in some sort of way. Even with that caveat, it really doesn’t take away from what this arc has shown thus far.

This Boruto time skip arc made me realize how much I’d missed young Naruto’s adventures with his pals and all the shenanigans he’d get into. It’s fun to see him be a little turd at times, but still have that heart of gold that makes his story so appealable. I went into this thinking that Boruto might make this a bit tough to follow, but it’d be at least fun, and it’s exceeded my expectations. I am very excited to see where this arc goes. For those of you that only have vague memories of Naruto and didn’t go further, haven’t really dived into Boruto, or just want to see the younger versions of these classic characters, it’s safe to say that Boruto has done a great job of recapturing what made the original Naruto a fun ride.

Where are you expecting this time skip arc to eventually lead to? What kind of shenanigans can Boruto and Sasuke get up to with Naruto, Jiraiya, and everyone else? Has this led you to feeling nostalgia for Naruto? Let us kow down in the comments below!

---

Jared Clemons is a writer and podcaster for Seasonal Anime Checkup where he can be found always wanting to talk about Love Live! Sunshine!! or whatever else he's into at the moment. He can be found on Twitter @ragbag.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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that-spider-witch · 5 years ago

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Webcomic Recommendation: Silver Tears

TL;DR: If you, like me, loved Happy Sugar Life for its general themes and were left wanting something similar, I have something for you!

If you are familiar with my blog and the content I enjoy, you might know that I have two very big weaknesses: Cuteness and Horror. They are my aesthetic. Combine the two in a way that doesn’t take away from one or the other, and I’m instantly sold.

One particularly morbid hyperfixation of mine it’s a perfect example of this: The manga Happy Sugar Life, by Tomiyaki Kagisora. It’s about a mentally unstable teenager girl (Satou) who becomes obsessed with a little girl named Shio. Thinking that this obsession must be “love”, she abducts the child and keeps her locked away on their shared appartment, while also trying to “protect” her from those that search to destroy “their happy sugar life” together. This includes pedophiles and people who are as messed-up in the head as Satou herself, but that also includes Asahi, Shio’s older brother, who just wants to discover what happened to her missing sister and save her.

While the main character was almost completely devoid of morals and the plot itself can seem a little icky, to say the least, I was immediately enthralled by the aesthetics, the pretty artstyle and the psychological horror aspects of the plot. The combination of the cutesy atmosphere and traumatized characters, plus the theme of “children in danger” that I love so much in horror, made me love the story.

A saving grace was that, while Satou’s “romantic” obsession with Shio had pedophilic red flags everywhere (No people, you can call it a “motherly bond” all you want, she still kissed an underage child on the mouth and wanted to marry her. No mother figure on their right mind does that!), their... relationship was strictly non-sexual. Still, when it was over it left me hungry for a similar story, one with similar themes but preferably without the child grooming.

At SmackJeeves, main home for nearly all amateur webcomics, I found this little hidden gem titled Silver Tears. And because it’s just three chapters long so far and absolutely no one else is talking about it, I will!

Plot, art and general thoughts under the cut:

Plot

“The 320 year-old vampire Aled Winter finds a severely injured and frightened werewolf child in the middle of the forest. Despite the hateful relations between the vampires and werewolves, Aled chose to save the child's life.”- Plot description on the website.

Silver Tears takes place in a Urban Fantasy world where vampires and werewolves exist alongside humanity. Elves and demons are also mentioned by some characters, with the latter being already implied to having a role on the events behind the plot, but both species have yet to make an appearance.

The plot begins when, after a night of hunting, our main character Aled and his friend Chika spot a mysterious young man wearing a hoodie and with his face covered in blood. Fearing that the guy could be a Revenant (A vampire who has lost their human soul and has become a feral monster), Chika goes after him before he hurts anyone else while Aled goes the opposite way to find the prey the suspected Revenant left behind― And if it is still alive, kill it. Leaving no human witnesses seems to be the modus operandi of vampires in this world, at least when it comes to Revenants.

What he finds instead is a werewolf child, no older than four years, who has been left for dead after the hooded vampire sexually molested him. Despite the very strong discrimination between werewolves and vampires, Aled can’t bring himself to kill the poor boy and decides to rescue him. After he and Chika escape the hooded man (Who is shown to be a humanoid abomination of sorts that leaves even Chika, who is stated to be 2026 years old and a “Queen” of some kind, terrified), he takes the boy back with him to the home he shares with some other vampires and decides to take care of him, despite being told that if it is found out that he has a werewolf child in his custody (and a severely scarred one at that), it would change the already hateful relationship between vampires and werewolves for the worse, and both sides would clearly end-up wanting his head on a plate.

Meanwhile, the hooded man is still on the loose...

Who is that monster? Where and how did he got this boy? Where is the boy’s family? And who exactly is this boy to begin with?

My opinions:

On her notes, the author mentions that she was inspired to draw this comic after writing an essay against the sexual exploitation of children, and it shows. So if you are fearing that this is a comic about a twisted “romance” between a young adult and a child, rest easy because I don’t really think the plot is going on that direction.

Everything else though,like the ever present feeling of dread, the wholesome cuteness of the poor child who’s the center of this whole mess, the mentally disturbed characters, the grey morality... This webcomic has everything I loved in Happy Sugar Life and some more. If I were to describe this comic from the three chapters we got so far, it would be “Gender-bender Happy Sugar Life with fantasy and without pedophilia”. And I don’t know about you, but that’s a complete win for me!

There this enthralling mystery surrounding the two main characters: Aled and the child (Nicknamed by Aled as “Ulv”, since he can’t tell him his own name because of what could be selective muteness, if he had one to begin with). We don’t know absolutely nothing about Ulv’s past, and since he doesn’t seem to be able to talk he can’t give any important information himself. Aled, meanwhile, seems to have been a victim of rape himself in the past, if his shadowy flashbacks are any indication. In any case, he doesn’t take Ulv’s situation lightly, and we are shown that he is willing to kill to keep him safe.

The gray morality is strong on this one: While our main characters are shown to be seemingly good people, they also don’t think much on human life or, in some cases, the lives of even those of their own kind. As an example, when Aled and Chika leave some unnamed human guy unconscious in an alley after feeding from him, When Chika questions if it’s okay to just leave him there, since he could die from the blood-loss and the cold, Aled just hand-waves it and says that he doesn’t think so, but that “no one would miss him” if he did. Maybe his family would, but no one else. Chika accepts this, and they keep moving. The dude is never mentioned again. And that’s just the completely spoiler-free example I can think of right now.

All in all, the plot and the characters have been really interesting so far, and I can’t wait to learn more about them and the strange and scary world they live in.

The Art

If the image above wasn’t any indication, the artstyle the comic uses is very manga, even if the strips are still read like a Western webcomic. Said artstyle can get a little amaterur-ish in some panels, and sometimes characters look like they came from the pages of some “How To Draw Manga” book.

Don’t let that fool you, though. While the author admits that she still need to practice some things, the art can get really, really pretty. The body horror, while not Junji Ito-level of creepy, it’s still very well done, and I can’t think of any page of the comic so far that was “bad” or anything like that. The author puts a lot of love into her art, and that love shines on the final product. Some of the pages and panels look like they came from an actual manga.

LOOK AT HOW PRETTY THAT IS: The wolf’s eye, the creepy smiling shadows.. Just, gorgeous.

General thoughts:

I love this webcomic so far. The plot, the characters, the art... Everything.

I recommend everyone to give this comic a chance. And if the author is reading this: Please, keep up the good work. You are doing great.

#Silver Tears (webcomic)#silver tears #webcomic #urban fantasy #manga recommendation #webcomic recommendation #happy sugar life #fantasy #horror #vampires #werewolves

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respawninguk-blog · 8 years ago

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Wow…The sun is too bright for me…I think after spending the last month absorbed into Persona 5, something inside me clicked; an addiction of sorts, a lust, a sort of urge to explore more of the Shin Megami Tensei universe, through any means possible – Especially given that after over 150 hours of painstaking, mask-ripping, Reaper-slaying trauma through my first and second full playthroughs of Persona 5, I missed out on that glittering Platinum trophy by missing one request.

*Insert the sad trombone cue here*

Shin Megami Tensei, first released on the 3DS in 2013 is the fourth numbered title in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, with many comparing it to it’s numbered predecessor, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (Or Lucifer’s Call if you’re here in the EU) to pick apart it’s pro’s and con’s.

Story

SMT IV (Or just SMT4 to keep it short’n’snappy) is a turn-based JRPG set in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado. No, not the pocky sticks of the same name (Although I am a sucker for ’em)! You fill the role of [INSERT YOUR NAME HERE] (Canonically named ‘Flynn’), an 18-year old teenage boy from the nearby village of Kiccigiorgi attending a coming-of-age event known as the “Gauntlet Rite”, a sacred and ancient ceremony where the holy monks and samurai of Mikado present a legendary gauntlet to the 18-year old citizens of the county to determine it’s next wielder/s…

You attend this rite with your childhood friend Issachar, where, lo and behold, you are accepted as one of the gauntlet’s new users, alongside four others – Isabelle, Johnathan, Walter and Navarre; you lead the life of a Samurai Prentice, abandon your old life (And Issachar too; just don’t look too much into his poor puppy-dog eyes, it looks like someone just kicked his puppy), and begin your work defending the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado against some truly…Otherworldly entities.

From here on out, the world is yours to craft through whatever Alignment you choose – These being Law, Neutral and Chaos. Feel like a righteous hero and want to uphold the Samurai code upon all else? Go Law. Feel like an arsehole and want nothing more than to gain total dominance and power? Go Chaos. Or want to just see where the game takes you? Go completely Neutral. Be warned however, that if you plan on playing SMT4’s sequel, SMT4: Apocalypse straight after SMT4, you may want to go for the Neutral Route.

Gameplay

Now, let me begin this review by just saying this. If you’re coming straight from Persona, and have never dabbled into an SMT title before, then be warned:

This game will KICK. YOUR. ARSE. …Multiple times, of course.

Similar to the Soulsbourne games, you will die a heck of a lot even during the tutorial sections – In fact, SMT IV is known for it’s recklessly hard tutorial, and first 2-5 hours. Prepare to grind, fuse and pray to the almighty various deities above to be able to survive these sections – Planning and coverage here are your two greatest allies, as having a demon for each element and a spell for every circumstance truly cannot be handy enough.

The gameplay in SMT4 serves as a natural evolution of SMT’s Press Turn system, seen in previous games such as Nocturne and Digital Devil Summoner – You have a party of 4, being you and 3 demons, and any supporting characters you may have (These guys however are under AI control); each of your party members get a single turn, where you can perform a single action – Hitting an enemy’s weakness, or getting a critical hit gives you a second turn, increased stats, and more damage output once per character per battle phase; if you’ve played Persona 5, it’s pretty much the same as the Once More system used there if it seems I’m overcomplicating this.

The world is usually traversed in two forms – The overworld is commonly navigated using a sort of Visual Novel-esque location list, which can get kind-of confusing with more complex areas, whereas Dungeons and Demon Domains are navigated on foot, in fully explorable, player-controlled 3D spaces. Random encounters work here exactly the same as in Persona, or other such titles like Spectrobes, with you getting a quick bit of damage off on enemies if you attack them first, and vice versa. One thing, however, that you’ll quickly find is that you will need to resort to two things to progress through the game:

A) DLC quests B) Grinding like a mad bastard

This is where the game halts to a complete stop, as you find yourself more often than not curbstomped by random encounters rather than progressing at a regular, maintainable pace – DLC quests are relatively easy, and offer a crapton of EXP, however grinding takes absolutely ages, and can really put a roadblock in your way.

Trying to find your way and understand what you need to do can also be a bit of a challenge, and can more often than not make you want to turn off your 3DS in pure rage – More time should’ve been invested into something as simple as a little icon to say “Hey, you might want to check this place out!!”…

Visuals

Now, this is where I get a bit…Conflicted. Overall, the visual style of SMT4 is good – Menus are responsive and flashy, albeit sometimes difficult to navigate; environments look good on the 3DS, considering what it has to work with, however character models and some of the sprites just look…Bizarre. There seems to be a serious divide between the old SMT artstyles and the new SMT artstyles, presumably through a change in directing artist. You can look at an enemy such as Napaea, and look at it alongside something else such as Medusa and wonder if they’re even meant to be part of the same game.

It’s certainly a bit of a divide, and personally, I would’ve preferred it if they went all-out with either the old style, or the new style. The reason this works for something like Persona is due to the art being translated to 3D space – That is impossible using 2D sprites, since you can VERY easily tell when something has been digitally or hand-drawn, which you can with SMTIV. I even started a little game where I would try to guess if the demon designs were new or old! Try for yourself…

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Other than that though, every other aspect of the game, especially the spells, attacks and ‘execution animations’ are visually stunning, and look great even on the 3DS’s small, low-quality screen.

Soundtrack

Similar to the visuals, the soundtrack has two distinct ‘types’ – Really, REALLY damn good, or really, REALLY damn generic; nearly every single battle theme and some of the overworld themes, however the other half of the overworld themes and dungeon themes just seem so…Generic.

Themes such as the Boss theme (B2), Domain Boss theme (C3) and the standard Battle theme are all god-tier, in my eyes, however don’t expect to be jamming out to something similar to The Days When My Mother Was Here or The Whims of Fate in Persona 5.

Overall, after my first few hours into SMT4, I really am enjoying it – It has a lot of flaws and issues that drag it down, but for a first-timer’s introduction into SMT, it’s pretty good. I just wonder if there is a better place to start than this…

I rate Shin Megami Tensei IV a 7.5 / 10.

Here’s hoping my opinion cultures a bit more the further I get into the game.

Ever since Joe spent over 150 hours in #Persona5, he's been looking for a challenge...Say 'hoy' to #SMT IV!! #3DS Wow...The sun is too bright for me...I think after spending the last month absorbed into Persona 5, something inside me clicked; an addiction of sorts, a lust, a sort of urge to explore more of the Shin Megami Tensei universe, through any means possible - Especially given that after over 150 hours of painstaking, mask-ripping, Reaper-slaying trauma through my first and second full playthroughs of Persona 5, I missed out on that glittering Platinum trophy…

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