#THE STYLE OF THE MANGA IS 80s VIBES AND I LOVE

[meru90]

go for it nakamura!! cover redraws cause i love them sm ;w;

[hoyoversenews]

subscribe to my telegram - t.me/AratakaBattleBeetlesItto o((>ω< ))o

[kandy-sticks-zaza-blogs]

Shows I watch instead of Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss

Pls don't attack me I am autistic pls respect my boundaries

Mixels my fav childhood minisodes about lego characters that learned to work together and their fusion are awesome. Also I understand what Kramer is saying.

3 2 1 Penguins have good bible quotes in the christain kid show I only know Veggietales when I was watching it on YouTube also 4 talking penguins are cool also Kevin is my fav autistic British penguin.

When it came out I got excited when it came out I was waiting for season 2 but it never came I love the cool rubber hose cartoon style in the adult animated show.

I love how it is about cooking and DND anime like Campfire Cooking in another world it’s wholesome,dark,delicious food and amazing animations also I love how the food look tasty and the intro song is a vibe but I wished that they added the missing moments in the manga right to the cutscenes when I’m watching it.The anime turns me into a gay simp fr.

When I first saw Red dwarf on BBC my mom tells me that Red dwarf is her fav childhood show I love how funny the sci-fi series is also the cat slaying in every episodes.

I love watching Bravest Warrior as a pre teen I love how they look like Adventure time but sci-fi Catbug gotta be my fav character.

Scooby doo is my fav when I grew up watching it on my old iPad and watching it on tv what I hate the most is scooby doo mystery incorporated they ruined Scooby doo and Velma relationship Velma loves Scooby doo when she met him as a puppy it’s so adorable I love how Velma treats him as a good friend instead of being jealous of eachother also I hated the Velma show.

I love watching Gravity falls on TV whenever I am on vacation with my family I love watcit everyday since my favourite is Mable cuz she’s like my fr as a kid now I become Robbie but without nobody cuz I never interested in dating. Alex Hirsh the legend who made a successful discontinued amazing 2 seasons show and made a coolest lore about Bill Cipher.

I love watching it since the show came out the year after I was out of the womb and still a baby I love how cool the robots are transformers are a greatest franchise since the 80s I love that the transformers characters are different from the original one like an alternate universe Prowl was my fav when I was a kid.

I love Monkey wrench since it came out I love the funny duo between Beebs and Shrike relationship they are the funny duo in the indie series the stories isn’t rushed and I love Sci-fi genre so much!

[blossomdaaisy]

Some sketches of my favorite boys from 80s manga✨

Last year I watched most of Ranma 1/2 and I loved it!! Ryoga is one of my favorite characters, he has my heart💛

I'm currently reading Kaito Kid and the original style was really nice and gave a different vibe to the story but in a positive way✨

[furbygoblinxiv]

Ok now to be annoying about a completely different flavor of Zelda: That cartoon from the 80s that has aged so poorly I take psychic damage every time I watch it (which has been multiple times (I have problems)). A few months ago when rewatching and being sick of the Link's personality from the show (his best feature is how funny the "Well excuuuuse me, princess" line is) I was like "I wish the quiet kid from the games/art was here instead" and accidentally thought too hard and made an au/rewrite of the cartoon lmao.

Anyways Zelda cartoon au where cryptid boy Link saves the post apocalyptic Hyrule of loz 1 and chills in the castle with cartoon Zelda to defend the triforce pieces that they have while trying to find the last piece before Ganon can find it, stumbling across the sleeping loz 2 Zelda along the way lol. Hijinks ensue as he teaches Zelda the brawns to back up her girlboss and he gets an adventure buddy because its dangerous to go alone and Zelda with her boomerang and crossbow goes hard. I think a monster of the week style plot works for the earlier Zelda games, but an overarching plot could coexist with that since that is kinda how games work lol.

As per usual here are a bunch of slapdash barely related sketches of my ideas with my expanded thoughts below bc I think it'd be fun to share:

I look at the official art of Link being a quiet determined little dude with a backpack of tools and wish that that was represented more. Like look at him! What a guy! Imagine giving a quiet puzzle solving 14 year old a sword, lethal magical weapons, and a wasteland to explore! I would love a show about that! In terms of other characters, swap out that annoying fairy character, put in a Navi clone, at least Navi didn't have a crush on Link🤮. Ganon can stay the same so long as he was always a demon pig and was never a Gerudo man because unlike Nintendo, I do not want to imply that the only prominent man of color in the series has only one big braincell thats just screaming "EVIL" on loop. But! Keep Zelda the same, I love her so much in the cartoon, she's obnoxious in a slay girlboss way, maximum vibes. By virtue of not having a paper thin plot, most other characters that were fine get fixed by proxy.

I think plot wise? It takes place a few years after the first game. Initially, Link saved the royal family and they started rebuilding that area of Hyrule, and Link traveled around to help people. One day, Ganon's minions start making attacks on the castle to steal the triforce pieces back to revive him fully, and a Zelda who greatly admires Links steps up to defend the place. Eventually, Zelda requests Link return to help defend the castle while they search for the mysterious hidden third triforce piece in order to combine the full thing and wish for peace in Hyrule. Link agrees and the hyjinks begin.

IIRC the og Link backstory was that he was the son of the hyrulean queen and the elf king or smth? In the manga? I didn't want him to be hylian royalty but I wanted to keep that cryptid vibe, hence why I have him related instead to the great fairy and the kokiri. He just leaves the forest/cave one day with literally nothing to go save Hyrule, what a chad. I think it'd be funny if people describe Zelda as feral due to how boisterous and headstrong she is, especially out on the field, but Link is the quiet version of wild that you don't notice at first. She is openly intelligent and snarky in comparison to "says 3 lines a day, bombs first and asks questions later, explore under every rock and bush" forest kid Link.

It would be fun though if "rushes into danger" Zelda resonated more with the triforce of power and "solves dungeon puzzles for funsies" Link with the triforce of wisdom, then they both resonated with the triforce of courage upon finding it. idk tho lol

I also think two different young Zeldas coexisting with each other after one awoke from a cursed slumber would be really funny. Like that's gotta be so awkward, especially if one has the fighter girlboss slay up to 11 and the other just woke up from a coma to her family gone and her kingdom destroyed and just kinda wants to read books and drink tea in peace. Imagine being the same age or older than your great (great?) aunt. Or imagine if the old lady Impa nursemaid to Zelda 1 Zelda was the young Impa nursemaid to the Zelda 2 Zelda. Wild.

If I wasn't incapable of remembering to finish writing wips I'd write that series lol. Alas, this is all I can pull for now.

I'd love to call this propaganda to go watch the show but maybe don't because its yikes. This is moreso propaganda for someone to make a Zelda cartoon show instead of the movie that I sense Nintendo is plotting to make. Also, if you've read this far, I should mention I also will probably be posting art from some of my actual long term Zelda aus beyond just expanding on the cartoon, though I may continue to do that if my train of thought continues on these tracks.

[phantasmiafxndom]

Out of all the animes you’ve watch what ones are your favorites

...you know what, you get the serious answer. I used to track my anime watching, so out of the 450+ completed ones on my list, here are some of my top recommendations! (In terms of quality, more so than what I've spent the most time dwelling on.)

. . .

One Piece — I haven't technically watched all of this one, but after falling back into the fandom after an 8-ish year break, I really can't understate the quality. One Piece's story is amazing, and I'm consistently impressed by the author's characters/worldbuilding.

Dominion Tank Police (1988) — I have FEELINGS about the villain in this one... Overall, 80s sci-fi vibes mix with themes of ethical responsibility and societal peacekeeping, and the "don't you just want to go apeshit? :)" protagonist (who's also extremely aromantic-coded) is a hilarious, yet wonderfully earnest little menace!

Kyousougiga — I've been rewatching this one recently, and the sheer detail in every scene is STUNNING. I keep having to pause to mentally scream about the symbolism, and tbh, knowing the plot from my original watch is only improving the experience.

Tekkon Kinkreet — This one's a movie, not a series, but SKLJKHS IT HAUNTS ME. Absolutely chilling, by the time the big plot twists roll around... Beyond that, the overall aesthetic/vibe is impeccable, and the exaggerated, messy art style only adds to that.

Kemonozume — Monster/human forbidden romance with stunning art and a great soundtrack. The plot started out a bit confusing, but all of the scattered story elements came together nicely in the end!

The Tatami Galaxy — The "get your shit together and start enjoying your life" anime. It's plenty good as just a story, but I got some excellent life lessons out of it too. Solid mix of comedy, drama, and charismatic-yet-extremely-bizarre characters interacting.

Monster — Excellent slow-paced, psychological horror packed with ethical dilemmas, traumatic backstories, and so many Extremely Depressed Men. In other words, there's a very good reason why Johan Liebert used to end up on so many "best anime villains" lists.

Paranoia Agent — I have nothing but praise for Satoshi Kon's work, in general, and Paranoia Agent has been my favorite of the ones I've seen so far. Compared to his movies, it really benefits from the extra space for plot development, and the big emotional twist hits hard.

Revolutionary Girl Utena — A true classic. <3 There are enough tumblr essays about this tragic yuri masterpiece that I won't go into detail myself, but yes, it's every bit as good as you've heard.

Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail — The entire Black Lagoon series is excellent, but Roberta is my special girl. Unfortunately, the OAV adaption compresses the manga's version of her arc pretty heavily (and the altered ending is kind of dumb), but I still have to recommend it. Babygirl's breakdown is a REAL mess kjshghs

Claymore — Excellent pseudo-medieval fantasy with badass female characters, lots of body horror, and top-tier monster design. The manga is MUCH better than the anime after a certain point, however.

Kuuchuu Buranko — An episodic series about an eccentric psychiatrist interacting with his troubled patients. The mixed-media animation style and bizarre characters are what sold it for me, along with the exploration of mental health through storytelling tropes.

Cannon Fodder — An artistic short movie that's twenty minutes of aesthetic experience and fascinating worldbuilding implications. I love the vibe, and the "one, long horizontal frame" style is neat.

Flowers of Evil — The art style. The VIBES. The whole thing is incredibly eerie and off-putting, with a plot that's pretty much: "congrats! two shitty teenagers are tearing each other's lives apart!".

[legendsliveon]

May 4th Legends Deals

Happy May 4th Legends fans! Here are some discounts on Legends merch I've found around the Internet. I'm sure this list isn't exhaustive, so please add on anything I may have missed!

Books & Comics Merch

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor book cover shirt - available in Boys (S-XL) at Target for $18.99 and Mens (S-3XL) Target $22.99 (through May 4th) or BoxLunch $21.67 (25% off May 4th & 5th)

BoxLunch also has the cover of Dark Horse Comics' 2013 run of Star Wars available as a shirt in Unisex sizing (S-2XL) for $21.67 (25% off May 4th & 5th)

In odd but cool pieces, we have a shirt from BoxLunch (25% off May 4th & 5th) that features the Hungarian cover art for the novel Han Solo and the Lost Legacy by Brian Daley. The shirt comes in Unisex M-XL, for $21.67,

and a Jaxxon statue for $170 at Gentle Giant (regular $200) discounted May 4th - 8th

TeeTurtle has a shirt on final clearance for $10 that shows Kit Fisto and "a padawan." Logically I know this is probably supposed to be his padawan from TCW, but at least to me it reads more as Bant Eerin, his padawan in the Jedi Apprentice chapter books. The shirt is available in Women's XS-3XL and Men's S-3XL.

Rock Love has their entire Star Wars stock 20% off May 3rd-6th, including this Rancor Tooth necklace for $56 (regular $75) that is arguably Tenel Ka vibes.

Chronicle Books has 20% off all Star Wars books and novelty products from May 4 - 20. This includes:

Star Wars: 100 Collectible Comic Book Cover Postcards ($19.96) which covers covers from the 70s to 2023, so it is mixed canon. The description promises Mara Jade, and some of the covers shown are Legends. Common sense (hopefully) dictates that the majority of cards will be from the Legends era since that is ~35 years of publication vs. ~11 years.

They also publish the in-universe guidebooks The Jedi Path ($17.56), Book of the Sith ($17.56), Bounty Hunter's Code ($17.56), and the Imperial Handbook ($17.56). There is also a $64 box set of the four books. These books also straddle Legends and current canon as they were published in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively.

More items in the category of "we slapped a comic cover on this" that are 25% off May 4th & 5th at BoxLunch include:

The 1998 manga edition of ANH as a unisex sweatshirt (S-2XL) for $33.67,

Issue #7 of Marvel's 1997 run of Star Wars comics that is available in a variety of shirt styles,

and the Infinities ANH #1 cover as "framed wood wall art," whatever that means, for $18.67.

There are some Thrawn items that are stylistic enough there isn't a hard line in the differences between his Legends and current canon looks.

Funko is Buy 2 Get 1 Free through the 5th and they have Thrawn as a mini keychain ($5) and regular Pop ($12).

BoxLunch also has the regular size Thrawn Pop for $7.74 (40% off with code BLGIFTS). It will be 25% off ($9.67) May 4th-5th, and I don't know if that discount stacks, or if the 40% off will go away.

BoxLunch also has several Thrawn shirt designs that will be 25% off May 4th-5th.

The Triptych Grand Admiral Thrawn design comes in Unisex T-shirt (S, L-2XL) for $21.67, Women's T-shirt (S-2XL) for $21.67, long sleeve T-shirt unisex (S-2XL) for $24.67, unisex sweatshirt (S-2XL) for $33.67, and a Youth Hoodie (S-XL) for $33.67

Long Live the Empire comes as a Women's tank top (XS-2XL) for $22.40, Women's T-shirt (S-2XL) for $22.42, Unisex T-shirt (S-3XL) for $22.42-24.67, Youth T-shirt (XS-XL) for $15.67, Youth Girl's (XS-XL) for $15.67, Unisex sweatshirt (S-2XL) for $33.67, Women's sweatshirt (S-2XL) for $29.17, and a Unisex hoodie (S-2XL) for $41.17.

The red Thrawn design is available as a Unisex T-shirt (S-2XL) for $22.42, Big & Tall T-Shirt (LT-5XL) for $22.42-25.42, Long Sleeve T-shirt (S-2XL) for $24.67, Unisex sweatshirt (S-2XL) for $33.67, and a Unisex hoodie (S-2XL) for $41.17.

Gaming Merch

KOTOR Light/Dark Box $11.99 at GameStop (regular $36.99)

10" Revan statue $64 at GameStop (regular $80)

Funko is Buy 2 Get 1 Free through May 5th and they have Fixer for $15.

Heritage Games Pack $39.99 at GameStop (regular $59.99) They have many other Legends era games on sale too, check their website.

Revan's lightsaber is available from Fun.com for $269.99 with this extra 10% off coupon.

TV Merch

Ewoks fans, this is your time!!!

The black Ewoks shirt (left) featuring Kneesaa in the background is available from BoxLunch at 25% off from May 4th -5th in Women's S-2XL ($22.42), Girls XS-XL ($15.67), Unisex Youth (grey) XS-XL (15.67)

The green Ewoks squad shirt (center) is also at BoxLunch for 25% off from May 4th -5th, but it is only available in Girl's XS-XL ($15.67)

They also have a third Ewoks shirt (right) for 25% off from May 4th -5th, but it is only available in Unisex Youth sizes XS-XL ($15.67)

There's also this slightly disturbing Galactic Pals Ewok Plush (left) that's 20% off at Target through May 4th that doesn't say it's Kneesaa, but it sure looks like her. ($22.39)

Funko is Buy 2 Get 1 Free through the 5th and they have Holiday Special Chewbacca (right) for $15.

[tendoujo]

Watched the remake's first episode twice ( original + latin spanish dub ) and let me say that I got some thoughts, most of them positive of course. But before I dive into that, I heavily recommend anyone who hasn't watched Ranma 1 / 2 to give the netflix remake a chance ! It got that 80s slice of life humor plus a bit of romance on the side lines. It's called a classic for a reason ! Now, my thoughts under the read more ( pictures included so be aware of possible spoilers ) :

First and furthermost, Mappa did not disappoint with the animation. The fighting scenes we got so far are very fluid, particularly the fighting scenes with Genma and Ranma. Although at first I was a bit hesitant of the chosen color palette, I have to admit that it has grown on me. Actually, the color palette plus the "manga-like" stylized kanjis throughout the explosive emotions gives it a certain unique style that is fits perfectly with Ranma's whole vibe. They just know when to use it and the Akane scream is the perfect example of that:

( Also please look at the AKANE CHIBIS in the background. Gosh, so cute ! I doubt Mappa will release them so I might make it my personal mission to make them HD ).

The stylization feels rather close to the manga so I have no comment on that as it's my favorite Rumiko style. I have to confess that I kinda do prefer the REMAKE'S STYLE over the original's ( and with the original one I mean the style they used in most of the anime and movies, not the style that the original had in the first ten episodes ). Not to mention that certain scenes have almost the exact same framing and reactions from the manga which gives me some hope that they will stay truthful to the comics. Also the rumiko stylized reactions and chibis having a come back 🥺. . .

Like, c'mon, this type of reactions + pastel palette are perfect 🙏 🙏 🙏

Now, what makes me the most excited : AKANE'S FOCUS in the remake. I have always been vocal about my dislike on how they managed Akane in the original anime. She went from a main character and co-protagonist to giving all the spotlight to Ranma. And what infuriates me the most : Rumiko has mentioned how Ranma and Akane ARE EQUALS yet the 90s anime made it their goal to turn Akane into some damsel in distress that never knew how defend himself, never letting her fight back and always be the annoying jealous weak girl that she never was in the manga. Gotta point out how it was clear that the 90s anime preferred heavily Shampoo over Akane. . . She always got the pretty dresses, clothes and screentime, Akane at best got a jealous scene. They painted Shampoo as the main rival for Akane when in reality, Akane truly never had a "real rival" and it was more of her vs the REST of the rivals in equal parts.

Don't get me wrong, I like the original anime but certain aspects push me far away from their Akane's portrayal. The remake, however, seems to have other plans. The first sign ( besides trying to be faithful to the manga lol ), is how they gave Akane her deserved black belt. Then in the first episode and in the opening we have clear instances where we are pointed that she IS the main love interest, THE MAIN CHARACTER ALONGSIDE RANMA :

Notice the height difference omg. The opening continuously frames the two as the main characters + showing in the sidelines their rivals or other characters that will grow some interest on them.

Also this type of framings. . . Mappa draws her like she's the prettiest girl in the world and they are so right. Someone on twitter said that this remake was for the Akane fans and I'm glad to announce that they might be right. THIS WAS MADE FOR ME.

If that wasn't enough to prove my point then THE AMAZING ENDING will do so. It's ENTIRELY AKANE FOCUSED ( might make it my new mobile banner lol ). Only time will prove me wrong but so far, even the confirmed merch and Akane figurines is telling me that this time, Akane will get her chance to be the star.

Alright, alright, enough Akane chit chat and back to the usual production opinions. About the seiyus, they did an amazing job and it feels that their voices haven't aged AT ALL. The latin spanish on the other hand. . . feels cheap. They left the seiyu's screams and reactions and only dubbed the phrases so it's pretty obvious that there's two VAs with completely different tones. I was disappointed that from the original cast, only Akane's VA ( Rossy Aguirre ) came back and yet, I was willing to give it a chance but nop, not anymore. The audio mixing is not so good that I'll have to watch the rest of the series in JP. If there's a second season I do hope that this gets fixed.

If you managed to read all that, THANK YOU so much, that was a lot of ramblings OOOPS. Ranma 1/2 has always been my favorite manga so expect rambles like this for every episode.

[tsunflowers]

I don't get why there have suddenly been x10 more anime remakes recently. Rayearth, Ranma, Fist of the North Star, One Piece, they are all historically significant anime and I just don't see the point of doing it.

For example: the recent Urusei Yatsura remake was good, people liked it, but it's not as if it supplanted the existence of the original, when someone thinks of Lum they'll still think of the original anime or the manga. which begs the question of why even really make it?

That new Rose of Versailles remake looks like it will be a complete trainwreck. Bland MAPPA visuals and mismatched choice of composer. Beyond the clout and pre-existing fanbase what can possibly be the gain of making a "Rose of Versailles" movie without any of the art that made the manga or the anime stand out.

It feels comparable to if someone remade Akira in a modern style.

But I liked the Space Battleship Yamato remake so maybe I'm just a hypocrite. Who knows.

it does seem like there's been a lot lately... I read an article this morning that touched on magical girl remakes but that doesn't explain stuff like fist of the north star and ranma

I think two recent remakes that have been successful are spice and wolf and tokyo mew mew new. spice and wolf is based on a light novel anyway so the art style is less relevant, and it's fun to see a classic get a modern refresh with a higher budget. that's a show that I've always seen people talk about positively and meant to watch for a long time and the remake was a perfect time to get in. then tmmn is a streamlined and arguably improved adaptation of the manga, compared to the original anime which kind of did its own thing. I feel like that one's more for the nostalgic adult collector audience. if you loved tmm as a kid you will be excited to see it again with new art and merch available

the urusei yatsura remake is a little like that, I guess? people have fond memories of it so you can get them to empty their wallets for new merch and a shiny modern anime. but with that one I think the 80s vibe and ms takahashi's art style are a huge part of the appeal so you shouldn't update it too much

doing remakes must seem like money in the bank to studios bc you have an existing audience, and the anime industry has been struggling lately, so they just keep doing that?

[arudoe]

talk about bruise anything you want, i wanna hear

YAAAY MORE BRUISE

i alr talked about some hcs so ill chat a bit about some aus i have heehee!

- idol jay au !

i feel like this one is prolly the most well known (only because its the only one ive ever drawn for….) but basically jay is an idol/musician and cole is his nr1 fan! it was very inspired by prime empire and also those like harry styles x reader wattpad fics from back in the day… yeah…

all ive got for the story so far is that cole went to a fansign event and while getting his magazine signed jay also sneaks his personal phone number on one of the pages (something along tbe lines of xxx-xxx-xxx text me o_<) and… yeah things move on from there 🙏🙏

- mad scientist jay and his creature cole

OKAYY this might be one of my weirder ones but i think about it a lot 😭😭

anyways jay is a disabled basement dweller college dropout scientist guy and one day he kind of feels some paranormal presence in his lab and conducts a bunch of tests and comes to tbe conclusion there is a ghost floating around in his lab. so like the normal person he is he tries to communicate with it but only gets a bunch of weird cryptid messages that dont make sense… so he comes to bright idea of “hey! i should make this ghost a vessel they can possess!” so he makes a body frankenstein style and low and behold his plan worked!

cole, a ghost from the 80s who possessed the body is now chilling in jays lab with him, but like most people who have been dead for over 40 years he is very curious about the outside world and what has changed.

but jay for some reason is very adamant about him not going outside at all, which causes some tension between the two..

(the reason is jay has abandoned issues) (also cole is kind of a freak of nature) (affectionately)

I LIKE THIS AU A LOT cus its so stupid honestly and i love me some ghost cole also like im still mad about how ninjago decided to completely discard jays love for inventing… let the man make his little trinkets…

- wizard school au

basically what it sounds like… they are wizards.. at a wizard school… and do magic…

yes this was partly inspired by h*rry p*tter BUT ONLY THE VIBES (i barely remember the movies)

BUT UM this is like a whole universe thing and theres so so much lore and world building so… if u want a separate post about it… lmk

- roommates au!

this is my most recent one (and the one i think about the most) but um yeah pretty self explanatory it was based off this jdrama/manga called good morning call so uhhh ya!

basically cole and jay were enemies throughout highschool and basically spend all their energy hating each other but they to their separate ways during college but reunite (unwillingly) as roommates!

they navigate living with each other and learn to let go of their hate (which stemmed from a mixture of misunderstandings and insecurities) and then eventually fall in love!!

i think this is the au i have the most work done on (i have a draft for every major scene that happens in the story heehee) and perhaps! one day i will actually make it a real thing !

so um yeah! i have a bunch more but most of them are very unfinished or just… vague ideas or vibes i go by… i also have some aus that arent bruise so um if anyone wants to hear about those… smiles

BUTTT TYSM FOR UR QUESTION i dont rly say this a lot but any interaction i get with my content means the world to me and i always giggle and kick my feet when reading reblog comments bc everyone is so nice 🥹🥹

[average-tofu-enjoyer]

Other than Bulma's 80s Hair between the Saiyan and Namek Sagas, what are some of your other top Bulma outfits, hairstyles, etc.

The list can be as long or short as you want

oh boy oh man this was a hard one as a huge bulma appreciator and connoisseur! BUT i think i’ve accumulated all my faves!! (these are in no particular order because i’m having such a hard time ranking lol)

first, i’d like to say that i adore bulma in the early android saga with baby trunks, the lob looks so cute on her and the whole fit is great imo.

my next fave is definitely this look from GT! i also really love this hair on her and the color combo works so well. and the glasses!! she rocks them! so comfy so casual.

i think another fave style of mine is the one she wore to the 22nd tenkaichi budokai. she came not only to support goku but to serve LOOKS.

this outfit she wore earlier on in dragon ball absolutely SLAPS.

the outfit she first appeared in absolutely deserves a mention!! look at this color coordination queen with her matching socks/neckerchief and bag/shoes combo!

her arabian outfit from dragon ball is also iconic! i think a ponytail really suits her.

and going off of that — another ponytail look that i really like! i believe this one is from the saiyan saga. the dress is simple but cute, the bow is a cool callback to her original dragon ball outfit; it’s kinda giving me sailor vibes with the colors. the only aspect of this outfit i’m not a huge fan of are the socks/shoes, which also seem to be from her first appearance.

the last two i’m gonna mention are these, which i don’t think actually appeared in the show/manga to my knowledge and are instead some really cool original artworks! but of course correct me if i’m wrong! the second one is such a cool creative design!! it’s kinda like mad max meets final fantasy. and the first i think speaks for itself, after compiling this list i realized that my fave styles tend to lean towards the comfy and casual. and a trucker hat really suits bulma well, as we saw earlier!

thanks so much for the question! i’d love to hear what you, or anyone else has to say! (*´∀｀*)

[centrally-unplanned]

Here is my Comiket haul, for those who may care!

Arranged on the apartment chabudai for maximum weeb vibes. I won't go through all of them, just note a few to showcase the diversity of things that were on offer. If there is one someone wants a deep dive on, let me know, happy to take photos!

First up, the centerfold star - A Bocchi/Shimo-Kitazawa Fan Celebration doujin in the shape of a vinyl record:

Its extremely adorable, these guys went all in. It comes in an album case with "tracks", the vinyl-shaped doujin has an A side and a B side with totally different content when flipped, and when you are reading it the text slowly rotates page by page as if you are "playing" the disc.

Some of it is the circle's thoughts on Bocchi, but more is about their love for the part of Tokyo that Bocchi takes place in, Shimo-Kitazawa, with sections on show-accurate locations and favourite cafes and stores. They even included a map with all of the spots they recommend you visit in the area!

This one is to me the most "magic of doujin": we all have favourite parts of our cities, and if we sat down could maybe make a map like this. But why would we do that? Who would care? The joint power of a locally-set anime & Comiket, however, makes that personal map into a piece of art people want to own. This piece is pure creativity & passion, and its very special for that - a symbol of doujinshi.

Also one of their members spoke fluent English and aggressively upsold foreigners at the event ^_^ Successfully so! Good job.

For something a little less high concept, this tiny artbook of Rin from Laid-Back Camp as Ghibli characters is adorable:

A smol kiki, too cute. And look at her as Nausicaa! Full blue and ready to kick ass.

Its like 5 pages and each page is a gem, great buy.

This next one is a genre of book I really love - the photography/anime composite book focusing on scene locations, starring our girl Haruhi Suzumiya:

I appreciate how much fun this one has with its concept, lots of cute drawings on the margins; and the photographs are not all Haruhi related, instead it is just the author's own journey put through a Haruhi lens. This book is another great example of how "transformative" these works are, breaking the bounds of their source material.

"Hey, its me!"

Okay, now for some extreme Ash-brand doujin - Flowers for Yamada-san, a history doujin about Hiroyoshi Yamada, also known by the name Koji Kawamoto, a manga & magazine editor who played an instrumental part of the lolicon boom of the 1980's:

He passed away this year, and so this doujin is a memorial to him, an accounting of his influence and role in early manga, a wider discussion of the lolicon boom in general, and its own creative work; sandwiched between essays are comic depictions of moments of his career done in a mimicry the classic loli/bishoujo early 80's style:

This will of course take some time to read - I am excited to dig into it. As I have mentioned before, I am toying with the idea of a deeper research project on the "lolicon boom"; its, for understandable reasons, extremely neglected in western discourse of the history of anime & manga. But that moral aversion doesn't change how instrumental this period was, so I think a lot of good work could be done documenting and explaining its place. This book was an amazing find to stumble upon, and the creators are extremely well-researched on this period.

Anyway this is probably long enough lol. I did find some ero-doujin as well of course, though very few - as I mentioned, Comiket was a warzone, and I did not 'prep' for that side of things. I laughed at the idea of people doing days of research to prep of their porn buying adventure - I was the fool, they the wise, you absolutely need to do that if that is your goal. It wasn't really mine but I respect it now for sure - and I actually found the Comiket experience sort of liberating on that front, I "get it" now in a way I didn't before.

This is of course a tiny sliver of the book buys from Japan - hopefully I can make a few posts about the rest soon.

[leirin]

Hey there, new to your blog, and I just wanna say I love your art work and plushes! Also, pleasantly suprised to find someone who's a fan of the Spark Brothers, such an underrated band despite being well-known by popular artists!

If I may, do you mind if I ask what's your inspiration for your art style? I get these 70s/80s vibes from it along with the colorful coziness of ps1 era games.

Thank you so much for checking out my art!

It's a mix of shoujo manga from the Showa period along with advertising art from the midcentury in general (the whole world over), doll and toy design, old picture book and greeting card illustration, etc. and when it comes to painting, mostly the impressionists.

[sunekichi]

As someone who mostly grew up with the 2005 series and only watched the movies and a few early episodes from the '79 series, what specifically makes the new series so much worse in terms of art or writing (it seems to be general consensus that the '79 series is much better).

i don’t know if it’s the general consensus but it’s what i always say. however, when i claim that, i’m usually referring to the episodes from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, not the first episodes that aired in 1979 and 1980. in my opinion, ōyama doraemon is better than the 2005 series for the following reasons:

the art style; i personally think the one they used in the 90s and early 2000s was way better than the new one, which looks cheap in comparison (despite looking more like the manga but i really don’t care).

the nostalgia; you said you didn’t but i grew up with ōyama doraemon (which aired between 2003 and 2013 in italy, and i was born in 2005) and maybe this played a role in why i prefer this version, and the same thing probably happened to others as well. doraemon was a big part of my childhood and i remember quitting watching it as soon as they started airing the new one.

the retro vibes; i love the 80s and 90s vibes from ōyama doraemon. i can’t claim it as “nostalgic”, as that’s my parents’ childhood and not mine, but rather “interesting” for those who are into retro stuff. technology also wasn’t as developed as it is nowadays, so it’s fun to see what people from the 20th century thought 22nd century technology will be like. now we got artificial intelligence, so many gadgets aren’t as impressive to us as they were to someone who watched doraemon 30 years ago. first example that comes to mind is the episode where nobita wants to write a love letter to shizuka and uses a pen who does it for him.

the writing; the 2005 series sometimes feels like a parody of the 1979 one. the old series is funnier and has also more emotional moments i think, while the new one feels blander overall, to me.

[canmom]

Animation Night 176: The Hedge-Pigge Whin'd

Thrice the brinded Cat hath mewed, Thrice and once the hedge-pig whin'd, Harpier cries, 'tis time! 'tis time! - Macbeth

For the fourth time, Animation Night encounters Halloween. What horrors yet await us? Oh, there are....... many...

I'm going to keep this writeup pretty short bc (as is probably evident from the Posting lately) I'm not in the best of sorts.

The traditional Animation Night halloween goes something like this: a vampire-related anime, some Yamishibai, and something weird and different. Sometimes that leads to discovering some truly great and unexpected films, like Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (Psiconautas) by Alberto Vasquez. I had been thinking of doing Vasquez's Unicorn Wars tonight, but I decided to hold off to rewatch Birdboy alongside it in a week or two.

Other gems we've encountered have been the Chilean stop-motion film obliquely about a Nazi cult The Wolf House, the 'gekimation' works of Ujicha, the gorgeous one-man adaptation of Suehiro Maruo's ero-guro manga Shoujo Tsubaki, and of course Phil Tippett's 30-year magnum opus Mad God. There's a reason I look forward to Halloween each year.

Animation is a tricky fit for horror stories, particularly traditional animation. The stylised and clearly artificial presentation intrinsic to animation can be distancing and make it hard to make things genuinely scary - so if anything, a lot of horror creators benefit from a deliberately low-fi style, which avoids being too obvious with displays of technique. But animation of all kinds loves horror images and themes, from gory OVAs of the 80s full of rapacious demons, to what you could call 'spoopy' works like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hotel Transylvania and Paranorman which play around with all the Halloween/Hammer Horror imagery - the Draculas and Frankensteins and so on.

So what's the recipe tonight?

Well, for our vampire anime, we have now worked through the obvious ones, so it's on to... the Darkstalkers OVA from 1997-8, adapting Capcom's series of fighting games. Though in Japan it's called ヴァンパイアハンター THE ANIMATED SERIES (Vampire Hunter: The Animated Series).

Fittingly for a late-90s OVA, this is full of crazy sick animation, notably including a number of cuts by Yoshinori Kanada. The story is basically: two vampire clans are having a war, but then aliens show up. Somehow that leads to battling atop exploding zeppelins. I'm curious.

For our Western Animation slot we have something by Genndy Tartakovsky (Animation Night 35). While Tartakovsky is best known for his 2D animation and hyper-simplified graphical style, he's also directed Hotel Transylvania in 3D. I was rather dismissive of this one at a glance apparently, but I've been told it's good and I mean, it's Tartakovsky right? I'm definitely curious to see how his style crosses dimensions.

Hotel Translyvania was created at Sony Pictures Animation, the studio that would later blow everyones' minds with Spiderverse. Their history is this: Sony, the international media and tech giant, had a visual effects studio called Sony Pictures Imageworks. They were considering selling it, but then came the wave of CG films beginning with Shrek, and suddenly the smell of money was in the air. So Imageworks was retooled into a studio for making feature-length CG movies. Their early films were pretty formulaic, but they gradually began to get more ambitious.

Hotel Transylvania, which depicts a hotel for monsters run by Dracula, has had a rough history, with Tartakovsky actually the sixth director to take on the project. His goal was to try and take the vibe of 2D animation, with its squash and stretch and variable timing, and bring it to 3D - a concept that was perhaps ahead of its time! How did he manage? Let's find out.

For our Yamishibai slot we have Yamishibai.

...ok, for those just joining us this I should probably explain. It's kind of like creepypastas for weebs. Yamishibai is a series of limited-animation shorts in the style of kamishibai paper theatre, telling short horror stories. In the first half of the 20th century, kamishibai performers would go around telling stories with illustrated panels, and the form was influential on the early days of manga. They're usually a blast so we'll definitely see a few of these.

...and, given the late start that will probably be all we have time for, but if we're in the mood, I can pull out a couple shorter animated horror works. Next week, we'll follow it up with Alberto Vasquez, revisiting Birdboy and also checking out Unicorn Wars.

Sound fun? See you at twitch.tv/canmom; we will start the spooky playlist soooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnn...

[badlydrawnarsenelupin]

Thoughts on Chiho Saito's VS Lupin

So back in 2019, I found this series while I was browsing for Lupin things, as one does, and proceeded to buy the whole set, because it’s Lupin, drawn as a sparkling shoujo-manga pretty boy.

What is this series? 

VS Lupin (Original Title: VSルパン) is a currently ongoing series serialized by Shokugakan in the magazine Zoukan Flowers, based off of the original Lupin stories by Leblanc. It is written and drawn by Chiho Saito (さいとう ちほ), a shoujo and josei mangaka, who is best known for being a creator of the Revolutionary Girl Utena series. 

By the way, while I’ll be mainly using shoujo when describing the series in this post, VS Lupin is officially listed as a josei manga. The labels shoujo and josei for the most part are used as an age-rating to specify the intended audience. As a genre they have a lot of overlap in the style and tropes… I’m just using the terms interchangeably. If you’re a Manga Expert™ pretend you didn’t see this.

As of writing this, VS Lupin has a total of six volumes completed in the original Japanese, covering a handful of stories and novels including: The Countess of Cagliostro, The Crystal Stopper and The Damsel With Green Eyes. Volume 7 is currently in progress and is said to be based off of Eight Strokes of the Clock.

Volumes 1-4 from that have been translated into Chinese (which are the ones I have). 

Just look at how pretty the covers are! From left to right, we have Lupin, Joséphine Balsamo, Clarisse d'Etigues and Lupin again. I'm not entirely sure when the original VS Lupin actually started serialization in Zoukan Flowers, the closest to a date I have is the publication year of the first volume (2014) printed inside the Chinese-edition.

I actually went back and checked to see if the original listing I bought these from was still available but uh, no. Seeing how there hasn't been news for a translation of vol 5-6, I fear this series may be falling into the same fate as Aventurier Lupin (niche and cursed to cease physical publications forever). The original Japanese editions are still available for purchase, as well as ebook versions of the Chinese-translations… which are better than nothing, but I really would love to have the full series so here’s to hoping they continue the publication at some point.

General thoughts:  

As it is probably obvious from the art style and creator, VS Lupin is a retelling of the Arsène Lupin stories in a shoujo/josei-esque style. Visually, the art-style is heavily reminiscent of many classic shoujo series of the late 80s and 90s. 

VS Lupin, Ch 7 Illustration / Volume 1 Afterword

The illustrations are carefully drawn with very thin lines, giving everything a delicate and elegant appearance. It is especially noticeable in the details of the backgrounds and objects, such as the fancy frills and jewels. 

VS Lupin, Ch 1 "The Princess's Wedding" / Ch 3 "The Queen's Necklace"

It’s a weirdly fitting look for Arsène Lupin, as it really encapsulates the vibe of a past time period. Plus the whole heroic-gentleman-sweeping-away-young-girl-in-distress trope that Lupin has in common with the shoujo-genre.  

Also, just. Tuxedo Mask. 

Top: Sailor Moon, Act 47 / Bottom: VS Lupin, Ch 8 "The Wedding Ring"

And early Kaitou Kid, who was also originally created in the 80s and actually precedes Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask.

Magic Kaito, Ch 2, "The Police Are Everywhere"

Look at them sparkly-cape-hat-glove-boys go. There's probably something to be said here about the influence of the original Arsène Lupin as a trope in the genre, but it's not something I'm well-versed in so let's just leave it there.

Plot & Story:

Much like the art, the story and characters are also written through a more romanticised lens. The series is not a one-to-one adaptation of the original Leblanc canon, telling a more chronological story with slight but noticeable changes to the timeline. 

Volume 1 of VS Lupin starts off in a more episodic manner, with the three short stories of “Lupin’s Marriage” (Confessions of Arsène Lupin), “The Black Pearl” and “The Queen’s Necklace” (Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Thief). 

The first major change occurs in “The Queen’s Necklace,” where Raoul is shown meeting Clarisse d'Etigues for the very first time. The introduction of Raoul’s backstory with the Queen’s Necklace leads into vol 2-3, which covers the entirety of The Countess of Cagliostro and Raoul’s evolution into Lupin. Clarisse, unlike the original Leblanc canon, is given a much larger role and presence in the story as Lupin’s first wife. 

In the afterword of vol 3, Saito-sensei explains the reason she decided to change so much of the story:

「 Clarisse 」 "In Japan, perhaps it is because of the strong impression Lupin III’s anime (Castle of Cagliostro) left on people, the name ’Clarisse’ is the most well-known of all of Lupin’s heroines. "

But, but, as Lupin’s first wife, she only briefly appeared in the original story, I was very surprised. The original story of The Countess of Cagliostro itself was a work written very late (in Leblanc’s career), which was why there was no other way.  And so, I heavily rewritten chapter 8, ‘The Wedding Ring’ and chapter 9 ‘The Birth of Lupin’ from the original.  I’m sorry! Leblanc-sensei and fans of the original Lupin stories! – Chiho Saito in VS Lupin, Volume 3 "Afterword"

Honestly, for me personally, the changes and the original chapter “The Birth of Lupin,” were a big positive. It was well-written and tied Clarisse into Lupin’s life in a satisfying way, it also fills in a blank with how Lupin originally found the Hollow Needle, something that was not there in the Leblanc canon. 

Also, we get Clarisse coming in on a horse to save Raoul’s sorry ass. I see this as an absolute win.

VS Lupin, Ch 7 "The Countess of Cagliostro 4"

The last volume of the series I have, vol 4, covers The Crystal Stopper. 

Compared to The Countess of Cagliostro, the pacing of the story in this is noticeably more rushed. The Countess of Cagliostro had two volumes and a little more leading up to it, plus the original chapter, “The Birth of Lupin” rounding off the ending. While The Crystal Stopper had only less than one volume of time to cover the original novel in its entirety, having to share the page count with “The Silk Red Scarf.” (Confessions of Arsène Lupin)

As expected, much more was cut from the story. Especially noticeable were the scenes where Lupin in the original canon acted more… unflattering. I guess we can’t have our heroic pretty-boy doing cartwheels all over the villain’s lifeless body, it’s not very marketable for a male-lead in a shoujo story. I jest. 

Amongst the scenes that were cut, there were also Lupin baby-talking to “Hercules,” Lupin and Clarisse Mergy torturing Daubrecq then popping his eye out, and most regrettably, the little epilogue at the very end between Lupin and the Narrator. There were probably more, but it’s been awhile since I’ve read The Crystal Stopper and those were the main ones I can recall. 

On the positive side, here’s Gilbert being taller than Lupin. 

VS Lupin, Ch 10 "The Crystal Stopper (Part 1)"

And this fruity, very edible-looking blond Lupin harassing Ganimard. 

VS Lupin, Ch 12 "The Silk Red Scarf"

Bonus, the afterword from VS Lupin's Crystal Stopper:

「 The Crystal Stopper 」 The biggest impressions of Lupin this time are, "the weakest," "always losing." Or rather, the antagonist he was up against was the strongest! No matter if it was in the appearance, or rotten personality, (Daubrecq) excelled in it all! "At the start, I got scared of the graphic descriptions in the original story, however after getting used to drawing (him), M. Daubrecq made me feel very happy."

Not only that, Lupin, with the beautiful young man who believed in him without a doubt, then trying and falling in love with that certain mother, (his) feelings once again becoming messy amidst it all. And Lupin, out of his love for them, absolutely would not give up! "So good! In other words, when talking about 'cool' Lupin moments, people will no doubt think of these!" – Chiho Saito in VS Lupin, Volume 4 "Afterword"

Thoughts on the characters: 

In VS Lupin, Chiho’s Lupin is noticeably sanitized. The story smoothes out some of Leblanc Lupin’s more asshole-y behaviour and makes him more appealing for a shoujo/josei manga audience. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a complete negative, as it gives the story a more fluffy shoujo, romantic atmosphere. Good if you just want something light-hearted and a bunch of fluff. But compared to Leblanc!Lupin it’s definitely a bit lacking, and slightly takes away from some of the complexity Lupin has as a character. 

The female characters on the other hand, are more of a mixed bag. 

For Clarisse d’Etigues, she was definitely a big winner here. She was given more focus and screen time, plus a slight increase in her agency as a character, such as letting her save Raoul twice. She definitely reminds me of some of those magical girl protagonists in that aspect, able to be a heroine who saves people and while also being unapologetically girlish and feminine. 

I really do love how Chiho’s Joséphine Balsamo was drawn, probably my favourite character in the series design-wise. It really perfectly captures her more adult-ish allure with her thick, dark curls in contrast with Clarisse’s thinner, lighter hair and girlish grit. 

VS Lupin, Ch 7 "The Countess of Cagliostro 4"

Writing-wise, the narrative in VS Lupin noticeably leans more in favour of Raoul than Joséphine than the Leblanc canon, which makes sense as a decision for the series overall. Joséphine is shown more treating Raoul in a belittling manner, referring to him as a “youngster,” and from Raoul’s inner-thoughts, feeling as if he was treated like a dog. There was definitely an effort to make her more unlikable… After all, in VS Lupin, we are supposed to be rooting for him to get back to Clarisse. 

Clarisse Mergy on the other hand… I felt that she was, unfortunately, slightly scuffed on. She was framed as more of a classic damsel-in-distress role, while in the original stories, she was more aggressive in her desperation. I think the main problem here was just how much had to be cut from The Crystal Stopper, such as the scene where Clarisse Mergy tortures Daubrecq. 

VS Lupin, Ch 11 "The Crystal Stopper (Part 2)"

The one positive Chiho!Mergy got was the scene showing her directly rejecting Lupin’s confession at the end of the story. Compared to canon, where we were only shown Leblanc!Lupin complaining to the Narrator about how she refused him even after he saved her sons, which is… bad Lupin, bad. *bonk*

Conclusion:

I enjoyed this series a lot! The art is, again, absolutely gorgeous. The writing is pretty well-done overall, and paired with the lovely visuals, it’s very much worth a read for those who can. 

Here is Chiho Saito’s twitter, here are the Japanese versions of the series from the official Shogakukan site, and lastly, the Chinese-editions of volumes 1-4.

Please, publication gods let me have volumes 5-7 orz