#Takuya Sasaki

[gallade-x-treme]

THEYDIDIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KITAUJI ENSEMBLE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!

[floorman3]

The Boy and the Heron Review- (Miami GEMS 2023) Miyazaki Gave It The Old College Try But This Film Isn't One of His Best Offerings

The Boy and the Heron is directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the director of such films as Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and The Wind Rises, among others. He was rumored to have retired, but inexplicably, after ten years, he’s back with another animated film. This time, it’s of a more personal nature. It’s a love letter to his son. Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki)  is a young 112-year-old boy who has…

[antinousamongthereeds]

[akcua]

Slow Culture #kogei

Slow Culture #kogei at Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery @KCUA

Saturday, April 22 – Sunday, June 25, 2023

Photos by Takeru Koroda  (来田猛), courtesy of Kyoto City University of Arts

石塚源太、隗楠、𡧃野湧、織田隼生、菊池虎十、木田陽子、國政サトシ、西條茜、佐々木萌水、佐々木怜央、鈴木祥太、つのだゆき、デヴィッド・ビランダー、土岐謙次、西久松友花、彦十蒔絵 熊谷卓哉、小松千倫 David Bielander, Hikoju Makie, Genta Ishizuka, Yoko Kida, Taketo Kikuchi, Yuka Nishihisamatsu, Toshiki Oda, Akane Saijo, Moemi Sasaki, Leo Sasaki, Shota Suzuki, Kenji Toki, Yuki Tunoda, Yu Uno, Nan Wei Takuya Kumagai, Kazumichi Komatsu

[ecargmura]

Blue Lock Episode 31 Review - Sae And The U-20

We’re now at the halfway point for this season as there are 14 episodes! The match with the U-20 continues. They are very formidable adversaries. Their being some of Japan’s top teen soccer stars makes absolute sense when they’re able to put the Blue Lock 11 in a bind. The opponents they’re up against easily deflect whatever attack the strikers have in hand.

Surprisingly enough, Sae works well with the U-20, but still has the lone wolf personality and doesn’t really bond with his teammates. He even rejects them touching him. Meanwhile, Isagi and Rin are actually cooperating and Rin isn’t being all arrogant in this match. There’s a difference between the two brothers shown here and it’s very interesting to see.

Yes, the animation is very distracting, but there were some cool moments. I liked seeing the U-20 members intercepting the Blue Lock 11 and how the BL players overcome the obstacles. It was cool seeing Nagi being pressed by Niou. It was nice seeing Darai and Otoya facing each other. There’s also a battle of speed against Neru and Yukimiya. Heck, even Chigiri gets his fair share of spotlight against Sae.

Though, the highlight was definitely Nagi’s goal. He finally shows the crowd what Blue Lock is about and even gets cheers for his amazing trap lock goal. There’s a reason why Reo could see so much potential in him and why he thrived in Blue Lock until now. He has a talent for the sport. I loved how the crowd were being good sports and cheered for Nagi, even the spectators who were streaming were cheering. I also liked the rather competitive side of Nagi when he decides to tell the crowd his name. He wouldn’t do that normally given how he likes to lay low, but I guess the match has gotten him fired up.

Now that more U-20 members have more screen time, I guess I can talk about their voice actors since the voice acting in this anime is so good. Let’s start with Darai. He’s voiced by Yusuke Shirai, who you might know as Sasaki from Sasaki and Miyano and Io Narumi from Boueibu. I was surprised to see him voice this character because it’s not a character he normally voices. Next is Neru, the Bokuto-lookalike. He’s voiced by Shunichi Toki, who is known for voicing Hokusai from Paradox Live. The difference between his higher pitched voice and his lower one is pretty crazy in terms of range. Last, for now, is Niou, who’s voiced by Takuya Satou. He’s known for voicing Toshiki Kai from Cardfight Vanguard and Alphen from Tales of Arise. Man, the casting choice for the U-20 still amazes me.

Regarding the Additional Time, it made me emotional. It’s mainly about Reo trying to practice what to say to Nagi with Chigiri accidentally witnessing it. Chigiri gives solid advice to Reo, telling him to say whatever is on his mind before it’s too late. Reo, remembering how Chigiri was forcefully separated from Kunigami and how Nagi ditched him, decided to take the advice but does it poorly because he’s unsure whether to be happy or upset, showing off a plethora of personalities. Why did this make me emotional? Because of the Kunigiri mention; it’s my favorite ship in this anime and the breakup still hurts, especially knowing Kunigami didn’t make it to the third selection. The vibes Reo and Chigiri’s conversation had felt like two women seeking love advice from each other—please don’t take this as me misgendering them because that’s not my intent.

I wonder what else will happen in this match. I’m super stoked to watch more next week. What are your thoughts on the episode?

[yuurei20]

Seiyuu Birthday: Riddle's Hanae Natsuki

Happy birthday to Riddle’s voice actor Hanae Natsuki!

Hanae is having a busy year with roles in over 20 different projects such as:

・9S in this year’s Nier: Automata Ver1.1a anime ・Shen in Undead Unluck ・Natsume Ryu in Paradox Live THE ANIMATION ・Tsuzuki Jun in Opus.COLORs (with Leona’s VA Umehara, Floyd’s VA Okamoto, Silver’s VA Shimazaki and Trey’s VA Suzuki) ・Sasaki Eita in My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 (with Idia’s VA Uchiyama) ・Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King ・Gremmy Thoumeaux in Final arc BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War (with Grim’s Sugiyama) ・Kashima Ryuuto in “You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story" ・Mashle (With Deuce’s VA Kobayashi and Leona’s VA Umehara) ・Summer Time Rendering: Another Horizon

“Stray Tabby,” Kokonoi Hajime’s character song from Tokyo Revengers, sung by Hanae Natsuki

A short, behind-the-scenes video of Hanae’s first time appearing in a TV commercial

Hanae has also recently been on a world-tour promotion for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (he is the voice of main protagonist Tanjiro)

Hanae is very active on his YouTube channel where he does video game play throughs (mostly horror these days), often with other voice actors as guests.

Here is an older video where he plays Uno with voice actors Ono Kensho and Eguchi Takuya

More here:

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (November 20-26, 2022)

Megumi Odaka, best known as psychic Miki Saegusa from the Heisei Godzilla series, retired from acting in 2000 due to health issues and disappeared from the public eye for a decade. The narration she contributed to Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex was her first role since then, and she's finally ready to go back in front of the camera. 3Y Film (The Great Buddha Arrival, Nezura 1964) has a new kaiju movie in the works, Hoshi 35, which Odaka is set to star in. Since it's a 3Y joint, and part of a celebration of the 35 years since her acting debut, expect it to get meta. As usual, Hiroko Yokokawa is directing; another key player is Daisuke Sato (Howl from Beyond the Fog), who will serve as director of special effects, cinematographer, and suitmaker (with Tomoya Ayaki).

3Y productions are known for bringing back veteran kaiju actors, and Hoshi 35 has already cast several besides Odaka, this time focusing on the Heisei era instead of the Showa era. Jun Hashizume played MOGUERA pilot Koji Shindo in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla and Kojiro Inaba in Ultraman Z, Daijiro Harada was Mechagodzilla captain Takuya Sasaki in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, and Akira Ohashi stepped inside Gamera in Gamera 2, Iris in Gamera 3, and King Ghidorah in GMK. He'll be playing another monster in this one, Hoshikuzu. Hiroshi Miyasaka and Yumiko Tanaka will appear as well.

No plot details are currently known. The film is aiming for a October 2023 release date.

Gridman Universe, the crossover film for SSSS.GRIDMAN and SSSS.DYANZENON, has a new pair of posters and a teaser trailer. It'll hit theaters in Japan on March 24 (and hopefully arrive in the West before the year is out). Excessive fanservice aside, I really enjoyed GRIDMAN, but haven't gotten around to DYNAZENON yet... it aired in Spring 2021, which was a pretty chaotic time to be a Wikizilla editor, and I think I was under the impression it was all mecha, no kaiju. Guess I have to now!

Veteran Ultra Series director Takeshi Yagi debuted a proof-of-concept short at Tokyo Comic Con called AKARI, which you can also watch online. The story is simple—a giant heroine (Akari) battles a rampaging cyborg kaiju (Pythagodon) in a futuristic, neon city—but Yagi and company have far greater ambitions for it. They created it as part of a course on tokusatsu techniques, and hope to turn it into a feature or series with the funds from that course, as well as other crowdfunding efforts. The story they've drawn up is pretty intriguing: a 2076 Japan where corporations run amok, the AI uprising is at hand, and an alien race who survived their own rogue AI empowers a woman to save the Earth.

Matt Frank designed Akari. Akihiko Iguchi (Mechagodzilla, King Caesar, Titanosaurus) came up with Pythagodon, and boy, you can tell. I hope we haven't seen the last of them.

One more kaiju short for you to watch: Ivalla the Land Mine Monster: Case of Extra. This one is in more dire need of subtitles to get the full experience, but there's still a quality rampage to witness. From the other videos on the channel, Yuki Kurosu has been working on this for 8 years—props for persevering!

Godziban squeezed another episode out of Godzilla Festival 2022, this one focusing on the puppet displays and demonstrations at the event and the upcoming Blu-ray-only episodes which will see Bagan make his debut and many others battling it out.

Kadokawa released a fine video tribute to Gamera for his 57th birthday, which naturally ends by teasing the Netflix project. Interesting that they skipped over the 2015 short though.

Your reading assignment for the week is Patrick Galvan's excellent tribute to Kazuki Omori for Toho Kingdom, a well-researched overview of his career and analysis of the two Godzilla films he directed.

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Howl's Moving Castle

Rating: PG

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Cast: Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Akihiro Miwa, Tatsuya Gashûin, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mitsunori Isaki, Yo Oizumi, Akio Otsuka, Daijirô Harada, Haruko Katō, Makoto Yasumura, Manabu Muraji, Keiko Tsukamoto, Yayoi Kazuki, Seiji Sasaki, Hiroshi Takahashi

Release year: 2004

Genres: fantasy, adventure, romance

Blurb: When shy young Sophie is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his walking castle.

[vm4vm0]

NIKE JUKU Ft.「WOO! GO!」by ATARASHII GAKKOU from Mackenzie Sheppard on Vimeo.

WINNER - Ciclope Asia GOLD 2022 - Best Director WINNER - Ciclope Berlin SILVER 2022 - Choreography 1.4 Awards - Flying High, Shortlist, Longlist - Branded

Nike Juku music video I directed [Woo! Go!] by Atarashii Gakkou. Credits below!

WIEDEN+KENNEDY TOKYO @wktokyo Creative Director Curro de la Villa (クーロ・デ・ラ・ヴィラ) @currodlv Senior Copywriter Nedal Ahmed (ネダル・アハメド) @nedallll Yumiko Ota (太田祐美子) @yuninota Senior Art Director Kazuhi Yoshikawa (吉川一陽) @kazuhi_yoshikawa Lead Producer Kosuke Sasaki (佐々木洸介) @kosukelawrence Account Director Jordan Cappadocia (ジョーダン・カパドーシャ) @jordancap Account Supervisor Chelsea Hayashi (ハヤシ・チェルシー) @chelseamiwa Kaede Ose (大瀬楓) @kadesyrup Account Executive Ryu Kaida (海田隆) @ryukaida727 Producers Ty Demura (出村太) @tydemura Yoko Onodera (小野寺陽子) @choco2910 Comms Planning Director Justin Lam (ジャスティン・ラム) @justinclam Comms Planner Joanna Fukae (深江ジョアナ) @joyofu Strategic Planning Director Thijs van de Wouw (タイス・ヴォン・デ・ウォ) @thijs.vandewouw Strategic Planner Rina Deguchi (出口莉奈) @rinadagucci Studio Designer Akane Yasuda (安田茜) @akaa.ne Shotaro Tomiyama（富山庄太郎） Studio Manager Aiwei Ichikawa (市川愛維) Agency Editor Vinod Vijayasankaran (ヴィジャヤサンカラン　ヴィノド) @videovinod PR Midori Sugama (菅間碧) @midorisugama Translator Mako Tomita (富田万木子) Executive Creative Director Scott Dungate (スコット・ダンゲート) @scotty_fingers Managing Director Yosuke Suzuki (鈴木洋介) @mrnobody8695

WELCOME FILM PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION COMPANY AOI Pro. Director Mackenzie Sheppard (マッケンジー・シェパード) @mackshepp Creative Assistant w/ Mack - Kai Sandy Producer Daisuke Misu（三須大輔）@misu_da Director of Photography Mikul Eriksson（マイケル・エリクソン) ＠_mikul Line Producer Anna Liu（アンナ・リュウ）/ Sumire Matsumura（松村すみれ） Production Manager Kazuki Omi（近江和希）/ Kanako Sato (佐藤果南子) Assistant Director Hideaki Jimbo（神保英昭）/ Kai Hoshino Sandy (サンデイー・ホシノ・カイ) Production Designer Masami Tanaka（田中 真紗美）@masamit0125 Casting Director (for Atarashii Gakko!) Shohei Ueno (上野昇平) @shohey02 Casting Director Mai Ikeda（池田舞）/Misaki Matsui（松井美咲）/Rikiya Takano（髙野力哉） Lighting Director Arata Ijichi（伊地知新） Stylist YOPPY（よっぴー）@yoppy0123456789 Hair & Make up PHOEBE（フィービー）@feebz_ Choreographer Nozomi de Lencquesaing (ド・ランクザン・望) @nozominski

STUDY BREAK PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION COMPANY AOI Pro. Director ZUMI（中角壮一）@zoomin.graph Producer Daisuke Misu（三須大輔）@misu_da Production Manager Kai Tsuyuguchi（露口 凱）@kai_0425 /Yurika Yamada (山田 百合佳) Director of Photography Shun Murakami（村上 俊）@shun_murakami_ Casting Director Mai Ikeda（池田 舞） Lighting Director Yamato Watanabe（渡邉 大和）@yamato0326_ Wardrobe | Costume | Styling YOPPY（よっぴー）@yoppy0123456789 Hair & Make up PHOEBE（フィービー）@feebz_ Production Design Masami Tanaka（田中 真紗美）@masamit0125

POST PRODUCTION

Editor Sachi Sasaki @ssachi0528 Assistant editor Tomonori Watanabe @_tomostudio Sound Designer Mike Regan (マイク・リーガン) @mikeregannoise Sound Mixer yoshizaki.masaaki（吉崎 雅章）/Hiroki.Okumura（奥村 宏貴） Colorist Mikey Rossiter (マイキー・ロシター) @mikolour / Haruka.Okutsu（奥津春香） Film Transfer Metropolis Post (メトロポリスポスト) Compositor Murata Chitoshi（村田 千登志）/ Yamaguchi Sakiyo（山口 紗清） FX Artist Naomi Hayashi（林 直美） Animation Takashi Ohashi (大橋史) @ohashitakashi

STILL PRODUCTION Photographer Masumi Ishida (石田真澄）@8msmsm8 Assistant Photographer Ryuji Tamaki (玉城竜次) Retoucher Takuya Tsugane (津金 卓也)

STUDY BREAK - LA TEAM Production Company Couscous @couscous Executive Producer Bear Damen @beardamen Producer Salim El Arja 1st AD Kat Nguyen @katnguyenfilm Line Producer Po-Wei Su @poweisub Production Accountant Neil Engelman Locations Manager Tom Macdonnald DoP Logan Triplett @logan_triplett 1st AC Mike Lemnitzer @hellyeamike 2nd AC/Loader Vinnie Bredemus @vinniebredemus Key Grip Shun Goldin Grip Oscar Matute Audio Mixer Jeremy Emery @jeremyemery Medic / CCO Chris Serafin Driver PA Alessandro Sassi Processing/Scan Fotokem @fotokem_la Dailies Producer David Boito

TIKTOK FILTERS

Illustrator Audra Furuichi（古市オードラ ）@kyubikitsy

[montysworld]

NIKE JUKU Ft.「WOO! GO!」by ATARASHII GAKKOU from Mackenzie Sheppard on Vimeo.

WINNER - Cannes Lions 2023 - FILM | Silver Nominated - the One Show 2023 - Best Director WINNER - Spikes GOLD 2023 - Best Director WINNER - Spikes SILVER 2022 - Best Casting WINNER - Ciclope Asia GOLD 2022 - Best Director WINNER - Ciclope Berlin SILVER 2022 - Choreography 1.4 Awards - Flying High, Shortlist, Longlist - Branded

Nike Juku music video I directed [Woo! Go!] by Atarashii Gakkou. Credits below!

WIEDEN+KENNEDY TOKYO @wktokyo Creative Director Curro de la Villa (クーロ・デ・ラ・ヴィラ) @currodlv Senior Copywriter Nedal Ahmed (ネダル・アハメド) @nedallll Yumiko Ota (太田祐美子) @yuninota Senior Art Director Kazuhi Yoshikawa (吉川一陽) @kazuhi_yoshikawa Lead Producer Kosuke Sasaki (佐々木洸介) @kosukelawrence Account Director Jordan Cappadocia (ジョーダン・カパドーシャ) @jordancap Account Supervisor Chelsea Hayashi (ハヤシ・チェルシー) @chelseamiwa Kaede Ose (大瀬楓) @kadesyrup Account Executive Ryu Kaida (海田隆) @ryukaida727 Producers Ty Demura (出村太) @tydemura Yoko Onodera (小野寺陽子) @choco2910 Comms Planning Director Justin Lam (ジャスティン・ラム) @justinclam Comms Planner Joanna Fukae (深江ジョアナ) @joyofu Strategic Planning Director Thijs van de Wouw (タイス・ヴォン・デ・ウォ) @thijs.vandewouw Strategic Planner Rina Deguchi (出口莉奈) @rinadagucci Studio Designer Akane Yasuda (安田茜) @akaa.ne Shotaro Tomiyama（富山庄太郎） Studio Manager Aiwei Ichikawa (市川愛維) Agency Editor Vinod Vijayasankaran (ヴィジャヤサンカラン　ヴィノド) @videovinod PR Midori Sugama (菅間碧) @midorisugama Translator Mako Tomita (富田万木子) Executive Creative Director Scott Dungate (スコット・ダンゲート) @scotty_fingers Managing Director Yosuke Suzuki (鈴木洋介) @mrnobody8695

WELCOME FILM PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION COMPANY AOI Pro. Director Mackenzie Sheppard (マッケンジー・シェパード) @mackshepp Creative Assistant w/ Mack - Kai Sandy Producer Daisuke Misu（三須大輔）@misu_da Director of Photography Mikul Eriksson（マイケル・エリクソン) ＠_mikul Line Producer Anna Liu（アンナ・リュウ）/ Sumire Matsumura（松村すみれ） Production Manager Kazuki Omi（近江和希）/ Kanako Sato (佐藤果南子) Assistant Director Hideaki Jimbo（神保英昭）/ Kai Hoshino Sandy (サンデイー・ホシノ・カイ) Production Designer Masami Tanaka（田中 真紗美）@masamit0125 Casting Director (for Atarashii Gakko!) Shohei Ueno (上野昇平) @shohey02 Casting Director Mai Ikeda（池田舞）/Misaki Matsui（松井美咲）/Rikiya Takano（髙野力哉） Lighting Director Arata Ijichi（伊地知新） Stylist YOPPY（よっぴー）@yoppy0123456789 Hair & Make up PHOEBE（フィービー）@feebz_ Choreographer Nozomi de Lencquesaing (ド・ランクザン・望) @nozominski

STUDY BREAK PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION COMPANY AOI Pro. Director ZUMI（中角壮一）@zoomin.graph Producer Daisuke Misu（三須大輔）@misu_da Production Manager Kai Tsuyuguchi（露口 凱）@kai_0425 /Yurika Yamada (山田 百合佳) Director of Photography Shun Murakami（村上 俊）@shun_murakami_ Casting Director Mai Ikeda（池田 舞） Lighting Director Yamato Watanabe（渡邉 大和）@yamato0326_ Wardrobe | Costume | Styling YOPPY（よっぴー）@yoppy0123456789 Hair & Make up PHOEBE（フィービー）@feebz_ Production Design Masami Tanaka（田中 真紗美）@masamit0125

POST PRODUCTION

Editor Sachi Sasaki @ssachi0528 Assistant editor Tomonori Watanabe @_tomostudio Sound Designer Mike Regan (マイク・リーガン) @mikeregannoise Sound Mixer yoshizaki.masaaki（吉崎 雅章）/Hiroki.Okumura（奥村 宏貴） Colorist Mikey Rossiter (マイキー・ロシター) @mikolour / Haruka.Okutsu（奥津春香） Film Transfer Metropolis Post (メトロポリスポスト) Compositor Murata Chitoshi（村田 千登志）/ Yamaguchi Sakiyo（山口 紗清） FX Artist Naomi Hayashi（林 直美） Animation Takashi Ohashi (大橋史) @ohashitakashi

STILL PRODUCTION Photographer Masumi Ishida (石田真澄）@8msmsm8 Assistant Photographer Ryuji Tamaki (玉城竜次) Retoucher Takuya Tsugane (津金 卓也)

STUDY BREAK - LA TEAM Production Company Couscous @couscous Executive Producer Bear Damen @beardamen Producer Salim El Arja 1st AD Kat Nguyen @katnguyenfilm Line Producer Po-Wei Su @poweisub Production Accountant Neil Engelman Locations Manager Tom Macdonnald DoP Logan Triplett @logan_triplett 1st AC Mike Lemnitzer @hellyeamike 2nd AC/Loader Vinnie Bredemus @vinniebredemus Key Grip Shun Goldin Grip Oscar Matute Audio Mixer Jeremy Emery @jeremyemery Medic / CCO Chris Serafin Driver PA Alessandro Sassi Processing/Scan Fotokem @fotokem_la Dailies Producer David Boito

TIKTOK FILTERS

Illustrator Audra Furuichi（古市オードラ ）@kyubikitsy

[goalhofer]

2023 World Baseball Classic Japan Roster

Pitchers

#11 Darubisshu Yū (San Diego Padres/Habikino)

#12 Togō Shōsei (Yomiuri Jaiantsu/Miyakonojō)

#13 Matsui Yūki (Tohoku Rakuten Gōruden'īgurusu/Yokohama)

#14 Sasaki Rōki (Chiba Lotte Umi Heitai/Ōfunato)

#15 Taisei Ota (Yomiuri Jaiantsu/Taka)

#16 Ōtani Shōhei (Los Angeles Angels/Ōshū)

#17 Itō Hiromi (Hokkaido Nippon Ham Faitāzu/Kayabe)

#18 Yamamoto Yoshinobu (Orix Baffarōzu/Bizen)

#20 Kuribayashi Ryōji (Hiroshima Toyo Koi/Aisai)

#21 Imanaga Shōta (Yokohama DeNA BeiShutsuen-Sha/Kitakyushu)

#22 Yuasa Atsuki (Hanshin Taigāsu/Owase)

#26 Udagawa Yuki (Orix Baffarōzu/Koshigaya)

#28 Takahashi Hiroto (Chunichi Ryū/Owariasahi)

#29 Miyagi Hiroya (Orix Baffarōzu/Ginowan)

#47 Takahashi Keiji (Tokyo Yakult Tsubame/Kameoka)

Catchers

#10 Kai Takuya (Fukuoka SoftBank Hōkusu/Ōita Machi)

#24 Ohshiro Takumi (Yomiuri Jaiantsu/Naha)

#27 Nakamura Yūhei (Tokyo Yakult Tsubame/Ōno)

Infielders

#1 Yamada Tetsuto (Tokyo Yakult Tsubame/Toyooka)

#2 Genda Sōsuke (Saitama Seibu Raionzu/Ōita Machi)

#3 Maki Shugo (Yokohama DeNA BeiShutsuen-Sha/Nakano)

#5 Makihara Taisei (Fukuoka SoftBank Hōkusu/Kurume)

#7 Takumu Nakano (Hanshin Taigāsu/Tendō)

#25 Okamoto Kazuma (Yomiuri Jaiantsu/Gojō)

#33 Yamakawa Hotaka (Saitama Seibu Raionzu/Naha)

#55 Murakami Munetaka (Tokyo Yakult Tsubame/Kumamoto Machi)

Outfielders

#8 Kondō Kensuke (Fukuoka SoftBank Hōkusu/Chiba Machi)

#9 Shūtō Ukyō (Fukuoka SoftBank Hōkusu/Ōta)

#23 Lars Nootbaar (St. Louis Cardinals/El Segundo, California)

#34 Yoshida Masataka (Boston Red Sox/Fukui Machi)

Coaches

Manager Kuriyama Hideki (Nihon Yakyū/Kodaira)

Bench coach Shirai Kazuyuki (Nihon Yakyū/Sanuki)

Hitting coach Yoshimura Sadaaki (Nihon Yakyū/Gose)

Pitching coach Yoshii Masato (Chiba Lotte Umi Heitai/Aridagawa)

Bullpen coach Atsuzawa Kazuyuki (Orix Baffarōzu/Saitama)

Catching coach Murata Yoshinori (Yomiuri Jaiantsu/Sasebo)

1B coach Shimizu Masaji (Nihon Yakyū/Hamada)

Infield coach Noriyuki Shiroishi (Tokyo Yakult Tsubame/Ōmiya)

[dr-lychee]

LIFE Exhibition (2006) poster

[antinousamongthereeds]

[cinemaronin]

Sasaki in My Mind (2020)

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Yes ka No ka Hanbun ka 2

Title: Yes ka No ka Hanbun ka 2 Sekai no Mannaka (イエスかノーか半分か2 世界のまんなか)

Author: Ichiho Michi

Illustrator: Takemiya Lala

Release Date: 2020/12/04

Cast: LOOK AT THIS CASTLIST

Kawahara Yoshihisa x Abe Atsushi

Eguchi Takuya

Murata Taishi

Morikawa Toshiyuki

Tadokoro Hinata

Shimura Tomoyuki

Sasaki Takumi

Synopsis: Sequel to the series of the same name!

Review Proper

If there was something that made me even happier than knowing that Kotonoha no Hana was getting a manga adaptation, it’s this getting both an anime and a BLCD adaptation for the second volume with the same casting (minus Kimura Ryohei). 

Why am I getting so emotional? It’s only just been what? 6 years? 

Anyway, I was so confused at first because I knew how and where volume 2 starts and that was not it, so I just chucked it off as the studio deciding to scrap the first parts. Surprise! I was actually just a dumbass and was listening to volume 2! When did I realize it, you ask? When I finished the whole fucking disk.

It’s safe to say that the BLCD was pretty accurate to the novel sequencing-wise. I’m still annoyed over how Kei is still the hanbun yarou I knew and disliked, but I’m glad that it was toned down in the second disk. Lo and be hold, ladies and gentlemen, Bakugou had character development! Kei had been struggling with his motivations for work bc of Shitara-san and Asou-san that it made him take his frustrations out on Ushio. I thought that this would be resolved by Ushio chasing after Kei again and Kei going head to head against Ryou (the announcer/host for their rival channel), so I was so surprised that not only did Kei chase after Ushio to make up with him, but he also took the back seat and made Narayama (an AD who’s actually a reporter but who’s scared shitless about reporting) report on the story that set their show’s story with higher ratings that effectively shut Ryou, Shitara-san, and Asou-san down. 

“Show me the difference between me and the you who truly loves their job.” - Kuneida Kei

Also, I’m definitely not mad about the super cliché selective amnesia here. I do admit that I snorted once it started happening, but the tension building up in Ushio—my god. I thought that this was going to be a sappy ride, and it was to an extent. But y’all should know that no matter what Kawahara Yoshishisa does, his voice is always packed with some heat one way or another, so I was sure that rather than exploding into a emotional spillage of the truth, Ushio was going to pin him down. HAHAHAHAHA

But I’m glad that he waited until Kei remembered all on his own. This was so out of character of Ushio because he never really waits! 👏👏👏 Ah, character development for everyone!

Moving on to the voice work, if y’all new to this hell-hole, then please know that I’m Kawahara Yoshihisa trash ever since. His Ushio is actually one of my favorite performances of his (spoiler: all of his performances are my favorite because he never underperforms), so best believe I know how he should sound. I wasn’t at all surprised to find out that neither he nor Abe Atsushi sounded any different from the first volume (and the chemistry is still alive, folks!). When I first heard Ushio talk in the first track, I WAS ON THE FLOOR CRYING. Yo, you don’t know how long it’s been ever since I’ve heard Kawahara Yoshihisa doing a younger voice. 😭😭😭 Lately, he’s just been voicing older daddies like Juda and Asahi-san, and like, I know that it’s appropriate for his actual age and all, but Kawahara’s higher tone is magic!  😭😭😭 But here’s some good news; Kawahara is going to do a younger voice in Pheromone Tantei that’s coming out this month! Ngl, I am a bit wary of the plot, but nevertheless, I’m excited to listen to it!!! Back on topic, not only was Kawahara voicing a younger character here, this was also the first time in a long while that he was voicing a character that was emotional and trying so hard to keep his hands off his man! I JUST WANT JUDA AND ASAHI-SAN POVS, OKAY?! Ushio had three whole tracks told in his POV, you know! I BEEN BLESSED!

As for Abe—WELCOME BACK, SIR!!! Last time I heard him was in 2019 in Ayashi no Horrible Disaster, and I don’t even want to remember what he sounded like there even though I’m 100% sure that he didn’t underperform. I’ll be honest here, I’m not really an Abe fan. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great actor, but I really don’t like this tone (I also don’t like VAs who have similar tones with his). I may have liked some BLCDs where he was cast in, but there aren’t any particular roles that I like of his...EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE. Again, I hate Kei’s personality, but the switching he does is divine!

JAPANESE LANGUAGE LESSON TIME!!!

It’s mentioned in vol. 1 that Kei has distinct nasal consonants which is why he was hired as an announcer even though he didn’t apply as one. To put it simply, instead of just pronouncing ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, Kei pronounces it like nga, ngi, ngu, nge, ngo. Think “sungoi” instead of “sugoi”. This trait is so rare nowadays that only announcers who are trained to do them and some of the older generations who are situated/live around the Eastern regions of the country still do it. You can search Dogen’s video about this on YouTube for a more concrete explanation. Abe Atsushi doesn’t actually nasalize consonants in real life, but he sure sounds like he does! UGH. VETERANS! He’s also the only one who does this among his fellow announcers in vol 1! Despite my dispreference of his tone, his acting is one of the main reasons why this BLCD was one of my go-to’s for so long. I MEAN, THOSE MATTRESS MAMBOS 👀 Abe is easily Gen 1 Yamashita Seiichirou. Man, I wish Abe gets more roles that are up my alley because he’s a Gen 1 himself, and I can’t keep living my life without listening to his recent work before he...godforbid leaves. *cries the Thames

As for our supporting cast, I was quite excited to find out who was going to voice Asou-san because he was finally going to have some dialogue here. In vol. 1, Asou-san developed gastric cancer and was sent away to recuperate, which is why Kei become The News’ main hitter in the first place. Asou-san’s since recovered, so he came back and WAS BEING VOICED BY MORIKAWA TOSHIYUKI!

IT’S A VETERAN PARTY!!! I knew that Moririn also nasalizes his consonants, so it made so much sense!!! I just want to talk to the casting director and promise them that I will bless 16 generations of their family.

Ugh. My heart is so happy. 😭😭😭 I am a little disappointed that Kimura Ryohei didn’t come back for Minagawa bc I low-key shipped Minagawa and Kei, but Egu did a great job with his Minagawa regardless. He was able to capture how Kimura Ryohei did him, which oddly, made him sound a little like a mix of Makonyan, Tattsun, and Nakajima Yoshiki. I know it’s weird, but it is what it is. But the good news here is that I still ship Egu’s Minagawa AND MORIRIN’S ASOU-SAN WITH KEI. 😌

I love how Shimura Tomoyuki came back to reprise his role as Shitara-san even though he’s never been a BL actor himself. Glad to know that he liked the series enough to get back to it (SatoTaku does Shitara-san in the anime tho and idk y bc he’s supposed to be considerably older). Shitara-san is actually a very kind, calm, and encouraging character, but he just always manages to step on Kei’s landmines like it was his goddamn talent. 😂 I wanted to see more of Murata’s Ryou and Sasaki Takumi’s Narayama tbh, but they didn’t really have a major presence even in volume 2. I haven’t read 3 yet, so here’s to hoping that there’s a volume 3 adaptation and they both get to have larger roles. 🤞 My very special special mention will go to Tadokoro Hinata tho because I really didn’t realize that he was doing Nishikido-san up until I checked a few mins ago! WHAT THE FUCK?! I thought that the person voicing him was a veteran from another industry like Shimura Tomoyuki because he sounded so mature. Tadokoro just never fails to amaze me. We might never know how old Tadokoro really is, but I’m gonna throw hands if I find out that he’s still in his twenties and he already has that kind of talent. Give us more Tadokoro please!!!

If you still can’t tell after the novel of a review I just typed out, I loved this. I’m encouraging you all to listen to this from the first volume onwards even if you’ve already seen the anime bc they left a lot of details out (I mean, it’s just an hour-long episode, no wonder). The BLCDs themselves did cut some stuff out, but nothing really major. The plot, no matter how cliché it was, is still very interesting up to the most minute details, so please read the novel! Definitely listen to this if you want to further your BLCD education as I believe that this should be a rite of passage just like Kotonoha no Hana and Rakuen no Uta. An English translation for all of the volumes is still up in novelcool, so you can read them once first before reading them again as you listen to the CDs. Also, if you loved Customer Masquerade!, then do give this a chance since the plots are similar (altho Etou-san does have a good excuse for his fake attitude) and it’s also produced by Atis! Another good announcer BL is Broadcast wo Toppatsure! starring Sugitan and Yusa! Oh my gosh, I really am old. 💀

[dare-g]

Sasaki in My Mind (2020)