#WHERE DO YOU GO IF YOU LIVE IN JAPAN AND YOU WANT TO CREATE TRANSFORMATIVE WORKS IN THE WRITTEN FORMAT

[lbhslefttiddie]

i have a burning question and no one is allowed to laugh at me

where

where do japanese fanfictions live

[fatkish]

How about a Muzan Kibutsuji x Modern! Red! Reader? She came around during the Asakusa arc by accident while being followed face card guards while causing trouble turning the guards of Asakusa's attention away from Tanjiro, Muzan and his fake family, and on Tamayo and Yushiro to her. Maybe with her spray painting some walls making graffiti. Muzan stumbled upon on one of her graffiti which says “Off with your heads” and of course “Red” in the center of a heart. Yes, she's the daughter of the Queen of Hearts.

I based it on this: https://youtu.be/eETTUSjfp3w?si=f-eM9kv718rxDtBQ

(I hope you don’t mind but I took some creative liberties when writing this.)

Muzan x Reader: Demon of Hearts ❤️

You were originally a serial killer, you were famous for cutting off people’s heads and painting hearts at the scene with blood

You had traveled around Japan, killing people and leaving cryptic messages like ‘off with their heads’ ‘paint it red’ etc

Muzan had grown interested in this killer, seeing as he suspected that it wasn’t a demon since there were no signs of predation on the corpses

It was late one night in Asakusa when someone screamed, alerting Muzan and his ‘family’

Someone had found your latest kill and saw a person flee from the scene

Muzan took the opportunity to lead his ‘family’ to safety and told them to stay put, that he was going to see what was happening and if he could help

Muzan summoned two of his demons to track you down and bring you to him unharmed

He wanted to offer you the chance to become a demon

When his subordinates brought you to him, you immediate attacked him, trying to cut his head off with a knife

Your skills were impressive but this is the demon king. He wiped the floor with you

After he subdued you, he offered you his blood and gave you the choice of becoming a demon, or rotting away in a cell for the rest of your life. Since he planned to call the authorities on you

Seeing no other option, you agreed to become a demon, and took his blood

The transformation was painful, your hair turned blood red, as did your eyes, your skin became pale, your nails became sharp and had reddish black tips, and you grew fangs

After your transformation, Muzan left you to your own devices but told you not to mess with his ‘family’

You went back to killing, but instead, you left behind only the heads and ate the bodies, still leaving behind your cryptic messages

Your blood demon art allows you to inject a poison like substance into people and turn them into your willing slaves

These people would do whatever you asked and you started using them as your guards

You eventually built a western style mansion that was surrounded by rose bushes

You lived here and had your slaves stay here. You used this as your cover, you pretended you were a rich foreign woman

You eventually started to create a makeup company and ran it so that you had some sort of coverup

At night you would sneak out and search for homeless people and orphans, people no one would miss

You would inject them with your poison and order them to follow you back to your home where you would eat them at your leisure on occasion

You would later become a lower moon, lower 2 in fact

You were strong and had cleverly hid your demonic tendencies from the world

You even managed to kill a few Hashiras during your reign of terror

Overall you were a terrifying demon and you were strong, but you would later be killed off by the love Hashira, a fitting end to the demon of hearts

[yuzurujenn]

[2024.11.25] Weekly Toyo Keizai Nov issue: Yuzuru Hanyu: An evolving entertainer

The world's most famous figure skater is now on the verge of further evolution. Ahead of the opening of his latest tour, "Echoes of Life," on December 7, he shares his thoughts on being a "professional" and the influence he holds.

Text Mai Yamamoto Design: Satoko Suzuki, Kanaka Nakamura Photography: Shuji Umetani Cooperation: WINEstudios

Yuzuru Hanyu achieved back-to-back Olympic victories in Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018. He was the youngest individual recipient of the People's Honor Award. At the Beijing Olympics in 2022, he attempted his dream of a quadruple axel jump, attracting worldwide attention. Yuzuru Hanyu is a rare figure skater. His popularity remains immense. Tickets for his shows remain hard to come by, regardless of the venue, and his performances attract fans from all over Japan and the world. His long-term commitment to disaster relief has garnered widespread support, creating a large circle of aid centred around him. After transitioning to professional skating in the summer of 2022, he has focused on expanding his figure skating. He is creating new entertainment that expresses his own stories through large-scale productions such as video and on-ice projection mapping. What is Yuzuru Hanyu trying to achieve? An exclusive interview delves into what happens when he takes action, including insights from related companies and local governments. Special interview

After turning professional, he held solo shows and solo tours, which were previously unimaginable in the traditional figure skating world. He created a unique show format called "Ice Story." He is also now exploring new ways of connecting with his fan community. What is the young entertainer thinking in the midst of such transformative times?

--What was the reason for the success of all your solo shows "Prologue," "GIFT," and "RE_PRAY"?

Honestly, it's hard to define what "success" means in this world. However, one thing I can proudly say is that tickets for all the shows were almost sold out. Many people bought tickets to see me skate. Ticket sales are an important indicator, and I want to maintain the perspective that "almost sold out = almost successful." When I think about the factors behind the success, it's not just my own ability, but something much bigger. How can we make the show better and what is most needed? Everyone involved in the show put in a lot of effort and thought. I think the success came as a result of that.

--In your first solo show "Prologue," you performed 8 programs in each show, mostly from your competitive skating repertoire.

Although not all the performances were full versions, "Prologue" was a show with many parts that I had to manage with my own strength and technique. The Tokyo Dome performance "GIFT" was coming up in few months, so I approached this show with the mindset that I was going to shape my solo show from now on.

The production and management team also took a trial-and-error approach to this new challenge. I didn't consider "Prologue" as an "experiment" but instead wanted to succeed as a complete piece of work. However, it was significant that this show helped us all share the image of a solo show as a team.

The next show, "GIFT," was a one-time performance. How do we showcase a skater in the vast Tokyo Dome? How could figure skating as an expressive art be expanded? It was an unknown challenge for all of us.

The challenges and appeal of the Tokyo Dome

--Normally, seats close to the rink are popular at ice shows, but for "GIFT," all the seats were far from the rink. Overcoming and making use of this condition was a key feature of the show. You incorporated elements of a music concert into the direction. For example, there were scenes where dancers performed around the rink. While such a direction is not unusual in live performances at dome venues, it’s not something you can do at a regular ice show since it would obstruct the view of the audience and make it difficult to see the skaters.

It was an unusually extravagant production for an ice show, but without it, the space between the rink and the audience would have seemed rather empty. Loneliness and solitude are important pieces in constructing the story of "GIFT," so there was also a desire to bring out these emotions. But in the individual sport of figure skating, the skater is already a solitary figure. Simply performing in an empty space would have made the performance feel too lonely. To surprise and entertain the audience, it was necessary to do something different from the usual.

I want everyone, no matter where they sit, to have a special experience.

--It's a refreshing feeling that it's interesting to watch from a distance.

It’s a difficult point. When considering demand, many people say the best experience is when they watch from the front row. The speed and dynamics of a skater are more noticeable up close, and you can feel their expressions and breathing and even sense their gaze on you, which is part of the appeal of sitting near the rink.

However, I don’t think the figure skating I want to show is limited to just the charm of close-up views. I always think, “No matter where you sit, I want you to have a special experience that you can only have in that seat.” In "GIFT," there were no seats close to the rink, so we focused all our efforts on how the skating can be seen from a distance.

--This approach of "no matter where you sit" is also carried over into the arena tour "RE_PRAY."

We refined the know-how that we gained from "GIFT." And one more point. In figure skating competitions, generally, the skaters perform on the long side of a 30m x 60m rink, the 60m side of the rink, with the side where the judges are located as the front. This is how people perceive the rink as being horizontal. However, after turning professional, I started placing great importance on showing the rink from the short side, with the 30m side as the front. On one side of the short side, we placed a large LED screen, and the audience sat in front and on either side. We used projection mapping to link the visuals on the ice with the skating paths, and we also used large gauze curtains. Since we are using the rink vertically, I am also conscious of utilising the depth and perspective of the space.

--So, the short side seems like the "winning" side, but there are more seats on the long side. Doesn’t that lower audience satisfaction?

Actually, there are things that can only be felt from the long side. In figure skating, how far you can glide in one step and how fast you can go is crucial, and this is most apparent during long-distance movements. Therefore, on the long side, you can enjoy the big horizontal movements that are typical of figure skating, while on the short side, the focus is on utilising the depth, which is a new attempt. Also, in programs that use projection mapping, the visuals on the ice and the skating trajectory are more clearly visible from seats further away.

--So, the experience is different depending on the seat.

When I look at the data of those who bought tickets for my shows, I see that many are repeat customers. Because of this, when I was thinking about the structure and direction of "RE_PRAY," I focused on the concept that 'by watching it repeatedly, you can experience a different world each time (replay).

Additionally, this is something common in dance and ballet, but in expressive forms like those, the appeal tends to be stronger on the front-facing side of the body. Plus, figure skating is like performing on a stage placed in the center, meaning the audience can view it from 360 degrees. Therefore, in ice shows, we must be conscious of the 360-degree perspective in the direction and lighting. The fusion of the 360-degree design of the skating and the 360-degree design of the staging creates a fascinating experience where different views can be seen depending on the seat.

--"RE_PRAY" seemed to attract many new fans.

"RE_PRAY" had a theme of games, and word-of-mouth spread among game fans, which led many people to come to the venue or attend the live viewing for the first time.

The production and management team always want to create a show that new audiences can enjoy. However, even so, the most important thing is to consider those who think, "After all, I love Hanyu most." First of all, I want to create something that my fans will think is cool. Then, I think about the people who come to the show for the first time. Since people who love music, ballet, or have a deep appreciation for the arts also attend, I want to ensure that the experience doesn’t feel cheap, but rather that they can think, 'I had a luxurious experience by coming to this show.'

--There are more and more performances attracting attention from fans of the works you've collaborated with, such as 'GIFT,' which has a picture book published by the creative group CLAMP, and 'Meteor,' a song from the anime series 'Gundam SEED'. Is this a conscious effort?

I do think about bringing in fresh collaborations. But when it comes to games, anime, or manga, when I collaborate or use songs, it’s important that "I am really interested in it, I love it, I have been exposed to it for many years, and I have accumulated knowledge and experience." If I don't have depth in my approach to the work, I can’t show respect for it, and my performance will end up shallow.

That shallowness would likely be felt by the fans of that work, so I don’t want to casually take advantage of the popularity of someone else’s work. I want to make sure I respect and value the people who love these works. Because I genuinely love it myself, I can understand what would make people who also love that work or field feel like, 'It would be fun if it were expressed this way.' I want to focus on doing things that I can dive into deeply and do well.

"As a medium and a brand"

--You once said that "Yuzuru Hanyu is a medium." Do you still feel that way?

Essentially, I still feel the same. There's a line in the song "Sainoujin Ouenka (Support Song for the Troubled Talent)" by BUMP OF CHICKEN that says, "There is no song sung just for me." I believe that’s true. On the other hand, many people experience a song that touches their hearts, or an image forming in their mind when they listen to it. That’s something the creator probably didn’t intend. It’s from the creativity of the listener that unique emotions and actions are born.

It's the same with my figure skating and the words I say. When the person who receives them recalls something from it and feels their imagination being sparked, they say things like “That touched me” or “I like it.”

In that sense, I see myself as a medium. When I try to convey something, it is not always possible for 100% of what I am thinking to reach the audience. But if, in that moment, my attempt to convey something helps someone recall or evoke something within themselves, then I believe that’s the most accurate form of expression.

--I imagine there are also difficulties in maintaining the 'Yuzuru Hanyu brand' as a medium and meeting expectations.

Right now, I have a team of many people who worked with me on my solo shows. We share and discuss the image of 'how Yuzuru Hanyu should be presented' through the perspectives of people with diverse expertise. I receive their advice and align it with my own objective view and feelings of 'what I want to do.'

In the end, only I know how I feel. Now that I am starting to place more value on my own feelings, I have a clear image of what I want to do. But, if I were to solely produce myself based on my own feelings, the product would end up too narrow in its perspective. Although, it feels strange to call myself a product...

Now, I can speak comfortably in front of my fans.

--Was it difficult for you to value your own feelings in the past?

I think I was much more empty before. In figure skating, everything is left up to the judges. The score changes depending on what the judges think. So, in order to earn points and win, I had to prioritise what kind of music to choose, what themes to pick, and what to express, rather than what I personally wanted to express. I spent a long time thinking about how I would be evaluated. It may also be a habit from when I was a child. I’ve always felt that the happiest thing is when someone becomes happy or when someone is pleased.

So, I wasn’t sure what personal happiness from within me really was. But over time, as I worked on ice shows and new programs, I gradually came to understand what happiness arises from within me. I think I’ve started to be able to cherish that feeling. In a good way, skating is no longer just something personal to me. Being part of this larger movement of ‘creating a show with everyone’s help’, I’ve started to understand what personal happiness is. Although it’s still somewhat unclear and difficult for me to grasp.

-- Is it like separating the happiness of "work = skating" from the happiness of your private life and balancing them?

I wonder. To some extent, I try to separate them, but in reality, they proceed simultaneously. Skating and the various projects that stem from it aren't absolutely essential to my survival, but without them, I would lose my sense of purpose. In that case, I think 'purpose' and 'happiness' might be the same thing. So, when my personal happiness aligns with the success of a project, I think, 'Well, in the end, they are one and the same.'

"Realising the presence of fans"

--You maintained a stance of not revealing your private life or sharing unnecessary information during your competitive years. However, in the past few months, you’ve been expanding the ways you communicate with your fans, such as through messages for YouTube membership subscribers and radio (audio broadcasts).

"The frustration of not being able to express what I want to convey has always been there since my competitive years. For example, after a competition where things didn’t go well, if I were to analyse the cause and explain it in detail, it might come across as making excuses. There was a long period when I felt I shouldn’t show any weakness, and I thought I couldn’t afford to show any openings. If I showed my weakness, there were some... how should I put it... bad people who would seize upon it. It's hard to say (laughs).

However, during the "RE_PRAY" tour, I came to realise that there are so many people, including those in the membership, who are genuinely looking forward to my skating. Of course, each fan has their own heart, and when I say something, the interpretation will vary among individuals, and the images that come to mind will be different. But now I can speak with the reassurance that these people are supporting me in such a positive and kind way. I’ve gradually started to be able to express things that I had buried deep inside me with the help of everyone.

--Is that the main difference between your amateur career and your professional career?

When I was competing, I was fighting with everyone, including my fans. No matter what performance or result I had, people would say, "You did a great job," or "I'm glad for you," but deep down, I'm sure everyone wanted me to come in first. In the professional world, I don't have to fight anymore. As long as I do a good performance and look happy, most of the fans will tell me that makes them happy too. Because of that, I can feel at ease and entrust myself to the fans.

--On the other hand, there is a unique excitement in competition. Without clear rivals, is there something you’re doing to maintain the enthusiasm of the fans in ice shows?

It’s difficult. This is something I’m thinking a lot about right now. It’s not easy to create the same excitement in an ice show as in a competition. Without a clear goal of overcoming something or becoming number one, the sense of unity between me and the fans, as well as among the fans themselves, can easily become fragmented.

However, through my skating, I believe I can evoke the memories of the competition days, like the landscapes seen at the competition venues and their surroundings, and the images and emotions from those times. Therefore, for my long-time fans, I consciously perform in a way that helps them recall what they hold dear. I believe it’s possible for them to feel the excitement from back then, plus see how much I’ve improved since.

Also, like the ‘suspension bridge effect’, I’ve had many situations where I fought through a crisis. For example, at the Pyeongchang Olympics, and at many other competitions where my ankle was in terrible shape, or my overall physical condition was bad. When I managed to overcome those tough situations and win, many people thought, "It's cool that he won against the odds."

My biggest goal now is to create something that makes people think, "This person's skating is really good," without needing the ‘suspension bridge effect’. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuzuru Hanyu, born on December 7, 1994, in Sendai. He won gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. In 2018, he was awarded the People's Honor Award. In 2022, he attempted the quadruple axel at the Beijing Olympics, finishing in 4th place. In July 2022, he turned professional. He pioneered a new frontier in figure skating with his solo performance "Ice Story." Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, he has been diligently working on supporting recovery efforts.

Source: Weekly Toyo Keizai 2024/11/30 issue, pg 62-69 Info: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DM558RM9 

[alicemichelle297]

The legendary super mangaka. Rest in power, Akira Toriyama 鳥山 明

When I draw something, the incredibly annoying thing is that it doesn't come out like I pictured.

I grew up in the early 2000s watching Toonami like the rest of my generation. I still vividly remember watching Goku transform into Super Saiyan 3 for the first time– "This is to go even further beyond!"– sitting on the floor in my mother's living room with my grandpa sleeping in a recliner behind me.

I wasn't a super fan of DBZ but I was keeping up with the show because it was the talk of the playground back then. It's no exaggeration that every boy my age tried to go super saiyan and fire a kamehameha during recess at least once.

Over the years, my brother and I have bonded over multiple Dragon Ball video games. After he moved two states away, we started playing Dragon Ball FighterZ online every week while talking on Discord to catch up and spend some time together like the old days.

To me, Akira Toriyama's works are more than just mindless entertainment. He was an inspiration to the entire anime industry and his legacy has spread beyond anime, beyond Japan, beyond eastern culture.

"Goku Y Superman" by salvamakoto on DeviantArt

Goku has become a folk hero figure in the same vein as Superman, Sherlock Holmes, and Robin Hood. He represents hope, perseverance and kindheartedness.

Toriyama's pen is responsible for so many moments that give me chills when I watch them again and again. When Goku declares "I will not let you destroy my world!" in his fight against Beerus, I grin from ear to ear with the reassurance that nothing will stop this hero.

It takes a master storyteller to create an unfailing hero who still struggles to reach the strength he needs to fulfill that promise. Every episode of Dragon Ball Z I watch, I know for certain that Goku will succeed and yet I'm still able to believe that he needs to train and push himself to do it. It's never a foregone conclusion.

Yesterday I rewatched the episode where Goku achieves Ultra Instinct against Jiren and Whis' narration explains he has "given it all to the fire and let it burn". I wept knowing Toriyama envisioned this display of zen almost peaceful mastery of martial arts. I can't imagine anything more beautiful than an ability to fight without the cloud of thoughts, often with his eyes closed and moving on pure impulse.

Dragon Ball will go on, of course. The publisher and animation studio will continue to make new content for the fans and the profits, but this is the end of the series having an author. A man with an ethos and vision for his own characters. The future is uncertain for the thing he has nurtured for so very long.

I was overwhelmed when I read the news of Mr. Toriyama's passing. It was the very first thing on my Instagram feed that morning and I couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the day. I read his age, 68, and thought how he was younger than my dad– how could he be gone?

Not only was he the creator of one of my favorite franchises of all time, and the creator of other franchises that are near and dear to other people's hearts like Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest; he was also a talented artist, a fellow author, and a beautifully modest man.

I'd want to be born once more as myself, but more talented.

Rest in power, Akira Toriyama. You will be imitated and emulated but you will never be forgotten or replaced.

[shut-the-doors]

What to expect from spring 2024?

Let's talk about anime. Last spring was an intense one for anime fans, but what can we expect this year?

TV shows

First, we will discuss the new titles, and then we will briefly mention the new seasons of the old ones.

Kaiju No.8

Action, adventure, Sci-Fi

The new title of Production I.G studio ("Haikyuu!!", "Moriarty the Patriot", "Vinland Saga" and a bunch of other great titles)

Giant monsters are attacking Japan (where else could this happen). The defense forces kill these kaiju, but the main character, Kafka Hibino, is not one of them. He has another job, he is a cleaner, he cleans up kaiju corpses after battles. However, very soon he gets a chance to realize his childhood dream and join the defense forces, but unexpectedly begins to turn into a kaiju.

I expect at least an average title from this studio, so I will wait.

Gods' Game We Play (Kami wa Game ni Ueteiru.)

Comedy, Drama, Ecchi, Fantasy, Romance

The anime studio LIDENFILMS (Tokyo Revengers, Insomnia After School, Call of the Night) is an adaptation of a light novel.

The gods had too much free time and instead of finding a job, they created an intellectual game to test mortals. They did not think about the name for a long time - "Game of Gods". An ex-goddess is looking for a true gaming pro to challenge the supreme Gods.

Go, go, Loser Ranger! (Sentai Daishikaku)

Action, fantasy, shounen

The new title of the little-known Yostar Pictures studio. The original source is the manga.

Earth was being attacked by aliens, so the humans assembled a squad of Power Rangers to stop them. After an attack on the decision-making centers, the top aliens were destroyed and the humans made a deal with the others. Aliens are allowed to live, and they have to pretend every Sunday that they are attacking Earth. And so, every week for thirteen years, the aliens invent a "monster of the week", and people kill it. But this show did not suit everyone. During the 999th battle, one of the aliens decides to attack for real, but fails. Then this alien comes up with a brilliant plan. Using his cosmic ability, he transforms into one of the Rangers and infiltrates the organization to destroy it from within.

WIND BREAKER

Action, drama, comedy, school, shounen

Titled by CloverWorks, known for The Spy x Family

Haruka Sakura is a sigma-male, so he doesn't want anything to do with weaklings. He enters a school for hooligans, known for the fact that everyone fights there just for fun, because he wants to become a local authority. However, it turns out that the students of this school are not just hooligans, they help and protect the residents of the city.

A Condition Called Love (Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai)

Drama, romance, shojo, school

East Fish Studio, source - manga.

She did not think of falling in love, but she saw Him and fell in love. That's all. Another romantic title.

And now everyone take a breath

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince So I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability (Tensei Shitara Dai Nana Ouji Dattanode, Kimamani Majutsu wo Kiwamemasu)

Adventure, fantasy, slice of life, isekai

Why do you need a description when there is a title?

Did you exhale? Now inhale again.

As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the New World (Tensei Kizoku, Kantei Skill de Nariagaru)

An ordinary Japanese office worker (who else could it be?) was reborn. Of the skills, he was given only the appraisal skill, in magic and swordsmanship he is a complete 0. Another isekai.

Whisper Me a Love Song (Sasayaku You ni Koi wo Utau)

Drama, music, romance

The title is about girls, love and music.

Mission: The Yozakura Family (Yozakura-san Chi no Daisakusen)

Action, comedy, romance, shonen

Studio SILVER LINK.

Taio Asano lost his entire family in a car accident and became a sigma. However, he has a childhood friend, Mutsumi Yozakura, whom he of course falls in love with. There is only one problem, Yozakura is a family of spies and Mutsumi's brother wants to kill Tayo. The main character joins the Yozakura family, becomes a spy and gets a life, and we get a family spy comedy.

New seasons of old titles:

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 3

Mushoku Tensei II: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu Part 2

Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken 3rd Season

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc

Boku no Hero Academia 7

Date A Live V

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei 3rd Season

Yuru Camp△ SEASON 3

Spice and Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf

Black Butler: Public School Arc

Movies

Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction

Comedy, Drama, Sci-fi, Slice of Life

I'm really looking forward to the release, because it's an anime based on the manga by Inio Asano (the author of "Goodnight PunPun"), although I don't know how they'll fit everything into movie, so I'm a little afraid of being disappointed.

The alien threat loomed over Japan (they could get used to it). The characters are high school girls who live life in the conditions of the end of the world. They grow up and begin to understand that real demons do not come from other planets.

I highly recommend it to everyone who liked PunPun.

Kurayukaba and Kuramerukagari

Kurayukaba and spin-off Kuramerukagari are original feature-length anime films.

Kurayukaba is a mystery film - with a romantic atmosphere of the Taisho era and powerful gadgets - about a detective Sutarou who solves a mass disappearance and steps into the underground world known as Kuragali.

Kuramerukagari is a story that unites people and the city. A coal mining town full of small excavators, it is widely known as "Hakoniva". In this city, which changes every day like a maze, there is a girl named Kagari who runs a mapping business and a boy named Yuya who dreams of escaping Hakoniva. Later, these two, along with the unique inhabitants of the city, face a conspiracy that shakes the whole city. The fate of "Hakoniva" depends on Kagari's drawings on the map.

Also, this season films with already familiar titles will be released:

Blue Lock: EPISODE Nagi Code Geass: Dakkan no Rozé

[raptorsaurusmelain]

Let me show you... YouTube - chapter 1

Here is the beginning to why the fanfic is called like that XD I created a tag for the fanfic "twst LMSYY" for easier access.

Warning : no proof reading, I have no one to do that.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

After what seemed to last 4h of deaf dialogue with the raven man, a few thing could be highlighted:

The child name was Yuu,

They were both from another world named Earth,

This was Twisted Wonderland like the game that Victoria played and used all her money on it,

Yuu was from Japan and Victoria was from France,

Yuu and Victoria were going to live in the Ramshackle dorm as janitors (like in the game),

Yuu did not know the game Victoria played.

Victoria was now at the entrance of the Ramshackle dorm with Yuu, both shocked by the state of the dorm. The building was in worse condition than what was shown in the game… If they wanted to live here, they needed to renovate it. A LOT.

While Victoria was looking at the headmaster going away with a spring in his steps, she began a small talk.

"So… Yuu… I am Victoria Devi like I said earlier. What's your age? You seem quite young."

"I am 15 this year but I still have a baby face. And you?" answered Yuu.

Victoria nodded. "I am 29. You are 15… It is young indeed… You should be playing with your friend, not be a janitor of some sort." She sighed. "We have long hours in front of us to renovate this place. Don't worry, I know how to do some stuff, I watched YouTube."

Yuu arched an eyebrow "YouTube? Are you sure we can do this with the help of… YouTube?"

Victoria laughed "oh trust me, I did many things with the help of YouTube. I learnt how to do my taxes thanks to it."

A noise was heard and made Victoria and Yuu jumped. It was… 

"The almighty Grim is here !!!"

The cat.

After a few minutes of fighting where Victoria decided to not interfere, a cold hand touched her. Wait a minute there wasn't supposed to be anyone with Grim, Yuu and her.

She turned her head and saw a smiling ghost face. Victoria yelled on top of her lungs. "GHOOOOOOOOSTS"

She did forget about this detail. The prologue of the game was a long time ago for her, who was in chapter 7. Of course she forgot some details. The most obvious one. 

The ghosts of Ramshackle laughed at her reaction. "The livings are always so funny" said ghost A.

Aaaand the battle scene with the ghost began. Yuu yelled their order to Grim so he could attack the 3 ghosts.

Yuu and Grim were, of course, victorious and like typical villains, the trio said a good "we shall win next time !"

Victoria thanked the duo from the bottom of the heart. She was too frightened to do anything, yet she was the adult in charge. She wasn't the bravest woman on the planet and it was proven just by this event.

Then Crowley came by and like in the game, there was the fight where he transformed himself into a ghost. Victoria had only one thought [grilled bird for tonight please…]

Once the whole “wow so cool you’re going to be a beast tamer *wink wink* Ok Grim can be here too. *wink wink* but you’re still janitors because why not ? Oh, I am so gracious” Victoria decided that the bird man needed a little… reminder.

“Yuu, choose your room, I have to speak to Crowley.” Yuu nodded and began their quest.

“Headmaster Crowley” mumbled the man.

Victoria closed the distance between the two of them “Listen to me little bird. I can understand that I am supposed to be a janitor, but they are still a child and they should learn. They have to go to class too”

“Or what ?” asked the crow.

Victoria had a sinister smile “I will make you understand the sentence “fiscal fraud”.“

The crow became flustered “Wha-what are you on about ?”

“I know a bribe when I see one.” Answered the lady.

“And how ?” asked the headmaster, not liking what the woman was implying.

“Bribe seminar from the lab I used to work for” shrugged the woman.

“...”

“And YouTube of course.” She smirked.

Tagged : @boba-tea-sipsip

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Shousetsu Smile Precure

Author: Yuuji Kobayashi

Illustrator: Toshie Kawamura

Label: Kodansha Character Bunko

Release Date: 4 October 2016 (initial release), 8 February 2023 (this edition)

My Score: 4/5

This book was much better than the Heartcatch Precure one, but it has a twist that, while predictable, kind of makes the whole volume feel less worth reading. This book takes place 10 years after the end of the anime and the first 5 chapters focus on each heroine in turn as we learn about what they are up to. Miyuki is working at a bookstore in the children's area, Akane has taken over her family's okonomiyakiya and has reunited with Brian, Yayoi is a successful mangaka, Nao is a soccer coach and still lives with her family, and Reika is a middle school teacher. But in each story things are going wrong. Miyuki's bookstore is closing down, Brian is leaving Japan, Yayoi has decided to finish her manga "Miracle Peace" after seven years of serialization, Nao injured her leg and can no longer become a champion soccer player, and a student has placed a letter in the suggestion box at school calling for Reika's resignation. And the weirdest thing is that the girls don't remember each other. They don't remember each other's names, and they don't remember being Precure. Their middle school years are like a blur.

I really enjoyed these chapters. It was great to see the characters as adults and seeing them overcome their struggles was really satisfying. The writing style is different for all of the POVs and you can tell that the writer was someone who worked on the script of the anime as they understand the girls so well. I particularly like Akane's and Nao's chapters. Akane breaks the fourth wall in her narration a bit and it feels like you're a customer at her okonomiyakiya and she's telling you a story as she serves you. I always found Nao to be the most boring member of this cast as her personality is pretty much 'loves her family' so reading a story where she decides that it's time to branch out and start to have a life separate from them is immensely satisfying. These chapters delivered what I wanted from this volume and I couldn't have been more satisfied with them.

It's a shame then that the obvious plot twist does happen: this a plot by the villain Joker and none of these events are actually happening. The girls are just trapped in a book world that Joker created and need to get out. It's worst kind of plot twist that makes everything that came before it feel less worth reading. It doesn't completely ruin the book. I do like that the book is still something of an epilogue with the events taking place one year after the events on the anime. I like that we get adult precure transformations, even if there aren't any illustrations to show them off. I like the overall message about overcoming despair and the writing is really strong and compelling. I just feel like it would have been a better and more impactful work without that twist and the twist made it a lot less satisfying overall.

[fukuokanodivision]

The End Of The Beginning — Vol 1 [Eko/Kairi] ——————————————————————————————————————[YEAR XXXX] —————————————————————————————————————— — Anmitsu Hime, Fukuoka Division — [The live house venue was packed. Crowds were gathered, all sorts of equipment were set up and the overall atmosphere was brimming with excitement. Weaving their way through the enormous sea of people, Eko and his mother managed to find a quieter place to observe, all while he was anticipating the energetic show ahead of them…] Eko: When will the show start? Aoi: In a few minutes, Eko. Just be patient… [Eko pouted silently at her reply, his face cutely puffing up like a hot air balloon.] Eko: Why does waiting have to be so hard~? Aoi: —Laugh— You’ll get used to it. Besides, good things come to those who wait, remember? [As if proving her point, the main lights started to dim as a 3 minute countdown started to decrease, their short conversation trailing off. His eyes now glued to the stage, Eko’s excitement started to bubble up once again…] Eko: It’s starting…It’s starting… [His mother squeezed his hand tightly, watching the performance blow both of them off their feet…] [In that singular moment — The stage was incinerated to the ground.] [However, in Eko’s eyes, he saw a distant future flash right into his sockets…] Aoi: Enjoying it, I imagine? Eko: —Exasperated— S-so…C-c-cool…! It’s sad…but hopeful at the same time! [His mother laughed, patting him on the head and ruffling his hair, causing him to giggle.] Aoi: You’ve always loved music…What if you want to be a musician? Up on these stages and sending your voice out into the world…? [Eko smiled, nodding as he stood up proudly, not bothered by missing a few bits of the concert.] Eko: I…I want to be an idol! I want my music to resound across Japan!

—————————————————————————————————————— [H ERA]—————————————————————————————————————— — Shuryo Alley, Fukuoka Division — [Kairi hated waiting. It was one thing when it came to everyday life…But having Eko kidnapped by the government? Only anger and hatred clouded their usual cheery shtik, which wasn’t a good thing on her terms of behaviour…] [However, she was at a crossroad — What exactly could she do about it anyway?] [Well, for one…Reigniting Traffic Light’s flame in Fukuoka. Ever since the day of their unexpected disbandment, other interesting things had crossed locals minds, including the DRB battles where tons of teams were signing up by the day…] [Who knew their division, despite being a slum of a city, would get even more attention because of an important ensemble termination…?] Kairi: Well, there’s only one thing left to do… [She pulls out her mic, undergoing its transformation as it twirled in her fingers. Adjusting the headset, her mic was joined by its speaker that towered massively behind her.] [Kairi knew something had to be done.] Kairi: It’s now or never. [Traffic Light’s story came to an abrupt conclusion…] [But a new legend was just beginning.] [Looking up for a minute, she noticed a slight crowd slowly becoming drawn to her, a rebellious smile enveloping her face.] Kairi: —Warming Up— [She wasn’t sure when it would come, or how she would even create it…] [However, if there was one thing she knew…] [DRB contestant or not…] [Chuohku was going to pay for everything!] Kairi: Don’t worry Onii-chan! I promise to make you smile every day…! —————————————————————————————————————— [H ERA — 3RD YEAR]—————————————————————————————————————— — PulseCo Records, Fukuoka Division — [The Seishin’s were beat. While both of them watched customers fly by the label office, both siblings sweating and breathing heavily, NaYuta chuckled as he came from behind them, deciding to partake in observing downtown Fukuoka.] [It had been a long time since Eko’s return from Chuohku. Even then, it felt awkward that he was present in the room, something the 3 of them had to put up without for months and months…] NaYuta: What do you think the future has planned for us next? Kairi: I don’t know. NaYuta-san, our revolution hasn’t even scratched the surface yet… [Eko was about to answer, but a notification on his phone interrupted him. Taking a quick check, he surprisingly sighed of relief.] Eko: Well…The good news is I’m not apart of them anymore… [He shows them his phone, displaying a news storyline in the city. It turns out, Lyte had declared his 2 “nemesis superiors” as official agency representatives.] ???/???-2: Lyte is one of the most promising idol agencies. So follow us, we’ll make your “dreams” worthwhile…! [At that — Eko, Kairi and NaYuta all burst out laughing…] NaYuta: When will they learn…? Eko: It’s even funnier if those bastards don’t know~. Kairi: —Laugh— [As if on cue, Mai and Yuno burst into the building, Shu and Zaria trailing right behind the 2. All of them had excited looks on their faces, seemingly eager to tell their respective leaders something important…] Mai & Shu: Did someone say revolution? Yuno & Zaria: We stumbled upon a large crowd out in the streets! NaYuta: You know what that means~… Everyone: Full steam ahead!! —END—

[celebrity-worship-is-toxic]

The Bronze Age to the Silver screen

The idea of “celebrities” has always permeated human culture, seeing evidence for this as soon as the writing record begins. Athletes of Mycenaean Greece were celebrated for their feats in a culture that embraced sports as a form of communication. But they were more than just the representation of physical prowess— they were entertainers. People loved to watch them compete in games, and the people who were most capable of showing off this athleticism were awarded with food, gifts, songs, poems, and recognition from State Rulers. Ancient Rome also had a large celebrity culture: chariot racers and gladiators were the stars of gossip, Roman generals were awarded grand parades by the Senate, everything to do with conquest and masculinity had been celebrated. The point of the celebrity is to have his status succeed past him. 

These sportsmen differed greatly from the entertainers–actors and musicians– who were seen to be on the same level as prostitutes. This notion of celebrity began to transform into a cult of personality due to the creation of the printing press. The consumption of ideas made it easier for more people to get more involved with an idea of a person. You didn’t just have to show up to a play to acknowledge a playwright or an actor’s existence. Writers weren’t just writers anymore, they were the adoration of the public. They become less of a person and more of a symbol. Jean- Jacques Rousseau had written about his ideas and had earned a loyal fan base. Charles Dickens having experienced fans fainting at his presence at book meetings. 

The spread of ideas really accumulates with the invention of the television. Pop culture really makes a stand for itself when media is at its easiest to consume. The 1950s had made a mark for Hollywood– the idea of a star had come to fruition. Instantly people could recognize an actor on the screen, garnering them fans and idolization from the population’s comfort of their home. 

The impact of television is not to be undermined. These celebrities had gotten so popular and had made so much money off of their own image, that it had created the paparazzi-- people who's entire job is to film and document a person's livelihood outside of the screen.

Products can now be endorsed by these familiar faces. Celebrities can influence whole countries. During World War II, the American Department of Defense was considering sending baseball legend, Babe Ruth, to Japan to convince them to end their fighting.

Using celebrities is key to having an active society. It's only relatively recently in human history that people have had near-constant access to celebrity news and gossip, and this creates a reaction of a constant want. A want to be them, to live their life through them vicariously through interpretations of them.

Why is there such a care for them? This could come from an evolutionary trait from hundreds of thousands of years ago as hunter and gatherers where we were instilled with harsh social hierarchies. Daniel Kruger, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Michigan, says: "One is just learning what high-status individuals do so you might more effectively become one, and two, it's political. Knowing what is going on with high-status individuals, you'd be better able to navigate the social scene". Being able to connect with others with topics-- such as other people-- is an evolutionary trait. The more sociable you are, the better you are at keeping friendly with other people.

Then there's people who view celebrities as their friend, their worship goes beyond a fan-like mentality. People enjoy the escapism of celebrity gossip and bond with others over a favorite star. The person starts thinking of the celebrity constantly, withdrawing from family and friends says Cooper Lawrence in his book, "Cult of the Celebrity".

Orville Gilbert Brim, author of "Look at Me! The Fame Motive from Childhood to Death",  says that today’s culture is full of people who don’t want to be famous for a particular talent, they just want to be famous so they can feel better accepted. “These millions of people who are so strongly motivated for fame are different from the rest of the population (...) and what has happened is the fame motive has come out of the basic human need for acceptance and approval and when this need is not fulfilled because of rejection by parents, or adolescent peer groups, or others, a basic insecurity develops and emerges as the fame motive.”

Brim also points out some interesting figures about the number of people who will be sorely disappointed in their pursuit of fame. “Out of the 4 million fame seekers, if you look at the Halls of Fame and biographies around the world, there are perhaps only 30,00 entries and of those, perhaps 10,000 are dead," he says. "So this leaves about 20,000 slots for 4 million fame seekers, which is going to leave 3,980,000 people with no opening where they can be famous".

Concern comes from the types of people who are becoming influential. People who are more willing to sell their die hard fans for a few dollars sponsoring products that they couldn't care less about.

[hyohaehyuk]

Takeru Sato's relationship with One Ok Rock's Taka is "as a wife and a husband!"

Taketere vol. 31 (2014/08/27) was the record of the fanmeeting held on Aug 19. Found the video on bilibili

Takeru Sato attended a talk event held in Yokohama on August 19th (Tuesday), 2014 to which fans were invited to commemorate the release of his first photobook "ALTERNATIVE" (published by Magazine House) in about three years. He talked about his days shooting the photo book.

The photo book follows Mr. Sato's journey for about a year since last summer, including the turning point of 25 years old, and includes footage from his trip to South Africa and behind the scenes of Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno Arc/Legend's End''. In addition, the live broadcast program "Taketere'' distributed by USTREAM, which Mr. Sato started for the purpose of interacting with fans, has been made into a DVD as "Taketere DVD vol.1'' at the request of fans, and it has been released along with a photo book. .

Regarding photo books, over the past year, Sato says, "I've taken about 200 million photos (lol),'' which is a bit of an exaggeration, but he reveals that he has taken quite a number of photos. Among them, Mr. Sato himself behaves without being aware of the camera, "I didn't have time to worry about it. It was a secret photo (lol)'' he said jokingly, ``It was difficult to choose (from a huge number of photos) for the photobook.''

In South Africa, which he had always wanted to visit, he visited the savannah. Including shots that were not included in the photo book, such as shots of elephants and giraffes together in the savannah, shots of a person going down to the water where there was a crocodile the day before and being surrounded by a large number of butterflies. Many valuable photos that could only be taken were introduced, and he said looked back with a smile ``Going abroad is liberating,'' and ``Savannah is a place you should go to at least once in your life. The wind was the best.''

In a photo taken in Japan, he is seen drinking alcohol at a sushi restaurant with his close friend Taka, the vocalist of ONE OK ROCK, who also performed the theme song for the movie "Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno Arc: Densetsu no Saigohen.''

For Sato, this seems to be a picture of a blissful moment, but regarding his relationship with Taka, who had previously said publicly that they were "friends and lovers''. "Recently, we're both wife and husband (lol). We're not so clingy now,'' he said, expressing that their relationship is more like that of a married couple, having passed the period of being newlyweds, and the fans cheered.

The photo on the jacket of "Taketere DVD vol.1" features Mr. Sato's face scribbled with a magic pen. Introducing various graffiti on facial photos! Mr. Sato also enjoyed seeing the various transformations, including ones that transformed him into a panda, the mascot character Kumamon and one that dressed up as a woman.

By the way, as a surprise for Mr. Sato, a graffiti by Ryunosuke Kamiki, who co-starred with him in "Rurouni Kenshin" and has a close relationship with him in his private life, also appeared! Mr. Kamiki drew a graffiti that resembled Mr. Sato as a cat, with a comment in Kenshin's tone saying, ``I am a cat (a stray cat)'' and a cross scar. Sato said with a smile, ``(Kamiki) usually draws and is good at it. He's cute, isn't he?''

Lastly, when asked about his future, Mr. Sato said reassuringly, "There are about 600 things I want to do!'' He promised to reunite with his fans, saying, "I'll do my best to create a place like this again!'' and the venue was filled with warm applause.

Via cinemacafe

[zaryapotg]

calling all ex-aid women, KILL

this is just sketching out some thoughts for an ex-aid roleswap au, where Poppy, Saki and Nico switch places with their kamen rider counterparts. i mostly made this up because i needed saki to transform into a dragon.

Kamen Rider Poppy: Karino Asuna, 25 year old CNS in Seito University Hospital’s first Nurse Practitioner certification program. A cheerful and capable nurse with a kind bedside manner by day, Asuna becomes Poppy Pipopapo by night, a household name in the Japanese rhythm gaming scene for her idol-esque fashion and unbeatable scores. 

Asuna found solace in becoming Poppy after the loss of a long term patient who she was in care of daily care for. Asuna was in charge of her end of life care and thought that something wasn’t right but wasn’t able to help her, and was discouraged from finding out more about her death. It wasn’t until she was in charge of another patient who was presenting with the same symptoms, and when two men basically trip over her while she was searching for her runaway patient that she learned the truth of the Bugster virus. 

Kamen Rider Hunter: Momose Saki, 26 year old attending surgeon at Seito University Hospital and current Cyber Rescue consultant. Saki is a good surgeon and a mainstay of the hospital, but others find it hard to work with her as she comes off as distant and stand-offish, speaking very little to her interns and residents. 

Saki learned the truth of the Bugster virus after her ex-boyfriend Kagami Hiiro succumbed to it. He’d never told her he had been sick as she’d broken up with him shortly before he contracted it, and he thought he would be able to work through it. The last thing he ever said to her was to apologize that he’d never be the kind of doctor she’d wanted him to be. Saki takes her role as a Kamen Rider very seriously, and has been keeping up with any minor outbreaks of the virus since Zero Day very competently. She initially treats Asuna as a subordinate, as she feels like she should be the one bearing the burden of treating the threat as the sole full doctor of CR. 

Kamen Rider Taunt: Saiba Nico, 18 year old medical intern and one of the few survivors of Zero Day. Nico is the beloved rookie of the hospital, once being a long term patient returning to do her internship with the doctor who took care of her. She has a long way to go with bedside manner. 

At 13, Nico was at the top of competitive gaming in Japan, with sponsorship offers that made it very tempting to stop her schooling before entering high school despite her good grades. Then she contracted the Bugster virus, hospitalizing her and nearly killing her before Dr. Hanaya Taiga saved her life. His body was unable to keep up with the strain of being a Kamen Rider, and he became disabled. He deals with chronic pain that prevents him from working outside an administrative and teaching capacity, but he helped Nico through accelerated high school programs and college, letting her become the youngest intern at Seito University Hospital and the youngest CR consultant.

More notes:

Kuroto switches with his dad so he is in jail. His ultimate goal is still godhood but he’s much better at masking his god complex because he needed to survive in prison. He’s anti-capitalist because he hates his dad.

Kuroto wants godhood so he can bring back his mom from the Proto Gashats and create a world where he controls who lives and dies because they're all data. "I will not let anyone interfere with my eternal stage" etc (you all should watch revue starlight) He and Poppy face off about it and she has to kick him into accepting the nature of life and death. 

Emu and Parado are the navigators! The game in CR is Mighty Brothers X. Parado is still Parado but Emu’s name is M, short for Meta. They were born of Patient Zero of the Bugster Virus, the son of the original creator of the virus. Their human names are Hojo Emu and Hojo Nazo because they’re married. Parado only responds to Hojo-san also because he is married.

Kiriya is an AI created by GENM corp to help CR but his data got corrupted by Kuroto right before he got arrested and he loves to act silly and lie. He also is like Bugster adjacent. They put him in Poppy’s bike. He brings Poppy to meet Kuroto by diverting her GPS on her day off and Dan Masamune bricks him in response, until he comes back <3 upgraded <3

[youarejesting]

Sly like a... ? Part 6

[Master list] [Sly Master List] Beta: n/a (at the moment) Rating: All Pairing: Hybrid!BTS x FailedHybrid!Reader Genre: Hybrid au, fluff, action, adventure, angst, drama, slice of life. Some marked chapters will contain mature/smut scenes, BUT they will not have plot in those scenes and are 100% skippable without losing your place in the story. Words: 1.8k

Summary: Human’s strive to be better, faster and stronger looking to animal DNA. Thus Hybrids are born. As the rise for designer and Pedigree Hybrids increase, so do the failed attempts. There is one species scientists are unsuccessful in creating, but, folklore says they have been here all along, hiding and blending in with the humans for many millennia. How clever they are.

[First] [Prev] [Next]

There had been a moment when Taehyung seemed almost reluctant to leave, as if he was having fun with the hybrids around his age and you couldn’t blame him. He had spent his life with older people who didn’t really do anything particularly thrilling. 

But the night ended without any fights from any of the hybrids so you considered that a bonus. They were slowly becoming more accustomed to the other presence and though there were a few small shoves, hisses or choice words, all in all they were being polite.

Sitting at the dining table talking with Jimin about your plan tomorrow at the shopping centre, he was very close, you knew it was a dominance thing, that he knew you the longest and he was unintentionally rubbing it in the other hybrid’s faces. Seeing Jungkook’s eyes barely staying awake you wished him good night with a hug and told him to get some sleep. 

Yoongi was slinking around looking like he wanted to say or ask something but waiting for you to be alone. Seokjin and Namjoon both headed off to bed and Jimin reached over taking your hand. “How are you feeling?” he asked, his brows creasing in the same concern that laced his words, “you keep making sure we are okay, that no one has asked you?”

“I’m good,” you admitted with a smile, “how are you taking this?”

“You know I am used to it, we grew up in hybrid homes just like this one,” Jimin laughed, “gives me a bit of nostalgia.”

“The only thing that is unsettling at the moment is the smell of the carpet, it is driving me mental?” you laughed, “that bleach not only burns it just makes the place feel empty.”

“I know what you mean, but if you would like I can scent the house?” he wiggled his eyebrows. “like we used to?”

“Jimin we were children running around naked was okay back then now it would be weird,” you scoffed, pushing him away, “go to bed.”

“You want to sleep in my room?” he pouted, “there is no need to be a martyr”

“Thanks but, I am going to stay up a little later and work out some things.” Jimin walked into the hall eyeing the older hybrid and gave a deliberate, let me know if you need anything spiel.

“Hey Yoongi, is something wrong?” you smiled patting the seat beside you, he hesitantly sat on the seat keeping his distance. He seemed to mull over his thoughts and choose his words carefully before he attempted to speak.

“When I was in University the first time, I was studying psychology, I wanted to help young hybrids,” you repressed a squeal he was opening up and you were so proud, “I was wondering, if there is a chance I could continue that course? I still want to help other hybrids like myself.”

“Of course, that is perfect, I can get you ready I will get your folders and work transferred over and we can have you started in no time, they might ask you to do an entrance exam so if you don’t mind I can give you a little refresher with the other boys and then you will be all set, all the Uni classes are online, so you don’t have to worry about transport and it’s all paid for so money isn’t an option either.”

“I don’t like free things” he played with his sleeves, “I much rather get things on my own”

“Well, if you would like I can give you pocket money everyday and you can save it so that you don’t feel helpless. Let’s say accompanying me grocery shopping, I could wash up the dishes and you could dry and little things like that and I can give you... uh, fifty dollars a week,” 

“That is too much,” He said, shaking his head, “not when you are also paying room and board. That is way too much and I don’t want to take more of your money”

“It’s not my money, you forget, I am living free here as well,” you laughed, standing up and holding out your hand. He took it and you walked him to his room, “please don’t stress Yoongi, I promise you I am not as scary as I look, you are safe and I want you to feel safe and if that means you have a little money box under your bed than let’s do it”

Yoongi laughed, “You aren’t scary at all”

“I don’t know if you had seen her dancing this evening, that was scary,” Hoseok called from his room. He was a very easy going guy, he liked to hear the others better so he left the door open. It must be hard coming from the country with night noises and lots of hybrids snoring to a place that is genuinely quiet with the occasional sound of a car and his own room.

“Alright Yoongi time for bed, I am here now so I hope you like being tucked in?” you walked him to his bed and pulled the blankets up to his chin and you could hear the purs as you pet his head.

“I want to be tucked in too,” Jungkook wined down the end of the hall, and you froze as the chorus of me too filled the hall. Rolling your eyes you stood up pressing a kiss to Yoongi’s forehead and stepping out.

“Fine, let me start with Jin, you want to be tucked in?” You grinned and the oldest hybrid nodded vigorously from his bed. You made the rounds and visited every room, Namjoon announced he was already tucked in and would accept a good night. He was acting proud but you thought to try anyway. “your blankets are askew, let me help, you can’t be tucked in if your blanket is all wonky”

The excuse worked and he purred deep in his chest as you pet his head and kissed his forehead. Hoseok made you laugh and requested multiple kisses but received a “Don’t be greedy,” from his neighbor Jimin.

Jimin gave you his signature eye smile that you just knew was there even without your superior night vision. You thought about it and a lot of the hybrids in the house were nocturnal giving reason to their late bedtimes and keen senses in the dark. You weren’t too sure about Hoseok and Taehyung so that would be something to google before bed.

Stepping up to Jimin’s bed he grinned, “Tuck me in,” he declared his arms out as if he was getting a hug. 

“Okay but you have to lay down and stop squirming,” you reprimanded, making him still long enough to tuck him in placing a kiss on his forehead with a pat, his hands holding his tail as he always did when he slept. “You still hold your tail when you sleep”

He blushed and turned away, “I dunno it’s comfy”

“It’s cute, have a good night” you walked on to the last room where Jungkook was standing at his door obviously having gotten impatient. You walked him to his bed and sat beside him as he got comfortable.

“y/n, I love being here and I don’t want you to give me up but, I miss my family, I barely remember anything about my mother I can’t even remember what she looked like, all I remember is she smelt like clean cotton and sunny days” He said a few tears in his eyes. 

Wiping his eyes he sniffed, “I wanted to be cool for you, but I am just a big baby” he whined, “Can you stay with me until I fall asleep, sing me a song or tell me a story?”

“Alright, get comfortable and I will tell you a story koo” tucking him in you opened your mouth when he grabbed your hand, “Is something wrong?”

“You have to give me a goodnight kiss too, while I am awake or I won’t feel it” he gave a big cheeky grin and you laughed brushing his bangs to the side and pressing a small kiss on his forehead. “Alright I am ready”

“This was a story that I was told when I was young,” you shuffled onto the bed more, “in japan there are monsters and mythical creatures called yokai…”

“Yokai were sometimes even gods they could be good and they could be bad, the kitsune was a yokai, they said when a fox grew to a certain age they would be able to transform into humans” Felix spoke cleaning some of the toys off your bed.

“Like Hybrids!” You giggled, jumping on your bed, your stuffed toy under your arm, Felix tackled you onto your pillow and grinned, tucking you in and switching off the light. He reached over to turn on a small night light. “Or like the other story where they peel off their skin?”

“Alright, I admit it was a mistake to tell you that, are you still having nightmares?” he sighed rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I still haven’t been let off babysitting duty because of that, the earful Astrid gave me”

You laughed at his dramatic shiver, she wasn’t that scary, but Felix always seemed to think so. “If you know so many stories about fox hybrids then why did they make me, if they were already out there?”

“That is the thing little Kit, they aren’t hybrids” his smile was big and his eyes gleamed mischievously. “They are huli jing, kitsune and kumiho, they aren’t hybrids. These are special beings; foxes with the ability to transform into humans, they are special.” 

“If they can disguise themselves as humans how do you know they exist, have you seen one?” you were ever curious to know more about fox related things it made you feel like you were getting to know more about yourself and why you did the things you do”

“Humans can’t see them unless they wish to show themselves to them first, but they can see each other, they can’t hide from one another,” he hummed

“Are you a fox person Felix?” the memory of the other night in your head when you thought you saw two tails and some ears attached to him.

“I am just Felix and you young lady are up past your bedtime. So lay still so I can tell the story.”

“The fox breathed fire burning the forest and when their emotions calmed they saw the town destroyed and the woman the fox man had loved had died from the flames along with her new husband” you whispered, Jungkook’s little snores were cute and you readjusted the blanket and gave him another kiss on the forehead before retreating to the living room couch.

A thought passed by about perhaps using Taehyung’s room but you thought it was best to not invade his privacy, that was his safe place and your scent would ruin that. The thought didn’t last long as you were soon out cold from exhaustion.

[First] [Prev] [Next]

Tags:  @simplymemyself @lolsiiike @min2jeon @notruercolors​ @luvaffaire​ @grazysf​  @ella-mella​ @lustremyg​ ​ (please make sure you have tagging setting on so you get notified when the story updates)

How can I save this to receive and read updates?

‘Follow’ and turn on ‘Notifications’ so you never miss an update

Add your name to a ‘Tag’ list [HERE]

‘Reblog’ this post with the hashtag #BTSsly

Or you can ‘Like’ this post (but good luck trying to find it a week later, we both know how many things you like a day, perhaps we will meet again in the future.)

[x0401x]

Jeweler Richard Fanbook Short Story #15

Feel free to message me about possible corrections, and please consider supporting the creators by purchasing digital copies of the official releases: Novel || Manga || Fanbook. In case anyone is feeling generous: Ko-fi | PayPal. ( ╹◡╹)っ’･*

← Previous || Index || Next →

Richard-sensei’s Cooking Classroom

On a bright morning in Kandy, a provincial town from Sri Lanka, a man was standing still in his kitchen. Leaning against the wall was a Japanese book titled “Breakfast for People Who Live Alone”. There were three items on the menu. Just an omelet with ketchup on top, boiled sausages and fruit salad yogurt.

Regardless, the kitchen where the man was standing was an explosion of colors, as if it were the atelier of some Dadaist painter. Perhaps he was wrong in trying to make an omelet, the blond man thought, tilting his head despondently. Loved by the god of beauty, his blond hair swayed smoothly, and on the wall behind him, the exploded omelet was scattered in all directions, giving off an artistic atmosphere. It was obvious that in order to cook an omelet on a frying pan, it was necessary to shake up said pan, but the specific method of how hard one should shake it had not even once made an appearance in his life, much like fairies and unicorns from fictional stories. As a result of him jerking the pan with moderate adjustment, the omelet had flown off, hitting the wall and dripping down under the influence of gravity.

The beautiful man cast his eyes at the opposite side of the kitchen with a melancholic look as well. His golden eyelashes reflected a rainbow-colored prism and shone like an emerald-green sea under the morning sun. In a corner, where a microwave and water heater sat on top of the kitchen table, something orange had burst all over the place from within the microwave. Just why did food blow up so often, the man wondered, silently ashamed of his ignorance for trying to reduce just two rules of thumb to common sense. When he put three vacuum-packed blood sausages in the microwave and warmed them up, the sausages lost their original shape with a faint explosive sound. Obeying the instructions that said, “Bain-marie or microwave”, the man had chosen the microwave, which seemed less difficult, but probably due to some process being neglected or the heating time being incorrect, the sausages had undergone a magical transformation, looking like some sort of eerie monster.

Moving his feet so as not to make a sound, the man headed to the dining room, lightly placing a hand on the large table and elegantly gazing at the tabletop. Fragments of yellow and green were floating on a sea of white.

“Fruits yogurt,” the man whispered, as if it were a magic spell, heaving a spring breeze-like sigh.

It was just chopped fruits floating on yogurt. Taking into account the possibility that he could not cut the fruits too meticulously, the man was out of luck to have a slicer with him, and by the moment he realized that this one was apparently not supposed to be used for fruits but rather for slicing things such as cabbages and carrots into thin pieces, the fruits that he had failed to chop had gone flying over the table, surrounding the bowl of yogurt and instantaneously creating a Genesis-like scene on the tabletop. It was chaos.

On 360 degrees, no matter where he looked, it was a foodstuff hell. After looking around one more time at the artistic misery he had created and sighing coarsely, he started anew and began doing a quick cleaning.

   “Morning, Richard. You slept well, I see.”

“Good morning, Seigi. So you wake up early even in Sri Lanka. Short sleepers have shorter lives. Didn’t you go to bed yesterday when it was already past midnight?”

“That’s fine for today. I have a guest here, after all. I’ll catch up with my sleep tomorrow.”

“I have not done so much to be called a ‘guest’.”

“There, there; let’s leave that for after we eat.”

His face looking like he was checking on something, the man whose appearance was impeccable even first-thing in the morning, as usual, glanced at the kitchen and dining room of my Sri Lankan house, and then let out a tiny sigh, stopping by a place close to the garden.

“Hey, could it be you woke up early this morning? Like, around 5AM...”

“Why?”

“I wonder if it was my imagination.”

In this three-story house, the first floor was a shared space for the dining room and bathroom, while the second and third floors had bedrooms. The room that I used as my main one was on the second floor, and the room on the third floor was used when Richard came over to be my overseer, but only the first floor had a bathroom. Whenever someone was going down to the first floor, one could tell by the sound of them stepping on the stairs. That was no big deal when I was alone, but this was the kind of house that would disturb other people’s sleep if I didn’t walk quietly whenever I needed to use the toilet in the middle of the night.

At around five o’clock, probably because I was drowsy, I had the feeling that someone had gone downstairs. I went back to sleep thinking that maybe Richard, who was looking after me despite having a jetlag, felt like having a late-night snack or something, but it was apparently a wrong guess.

Said man, dressed in a soft-looking shirt and the beige pants that he usually wore when he was relaxed, was standing still with eyes wide-open. It seemed he had noticed what was on the table. I was happy with the reaction.

“I’ve got breakfast for us. Hope it suits your taste.”

“Why? You said yesterday that your breakfast was just cereal and fruits.”

“I indeed said this yesterday, but I wanted to show it’s really not like that every single day. I also didn’t want you to worry for no reason.”

Plain omelets, sausages and fruit salad. For some reason, this house had many pottery dishes from European brands instead of Sri Lankan ones, but they were working out well for today. The paintings of green and pink pedicels over a white background were apparently from a German brand. It was actually my first time making a breakfast like this, which looked like it could show up in a commercial for some newly built apartment building and wasn’t as filling as its appearance suggested, but it had been surprisingly fun.

“I saw the recipe book in the kitchen. It’s a present for me, right? Thank you. I was happy to read a book in Japanese after so long, so I decided to make the part that showed up when I opened it into our menu. Now, now, please have a seat and eat up.”

For about solid ten seconds, Richard stared at the one-plate breakfast, his gaze looking like he was seeing a stone that he had never set his eyes on before, but then, after giving a start as if just remembering that I existed, he sat down with his same-old graceful demeanor.

“Well then, shall we?”

And so, Richard ate breakfast next to me. At times like these, this man would become extremely well-mannered, taking notice of and praising the details, such as the fineness of the omelet’s texture and the beauty of the fruit cuts in the yogurt, as if he were evaluating a five-million-yen jewelry or something. Even while being in Sri Lanka, I sometimes thought that if there were teachers like him in middle or high school around Japan, it would save many children.

“Thanks; that makes me happy. I’m benefiting from it too. Getting so many compliments for just boiling sausages.”

I didn’t know very well how to describe Richard’s face when I said that. His expression seemed like it could be the theme of a masterpiece painting, as if the exceptionally beautiful man had suddenly been reminded of an indescribable pain in the depths of his chest, but was struggling not to expose it in his facial expression. When I asked what was up, the reply was a gentle smile. His usual face was already back.

“I believe I have already said this several times, but you are extremely smart. You decipher the texts, assemble the methods in your head and put them to practice. There are more hardships in this process than you can imagine. Nevertheless, you specialize at it. This is clearly a talent of yours. Be sure to cherish it.”

“I will. But, well, I think doing my best because someone else’s gonna eat it also counts.”

For security reasons, I wasn’t allowed to invite guests to this house. I was sometimes called over to the house of a local friend I had made, and then I’d cook a simple dish there, but guests that make several meticulous dishes on the spot were probably not very welcome. So whenever there were days like these, when “guests” officially recognized by the house’s owner, Saul-san, occasionally came over, it was a great opportunity for me have a change of pace.

While thanking Richard for washing the dishes, I cleaned up the dining room and before moving on to stone study, which was my daily routine in the morning (at any rate, I had to examine stones thoroughly, guess their prices and drill the right and wrong ones into my head; pretty simple), I asked him about lunch. Richard-sensei was very busy. No time for leisure.

“You’ll be off again in the evening flight, right? What we gonna do about lunch? If you’re leaving at three o’clock, then you’ll still be in Kandy at noon, right? Can we go to a restaurant I like?”

“What a good thing it is that you found a ‘restaurant you like’ in this country. Allow me to accompany you.”

While smiling, Richard was about to let out a yawn, yet he hastily bit it down. He was like a prideful cat. As I thought, he seemed a little sleepy. When I suggested him to go to bed again, he said that he didn’t mind it, since he was going to sleep in the night flight either way. And yet he was calling me a short sleeper.

I glanced at the dining room and the kitchen. They were neatly organized. From their tidy and orderly state, I could tell with just a look that I obviously hadn’t cleaned them to this point last night. There wasn’t a single speck of dust on the floor. Despite the difference between the inside and outside of the house being so vague. There was no evidence left, but it was clear that something had happened here. Not a murder, but a more peaceful and heartwarming incident. The suspect showed no signs of confessing. So I wouldn’t say anything either. No particular comments on the multiple rags and some food remains at the bottom of the organic waste bag. I only had one thing that I wanted to say no matter what, so I hoped he’d just let me say it.

After finishing the meal, I waited for the beautiful man to stand up, and then I went behind Richard, clutching his shoulders. I was going to say it before he turned around, asking what I was doing. It was best if I didn’t see his face. There was no telling what I could say when I was staring at him in fascination.

“I myself don’t know very well what I’m talking about, so I want you to forget it in two seconds, but I was reeeally happy for this morning. Really happy. To a shocking extent.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I said I didn’t know either, right? I don’t get it, but anyway, I was happy. That’s all! Aight, study time.”

Without looking at Richard’s face until the very end, I started knocking a thousand gemstones in my workspace on the first floor. I had to look over them while it was morning. This was my current job. Richard didn’t say anything else, but his back looked calm under his shirt, so I was a bit relieved as well. Thinking back on it now, I had taken the wrong path at that time. I should have told him “not to overdo it” more clearly.

Two weeks later, Richard came back, but this time, I heard a small explosion at 6AM. Three times in a row. What did it take for things to turn out this way? The current time was already 7AM. Between getting up right now or not, which one would be less of a hassle later on? I didn’t even want to think about what had been made of the dining room. There was no one other than the two of us in this house and this wasn’t a matter that I had to go as far as asking the landlord, Saul-san, for advice on, so I knew I was the one who had to deal with it anyway. I wanted someone to decide in my stead. What should I do?

[ireallylikejonouchi]

𝙽𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚑𝚢𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚘 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠

Written and drawn by Shiibashi Hiroshi, Nurarihyon no Mago is a manga series that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump with 210 chapters, 25 volumes. It’s about a Japan that has a massive Yokai underbelly, consisting mostly of yokai yakuza clans that run certain parts of Japan. The protagonist, Rikuo Nura, is the third heir of the Nura clan, kingpin of Kanto. His grandfather is the legendary Lord of Pandemonium, the yokai Nurarihyon, but Rikuo is only a quarter yokai, having a half-human father and a full human mother. As a child, Rikuo thinks yokai are the coolest thing, but his classmates mock him for this, not believing that they exist, and finding it even weirder that someone could admire them. Rikuo is told that it is his destiny to take on this role, and that he cannot live a human life. Hearing stories about evil yokai who enjoy making humans despair, Rikuo decides that yokai are terrible and he wants nothing to do with them. When Rikuo’s classmates are attacked by some rebellious yokai from the Nura clan, who are unhappy about their new leader being a quarter-human child, Rikuo awakens to his yokai blood and transforms in order to defeat them. He decides here that he will become the third heir in order to subdue yokai that would bring terror to humans with his “Fear,” the power system of the series.

With the synopsis out of the way, from this point on there will be spoilers. Be wary. I’ll try my best to spoil only what’s necessary in order to get my point across.

The beginning of this manga takes its time setting up character dynamics with short story arcs, as well as establishing what the yokai of the world are truly like with various examples of opinionated yokai antagonists. Some consider it boring, and I can understand why, but I think it pays off very well. The characters are incredibly likeable and fun. Even the ones that don’t have very much development are still a joy to see on the page when they show up. Rikuo himself is simultaneously a complicated character and a very easy character to follow. The first chapter takes place a couple of years before the second one, and his childish judgement to go from worshiping yokai to hating them is intentionally so. The story is about his growth. Rikuo is told that he must take on this role, he denies, but eventually accepts under his own terms, and for his own reasons. This ultimately sets up what his character arc will end up becoming, as one of his final conflicts at the end of the story sees him battling against another half-yokai, Abe no Yoshihira, who believes it is his duty to follow his evil father’s plan because of his "cursed” mixed blood. Rikuo doesn’t simply reject this title, but he also doesn’t accept out of obligation. He accepts this as an opportunity to bring about change. The change he wants slowly evolves from protecting humans to bridging the social gap between human and yokai so that they may find peace together. Fate shouldn’t be fought against or ignored, but you must make whatever you can out of it. Rikuo feels that connecting human and yokai is something only he can do as a half-yokai, so he feels a responsibility to carry this out, yet it is also what he truly believes in and wants. He is a leader because he was graced with the opportunity to bring about a better world. Your fate is only what you perceive it as. The final villain Abe no Seimei believes that human and yokai are fated to be at odds forever, and that influences his evil plan to purify the world. Both are believers of fate to some extent, the message isn’t something as simple as “defy fate” or “there is no fate,” which I appreciate. This manga is very good about exploring all facets of the themes it presents, which I will give more examples of shortly.

The power system is an interesting one. To quote the wiki, “ Osore (畏, Fear) is the term that denotes the unique skills and traits of each yōkai. It refers to the "fear" of the unknown, an emotional reaction produced when the yōkai represent themselves as "monsters". As yōkai first existed as creatures who induce fear in humankind, the general concept of "fear" revolves around being feared and respected by humans and making them feel small and weak. It involves exerting a wall of pressure to make one's presence feel larger than the actuality. When done correctly, this also creates a change in the mood and surrounding air - as seen whenever a dense fog appears when a Hyakki Yakō gathers in the series. Itaku states that Osore only applies to scaring humans.“ Fear is an inherently negative word, especially when associated with demons. However, Rikuo is proud of his fear, despite scolding yokai who scare humans. Fear in this manga is not quite so black and white. Rikuo’s form of fear is reverence, admiration. He considers this to be a form of fear, and he is indeed proud of the awe he is able to inspire within his followers as well as his enemies. Rikuo is able to use a power that comes only thanks to his human side, letting a yokai haunt his humanity while keeping control with his yokai half, performing Equip and gaining that yokai’s powers, but only if they entrust themselves to him. It is the ultimate representation of the Fear that Rikuo believes in. For the core power system of the series to have such a double meaning about it speaks to the coming complexities, and it is incredibly fitting for this story, as I hope to convey.

Fate, lineage and connection to history are the main themes of this manga. Many of the characters in the story are tied to tradition before it starts, and have to be brought out of that by Rikuo and his progressive mindset. One’s blood is used to portray this theme in an interesting way. Rikuo’s father, Rihan, describes him as a symbol of hope for the future. Rihan longed for a world where human and yokai could get along, yet he came into constant conflict with both evil yokai and evil humans, as his son Rikuo would soon come to do as well. Rikuo loved his father, and carries on his dreams. However, similar to his “fate” of leading the clan, his respect for his ancestors is well-informed by his individual beliefs, and not from any kind of feeling that he MUST do what his ancestors wished. Abe no Yoshihira failed here, becoming a slave to his perceived fate. Hagoromo-gitsune, the main antagonist of the Kyoto arc as well as Abe no Seimei’s mother, was tied to her blood relations as well. She did everything for her son, who was soon to be reborn again into this age. She had her own image of an ideal world, erasing humans and making a world full of yokai, but she didn’t consider her child’s ideals, which she could have presumed from Seimei’s suffering he received when both human and yokai betrayed him. Seimei is born and casts Hagoromo-gitsune into hell, declaring that he will purify all life from the world, as neither human nor yokai can be trusted. Abe no Seimei is the agent of fate, declaring that all living things on Earth have doomed themselves to a fate of death thanks to their own horrible and greedy nature. Abe no Seimei is a half-yokai himself and he has found solace from neither of those sides. Rikuo, however, does not give up. He equips himself with the true fear of this reality that places him in-between two worlds, unable to fully enjoy life as a human or a yokai, refusing to resign himself as Seimei did, and instead fighting against the fate Seimei enforces by bringing together humans and yokai, including Hagoromo-gitsune, in order to seal the final blow against him.

You may be wondering what it means that Rikuo was able to finish off Seimei by fusing with his mother. Well, you see, Hagoromo-gitsune is sort of, in a way, Rikuo’s mother as well. You see, before Rihan had a child with Rikuo’s mother, he was married to another woman, Yamabuki-otome. For context, Abe no Seimei is a man who reincarnates throughout generations, as does his mother, Hagoromo-gitsune. Some time after Yamabuki-otome’s death, Seimei used her to take revenge on Rihan for disrupting his plans, by reviving her as a child and turning her into the host of the yokai Hagoromo-gitsune, sending her with false memories and subliminal orders to kill the man she loved when she was alive. Once she had killed Rihan, her human self hid itself away in despair and Hagoromo-gitsune was able to take control of her body for good. In modern times, after being cast into hell by Abe no Seimei, she is revived by Nurarihyon in anticipation for the final battle. After encountering Rikuo and his burning feelings in Kyoto, she had regained her human memories before being struck down by Seimei. Upon her most recent revival, she found she had feelings for both Rikuo and Seimei, and considers both to be her children. She regrets that her feelings for Seimei had ended up being met with treachery, and she goes to confront him. When she hears his full plan, she decides to do kill him herself, though she fails. She feels it her duty as a mother to make up for not understanding his suffering earlier, as it’s now too late to reason with him. Hagoromo-gitsune’s progression comes from her ability to find love for her yokai followers, considering them to be her children all the same as Rikuo and Seimei, and learns that she should have seen this love all along rather than being blinded by her obsessions with her blood son. Once again, she values her children and the blood she shares with them, but she is only able to find happiness when she realizes that the feelings she has for them don’t have to be restricted to only them simply because they are her kin, and similarly she does not need to follow Seimei’s plan just because she thinks it’s what a mother “should” do. Fusing with Rikuo is the culmination of this. While Rikuo is technically her kin, as Seimei is, we see through her arc that she has matured and learned to spread her love. So even though without context it would seem that she simply went from one child to the other, we can see the complexities of this and see how it relates to Rikuo’s arc, accepting something not out of obligation, but from your own will. 

By coming to a true understanding with the woman that Abe no Seimei had discarded, his mother, and her doing the same, an act that seemingly defies their fates (Rikuo’s fate to be a cold yokai ruler and Hagoromo’s fate to be a slave to her child’s whims), they’re able to defeat him and sever fate itself.

The Hundred Stories Clan Arc is one that I really appreciate for showing me how truly interesting Rikuo was as a character. I hadn’t realized it up to that point, and it’s clear why. His characterization and progression is subtle. The text doesn’t tell you how Rikuo grows, the art and his actions do. When humanity told of Rikuo’s half-yokai status is convinced that he must be killed for the safety of Japan, Rikuo is forced to face the fact that the humans he wants to protect are not perfect, and have as many imperfections as yokai do. Humans can be greedy, they can do horrible things when they’re afraid. In a backstory, the leader of the Hundred Stories Clan is shown to be a despicable human from Japanese history named Sanmoto Gorozaemon, who takes control of yokai to secure his political and social power, and turns himself into a yokai in order to secure that power. When a member of his clan is assaulted by humans who don’t care about the harm they’re causing, some of them even reveling in it, through facial expressions we can see him struggling with the thought of killing these humans to end the conflict, or out of revenge possibly. Shiibashi leaves this to the reader’s interpretation and it works wonders, he has no internal monologue relating to this feeling and nobody points out that he seems crazed or anything. It’s some panels that you could easily miss if you’re reading too fast.

In this panel, we are shown his reaction to a female yokai appearing and tormenting the humans that were tormenting him and his clanmate just moments ago. Even when he showed such rage at the humans, seemingly almost snapping, he decides he needs to stop the yokai from killing them. However, the expression on his face conveys perfectly how complex his emotions are over this. Despite how confidently he’s saying he needs to save them, his face almost looks like he doesn’t want to. Of course, he overcomes this and saves them for the sake of his dream.

It’s clear to see the moral dilemma he’s going through and it’s conveyed entirely through art and subtext. This is confident storytelling, and not to mention incredible artistry. Shiibashi has a certain maturity and respect for the reader that is hard to find in Shonen Jump manga sometimes.

Rikuo’s fight against the yokai artist Kyosai in this arc is notable for being similar to what I just described from the beginning of the arc.

Kyosai has an interest in turning human women into yokai using his painting techniques, including one of Rikuo’s classmates. Enraged, Rikuo engages him in combat with his newly acquired Attack Mode, which switches his Fear from a defensive technique to an offensive one, and changes his hair from white with black underneath it to having half of his hair being black on one side and the other being white. As the fight progresses, Rikuo is continuously injured and decomposed by Kyosai’s abilities, burning his flesh and scarring Rikuo black.

Rikuo’s deteriorating mental state during this arc is conveyed visually through his design, with both the way he is inked as well as his literally evolving design, his new transformation. He’s never had to confront these kinds of humans and yokai before. This leveling of suffering is new to our middle school-aged protagonist. After Kyosai is defeated, his momentary rage subsides but he is still scarred, physically and mentally. Encho, the acting leader of the Hundred Stories Clan, betrays Sanmoto’s reincarnated brain for personal gain, confusing Rikuo who is already in a fragile mental state. He struggles to comprehend the enemy, as he had been forced to face humans that he wanted to protect, yokai that despised those humans, and even his own best friends. Once again, exclusively visually conveyed and up to interpretation.

At the end of this arc, he accepts the help of his friends, his aide Yuki-Onna, and equips with her, washing himself of the stress he’s in and covering him in a beautiful veil of ice. His design goes back to normal in order to show this, and get across just how much his friends mean to him, in a truly impactful way that really strengthens the theme by giving real weight to his connection with both his yokai and human lives.

Every arc is strong in its own way, I simply wanted to discuss the few that best show what I’m trying to say. I hope you now understand why I love this manga so much and why I think you should read it. I promise the things I’ve spoiled here are only a fragment of the whole experience, and your appreciation will only grow as you experience the full context by reading the manga. If I got across what I wanted to, then you understand that this manga cannot be explained as much as it can be experienced. There are probably more things that I never noticed, maybe you’ll discover those before I do.

This manga is an ode to the future, to humanity. We can overcome our differences and coexist. Perhaps all it takes is for one person to take the fear that we as people feel in our daily lives onto themselves. The fear that there can never be change, the fear that our road only ends in sadness. The fear that our history defines us. The fear that we must conform to our duty. The fear that accepting a duty strips us of individuality. The fear that we can never bring these conflicting aspects of our mind together and find inner peace. The fear that we can never bring the conflicting aspects of people together and find true peace amongst ourselves. Not many people can overcome that fear, but he who is truly strong is he who equips that fear. He who takes that uncertainty of the future and uses it to empower himself and push for that change he wishes to see. This review is my ode to the man who was able to understand what makes people who they are and didn’t let that fear consume him. The man who equips true fear. Thank you for reading.

[uwua3]

if it's ok 😳👉👈 i really love your writing and i've had this idea in my head for awhile but i can't get myself to write it on my own 🤔 i wanted to see how your spin would be on it- so can i request a prompt where reader gets jealous of tenma's co-actress in a romance and tries to mimic what she does to him in a show they're in?? ty!!! 💕💕💕 i look forward to your interpretation

thank you so much for requesting~ ♡ i love you sososo much; i hope this lives up to everything you’ve dreamed of! ♡ ～('▽^人) i LOVE YOU!!! <333

summary: when tenma lands a role in your favorite drama, he had one goal: to become your favorite actor

warnings: envy/jealousy, food mentions, rivalry (all covered briefly!)

author’s note: after learning everything there is to know about the k-drama, true beauty, on tik tok, i’ve decided to write this! for context, the only thing i recommend watching before reading this is watching the “roar” scene!

this is also the first time i’ve introduced made-up characters with names! please enjoy jun, the first character who isn’t canon to the a3!verse :D

word count: 3,768

music: like a movie – b1a4

pretty u!

🌻☀️ sumeragi tenma

what the heck was love, and why did he have to be in it?

sumeragi tenma, future “world’s best actor”, was suddenly... seeing why he hadn’t won that award yet. with a script in his hand and confusion in another, tenma read the title of the next drama he landed the role for

“PRETTY U...” it was japan’s next major love story, advertised on every social media platform possible with the all-star cast in the spotlight already. although it had already been out for a season, tenma was entering as the up-and-coming newest character of the series

tenma was boyish, young, and much too confident for his age—perfect for the role of a second-lead bad boy who was going to steal the heart and test the protagonist’s commitment

except... he didn’t actually want to take up a new project so soon. he only did because—

“what?! you’re going to be chan on PRETTY U?!” he proudly nodded and watched as you began ranting about how much you loved this show. there was only one reason he came to the audition: tenma wanted to star in your favorite television series

you always went on and on about how great everything about PRETTY U was. after hearing so much and pretending not to listen (even if he could practically explain the entire plotline now without watching it), tenma let himself become a fan, too

after all, how could he not be a fan when you loved PRETTY U so much?

tenma didn’t respond to his manager’s pleas until one day, you revealed another reason why PRETTY U was your favorite production: the main lead

“he’s so handsome~ i love him so much!” “do you know him? could you get me his number?” “look at him... he’s the most perfect actor in the business right now—ah, sorry ten!”

tenma scoffed every time, claiming he could most certainly do better than that hotshot. although the boys typically didn’t do the same type of television, he had become tenma’s #1 rival without even knowing it

besides... what did that guy have that tenma didn’t? he was just nice! sure, he held open the door for the lead, bent down to tie her shoes, bended over backwards just to be the perfect boy-next-door. yeah... even he couldn’t pretend anymore

tenma pouted at the thought, skimming over his next pilot episode for rehearsal tomorrow. he was too good to be real, after all, he was meant to end up with the lead girl anyways (spoiler alert!)

but, it didn’t matter how perfect that actor was! because tenma had gotten the role of “chan”, the leather-jacket wearing mystery with an actual heart of gold, and he was going to make the entire audience swoon

(though, tenma just wanted to make your heart skip a beat when he ended up on the big screen)

tenma would never admit how fast he checked his phone when he felt it buzz in his pocket. sure, it was unprofessional during rehearsal but he knew it was you. however, his smile dropped the moment he read what you sent

you: remember to tell him how much i love him!

tenma: hah... no good luck for your new bad boy?

you: you know i’ll always root for you, ten!

tenma: but, i’m better than that actor, right?

tenma watched his message get delivered and was about to keep bothering you until someone called his name like they were friends. speak of the devil...

that actor’s straight, white toothy smile made tenma stand a little straighter (damn it, tenma was shorter), eyes wide as the actor gracefully introduced himself as his co-star for the next month or so (how did his voice sound even better in person?!)

“good morning, tenma! my name is jun, i’m so honored to meet a fellow actor on set! let’s work together well!” were they... really the same age? tenma barely registered the fact he was suddenly shaking jun’s (right, that’s his name) hand. why did he have such a manly grip?

tenma quickly (to his dismay) found out that him & jun had entered the industry around the same time but often had different projects, so they were never featured in the same production before. apparently, that was creating quite a buzz in the media that two childhood stars were competing against one another

a competition that tenma couldn’t lose. he was going to be your favorite actor, not his rival!

jun, like the perfect gentleman everyone described him to be, showed tenma around the PRETTY U set. jun had nothing but good things to say about the crew and vise versa. that only reinforced how tenma was oddly much more quiet than he usually was. luckily, one of the talents of being an actor was improvising, so jun was doing just fine

when they had reached the dressing rooms, jun shot a bright smile at tenma and gestured to the rather large room

“we’ll be sharing a dressing room together, tenma! we’ll be spending a lot of time together!”

tenma suddenly regretted his decision to become chan of PRETTY U. you couldn’t have had a different favorite show?! anything but... this

there were now three main characters for PRETTY U: hoshi, yuri, and chan, creating a love triangle for millions of viewers to watch every week

nakamura jun, leading role, played “hoshi”, the boy-next-door. this is the popular boy at school with the best grades and an even greater reputation amongst everyone. next, uedo ren, one of japan’s rising female actresses of this generation. she is adored as “yuri”, the perfect girl. she is the typical nerd who suddenly transformed into the prettiest girl at school from learning make-up

last (but definitely not least!) is sumeragi tenma, playing “chan”, the bad boy. it was nothing like tenma’s done before, since the character was much less expressive than he was used to. chan is a traditional rebel who is revealed to have a soft side for yuri. but, chan (ironically enough) has a secret history with hoshi, causing tension in this already confusing love triangle

(embarrassingly enough, jun had to explain to tenma the complications and ties between each character. tenma, unfortunately, found it to be extremely helpful)

even with this newfound knowledge of the characters in season 2, tenma couldn’t help but absolutely ruin the first day of rehearsals. even with a decade or so of acting as his experience, one thing kept him from being chan: his lack of chemistry with “yuri”

“cut!” the director called out again for the nth time, sighing as their eyes landed on tenma, who was not enjoying being the center of attention this time, surprisingly

“take 5, kid. once you come back, i expect you to actually go through this scene without messing up your lines.” tenma nodded and exited quickly, feeling flustered from the looks of sympathy directed his way. usually, it was one-and-done. it didn’t take a hundred tries just to do another romantic and cliché scene

tenma exhaled loudly once he felt the fresh air upon his face. without the fear of cameras in his face anymore, tenma ran his hand through his hair with a frustrated kick at the concrete. come on! he was renown child actor sumeragi tenma, why was he so in his head now?

tenma was about to yell into the sky before he heard someone close the door, standing beside him with their usual silence. tenma didn’t even have to look to know it was jun (probably with the most pitiful look ever)

“tenma? are you okay?” jun waited as tenma tried to not say anything he’d regret, shifting his weight on his foot back and forth before relenting, shrugging as if it couldn’t be helped

“i don’t know... i just, i can’t see yuri that way. how am i supposed to flirt with someone i don’t even like?”

jun pondered the thought for a moment, before tilting his head, a boyish smile overtaking his features. tenma unwillingly relaxed; jun finally looked his age

“who do you like then?”

tenma froze, a blush even foundation couldn’t hide blossoming on his cheeks. jun let out a teasing “oooh!” as he nudged tenma with his shoulder, who pushed back with an eye-roll

“i-it’s not like that! don’t be so—ugh!” tenma cut himself off, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding jun’s knowing eyes. damn it, they barely knew each other. why was he getting so comfortable with his enemy?!

“well, whoever you thought of, imagine yuri as them.”

“is that what you do?”

jun shrugged, not giving a clear answer for once. before tenma could ask for more information, their break was over

when tenma returned to the scene, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. when he opened them again, he watched as yuri transformed into the one person he’s been trying to impress this entire time: you

when “you” smiled, tenma couldn’t help but follow along. his first-take after break made the cut for the final product

“you must really like them, tenma~” — “stop!!!”

filiming afterwards became easy, especially when he imagined all his romantic words were directed towards you. he could feel the clamminess of his hands, the rapid beat of his heart, the intense blush across his face, all at the thought of you

(the only time he had to start over was when he accidentally said your name instead of yuri’s)

tenma was sure he’d become your favorite actor now! after all, you were his favorite person

“will you watch the first episode of PRETTY U’s season 2 with me?”

you had never said yes so fast in your entire life. when tenma learned there’d be a cast-viewing of episode 1 after finishing the season, he knew his +1 invite could only go to the biggest fan of the show

throughout filming, you were always the person who got him in trouble when the text tone wasn’t put on silent. you liked spamming tenma with a bunch of supportive and encouraging messages when you were available, meaning tenma always had something to look forward to after each scene

in return, tenma would send a selfie of him with his castmates or the set (or, what he was allowed to show under his contract). yet, despite your constant pleas, there was one co-star he’d never take a photograph with: jun

(“tenma! we’ve worked together for months~ shouldn’t i be called your friend now?” “no—” “huh?! don’t pretend you don’t like me!” “who said i was pretending?” “tenma!”)

at first, tenma was apprehensive about inviting you to an event where jun’s picture-perfect face would be on display everywhere. but, whenever he saw you, the weight of the tickets suddenly felt much heavier in his pocket. he couldn’t deprieve you of such an exclusive event just because of his jealousy (even if he was this close to doing so)

when tenma impulsively asked three days before, it felt worth it when you threw your arms around him (he hugged you back and pretended this meant something to you)

“i love you, ten!”

tenma felt like he was on set again, with yuri’s arms tightly holding onto his heart

“i love you, too.”

even after saying it so many times, tenma meant it even if he didn’t say it to your face every time

you looked like the star of the show

tenma fixed his tie as his blazer suddenly felt too tight. you appeared in your most formal attire, looking like a million bucks as you two sat across each other in the limo

“ten, look at all of this!” you pointed out every little thing of preparing for a professional event. the little glasses of champagne neither of you two could drink sat to the side as the leather seats molded to fit your posture. as the night lights of tokyo blurred by, tenma couldn’t help but think you sparkled more than this diamond of a city

“i can’t wait to go see the first episode! thank you for inviting me.” you bowed your head, as if suddenly overcome with gratefulness. tenma lightly kicked your shoe with his, fondly rolling his eyes as he tried not to smile (mission failed)

“don’t worry about it, who else would i bring? you’re my favorite pe—friend. friend, yeah...” tenma trailed off, suddenly finding something very interesting outside of the window. you only nodded, seemingly more interested in the fact there was enough room to walk around

when tenma caught sight of the infamous red carpet laid out in front of the theatre, he cleared his throat and put on his best face for the cameras. after stepping out of the car with his bodyguards nearby, tenma turned and gave you a genuine smile. not his typical arrogant smirk the news source ate up, but a type of smile only reserved for you

when he held out his hand, the flashing lights behind him seemed like a real celebrity, something you had never considered him to be before. it was like seeing tenma in a new light (both literally and figuratively)

“shall we?” you took his hand and wondered if you could ever have your own j-drama. perhaps, tenma could even be the main lead...

before you could step off to the side, tenma already had his arm wrapped around your waist with his unchanging expression (however, underneath it all, he was internally freaking out. what was he going to do now?!)

“you’re my date, right? walk the red carpet with me.” tenma winked (you swore it sparkled) as he gestured towards the carpet ahead. suddenly, the line seemed much longer

“t-ten... you’ve never brought a date before...” you mumbled, acutely aware of how soon it was to walk down together. tenma’s arm stiffened, but nothing else exposed the revelation as he looked down at you

“you’re my first, then.” and my last, tenma thought to himself. before you could change your mind, it was showtime. tenma put on his movie star face and introduced you to familiar interviewers, smiling away as if you two weren’t panicking on the inside

while you were focusing on the fact you were going to be going viral as tenma’s first “date” to the event, tenma was trying not to blush from how close you were. you felt... right besides him

tenma was a natural in front of an audience waiting for him to make a mistake. he flawlessly answered every question with swaggering confidence, his stride easy and poses photogenic

you did your best to follow his lead but it all ended when tenma took you into the theatre, staring down at you with a bright smile

“we did it! see, told you we’d be just fine.” tenma let out an exhale of relief, glowing with joy from the adrenaline of everything that came with being a superstar. as you looked up into his excited eyes, you saw him lean down before—

“your arm is still around me.”

silence, then a hurried separation as tenma put too many feet between you two. it was suddenly as if you two were strangers. you regretted the words the moment they left your mouth; you didn’t mind at all... why did you say something?!

“um... so, food?” tenma spoke up after an eternity of making excuses. you two quickly moved to the line of movie snacks, using candy and popcorn to substitue the suddenly awkward silence

when tenma ordered all your favorites without even asking, he turned around with the selection only to close his eyes and internalize every single thing he was feeling because there he was, his worst enemy

jun entered from a side door, most likely finishing up helping the crew with set-up (and 30 minutes early as usual) before catching tenma’s iconic bright orange hair, a grin lighting up his face

“tenma! it’s me, jun!” he said, as if they weren’t the two main leads of japan’s most famous drama so far. immediately, your smile matched jun’s as you watched as your favorite actor of all time make his way towards you two

“jun... of course you’d be here.” tenma said through gritted teeth, forcing a pleasant smile even with an armful of junk

“ah, still keeping the bad boy attitude? we’re off set now, you can stop method acting now.” jun joked, bringing his attention to you with a dazzling smile that would absolutely make any fansite’s career

“oh? who is this, a friend of yours?” tenma tried not to sigh so loud when you couldn’t help yourself and burst into a long rant about how amazing jun was. tenma waited until you reached your midpoint and stopped you with a quick nudge, trying not to scream (could jun stop being so... perfect? could you stop being so cute?!)

when tenma introduced you, he stood a little closer as he tried to maintain his jealousy. “they’re my date, by the way.” no one had asked, but tenma was clearly telling anyone who was around you two had gone together

jun’s eyes lit up in recognition as he let out a noise of surprise. “ah~ so this is who you—”

tenma didn’t regret losing his giant popcorn so fast to a co-star who could only be silenced with food. his wallet could afford another one, anyways. his pride on the other hand? could not let you know his acting secret already

“what was jun going to say?” you asked after you two departed for the viewing room. tenma nonchalantly pretended like everything was okay as he guided you to front row

“probably something about the fact you’re the one who always interrupts our scenes.”

“hey! my texts make your day, don’t lie!”

“go sit down and eat already, jeez.”

when it began, your eyes couldn’t leave the screen. it was better than you could have imagined. everything was perfect, it exceeded the standards of even the toughest fans out there. you loved every second of it... except...

tenma was too good at being chan. even with his bright hair, the dark clothes he wore made him appear intimidating, with his sharp eyes and even sharper smirk. chan’s appearance was tough, rough, and mean, everything tenma wasn’t

yet, you still couldn’t help but feel your heart sink when chan was clearly in love with yuri. yuri was one of your favorite characters by far, but she ended up bothering you for the entireity of the episode

especially every time she shared a scene (which were many times) with chan. chan was revealed to be a bad boy with a heart of gold, all with a special soft side for yuri

what was this feeling? were you... no, you couldn’t be! after all, you had never seen tenma that way before, right? yet, every time chan made an exception for yuri, you felt sick to your stomach

was it possible that tenma liked the actress who played yuri? you snuck a glance at tenma, only to see he was looking at you already (he’d never admit it, but he was watching your reactions to see if he made you proud. yet, every time you saw him, you subconsciously frowned)

were you not proud of him? did you not like his performance as chan?

before tenma could ask you, the scene changed into one of chan’s. he was standing outside in the school uniform, his head ducked as he swiped through yuri’s social media. before he could look up, yuri jumped in front of him with a teasing smile

“roar!” she called out, referring to their inside joke earlier in the episode. yuri cutely bounced back with another roar, holding her hands up like paws. chan watched, his typical rock-hard expression breaking to reveal his developing feelings for yuri

later on, chan stopped yuri in the hallway, other students watching as the school’s bad boy and goddess interact

“do that again.” chan demanded to which yuri innocently tilted her head, confused like a little puppy. “do what?” “that... that thing.” when chan roared, tenma sunk into his seat with an embarrassed defense and explanation ready. but, when he looked, you finally cracked a laugh at his little roar

your smile only fell when yuri roared again as a joke, but chan smiled for once. tenma wondered why... he thought you would be so happy to be here with him. maybe, he’d never be better than jun...

when the episode ended, it took a moment before you stood up and clapped. tenma followed along, but all he could think about was how he let you down. not only as chan, but as your boy, too

when you two left the room, you two hung back to watch as everyone congratulated one another on the success of the production. in the midst of the cheer and celebration, tenma felt small as he watched your blank expression

what did he do wrong? he put his best efforts into every scene; he might even say it was his best work yet. before he could apologize, you did the unthinkable: you roared

you jumped up into his face, holding your hands up like yuri did. when yuri did it, tenma didn’t feel a thing. but, when you did, tenma felt it. the butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he stared at you, frozen in place

“this is the part where you ask me to do it again.” you shyly trailed off, about to put your hands down before tenma weakly put his hands up, knowing he was about to regret his next move (if the embarrassment didn’t kill him, he didn’t know what would)

“roar!”

that was too loud, wasn’t it? the room suddenly went a lot more quiet as they turned their attention towards a teen actor roaring at his date

“yah! why didn’t you ask me the next line?”

“b-because... i know i like you even without you doing, that, again.”

you paused, taken back by his honesty. as tenma contemplated just falling onto the floor right then and there, you suddenly hardened your expression, standing up straighter with your arms crossed

“do that again.”

“do what?”

“that thing.”

when tenma roared again, much quieter this time, you nodded as you finally smiled genuinely for the first time ever since that episode started

“good, i know how chan feels now. i like you, too.”

“does that mean i’m your favorite actor now?”

(when jun released a video of tenma roaring online, he captioned it with “ROAR = ILY!!!” tenma realized maybe he wasn’t all that bad, but still)

[linkspooky]

Mahito = True Human

A while back I sent an anon to @kaibutsushidousha​ asking if there was any deeper meaning to the Kanji in Mahito’s name. It turns out that his name has a lot of significance to his character and also his role in the story. I’ll be going over the symbolic meaning of his name below.  [Original post by [x], coloring by [x].]

To quote. 

Mahito’s name means “true human”. Even without getting to significance of this expression to Japanese and Chinese cultures, that’s already a bold and interesting name choice, seeing that, [...] he’s implied to be not a person, but some sort of incarnated curse, working together with curse spirits interested in becoming the new form of humanity. 

There’s a certain irony in Mahito’s name being read as  真人 “True Human” considering what we know of him he has an extremely low opinion of humans, and a high opinion of curses. In the latest fight against Yuji in the Shibuya arc, Mahito seems to be seeking to shed his more humanlike form like shedding his skin so he can become even more of what he considers to be a “true curse.” 

Mahito’s name means true human, and he is the most humanlike of all of the intelligent curses before him and yet he seems to want nothing to do with humanity, preferring to see himself as a curse instead. He even quite literally, as I mentioned above, sheds off his own skin in order to try and take what he assumes is his true form. 

Mahito’s name means true human and yet he doesn’t want to become humans. He always encourages the curses around him to act more like curses, acting illogical and on impulse. 

Mahito wants to become a “true curse” the most curselike of the curses. Rather than becoming human literally, they wanted to replace the humans entirely. Mahito is a human curse, created by the hatred spewed between humans and yet not only wants to destroy humans but is also the one most eager to destroy his reflection Itadori Yuji even though he claimed they were “the same person.” There’s a certain irony in naming Mahito “True Human” when he’s constantly trying to prove that he’s anything but human. 

But anyways, let’s get to what Asian traditions define as “true human”.

Starting off with Japanese history/Shintoism. In the year 684, Emperor Tenmu defined that the largest families in Japan needed to have rank attached to their family names as a way of easily expressing their social status. The eight social ranks defined by Emperor Tenmu, from the noblest to the most plebian were:

1 - Mahito (True humans) 2 - Ason (Courtiers) 3 - Sukune (Lords) 4 - Imiki (People from overseas, especially from China and Korea, who settled in early Japan and introduced Continental culture to the Japanese) 5 - Michinoshi (Artist and priest families) 6 - Omi (Retainers) 7 - Muraji (Families big and influential enough to earn a rank but not falling into any other category) 8 - Inagi (Families of regional officials responsible for rice storage)

The title of Mahito was granted only to families descended from Emperors themselves or imperial princes. Basically, only those of royal blood could be called “true humans”.

The connection to Asian traditions is clear in Mahito’s naming. Mahito is the closest thing possible to curse royalty among the curse family. He was the one set up to take leadership of the rest of the curses even after Jogo, Hanami and Dagon passed. 

Mahito is also, a curse that’s been paralleled to Sukuna the so called “king of curses” several times. Mahito even presumes that they’re something like rivals. It’s probably no coincidence that lords were known as “Sukune”.

The irony of naming Mahito true human also repeats again. Mahito wants to prove he’s the most “Pureblooded” of the curses by constantly exaggerating his own curse nature, hating, and spiting others for no reason. However, he’s the most humanlike instead. Mahito is said to serve out the purpose as a mirror to humanity. “Death is a mirror for humans”, he said that in the sense that people become more self-reflective when facing death, and also the idea of mortality for humans tends to make people more eager to define who they are.

 We see are lives in sharp relief and are constantly trying to define ourselves, because we have to face death. Mahito is much like that. He’s made up of human fears. Human insecurities. Human hate. The fear of other people. However, that makes him a mirror because he shows humans their own flaws. In other words Mahito regards himself as a pure blooded curse and nothing more, but Mahito more than any of the curses reflects humanity. It’s even what he does to Yuji. When Mahito and Yuji fight he tries to force the others into self reflection. 

All of Mahito’s negative qualities, those are human qualities too. Mahito hates humans, but humans also despise each other. Mahito acts like a coward, but there are plenty of people who are cowards. Mahito is reflecting the worst traits of humanity and bringing them face to face, and thus acting like a mirror. We even see Mahito acting like a mirror. When he kills Nanami, in the few moments before Nanami dies, he doesn’t see Mahito standing right in front of him. 

He sees Haibara. When looking at Mahito, he saw his old dead friend. Mahito was serving as a mirror for what Nanami’s thoughts at the time. No matter what Mahito strives to become as a true curse, he’ll always be a reflection of humanity because he was created by human feelings, and human projections. 

Which is probably why Mahito strives to transform himself and find his true form in the first place, because he is as of right now, just a monster stitched together of other human beings with no true form, and no true purpose. 

Next up, let’s talk about Taoism. The main gist of Taoism is that some people are randomly born with sacral bones in their skeletons. Sacral bones can sometimes run in the family, but can also occur in random people with no taoist heritage, regardless of class. Peole with sacral bones can seclude themselves taoist communities in isolated mountains or islands, becoming Taoists, the students of Xian arts. Xian is a title granted to a Taoist who completed their studies, turning immortal in the process.

In Taoism, Yuanshi Tianzun is the greatest being in all universe, with the Xians who serve Yuanshi Tianzun being considered good, and the Xians who oppose him being considered evil. Zhenren (”true human” in Chinese) is the name granted to the greatest Xian wizards serving under Yuanshi Tianzun. The Xians chosen as Zhenrens are people who transcended the everyday world, and reached the peak of the Tao arts.

One Taoist named Zhuang Zi made immense contribution to making the Taoist knowledge widespread by writing a book also named Zhuang Zi. In his self-title book, Zhuang Zi defines a “true human” as person who mastered the Tao’s ideals, or more specifically, “a person who meekly obeys the heaven’s decree, accepts everything as natural, lets go of all prejudice and confrontationism, and lives under the taoist mindset that all things are of equal value”.

The process of Sacral bones resembles Jujutsu Sorcerery technique heritage a lot, but besides that there’s a lot of resemblance between Tao’s ideals and Mahito’s own ideals. Specifically about the equality of life. 

Mahito seeslife as something without necessary meaning or value. Life simply circles. The life of a butterfly or an ant is just as important as the life of a human being. In a world where everything is just trying to survive and live to the next today, it might just be human folly to assume we’re somehow outside of the food chain of the planet we share with all other life.  You could take “All life is equal” to mean two things, all life is equally precious, or all life is equally worthless. Guess which one Mahito takes. 

A taoist accepts everything as natural, and Mahito seems to submit himself to natural law. He calls the three curse spirits which are basically just nature spirits to be his closest friends. Jogo, Hanami, Dagon, they’re all just representative of the naural world around them. 

Mahito also describes life as just one more facet of nature. 

All life is equal. All life is the same. All life is equally worthless. A wolf killing a rabbit isn’t cruel. If the wolf doesn’t kill the rabbit they’ll starve. If the rabbit escapes they’ll live to the next day. If it doesn’t the wolf does. Everything in this world is just trying to live - which is why Mahito doesn’t see the battle between curses and humans as a battle between good and evil.  Curses are trying to replace humans, so they can live freely in the world the same way humans do.

It’s a battle for survival. There’s no good or evil between the wolf and the rabbit, both of them are just fighting each other in order to survive. However, if Mahito really wants to follow natural laws that means he’s also a part of the same nature. 

There’s a flaw in Mahito’s thinking. He decries humans for being self important, and reasoning that they’re somehow more worthy of life than other animals or even curses. Mahito believes that if he’s stronger than Yuji, he should have the right to kill him in order so that he can live. However, Mahito doesn’t handle it very well when he’s on the other side. Might makes right, is a logic that means whenever you’re stronger, what you think is the right thing. However, what most don’t consider is that if you’re weak it also means you have to submit to somebody else. 

Mahito never even considered the idea that he might be the prey. His logic is all might makes right, the stronger person has to live, but he also assumed he’d be the stronger one. When it turns out he’s weaker, and he’s the one whose about to die, he ends up running for his life. Despite basically justifying himself and doing whatever he wanted when he was on top, he can’t handle being at the bottom of the food chain, he can’t submit to being weak. Which is why we see his sudden panic when he realizes he’s the prey this time. This is also, something that contradicts what Jogo says. 

Curses do not fear death. However, Mahito does. Which means in this moment as he’s running away, Mahito is acting more like a human than a curse. He assumed his life was more important in the grand scheme of things, just like humans have a tendency to do, and doesn’t want to be eaten like a rabbit so Yuji can survive to the next day. 

Last but not least, Buddhism defines “true human” as a person who opened their eyes to the Truth and perfected their personhood. Both Buddhas and Arhats qualify as “true humans” by that definition. Gojou is another character with heavy Buddhist motifs on his name...

This could be a connection with two ideas in Mahito’s character. Number one, he’s always trying to perfect himself and lift himself up to the highest level possible. His Domain is even called “Self Embodiment of Perfection.” You get the sense that in tinkering with others, distorting the shape and form of others he’s trying to find the true perfect shape of himself. 

The second is his connection to Gojo. This is also just a theory as we don’t know exactly what the six-eyes do, but it’s heavily suggested that both Mahito and Gojo are able to see both the “soul” something that is impossible for all other curses and jujutsu sorcerers to do. 

Mahito’s able to see the soul most likely just because of what he is, a reflection of humans, and how his cursed technique resolves around warping the shape of the soul in order to change the body. Gojo is at least able to see Geto’s cursed energy with his six eyes, when he’s replaced by Getwo. The two of them have special insight to the soul that no other characters have thus they are “true seeing” in a budhist sense. They are also both characters trying to perfect their personhood, Gojo is the ideal jujutsu sorcerer and Mahito longs to be the ideal curse. 

So, there’s a lot of connections to asian traditions present in naming Mahito “True Human”, but there’s also a lot of ironies too. Mahito as always is a walking contradiction, and that quality of his is what makes him all the more human.