#WHY DOES MY ARTSTYLE CHANGE EVERY PANEL

[semper-legens]

79. Gravity Falls: Lost Legends by Alex Hirsch

Owned: Yes Page count: Unknown/not numbered My summary: Pacifica and Dipper must battle a monster to save Mabel’s face. Soos breaks the fourth wall, and reality begins to crumble. Mabel tears a hole in reality and discovers the Mabel-verse. And young Stanley and Stanford fight some bullies. Welcome back to Gravity Falls. My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Gravity Falls again! Yeah, I read the Book of Bill, and then this literally fell off the shelf into my lap ready for me to read. I love Gravity Falls, and this wasn't exactly a huge time investment, so hey, why not? All of these comics take place over Dipper and Mabel's summer in Gravity Falls (bar one, a flashback to the older Pines twins) at various points, and they all focus on a different person or area of Gravity Falls. And, of course, there's a ridiculous framing device. Shmebulock, the gnome who is cursed to only say his own name, can apparently talk once every thousand years, and uses that time to tell us stories about the Pines family, because of course he does. Schmebulock, the fourth wall gnome, what secrets are you hiding?

The first story is about Dipper and Pacifica. She wants to get rid of a wrinkle, and ends up summoning a face-stealing creature (as you do) that steals Mabel's face, forcing the other two to chase him and find it. It's really exploring their antagonistic relationship, as well as giving some insights into Pacifica's worldview. She's been raised to believe that being beautiful is necessary for her, that she needs to live up to this perfect ideal of what a family is, but she learns that the stress she is under from living up to this ideal is causing her pain. Actually, she prefers to be more authentic, and to look like herself rather than an idealised version of what she should appear like. Dipper helping her to learn that, even through a grouchy, antagonistic, argumentative set of banter, is sweet. And there's some great gags in this story. I really liked the faceless Mabel drawing a smile on while sitting in the dark, creeping Stan out - it was a fun little aside.

The second story is about Dipper and Mabel getting some comics, which Stan throws into a cursed chest. Lo and behold, he gets trapped inside the comics, and the others have to follow him in to save him. It's really fun, with the artstyle and tone that the comic is presented in changing based on which kind of comics they're currently inside - classic cartoons, superheroes, manga, edgy apocalypse stories, down to Stan's old comic, which is Peanuts-esque. The theme this time is Stan's own self-worth issues and inability to square up to his past - every venture he's tried, even this one attempt at creativity, has been a failure, and he feels very much dwarfed by the success of Ford. But when they get out of the comics world, Stan puts his story on sale at the Mystery Shack, and a kid ends up buying and loving it. The whole thing is a fun romp through different comics, with a sweet ending where Stan finds something of the success he was hoping for the whole time. Nice!

Next up is the Mabel story, where Mabel falls through to a multiverse of lost Mabels, Rick and Morty style. Stan Mabel! Military Mabel! Table Mabel! Velociraptor Mabel! There's such a huge variety of Mabels on show here, half the panels are basically Where's Wally-esque tableaux - and there even is a Where's Wally Mabel hanging around to make that very joke. I liked that this story shows off Mabel's flaws - her silliness, her self-centred nature, her tendency to get caught up in ridiculous schemes - without ever demonising her or making her seem like a bad person for it. I see Mabel be denigrated too often in the fandom for the crime of being a twelve year old girl, so it's nice to see some official media that shows she isn't perfect, but also doesn't blame her for it. And seeing all the Mabels is fin. This story has like 4000% more Mabel for your Mabel. What's not to love?

The final story features Stan and Ford as children, solving the mystery of their father's missing necklace. After having mostly seen them in their adult, antagonistic forms, it's really nice to see Stan and Ford as friends who help each other out here. The young Stans are cute, and again, we get a bit of nuance from them - Ford is just as willing to wreck things and join in hijinks as Stan is, and Stan's nice despite his bluster and bull-headedness. They're just kids, you know, messing around on their summer holiday, trying to make the best of their situations despite not exactly being the ideal kids. Stan's derided by his father for not being as smart as Ford, and Ford feels uncomfortable about his six fingers and the way he doesn't really fit in. But they have each other, and they're working things out, and it's really nice to see. I love them.

Next up, a look at pirates in culture, with a book about Pirates of the Caribbean.

[asachuu]

I was going to post this yesterday as soon as I became aware of the new update, but I forgot about it and passed out. The sentiment is the same today as it has been for the past few months, though, and thank goodness I’m a bit more awake for this because there are…things to say.

I mostly reserve from some kind of lengthy, in-depth commentary because I genuinely don’t have the time or ability to go through Fifteen and the manga separately to point out even half of the most general things that are so incredibly jarring, all I’ll say is just. Why.

I would have complained about this ages ago already, had I not been entirely convinced I’m just losing my mind and I’m seeing things that aren’t there, given the manga does follow a lot of the dialogue of the light novel as opposed to its abysmal anime adaptation, but I suppose it is common knowledge that when you’re drawing a manga, or really any kind of story with both a text and visual element, the readers will not be focusing exclusively on the text. The visuals are just as important, if not more at times, and they can heavily change the feeling or mood of said story. With that being said, I think you can understand what I’m trying to get at here, and more specifically, why I’m very tired seeing yet another adaptation imply Arthur is some kind of cold-hearted monster to be feared even by the audience. I won’t be using any specific examples beyond this point, but all I’ll say is that I’ve had this in the drafts since the moment I saw the panels of Arthur getting accused of betraying the organization, somehow managing to get the text correct and yet make him look either completely lifeless or annoyed, as if he weren’t confused or clueless at all, unlike what the LN itself states. It just went downhill from that very moment, and for a hot minute, I convinced myself that the panels at the end of the same chapter were him either panicking or just giving up upon being found out and having that emphasized through the artwork, but looking at everything that ended up following, I don’t think that was actually meant to be the case, I think he was meant to look more deranged than sorrowful in those parts— and every other part in which this was supposed to be the opposite, that too.

This is not to say I have an issue with the artstyle itself, as that’s mostly the element emphasizing it, I believe everything could have been done so much better— with it, no less— but since this manga, and subsequently the style, has been so heavily focused on every single dark aspect that isn’t even there half the time, just like in Arthur’s interrogation by Dazai, exaggerating the wrong things to no end, that’s not the case right now. I’m not here to say Fifteen isn’t full of dark subjects and situations, it absolutely is, but they’re not everywhere all the time, and especially not in relevance of Arthur as an antagonist. I don’t know if it’s the fault of a concept that every BSD antagonist just has to invoke terror no matter what, the fault of focusing too much on Arthur’s power to the point it overshadows the character beneath it and renders him irrelevant, or the artist took some inspiration from our dearest beloved BSD anime season 3 and just decided to drag it in the same exact direction using different approaches, but needless to say, it really isn’t…that much better at the moment, and considering none of this is going to get remade, it simply won’t be.

Perhaps that’s a harsh judgement on my part, but again, the dialogue truly isn’t everything. Season 3 discarded it altogether and took their own spin on everything that was going on, ultimately creating a completely different piece of media than what Fifteen actually was, and even though the manga didn’t do the same, trying to hold onto the source material for once, I’m not going to even try to pretend that anyone would read it and come out thinking Arthur was meant to be a tragic character who found himself on the completely wrong path that ultimately led to his inevitable demise— no, everyone would immediately assume he’s a horrifying force of destruction who does everything in his own favor, no matter the cost, without any regard for anyone other than his lost partner. I am yet to see the end of the fight between him, Chuuya and Dazai, as well as the section where he reveals his past, but having seen what impact it had in BSD S3— even ignoring all the bits they cut out— I don’t have any hope that it’ll make him seem a bit more likable for those who don’t really enjoy heavily implied morally corrupt villains. And hey, I’ll admit I love those myself, but Arthur is not one of them, never was and never will be, and to portray him as such is to once again erase the very foundations of him in the original novels. I truly wouldn’t mind if that were the actual antagonist of Fifteen, but it just isn’t, and two entire adaptations so far seem to be dead set on making him into such a thing.

Honestly, with both this and S3, I’m not even surprised people are slowly starting to fall back into misinterpreting Arthur as a character completely, and although that technically never went away, from what I’ve seen, this is certainly not going to do anyone any favors. No wonder some people seem to believe he chose to become a government agent for near to no reason, had zero remorse about both his job or the events of Fifteen, is nothing more than one half of an assassin duo with nothing redeemable about either of them, and sure, I can blame this on many different things, but at this point, I’m sure these adaptations are just as responsible for it, because let’s not lie to ourselves— in a choice between reading a book, a manga or watching an anime, the first will often be people’s last resort, and while in the past, I could have dreaded a wave of anime-only people never having read the LN and running with those events as original canon, now I get to dread manga-only people as well, if not a combination of both, which is just amazing for those who want their beliefs about Arthur being a total psychopath to be solidified. Not for the rest of us, though.

Keep in mind that none of this is meant as some kind of personal attack or insult to Hoshikawa-san themselves, this is just my personal frustration with yet another thing which looked promising, but ultimately got shoved back onto the pile of Fifteen adaptations and interpretations which for some reason seem to despise Fifteen’s Arthur as a character, else he wouldn’t have been disregarded over and over.

Anyway, I hope I won’t have to come back here to add more things later because this really isn’t meant to be a dissection, but that’s my take on this whole manga so far. If I am to say something good about it for a change, at least it does actually try to keep some remains of the original LN in it, and new official art of Arthur is something I’ll begrudgingly appreciate, but I really can’t say I’m particularly overjoyed when the outcome of it won’t be much different to the outcome of S3 regardless.

[moons-lab]

When playing the hikikomori run, I really hoped one chore would involve Sunny going outside and accidently running into Kel. Ofcourse the whole point of a hikikomori is to stay indoors, but I had already imagined different senarios of what might’ve happened. I know Sunny isn’t this expresive but I like drawing expresions ok >:(

  Here’s my idea of what would’ve happened if one of the chores did involve going outside. I’m no writer so if anyone wants to fleshen out this idea, please do so. - As in my little comic, the chore would involve Sunny having to go to one of the stores to buy something. Like maybe buying flowers to go visit his sisters grave one last time before moving away. - On the last day, Kel would be having a picknick with his family at the Faraway park, as he does in the normal route of the game - When on his way towards the stores, Sunny runs into Kel. - I like to think Kel felt a lot of guilt and sort of responsible for not being able to get Sunny out of the house after his siters death. - Kel always held hope that maybe him and his friends could rekindle. After Mari’s death he tried really hard to hold everyone together, but wasn’t succesfull. - When he notices that Sunny’s house was up for sale, he tried to get in touch again. But after many failed attempt he gives up. - At the park Kel immedietly sprints torwards Sunny, happy as can be. He wants to spent as much time with him as possible with his best friend, before he moves away. - Even if the time spent together is running around doing chores. He just wants to hang out with Sunny one last time. - Especially after failing to get Sunny out of the house on the ‘three days left’ he’s more than happy to finally see him outside of the house - When Sunny rejects him, he’s taken aback. - Kel is left, thinking that all this time Sunny spent in the house/ didn’t open the door, was not because of grief, but because Sunny just doesn’t want to spent any time with him. - Sunny just goes about his day, buying the flowers and eventually bringing them to Mari. (maybe meeting Aubrey at the graveyard which would’ve lead to a confrontation :0)

I hate that Sunny’s mom tells us that Kel seems very lonely, cause that means he was lonely for four years and now after those four very lonely years, he gets rejected by his supposed ‘childhood best friend’.

English isn’t my first language sorry

[gunterfan1992]

Interview with Fan Artist loycos!

(Art by loycos)

So a few months ago, I was absent-mindedly scrolling on Tumblr (or was it Twitter?) when I came across something: an Adventure Time fan comic by an artist named loycos. As a person embedded in fan spaces, I find fanart like this all the time, but this time, there was something special about the art I was seeing. It was so... show-accurate!

I don’t mean that necessarily in regard to the art style (although it does feel right at home in the Land of Ooo, while still being its own thing with its own flourishes), but rather in relation to the characterization; the way loycos wrote the characters was spot on. She nailed PB and Marceline’s dynamic as former lovers who deep-down miss one another. She nailed Finn’s naive heroism and his one-sided crush on PB. She nailed Jake’s goofball energy. It was perfect.

In the past, I’ve only interviewed people affiliated with the show’s production, but I thought I’d mix things up a bit and reach out to some fan artists that I think are fantastic. As such, I’m delighted to share with you an interview I had with loycos, who answered my questions about her art, her history with Adventure Time, and where her work is headed!

What is your 'artistic origin' story?

[It’s] kind of a corny answer, but I've been drawing since I remember myself. My earliest drawing memories are drawing Clifford (the big red dog) fanart when I was around 5 y/o. I was always more of a "fangirl" artist, [and] I would draw characters from my favorite franchises to illustrate my headcanons and daydream scenarios I'd put them in. That hadn't changed one bit since. I had since gone on to study animation and illustration in official institutions which forced me to design characters and worlds of my own, but when I draw for myself it's always back to fanart (or studies). I don't have any OCs.

Are there particular artists or styles that you were inspired by and/or like to emulate or allude to?

I'd joke that my artstyle is just a mesh of all the franchises I've drawn fanart for over the years, but honestly, is it even a joke? I think you can easily recognize I had a Disney Phase like every other teenager (I didn't have an anime phase though! I know, I'm an anomaly) and [Steven Universe] definitely left it's fat mark on my style too. Out of [Steven Universe]'s storyboarding crew (which I followed very closely over the years) I especially love Raven Molisee and Jeff Liu for their wacky expressions and proportions, and of course Rebecca Sugar for their fluid and carefree lines. When it comes to art in general, I tend to prefer stylized, colorful and brushy styles over realistic or gothic ones, So people like Hue Teo and Patri Balanovsky pop to my mind (and my artstation feed, seriously look them up).

How do you approach your projects; what is your general art process?

It really depends on the type of project I'm doing, though, my [Adventure Time] comics were all pretty similar in their conception: I write down all of my ideas in my notes so I won't forget them. Then I either roughly sketch out the entire comic as fast as I can, or I write a script (if the concept is specifically very dialog heavy) and then sketch it roughly. Then I do the lineart and color, nothing too complicated. The one thing I think is worth noting in my long comic process is that I draw all of my panels on the same document- that way it's easier for me to make sure the characters stay on model and that my panel layout remains fresh. So basically, the way you read the comics on tumblr, as a long scroll, is the format I work on.

How did you come to find Adventure Time? What made you join the fandom?

Adventure Time is one of those shows you just know about, so I don't remember how I first found out about the show. However, I do remember when I started shipping Bubbline—after the episode “Broke His Crown” aired. I somehow ended up in their Tumblr tag and was blown away by the (by 2016's standards) blatant representation. Despite my obsession with them at the time, I never actually watched any episode that didn't feature the girls' relationship. I only started fully watching the show recently. But I did consume a lot of fan content, which I think helped me shape my own headcanons and such. After my initial interest in 2016 I put Bubbline back on the back burner and kept on my [Steven Universe] ramage, until last year's “Obsidian,” which brought me back fully on board the Bubbline decks around 2 weeks before it aired, so I was in maximum hype mode when I watched the special. It did not disappoint [and it] really reminded me of why I loved these characters and their relationship to begin with. I started drawing my own art for the ship shortly after, when I felt like the hype around the special died down and there wasn't much to keep me sustained anymore. I make what I want to see ;)

As for joining the fandom, I don't know if I can be considered a member, seeing how inactive I am most of the time and my very limited list of [Adventure Time] mutuals. I am extremely flattered that my stuff caught ATimers attention in a positive way.

You've done some amazing Bubblegum and Marceline stuff. What draws you to their dynamic?

I'm gay.

OK, seriously now. I have a soft spot for extremely feminine, dainty characters that are very reserved, so PB immediately marked herself as an obvious fav, and the road to shipping her with Marceline (who is such an obvious candidate and a multilayered, fascinating character herself) was a short one. I know calling PB dainty is far from a true statement, but that's what she appeared like on the surface and that's what caught my attention. Another thing is that I love relationships between immortal beings, I think it always adds another layer of complexity to any relationship, especially a romantic one. The whole "getting older without appearing like you've aged" and "watching everyone you love die around you while you stay the same" can surely make 2 beings bond, right? It always felt like PB and Marcy get each other in a way no one else can, they are very different on the surface but share fundamental internal similarities. Oh, and the fact that they're EXES? The romantic tension and the longing? The familiarity and banter they had in every scene they shared?This hit the jackpot on literally every relationship trope that I love. I'd much rather watch a "getting back together" than a "falling in love for the first time" story.

All of this and the fact that they [are] gay. It's really that simple sometimes.

In broad strokes, what is next for you as an artist and/or as a fan?

I have a few [Adventure Time] comics ideas\scripts on the back burner and one that is in the making. I think I'll dabble into some Nintendo fanart cause I've been playing a lot of Smash Bros and [Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild] lately.

I’m so excited to see what comes next! Either way, a huge thanks to loycos for chattin’ with me! If you’d like to check out more of her art, visit her Tumblr and her Twitter page!

[marieanneline]

wait wait hold up i am actually seething about the reveal

ya boi's not a dabi stan. at all. the only reason i'm remotely interested in his character is if he's actually related to shouto and how that would affect hero society in general. i remember reading the training camp arc, seeing him being one of the villains there, him saying todoroki's full name, and thinking "SIBLINGS?????" because agshdfjlk their EYES are SO SIMILAR!! i really want to give credit to horikoshi being able to portray their similarities from artstyle alone because that's talent.

(it's more apparent in the anime since you see the eye color— but appearance-wise, shouto takes after rei and dabi takes after enji the most, so this definitely isn't the best photo to prove my point...)

anyways,,,, dabi's ideals of heroics fall in line with stain's ideals and so we all already theorized how if he was the long lost big brother touya, it would be because of the fact that his father really wasn't a hero. this makes sense. and so, we're all fucking right. props to us, really, and props to horikoshi for all the foreshadowing because i had fun :)) in terms of story and plot, i think this reveal is fantastic.

alright, on to why dabi is a dick

(i'm assuming this was his choice and no one pressured him after all)

the todoroki family is on the road to recovery!!

- shouto finally visits his mother back in season 2 and visits her every chance he gets. you see the effort he makes and it's nice to see him change from season 1 to 2 (early-roki!!)

(guys he even sends her letters- look at that sparkle by his face!! he's sweet :)) and rei's smile!!!!)

- enji (whether we wanted it or not, i don't mind much personally) is trying to atone for everything he's done to his family

- natsuo, who originally wasn't fond of shouto because he had their father's attention (although he does come to the horrible realization that shouto was one of the most unfortunate) and mother's attention (because she wanted to protect shouto), has a closer relationship with his little brother now (can you believe he didn't even know shouto's favorite food was cold soba until ch. 192?? i was sobbing). he really regrets the prejudice he had against shouto and he's trying to be an actual brother to him now.

- rei's almost recovered enough to be released from the hospital!!

- fuyumi and her idyllic "happy family"– wHICH, BY THE WAY, ALMOST CAME TO FRUITION. their mother coming home, shouto connecting with his siblings, and enji being not-the-way-he-was-before is the best outcome they could have hoped for. and it was happening.

and i realize that all of that setup is for this very moment

this? this. this. this is being broadcasted. to everyone. that means the citizens know that their new #1 hero is directly related to a member of a really bad villain organization (i almost called it a terrorist group oop-).

by ruining endeavor, the citizens faith in heroes will collapse. this also affects shouto's reputation as an upcoming hero, and i am so terrified of what this could mean for him. imagine your career ending before it even started, just when you found your passion for being a hero again. all that progress he's made for himself since starting UA could be seen as pointless to him and i would hate for him to retrogress like that because it's not his fault. i would absolutely hate it if the media starts bashing shouto for being related to a villain, when he was also a victim of abuse.

seeing this look on shouto's face is making me dehydrated istg i'm fucking SOBBING— he doesn't even look angry!! in the last few chapters he was angry and worried for his friends, teachers, father maybe, other heroes... but he just looks sad. and the fact that the panel chooses to show the left side of his face is.... there's so much to unpack.

but yeah, this is being broadcasted. does fuyumi know? the cameo she had showed her working so maybe not. natsuo's cameo showed that he was at a lecture, so he also probably didn't see.

but rei did. that's like- that's the person i would want to keep this from the most.

the effects of this entire reveal genuinely scare me. how will this affect rei's mental state? she'll realize that what enji did is actually so much worse. their first child being a villain?? i'm terrified for how she'll react, she's doing much better in recent chapters after all. her kids are visiting her, shouto sends her letters to keep in touch, and enji sends her flowers and respectfully keeps his distance. i really don't want this reveal to result in a relapse. and if she does relapse, then fuyumi's ideal of a happy family is once again out of arms reach. the future of their mother finally coming back home is so far away again and it's genuinely so heart-breaking.

:(

plus— how will fuyumi's little elementary school students react to her being related to a villain? will the school fire her because of her connection to a villain and how that might cause concerns for students and parents????

it's also hard to say exactly how this will affect shouto and natsuo. natsuo was the closest to touya when they were kids so what would his whole opinion be of what touya's become? will he have a moral crisis?

in terms of moral crisises, i guess i'm more concerned about shouto. the boy knows he wants to forgive his father, but this is just making it so much harder. and after this, will he still want to? and finding out that his own sibling is a villain... remember the stain arc? there were some parallels between midoriya's, iida's, and todoroki's positions in the last chapter and i'm worried about what that could foreshadow. from that arc alone, we know that shouto doesn't agree with stain's views at all [i forgot what he said but it was really compelling]. we know that dabi's a stain follower though, so will this disrupt shouto's sense of justice? i hope not.

but family has always been kind of a weak spot for shouto, hasn't it? i hope this doesn't affect his resolve to be a hero because i do think that there's a way to– somehow– not have a corrupt hero society and i want him to fight for that.

touya being a villain is perfectly valid though, i don't doubt that. it's just disheartening to address that while every other todoroki was working hard to become a normal family, here's their oldest brother, who's not really dead. what's going to become of that altar at their house now?

learning the extent to touya's hatred towards endeavor is truly terrifying. we know enji is or was a horrible person and his redemption arc is based on the very fact that he can't be forgiven, despite some of his family trying their best to do so or at least get over it. but the fact that touya has even thought about killing shouto? that's just. ouch. touya's definitely gone through too much abuse, and all of the todoroki family problems are because of enji's bad parenting. but this does not justify murder and especially that of his younger brother, who also got the brunt of the abuse.

needless to say, i am a fool. i don't know if anything i just said will ever be true, but the important thing to take from whatever the heck i just shat out is that all of this is/could be a result of this reveal. it's the fact that dabi seems to have no sympathy. it's the fact that he doesn't care if his blood related family crashes and burns. really, if this is solely about endeavor and what he did, there's no need to bring the rest of the family into this. rei was sent to a hospital for god's sake. shouto has a scar. it's excessive and unmoral and although questionable ethics and values are key traits of a villain, it doesn't justify how much he's hurting the todorokis.

(look at this shit eating grin he has. no remorse. he really doesn't give a shit about the others but I DO and I'M so SAD)

and assuming that the whole "endeavor's wife admitted into hospital" was swept under the rug in terms of media, will that suddenly come back to light? because it shouldn't. maybe it should be known that she's in the hospital because of marital abuse but either way rei should not be dragged back into this disaster, and neither should the rest of them. there's also a chance that the media will accuse rei of having abused her kids too, which is messed up for different reasons. they're trying so hard to have any semblance of a normal family, and if dabi's way of revealing this to the world ruins that in any way then i hATE THIS REVEAL ASDFGHJKL—

[the-acid-pear]

Scarface was too fucking boring, didn't make it past chapter 3, but that's good, because that means Baki-Dou time 😍

Time to read the fourth book in this series! Excited to see Musashi <3

Chapter 1

COLORS

Baki please stop flexing

A FELLA SAYING THE SAME I SAID WHEN YUJIRO PULLED HIS SOB STORY, FR GO TRY SOMETHING ELSE! What happened with that whole "i don't care about fighting" eh Baki?!

Chapter 2

HOHO ALI JR???

ah no :/

HOLY FUCK is this quality bad!

He wants to taste defeat i see

TOKUGAWA PLEASE STOP SMOKING

Oh they removed the... Egg in the back of the neck, nice

God this guy's tits so fat 🥵

FINALLYYY HOW LONG SINCE WE SAW A FIGHT IN THE ARENA? A PROPER FIGHT I MEAN

Chapter 3

He doesn't even know 🐍

DON'T BRING THAT FELLA HERE RETSU KICKED HIS ASS IN TIME. RECORD

Oh i saw fanart of this scene

Baki, it's your fault that you are bored, you fucking teen

This shit boring ME

Chapter 4

Oh, goroukou is a title

I like how the prime minister is becoming a recurrent character

I thought he said babe for a sec-

That little "oh~" is a bit sus, are the old men... No, it can't be 😳😳😳

I'm fucking choking fuck

GOD ALMOST READ THAT AS JOHN CENA 😭

"yes <3"

These ppl never learn

Chapter 5

What a way to go, a la gamzee /j

This dude so weird lmao

FAHDGAHDH king

Dude he has huge round eyes tf you talking bout?

IGDUFSUEASEUURSS he's such a freakkk 😭😭😭

This is the most wtf thing Baki has pulled, remember when this was about fighters fighting? I don't know enough about science for this shit either man

Okay so their hug wasn't Tokugawa being touchy like he is, this guy is even worse, se juntaron el hambre y las ganas de comer HSHAFSFG

Chapter 6

Baki's dead

Katsumi about to kill get killed by my grandpa i see

ALSO KATSUMI OG HAIR WOOO

Katsumi bro don't be so happy over nearly killing him-

I love seeing him get better tho

Uwaadgsgsjdga 😍😳🤤 twisting my hair irl,,, 🥴

Finally Motobe remembered he was a character here 😐

FSGSHDAHDA KOSHO PLS

I LOVE that they got dark lips again

IM SORRY GOUKI HOW DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT EVERYONE?! LTDKFsjyrd 😭

Jack's scar looks cool ngl

Retsu living the good life lmao

AND HOW DO YOU KNOW, GRANDPA?

Hana just doesn't care, smartest Baki character lmao

Idk what they talking bout but good for em <3

Cum basement

Chapter 7

SHOW US MUSASHI'S COCK

Obsessed he thought his heart was failing 😭

Dude you can just hear the heart beat of your friends/opponents just like that? 🤨

Notice Gaia in the top left 🥴

WHY CAN HE RECOGNIZE EACH OF THEIR HEARTBEATS AAHSGA

Thick 🥵

Unironically built different

Chronic back pain if you ask me, that's how I stand to relieve my agony

Did. Did you just call him a femb-

STOP SHOWING ME PANELS FROM VAGAMOND

I love John sm lmao

Mr Musashi has 2 (3?) dads

Chapter 8

HAIRY LEGS 🥴

Those things look like boobs

Bet you would know eh SHAFADB

They jerked off the mummy?

Reminds me of eye surgery

AFjshAFDGAJAHAF

Mf came out the tube ripped af 😭

Chapter 9

Everyone is so feminine lately good ol Kureha fell behind 😭

I like his bandana tho it's cute

OH HE TOO? AND HE'S NOT EVEN THAT STRONG

Fat tits 🥴

Eheojeudkshs 😖😳👉👈

JACK STOP YOU ARE BIG ENOUGH ALREADY

HOLY FUCK

You know like i understand Baki, he is at the highest he can be rn, NO ONE can defeat him, but the rest? Like c'mon y'all just beat each other up or something

Ah, the miracle of birth 😍

Chapter 10

I love how all these two do is hang out together in bars, boybosses

TF IS UP WITH THAT ICE? AHDHS

I love what they have

Hana thinking of getting his 4 limbs broken again i see

WOOO!! Nice cock Mr Musashi 😳

HANAYAMA PLEASE 😐

Chapter 11

I love those freaks

I just now I'm seeing the little scars on his cheeks from the fight with Spec ☺️

I love the fact that Musashi has hair in his legs BUT not his arms like ??? Okay king

Heated scientist moment

HOHO POGGERS 👀

Chapter 12

UTSURAARSDFAFA sibling goals

GIRLBOSS 😍

URAURUSYRSAESGA IN LOVE???

Holy shit she's amazing

Chapter 13

And his ass is very thick too 😳

Those fucking sunglasses, obsessed

Debatable, he got struck by lightning :/

HE WAXES HIS HAIR? OMFG OBSESSED

WHY IS HE WEARING THAT LMAO 😭

Nooo they censored the cock again 😔😔😔

DO IT QWEEN 💅

STOP SAYING SHE'S GONNA FUCK THE CLONE

"I'm exciteddddd" "ok."

Chapter 14

You just hate seeing a girlboss win

She truly is amaizing

Also i just realized spirits have been showing up since the first book so this isn't so crazy lol

MF HOW IS THAT GONNA HELP 😭😭😭

THE LITTLE BUBBLES AND SPARKLES... I BET HE DID 🥺

Chapter 15

WHY ARE HIS TITS SO ROUND AND FAT GODDAMN IT,,, 😳😖

Glad seeing some things never change

He looks so much like Jun

IGSITSURAURZES EPICCC

Someone question if Yujiro knew how too write obsessed,,,

Chapter 16

Goddamn it you got even older in the past 3 or so chapters bro

Mouth to mouth soul transference

OHHH

HIS EYEBROWS FELL HOW IGDUTSITDIYDIGD

Some mf got turned on by this HELP 😭

Chapter 17

I love how Yujiro and Hana are still getting ready to throw hands while this happens lol

Okay yeah that was super disrespectful honestly, guy is having a chat :/

HAHAGSJAHA obsessed

God i thought it was Hana the one grabbing some random lady for a second AFDJSJSSJS

He cute af ngl

POOR GUY MUST BE SO CONFUSED OMFG,,,

Fsr I'm surprised he can talk, like it should be obvious but in all the fanart i saw he never said a word, also, he's so damn respectful 😍

Chapter 18

Idk he was never that clever /hj

Hehehe blood

I love how John can only sit that way

The size of his balls lmao

Coward won't even fight with his dick out smh :/

God he mad cute-

Chapter 19

I MISS THE DEATH ROW FELLAS FUCKKK

Hm i think this random tiny bald man is not Tokugawa but someone that looks awfully similar to him

YEAH NO SHIT I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM, HE MUST BE SO DAMN OVERWHELMED

Apparently there was a cameo, i don't know enough about anime to know or care

Chapter 20

He's tripping balls

Tokugawa should have gone a bit slower with this poor guy, this is like a lot to process at once <:/

Nvm he's doing better than me

Oydirsusefs look at himmm

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND OMFG DIDN'T DOPPO FIGHT THIS GUY?!

SOMEONE ELSE RECOGNIZED HIM HE ISSS

Chapter 21

OHDIRAYEASURRSUURS HE DOESN'T KNOWWW FFS

Musashi be like °_°

LOOK AT THAT SMILE LMAO

He's just chilling, mentally killing this dude

Murder baby

Chapter 21

The way his eyes are drawn is so cool

YRAURSUFSIDTGA

And he jokes too! Wow I'm in love 😍

(nsfw) CAN YOU HANDLE DICK LIKE THAT TOO? 😍

WOW

I TAKE BACK THAT QUESTION

I remember a show where you would bring your own knives and swords and go thru a bunch of test, Musashi should have been one of them

Mf truly is like :]

I love how he didn't buy it

I can't wait for him to fight Yujiro 😍

Chapter 23

He truly is 😌

ATFJAIDQYSF OBSESSED

He was happy this time at least, 5 times he lost already btw

Tokugawa truly in unhateable lmao

Chapter 24

IM SORRY, HIS LEG???

Oh I forgot Musashi does that

JAGSKSGSKSGS HIS FUCKING FACE I CAN'T 😭

I miss when translators would add notes i don't want to google shit myself :/

"I'm hard as rock" /j

Chapter 25

Look how happy he issss

MUSASHI POG MUSASHI POG-

I love how Tokugawa can't believe he got it first try and it's trying to lie now sjdakdyv

This mf is actually making me insane what the actual fuck i don't know what he has but he's gonna make me act up 😳

Mf be shadow boxing too dammit /j

Baki please

Chapter 26

OLD MAN JUST WANTS A PUBLIC TO SEE THIS LMAO

Look at the size of Baki's eyes holy fuck lmao

He's gonna yeet him!

OH NOOOO

FIRST HIS DAD NOW MUSASHI, THIS GUY CANT CATCH A BREAK LMAO

Chapter 27

How little time passed? They have barely moved

Yeah you did it last book too Baki

King shit

Chapter 28

AKSGSKGSJSGS KING

I love how he only now realized

Okay no he has a point

I love how he just calls him boy

Look at that smug face

I trust Musashi but at the same time he, really should be walking around this new world alone. Now, if i were to accompany him... 🥴/j

Baki please

Chapter 29

I love how soft the artstyle suddenly got, like if done big a big brush

Yujiro you just insulted every single anime character in history

Baby Baki's just like "Ok."

I like how Yujiro looks here

AUGHHJF HE'S SO BABY 🥺

HOHO badass

Chapter 30

He died 😔

Idiot hasn't even beat he 0.5 reaction seconds lmao 🤣

HOHOOOOO?!? 👁️👁️

"my curiosity exceed my fear!!" I RESPECT THIS MAN SO MUCH??

Chapter 31

AMAIZING HONESTLY

Fighter to fighter communication

SHIT LOOK AT THE STATE OF THAT HAND

He's just gone now LMAO

I honestly don't mind Baki being weak against this, he never fought against a two handed swordman, this is new territory

Chapter 32

Oh his really tripping balls now this is why he shouldn't be alone

NVM HE'S STILL DOING BETTER THAN ME ON A DAILY BASIS, I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN FROM THIS MAN

I just now realized he's barefoot

Nice ass king

The policemen are quite nice

He's very cooperative but i can't blame the cops either

Chapter 33

Yeah no shit that must be so insane

IF YOU HADN'T DROPPED OFF SCHOOL THEN...

That's kinda funny but idk man he's right i think

He's just like :3

I love how he isn't picking up a fight out of malice but rather just instinct like, he can't understand shit that is going on

YOU ARE SO RIGHT BAKI IT ISN'T BORING FOR ME EITHER

Chapter 34

Don't you fucking dare shave him Itagaki

It's funny how it took 2 books and a half for Baki to start being a protagonist

Holy fuck did Baki add height or is Miyamoto that big?

Wow how perfect i ran out of space just now!! Having fun with this book ngl :]

[laurasauras]

What do you think Homestuck believes in?

g, i love you, your interest in me infodumping is honestly such a delight. i can sometimes feel like i’m talking way too much, but you always make me feel special, it’s lovely!

this is long, so i’m going to use a cut. i’m so sorry, mobile users. blame tumblr. tl;dr? i think homestuck believes in love, hope, and fighting even when the stakes seem insurmountable. 

so there’s a lot of like “core themes” in homestuck, but “what homestuck believes in” is such a lovely and specific way to phrase it, so i’m gonna go with what i think the most important ones are. 

firstly: love. and more specifically, all love. 

look, there are romantic parts of homestuck. and they’re often show-stopping.

(also homestuck does visual callbacks very well, there’s a reason that these two scenes are composed the same way.)

but the core of the story is these four kids, all of them starting from a state of isolation. they don't have "real friends", they feel disconnected from their guardians, they feel disconnected from everyone in the world they walk around in, but they go online and they have each other. and they're constantly joking and making fun of each other, but they're also checking in almost every time they achieve something, as if grounding their friends in their real life.

the story keeps progressing and getting more and more complicated, but it can never quite overshadow the beauty of the pesterlog conversations between friends.

i think that's a large part of what the audience of homestuck connects with—that feeling of connection online and the support that the characters give each other. 

i also think that a lot of the time, the friendships and familial relationships in homestuck were given the same—if not more—importance as the romantic relationships, which is fucking uncommon to see in media! almost every character has to come to terms with how their upbringing shaped them, and you know what? that's the same of almost every person.

the conversation between dirk and dave before the final battle is one of the most important and touching moments of the whole story! two of the characters most concerned with their adherence to masculinity and appearing Too Cool For Emotions talk about their feelings and trauma before hugging it out. and it doesn't further the plot, it isn't part of the hero's romantic arc, but it's vital. 

the second big thing i think homestuck believes in is the importance of doing what is right. in being a hero.

homestuck positions john and his friends as the main characters selected by the universe to play sburb and literally ascends them to god status.

they're empowered by destiny! they're going to beat the game, conquer the worst villain ever and bring humanity and trollkind back from extinction AND their new world isn't going to be under the tyranny of a genocidal fish alien!

but that empowerment is also a disempowerment. 

look at how frequently dave falls into the reluctant hero trope. fate fucking kicks them around. when they are so destined to do all that stuff, can they really be said to have free will? and when they do seem to make a wrong choice in relation to their destiny, it's either something that furthers the plot OR it creates a doomed timeline and they're usually killed horribly. 

and it's a story that is constantly reminding us that it's a story! you can definitely lose yourself in homestuck, you can zone into it and accept the rules and just read it as if it's a reasonable reality, but i don't think it was ever written that way, or when it is, i think that that's a result of hussie accidentally getting into the story as well!

like okay, we start off with this:

that's fucking bonkers. he's 13 and he doesn't have a name? but of course it's bullshit, it’s just a cool homestuck thing. because we never get a conversation that goes:

TG: so the big 13

TG: you get a name yet

EB: yup! let me formally introduce myself as john!

TG: i give that name 4/5 hats

no, dave just immediately calls john by his name. and likewise, until we're introduced to the other characters and learn their names, they're referred to by their handle abbreviations, but the second they're introduced it's first name basis time. because it's a story and our perception is what matters most.

then we have the ridiculous intermission, that starts out as what dave sees when he goes to mspa.com and which resembles problem sleuth enough that i almost thought it was just that, but then seemed to be an entirely new adventure, and then became a pretty vital subplot!

and then we have the author literally climbing into the story and we watch him type it. Don't Forget This Is All Written By Me!

the website changes format, there are the meta jokes, there's the way that caliborn raises the same complaints to hussie about the story being too long and confusing that some members of the fandom were. there's the way that pantskat happened! or they drastic changes in artstyle, often because someone else was drawing a panel!

so like, we've got these characters who seem to have goals that they've developed of their own volition and who seem to have their own ways of going about achieving them, who at times even act contrarily to how hussie says he wants them to act (remember how he attempted to propose to/revive vriska and how both she and caliborn at different times type into the narrative prompt "instead of" hussie) but of course ultimately! he wrote every word!

they don't have free will, they don't even exist! but on a different level, which any writer can understand, once you as an author have established a character, you trap yourself into writing them consistently, which can mean that while something might be best for the plot, the character metaphorically crosses their arms in your head and goes "i would literally never do that."

some characters of homestuck become aware that they are and we know they are, but most of them don't think that, they think that they're just living the life they have.

how the fuck are his characters supposed to go about their days when their author finds it funny to block their path with a giant bust of snoop dogg? and when they work for pages and pages and pages to get around whatever asinine thing andrew fucking hussie (or worse! his fans!) has come up with, there's another obstacle and maybe there's not even a point anyway!

how do you not just dismiss it as something like "hes just being weird/an asshole/etc”?

yeah, look, he might just be having a laugh. but so to might god. 

sometimes you're walking along and something really stupid happens and it makes you for a second want to believe in god so that you can stare at the sky and say "really." :|

think about why detective stories are so popular. they give the illusion that if you're clever enough, if you collect the right data and link it together, you can trace back exactly what happened and solve impossible riddles and make sense of the world. you meet a man who has dust on his knees and you can deduce that he's been sneaking down to the basement of the shop he works at to tunnel into the bank next door. there's nothing magic about it, watson, it's just good detective work.

and we neeeeed that lie! but you know how it works in the real world? in the real world, police are baffled at a crime scene until a decade later someone discovers the fingerprints belonged to a fucking KOALA! that's more ridiculous than a snoop dogg bust in a hallway, or most of the other things hussie has written.

i think like that's a huge message behind the epilogues too, because john figures out he's in a story in candy and everything feels pointless.

but if that's the world he lives in, that's the world he fucking lives in. there's nothing pointless about living.

and i think that clicks for him towards the end when he talks to roxy and then rose. rose actually thanks him for choosing a path that allowed her to have the life she had, because she loves her wife and daughter. like it's insane, but she's happy, that's the life she lived and she doesn't want a more sensible one.

so what happens to us when we get that feeling like the world is pointless? 

(which is A Major Fucking Side Effect Of Depression BTW and i still stand by my interpretation that ALL of john's shit can be put down to his depression, which is what makes it interesting)

for a generation with fucking terrifying levels of mental illness, when we start feeling like the world is too crazy and the odds are too high, and there's fucking war happening and our friends aren't even guaranteed to be on our side?

we just fucking fight anyway.

because we live in the world we live in and we just have to be grateful that we are who we are because of that.

every character in homestuck chooses this, again and again, so i have to read that as hopeful. alpha dave and rose knowing who hic is and that their kids are so far away? still gonna fucking fight and fight LOUDLY even though they know it won't change things. (on top of the fucking white house, in case the political allegory was too subtle lmao.)

there are so many messages in homestuck and honestly i feel like i’ve barely scraped the surface of them. but what does homestuck believe in? i feel that in my heart. homestuck believes in love and in doing what is right, even when it’s hard to figure out what right is, even when you might not make a difference. 

homestuck is good, actually.

[afanoftheglassscientists]

The Glass Scientists Art-Style Changes

Hey yeah sorry but I saw someone complain about how the webcomic’s art style is jarring in the later chapters and that the noses are bad because they’re big and I’m back in full salt mode WHO WANTS SOME TEA!?

@glass-scientists your art-style has only gotten more beautiful as the webcomic continues and you work extremely hard on the comic by yourself and I am amazed you kept working on this for more than four years now while in a career and I hope you’ll be able to do so for the foreseeable future.  When I comment on how your art changed please know that I’m not doing it to critique you.  Okay you don’t have to read more of this I just wanted to be the 156th person to let you know you’re doing great.

ONE - The noses have always been prominent on the characters’ art design and having a big noses does not automatically make it look ugly.  Admittedly there are artists out there who draw very ugly noses for very ugly reasons, but Sabrina Cotugno is not and never has been one of those types of artists.  Yes, Jekyll’s nose is bigger, but is not the end-all, be-all take from his design changes.

Here’s him from Ch.1 Pg. 15.

And here’s him from Ch.7 Pg. 22

(And no, I do not know why the latter two picture are bigger.)

As you can see, the nose in the earlier chapters looks smaller, but Jekyll’s face is also a lot more...soft?  Like think of ceramic pieces.  You start out with soft clay and you mold it into the shape you want (but don’t forget to wedge don’t want it to explode in the oven) but then after the clay firms up a little you’re ready to carve it and give it a more pronounced form.  That’s what happened in the later chapters: Jekyll’s nose, the shape of his jawline, his sideburns, hair and even his eyebrows has become sharper and more distinct.  His nose isn’t just an attachment like a Mister Potato Head, its a part of him.  To give him a smaller nose would mean changing his whole character profile.

TWO - Like Clay, Art Changes.  Admittedly I was taken aback by the change in the comic’s art-style as well, but that will happen to literally any long-form manga or comic.  Unless you’ve been doing comics for literal decades your art is going to change, because you’re going to change, and what you want from your art and the characters you create are going to change.  Look at Bluechair by Shen on WEBTOON: while his artstyle has solidified these past few years his earlier comics are unrecognizable, because he’s been working on his Bluechairs comic for five years, often updating two or three times a week, and is currently on Episode 536 of Bluechairs, but technically he currently has 706 of them under the Bluechairs page.  His comics are like the Sunday Newspaper kind of comics, so I’m not asking you to read his stuff starting from the beginning (in fact please don’t try to read it all at once: his early stuff is pretty good but let me remind you he has SEVEN HUNDRED AND SIX COMICS OF STUFF) but maybe read a couple of them from the beginning and then read some of his latest ones.

So yeah, its not unexpected from comics to change in style, either slowly due to how the artists gains a more experienced hand or by an intentional shift in art direction.  Sabrina was in the latter camp, due to the fact that she felt the earlier character designs was too much like a Disney Princess Line-Up, which she mentioned in a page description that I cannot find but I know was real.

Honestly I really do like the more recent pages.  I disagree that they’re less vibrant, because I think removing the high glossy sheen made the characters even more distinct from each other.  Before the shift in artstyle I felt like everyone was getting the same brand of hair gel.  Hot take coming, but the character who most benefits from this shift is Rachel, who’s been looking gorgeous these last few chapters.  

THREE - Sabrina Cotugno has been working this story, these characters and the art of this webcomic mainly by herself, while still working a job as a cartoon director for multiple shows and is currently working on a project for Disney.  She does not have a lot of time on her hands to fix mistakes and asking her to change things or give her “Advice” on her art is...I won’t say unwanted because that’s up to her as to whether or not she’d use that language, but I will say she probably doesn’t need your advice on how to draw art when she has already worked in professional spaces as a storyboard artist AND as a director.

Plus I’m going to be upfront here, and this is going to sound harsh: Do not fucking nitpick and tear apart content made independently unless warranted by offensive language or imagery, because not only is it unhelpful it is just plain mean.  Yes, Sabrina has worked on shows before, but The Glass Scientists is not made by a group of people working together, with producers and press and editors to back them up.  This is entirely her work.  She is spending her own free time making this.  This webcomic is hours, days, weeks, years in the making, in the wake of hot days, sickness, travelling, other deadlines and dying plants.

And to turn around and say “Oh the way you do the art now isn’t as good?”  Fuck off with that.  I’m not Sabrina, so I get to be mean here - You are allowed to admit you dislike these changes, but sending the artist messages directly telling them of your dislikes is an absolute garbage thing to do.  Especially when you yourself are not an artist.

Like Sergeant Brokenshire has a beard in one panel but loses it in the next few pages.  Cue the Cinema Sins ding noise I guess.  Okay, that happens sometimes, she doesn’t have an editor to correct.  Am I going to directly send her messages letting her know she did her webcomic wrong?  Fuck no.  She probably has been sent hundreds of “helpful” messages about it already, and guess what?  She doesn’t have the time to correct every mistake because she has a job. 

Of course if Sabrina or any independent artist does something horrifically offensive or even just something that makes you uncomfortable you are absolutely allowed to air your grievances.  But so far Sabrina has been good so I’ve got nothing to complain about, and the asks she gets that do have issues with the webcomic she answers with grace.  

So basically this wandered completely off from the nose discussion and into the ethics of fandoms for independently made webcomics, but anyway long story short.

The Glass Scientists is not yours and its not mine.  It belongs to Sabrina Cotugno, and its hers to change how she sees fit.  Get over that and enjoy the webcomic as it is and you’ll have a much better experience.

Sorry to sound preachy there.  I’m not trying to act like the Fandom Police and I’m not trying to fight Sabrina’s battles for her.  I just see a lot of bad fucking behavior toward other independent artists and I don’t want to see it here.  I have been that anon who “critiques” or gives “helpful” advice to artists who had far more experience than me, so its not like I’m pretending to be above it all here.  I’ve buried many a blogs because of my shameful past.

Most of this Fandom has been wonderful.  Let’s keep it that way while it lasts.

Anyway that espresso really did a number on me.  I’m about to crash and I’m getting the awful sense of deja-vu here.  Sorry for being so salty on Fandom lately, I won’t do it again unless I see some real trouble.  This has accidentally become a Midnight Post, so go to bed!

...Oh wait one more thing: PLEASE DON’T REPOST FULL PAGES OF THE WEBCOMIC!!!  Access to the official page is not hard and despite a few hiccups (which is not Sabrina’s fault but the webpage itself) we have been able to see all of the webcomic.  There is no need to repost the whole page and on Sabrina’s FAQ she specifically asked people not do this.  If you want to read each new page and don’t want to refresh the website twenty time on Monday morning you can always follow her twitter or her blog “arythusa” where she posts a link to each new page after it uploads.  In fact starting tomorrow I’ll be sure to reblog these posts to make sure you have a link available to click.

Okay now good night.

[sparda3g]

Gintama Chapter 699 Review

After 10,000 years, this series is free. It’s time to conquer Earth! But seriously, it felt like it has been years since we last have a new Gintama chapter. The last one wasn’t truly the final chapter, but only final to be released in Weekly Shounen Jump. Today, Sorachi is on a mission to finish the series for good with a proper sendoff. What way to make a comeback than delivering a chapter that define Gintama perfectly; hysterical parody, emotional driven characters, and action-packed ride with a gut-wrenching cliffhanger.

By the time you see the color spread, you’ll know we’re off with a great start with Silver Ball Z. It’s remarkable how accurate Sorachi captured the visual work of Toriyama. From the character’s angle to design, it’s well deserved achievement to capture the sensation. Kondo didn’t need alteration though; he’s already a gorilla, so only the style has changed. To make the parody even better, the good portion of the beginning is a recap done in Dragon Ball style.

This is one of the best “previously on” segment that I have ever seen. It’s quite brilliant to take advantage of switching from one magazine to another and start off with a recap to remind the fans what happened while have a good laugh. It’s not only the artstyle that has changed, but even the narration reflects the same way how Dragon Ball has done in the past. All it was missing was the soundtrack. It is gold, or silver, however you want to call this moment. I laughed so hard at Katsura designed as Yamucha, and Takasugi designed as Vegeta. Strangely enough, it captured their character too well. Before the chapter truly begins, Katsura strikes Gintoki with Wolf Fang Fist.

The comedy doesn’t focus only on Dragon Ball parody, but also on Sorachi himself. Apparently, because of more time and switch to Jump Giga, Sorachi is now putting effort to his work with great quality of art, even if it does resort to Dragon Ball. Oddly enough, this seems to be low-key true to other Mangaka, but I digress. Hilarious that Katsura buries Yamucha by calling it a loser role. Rest in Peace, Yamucha. The best part is the ending of the parody. I seriously think Sorachi believes all of it.

Now that Gintama is in another magazine, Gintoki has nothing to worry about. No more worries about One Piece overshadowing him and no more worries about the rising suns that are Black Clover, My Hero Academia, and Haikyuu!!! to overshadow him. He can now overrun the world of Jump Giga, starting with Akira Toriyama’s power. So much so, he pulls the exact same ending shot from Dragon Ball. That is pure gold. Could you imagine if the series did end the same way? We’re going to need Gintama Super then. Takasugi brings the scene back to reality with Galick Gun. Oh how I missed this series.

He does have a point though. If there were silver balls, why bother planning this ambush in the first place? There wouldn’t be any need to sacrifice and nothing will be at stake. Well, thank goodness, it doesn’t exist. We can’t ruin the excitement now. Of course, what Sorachi does best is to segue to a more serious matter from a gag. It’s true with silver balls, life would be much easier on them, but Takasugi has no regrets. He’s thankful that they made it this far with their own hands; no tricks, no magic, just pure talent. All thanks to Shouyo. This is the type of writing I missed from this series. From there on, it’s all action-packed with many things to offer.

I assume with all the time Sorachi has with Jump Giga, he has enough energy to add plenty of details and sequences to the action scenes without wasting so much spaces. Unlike Boruto, it uses the panels wisely for tension and suspense. It’s why the action starts with a bang, literally and figuratively. It’s the Disciples against the cult followers. That panel with all three kicking asses while feeling the excitement is great. Thankfully, it’s not all of the story that was being told here.

Although they reached to the Altana Terminal, the ship that crashed is absorbing the altana. That means Shouyo’s body is absorbing it and soon, Tendoshu will gain a new way for their immortality plan. This does raise the tension higher, now that we establish that they’re on a ticking time bomb. They have to rush all the way up there and when you look at the scene, it’s incredibly difficult. It’s baffling how much people truly desired for immortality this badly. That’s where we receive a really heartfelt moment during the heated action.

While the action goes on as it becomes intense, Katsura begins a heartfelt speech that is shared with others that ties in the morale of immortality and cherish the life you’re given. Even if they were to die, he will have no regrets. It’s hard to say if their reunion was joy or sorrow, but it’s certain if one outlives another, it would be impossible to find another person like them. They have ups and downs, trying to kill each other. Despite all of the troubles, their bonds can’t be severed. It’s the bond that’s worth limiting to. Honestly, I can’t do it justice without the mention of its sequences.

The reason why this was so heartfelt isn’t just because we know their friendship is truly one of the kind or how well-written the dialogue is. It’s the action set piece that drives the emotion home with great sincerity. Not only it was entertaining, but you can grasp the words’ meaning at its best, leaving you feeling really good and emotional. It has great effective use of the flashback panels and the focus view to leave a strong impact. Like how Takasugi holds Gintoki’s hand to show the comradery, the unbroken friendship. It’s so damn good to see this series back again.

Gintoki can relate to the followers on one thing: not wanting to die. He can understand their wishes because he too wants to live long and enjoy the sensation with his friends. The others have their own wish to meet Shouyo. They want to vent out their frustration, but they may never know how much of a beating they will give until they feel satisfied. Not even eternity would do. Those panel shots with all of them enjoying are sublime. That’s how you do friendship. Those three are the best. The one major downside is the old friend of mine: darkness and it raised death flags.

Katsura spots a rocket launcher and push everyone back to dodge. Only he takes the damage from the impact, weakened enough to slow them down. They then gets trapped by both sides of their pathway, which seems like the end for them. While I didn’t think of that, I was a bit worried on what’s about to happen with Katsura injured. Anything goes and that’s what happens next. The explosions erupt from the wall, essentially saving the three from their certain doom. That’s where the other best part of the series comes in: the characters.

It was clear that it was too much for the three to handle all of the enemy alone, which is why it’s a great time to bring back all other characters to the fray. I like how Shinseigumi orders them to comply and if they don’t, then more power to them, because they would love to show their power. It’s not just them, it’s every character that has been around for a long time. It’s like witnessing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Gintama Edition; everyone is here! All it was missing was that theme song from Be Yorozuya Forever. Book it, anime staff!

What makes the scenario even better is how they are reflecting the long grueling journey after being ruled by Amanto for 20 years. They went through hell many times, but the result is paying off greatly. After the war, it made them stronger than ever. It’s no wonder earlier in the arc, it emphasized the growth of the Samurai. No more they will feel fear from them; it’s time to take Earth back. It’s a message that reads, “It’s been a long journey for your favorite characters, but they learn and grow, and when they show the result, the journey ends.” It’s already building for the closure that we have been waiting for.

You can’t do this justice without the beloved main characters. Just when Otae blocks the attack, which by the way is the same shot from the anime preview back in Jump Festa, the two come to save the day. Most importantly, after for so long, they can finally say, “Welcome to the country of Samurai.” The monthly release schedule really pays off for the quality panels like the one with Shinpachi and Kagura. So great to see them again. I got to remind myself how heroine is treated as well as a main character that doesn’t overshadow the protagonist. Yorozuya’s reunion is so close. I can almost taste it.

Characters aren’t great without amusing interactions. Matsudaira and Kondo are cooperating from sky and ground, like the good old time. Despite their political differences, mainly on the marriage, they are great friends. No matter what timeline they’re in, it will always be the Era of Samurai. Hijikata and Sougo work alongside with Shinpachi and Kagura, while she rubs in that Yorozuya is better than Shinseigumi as Sougo denies that claim. Some things never change, but that’s the way we like them.

There is an interesting development regarding with Utsuro. Tendoshu are in the process of gathering the Altana, but they are on the verge of losing their cult. The head leader however is fine with the way things are going. Shouyo’s body is slowly gaining a new heart. That will leave his disciples carrying a spare that wouldn’t destroy Tendoshu’s plan. Now the question comes in: why would the head leader needs to revive Shouyo completely? That’s where things get twisted.

If you have watched the preview from Jump Festa, there was a very strange scene with Utsuro mixed with Tendoshu’s body. It turns out that was true and not only true, but Utsuro has stolen their will. All this time, the plan isn’t for the sake of immortality, but instead, to revive Utsuro under his will. It makes sense considering that they consumed so much blood that they just so happen to control it like it belongs to them. The blood is like a virus, soon it will overpower you and a new mind will be inserted; case in point, Utsuro’s. In short, he has returned. This begs the question. Will Shouyo return as Utsuro with a new heart? It’s quite freaky to see three Utsuros in one setting.

The elevator scene is like a checkpoint for Gintoki and others to cool down and talk for a moment. Katsura does the talking while the other two stay quiet. It’s due to what Katsura said about their people and friends; everyone has grown stronger. They aren’t weak to ask them for a favor, rather fighting to help them. You can say they grew accustomed to be the one helping, not vice versa. Jumping ahead for a bit, Takasugi asks Gintoki for the heart; influenced by Katsura’s words, but not really all bright. They have enemies waiting for them, essentially, this scene become calm before storm.

Shinpachi and Kagura are assisted by Kyuubei and her clan, preventing reinforcements to barge through. It is the series’ way to have certain character to say their words or blessing, starting with her. She wishes to fool around a little longer with Gintoki and others like the good old days. She would be happy if they ruin her marriage interview. How charming.

In the midst of tensed action scene with Gintoki and others at the elevator lobby, Tsukuyo and others fight off the reinforcements to open path for Yorozuya. She gets shot through her leg. Damn. Luckily, Sacchan and Zenzou are there to back her up. Interesting though fitting for Sacchan to encourage Tsukuyo to not to die, unless she is with her lover. Strange use of context about the crotch spot, but the meaning holds the significant value. She’s not planning to die; she will live to see Gintoki again. Sorachi sure knows how to please the pairing fans; I’ll take it. I like Zenzou’s words for him as well. If he doesn’t return, then say goodbye to Jump issues. That’s funny yet heartwarming.

It’s hard to review the segment with great justice with its transition between Gintoki and his friends. It’s worth mentioning because how the scenes greatly complements the segment about what Gintoki has lost and gain. Takasugi wants the heart because he wants him to enjoy the life he can still take back. While that is seriously nice of him, Gintoki’s response is even nicer. He is fine with the way things are, because he doesn’t need to take it back. He got everything there. That includes Takasugi; when they fought alongside, when they fought against each other. That’s Gintoki’s reason to be there; never to lose anything. God, I’m going to miss this series.

The ending is crazy, especially the cliffhanger. Just when we got a teary sentimental scene, shit hits the fan when the explosion erupted by the lobby door. Damn you, Michael Bay! The heart slips out and Katsura is the only guy that can grab it. I was struck when his hand almost reaches it, only to get stabbed by the staff. Damn, that looks bad. Hitsugi sends him down crashing. I don’t know where they landed, but if they are fine more or less, I sense a new battle.

The intensity doesn’t stop as Gintoki trying to hold on the rope, which is ripping his skin. Cringe. Takasugi has to make an opening for them to land, so he jumps towards the door and breaks it, badass style. Wow, that was close. That elevator breakout scene was so damn good. Another scene from Jump Festa happens with Takasugi holding his hand out for Gintoki to grab onto. A couple of panels are used for heartfelt friendship scene as well as tension. It’s all fine and well, until Takasugi’s hand weakens. Tendoshu stabbed him with a sword. That’s where the chapter ends. Dammit, Gorilla…

I know Takasugi is semi-immortal, but the fact is he’s running out of time. If anything, this lessen the time even further. For all we know, this could be his last extra life, so if he were to die again, that’s it. Not to mention, it’s Tendoshu or Utsuro behind him, so the battle will be tough for him, even if not killed. This chapter has set up a death flag for each disciple, one in which has the highest. That’s Takasugi. Will he die here? I honestly don’t know.

This chapter was long but that’s expected for a month worth of content. With that said this was a hell of a return. There was a hilarious parody that this series is known for. There were tons of great action with plenty of fun moments. Characters were stellar as usual with believable motivations and relationships. The art is very solid, worth taking a time off. The ending was jarring with a cliffhanger that can make a person skip a heartbeat. It’s Gintama. I don’t know how many chapter we have left, but I will savor this as long as I can. The next chapter can’t come any sooner.