#alpha yozakura

[shysheeperz]

[edgar-allan-possum]

They are four.

[therealsoulking]

Mission: Yozakura Family Chapter 220

Bad Alpha's out again, in his adult form now, and his Blooming has revealed The Horrors:

It's pretty cool how his Blooming will give him premonitions, though it looks like we'll have a "The Future is Ours to Decide" plotline to prevent this massacre.

The fight against Shinzo was pretty good, it looks like his real combative capabilities will be in the short-range, compared to Hifumi's yo-yo

After a brief foray into our kiddo's mind palace, the time has come!

Every member of the Yozakura Family has bloomed, and it seems this was what Asa had been waiting for, the final battle is upon us!

[me-e-mo]

their reaction after watching their father beat someone up for trying to kill them is so <3

[evor20]

[thathilomgirl]

Press F for Taiyo here

[zh0nngli]

No subtitles, just KABUM!!!

[nami-moittli]

I’m sorry, WHAT? You’re telling me that Taiyo and Mutsumi got to baby making SO SOON?!?!

[choujinx]

YOZAKURA-SAN CHI NO DAISAKUSEN (2019-?) by gondaira hitsuji

[megaboy335]

The long runners keep ending so I figured why not write down some thoughts about them I cover the following series: 1. Misson: Yozakura Family 2. Undead Unluck 3. Wonderful Precure 4. Komi Can't Communicate Spoilers below!

1. Misson: Yozakura Family

Misson: Yozakura Family was never among the most popular series in the magazine nor one of the highest sellers, yet against all odds it completed a 5.5 year run in Weekly Shonen Jump. It spent the first year or so doing mostly single chapter stories to introduce the family members and how they play off each other. From there it shifted into battle manga mode for the remainder of the run. Ultimately, I consider it a very "safe" series. It doesn't reinvent the formula and it doesn't push the genre boundaries, but instead carves out its own niche in the magazine for knowing exactly what you would get week to week. Yozakura Family had the classic shonen power ups in the middle of fights which also had the classic 1v1 action sequences. Every character gets the spotlight against someone. Kiyochiro was my favorite character. Futaba was great too. The Momo arc was where the series peaked, but the Asa arc did have many cool moments as well. Yozakura performed a seamless protag switch to the twins Alpha and Hifumi which I thought brought some new life into the late stages of the story. The scene in chapter 257 when Kiyoichiro opens his eyes and acknowledges Taiyo's effort was the exact payoff this series needed. Taiyo earned that level of mutual trust and respect after overcoming everything during the story. It felt extremely earned! I always believed that if Yozakura Family had come out 15 years ago it would have been a long running daytime anime with abundant filler episodes. It's a great all-ages type of manga that was enjoyable to read every week. Gondaira delivered on the potential I saw in his writing from the Poro days. Hope they return again in the future. 2. Undead Unluck

Undead Unluck is another series that really should have been more popular. It's a fantastic series about characters who live life in a world that hates their existence. The negation powers were super creative and you never knew how their abilities would be applied in battle. There were some amazing highs like the battle versus spring and against Language. Undead Unluck also performed a seamless protag switch-up. Fuuko was a great main character to follow in the back half. I think it sufficiently fleshed out a lot of characters between seeing them in the Union and experiencing their power origin stories in the post-loop. However, the pacing is quite uneven across the series. Tozuka always moved the story at a breakneck speed. Billy's betrayal early on is an example of how the story suffers from quick developments. The post-loop arcs were also a mixed bag depending how attached to the star characters I was. However, I also have to give Tozuka credit for switching up the setting in nearly every single arc. From space, cooking, idols, and battle tournaments, it became a different type of manga in basically every volume. Usually I'm on the side of saying final arcs/final battles aren't as rushed as they seem but not in this case. Ouch! I really wanted proper 1v1s against all the master rules. Instead it came down to an all or nothing battle against Soul. The previous fights against Sick, Beast, and especially Language were some of the biggest highlights post-loop. Anyhow, I’m sure Tozuka has learned a lot from this serialization and he’ll come back with a stronger series in the future. He’s got a creative mind that I hope to see more from.

3. Wonderful Precure

This is mostly a continuation of what I said in my 2024 Anime Post. I thought the bonds between animals and humans were shown really well. We get to experience the positives of having a pet through Iroha/Yuki, Mayu/Yuki, and Satoru/Daifuku. While Gaou and Subaru show how loss can mess up someone. It's a theme that doesn't hit particularly hard for me. I thought the strongest aspect of Wonderful was the main cast interacting with each other. They get along really well and constantly have funny moments. The secondary mob cast also added some flavor to the series. Mayu is my favorite character (probably no surprise to anyone). Thankfully Satoru didn't devolve into a Tuxedo Mask type. However, that's about where my praise ends. The lack of battles, the dog main character, and a very razor thin plot makes this different compared to most other Precure seasons. Iroha and Komugu divided the main character space which means both lack sufficient character development. Mayu goes through the “shy character becomes more comfortable with friends” arc that we've seen a few times recently. Satoru and Daifuku transformed should have been mainstays in the series instead of limited appearences.

I wouldn't call it the worst Precure, far from it in fact. This kind of super pacifist writing simply isn't what I watch Precure for. I will add that the Wonderful movie is pretty decent. You get all the best parts of this series in a nice 70 minute package. Luckily I'm already much more optimistic about the 2025 series. Precure is long overdue for an Idol themed series.

4. Komi Can't Communicate

I started Komi later than most people since I waited for the official English release to start. I read chapters by the volumes starting in 2019 up until when Viz started the simulpub and then I caught up to those chapters. So I only spent the final year of the series reading it weekly. However, Komi sure is a long series, no denying that. But I think it's one of the best at covering all 3 years of high school that you'll see in manga. Its got that Sunday pacing of putting characters before story progression. A lot of chapters are just Komi being Komi by reacting to whatever the scenario is. Additionally there are plenty of chapters for the side characters to have their moments. The cast grows in a natural way over Komi’s 3 years of high school. Komi starts as a kouhai and later becomes the senpai to a whole new class. It grows into quite a lively series by her 2nd year and 3rd year. Komi also has the Reiwa rom-com element of going beyond the confession. Overall, I can't say I ever got that bored of it. I think it's a little disingenuous to magazine readers for a good number of the friends to get formalized in the volume extras. Where were the last 2? Getting that 100th friend should have been a big moment. My favorite part of the story was the Rumiko arc in the middle. She really got Komi to be more forward about her feelings and stop being hesitant about taking action. Komi's growth is gradual and the payoffs are so rewarding when they happen. In her 3rd year it can be easy to forget just how timid she was at the start. Komi will finish as a generational title for Weekly Shonen Sunday. It was the much needed international hit that the magazine had been so desperately seeking for years. Frieren has also helped a ton for them. I will be back for whatever Tomohito Oda does next. (It should have ended at chapter 500!)

[tokiro07]

Toki Reads Shonen Jump 2024, Issue #47

One Piece: The Post-Baroque Works Straw Hats learn that the Luffy has been publicly labeled as Vegapunk's killer, and Robin notices a familiar X edited onto Luffy's arm in the accompanying photo; meanwhile, Luffy meets the disgraced prince of Elbaf, Loki. Vivi snuck a message to the Straw Hats past Morgans, and some readers believe Loki's situation to be a parallel to when Luffy met Zoro and take that as a sign he may be recruited to the Straw Hats

HxH: Balsamilco attempts to assassinate Halkenburg, but is struck by Halkenburg's Nen arrow, resulting in his body being possessed. Provided he can evade Benjamin's suspicions, Halkenburg can use Balsamilco's body to assassinate Benjamin instead

Yozakura Family: As Kyoichiro enter's Asa's ship to rescue his father, Momo, he recalls his conversation with Momo about the plan to use Momo's Dreams to break Asa's Conquest over Taiyo's body, and is surprisingly against a plan that would endanger Taiyo; meanwhile, Alpha cries over seeing his father possessed by Asa. In addition to clarifying how Taiyo can be rescued, one could also draw parallels between Kyoichiro and Alpha's desires to save their respective fathers

Undead Unluck: Soul takes the stage to fight Julia; Change fights Gina, disarming her while entering Phase 3, but ends up getting decked in the face for her troubles. Gina's character arc reaches its climax, mirroring her dialogue from her first appearance with a notable change in her opinion on "change" as a concept

Me & Roboco: Ruri and Roboco take the Hunter Exam Serialization Conference's trials to have a serialization approved for Shonen Jump. With her serialization approved, Ruri's manga will likely be a recurring element going forward, possibly getting full faux chapters like Uron Mirage in Witch Watch

Sakamoto Days: Atari foresees her death, which can only be avoided if she meets up with her soulmate; using her precognition, she survives an attack from and ultimately defeats Higuchi, the karma-obsessed killer from Sakamoto's flashback. The viability of Atari's precognition is shown off, but fans start to question her exact wording; while we all assume her "soulmate" is going to be Shin, she has never once directly alluded to him specifically, and might well mean Heisuke instead

Elusive Samurai: now fully human, Shizuku devises a plan to overcome Takauji's divinity and render him vulnerable to human weaponry; a character I don't recognize and can find no information on secretly offers Tokiyuki refuge in Shinano. This will presumably account for some of the missing time in Tokiyuki's historical records

Witch Watch: Nemu tries to come clean about being the stray cat that routinely visits the Otogi Family, but ends up engaging in accidental bestiality with Keigo (and arguably purposeful bestiality with Wolf). Shipteases my personal favorite part of the entire series, making this one of my favorite chapters of the week

Blue Box: Chinatsu realizes that something is up when Taiki doesn't come to meet her, and manages to find him locked up in a shed by a boy who claims to have liked her for some time. Chinatsu's faith in Taiki and righteous indignation towards the other boy are a refreshingly straightforward take on the usual misunderstandings and subterfuge you find in these types of rom-coms

Akane-Banashi: Akane tries to refuse Issho's forceful recruitment, but Urara appears to save her from throwing her career away in a moment of passion; Akane asks Urara to explain Issho and Shiguma's past. Whatever Akane learns here will influence her decision to study under Issho, and will definitely be of extreme importance to how she refines Shiguma's Art

Kill Blue: Juzo finally wins the cavalry battle, then invites Hijiri out for ramen at Noren's uncle's restaurant; Shin almost manages to get a lap pillow from Noren, but is interrupted by Jinta, who now considers him a blood brother. Juzo's refusal to accept one person's suffering for the Greater Good will likely be a recurring theme for this arc

Nue's Exorcist: Tsujita resolves to confess to Gakuro and picks a fight with Kazusa, resulting in both of them getting accidentally groped; Rido seems to be betraying the Exorcists to heal Mizuki's illness; Gashadokuro is resurrected. If we're not going the poly route, then Tsujita's proactiveness is set to earn her the dishonor of being the first losing heroine; either way, Gashadokuro is definitely going to interupt her date with Gakuro

Kagurabachi: Hiruhiko exposits about the Hishaku's organization and somehow comes to the conclusion that it's not just his similarities with Chihiro that would make them good friends, but their differences; the Hishaku close in Samura. If the Hishaku successfully kill Samura or Uruha, Hiruhiko will be given possession of one or both of their Enchanted Blades

Super Psychic Policeman Chojo: Ippongi brings her grandfather to meet Chojo, who in turn comes to believe that Chojo is a dangerous womanizer who's trying to seduce Ippongi. With the number of girls surrounding Chojo, it's starting to seem like the author is trying to set this series up as a harem

Astro Royale: Realizing that the cops are so dangerous because of their synergy, Hibaru realizes the best strategy is to divide and conquer. A nice bit of strategy on Hibaru's part that justifies the one-on-one matchups quite gracefully; I do hope we'll see combo attacks later, though

Yokai Buster Murakami: Kuin and Murakami meet Shutendoji, who doesn't want to be the leader of a yokai gang and instead wants to relax and drink; Murakami recruits her to the Kuin Corps by letting her do just that. Kuin now effectively has both the exorcist and yokai worlds under his command; could a peaceful and unified world be around the corner?

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi: After beating up an old man, Kiyoshi is granted the title of Grand Cross, giving him the right to go on expeditions to the Demon Realm; a bounty has been put on Kiyoshi's head in the Demon Realm. Presumably, Kiyoshi will begin an expedition to the Demon Realm in the following arc

Hima-Ten: Kanna transfers to Tenichi's school, definitely for work and NOT to get closer to Tenichi; Kanna IMMEDIATELY notices that Tenichi likes Honoka, but doesn't seem discouraged. If this doesn't end up poly, I'm rioting

Ichi the Witch: Kumugi gets to know Ichi, and the two seem to hit it off pretty well, though seeing him in action unsettles her a little bit. Magic-based discrimination seems to go beyond gender and applies to aptitude, setting up the hapless Kumugi as a foil to the one-in-a-million Ichi

Shinobi Undercover: Miyake calls out Hibari for being fake as hell and even taunts her for trying to save a civilian; though Hibari fails to deal damage, she manages to send a message to Yodaka. Hibari's refusal to abandon a classmate and decision to call Yodaka for help reinforces the growing themes of Frienship

Hakutaku: Hikuma's team gives a skewed impression of how quickly game development works, and Kitahara reinvents Among Us. As this is the first major conflict, the main team is likely going to win, but the thematic implications may not be clear for a while

Ruri Dragon: Despite her fear of thunder, Ruri uses the knowledge that her classmates aren't scared of her as motivation to use her powers to stop the storm. Ruri's fears of being an outcast are effectively assuaged, and she's beginning to be able to accept herself

As I wrote this, near the end tumblr informed me that I exceeded some kind of text limit about halfway through Hakutaku, so perhaps I'll need to shave these down going forward?

If anyone has any suggestions for how I can better refine this recap series or make it more engaging, please let me know! As it stands, the only benefit I'm getting is an excuse to try to remember the series I don't care as much about, but I don't think that will carry over to other readers, so I'm open to any feedback y'all are willing to give!

[shysheeperz]

[edgar-allan-possum]

[therealsoulking]

Mission Yozakura Family Chapter 172

It’s time for the new chapter of Spy x Family Mission Yozakura Family!

Alpha and Hifumi have found the bounties placed on themselves, their parents, and the aunts and uncles they never knew existed...

The kiddos leave Yozakura Manor for some reason, and instantly face off against a couple of bounty hunters

Hey wait a minute... if they’re 4 years 6 months... and the timeskip was exactly 5 years long... then they must’ve been... no way...

But then again, Taiyo was about to go on a super fucking dangerous mission to track down Momo before the timeskip, so it would be perfectly reasonable for Mutsumi to...

I shan't say, Kyoichiro would reduce me to a fine mince.

But I’ve gone on too long about that, kiddos is strong as hell

The baddies from this arc are kinda lame, but just competent enough to deal with a couple of superpowered 4-year-olds.

And just incompetent enough to wait for Taiyo to show up and demonstrate how well the past 5 years have treated him.

[rabbitindisguise]

lav's year in review

Writing

Original fiction: 19,492

8,348

555

5,553

818

4,218

Fandoms: 3,595

murai no koi: 3,595

total: 23,087

[more under the cut!]

Life events:

all private student loans CANCELLED 🎉🎉🎉

moved out, living solo in an apartment

started fostering a cat

started lithium

re-started botox

made plans to have a total hysterectomy in early spring (march 26th!)

made plans to go have my birthday at a campground with stars visible in 2025

tried a lot of different games to figure out what kinds I liked (spoiler: not visual novels, rip)

put together a lego christmas train

made a lot of cool friends

expanded my nendoroid collection (it's at 13 now)

went to a cool local craft event

wove one scarf

nearly finished my winter kitties cross stitch and gridded my moth to a flame sprouting lupine cross stitch

sorted out my name change documents/made a plan for getting a passport renewed

Anime

Sousou no Frieren (x2)

Dungeon Meshi (x2)

kaiju no. 8

wind breaker

solo leveling

Majo to Yajuu; The Witch and the Beast Chiyu

Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata; The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

Yubisaki to Renren; A Sign of Affection

Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san; Mr. Villain's Day Off

30-sai made Doutei da to Mahou Tsukai ni Nareru Rashii; Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

Akuyaku Reijou Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss desu ga Maou de wa Arimasen; Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord

Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimamana Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsu Suru; 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!

Demonic Cultivation

Hyouka

Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge; Tanaka-kun is Always Listless

Mashiro no Oto; Those Snow White Notes

Mission: Yozakura Family

skull face-san

mob psycho

jujutsu kaisen

hell's paradise

haikyuu

Wistoria: Wand and Sword

I Parry Everything

Hazure Waku no "Joutai Ijou Skill" de Saikyou ni Natta Ore ga Subete wo Juurin Suru made

My Hero Academia (episode 7)

A Condition Called Love

Blue Lock season 2

Negative Positive Angler

Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions Season 2

Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii

Murai no Koi

How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer

As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I'll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World Season 1 and 2

I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers The Dragon Emperor

The Blue Wolves of Mibu

Webcomics [new category!]

tiger tiger (caught up; pg 750)

the croaking (caught up; pg 255)

say the right thing by Sammy Montoya (finished)

ride or die (pg. 278)

how to be a werewolf (caught up)

tigress queen (pg 2046)

strange and wild (caught up; ch.28, ep.2)

darkness in love

kochab (finished)

wychwood (pg. 638)

come hell or high water (pg. 410)

hunter of insania (pg. 25-2)

alice and the nightmare (ch. 5, pg. 1)

the house of lowther (episode 39)

Books

tmbd re-read

midnight predator + shapeshifters den of shadows re-read

scum villain's self saving system

heaven official's blessing (started)

grandmaster of demonic cultivated (started)

weaving iridescence

a strange and stubborn endurance

alpha's son

Manga/webnovels

akane banashi (ch. 136)

kagurabachi (ch. 21)

I cannot reach you (ch. 22, pg. 58)

subarashii kiseki ni yasashii kimi to (ch. 6.5)

akai ito no shikkou yuuyo (finished; ch. 5.6)

later, he became a royal healer (ch. 80)

the guild member next door (finished; ch. 50.5)

old fashioned cupcake (vol. 2, ch. 1)

koimonogatari (caught up; ch. 22)

kabukichou bad trip (ch. 5)

? ones (not sure if started)

tomorrow, make me yours

dekoboko sugar days (ch. 6.2?)

I seriously can't believe you

Movies/TV shows

bee and puppycat

PLUTO

glass onion

the boy and the heron

castlevania

muppet christmas carol

muppet holiday movie

going postal

hogswatch

klaus

sea beast

Videogames

a little to the left DLC x2

disco elysium

potion permit

unpacking

stellaris

a lot happened last year, jeez. Ultimately I made it through the year though, and that's what matters. And so did everyone reading this :3 yay us!

[thathilomgirl]

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