#also also - i had more time for this one than i did miyano's last night. I'm sorry yours isn't as polished miyano 😔

[moonstruckhaze]

shuuko-san while it's still yuri day 🧡🤍🩷✨

[isshuns]

the progression of things - discarded scenes

this is a dump post for scenes that were in the original draft, but never made it to final version of the fic. they bear no connection to the final version of "the progression of things”, but i liked them enough that i couldn’t bear just deleting these scenes (TPOT underwent a lot of editing and rewrites) ;_; they were part of the original premise where I wrote Miyano as ace/demisexual, but in the end it didn’t work out ;_;

click on the “read more” link if you’d like to read them, but take note, they’re were part of the rough draft, hence are extremely unpolished. 

Miyano remembers being fifteen, his school bag heavy on his shoulders, but his heart heavier in his chest. Every day he looks at the mirror in his bathroom and wonders why he was cursed with such feminine features, a smaller build than the rest of the boys in his school; everything on his face seemed wrong as though nature forgot to switch its genetic code back to “MASCULINE, MALE” when constructing his face.

He couldn’t blame his parents, they never had any say in what he’d look like when he was born, and his mother would be heartbroken to hear that her son, bearing such resemblance to her looks, actually hated his own.

But as slightly estranged as he was from his middle school classmates when his looks came up as a topic of conversation, Miyano still heard Things whispered amongst his peers, seen Things even, when his classmates included him in their weekly get-together to ogle at printed materials meant for a demographic way beyond their age.

In the flush of youth, where the boys in his class pondered over their body anatomy, fascinated with nature, and looked to adult magazines (stolen from their older sibling’s stash) for enjoyment, Miyano pondered over the harsh reality of his feminine features, upset but resigned with nature, and looked to fashion magazines (taken with permission from his mother’s collection) for pointers on how Not to appear even more like a girl.

(His father’s copies of Business Weekly helped a little too, even if only to remind Miyano how top businessmen in the country dressed for a business photoshoot with the press – suit, tie and expensive watch peeking from the cuffs.)

When the passage of time came and went and Miyano entered high school, he discovered the world of Boys Love manga and dedicated his free time to understanding the intricacies of this fascinating genre. Being a minor, the type of print he could obtain were fairly sweet and innocent, nothing too explicit save for some scenes that took place on a bed, the protagonists’ modesty preserved with a flimsily drawn blanket over their nude bodies.

Occasionally, a book or two with explicit content would make their way to his collection. The internet was also a place full of wonders and possibility, and once or twice Miyano would (secretly) look up the famous series promised with rave reviews, but somehow, Porn Without Plot never really stuck to his repertoire.

Even after becoming of age, Miyano still finds himself gravitating towards the safety that comes with the PG-13 books. There is a strange sort of comfort in consuming fiction that depicts love as something simple and uncomplicated, straightforward and representation that love– intimacy did not necessarily come hand in hand with sexual acts. Intimacy could exist with or without sexual acts and vice versa, whatever floats your boat, really.

For Miyano, it was always the build up leading to that ultimate confession scene (at the rooftop, under the cherry blossom tree by the school yard, the back of the school gym, endless options) that grabbed him by the feels and punted him into the sun. That’s where the highlight is!! He once told Sasaki, unable to hold back on his excitement that twinkled in his eyes.

And identifying all the event flags leading up to that very moment of their first kiss? Unparalleled. Truly the best of all scenes there is. Peak romance. The bedroom scenes (few and rare in his possession) are really just a bonus.

So, while his peers continued to chat about going through the motions in bed, the closest miyano could ever try to relate to during those conversations was the intimacy that came along with the idea of sexual intercourse.

-------------------------------------

The moment Miyano is done with the last of his midterms and bids his notes goodbye (for now), Sasaki magically appears beside him and whisks him away to the nearby izakaya for a celebratory dinner.

“For getting through the first midterm week of your life~” His giant baby boyfriend coos, ever so sweet like the cakes he bakes.

Miyano pretends to be exasperated, shoulders dramatically slumping over the sticky izakaya table, but his heart knows better. It’s been one month since he’s started college (the one Sasaki also so happens to attend, not a coincidence at all), and the privilege of having more time to spend with one another makes Miyano giddy with happiness.

Gone are the days Miyano can only meet his favourite senpai for a handful of hours after club activities until the reality of their courseload slaps them in the face; gone are the days they have to rely on telephone calls and text messages, where the minutes and seconds flashing across the screen serve as an unforgiving reminder of the time they have left before they have to part ways.

It’s all gone now. Sasaki sits before him, in the flesh, and Miyano has always felt that seeing Sasaki’s smile in person would always be different from seeing it on screen. The grainy pixels on his phone can never do those handsome features justice, nor can it the warmth blooming behind his breastbone whenever Sasaki threads their fingers together and walks him all the way back to his dorm.

The freshmen all share a common dormitory block separate from the rest of the college students, something about building connections and getting to know each other better, so Sasaki insists on walking Miyano back to his room before he makes the trek all the way back to his own. The night is young, the dorms are peacefully quiet, and everyone is probably still out in town having a good time.

---------------------------

Loathe as he is to do so, Miyano makes the executive decision to drop by the bookstore one afternoon to try and consult a few adult BL manga. It’s the worst idea he could ever come up with, he hates comparing his own relationship to silly BL manga tropes, but nothing short of an apocalypse would push him to ask the people around him whether it’s normal to… not think about sex in a romantic relationship. While the internet is a wondrous place full of answers and possibilities, Miyano figures it probably wouldn’t hurt to take a peek at how society tackles his questions through the lens of BL manga.

Hurriedly, just before his date with Sasaki, he randomly picks up one of the highly rated R-18 series, heads over to the payment counter quickly, and bolts out of the store the moment the cashier bags his purchases. He makes sure to stuff the damned volumes deep beneath his bag, out of sight, before he heads over to the café to meet Sasaki for lunch.

And when he’s finally back in his own dorm later that night, his roommate blissfully unaware and asleep, Miyano retrieves the book from his bag, cautiously peels away the plastic wrap before he settles down for the night to take notes.

His efforts are all for naught. Halfway through the series – one Junjou Romantica –, it takes Miyano all but 3 volumes before he calls it quits and and promptly closes the book. Guess there’s no way he can redeem his money now, unless Sasaki is into dubcon…? Well, that’s a thought for future Miyano to ponder on. Current Miyano just wants to sleep and wash the images out of his mind with bleach.

-------------------------------

he has no care for sex, but nothing compares to the tender happiness that comes along with partaking in something sasaki enjoys and yearns for. sasaki’s language of love has always been touch and spending time partaking in activities of common interest.

today, sasaki has picked a soothing lo-fi playlist as their background music. they’re seated on the bed, warmly nestled against each other as they browse through their respective manga

his eyes may be on inked pages, but his heart is long gone. he discreetly observes his boyfriend, the curve of his jaw, long lashes almost curling against the high of his cheekbones as his honey-gold eyes flit across pages and pages of content.

the fingers flipping through each page is steady, long, and miyano suddenly wonders how it would feel to have them splayed across his body, touching him in places his own hands have never ventured before.

“what’s wrong, myaa-chan?” sasaki smiles at him, eyes impossibly fond and kind.

well, fuck it, there’s no going back now.

“senpai, what do you think… about… BL with explicit content?”

sasaki blinks. miyano tampers down the urge to kiss those parted lips.

“you mean books with sex scenes in them?”

“yeah.”

“oh.” sasaki turns away, the hand that’s not rested on miyano’s shoulder has found a place on top of sasaki’s mouth. he’s embarrassed, miyano realizes, and somehow that makes him feel ten times more endearing than usual.

sensing that this was a topic his boyfriend wasn’t going to let go any time soon, sasaki clears his throat and returns miyano’s gaze head on.

“i’m fine with it. why do you ask?”

“i… well.” while miyano struggles for words, sasaki hand starts moving up and down his arm, soothing him.

“are you starting to read rated manga? it’s normal, at least, ogasawara’s girlfriend says so. so there’s no need to be shy, myaa-chan! if you want to recommend any, you know I’ll read anything you lend me. no judgment here.”

it should have been reassuring, but the thought that ogasawara’s girlfriend discussed with sasaki about explicit BL manga like it’s the fucking weather has miyano choking on his spit. what the actual fuck.

do people actually talk about these things? is miyano the abnormal one instead for never entertaining the thought of doing things with his significant other?! has he been missing out on some code of relationship couples ought to follow?! the BL mangas he read never said so!

“myaa-chan? are you okay?”

“you- you talk with ogasawara senpai about these things?”

sasaki’s cheeks colour a lovely shade of red. from his looks, he’s starting to catch up with where miyano wants the conversation to go. that’s a relief, because miyano honestly doesn’t know how to tactfully broach the topic without sounding like a dumb dumb about these things.

“yeah, i do.” sasaki admits, “but only once or twice, because ogasawara needed to vent about things. sorry, does that weird you out? i can stop. i don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“no, no, it’s fine. totally fine, senpai.” it must be a common boys topic that somehow eluded miyano and friends during high school. at this point, miyano’s face must be burning with the hot flames of embarrassment and shame, he’s pretty sure sasaki’s fingers can feel the heat all the way from where they are, stroking his cheek absently.

“what brought this on, if you don’t mind me asking?” sasaki asks a moment later, when the weight of silence in the room gets a little too much to bear.

“just… some friends talking about it the other day.”

“friends.”

“yeah… fine, classmates.”

“are you… thinking about it?”

at miyano’s surprised expression, sasaki backtracks immediately.

“forget i asked.”

“to be honest, i don’t know what to feel about it.”

“it’s okay, we don’t have to do what you don’t want to do.”

it’s so painfully awkward yet endearing at the same time.

“do you think about it, senpai? about us… doing those things?”

sasaki’s lack of an answer is extremely telling. the shade of red coloring his cheeks is probably bright enough to rival miyano’s own face.

“does it matter? i am happy with doing whatever myaa-chan wants to do.” sasaki finally says, but his eyes have shied away from miyano’s gaze, and something within miyano snaps.

“of course it matters. it’s you, sasaki-senpai. i want you to be happy too. i want to do things that you want to do too.”

something akin to hope blooms across sasaki’s eyes (surprisingly moist).

“thank you, myaa-chan. that thought alone makes me happy enough. let’s leave it here for now and let things progress as they naturally would, how about that? we don’t need to rush into anything. i’m really happy with where we are now.”

he knows that sasaki has caught on to his sexual orientation, no doubt. it’s been a year since he became of age, and yet the BL manga he still buys have never ventured into the explicit genre. briefly, he wonders if sasaki actually keeps his own stash of porn somewhere below his bed, like normal boys would do.

they aren’t in high school anymore. it’s been years, and yet until this point, the thought of doing something more than kissing and cuddling has never crossed miyano’s mind. he wants to cry at how respectful his boyfriend has been all this while.

“myaa-chan? myaa-chan? oh no, yoshikazu, don’t cry. i’m sorry if i said something wrong-”

oh fuck.

miyano has always been uncomfortable with displays of affection and attention, preferring to bask in the comforting arms of his daydreams and fantasies, but his love for sasaki burns greater and he will do anything he can to ensure that sasaki receives equal, if not more, affection and care than the amount his boyfriend showers him in.

scene ends with sasaki hugging miyano tightly, reassuring him and planting a kiss at the side of miyano’s temple. but it does nothing to seep away the frustration gnawing at his bones.

END

[a-skyfull-of-starz]

Anime in the Time of Quarantine

This fine quarantine period, I have made it my mission to watch as much anime as possible, because I don’t know, I guess it’s better than wallowing in self-pity.  Here’s a list of everything I’ve watched to date and how much I recommend them, because I don’t know, I’m bored or something.

This list does not contain anime I’ve previously watched, because that would make it normal life anime. So don’t ask me why Shingeki no Kyojin is not on the list.  Of course it remains my favourite and I will continue to recommend it until my dying breath.

Also, this list is ordered in the order I watched them in, and does not reflect any standing other than that.  Also also, I get bored really easily, so if an anime doesn’t grab me immediately, chances are I’ll close it very quickly.  I’ve started a lot more anime than is on this list but got bored and closed it.  Hence, this list is almost entirely positive recommendations.  Also also also (I swear this is the last clarifier), I’ve been in a slice of life kind of mood, because my slice of life is boring and uninteresting to the extreme, so that genre is kind of over-represented here.  So with that being said, on to the list (sorry that it’s so long, I have an issue with verbosity).

Stein’s Gate: I started watching Stein’s Gate two years ago, but didn’t make it past the five minute mark, because I just didn’t get it.  I started watching it again a few weeks ago, and I still didn’t get it, but I persevered because I was bored and high on chocolate.  By the end of the first episode…I still didn’t get it. I continued to not get it until probably midway through the third episode, but when I got it, holy hell did it hit hard.  I absolutely enjoyed every second of this anime.  I loved watching Okabe’s journey from imagined insanity into actual insanity and then back again.  He went on a true hero’s journey, and I loved every second of it.  Miyano Mamoru gives a masterful performance (I always watch the subbed animes, and I recommend that everyone else does too).  The chemistry between Okabe and Kurisu is probably the best in anime that I’ve watched thus far (sorry Asuna and Kirito, your time has finally come).  This anime is rich with emotion, humour, tragedy, (some) romance, friendship, mad scientists and beautiful characters.  If you can stand being confused for the first three episodes, this anime will be an incredibly rewarding journey for you.  I highly recommend it.

Ao Haru Ride/Blue Spring Ride: I saw a clip of this anime in a seiyuu video and I fell in love with the art style and decided to give it a watch.  I have mixed feelings about this one.  On the one hand, the plot is interesting, although having watched similar anime, a lot of it is kind of cliched.  That being said, I did like the message of being true to yourself, no matter the cost.  And I appreciated the fact that Futaba (our main hero) wasn’t a stereotypical anime girl (although she really does cry a lot and I agree with Kou that it is annoying). I found Kou (our love interest) a very interesting and compelling character.  The clear winner of this anime though is the art style.  It is beautiful to look at.  Unfortunately, the first season ends on kind of a cliffhanger, and there doesn’t appear to be a second season coming any time soon, which is really disappointing.  If you like high school romance stories with an edgy bad boy in it, then this is the anime for you, but don’t expect a satisfying ending, because, well, there isn’t one.

Stein’s Gate 0: I watched this because my friend said that it made her cry after every episode (I personally didn’t think Stein’s Gate needed a sequel, but oh well).  Based on her recommendation, I went in with high expectations, which were kind of mostly unmet.  The plot was way more confusing, less compelling, it felt like the stakes weren’t that high, mostly because they were only introduced way later in the series (I know Stein’s Gate did the same thing, but it somehow felt more shoved in with this one) and because we already knew how it would end. Also the ending felt incredibly rushed. The only episode I really wholeheartedly enjoyed was the reunion between Kurisu and Okabe (sounds weird out of context, but I’m trying to remain spoiler free).  For the rest, I was left with mixed feelings, although I have to say, I probably love Okabe even more in Stein’s Gate 0 and Miyano Mamoru gives us another stunning performance.  I would probably have been happier if this entire series had just consisted of Okabe trying to move on from the fallout of what happened in Stein’s Gate and there was no drama of World War III.  So, I guess if you’re curious to see what happens if Okabe does not look for Stein’s Gate in the previous season, this is for you.  Honestly though, I’d probably be happier if I hadn’t watched Stein’s Gate 0.

Shigatsu wo Kimi no Uso/Your lie in April: THIS ANIME OH MY GOSH!!!!  I did not even know that this anime existed until I saw it on Kaji Yuki’s Wikipedia page (I’m a fan, so what?).  He’s barely in this by the way, but that doesn’t matter, because this anime is amazing.  I knew how it ended because I unfortunately saw spoilers when I was reading what the plot was about when I was deciding whether or not to watch this, and I still cried for about an hour after the ending (and I don’t cry easily, especially not with anime).  The writing here is probably the best in any anime I’ve watched (yes, better than SNK, the king has been toppled from his throne), the soundtrack is amazing (I’ve been listening to it on repeat for a week now), the acting is beautiful, the artwork is gorgeous (apart from Kosei’s disappearing glass frame, that was weird), and all around, this anime is just…perfect.  If you enjoy teenage romance and drama, if you love classical music, if you feel like bawling your eyes out for an hour because right now your life is pretty boring and pointless, then this is the anime for you.  And even if you aren’t any of those things listed, I still recommend this anime because it is gorgeous and deserves recognition for how incredible it is.

Welcome to the NHK: this is probably the direct opposite of Shigatsu wo Kimi no Uso in every way possible.  I haven’t finished this anime yet because it is extremely heavy, and I can only manage two episodes a night, but I still highly recommend it.  It’s a fascinating take on a lot of modern Japanese culture, specifically surrounding mental health, the hentai industry and consumerism. It’s also got a lot of black comedy in it, which I love.  All in all (and depending on the ending of the series), I highly recommend this one for its interesting writing and plot and excellent acting.  

Lovely Complex: honestly, this anime sort of crept into my heart as one of the most adorable, refreshing, hilarious and unexpected love stories of all time.  It basically tells the story of two idiot friends who slowly realise they’re in love with each other, how this impacts their friendship and how they navigate the very dark waters of teen romance.  If you’re looking for an uncliched high school romance anime, where the heroine is the opposite of a cute anime girl, where the broody handsome guy is not the object of our affection and where you get flashbacks of just how dumb you were as a teenager and how grateful you are to be out of that age group (if you’re my age I mean, I’m mostly talking about myself here), then this is definitely the anime for you. Also, the opening song is ska, how cool is that?

Orange: another time traveling story, except the time traveling is even more confusing here. Just kidding, the time traveling is probably the least interesting part of this story, which examines suicide, depression, guilt and bullying, and does it in a pretty mature way.  Our hero (dear lovely confused Naho) is unfortunately not very smart, but that’s ok, because she has Suwa, the best human being in the whole world, to help her out.  Honestly, this story would have ended very differently if Suwa had not been around and he deserves every award that can possibly be given to amazing human beings. This anime is sort of 13 Reasons Why, but in reverse, less exploitative and with better friends (you’ll understand what I mean when you watch it).  If you aren’t going to be triggered by discussions of suicide, depression and bullying, then I really do recommend this, as it is very interesting, well-performed, and largely well-handled.

So that’s my anime watch list thus far.  I plan to finish Welcome to the NHK soon, and then start watching Mushishi, as I’ve heard a lot of great things about it.  Also, now that you guys have seen what my tastes are, I would love it if I could get more recommendations.  Lord knows, I’m not going to be doing anything else until I can find a way home, so I might as well expand my horizons.  Also also…no, that’s it.  Have a good quarantine folks!

[mfk-archived]

I bought Player, finished it, and now I want to cry

AKA–a review of Mamoru Miyano's photobook Player by me

Before I start, I will say that I will NOT be showing photos from the book. I'm sorry, but it's basically following the same policies his team put out.

From start to finish it felt like a real adventure, like you were on vacation with him. It starts with him getting off the plane during the day and ends with him at night in Vegas.

All the stuff in between and the back and forth photos of Arizona and Vegas really show the different sides of his professionalism.

The photos slowly go from day into night as the scenery and his outfits coordinate to what he's doing or what time it is. It's so slow, subtle and perfect

Mamo is able to turn his switch of 'fun' to 'mature' in just a turn of a page. His duality is always so pleasing to see and shoots me through the heart every time.

This being said, it's much more enjoyable taking in and actually looking at the pictures rather than scan through them. Mamo holds so much emotion in each photo and even simple things like his face can change the mood easily.

Some photos did get leaked on Pinterest (I didn't know) but that doesn't change how I feel when I recognize them in the book. If anything, it feels better seeing it there.

However, with the double spread shots, it is a little awkward not being able to see it without the spine of the book folding in. There's one in particular where you have to turn it sideways and it makes him look a little shorter dnfnsndjfjfn

Maybe that's just me IDK ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I haven't had any physical Mamo merch until now

Miyasaka really worked to capture Mamo at his best and honestly mad props to her. She did a wonderful job. The effort and timing was so appealing to analyze as I sunk into my bed admiring him literally putting his face next to a pumpkin.

When I reached the end, it really felt like he was leaving even though he wasn't even at the airport in last shot. The atmosphere gave a strong "this is the end of our journey, let's start a new one" feeling, just like his end speech during MIXING

I wanted to cry right there because that's how much emotion and expression the book carried. I didn't want to leave! I wanted to keep seeing Mamo wandering around Vegas, but alas, it had to end and he had to go home.

(Also funny thing, but as I was getting to the end, Last Dance started playing and that made it 1000× worst)

—

In the end, it's obvious Mamo is talented in anything he puts his efforts into–singing, acting, etc. Modeling is definitely no biggie for a man like him. And he absolutely killed it

This might be his first photobook but I'm praying that he does another one later this year. (Player came out late 2018 so it would be going into 2 years since release)

It must've taken a long time for Player so I understand if the next one isn't until like 2050 (jk jk Mamo's busy this year)

Thank you Mamoru Miyano and Hiromi Miyasaka for creating such a wonderful first photobook. My love for him has grown by 1000% and it will continue to grow

If they decide to collaborate again, you can definitely expect me to snatch my hands on the next book!

(P.S. when Mamo said the book was too sexy and erotic he wasn't wrong OKAY the shower pictures don't do justice to Mamo's handsomeness //////)

[aja154ever]

BSD Stage: Dark Era

I’ve been wanting to write a report aka feelings post about this stage play, but for days I wasn’t able to compose my words (and myself). I’m glad I found this review by our beloved @looking-for-stray-dogs and now please excuse me as I add my own thoughts (while trying my best to be coherent) on this. I encourage you to read her post first because more details about the play are written there!

Under the cut for spoilers! All photos are from official accounts

Stage is indeed a different platform and more than any of the adaptations - light novel, anime - this medium is the one that felt the most alive. Well literally ofc, but you know, you just feel the fact that... they are there. Odasaku, Ango, teen Dazai. In 3D human forms, breathing, hurting, falling apart inside... dying.

I was not near enough to see their facial expressions very very clearly, except for the scenes when they were very near the edge of the stage. So what hit me the most was the emotion in their voices - which I happen to be very particular with since I am a voice actor fan.

I liked that Odasaku here is more emotional than the one in anime. 

His smiles. Oh my gosh. How much he enjoyed playing with the kids.

His voice. How it cracks more and more as he pats the head of each kid when he was saying good night to them. It was totally breaking when he was down to the last one, Sakura, which was akin to how our hearts have broken, too.

And yes, when Dazai was stopping him from going, Odasaku’s voice was cracking when he told Dazai that he wanted to be a novelist. I really felt how much he wanted it, but there was no way it could ever come true at that point. He was not just grieving for the kids; Odasaku was grieving for himself, too.

Ango. I don’t know what is it but Araki-san’s portrayal made me like Ango even more. He did indeed betray his friends, but he.was.very.much.hurting.too. I deeply appreciated that they included that epilogue scene in the novel when Ango was looking at the picture of the three of them together.

Mori. Yes! His voice was indeed very fitting and there were even times when he almost sounded like Miyamoto-san (anime VA). At some parts though, Mori and Elise’s appearance was somewhat distracting esp when I could’ve preferred to focus on the scene that was not about them. Like, Mori’s appearance is fine but Elise doing all the same grumpy reactions in the background was kinda off for me.

Music insert. Oh gosh. I couldn’t listen to Kaze ga Fuku Machi days after the play because the feels were too much for me to take in. This is my favorite BSD song, and the song’s lyrics are engraved in my heart and wow oh my gosh, I was not prepared that they suddenly played it during that scene. It was *heavy breathing* when Odasaku screamed after the kids exploded. And suddenly, I couldn’t see the stage anymore... for my eyes were filled with tears. I can’t compare Taniguchi-san (stage actor) and Suwabe-san’s (anime VA) screams during that scene, both are heart-crushing no matter what, but hearing it live on stage really pierced through my heart.

Reason Living. This is my second favorite BSD song, but as opposed to the previous one, I somewhat didn’t like where this song was inserted in the play. It was right after Odasaku died. The song was too lively and loud for that moment. Maybe nothing can replace Kaze ga Fuku Machi for me in this scene, but maybe it wouldn’t sound fit if they repeat the same song after using it in the screaming scene.

Dazai. *sighs* Where do I even start? I think I was one of the first people who shed tears during the play, and it was because of Dazai. It was just from their first scene, when Dazai was telling Odasaku about the stories of how he got his injuries. I know, that’s not a scene where anyone is supposed to cry, but gosh. Tawada Hideya’s acting. Contrary to Lea’s opinion that the Dazai in this stage is flirty, the message that came across to me is that this stage showed how much of a child Dazai Osamu was back then. The way he freely acts when he’s together with his friends in contrast to the demon prodigy of the Port Mafia. Sometimes we look at Mafia Dazai but forget that despite their experiences in the past, he was still young. And Odasaku understood that way before and way deeper than anyone else. 

I really liked that they included that precious line in the light novel when Odasaku was talking to Gide, “That guy was just a child who’s too smart. Just a crying child who’s been left alone in the darkness, a world of nothingness far emptier than the world can see.” (translation by nkhrchy.tumblr)

This was my tweet after watching the stage play:

On the other hand, I have a very huge bias towards Miyano Mamoru as Dazai’s voice actor. While Hideyan did touch me in many scenes on his portrayal of teen Dazai, there were lines when I found them lacking. As Lea had mentioned, one of that was the scene when Dazai was begging the Mimic soldier to shoot him. He did yell, “PLEASE”, too strongly and loudly, I think, intending to drown Odasaku’s voice of stopping him. However I also thought that a soft, begging one would be more appropriate.

Another one is when Dazai told Mori that the reason he is going is that, “He is a friend.” I think the anime was more emotional in this one esp with the close-up of the peaceful look on Dazai’s face, and the silent pause.

Lastly, the Odasaku dying scene (ouch, how do we call that). Miyano Mamoru’s desperate but helpless trembling voice in that scene is imprinted in my heart and my ears - when I say I have it memorized, I mean it. Most probably because of this post (please listen to it with earphones): Odasaku’s Final Moments. So I’m sorry but I really couldn’t help but compare it so somehow, Hideyan’s acting in that scene didn’t give me as much feels as the anime did. However, seeing the light novel scene of Dazai lighting up Odasaku’s cigarette in that scene, then the anime scene of Dazai’s bandages getting pulled off, and lastly the scene fading out to Odasaku passing away on his friend’s lap with Dazai tilting his head up silently after - which then showed us his pained expression - was a good seal to the scene. I couldn’t ask for more. Oh.my.gosh.stop

And ofc, the final scene which Asagiri-sensei thoughtfully added. Dazai was back in Bar Lupin, in his ADA clothes, happily saying, “Odasaku, I found it! A job that saves people.” Odasaku appears, and Dazai continues... “Are you happy for me?” Odasaku doesn’t utter a single word, but smiles and pats Dazai on the head, and leaves.

This is giving me a thousand feels because I know, I can feel it, let me say it.

Dazai, Odasaku is very proud of and very happy for you.

This is just for me, but Odasaku saying nothing, but just pats his head while smiling? It’s giving me the feels that - at least one of Odasaku’s orphans made it.

*screams*

.

.

*inhales*

*picks up myself*

*exhales*

Over-all, it was definitely a very beautiful adaptation of the light novel. Lea has already pointed out a lot of things in her post above so I also didn’t mention the other details in this post. Can’t really say that it’s perfect, but the stage play adaptation was more than satisfying and really made me love BSD and Asagiri-sensei MORE.

Lastly, I leave you with this tweet...

[amisbro]

Let’s Talk:  Broccoli’s Gamble

And how it paid off for them The first thing we have to do is go ALLLLLL THE WAY BACK to 8/8/2009 when Broccoli announced on their blog that they were going to be starting a franchise called “Uta no Prince-Sama”.  It was a game that would follow 6 idols that were going to school at Saotome Gauken (Shining Academy) as they attempt to make their debut with the composer whom the player would name in the game BUT for the purposes of this post we will use the name that is most familiar in Haruka Nanami. Before that November would start with the CDs for the 6 original boys that would appear in UtaPri and this would run up to February where we would get to hear the first songs of the cast at that time.  We WOULD get “Welcome to UTAPRI World” later but we’re splitting hairs. When the first game came out a lot was probably riding on it because Broccoli wanted it to succeed and ,while I can’t find #’s for the original, we can assume it did very well for the company because they kept going with the games all the way up to February 26th of 2015 when All-Star After Secret released and is the last “new” game for either the PSP or the VITA at this time with Dolce Vita to come later Little did we realize that ,while the game gamble was going to pay off, No one probably looked at UtaPri and thought as an Anime it would go past one 13 week series.  Most probably thought it was going to be ,at the least, a single cour series and at the most maybe 2...an OVA ,2 more Series and a Movie was PROBABLY not in the cards if you gave Broc truth serum. But Broc had another part of this plan and that was their stage shows While they only started at a 1500 seat building called “U-Port Hall” they went bigger and better as they moved up to 10K seat buildings to NOW aroud the 30K mark which they have filled for 3 different Lives!  That was impressive There is NO WAY their gamble could  keeping paying off right?  I mean eventually the house wins and you go broke! WELL While I don’t have the numbers for the character singles of the first two series in the Anime Seasons 3 and 4 have shown that Broc was going to keep winning...and in some cases it wouldn’t have to be the character singles from STARISH to outright do it because if you remember around Season 3 when QN had their frist Anime Single they were in the top 3 peaking at #2...they couldn’t do better than that surely WRONG When Season 4 came around what we found out was that QUARTET NIGHT had a fanbase that was REALLY HUNGRY and it was so much so when the Anime came out that what happened was they didn’t want to give up the #1 spot for a long time and they broke a lot of records not just for UtaPri but for Anime Singles as a whole and that has to tell you something. Season 4 was also another gamble for Broccoli:  To allow a “rival group” in HEAVENS to be able to have singles with STARISH members and also to have their own group single. It ALMOST didn’t payoff Interestingly enough when the group singles came out the one that peaked the highest was JUSTICE IMPULSE which was around the top 5 while others made either the top 10 but didn’t stick or just didn’t break it.  Mamoru Miyano’s character single with Yuuma Uchida NEARLY broke the top 10 but not quite but others weren’t nearly as lucky.  With Ren/Van’s and Yamato/Syo’s being the top marks for the duets what would this mean for HEAVENS when their group single came out? Well?! HEAVENS had their single come out last and it was after the masterful job that God’s S.T.A.R. did.  They also had to contend with the fact that the mainstays in STARISH were in the top 5 when their single came out (as was Mamo’s single for the season in Tempest IIRC) so there was NO WAY they would get past that right? WRONG Now I’m going to stop here for a second and I will say that ,yes these songs were under King Records, BUT its the idea that a group that was constructed by Broccoli to be the opposition to STARISH originally was going to be put in this spot.  What would happen? Not much...just the top 3! “Immortal Inferno” peaked at #3 on the Daily charts and yet again Broc beat the house.  Whether we want to admit it they did a hell of a job constructing this group because you had old vets and new guys that no one really knew.  Sure you had Kimura ,OnoD and Midorin BUT we had Hidenori ,Daiki Yamashita and also Yuuma...oh and Wingu unless you watched FREE! (spoiler:  I did and I had no idea he was in it). HEAVENS was the renegades and they did the unthinkable.  Even with their first ever Drama CD in HEAVEN SKY they did pretty well with a top 5 peak even if it didn’t last the duration of the time on the chart. Surely Broccoli was done with the gambles right?  I mean they HAVE to lose the next one right? Well this brings us to a more present day event Last Year was the debut of a game called “Shining Live” which is a co-production with Broccoli and KLab and it did AMAZING in Japan with the game getting over 2 Million downloads since its launch in August of last year!  Put that in perspective:  If you got the numbers from the first 10 weeks on the three music games between VITA and PSP I don’t think they sold 1 Million TOTAL! But Japan was going to be a relatively easy market...how would they do IF the games made it outside of Japan (and this was something Broccoli has been against with restricting PVs for the games in the past)?  Well there would NEED to be at least an English version to find out On May 11 2017 (you can check that through the twitter creation date) there WAS an English twitter created for Shining Live but no posts on it were known about and all news would have to be translated by a fan account at the time.  It wasn’t until before the JP version came out (I believe it was during 7th Anniversary) that a Global version was announced.  No news on the date (because of the fact it was going to be in English and Chinese) but one had been announced...this was going to be the BIGGEST gamble that it takes! Well for a while there were crickets...no one knew anything about the development of the global version and all was silent THEN JANUARY 2018 CAME! It was around this time that the English Twitter started posting news and updates about the game with trailers and the like.  When they got closer to a suspected release date they started with the translated bios of the characters so that newcomers to the series could get to know the characters they would be seeing over the coming months in the game. Then January 24th a.k.a. ONE DAY AFTER CAMUS’ BIRTHDAY came and the game was launched in less than a 3 month period (maybe even less than that) the Global version broke 1 Million more downloads with the English version on Google Play having over 100K! Broccoli is that gambler that ,no matter what, will look at the situation and go “We’re doing this” Its interesting when you think about it because Broccoli took a franchise that is almost 10 years old unofficially (the Anniversary is always designated by the first game release) and gambled SO HARD with it that now the question that needs to be asked is this “If you knew you were gonna come up Trumps Broc...why did you make fans wait outside of Japan?” In many respects Broccoli has won every gamble with UtaPri they can make...there IS one left and its been proven in Japan they can win with them Will they make THE BET in the Western Market? I don’t see how they can lose at this point to be honest

[coffeemakernamedhank]

right, so, i take care of my mother? she is disabled, has a blood cancer, and is on 24/7 supplemental oxygen as a part of treatment for COPD. 

so, she’s been in the hospital all week, because even the mildest of colds tend to turn into hospital trips. this morning i got a phone call to tell me that she’s in the ICU hooked to a BiPAP machine after a minor accident last night. i’m not taking my germ factory of a six-year-old to visit the ICU, so uh. 

i guess i just sit here next to my phone and the house phone, and wait to hear from.. someone. at some point. 

and pay the bills early, in an attempt to shut down some of the paranoid anxiety.

and also lose my mind under the weight of pants-shitting fear.  

or we could talk about anime sure okay let’s do that here we go~

MAL tells me that after Houseki no Kuni, i finally watched Tamako Love Story? which i kind of can’t believe i hadn’t watched before, considering how much i enjoyed Tamako Market. hundreds of episodes is just fine, but committing to a movie, so much too much can’t do it. anyway, Mochizou is really the very Best Boy. he deserves better, but as long as he’s happy, it’s okay. it’s a simple nice little movie. KyoAni makes me weak, and can make me love anything, really. 

neeeext i dove into Kekkai Sensen. it was.. weird? jazz and rock-ish BGM and OP/ED songs, plus the bit of scifi/fantasy blend while taking down bad guys stylishly gave me this Cowboy Bebop feeling. episodic in the same way Bebop is, too. i don’t think it’s gonna change anyone’s life, but it was good! Kekkai Sensen & BEYOND was more of the same, really. a fun stylish time. it made me want to check out Kyousou Giga, because that has the same director? and also it gave me BUMP OF CHICKEN, which.. i mean. that’s one hell of a band name.

usually, my scores for shows are wildly high for personal reasons, or lower than average because at this point i am easily bored by Anime Bullshit For Anime Bullshit Reasons. NHK ni Youkoso! kind of surprised me. i don’t think i connected to it much, outside of “ah.. yeah that’s how it is” thoughts, but it was just.. great. intensely human in the weird way that i like, with diversions into what in the actual shit territory. i think the animation and overall presentation hold up nicely even 10+ years later, so that was neat too. probably watch it if you’ve ever been a shut-in, or felt like you’d like to be one. 

i will always watch historical Japanese anything, because i am a writhing sack of weeb nonsense, so Nobunaga Concerto was always going to please me. apparently, it got skipped when it was airing because EVERYONE HATES CGI U GAIZ? but all around, not a bad show. the CGI wasn’t.. wonderful, but it wasn’t ugly either. i’ll forgive anything for historical context and period clothing, though. and hey, if you love Miyano Mamoru, he plays the lead? 

speaking of seiyuu, i’m pretty sure i had Robotics;Notes on my list just because of Kimura Ryouhei playing a main character. i really can’t think of anything worth watching about this show, outside of the gross internet-person blonde girl. she was pretty excellent. there were robots? uhh.. sure. it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t.. much of anything else, either. 

kids, after the meh rain comes the sun, and the sun is Ballroom e Youkoso. not gonna lie, i love the manga, so i was very much looking forward to this show. it did not disappoint in the least. all the same energy and drama and sweeping action, captured by Production I.G., just like I was hoping. it’s pretty annoying that all i’ve seen about this show is HUR HUR THE NECKS ARE SO LONG jokes? an elongated neck is part and parcel with an ideal silhouette in competitive ballroom dance, and shitgoddamn, do i love a sports anime that nails and emphasizes pertinent details for effect. this is honestly a super-strong adaptation, and seeing the cover art when i went to get the URL for the link just made me want to watch it again, for that giddy feeling when something goes just right for the characters. please ignore the shitbird jokes, because mainstream anime fans can’t handle anything enjoyed unironically, and have fun. also, Pikorin playing a low-energy character is a good time. 

i don’t think i need to say that Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan is good, but fuck. it’s so good. like, hopefully you can speed read if your Japanese isn’t great, because there is some overlapping dialogue sometimes, and visual gags involving signs, but. it was funny, and easy to watch for me, and i just. i wish everybody loved this show as much as i do. it was kind of a given for me, because Kamiya Hiroshi is my seiyuu husbando, but still. Hosoyan is in there too, playing a yankii dude and that’s always great. just. if you want a dumb gag show, here you go, it’s good. 

dang. i took a lot of breaks writing this, because i wanted to keep the tone consistent, and now i’m just... even more tired. my phone still hasn’t rung. rang? rungrang. 

right now, i’m keeping up with Koi wa Ameagari no You ni weekly, and that’s good and cute and soothing. in between, i’m trying to finally finish all of Cardcaptor Sakura, because there’s a new sequel airing right now too. didn’t expect Osaka-ben in my magical girl show, but here we are, and it’s pretty calming and nice. 

anyway bye.

ETA: HAHA HOLY SHIT. i completely didn’t even bother mentioning Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? and its sequel series. good, it was shit. i like cute girls doing cute things, and it was shit. who rec’d this to me? it was boring and you have shit taste, whoever you are. 

[manabingu]

MANATAGGED! by Cozymochi

Tagged by the amazing @cozymochi

1) Name/nickname: Mana or Ginga if you found me via YouTube Idol

2) Gender: Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurl (but I consider myself fluid)

3) Star sign: Sagittarius  ♐ ♥♥♥( proud of it)

4) Height: 5’1  (I am fun sized ok? o-o)

5) Hogwarts House: Gryffindor ~*~*~*~*

6) Favourite animal: Manta Rays (or as I call em MAJESTICAL FLAPFLAPS)

7) Hours of sleep: Ranges from 6-10 if Im lucky (because I’ve gotten sick lately I try to have as much sleep as humanly possible cuz I wanna strengthen my already weak immune system.Getting sick forces me to sleep longer.BUT it takes me EONS just to get to sleep cuz my mind is racing 24/7))

8) Dogs or cats: KITTIES =^w^=! But huskies are cool

9) Number of blankets: 3 ...I get cold easily hush

10) Dream trip: Definitely Japan, I just wanna go to the anime cafes & Nakano Broadway & Akihabara like the weeb trash that I am. But I wouldn’t mind seeing England, Egypt, Hawaii or Bolivia (again) in this lifetime.

11) Dream Job: Has changed over the years but I feel in my heart I was born to perform & entertain. I want to keep pursuing singing/acting/voice acting as my top priority, music, theatre, & VA is such a big part of my life, I would love to do it as a career. Even if I do it as a youtuber or something at first. But If drawing is an option I wouldn’t mind storyboard artist.

12) Time: 2am...woops

13) Birthday: December 20th

14) Favourite Bands: Abingdon Boys School, JAM Project, Daizystripper, STARISH/Quartet Night/HEAVENS, DOLL$BOXX, One Ok Rock, OldCodex, Choutokkyuu, FoZZtone, SHINee, Got7,U-KISS,BACK-ON,Psychic Lover, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas,Rookiez is Punk’d, Man With A Mission, Asian Kung Fu Generation,Scandal, Linkin Park, Big Time Rush, The Beatles I know I have more but this is what I could muster from memory

15) Favourite Solo Artists: T.M. Revolution, Aoi Shouta, Miyano Mamoru, Maaya Sakamoto, Kana Hanazawa, Amber from f(x), VALSHE, LiSA, Celia Cruz, Shakira, May’n, Nano, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, PSY (do my friends count? if so Ceonn, Phoebe & Kiba Walker)

16) Song Stuck In My Head: “CHANGIN’” by Nona Reeves FT. You The Rock

Its the 4th ED Theme from Getbackers & by far its the greatest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s just a PERFECT song. I can play on repeat forever.

17) Last Movie I Watched: The Mummy (2017) 

18) Last Show I Watched: I just watched Kevin Probably Saves the World. It has slowly become one of my new fave shows of all time. It’s such an original & brilliant story, the acting is superb & heartfelt. Such a good comedy. I HIGHLY recommend it. It’s a good thing I watch The Voice cuz it came on after it & that made me wanna check it out XD!

19) When Did I Create My Blog: My first blog @manadarkmagiciangirl has been here since May 2012. But this one has been up since February 2015

20) What Do I Post/Reblog: Well this is supposed to be my art/singing/hobby blg where I share all my projects & life. But I also tend to trickle some fandom posts. Usually memes,abridged projects, ZEXAL, Darker Than Black, Utapri, Takanori Nishikawa (and other artists I like), & tokusatsu or whatever else I am in the mood for that day

21) Last Thing I Googled: Brown & Auburn wigs for me &  sis cuz for Holiday Matsuri we wanna go as CardCaptor Sakura & Syaoran from Tsubasa 

22) Other Blogs: @manadarkmagiciangirl (Fandom Blog), @okudairagalaxypalace  ( ESPer Robin fan blog)  @pendantposse (abridged)

23) Do I Get Asks: It’s a rarity even though I do wish to talk with you guys. But usually if i reblog some kinda interactive meme it happens. Or if I give any big announcements

24) Why I Choose My URL: It’s a combo of Mana (my fave YGO character) & Yuma Tsukumo’s catchphrase from ZEXAL - “Kattobingu”. Kattobingu means “to do your best & challenge yourself”. So I am Mana & I’m doing my best ^_^b

25) Following: 45 but I should check who is active or nah XD

26) Followers: 418 but on my other one I’m at 1,368

27) Lucky Number: 83,39,20 I think XD?

28) Favourite Instrument: Electric guitar but have yall heard electric CELLO? That shiz is BADASS! But my fave instrument to use is my voice ^^♥ I luv to sing!

29) What Am I Wearing: Long Gundam Wing tshirt, pj bottoms & socks XD?

30) Favorite Food: GREEN TEA. Give me matcha flavored ANYTHING & I will be groveling at your feet. Especially matcha ice cream ;W;o

31) Nationality: Bolivian

32) Favorite Song: BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I may be a jrocker....BUT My favorite song of all time is “The Blue Danube  Waltz” by Johann Strauss II. I grew up listening to a lot of classical music & BESIDES recently Yuri On Ice (the song). No piece of classical music has come to being as perfect as that song in terms of taking me on an emotional rollercoaster. I love songs that can take me on a journey. But if I had to pick a MODERN song, I would say it’s a 3 way tie (all sung by Takanori Nishikawa) “Vestige” by T.M. Revolution, & “WE aRE” + “Howling” by Abingdon Boys School. Those songs always resonate with me.

33) Last Book Read: Tsubasa World Chronicle

34) Top Three Fictional Universes I’d Like To Join: I wish Heartland from ZEXAL was real cuz honestly I would LOVE to live there. Tokyo Mew Mew because I wanna be a magical girl that protects endangered species, Pokemon FOR SURE cuz who WOULDNT want that? A fourth choice would be Saint Seiya because I want that cool armor tbh.

I’m tagging: @crystalwoodsart @marcosatsu @magishine-dance @masked-paradox @rosey-ballerina @pandaloverwwf @tyrestgwa @ahsimwithsake @laurathia @t-chan @rainbow-galaxy-supernova

[spaceghetti-queen]

#yourdarkestweek: Day 4- Shinigami for BO-week hosted by @detectiveconan-week

Title: Sense  Characters: Sherry//Gin// Akemi M., I guess?  Word count: 2k70 Excerpt: She knew Gin would be beyond mad upon finding her dead. A little piece of her even wondered if he would be sad as well. She doubted it.   read on: AO3 // ff.net 

The call came in earlier than Gin had expected; but then again, Sherry was a smart one.  It had only been two days since the death of Miyano Akemi, two days since he’d eliminated the tumour that had grown and begun to spread all the way through his private life. Two days since he’d taken the first relaxed breath in months. He wouldn’t have to worry about the treacherous ideas Miyano would feed her sister anymore. He wouldn’t have to fear Sherry to be gone by morning, swallowed up in her sister’s foolish suicide missions. And the best thing yet, he wouldn’t have to consider any possible consequences treason would have for his lover any longer. As of now, he could finally be at peace. With that in mind he answered the call. “Why is she dead?”

When those collected words greeted him instead of tears, he had to admit that he was taken aback. Gin had expected weeping and wailing, had been prepared to comfort a pain he didn’t know nor would ever experience. Had he been so wrong about Sherry’s love for her sister; had he miscalculated the grief Miyano’s death would cause? Gin recalled the numerous times Sherry had talked about her sister. The way her face had brightened up in those moments had spoken of deep affection, not the indifference he could hear now. For a second, he wondered if all the hard work he’d invested in getting rid of Miyano had been unnecessary in the long run, but decided against this idea soon. Being done with Miyano was many things, but not a mistake.   Yet, the lack of devastation in Sherry’s voice was off plan. In the end, tears could always be dried with lies; calmness, however, demanded a truth he couldn’t give. Ever.

“I’m on my way to you, we talk then.” After that, the other end of the line went dead without another word.

Gin found her waiting inside her lab. Sherry’s face didn’t betray any hint of emotion, a fact he would’ve admired if it wasn’t making his plans so much harder. The scientist stood when he entered the room. She wore the same clothes as last night, so he deduced she hadn’t made it home from his place this morning. “Since when did you know?” She asked in the same stoic manner as on the phone earlier. He sensed that they were past greetings today. “The morning after it happened.” Gin made a step towards her, wanted to get hold of her, but she turned away.

“You had plenty of opportunities to tell me since then.” Just when he was about to answer, she threw yesterday’s newspaper at him. Miyano had made it to the front page. He cursed himself. For days he’d tried to keep Sherry off any news whatsoever. Despite the sharp gesture, her voice remained calm.   “Why do I have to learn from the newspaper that my sister is dead?”   They stared at each other. To that question he had no answer that wouldn’t make everything worse. He let silence speak for itself. “Who did it?” She asked then. She wouldn’t meet his eyes this time and he knew that she feared the one answer he wouldn’t ever give her. The truth. He’d done it. He’d killed the only family she’d left in order to fill the now empty spot with himself. He would savour every moment of it. “I don’t know.” Gin lied. “Why, then? What did she do?”

“There was talk of betrayal.” Sincere surprise showed in Sherry’s face. She opened her mouth to contradict his words, but knew better than claiming her sister had always been faithful to the Organization. But real betrayal? That sudden? Sherry couldn’t see any reason in it. Her sister would never have done something that would get both of them into trouble, not while the affair with that FBI agent was still an omnipresent threat to them. “She wouldn’t have tried to leave without telling me.” Upon speaking her words, she realised how lame they must’ve sounded. Truth was, she couldn’t have sworn on her sisters loyalties; they’d met so rarely and never talked about the Organization, let alone of plans for leaving it. She couldn’t deny the possibility that Akemi might have had her own agendas. “You mean she wouldn’t have tried to escape without you.” The edge in Gin’s tone made Sherry narrow her eyes. “What are you implying?” “I’m saying that you’re lucky nobody thinks you’ve any connection to her treason. I’m sorry for your loss, but it’s just one less thing to worry about.” Sherry glared at him as hot fury rose inside her. She knew he could be insensitive- it was a flaw they shared- but this statement was awfully cold, even for him.

Sherry was about to scold him for it, when another thought crossed her mind. What if not only Gin had worried about her sister, but the Organization itself? She had always been the important one; her sister had been little more than a mere afterthought of the glorious scientists their parents had been. What if the Organization had feared betrayal not from her sister, but from herself? In the end, blood was thicker than water, wasn’t it? As her legs gave in, Sherry took hold of her desk. That one ugly idea took root in her head and suddenly breathing became strangely hard. “Why did she really have to die?”

Gin had taken another step towards her and searched her face. He could watch all that composure Sherry had mustered crumble. He couldn’t decide if it was a good thing or not. He forced the roughness from his touch and took her ashen face into his hands. “I don’t know.” He claimed again.This time, she knew that it was just another lie.

Everything felt too wrong to be real. And of course everything was in fact very wrong. Her sister was dead and nobody would tell her why. It was also very likely that she was the cause of this wrongness. But the worst thing was that the man she’d assumed she could trust, lied to her face just when her world stopped to make sense altogether. She felt hot and cold at the same time. “Liar.” Sherry hissed and drew back from his touch. Gin let go of her.

Later, Gin realised that it had been a mistake to soften his grip instead of firming it. He should’ve had held onto her as long as possible. He turned away from Sherry; he wanted a cigarette, he wanted peace. He wanted to be completely free of the looming shadow that had been Miyano.

Too late did he notice that Sherry had made herself busy. Frantically she’d started to pull out the cables from her computer. It’s screen went dark. Gin raised an eyebrow and tried to grab the woman’s wrist to stop whatever she was doing, but she was already heaving the computer. A second later the device hit some chemical samples and crushed them beneath it. There was the loud rattle of breaking glass that would soon start to attract curious glances from the other lab staff.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Roughly he pulled her away from the desk and the broken samples, which he assumed weren’t all too healthy to breath in.

“I’ll destroy any progress of that damned drug unless I’m told what really happened.” She fought against his grip, which earned her little more than an irritated look. “You don't know what you're saying.”

She only stared back at him. He wondered when exactly the fire inside her eyes had started to kindle. Gin decided she was out of her mind, she was… in shock, he realised then. He’d been a fool to not notice sooner. The lack of tears, the grave mood swings, the nonsense from her mouth; it only made sense.

He softened his grip anew. He looked at Sherry’s shattered work and lead her out of the lab. To his displeasure a little crowd of scientists had already gathered. He didn’t want them to see Sherry losing it, but attracting more attention wasn’t good either.

“You’re in shock.” He started calmly. “Get yourself together right now and we shall never speak of this again.” Gin indicated the mess inside her lab. Ignoring him, Sherry noticed the curious faces as well. She decided on the spot that she hated all of them, especially the one’s who were an inherent part of the Organization. It seemed wrong that these parasites lived while her sister didn’t. “What are you looking at?” She hissed at the crowd. “Why don’t you go and mind your own fucking business?!”

The people began to whisper and Gin pushed her farther down the floor.

She stood with her back to the wall. Suddenly, his face was unbearably close, his features full of false pity. When Gin spoke, his voice was oddly soft. He was full of lies. “Enough, Sherry.” It sounded like a plea, but she knew him better than that. “Don’t go where I cannot help you.” Sherry tried to shove him away. “I don’t want your fucking help. I want the truth.” His face darkened then. “The Organization doesn’t want you to know.” He was angry now, but she truly didn’t care. For a moment she let the words hang between them. She took a deep breath, but held his glare.

“Then they can go to hell.”

It was interesting to watch emotions change so fast. Whatever anger had been written over Gin’s face was now exchanged by cold fury.     

“Watch out, love, people might start to question your loyalty as well.” “They might be right to wonder.” She spat. “This is treason.” His voice was so low, she had to lean in to hear him. “So be it.” There was a pause in his movement, just for a short moment, but it had been there nonetheless. She knew it was the last chance he would give her. The last chance for her to take back what she’d said. It was much for someone like him to offer, but it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t bring her sister back. It wouldn’t set anything right. It was useless. Sherry had said what was left to say, so she remained silent. Gin, understanding her answer, nodded. “As you wish.”

After that, things had gotten dull. Vodka had appeared at some point, she guessed. He and Gin had lead her down some stairs and when the world had slowly started to put itself together again, Sherry’d found herself chained to a pipe in some of the lab’s cellars. The anger was gone, even the pain; everything that remained was numbness.

That was how it would end, she thought. After all those years in which she’d followed the Organization’s wishes, after she’d even started to think that a life like her’s wasn’t too bad, she realised that everything had been for naught. Nothing made sense without her sister.

Now, everything she could do was waiting for her end. Sooner or later they would come back with her punishment. It was cold in the cellar and when Sherry put her hands inside the pocket of her lab coat for some warmth, she felt the small pill at her fingertips. Surprised she took it out. She tried to remember when she’d put one of the drugs in her pocket, or why, but she couldn’t find an answer. Perhaps her subconsciousness had already prepared for an outcome like this. Now, she regarded her deadly work- it was made of equations and poison, of nightmares and devotion. It was made of things she understood; things that made sense.

And just like that it was decided. She knew Gin would be beyond mad upon finding her dead. A little piece of her even wondered if he would be sad as well. She doubted it.   In the end, it didn’t even matter.

When Sherry took the pill to her lips and swallowed it, it felt like the only logical thing to do.

It had been a few hours since he’d locked her in the cellar, enough time for her to regain her senses. He’d been mad, but her behavior was nothing he couldn’t handle. He would forgive her words; though, he admitted that her new attitude might turn out to be somewhat worrisome. As always, Gin would keep both eyes on her.

The heavy door opened slowly, and when he could see into the cellar the water bottle he’d bought fell from his hands. There was no sign of Sherry whatsoever. He picked up the lonely handcuffs that were still fastened to the pipe. She was gone, but it didn’t make sense. Nobody had the key to the cellar, except him, and the lock hadn’t been picked. He looked around silently, while his head worked like crazy. The only other exit from the cellar was a rubbish chute. He didn’t even bother opening it. No fully grown person- not even someone as petite as Sherry- would’ve fit through it. Yet, she was in fact gone. She’d escaped them, him, which made her nothing less than a traitor.

It was impossible that she’d been able to escape by her own, through, so there must have been another person to help her. Had he missed something even before killing Miyano? Gin left swiftly. It didn’t matter who’d helped her, but he would find them.

A traitor was a traitor, whatever history there was between them. And traitors needed to be punished.It was the only logical thing to do.

[presumenothing]

past time

aka I have too many AUs, and also the Kaito & Shiho tag now has one (1) work on AO3 now, yay

People never think to look up, do they? (Or: two conversations, years apart.)

(AO3) (FFN)

.

The rustle of leaves catches Shiho by surprise.

That in itself is unusual - she’s always alert to her surroundings, and perhaps it might’ve been excessive for anyone else, but in her case it really isn’t.

So when an unfamiliar figure swings up onto the tree branch opposite to the one she’s sitting on, it takes her a moment to register that he’d said something. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know there was someone up here, I’ll just – ”

The boy (a year younger than her, probably Japanese descent, Shiho estimates automatically, trying to calm her racing heartbeat) is about to jump back off the branch before she speaks, startling both of them. “No, it’s fine, you can stay.”

“Really?” He gives her a blinding grin when she nods, and settles in - with enviable ease, Shiho can’t help but think. The trees lining the grounds have made a passable sanctuary for her thus far (people never think to look up, not even in a school ostensibly for gifted children), but even then she’s always wary of falling.

She almost regrets the decision not half a minute later, though, when he speaks again. “Enjoying the afternoon sun?"

“Not particularly,” Shiho answers anyway, leaning against the tree trunk. “You?”

“Nah, I’m definitely a night person. Just needed some fresh air after all those classes, you know?” He tugs at the collar of the school uniform with a faint grimace.

Shiho doesn’t, actually – her schedule is far from the usual even here, most of it taken up by research and graduate lessons with the professors.

“Right, I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Kuroba K – sorry, Kaito Kuroba, I should say?” he continues with a sheepish grin, apparently unoffended by her silence. “Still getting used to that, my name sounds really weird in that order.”

“It’s an adjustment period,” she says noncommittally, because - well, it’s not as if she has much experience in the matter. Codenames don’t exactly differ across the world, after all. “I’m Shiho Miyano.”

“I know,” comes Kuroba’s answer, and that’s unexpected. “We’re in the same class for organic chemistry, right?”

Shiho pages through her memories quickly - she isn’t taking the class herself, of course, only helping her supervisor with it as part of her PhD qualifications. “You transferred in recently?”

“Yeah, a month ago. My mum wanted me to come to the States with her, and this school was recommended by a good friend of hers.” He pauses briefly. “Also, I’m quite sure my old school was just about ready to kick me out after I blew up the chemistry lab twice.”

Shiho does look up at that one. “Twice,” she repeats, half in disbelief – she remembers seeing Kuroba’s work in class now, and it had consistently been above average if one ignored the haphazard doodling in the margins and occasional creative answers. Certainly well above catastrophic-lab-incident standards, if she were to judge.

“On purpose,” he clarifies unhelpfully, a glint of mischief clear in his eyes. “Well, mostly on purpose. I was bored, and it wasn’t anything permanent at any rate... well, except for the glitter. I’m not sure Komoe-sensei ever completely got that out of her hair.”

Glitter? she thinks, but silently this time, because she’s not quite sure she wants to know the story behind that particular statement. “Well, I don’t think boredom will be an issue for you here, given the flexibility of the curriculum.”

The sudden excited grin on Kuroba’s face suggests that he does, in fact, agree. “Yeah, I definitely haven’t been bored so far - I mean, some of the teachers are boring, but I guess that’s the same everywhere. Though I could use some help with linear algebra, if you’re taking that class?”

“No, I’m biochem,” Shiho answers shortly – she knows the subject well enough, of course, but the last thing she needs is someone poking around in curiosity. “You’re engineering, I assume?”

Fortunately, he takes the hint to change the topic. “No, I want to be a magician! I’m working on a card gun for design class now, actually, although the mechanism keeps refusing to work out right.”

“Card gun?” she asks, interested despite herself.

“Yeah, you’re supposed to be able to shoot cards with it, but – ” there’s a crinkle of paper as he takes a sheaf of paper from a book she could’ve sworn he hadn’t been holding earlier, “ – here, I have the drafts if you want to take a look?”

“I wouldn’t be much help with that, I’m afraid,” she says before he can hand over the blueprints, and nods at the book instead. “What’re you reading?”

He holds out the book to her, and it takes her several seconds to make the mental switch to Japanese. “Lupin versus Holmes?” she reads from the cover, raising an eyebrow.

“Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes, actually, but Holmes is overrated anyway,” he quips with a grin. “Do you want to borrow my copy? It’s worth the read, I promise.”

Shiho hesitates – it’d be good practice for her Japanese, which she’s rarely had the chance to use for the past few years since coming here, but on the other hand –

Three things happen almost simultaneously in the next moment: the bell rings, Kuroba visibly startles, and the book reappears on her lap with a puff of smoke.

“Right, that’s my cue,” he says with a glance at his watch, while she’s still mute with surprise. “The professor’s gonna kill me if I’m late for physics again, I think.”

He’s already jumped down from the branch in one nimble movement that would’ve easily sprained Shiho’s ankle (or worse) before she finally manages to respond. “Wait, your book – ”

“Don’t worry about it, you can return it next time we meet! I’ve practically memorised it by this point anyway.” He waves at her with a cheeky grin. “See you around, Miyano!”

Kuroba dashes off around the corner of a building before she can figure out a reply, but - well, Shiho has never been one to say no to a good book, much as she hasn’t made time to read for longer than she can care to remember.

Then again, she’s free for the next two hours while the maintenance crew deals with the spill in an adjacent lab that’d sent her out here in the first place, so she opens the book and begins to read.

On the eighth day of last December, Mon. Gerbois, professor of mathematics at the College of Versailles, while rummaging in an old curiosity-shop, unearthed a small mahogany writing-desk which pleased him very much on account of the multiplicity of its drawers…

. 

(He’d been overly optimistic, of course - she finishes the book quickly enough, but doesn’t get the chance to return it when she’s called back to Japan that very weekend.)

–––

Two muted voices echo faintly as Ai heads down the corridor, snatches of conversation from beyond the slightly ajar doors of the Kudo library.

“ – already told you to be careful – ”

“ – like to see you try piloting a hang glider in this weather, tantei-kun – ”

Both fall suddenly silent when she pushes the door open. (Honestly. She’d already deduced what was going on several heists ago, did they need to look so surprised?)

She walks in anyway, shaking her head with a sigh. “Here, I brought some extra medical supplies for – ”

Ai’s thoughts are abruptly derailed as she gets a proper look at the third person in the room, and the name slips out without her realising it. “Kuroba?”

And the Kaitou Kid, face unobscured by the shadow of a hat brim for once, blinks. “…Miyano?”

(…so, okay, Ai had known that Edogawa was helping Kid, but she clearly hadn’t figured out the whole truth. Though, judging from the look of shock mirrored on the thief’s face, she hadn’t been the only one.)

Edogawa freezes mid-movement, and Ai has the rare privilege of witnessing his complete, utter confusion. “You two… know each other?”

“I thought you looked familiar, but I figured that it must’ve been some weird coincidence. I mean, what were the chances?” Kuroba - who happens to be the Kaitou Kid, apparently, she cannot even believe her life right now - gives her the same blinding grin she remembers from a lifetime ago. “Guess I should’ve known better, huh?”

“Well, I wouldn’t have taken kindly to you asking, at any rate.” Ai takes a page from his book, and doesn’t bother answering Edogawa either - the detective can afford to stew for a while longer. “Still a Lupin fan, I see?”

The familiar top hat appears in Kuroba’s hand in a small puff of smoke, and he tips it at her theatrically, still with that look of amusement on his face. “I always wondered how that book ended up back in my room afterwards.”

“There was a reason I was sent to that school specifically.” Ai shrugs as she strides forward, placing the box she’d been carrying on the table between the pair. “I returned to the labs nearby several times, it was more a matter of finding an opportunity to slip away. Though I suppose I owe you one for taking that long to return it.”

Kuroba appears to think over that for a moment, before glancing to where his sleeve has been cut neatly away to reveal a gash across his upper arm. “Patch me up, and we call it even?”

Ai considers the wound - bullet graze, relatively large caliber, probably matched the deleted reports of snipers that she’d helped to track down previously - before nodding. “Get me a basin of warm water, would you, Edogawa-kun?” she asks, finally glancing over to where the detective is still opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

(Unbeknownst to her, a certain magician thief shudders for reasons he is not completely sure of.)

“Don’t worry, tantei-kun, the answer probably isn’t half as sinister as what you’re probably imagining,” Kuroba adds airily, just as Edogawa looks like he’s about to protest. “Though I’ll leave it up to the ojou-san here to decide whether to tell you.”

Edogawa gives them both a vaguely disgruntled look as he leaves, and Ai gets to work, picking up the tweezers she’d brought over.

“So I take it that you - ” Kuroba hisses sharply as she removes a piece of debris lodged in the wound, “ - are the scientist that tantei-kun mentions every now and then?”

“I would assume so, yes,” Ai quips dryly. “Better than ‘great white flying target’, if you ask me.”

“Hey, I volunteered for this job before I even met tantei-kun,” Kid objects, sounding mildly offended.

“Which is a testament to your soundness of mind, I’m sure,” Ai mutters under her breath.

Kuroba has the temerity to chuckle at that. “Seriously, I even told you about the card gun, I can’t believe it took you this long to put the pieces together. Though I got carried away with the customisations and ended up submitting my modified smoke bombs for class in the end.”

“Even if I’d realised the connection, I would’ve just assumed that both you and Kid had taken inspiration from a common source.” Ai reaches over to tilt the table lamp so she can see better. “And you’re certainly one to talk, given that you already know who Edogawa-kun is.”

“True,” Kuroba says with a wince - whatever painkillers he’d taken earlier were probably wearing off, Ai thinks.

They both fall into silence after that, until Ai straightens, satisfied that she’d removed all the debris. “Besides, if you’d actually gotten as far as showing me the prints, I’d probably have told you to patent the design, and then where would Kaitou Kid be?”

Kuroba is still laughing at that when Edogawa returns with the basin of water and two clean towels, a confused expression on his face.

.

(“I was lying, you know,” Kuroba tells her as his gaze flicks over the wall of screens in the surveillance van, showing various exits of the hideout they’re planning to raid. “Before.”

“Oh, for…” Shiho shakes her head as she checks the barrel of the Glock that Agent Jodie had lent her. “Do we really have to discuss this now, Kid?”

They all use the moniker when he helps on these missions, but it’s very much Kuroba that grins back up at her - there’s a distinct difference. “I’ve never had problems with linear algebra, although I don’t like it much.”

“So what, you were planning to play dumb if I’d agreed to help you?” A glance at Kuroba’s expression confirms her hypothesis - or possibly that he just hadn’t thought that far. “And you already knew I was up that tree, I assume.”

“Guilty as charged,” he answers in a singsong tone, card gun appearing in one hand with a quick movement. “Shall we go, then?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” Shiho says, deadpan, as she ducks out of the van’s door ahead of him. “And I wasn’t actually taking that org chem class, if you must know.”

She hears him pause briefly at that one, and there’s a note of realisation in his voice when he replies. “Don’t tell me you were the one who deducted five marks for handwriting on my assignments?”

“No, that was one of the other grad students.” Shiho heads over to where Kudo is talking to several FBI agents, though she does wait for Kuroba to catch up before continuing. “I would’ve deducted ten, at least.”

Beside her, Kuroba splutters in indignation.)

.

.

as far as I can tell, the Japanese translation does actually have the title as ルパン対ホームズ, literally “Lupin vs Holmes”, unlike both English and the original French.

not terribly alternate as far as AUs go, though I leave the details up to your imagination – Mystery Train goes somewhat differently in this universe, of course, but otherwise the DC timeline thus far remains mostly similar. on the MK side of things, Kaito presumably returned to Japan for high school when he learned about Toichi being Kid, and while he did keep in contact with Aoko while overseas, their relationship would likely (and unfortunately) not be as close as in canon, leaving him freer to act as Kid. (if it wasn't obvious, the school was recommended by Vermouth – ostensibly to keep Chikage and Kaito safe from Snake and co., but who knows when it comes to her, honestly...)

and allow me to yet again link two stunning pieces of relevant art from aoi/aonosubete, because this artist owns my soul by this point, seriously

[recentanimenews]

CR Features' Predicts the Future of Anime Awards

It is award season! In preparation for Anime Awards, our editors and columnists looked to the past to predict the future. Trying to predict the future was subjective for each of the editors and columnists but this is what came out of it.

*Spoilers below*

Ricky Soberano

Best Film - Neo Yokio Christmas Special

    I instantly fell in love with this and not -just- because I’m a born and raised Neo Yokion. It has dope music, a gorgeously decadent color palette (and Christmas sweaters), allows for the audience to see New York and Bergdorf Goodman during Christmas time, has a good message about telling capitalism to fuck off, and mechs. What more could you possibly want in a film?

  Best Fight Scene - Yami vs. Licht from Black Clover

    Watching the captain of the Black Bulls fight at his full capacity against a comparable opponent was honestly insanity. This literal fight between light and dark was almost incomprehensible due to the speed and beauty of it. The fight was progressive and a winner wasn’t clear until the very end. I was cheering on the sidelines and was completely engrossed in every second of it. A visceral reaction like that makes it the best fight scene in my book.

  Best Character Design - Ryouma Ebata for That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

    The character designs in Slime are not only distinct and easy to differentiate, but convey a unique aspect of each character's personality through visual design. Ebata-san didn’t need to go that hard for us but he did it anyways.

  Cayla Coats

Best Film - Liz and the Blue Bird

    The first five minutes of Liz and the Blue Bird have no dialogue but they managed to bring the audience I saw the movie with to tears. If that isn’t movie of the year-worthy, I don’t know what is.

Best Girl - Lily Hoshikawa of ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

  Lily isn’t the protagonist of her series, but she taught us how to be brave enough to be ourselves, and that makes her the best girl in my eyes.

Best Ending - Pulse by Hina Kino, Rika Nagase, and Konomi Kohara from Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

    There’s no better way to represent the truly rotten souls of Asobi Asobase’s protagonists than with this delightful death metal ditty that closed out each episode.

  Nate Ming

  Best Fight Scene - Sakura vs. Saki from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA Episode 2

    A rap battle is a war of words, and these two zombies-turned-idols threw down in the best way possible. We had some titanic, beautifully-animated fights this year (and then we had the last few episodes of Golden Kamuy, which was just one long, wonderful running fight), but nothing has stuck in my memory quite like some trash talk turning into a battle of the bars.

  Best Anime - Devilman Crybaby

    There’s so much that goes into a memorable work for me--key scenes, the soundtrack, the impact--Crybaby brought back everything that was amazing about the original Devilman and modernized it, treating new audiences to the excitement and horror of one of anime’s all-time classics. Give Masaaki Yuasa the keys to more classics, please.

  Best Boy - Tanigaki Genjirou of Golden Kamuy

  What a man. Let us all aspire to be as brave, as honorable, and as chesty as Golden Kamuy’s Matagi hunter.

  Emily Bushman

  Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Mamoru Miyano as Koutarou Tatsumi from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

  This performance is exquisite purely because we know very little about the character of Tatsumi. Who is he? What does he want to save Saga, a place it seems like he’s not actually from? Why does he care about Sakura so much? Why does he ALWAYS wear sunglasses??? With few forthcoming answers, we have to extrapolate who he is through his appearance, his actions and, what he says, and how he says it. It is these last two things that Miyano excels at. Miyano brings Koutarou to life, and through his voice we learn so much about him- he pinwheels between borderline scary enthusiasm for Franchouchou, smooth-talking charm for clients, and devoted sincerity with the girls. The range in tone and emotion is awesome, and makes his voice a key part of understanding his character.

  Best Girl - Shirase Kobuchizawa of A Place Further than the Universe 

     Shirase deserves best girl not just because this anime focuses purely around her journey, but because each episode we learn a little more about her- what motivates her, what scares her, what she likes and dislikes, and, most importantly, the complex relationship she shares with her mother. All this builds into a final two episodes that emotionally eviscerate the audience in a way that both hurts and heals, just as we watch Shirase hurt and heal, and, ultimately, metamorphose into a better version of herself. And, because of all the wonderful character building, Shirase goes from being just another character in an anime to being a friend or a sibling, someone we can relate to on a personal level. This is what makes her best girl.

  Best Opening - Fighting Gold by Coda from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

  This OP is a winner for me for a few reasons. 1) The song is lit. I lived and died for the first ten seconds of the OP, with the brief pauses. I’ve never heard that done before, and it forces the audience to sit up and pay attention to what’s being highlighted visually. 2) The art and animation style do an amazing job meshing together Hirohiko Araki’s distinctive style with a secret-spy tonality, reminiscent of a James Bond opening. It provides the audience with a hint into what the season is all about- focusing on Giorno’s attempts to rise to prominence in a mafia- while keeping true to the original art style.

Best Boy - Ryu of Golden Kamuy

  Ryu is the bestest boy of them all: A doggo. He is a good boy. A sweet boy. A boy who followed the scent of his dead master’s gun across Japan, just to try to find his master Nihei again. <3 If he doesn’t get best boy, no one should.

  Nicole Mejias

  Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Kotono Mitsuishi as Tae Yamada from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

  There are a lot of things that made ZOMBIE LAND SAGA great, from the amazing characters, songs, dance sequences, touching stories, and off the wall comedy, but one thing in particular was the glue that held that all together: The Legendary Tae Yamada! And without an amazing vocal performance from industry legend Kotono Mitsuishi, none of that charm would have been possible. Now, I know what you might say: “But Tae doesn’t speak!” which, frankly, is even harder to pull off in my opinion! Tae conveyed emotions, communication, and stood out as an amazing cast member because of her vocal performance, as limited in range as it might have seemed.

  Best Girl - Asirpa of Golden Kamuy

  Golden Kamuy is such an incredibly good series, and I feel that a large part of that is due to Asirpa. We hear a lot of talk about strong female characters in media, and frankly Asirpa, small as she may be, stands tall. Asirpa is a strong-willed and determined girl with the ability to not only survive, but to teach grown adults how to do so too, proud in her Ainu heritage and way of life. Asirpa never comes across as weak, and in many cases it’s her sharp mind and survival skills that have saved the day for her and Sugimoto. On top of that, she’s totally adorable! Asirpa’s huge blue eyes and distinctly charming facial expressions warmed my heart and made me want to see her succeed.

  Best Film - The Night is Short, Walk On Girl

    Frankly, a lot of anime movies tend to be very heavy on providing one-off “what-if” stories or little bits of fanservice here and there for fans of their respective shows, but a truly good anime film in my opinion is one that uses the medium of anime to tell a developed narrative in the span of a feature length film. The Night is Short, Walk On Girl did just that, sucking me in with the amazing animation style and combination of story threads that all paid off in the finale, when everything comes together and makes sense. The way the movie positions itself as a parallel to Tatami Galaxy was an extra treat, but even without having seen that, The Night is Short is a great film I can recommend to anyone and that I could watch time and time again and never get tired of!

  Anime of the Year - Golden Kamuy

    I generally like to think of my anime of the year as the series I couldn’t wait to watch another episode of, the one that I’d set my day around so as soon as a new episode released, I could watch it immediately. This year, that anime was Golden Kamuy, which honestly surprised me at first! I had no idea what to expect, and “historical action drama” didn’t initially grab my attention. What I found, though, was a series filled with unique, lovable characters (even the worst ones!), high-octane, high-stakes action, and a twisting plot filled with unexpected surprises and twists. I can think of many shows I enjoyed this year, but none kept me wanting more like Golden Kamuy did.

  Daniel Dockery

Best Film - Digimon Adventure Tri “Future” 

    I don’t watch a lot of anime films. Wish I did, and I probably will in 2019. But my knowledge of them is resoundingly lackluster. However, that doesn’t mean that my pick of Digimon Adventure Tri as Best Film is a sign of me having my back against the wall. I legitimately love Digimon, and I think that while the series of Tri movies had some stumbles, they warmed my heart with their continued themes about growing up and just how weird it is to be a teenager. Digimon has always been about goodbyes and how important it is to love your friends, no matter how much the world tries to tear you apart, and Digimon Tri nailed that. Also, you’ll always be my boy, Agumon.

  Best Opening - Make My Story by Lenny Code Fiction from My Hero Academia

My journey with My Hero Academia has also been a journey of finding great new songs to exercise to. And “Make My Story” is another fine addition to the list. “The Day” was definitely a bench pressing anthem, and “Peace Sign” was tailor made for leg day. “Odd Future” was more of a jogging/warm up song, while “Sora Ni Utaeba” was something to rally you for that last set of deadlifts. But “Make My Story” is my go-to if I’m trying to max out on shoulder presses or bicep curls. Anime is great, y’all.

Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Soma Saito as Honda-san in Skullface Bookseller Honda-san

  I know that this is almost a purely comedic performance, but I am allllll about it. I didn’t expect to like Skullface Bookseller as much as I did, nor did I expect to like the protagonist that much. Honestly, I thought I’d inevitably get bored with his constant exasperated screeches of anxious terror, but I never did. Soma Saito turned “AGH. I’M IN OVER MY HEAD” into a vocal art form.

Best Fight Of The Year - Gridman vs Kaiju in SSSS. Gridman Episode 2

    The fights in SSSS. Gridman are both lovable homages to tokusatsu and action-packed laser fests that can stand on their own. I think there are probably better fights in the show, but none other cement SSSS. Gridman as a must watch anime like the fight in episode 2, where he first uses the Caliber sword to defeat a monster. It was one of those “If I wasn’t totally on board with this show before, I certainly am now” scenes, and I’m so glad that my 2018 received the gift of Gridman.

Peter Fobian

  Anime of the Year - A Place Further than the Universe

    I couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t take this opportunity to throw in my hat for Anime of the Year for A Place Further than the Universe. This anime anime had it all. Excellent writing, direction, storyboarding, and characters. The overarching plot and individual character subplots were excellently paced and wonderfully executed. The emotional journey was just as heartfelt as the logistical journey taking the girls to Antarctica was fascinating. Even in the diverse medium of anime, A Place Further gave us a refreshingly original concept.

Best Opening - Black Rover by Vickeblanka from Black Clover

  Black Clover has made a strong showing with OPs, but Black Rover is above and beyond. It’s probably my favorite song to come out of this year in anime (except maybe the Hinomaru Sumo ED). The visuals are also excellent, not forgetting to lean on some slice of life content, which is really one of the greatest strengths of the anime, along with an original fight and some awesome hype building shots for the upcoming Yami vs Licht battle. I’ve played this OP like 300 times.

  Best Fight of the Year - Boruto and Sasuke vs Momoshiki in BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS Episode 65

    This fight easily takes the category for me. In addition to Pierrot bringing in a ton of new faces and returning Naruto Shippuden animators to give episode 65 movie quality animation, the choreography of the battle was some next level stuff. Naruto and Sasuke’s combination attacks contained the collected history of Naruto with callbacks stretching all the way to the first story arc. More than best of the year, this might be the best fight scene I’ve ever seen.

  Best Character Design - Masayoshi Tanaka for DARLING in the FRANXX

  If there’s one thing I can say for sure about DARLING in the FRANXX, it’s that the character designs were excellent. It’s no surprise one of the reasons Nishigori said he wanted to start the project was to work with Tanaka. The AnoHana character designer managed to create some hyper distinct characters despite a rather sparse world and the multitude of character uniforms were excellent. The order of Franxx and character designs is not entirely clear, but it sounds like some adaptations were made to align the designs, which means his excellent work was made that much harder.

  Best Boy - Rei Kiriyama of March Comes in Like a Lion

March comes in like a lion aired this year, which means Rei Kiriyama is indisputably the best boy of the year for the second year in a row. This season in particular really showed his best qualities. Rei really came into his own by realizing how much the Kawamoto sisters meant to him and trying to show his appreciation for their friendship. One of the most heartbreaking parts of Hina getting bullied was spending time in Rei’s head with his feelings of helplessness as he desperately looked for ways to save Hina from the same pain he had experienced in school. Season 3 when.

Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Hina Kono as Hanako in Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

After the first episode of Asobi Asobase I was convinced Hanako would be the “dumb character”, like Oujo in Galko-chan, who would be the mediator/victim of the two more forceful personalities. I was hella wrong. Hanako is absolutely insane and Hina Kono absolutely delivered for the role, delivering on poor innocent Hanako, Grudge girl Hanako, Spanish Inquisition Hanako, and regularly screeching like a banshee Hanako. Her range and delivery were truly impressive and often well outside the usual vocal tropes for female characters in anime. A stellar performance.

Noelle Ogawa

Best VA Performance (Japanese) - Soma Saitou as Honda-san in Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

I’ve worked bookstore hell before, and let me tell you, it was an absolute delight to listen to Soma Saitou scream about the happenings during his workshift. The polite customer service voice to the extremely pained internal monologues that you can’t let out if you want to stay employed; I felt each episode on a deep and visceral level. Even if you haven’t worked in a bookstore like I have, anyone who has worked with handling customers face to face for long periods of time will understand exactly what Honda-san is feeling, and Soma Saitou conveys that agony perfectly.

Best Animation - Pop Team Epic

Okay, but hear me out.

Most anime tends to have a standard set of animation, where even if the quality shown is high or low, how things look visually is still fairly consistent. That isn’t the case with Pop Team Epic. In working with different animation teams, the series allowed the teams to run wild in how they wanted to show each story, resulting in an insane variety. The stop-motion needlefelt music videos are completely different than the choppy and messy Bob Epic Team shorts. There’s a reason that the internet collectively lost it over Hellshake Yano. Pop Team Epic managed to mix up their animation styles with each short, and that’s something rarely attempted. Watching each episode was genuinely a blast because I never knew what to expect, perfect for the chaos of Popuko and Pipimi.

Wilhelm Donko

Anime of the Year – A Place Further Than the Universe

A Place Further Than the Universe took us on one of the grandest journeys in anime ever, and will hopefully be considered a must-watch title in the near future. The heartfelt story about the girls’ spectacular journey to Antarctica was one of the most well-crafted anime in recent years, making it an indisputable contender for Anime of the Year!

Best Opening Sequence – "SHINY DAYS" by Asaka in Laid-Back Camp

  Laid-Back Camp should at the very least have a fighting chance at the Anime of the Year title, but when it comes to 2018’s best opening sequence, there’s simply no competition here. Seeing Nadeshiko take off in her jet-propelled tent, and hearing the refrain kick in, always managed to put a huge smile on my face.

Best Character Design – Masaru Sakamoto for SSSS.GRIDMAN

Mecha anime really aren’t my cup of tea, especially those with old-school robots that transform by docking with trucks, planes, and the likes. And yet, I still gladly sat through all of SSSS.GRIDMAN, simply because of the gorgeous character designs. Looking at the excessive amounts of fan art for the show, I’m certain that SSSS.GRIDMAN has a realistic shot at the award for best character design.

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What do you think will be nominated for each category? Hash it out in the comments below!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[aja154ever]

Uta no Prince Sama Maji LOVE LIVE 6th Stage - 05/27/2017

OMG. OMG. OMG. I have still not completely absorbed the fact that I was there - that my dream of attending Maji Love Live concert has finally come true on this fateful day. *cries a river*

This is a fan report - which is basically my feelings put into words. And warning: as in my previous seiyuu event reports (Bungo Stray Dogs, High Speed), this is looooooong. ^_^ Plus, I used the seiyuu’s nicknames for convenience.

ST☆RISH

Shinomiya Natsuki - Taniyama Kishou (Kiiyan)

Ichinose Tokiya - Miyano Mamoru (Mamo)

Aijima Cecil - Toriumi Kousuke (Tori-san)

Jinguji Ren - Suwabe Junichi (SuwaJun)

Ittoki Otoya - Terashima Takuma (Terashii)

Kurusu Syo - Shimono Hiro (Shimono)

Hijirikawa Masato - Suzumura Kenichi (SuzuKen)

QUARTET NIGHT

Kotobuki Reiji - Morikubo Showtaro (Morikubo-san)

Kurosaki Ranmaru - Suzuki Tatsuhisa (Tatsun)

Mikaze Ai - Shouta Aoi (Shoutan)

Camus - Maeno Tomoaki (Maenu)

HE★VENS

Hyuga Yamato - Kimura Ryohei (KimuRyo)

Otori Eiji - Uchida Yuuma (Uchida-kun)

Amakusa Shion - Yamashita Daiki (Daiki-kun)

Kiryuin Van - Takahashi Hidenori (Takahashi-san)

Otori Eiichi - Midorikawa Hikaru (Midorikawa-san)

Mikado Nagi - Yonaga Tsubasa (Wingu)

Sumeragi Kira - Ono Daisuke (OnoD)

It was a tough day. I already expected that there would be A LOT of people but not to the point that the performance would get delayed because half of the audience has not yet entered the dome. I do not know what totally went wrong but it really felt frustrating that many of us were still in line outside that was not moving at all, though it was already 4:30 PM - the scheduled start of the performance, while there was no announcement from the staff about what’s going on. Maji Love Live’s system is quite strict and complicated as compared to other concerts. Here, the ticket buyer’s name is actually printed on the ticket and before entering, you have to show a valid ID that it is yours. This year, the organizers were really at fault as to why this did not go smoothly and also the fans were at fault for failing to go the venue early to line up. They said that it may have something to do with the wrist bands because it was the first time for that to be implemented.

ANYWAY, moving on, we were finally able to go inside at around 5PM, but we were literally running because the live has already started! The intro VTR was already up, and while I was still running looking for my seat (which turned out to be on the other side of the dome damn it lol), ST☆RISH already appeared with Maji LOVE Legend Star! Like OMG WAIT! The fangirls alongside me were also on a rush but we did not fail to chant “Peace! Chu! Hey! Go! Legend Star!” being the dedicated fans we are. It was really funny running and singing at the same time, but still frustrating as I was not able to focus and watch the performance well esp that it’s their first time singing Legend Star live. I think I arrived at my seat in time for the last chorus. And this is my first Maji Love Live so why did it turn out like this huhu.

QUARTET★NIGHT - Shoutan and Maenu’s hairstyles were Ai’s and Camus’. What struck me here was Tatsun’s voice. I was not a fan of Tatsun’s voice - I mean it was averagely good for me but when I heard him today live, it was beyond average ok, it was good! (Anyway it was basically not my first time hearing it live if I would count his mini singing performance as middle school Makoto in last time’s High Speed event lol)

Tempest 

It rained OMG as in like in the music video lol. You know I can watch Mamo performing forever because for me this guy really does the best musical performances. Good voice, good moves, good looks, and the heart.

QUARTET NIGHT Duet & Solo

KILLER KISS - Reiji & Camus

Haruhana - Ranmaru & Ai

Melting of Snow - Maenu becomes more and more like Camus in every live. His hair, his eyes, his actions OMG. It’s as if Camus became real. A table and chair were set up for him, as he drank his cup of tea. So classyyyyy

On・Your・Mark! - It showed how Morikubo-san is so used to performing. I felt his confidence, and oh this ojisan can also dance yeah. And hearing him live for the first time, I actually appreciated his voice which I have not liked ever since. He’s a singer after all.

BE PROUD - Ok Tatsun, I’m proud of you. I’m sorry for not realizing that your voice was this good ok.

Synchronism - Shoutan was so cute. What’s new? But though I have always viewed him as feminine, seeing him live today for the first time made me see that Shoutan was cute, in a masculine way. His dance moves were really cute. The last pose he made where he captured his eye with his fingers in a peace sign, was really cute. Ok haven’t I used the word cute too much. Anyway, I know for a fact that Shoutan has one of the most beautiful singing voices in the seiyuu industry, and I have affirmed that today. He sounds pretty much the same recorded or live.

Shining Dream Festa

DAY DREAM - Tatsun, Terashii, Shimono, Suwajun, Kiiyan, and Morikubo-san in one song. Oh this was really fun. Foo! Foo! Fo foo!

NIGHT DREAM - Tori-san, Maenu, Suzuken, Mamo, Shoutan in one song. This was beautiful awwww. Love! Love! Love for you!

ST☆RISH Solo

Be the light - Mamo appeared as Hayato this time emitting all the happy vibes. As much as I love Tokiya, we all know that Mamo’s personality matches Hayato better though. “Tanoshindenyaaaaa??”

Hatsukoi o mata hajimeyou - Shimono came out of nowhere like we heard someone was singing but there were no signs of presence on the stage. Minutes later, we saw him coming from the side of the audience as in he performed on the stairs in the middle of the audience seats. (Lucky for the people who were near yay huhu) As usual he was jumping while waving his towel.

Tears in Love - Okay Kiiyan, guess who was in tears because of her overflowing love for you? Lol. Honestly, I was looking forward to a dance number because remember that they were teasing Kiiyan in 5th stage about not dancing. But this song was accompanied by piano, guitar, and viola. Anyway, I am more than satisfied with this performance as, with tears in my eyes, I have once again confirmed that Kiiyan has the best singing voice in the planet. (Fight me lol) And anyway this 41-yr old ojisan looked so hot in his hairstyle  。⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

Give me True Love - We all know that SuwaJun’s one of the members who doesn’t do much dancing but no one expected what he offered to us this time. This 45-yr old ojisan came out riding an orange hoverboard and flawlessly maneuvered it for the rest of his performance. 

Kanbinaru Arcadia - True to what he said during 5th stage, Tori-san really did bring a black cat on stage this time lol. There was smoke and poof he appeared thereafter as the cat disappeared. Ofc, he did not dance again, but he jumped. Yeah that was his cute way of telling us that he was having fun.

I Swear - SuzuKen’s is one of the singing voices I like among the Shining seiyuu members and now hearing it live for the first time, I can say that he sounds pretty much the same whether recorded or live. I mean that in a good way. He performed with the accompaniment of a dancing fountain.

Brilliant Days - Yay! I give Terashii the best solo performance award this time. Kids on red shirts suddenly came out in the middle of his performance as back-up dancers. It was basically like Otoya who was the older brother in the orphanage as they danced and played like they were the cutest thing. But wait there’s more. Towards the end, the kids brought out and waved sunflowers and yeah we remembered that scene about the sunflower field and OMG there’s more. ST☆RISH members went up on stage to join them and lastly, they somehow reenacted this pose from the anime and we all just went awwwwww huhuhu

Intro - Shining Agency

ST☆RISH called QUARTET NIGHT to go up on stage and so the cast members from the Shining Agency were now gathered and officially welcomed everyone to the event, “Uta no Prince Sama Maji LOVE LIVE 6th Stage e youkoso!” What was obvious was that they were not talking as much as they did in previous live performances, and this is basically because of the delay in the start of the performance, meaning less time. They had to keep their intros short, which saddened me because I looove seeing their interactions.

Maji LOVE 1000% - ST☆RISH and QUARTET NIGHT

They soon segued to singing the song they deemed they’ve been singing since the beginning and they believe everyone knows well - Maji LOVE 1000%. I was really shocked because they have always put 1000% as the last song because we all know how perfect it is for encore. But who cares, everyone immediately went all out singing this. I was soooooo happy that I was finally able to sing this song with everyone because this is basically where everything began right? Huhuhu.

HE★VENS

After the best performance, a familiar voice finally echoed in the stadium, Midorikawa-san’s “Ii” and we all know that it’s time for HE★VENS.

HE★VENS GATE - Beginning of the Legend - I didn’t expect to enjoy HE★VENS’ performances this much but everyone’s still pumped up fresh from Maji Love 1000%, then HE★VENS came out soaring high on their podiums - yeah it was a really good entrance as the Heavens gate opened. And the crowd went crazy shouting, “YES CALL HE★VENS ! YES CALL HE★VENS !” It was really fun! It felt like HE★VENS actually received a warmer welcome than ST☆RISH and QUARTET NIGHT LOL.

They then introduced themselves one by one. I felt like they did more talking than  ST☆RISH and QUARTET NIGHT, which is fine, it’s their first time anyway. They teased OnoD to lead the talk as Kira does not speak that much in the anime. OnoD laughed as he agreed that he didn’t really have much lines when they do recordings in the studio. They mentioned that their bond has gotten closer as they actually created a group in LINE. Meanwhile, Daiki-kun was very serious in portraying Amakusa Shion’s character. Midorikawa-san felt happy singing and performing on stage as he said that maybe it has been 20 years ago since the last time. And Wingu, OMG it’s my first time hearing Wingu live. His voice is soooooo cute!!! They then performed another song: HEAVENLY PARADE.

Duet Project

Mighty Aura - For me, this is the best duet performance of them all. I have high praises for Uchida-kun for being able to keep up with Mamo’s singing and dancing. (Like OMG this is Miyano Mamoru we are talking about. Did you not feel intimidated with such senpai) It was really a good showdown and was overflowing with passion - it felt like I was really watching Tokiya and Eiji.

Grown Empathy - Kiiyan and Wingu came in carts from opposite sides of the dome. In the end, they had the “Let’s shouting” written on their palms as they stood back to back in the end. Damn it, soooo cute. And Kiiyan’s smile *faints*

Lasting Oneness - SuzuKen and OnoD performing together. Isn’t that in itself enough to give you a heart attack lol. Honestly, I didn’t like OnoD’s singing voice that much but hearing it live for the first time, I was amazed as it was really good. Then add the feels that Masato is my 2nd fave character in Utapri while I like Kira the most in Heavens.

Lovely Eyes - SuwaJun and Takahashi-san came in carts from opposite sides of the dome, this time near the audience seats, somewhat similar to what Shimono did earlier. 

Visible Elf - Tori-san and Daiki-kun came out riding hot air balloons which actually went flying inside the dome OMG. When they landed, Tori-san again did jumps while performing. He’s so adorable awww

JUSTICE IMPULSE - OMG KimuRyo and Shimono didn’t fail to give us a really intense performance. They fought as what Yamato and Syo did in the anime, while flying. Yeah, we saw how fantastic Shimono’s performance was in the last live and now he even dragged KimuRyo into this. Haha. This is the best next to Mamo and Uchida-kun’s.

NEXT DOOR - Kudos to Terashii again! I felt like I can see Otoya’s darkness in his eyes as he started off with an emotionless performance. Later on he went all dramatic as he clenched his fist on top of his heart while seeming to be in pain. All I can say is, “Saikou ni ii!”

As everyone went off the stage, a VTR was played on the screen showing clips from the previous Maji LOVE LIVE Stage performances from the first one up to the 5th. The audience happily sang along with 1000%, 2000%, and Revolutions.

Triple S Concert

And now we got to see the Triple S showdown live as the three units sang their respective songs.

God’s S.T.A.R. -  By this time I am really convinced that QUARTET NIGHT members are really good performers. They don’t only sing but even their dancing is on point. I understood why they have many fans and how this unit was able to hold its own live last time. They really brought the anime into life. We just went crazy shouting “Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow!”

Fumetsu no Inferno - I felt HE★VENS desire not to lose as they also delivered an intense performance, with such good lighting that heightened up such intensity.

WE ARE ST☆RISH - I was pretty sure that I’d cry when I hear this song live. I mean, I already did just by watching it on the anime so what more when I see and hear it live? And so my voice was really cracked while doing the “ST☆RISH! Love! Legend Star!” chants as I was just overwhelmed with happiness. The only sad thing was that they did not do their chants (e.g. “Omaetachi, tsuite koi yo”) which I was badly looking forward to. But the seiyuus actually did most of the dance moves which killed me!!!! Damn it, I love ST☆RISH!!!!! (I’m still getting goosebumps right now as I write this AAAAAAAAHHHHH)

Yes, they did this pose and Tori-san and Shimono looked so lovely sitting there o(╥﹏╥)o

Encore

After gaining enough time to change their shirts while the audience chanted “Encore!”, the 3 units finally appeared on their carts going around the arena. HE★VENS and QUARTET NIGHT were on the right side while  ST☆RISH came from the left side as they sing Yume o Uta e to. It was funny because while the focus was on HE★VENS and QUARTET NIGHT since it was their turn to sing first, my focus was actually on ST☆RISH. Aside from the fact that they were on the side closer to my seat, and that I love them the most, I just couldn’t take my eyes off of Mamo and Kiiyan. I mean, I honestly love these two more than anyone else but please explain to me why Mamo and Kiiyan were dancing like crazy. Kiiyan’s hips and legs please. Please! They looked like they were having such a good time lol. I’m so glad I was not the only one who noticed as I read a similar report from @socialdegenerate here. Yay!

New Project 

After singing, Terashii announced that the time to bid farewell has come but before that they have special announcements. Ofc, they made SuzuKen lead the announcements. First is that the sale of Blu-ray/DVD of 6th stage has been decided, which ofc everyone already expected. Lastly, we all know that a new animation project is in the works as was announced in the Legend Star’s last episode. This time they specifically revealed that it was a movie adaptation. OMG I didn’t expect this. They’re finally moving to the movie theater. Yay! Honestly I was expecting a 5th anime season because even if I already got tired of the story, I’m still willing to support the series because of the songs. As the fact remains that UtaPri as an idol anime really produces good songs sang by great seiyuus. I think it’s actually a good thing; there might be something new as it was compressed into a film instead of stretching it to a series.

Final Messages

After the announcements, each of them gave out their final messages starting from HE★VENS to QUARTET NIGHT and lastly, ST☆RISH. It was again noticeable that they kept their speeches short. Midorikawa-san didn’t actually want to speak much as he said that guys his age actually tend to cry in such kinds of moments. Awwww! Meanwhile, Wingu was laughing while speaking - it really showed how much fun he was having. HE★VENS members were particularly happy for being able to perform on stage for a series as big as UtaPri. They also felt grateful for the warm welcome they received from the crowd. Camus did his trademark speech of greeting everyone politely then calling everyone “gumin-yo” soon after. (I’m so glad he did as when he did not do it in the intro, I thought he wouldn’t be doing it anymore.) Each of them also gave us one to two lines of sweet messages (I don’t know what to call them lol) in their characters’ voices as in Terashii’s “Minna, daisuki da yo!” and Kiiyan’s “Kimi dake shika imasen!”

Maji LOVE Legend Star

I was expecting Maji LOVE 2000% as the last song as they already sang 1000% earlier. But they did not sing it, much to my frustration huhuhu. I think they might have been adjustments to the set list as we didn’t get 2000%, Revolutions, and Mirai, Yume, Arigatou…Soshite! which I think everyone expected to be there. Again this is because of the lack of time due to the delay.

The seiyuus especially ST☆RISH was aware that many of the audience came in late. SuwaJun asked who among the crowd did not make it right in time for the first song, and got a huge amount of hands and screams as a response. In compensation for that, they sang Maji LOVE Legend Star once again as the last song. I’m so glad that I was given a second chance to properly sing with them together this time. So I just went all out singing “Peace! Chu! Hey! Go! Legend Star!”

Goodbyes, Thank Yous

The cast gathered at the center of the stage, stood side by side holding hands, as they said thank you without holding their mics. That was so precious awwwww. They then made rounds on the stage waving goodbye and repeatedly saying “arigatou!” to everyone. Mirai, Yume, Arigatou…Soshite! was playing in the background. Each of them also passed in front of the camera, doing whatever poses like winks, kisses, high-fives, fist bumps, etc. Mamo, ofc, being Mamo, showed off his body as he pulled his shirt up. And OMG Kiiyan, did the same but the camera stayed longer, which then killed me lol.

ST☆RISH was the last one to get off stage, and as the curtain (whatever is that) slowly went down, they all kept waving to the point of lying on the floor just to wave up until the last moment that they can be seen, which made me love them even more. ��

“See you again” was flashed on the screen after voice overs from each of the cast saying goodbye to everyone.

Screenshots from Official accounts (Twitter/Blog):

Waaaa. I’ve sworn to go to 6th stage ever since I missed the chance to go to 5th stage last year. I’ve been looking forward to this event so much because I know that it would bring so much happiness. I mean, just watching the DVDs of the previous lives made me very, very happy, so what more if I were there in person. I’ve prayed for this more than any other event I’ve wanted to attend and God knows how much grateful I am that this dream has come true. And indeed, I believe this is the event of my year and one of the happiest times of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever screamed that much in my whole life. And I had this much good time despite the shortcomings so what more if everything actually worked out smoothly. I’ll definitely be there next stage, and sing 2000% and Revolutions too, with everyone. THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. I can’t wait for the DVD PLEASE COME OUT ALREADY!

At least on this day, Kiiyan and I wore the same ring on our left ring fingers. Yay! (I wasn’t able to get a Tokiya ring for Mamo tho)