#also me: *watches so much shonen anime it’s not funny*

[olderthannetfic]

I'm in a couple anime fandoms, mostly from series I started when I was a kid and was a part of the target age range (but not necessarily demographic bc many are shonen and I'm a woman), and I've recently started re-reading and rewatching some series I thought I really understood. Turns out I had a lot of the characters wrong and so does a lot of the fandom to this day. I was vaguely aware of the Yashahime "controversy" with Sesshomaru and Rin and just thought it was funny how many people found issue with what was obviously endgame (Let's be real, the only purpose for Rin's character was Sesshomaru's character development. There's not much else to her 🤷🏽‍♀️), especially because of the many people saying Sesshomaru was so mature and was like her father, which I partially thought, too. I'm about 20 chapters from the end, and he's so petty, vindictive, and childish from beginning to end! He wasn't parenting anyone and had no reason to initially pursue Inuyasha besides spite, entitelment, and arrogance lol. Did we all think that a stoic personality is the same as maturity as kids?!

Then watching and reading Naruto again made me realize a lot of the fanbase is really odd about Sasuke as a character. I also thought he was whiny, dramatic, and overemotional as a kid, but now he's definitely one of the most compelling parts of the story for me. He's just a traumatized kid with an avoidant attachment style and insecurity complex who's scared of getting close to people because he doesn't want to be hurt again while constantly mourning his entire clan. That and Naruto takes place in a feudalist-based world with a daimyo wherein clans are integral to society individual identity, but Sasuke's prevented from being a socially "good son" in avenging his clan's honor because blind nationalism is good or something 🤷🏽‍♀️, despite the narrative allowing other characters like Shikamaru to get revenge. Very cynical and a bit too realistic for me in that aspect. Honestly, pretty glad I never picked up on any of that as a kid, or it'd be too depressing.

So yeah. I've been pretty surprised from these re-reads and rewatches. No idea what comes next, maybe Sailor Moon or Fushigi Yuugi. Has anyone else experienced something similar when revisiting stuff from their childhoods?

--

Did we all think that a stoic personality is the same as maturity as kids?!

Yes.

[textfromthelookout]

Did you hear of the news?

I have. :(

Everyone else has their tributes so, here, a summary of my experience with Dragon Ball.

I was in fourth grade art class. A kid had the February 2005 issue of Shonen Jump, back when Shonen Jump was still physically printed here. I recognized Atem on the front cover because the Blockbuster around the corner from our house had DVDs (I think they were DVDs and not VHSs then since I distinctly remember it having a menu and special features) of some of the later episodes of Duelist Kingdom and my brother and I watched them on repeat. So I was like oh, hey, what's this? They make books of that stuff? I don't remember the conversation but the kid ended up giving me that issue, and I took it home with me.

There were a LOT of significant, groundwork things happening in that issue, now that I think about it. We were just beginning to see Sanji truly in action against Pearl. The Dark Tournament was in it's early stages still with Roto fucking around and finding out against Kurama. Sakura shears off her hair in a move that rearranged sexualities the world over. The reason Atem was on the cover was because Yu-Gi-Oh Millennium World was just debuting its first and second chapter. Bleach wasn't even serialized yet. And Dragon Ball, of course, was also there, about a hundred and fifty chapters ahead of everybody else.

Keep in mind that this was my first experience with manga, period. So my very first experience with Dragon Ball opened on this:

and ended on this:

Yeah. Truth be told, at the time Yu Yu Hakusho piqued my interest more than Dragon Ball (a guy fighting with plants? how creative!) but I never did forget these chapters. I thought the art style was so different from the others.

At some point after this, probably between several months and a year and a half, the TV happened to be on one evening when Toonami was airing Dragon Ball Z. Oh hey, I said, I recognize that art, I know those characters. So I hung around and watched some of episode 281. Two things about watching that episode stick with absolute crystal clarity in my mind to this day. Firstly: Buu choking Vegeta out with his arm freaked me the FUCK out as a child. I could not tell you why I had a fear reaction to it but hey, there you go. The second is this:

Specifically I remember 'You died once. If anything happens to you now, you won't exist anymore. There'll be nothing I can do to bring you back.' Not precisely word for word over the years, but Schemmel's tone of voice on this particular lineread. If I had to guess I'd say it was because at that point in my life, uh, death was kinda permanent? So wait, what do you mean died ONCE. Doesn't that apply to everyone?

This still wasn't enough to get me super invested in it though, it just didn't seem like something that would appeal to me that much. So a couple years go by, I don't think about it all that much, and then of course, TFS hits the scene and drops DBZ Abridged. So you know. As a shithead middle schooler with a shithead sense of humor I thought it was the best damn thing since sliced bread. (My biggest character flaw is that I still think a lot of Season 1 is genuinely funny)

And that was really the extent of my interaction with the franchise for the next several years. Say what you will about DBZA but they did manage to put it all together such that someone who had a nonexistent concept of what the original context was could grok it with not a lot of effort. Some time in high school, I think I was around 15, I decided to bite the bullet and read all the manga, as much to increase the funny factor of DBZA as sheerly for the sake of being able to say I had. Stick it to the other weebs, y'know. Now they can't say I didn't know anything about good anime. This was unfortunately at a time when all that was available online were dirty poor-quality scans and questionable translations, but read it I did. I went 'yep, that sure is about what I expected', and proceeded to get on with my life. GT came and went, I looked up and saw Battle of Gods coming out and went 'oh hey that's still a thing huh', kinda was peripherally aware of all the divisiveness of Super as it was happening, didn't really pay it much attention, just stuck to DBZA and quite a lot of wiki-ing.

And then, this time of year about three years ago now, in the middle of conversation with @prophecydungeon, Dragon Ball somehow came up. Something to do with 'Even though I'm not hugely into DBZ's story or whatever Toriyama does have some great character designs' (yes I was referring to Vegeta and Future Trunks at the time, no i will not stop being predictable, yes i am a parody of myself). They eventually brought up the DBS Broly movie and said, and i quote: 'that was a solid 1.5h of unbelievably fun and wacky animation'. Having seen the Gogeta vs Broly part of it on twitter and been like 'damn that animation's kinda off the hook actually, good for them good for them', my response was to be like. Oh word? I've got a spare hour and a half to kill, sure, fuck it, why not, time to watch DBS Broly.

I think that movie was precision crafted to hit me in the hyperfixation, if we're being honest. Opening on a solid 20 minutes of Lore and Worldbuilding and then having most of the rest of the runtime being mindless slobberknocker fun by way of some of the hardest animation flexes ever? I was done for.

In summation. I have been aware of Dragon Ball for a lot of my life, in that its presence was pervasive and enduring as I grew up. I may have been late to the game of actually wholeheartedly enjoying it, but enjoy it I do. Dragon Ball is the roots of a vast tree of anime, and in reading it I began to understand why that is. I respect it for that, and I love it for that. My current fixation may have shifted, but as far as time devoted to one individual thing goes... it took me a year and a half to watch my way through all of the anime and read all of the manga. ALL of it. So there's something good in there, I'd say.

[raelynn0606]

JJK ending sucks but what's new

The only ppl who will see this have already heard me complain but I'm gonna do it AGAIN 😈

jjk has always kinda been a mid shonen type thing but I usually like them so I wanted to watch it. I watched the first season when it released and it good but it wasn't good enough to get me reading the manga.

Then s2 came out and I kind of absorbed a lot of content through social media osmosis and it seemed pretty interesting. I only ended up watching it cuz one of my new friends watched it and another one also wanted to watch it so we watched it together in school while the teachers would side eye us 😓

I actually kind of liked it. I genuinely love a lot of the characters, like I think they're interesting in a ton of ways but sadly most of it never got explored. Most of the charas didn't get actual arcs and for the ones that did, it never felt finished or it would just feel so half baked. The plot has an endless amount of loose threads it's not even funny.

More than the actual media itself I enjoyed the process of consuming it. I loved searching up the leaks every Thursday with my friend and the fandom was funny asf too.

The fights were great too, and that's probably the only reason I found s2 to be so entertaining. But I feel like most of that credit goes to the animators and shit instead of Gege himself.

As much as I hate on the aot ending, this ending is WAYY worse. If you ignore the aot ending, the rest of the show can definitely stand on its own. The ending might even be good if you view it through a different perspective.

But jjk doesn't have that. The ending itself isn't bad. It's just that the series feels so incomplete which is what makes it so shit. I haven't seen a single person say it's good so far which rlly says smth. Can't wait for some fans to come along and be like "erm u just didn't understand the story ☝️🤓"

I don't even wanna get into all the details on why the series sucks cuz there's way too many I can list. But the main reason I hate the ending is cuz the series had SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

The characters and themes and plot were pretty good, they just needed to be explored more and it never happened and it sucks so much cuz it could've been so great and actually have smth to say.

Maybe I expected too much from a series called Sorcery Fight because there were indeed sorcerers fighting and that's pretty much it.

I might be wrong for criticizing it so much considering I haven't even read most of the manga. I just started skimming leaks every week after Gojo died like most ppl did and skipped over the previous arcs (although I did look at summaries) so maybe it'll be different if I actually read all of it at once but I doubt it. Maybe the pacing would be slightly better but that's it.

I just get mad whenever I think of what could've been. I genuinely hope someone rewrites it and does it justice even tho I'll prolly never read it.

It's just another case of "this piece of media would've been so good if it was actually good."

[hellothereandimsosorry]

I'm ALMOST watching dorohedoro bcs of you 🥹🥹🥹🥹 is it really that good? Bcs I'm kinda scared to start watching it bcs I'm not used to the artstyle

- 🦈🦈

ok im ngl it is literally my favorite manga of all time.

like ive read it front to back several times. its one of those pieces of media where the story is so good that i literally have no complaints like its genuinely a perfect work of art imo. it is absolutely that good.

Its definitely weird and not for everybody, I wouldn't recommend it if you're squeamish about violence because it's very violent and bloody and can get pretty gross. but its also super unserious and its actually really funny. the characters are lovable and without spoiling one of my favorite things about it is that there isn't really a good vs bad in it bc all the characters fall somewhere in between. they all have their own motivations and their stories are all intertwined and compelling.

the story is simultaneously sprawling, involving many different characters and their complicated motive, while also being tightly contained in the world it exists in. the world building is also some of the best i've ever seen its truly excellent. everything matters to everything else in the story and it is so well done.

idk if i can relate it to many other works because it kind of exists in its own genre. ive seen people call it seinen which i get because its mature in themes and storytelling, shonen which is definitely wrong??? i was confused af when i saw somebody call it that lmao, horror-comedy which i think is pretty close? its a mystery but it doesnt always feel like a mystery, theres no detective although its plot is driven by mystery. honestly idk. its really unique and i dont think that any other popular media matches its freak tbh.

it might be too weird to become super mainstream, even though its well known and loved. its plot is winding and weird, the main character has a lizard head, its set in an intentionally grimy world and actually looks like it. the characters arent cutesyfied, theyre mostly huge and bulky and gritty but they are so lovably human.

personally i love the art style i think it perfectly fits the world that it is meant to portray. the anime also does a fantastic job adapting it, though it did take me a minute to get used to the 3d models, it is a gorgeous anime like genuinely it is so beautiful like they cooked so hard.

ok holy shit this is so long sorry! i just really love it that much lmao. as for whether or not you should watch it - YES! (if it wasnt obvious) but don't sweat it if its not your cup of tea. i recommend it to all my friends and some of them couldnt get through it because of the violence, the art, or because its just too weird/not their thing. while i think theyre totally missing out, i understand that not everyone is like me and instantly loved it from the first chapter because the 1st tim i read it literally read the first 80 chapters in a day i was so crazy about it and finished it like 2 days later (the whole thing is like ~180 chapters i think? idk the exact count)

also if you're worried about the anime's art... you like blue lock and if you were able to get thru the s1 animation you will be fine. its way way better animated trust me.

ok gonna end it there bcs this is a whole ass essay

[kenyizsuartblog]

Kalego Naberius sketches

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! (yes, I'm watching the dub) is one of those rare gems that can make even me, who is legendarily terrible at sticking with any series due to my many hobbies, watch it till the very end, and occasionally rewatch certain episodes. It's a light-hearted, funny, actually heartfelt, all-around-good-time fantasy anime that never takes itself too seriously, and has not fallen into the usual problems of "turning into a brutal Mortal Kombat gorefest" or "powerlevels so high they are knocking the goddamn Moon out of its orbit at this point" other shonen anime have. So far, that is, and I'm rooting that it will stay on course. The animation itself may not be top notch at all times, but it more than makes up for that with heart, good character writing, witty worldbuilding, and genuinely good humor. Hell, as someone who rarely watches anime, I wasn't even that bothered by the animation quality, it's passable even at the lowest.

And of course, we have a new favorite from the cast - Professor Kalego Naberius. This guy's a goddamn legend, and I love everything about him - his design, his English voice, his personality all lend themselves to the perfect teacher to watch over the main cast, and occasionally nuke them with insane levels of homework, because they totally deserved it! Funny thing is, Kalego is the exact type of person whom I would really not like, or even fear in real life, but in this super happy fun-time anime, he is my spirit animal. He needs much more screen time! Also, he just needs to absolutely destroy Opera down the line for being the little shitty secret bully he had turned out to be in Season 2. I like to think that is what is going on in the lower right corner sketch.

2023.05.02.

[alexissara]

My Favorite Movies/TV/Anime of 2023

Going into 2023 I've done a lot more taking in art then in previous years and this section is all about the audio/visual/auditory art I've taken in this year and enjoyed. In fact it's a content and clickable top 10 list! Wow so engaging, much content, please enjoy. This is gonna be inclusive of movies, cartoons, anime, TV shows, etc because I don't engage any one of these mediums alone enough to make a nice little list, at least not this year.

These are roughly in an order by how much I enjoyed them but these are different pieces of art that hit you in different places for different reasons and no one piece of art here is like "Better" than the other. Ask me at a different hour let alone day and this list could be all scrambled.

Adolescence Of Utena

So I finally watched some Utena, I mean I watched a little but of Utena before, just a few episodes with some friends but I watched the full ass movie now so that counts for something. The anime is really artful and it's a very compelling queer coming of age story with all the messy trauma and feelings attached. It's a weird movie, a girl turns into a car, and that's amazing, 12/10, another girl can also turn into a car, we're really just living the dream here. Finally true lesbian representation is when a girl can turn into a car and I am here for it. It's a really great piece of art and I am glad to have finally got to take it in and enjoy it.

Glass Onion

So this is probably the biggest surprise on the list for folks who follow me but one of my girlfriends really loves mysteries and so a Glass Onion I did watch with her. It's super funny and fun, it's just good. The cast has good chemistry, the jokes land, the mystery has fun twists, and it's just a good experience overall.

One Piece Film Red

I am not a One Piece fan, I do not care for One Piece, It's like fine Shonen. However, this movie fucking slapped, it was a good fucking time. Uta is One Pieces best character and she should show up and take over the final arc of the manga because she is so good. The music was fucking killer with Ado slaying every single fucking song and it really just hit. Every song is so good on it's own and in it's context. It's what you want from a truly killer musical experience and every song being from "the villain" is just extra fun. The power of friendship and bounds is really great here, it's just good and well animated even if the women all have the same exact body.

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

I finally watched this movie after all the hype had died down and well, it was worth the hype, it isn't my favorite movie of all time but it's a good movie. It's funny, amazingly acted, well shot, silly and just in general a good time. It touches on a lot of good themes of family, trauma, homophobia, expectations, and parental relationships. I think the queerness coulda been better in the movie and have complaints on how that is displayed here but I mean it was at least a little bit queer and that's more than most movies. As a former actor who really loves the craft I envy everyone involved too for getting to be in such a fun film, I can only imagine what a blast it was to see the final product of what I am sure was a ton of hard work to make something so fun.

Gundam The Witch From Mercury - Season 2 

Gundam ended on more of a whimper than a bang to me. Which is both not uncommon for a Gundam series to have a shitty ending but also not shocking given this series was given it had a much shorter run time. Regardless of me thinking this half of the anime is much weaker than the first half it still undeniably striking in it's animation, stunning visually, engaging to watch with a cast of very endearing characters to watch in the dramatic stakes of it all. The very end was not terrible but the time we spent to get to the final epilogue moments were questionable. Regardless, this show did not kill off Prospera, Chuchu, Secelia or Rouhi and they all were in a lot of these episodes so like an 8/10 cuz their all fucking brilliant and I really like Sulletta a ton too, I am just probably Mio's weakest solider among lesbians preferring my sweet little nervous lesbian settle down with a nice earthian girl or make use of her second hand to be polyamarous.

Kakegurui Twin

I never have and likely never will watch Kakegurui's main series but the twins series female focused cast and yuri energy captured my attention and so I turned it on. Wow, what a fucking ride. This over the top gambling game is Jojo's bizarre adventure, is sports anime, is card game anime, it's the raw spirit of these things radiating in the horny submissive lesbian factory and served back in animated form. The fucking faces these women get to make as they smugly battle in bounts of gambling is just so delicious and the tension they manage to put into each of these games of chance as the fucked up students try and cheat each other and win is just brilliant.

Harley Quinn 

HarIvy is a ship of all time for me, it's hard to have the concept of a show be "HarIvy comedy" and me not to at least kinda enjoy it and I enjoyed it a lot this new season. At the start of the season I wasn't click with it, it felt weird and forced for Harly and Ivy to be placed in these really binary hero and villain roles but in the end that's what it was really about. Neither of them are traditional heroes or villains and the show actually recognized that and let them trying to fit into the strict mold of the universe as an active issue for themself, their sense of self, their relationship, the world and more. From time to time they felt fairly out of character but I am just happy to see this arcs over all themes and the work they put into that.

I’m In Love With The Villainess 

While I would have rather had a tighter pace that went through the first two books of the series rather than one and some tiny jumps into the second book I'm In Love With The Villainess still managed to be one of my favorite things to watch this year with me viewing it multiple times. Rae's Isekai fantasy of being bullied by a hot rich woman and the eventual need to confront her own internalized homophobia and self pity as blocking her path to happiness are fun to see. Rae is really good in the anime adaptation and in it more than any other adaption it feels like everyone is friends and cares about each other which fits the light hearted comedy tone better than the light novels Rae will kill anyone for Clair, she has no friends mindset.

Scott Pilgrim: Takes Off

This was the biggest surprise of the year. I had grown out of Scott Pilgrim, while I was a fan of the comics before the movie was even a thing, I watched the movie before it even released, I even at some point was collecting the colored editions, I eventually soured on the series and sold everything I had of it. I wasn't excited about the anime and felt more like "let it go" then "OMG thing from when I was young" but hearing the good things I heard about it and about the Scott twist along with seeing the great animation in the OP I decided, fuck it why not give it a shot. So I did and wow, it's really good. It's a great take down, commentary, adaption, whatever it is of the original work. It is Scott Pilgrim having grown up alongside me, funnier than ever and a lot better about everything. I really loved all the changes and it still felt very true to the heart of Scott Pilgrim which is messy adults trying to fix their fucked up selves and relationships.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

This certainly sits among my favorite anime of all time and very highly if not number one. MagiRevo mastered a light novel adaptations tempo perfecting how to make one season of what would be a nothing slow burn with no pay off at the novel and mangas pace into an exciting action packed yuri with more gay kisses in it than the rest of the years anime put together. It's funny, charming, fun but it also captures some really hard emotions too, I'll never forget the scene with Anis being pressured by old men to have children and stuff and the utter disgust she has at being treated like a piece of meat as she attempts to fill her role to the kingdom. It is devastating and heart wrenching and it just makes all the joy feel so strong.

If you want to help me enjoy more art then consider checking out my Patreon or Ko-fi and giving me a little bit of cash so I can do more of this kind of writing but also like make lots of my own art, art is hard to make and costs money and like maintain my chronically ill and trans body also takes money so anything helps, thank you. If you want more details on any of these I do have reviews for many of the pieces of art above but you can also let me know you want more and maybe I'll write more.

[bidonica]

If MGS is here to stay, can I propose an introductory post/meta for the uninitiated? It's not like this bbkaz or vquiet don't have the potential for mass appeal...

Well anon, this ask gave me some trouble because every time I tried to answer I went off on a tangent because how do you explain the brainworms? The thing about Metal Gear is that it is a complex piece of media that deals with pretty heavy themes, such as the reasons and consequences of war, colonialism, the military industrial complex; existential questions like finding purpose in one’s life vs what has been allegedly predetermined by genetics and whatever path higher powers have carved for you, confronting your own mortality, the realities of aging and disability. It does things with video games as a medium that feel innovative to this day.

It is also, in many ways, a shonen anime, meant to be enjoyed and digested by teenage boys, so it actually has a lot of genuinely funny moments and some downright juvenile humor, and its treatment of women is… let’s say there is vast room for improvement (this is one of those tangents I could go on). Some writing choices are frustrating, because big character moments and plot points are tucked away in optional strands of the game you need to unlock, and not in the main storyline; sometimes they are downright hidden (Ocelot’s parentage!!!). Or they are brought up once and never addressed again (Otacon’s family trauma from MGS2). Whatever Naomi's deal was in MGS4. MGSV being unfinished! There are a lot of things that make it an objectively good piece of media and justify its place among the undisputed videogame classics, but there are also several things to criticize; I’m not going to pretend it’s perfect.

Still. It bewitched me body and soul and I think the reason is simply the characters, alongside the engrossing gaming experience (even if it was a bit of a struggle at first, MGS1’s commands are nightmarish if you are used to modern games). Never mind that the execution can be clunky at times, these characters just… strike a chord, design and personality wise, and inevitably make an impression. I mentioned design because, as an artist, that’s kind of important to me; one of the reasons I realized pretty early on that I was getting into some long term commitment with this series was that I wanted to draw those pixel guys all the time, and it hasn’t happened to me since… well, getting into asoiaf way back in the day. Let's not even begin with the amount of fic writing I've done alongside the fanart

Shipping talk behind the cut.

So: the high grade yaoi cocaine. Anon, if you’ve been following me for some time you might have probably noticed that I wasn't always about the fujo life. I understood it intellectually but I also spent about two decades in fandom feeling immune to that specific kind of brainrot. Then I played the computer room scene in MGS1 and hearing Gray Fox wantonly ask Snake to hurt him was my MK Ultra activation code, I guess. This is another part where I could go off on a tangent on just how gay these games are (starting from like. Canon queer characters) but I’ll keep it short. Let’s say that every time I heard people talking about how gay a certain thing in the games was I was like “okay, these are the fujo goggles speaking”. Then I actually played/watched/listened to the thing (two words: sauna tape) and yeah. It was ALWAYS gayer than I imagined.

(reddit bros will tell you that many of those instances are meant to be jokes, but truly they pile up so much that they start sounding like the “hahaha… unless???” kind of joke. And there IS a mission where the literal objective is to make Big Boss woo his second in command so he can have gay sex with him. I’m not exaggerating.)

So… yeah. There are actually a lot of ships to choose from (or not choose and live that multiship life), and the unevenness in writing that I pointed at is exactly the right amount to make these games a fertile fandom sandbox. And to answer your question, personally I go hard for bbkaz because Kaz has quickly become my favorite character in the series, but there’s no Kaz without his relationship with Big Boss. The tragedy of their enemies (very briefly, but they literally meet with an attempt at murder-suicide) to lovers to enemies again arc is very compelling to me; the mutual betrayals; the unstoppable force (Kaz) vs immovable object (BB) of it all; and yes even the aesthetics of it (shiny well groomed hypersexual extroverted beach Barbie coded in yellow and gold vs hairy weathered gruff jungle man who’s all greens and dark tones). I just think that’s neat!

Vquiet is a bit more difficult to explain because they literally never talk. Quiet is canonically mute save for two isolated instances and Venom barely talks because Kiefer Sutherland was too expensive to hire for more line readings (but honestly it’s one of those contingent things that ends up being consistent with who Venom is). Also, on paper, Quiet would be the epitome of this franchise’s worst tendencies when it comes to female characters: she doesn’t talk, she’s mostly naked and posing sexily a lot of the time, she gets subjected pretty gratuitously to sexual violence at the end of her arc. But the stars aligned so that she has a charisma and gravitas about her that, combined with her backstory, elevate her to a very compelling character TO ME. She and V get romantically coded scenes like BRIDAL CARRY and PLAYING TOGETHER IN THE RAIN WITH ROMANTIC MUSIC and she gifts him the cigars Kaz won’t let him smoke for his BIRTHDAY like… I think she and V are effectively written as aggressively yearning for each other, and I like the reading that Kaz is so immediately hostile to her also because he’s jealous and he doesn’t know that SPOILER BIG SPOILER JUMP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH AFTER THE PICTURES IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED FOR THE BIG TWIST OF PHANTOM PAIN Venom isn’t the real Big Boss.

Plus they’re just sexy together I think 

[narcissistcookbook]

okay......anime. I'm sending a lot because I'm not entirely sure what you like? perhaps none of these? please ignore it as needed haha I am mainly getting it out of my system.

SERIOUS FARE - drama, action, adrenaline, feelings

Cowboy Bebop (1 Season, Complete) - slick, gritty, moody, jazzy, impeccably animated. neo-noir space-western about a crew of oddballs on a little spaceship just trying to get by. sometimes goofy, sometimes sad, always a favorite.

Chainsaw Man (1 Season So Far) - an impoverished, immature young man whose dreams include "eating some nice food" and "touching a girl" finds himself swept up in a career that allows him to do both those things and more, to varying degrees of satisfaction. also he can turn his body into chainsaws. it's coming-of-age it's horror it's action it's more found family it's good.

Violet Evergarden (1 Season, Complete) - some controversial choices were made for the adjacent movie, but the show is so good even standing alone. a traumatized child soldier slowly reconnects with her emotions by writing letters for other people. that's basically the whole story. made me cry a lot.

THE FUNNY PAGES - for when you need a laugh!

Spy x Family (1 Season, 2nd Incoming) - a delightful situational comedy set in Definitely Not Cold War Germany about a spy, his cover wife whom he does not know is an assassin, and his adopted daughter whom he does not know is a psychic. featuring moments of genuinely compelling found family connection.

Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun (1 Season, Complete) - a girl summons the courage to confess to her crush. a series of misunderstandings ensues and doesn't stop ensuing. more mistaken identity goofiness, a cast full of charming dumbasses, and some insights into life as a manga artist. also another bangin theme song.

TOASTY'S TOP 3 - my absolute favorites

Vinland Saga (2 Seasons, 3rd Seemingly Confirmed) - you follow me so you are probably at least aware of this and whether it looks like something you'd enjoy but I have to include it. a viking-era tale of trauma, war, revenge, redemption, masculinity, religion, politics, philosophy, and more! season one is the prologue, where the antagonist is (imo) the secret main character. season two answers the unmitigated violence of season one with the povs of normal working people who end up as collateral damage, and also pays off one of season one's earliest setups in a huge fantastic way imo. it's idealistic without ever failing to acknowledge the pain that comes when idealism meets reality. I love it.

Run With the Wind (2 Seasons, Complete) - there aren't a whole lot of sports anime for older audiences, but this is one of them and I rewatch it on a yearly basis. you have to kind of slow yourself down for it--most shonen sports anime are brisk, high-octane fun-times, but this one (a college-age series about the most Underdog of Underdog Track Teams) really takes its time building up the characters and environment, and chemistry between the dual opposites-attract leads is so heartwrenchingly beautiful. they complete each other! they love each other! what does it mean to run? why do we run even if we know we can't win?! the answers to these things are found within each other!!

Mob Psycho 100 (3 Seasons, Complete) -slapstick, drama, mindblowing action scenes--this is another one that needs a little time to start showing you what it is, but there's so much heart in this dang show. a hymn to all things mundane and ordinary, a rumination on the dangers of suppressing one's emotions, a story about a middle schooler who tries not to use his Unlimited Psychic Powers and a fraud exorcist who pretends to have powers but doesn't. absolutely worth the watch.

BONUS LIGHTNING ROUND

Shirobako (a stressfully/excellently accurate anime about the anime industry, the only cute-girls-doing-cute-things show I like), Keep Your Hands off Eizouken (weird girls making amateur anime in high school), Blue Period (for if you want to have an existential crisis about ART), Kaiji (Squid Game before Squid Game), The Great Pretenders (Robin Hood-ass confidence artists pulling off HEISTS), Haikyuu (my favorite younger-audiences sports anime, get hype for VOLLEYBALL), Beastars (the Furry One, gorgeous 3d animation, dark and weird and wild), and Neon Genesis Evangelion (surreal horror sci-fi/fantasy, "mechs" vs. apocalyptic "angels", I haven't seen it but it's a standard and also I've been told not to watch it while depressed)

ANYWAY thanks for receiving this absolute infodump, do what you will with it!!

okay but honestly i didn't know cowboy bebop was one and done, i can commit to that

[roadhogsbigbelly]

i think the reason alot of "you need to watch less kids media/media made for teenagers" and more "adult media" discourse kind of annoys is because terms like "kids media" and "adult media" are much more subjective than people seem to think it is, and often just amounts to "which age rating will make money" and "what elements does the particular group of people assigning this age rating think is too inappropriate for a 8 year old to hear about" which is also. you know extremely subjective.

like don't get me wrong there definitely ARE media that are meant for kids (like preschool shows which are "for adults" in the sense that SOME of them attempt to funny enough that parents watching won't get bored) or media meant for adults (like gangster films which while popular to reference in kid's media are not meant for kids to actual watch) but there's also like. the majority of anime, video games, comic books etc that are rated pg 13 or t for teen because that's usually the rating that makes the most money without having tp give up the majority of your artistic intent apart from like. graphic violence or full frontal nudity (which mods can fix i guess for video games)

like the reason Mortal Kombat is typically rated as "m for mature" while street fighter is rated "t for teen" isn't because Mortal Kombat is a more "adult video game" than Street Fighter, It's because Mortal Kombat has more graphic violence which artificially ups the age rating.

of course most of the discourse is less focused on video games and more on non-interactive media because like. i guess video games are more "entertainment" so it's okay to enjoy mario games because those aren't based less off of "themes" and more gameplay, while as enjoying like. shonen anime is bad because it'll rot your brain? i guess?

[styomi]

My impressions regarding OPLA

I've never been shy about naming One Piece as one of my favorite, if not the favorite, anime/manga of all times. It's comedy, story arcs, character building, world building, etc, all of this makes it a great piece of entertainment and simply a wonderful journey to go on. So, here are some of the things I really liked and those which I liked a little bit less in the OPLA. (which was still really great in my opinion!)

SPOILERS for OPLA and One Piece under the cut

What I enjoyed:

Sanji. Let me just kick this off by saying that LA Sanji does such a great job. From the casting to the subtle differences and normalization of his 'quirks', Sanji is such a great character in OPLA. He is the perfect foil and 'calming down' factor for the lackluster Strawhats gathered up until the Baratie arc. While his flirting in the og makes him a bit obnoxious for me, the toned down version of OPLA is just on point. Everything is executed perfectly. The vocabulary he uses, the cooking, the fighting, the flirting, I'm just in love with OPLA Sanji. His backstory packs a punch, as it always did, and it doesn't feel rushed or forced. The crying is also on point. The only thing which could've been improved on was his leaving of Baratie.

Sets. The visuals are perfection. Like, this was it. It was One Piece. The world was there, in live action. All the little cultural details added and portrayed were absolutely stunning. I could see exactly where the budget went. It was on. point. I have nothing to add. It's perfection.

Fight scenes. All of the fans of the og I've spoken to were slightly worried about the adaptation of typical shonen fights, abundant in OP, being presented in OPLA. Needless to say, they were a perfect balance of flashy and entertaining, without going over the top or running for too long. Even Kuro's style was adapted amazingly for the live action. Here, I only have to add that Zoro and Nami seemed to overshadow Luffy a bit when it came to fighting, and this was a tad of a pity. With a little bit more screen time for the theatrics at the beginning of OP (where everyone is shocked to find out that Luffy has eaten a Devil Fruit), the issue could've been solved.

The pacing. Another thing which typically turned away anime watchers from OP og was the sheer size of the massive franchise. OPLA solves this issue very well, condensing and separating flashbacks, including them at different moments in order to provide for a more watchable show. Simply, great.

Side characters. I could go on and on about the amazing casting and screen time awarded to the side characters in the OPLA. Let me just list some of them who impressed me: Koby, Helmeppo, Buggy, Kuro. They shined. Every single moment of them was pure perfection. I was particularly impressed with Koby's portrayal. I was also on board with the slight addition of horror to Kuro and the Syrup village arc. I was completely in love with how Buggy ate up every scene he was in, going from a terrifying villain to a funny antagonist who is in for the ride with the main crew. Helmeppo's showcasing was perfect. I'm just impressed. I was shook. No other comments regarding this. Simply on point.

The different point of view. It's no secret that the og focuses heavily on the Stawhats. Their stories and development take the majority of the show, which is amazing. Still, the addition of little details, for the og fans, was definitely a treat. If I were to name an example, Mihawk's decimation of Don Krieg is a highlight. Small scenes which were off-screen in the og, being added to the OPLA, were satisfying to watch.

In conclusion, there were a lot of things I adored about the OPLA, but these were the ones I really wanted to highlight.

What I didn't like:

Zoro. As someone who was a firm simp for Zoro from the beginning of the og, I was a little disappointed with the OPLA version of him. The switch from 'a strong dumbass' to 'angsty swordsman' was a little bit too much for me. Simply, it seemed more like a Sasuke interpretation of Zoro, than Zoro. Like it was Sasuke acting as Zoro, or something similar. This, in turn, changed his relationships with the rest of the crew. The most painful one for me was his relationship with Luffy. Og Zoro never really disrespected Luffy nor was he ever visibly annoyed with his captain. OPLA Zoro is just... annoyed. Which makes one think - why does he even join the crew? Not to say that I hated OPLA Zoro, there were really some amazing moments to him. All the fight scenes were great, especially the Mihawk duel one. His oath to Luffy was also amazing. However, the 'unspoken first mate who is the backbone of Strawhats' really became a 'angsty man with anger issues and obsession with alcohol', which is, sadly, a simplification of his character.

Garp. While I agree that the depth added to Garp in the live action was great, too much time was given to him. If the focus had been more on Koby and less on Garp, I would've enjoyed the live action more. Especially the build up of Luffy's confrontation with Garp was anticlimactic in the end, where there seems to be no point in the tension which had been made previously. Simply, his appearance at the end of Water 7 was much more impactful.

Nami's arc. Nami's arc is one of my favorites from the og. Her emotional journey from hating pirates to loving Luffy and trusting him was too flat in the OPLA. Og Arlong was terrifying. Og Bell-mère's story was heart wrenching. Og Nami's decision to go with Luffy was inspiring. This arc was a huge set up for later developments with fishmen and it was simply amazing. One of the many situations where I applauded Oda later on when he expanded on the universe seamlessly. In the OPLA, this is missing. While Arlong is still terrifying, he doesn't quite pack the punch he did in the og. Luffy doesn't struggle nearly enough to defeat him, which makes later development of the universe, with Arlong as a strong character, hard to believe. Bell-mère's death made me sob like a baby in the og. It just passed by me in the OPLA. Just.. whoosh. I didn't feel enough. The emotional stakes weren't high enough. The build up wasn't there. Still, the scenes with Nami and Luffy in that arc were on point. Though, I did miss the situation where Luffy walks away from hearing Nami's story. And, I was admittedly impressed with Usopp's first highlight fight, which was left in the OPLA. Altogether, while this arc should've been the crown jewel of the first season, I felt like it really wasn't. The Mihawk duel was a much better scene.

Stawhats. I liked all of them - individually. However, their dynamic as a crew felt a bit off-kilter. Nami and Zoro openly saying 'not a crew' to Luffy all the time didn't sit right with me. Them agreeing on not being a crew simply left a sour taste in my mouth. The core of my issues with Stawhat dynamics is probably due to the change in the Zoro-Luffy relationship, which is the most charismatic in the og. Sure, Zoro wants to smack Luffy half of the time, but he doesn't. Nami is the one who disciplines the reckless captain. Luffy is the one who brings them together. The sheer disrespect (yeah, quoting here the OPLA 'mutiny') is what made their dynamics odd. And then, Usopp and Sanji being fully on board and invested made it strange. It should've been Zoro who provides the example, not Usopp and Sanji. Zoro, though, is not the one to give the faith, but instead to give the annoyance. In the end, Luffy could've definitely been more selfish. Og Luffy is charismatic because we never know what to expect from him. He's captaining how he sees fit, without consulting anyone. And it works. Og Luffy is admired because he is so eccentric. OPLA Luffy lacks that. He is unsure of himself, which makes him hard to like. While he surely is Luffy and he does an amazing job with all the necessary scenes, he lacks that conviction. And, in the end, it's his passion and conviction which makes OP so lovable, in my opinion.

To conclude, with a little more addition to recklessness and that dynamic of 'Jesus what is he doing but oh well I'm joining because it's fun' Zoro would've been on point, which would've solved the Strawhats issues. A little more time dedicated to Nami's arc would've made it pack more of a punch. A little less time to Garp would've tickled us to know more, later on. This was all solvable.

Does this mean that OPLA is not a good show? No. It's a great show. It's certainly one of the more amazing live adaptations I've seen, second only to the Kenshin movies. It's watchable, for both new fans and old fans. It makes the old fans want to re-watch or re-read the og. It makes new fans want to watch and read the og. It is visually stunning. The casting is amazing. It gives depth where needed. It makes the show appealing to all genders, races and ages of audience members. However, there is room for improvement.

Long story short, I'll be eagerly waiting to see if the dynamic of Strawhats and the climactic fights of arcs and the emotional build up in them are improved upon in the later seasons. Hopefully, we will see more of Luffy's charisma in the later episodes.

What did you think of OPLA?

[starlitcorgi]

Hi......If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Hmmm 🤔 my favs are always changing but at the moment.

1. Gokurakugai: Alma is a precious cinnamon roll who loves his mentor Miss Tao like a sister. I really love their platonic relationship and the fact that Alma is incredibly emotionally balanced. Like he's not this typical macho guy. Probably because he's surrounded by strong female role models. It's really refreshing for Shonen and I really hope it gets an anime series because I think it has the potential to be as big as JJK and Demon Slayer.

2. Jujutsu Kaisen: I love Yuuji as a ML and I'm usually a side character gal. So it's great to actually like the lead character. I've noticed in this current generation of Manga and Anime that our Male Leads are becoming much more well rounded and likeable. I love Yuuji's strength and his resilience, he definitely deserves all the love and hugs. I also of course love Gojo and I kind of hope Mappa deviates from the manga in regards to his fate because man that hurt.

3. Demon Slayer: I read the manga start to finish and loved every minute of it. The anime series is just as good. I love all of the characters in this in their own rights. From the protagonist to the villains for me at least the author got everything right. It's Shonen at its best. To be able to make your audience love Rengoku in such a short time is an amazing feat. To care so much that you feel as devastated as Tanjiro to me the Mugen train arc is a masterclass in story telling. It's sad that the series will be coming to an end soon but I think for me this will always be in my top 5.

4. Ghost in the Shell: This is the movie that started my love of anime/manga. It's a cinematic masterpiece and everyone should watch it at least once. It was well ahead of its time and it's not surprising that it inspired the Matrix.

5. Hells Paradise: I love the manga and the anime. Gabimaru is so relatable to me, I think we share the same sarcastic and apathetic nature lol. I love it as well because it gave us one of the best disabled characters in current manga generation. Shion is an epic character for the disabled community, being partially blind myself it's nice to be represented you know? And he's not full of loathing or self pity, he embraces his blindness and uses it to his advantage. He's funny, kind, strong and handsome. He never questions Sagiri's competence, he doesn't try to send her of to the kitchen like his colleagues. He recognises her talent and encourages her to achieve her goals. In short Shion needs to be protected at all costs.

6. Chainsaw Man: when I first saw this pop up on Shonen Jump I didn't have high hopes. It seemed like a crack series but this is exactly why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. I love this series even though it hurts me 😭. Denji is a typical hormonal teen, power is a ball of chaos and Aki is just trying to keep everything together. Plus Angel 😇 is one of my fav characters of all time maybe because he reminds me of my daughter lol.

7. Elfen Lied: this is another classic anime the violence is on par with AOT but once you get past that you have this heart wrenching story. Lucy is a monster created by her environment and the abuse she suffered. This is also one of the most beautifully animated series of all time. The art is phenomenal.

8. Solo Leveling: I fell in love with the Manwha and was so excited when it got picked up for a series. I'm loving the anime so far, though I'm two episodes behind. Due to my sight loss I have to wait for the English dub but dubs have gotten way better than when I first started watching anime in the early 2000's. I love Jinwoo's tenacity and the fact that he just cuts through the villains. He never really worries about whether that makes him a bad person. Sometimes you just want to see bad people get what's coming to them. Plus this has some of the most epic fight scenes, I can't wait to see them animated.

9. Tokyo Ghoul: I spent most of Tokyo Ghoul crying ugly tears 😭. Ken Keneki has one of the most heartbreaking storylines in all of anime. It's just painful to read/watch Gege definitely took a leaf out of the Tokyo ghoul book when writing JJK. Yet still I couldn't put it down, I'm a sucker for punishment. It's a great mix of characters as well, I love that we see goth culture mixed in there as well. You do get those Crow vibes the way it's so gothic in inspiration and the art work is stunning. I think the only illustrator that tops it is Yuta Sano.

10. Attack on Titan: AOT has been deemed controversial because of it's fascist themes. However I think it's only problematic if you think Eren is the hero in this story. I actually really can't stand Eren, it's pretty obvious that he's been radicalised by his experiences early on. The foreshadowing is strong with him you know he's not going to turn out well from the start. The real protagonists for me are Armin, Levi and Hange. Like these three are definitely trying to save their comrades and people. Whereas Mikasa is constantly having to save Eren and Eren jumps to mass genocide pretty quick. Levi almost feels like he's representing the audience with his snarky commentary. I also love Levi and Hanges platonic friendship. They really get each other and their banter is a joy to watch especially in the first season.

[ms-all-sunday]

ive personally gotten over the flaws in sanjis articulation and i understand what i think is the intent behind his character but i remember for like months past watching one piece originally i did not get it at all (i have a semi popular post about my friend getting him immediately while shading people who don't but that's me, i was that person) and i had to play around with interpretations of him to truly settle on what i think is concretely understanding him.

the reason, partially, for my original trepidation is twofold,

one, shonen does not have a good track record.

two, more personally, it's kind of insulting to the audience to expect this character who you've established has a relationship with women that has it's pros and cons (i always go back to the arlong park articulation of zoro respecting nami enough to see her as a threat and sanji because she's a woman, willing to look past what is obviously a mental breakdown from someone whos struggling. that was like the best articulation oda couldve done it all goes downhill from there) and like fully acknowledge inherently the social injustice that women face within that, while also doing the social injustice. it's hypocritical.*

ive taken to just categorically ignoring the pervert jokes and pretending we never progressed past pre ts sanjis jokes (which by the way and i say this with every spiteful bone in my entire body, were FUNNIER. it is such a fucking crime that sanji a character that had SO many consistently funny jokes because he is an hilarious comedy character, gets absolutely no funny jokes. the most recent funny joke he's had is egghead but before that it wasn't for years that he had a funny joke.) because the good thing and also the function of the sanji jokes especially as they relate to nami is that nami can and does cushion how creepy he comes off. they are in a weird consensual heterosexual chicken game and it says something about them that they treat eachother like this. unfortunately when you reduce sanjis jokes down to pervert anime jokes you also loose their back and forth which hurts namis characterization and as i've said before. the group dynamic is everything. you cannot hurt it it is sacred or one pieces quality declines (post timeskip)

*This is also a similar way that one piece as a story treats abuse more broadly. There's this thing that I call in my head "intent is effect" logic where basically if a character had good intent dot tm they're forgiven for abuse by the narrative and their abuse is played off as a joke (garp) or you're judge (the most evilest man on the planet which btw did you know all abusers are evil and not complicated human beings /s) (do NOT interpret me as saying this as a hashtag abuse apologist thing i will kill you. i am a persona 5 fan, ideologically.) i would pretty much definitively say that uh the same logic is applied to sanjis sexual assault/harassment jokes, as they are a type of abuse. and uh that's bad. it's shitty on all accounts for sure.

although im sure id become more fuelled by rage and question the stability of my own opinions if i watched the shittier parts of post TS again, I'll eventually get there in my rewatch don't worry.

[humanoidtyphoons]

I haven't seen the BBC Musketeers show, partially because I've gotten into the book rrecently and also because I'm disappointed in reading about their incarnation of Rochefort. How is the show?

I liked how the book version of Rochefort was like a rival you'd see in a shonen; over confident older guy that frequently fights the younger protagonist in the same fighting style, follows the same code of honor, works for the villains but isn't too evil, and ultimately becomes friends with the protagonist after several times.

I wouldn't be surprised if at least some anime antagonists are directly based on Rochefort, Japan does have a fanbase for classic France literature.

I would say on the whole the show is pretty good! I feel like s1 is fantastic and a must watch, s2 is decent and mostly enjoyable, and s3 I don’t remember much about beyond disappointment. Costumes are great, it’s charming and funny and it’s a lovely take, for most part. S1 especially has the romp and adventure that’s so prominent in the books.

s1

-totally captures a swashbuckling feeling! great fun! good dynamics between the four! they’re all such loveable musketeers! you really feel the bonds for aramis & porthos as a loveable duo, athos & d’artagnan as old/young contrast, but them as a group and various combinations remains adorable to the end.

-they cast howard charles as porthos, and give an episode to his backstory, which i liked a lot, because it gave a really good historical explanation to having moc musketeers.

-i think they do right by constance/d’artagnan, and constance in general, making her a more fleshed out character, who lives to the end. tbh i was more won over by the ship in s2, but i think s1 was… fine for them, even if I’m pretty meh on how they handled her husband. don’t love it but it’s not especially a great role, not particularly likeable but at least he’s not oblivious to his wife having an affair. (i don’t think he found out in the book but… i could be wrong? edit: i was wrong)

-love athos. surly, alcoholic, aloof. his actor tom burke is perfect starting off indifferent to slowly regaining his former self, and how d’artagnan is the push he needs, breathing new life into him that continues in s2… and prolly s3.

-i think santiago cabrera is great as aramis, and how they explain how a spaniard is a musketeer. i think there’s an episode about the french-spanish war? it’s an episode about his backstory that features jj feild, who i adore.

-luke pasqualino surprisingly good as d’artagnan??? not quite as hot tempered, but still feisty and youthful and endearing in enthusiasm, that i enjoyed his portrayal a lot!

-maime mccoy as milady. wonderful! s1, she mysteriously appears and disappears in smoke constantly. the show is more sympathetic to her than the book, tho, but i’m super into the passionate lovers who can’t move on/kill each other/bound by their past, in s1&2. and i think for most part, the portrayal is satisfying, even if she’s not AS sociopathic, richelieu does tell her off for killing TOO much.

-peter capaldi as richelieu is amazing. it’s a great and nuanced performance that makes me wish he stayed on—altho maybe the plan was always one season, idk! but he’s riveting and i love him, and at his best here.

-there’s an episode where the musketeers hustle for money, in which porthos woos a widow. made me surprisingly happy because they do that in the book too! and it being handled here was good? (he actually stays with the widow all three seasons which is cute tho. edit: he does not! he breaks up with her the same episode and dates a different widow in s3, preparing for marriage)

-love the captain of the musketeers! treville is delightfully grumpy and i enjoy his ever growing role throughout the seasons!

cons:

-don’t particularly like queen anne/aramis getting a romance tbh. as hilarious as it is to have athos snidely whisper “you slept with the queeeeeeeen!” iconic, tbh, how it continues in s2-3, with aramis being the father of the dauphin… meh. edit: rewatching athos break the news to porthos/d’artagnan/treville is peak comedy tho.

-tbh don’t love aramis sleeping with the lady that richelieu is seeing? it’s only a pilot issue, i think, and i get that aramis is a womanizer, but. meh.

-d’artagnan dad dies in the pilot. one day there’ll be a version where he’s fine and his son writes him letters, but… not this version.

-the king. is. probably accurately portrayed stupidly. i think his actor is very good, in all honesty. but the character is a lil infuriating to watch bc of how he blindly obeys and is fooled by people and has temper tantrums. might be more of a s2 issue, where he starts dating milady and believing rochefort, but. hmm, elements are probably here too. tho i too would maybe listen to richelieu more than most.

s2

-it’s mostly good? the chemistry of the musketeers remains perfect, tho it departs from the book more so.

-love the messiness of athos/milady/king louis. milady sticking around makes things complicated for these two, but i’m so into it, bc yeah, athos/milady are clearly not over each other.

cons:

-rochefort. god i was thrilled initially bc a) marc warren, yay! b) NO EYEPATCH!!! (christopher lee is a wonderful rochefort but that movie starts the trend of rochefort having an eyepatch and… i hate it actually…) But then, he’s creepy obsessed with Queen Anne, and they give him an eyepatch in the final episode anyway, and his downfall is disappointing and pitiful tbh. He’s just so one note and a waste of an actor, that, yeah, I’m disappointed by it. I will say Anne saying “not once have I thought of you�� was pretty neat tho, since they knew each other when they were younger, and she was initially happy to see him again.

-the continuation of the anne/aramis storyline bc she’s pregnant with his child… don’t particularly love that, and how aramis is dating the caretaker of his son once the dauphin is born? she dies, predictably. (actually the dauphin might have been born in s1, and s2 might have had a timeskip, my memory is pretty hazy since it’s been years.)

s3:

uh. everyone gets a happily ever after? there’s a time skip. athos starts dating sylvie, introduced in s3. they’re… fine.

-i think the season could have been good because there are two villains, one played by rupert everett as maquis de feron, who could have been interesting, and i think i read has some historical basis? but they do very little with him in the end. and then there’s grimaud. who was just very boring and pointless.

-milady is brought back for one episode, mainly bc the actress was pregnant so had less time to shoot. where she and athos cut ties for good, and he’s now in love with sylvie and he’s happy, and… yeah. not the way i wanted it to go, but c’est la vie.

-if you’re invested in constance/d’artagnan, anne/aramis, porthos/the widow, athos/sylvie, they all live happily.

tldr, i liked it initially, how it incorporated other historical elements, didn’t mind the divergences so much in s2, but i checked out a lot in s3.

but the camaraderie between the musketeers is cute, so I would still recommend s1-2, despite the flaws, and if you really want to finish the story, s3, but I wasn’t especially a fan of it.

re: book!rochefort. right??? he and d’artagnan deciding to be friends was adorable and I was delighted in Twenty Years Later, at their reunion!!! Why don’t adaptations include this instead of having Rochefort killed off??? >_<

ahaha, probably! There’s the anime dogtagnan, right? They do like Lupin a lot! I loved anime les mis! and anime gankutsuo was a good count of monte cristo for most part. altho now I do want examples of a similar Rochefort & D’Artagnan friendship in anime, bc it’s super cute, and R&D can’t be the only time that happens! i’ll try and be on the lookout for some similar dynamics bc it’s cute.

[izartn]

On Episodes 1-2 for Blue Lock

In honor to the football final tomorrow, where Spain plays England for Europe, I started watching Blue Lock, and it's soooo trippy as a Spaniard. Yes those famous player played in teams in Spain. Yes the Real Madrid is name dropped in ep 2.

Meanwhile we've invented a French guy (I think?) so we don't need to bring up Messi and Cristiano on it, which completely fair, I get it; and also we've put a guy with crazy eyes in charge of a millionare investment and locked all these 275 teen guys with skin tight suits in a metaphorical Hunger Games-eske set up to battle for a seat in the national team. The teens also get crazy eyes and I suppose, some powers sports shonen style.

The juxtaposition of like. The realism of the sport and the craziness of pink haired woman and ego guy and all their troupe of teens is soooo funny. Only anime xD

Also this anime is not gonna beat the yaoi bait allegations. You only need to see a real football match to watch all the players being all handsy over each other, adding shonen sports tropes to football is almost unfair XD

Interested too, in how the egoism thing is going to backfire as much as its gonna help develop these players; I see a clear commentary on the excessive group over individual culture they have in Japan, but football is a team sport and there's a thing called overcorrecting. Got corruption arc vibes for the first 2 episodes which is I think what has me most on the hook.

I love a well done corruption arc.

[mobumi]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks....

Hi! Sorry for the late reply, i started to write my answer and completely forgot about it. It's been in my drafts for months, i feel so bad omg! 😭 It was also really difficult to choose and i have only two female characters i am truly ashamed... But thank you very much for this ask, it was fun!

Here's my top 10! 😊

1. Mob/Kageyama Shigeo (Mob Psycho 100 - Anime)

I love him so much! I think he has the most wonderful character development in any anime i've watched! He has such a pure soul and compared to other shonen MCs, he just wants to be a normal teenager and be happy. So much growth and strength with this character, i love it! The series finale was incredible and I was so happy for my boy🥹

2. Megumi Fushiguro (Jujutsu Kaisen - Anime)

I think he's an interesting character with so much potential for the future. I love the way he always appears reserved and cold but he's actually a softie on the inside and how his own sense of justice contrasts with Yuji. He's just a pretty cool character and stronger than he appears to be and he cares so much about his friends. Haven't read the manga but currently watching season 2 so I'm excited about what's in store for him!

3. Dream of the Endless (The Sandman - TV)

New favorite character alert!! Not a surprise 'cause my favorites are always the cold and broody ones tbh I just love how Dream is so imperfect and still learning and his whole vibe, the long black coat and the emo hair like he's in a indie rock band is just chef's kiss! Incredible character on the show, so charismatic and mesmerizing.

4. Five (The Umbrella Academy - TV)

At this point, there's a pattern here. Maybe it's because i'm an INTJ myself, but Five seems like he's very INTJ to me. It's just the whole attitude and the way he calculates and plans everything, very rational and precise, sarcastic and (though pretty mean sometimes), exactly how i like my characters! All his scenes are top tier and his power is very cool (not explored enough on the show unfortunately.)

5. Minho (The Maze Runner - Book series)

The sarcastic character? Asian as main? Hell yes! Finally more Asian representation and not stereotyped! The book series would have not been as good without him! I was pretty gutted when he was barely there in the Death Cure movie, but Ki Hong Lee was so great as Minho, he perfectly captured his smug and smartass attitude that I fell in love with. He's also very courageous and loyal to his friends which I love too. Overall a very cool character!

6. Deadpool/ Wade Wilson (Deadpool - Comics/Movies)

Deadpool is just Deadpool... Bro he's just vibing killing people or whatever. He's completely unhinged, crazy, over the top and just a fun ride. Pansexual king! What else can I say, he's just one of my favorite comic book characters ❤️

7. Miles Morales (Spiderman - Comics/Movies)

Another comic book character in my list. Miles is a cool addition to the Spiderverse and the movies they made are just INCREDIBLE! The animation, everything is top notch. Also Miles is very relatable and has an intesresting development. You get attached to him quickly and he's just so lovable, idk he's my son, i stan.

8. Stiles Stilinski (Teen Wolf - TV)

Honestly asfghjkl!! I've always loved this character, more so when i was a teenager watching Teen Wolf. Looking back now, the show was not that good but at the time I was pretty obsessed. Stiles was everything i loved about a character: funny, sarcastic, entertaining, likable... He made the show a lot better and kept me watching! He's low on this list only because i'm not into Teen Wolf as much as i was back in the day.

9. Sana Bakkoush (Skam - TV)

She's so cool?? I wish i had been like that when i was a teenager, well for the most part lol. I really like her unbothered attitude and her snarky comments. She is fierce, not afraid to say what she thinks and is loyal to her friends and trustworthy. She's a teenager who has still a lot to learn but she's already wise for her age and just a good character overall. I really like female characters who are confident and charismatic! Her season wasn't perfect, but for me she was the best character in the whole series 😊

10. Sidney Adamu (The Bear - TV)

She's last on the list mostly because she's a new favorite, but she's very cool. I can relate to her, she's fresh and real, she knows her worth, she's courageous, hard-working and just very lovable as a character! Sydney captivated me from the beginning and her scenes were always my favorites. Haven't finished season 2 yet but I can't wait to see where her character goes! ✨

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Bimonthly Media Roundup

-Reservoir Dogs (Movie) - Movie Night! I probably don't need to elaborate on why this is a pretty solid movie. Good setup, the timeline works well, it's snappy in the way it introduces characters then flashbacks to the backstories, there's good interpersonal drama in the group, ect ect. It's also interesting to see a movie set in so few locations, the small budget required the full use of a single setting and a focus on dialogue. I can't say I find any of the characters or ideas compelling outside of the context of this story (Though I do find the acting of Mr White and Mr Pink to be quite enjoyable), but they work great as the bottle episode/short story style tale of an enjoyable and memorable flick. Not my favorite Tarantino Film, but worth the watch for anyone who enjoys these kinds of movies.

- How to Refuse the Route (Webcomic) - Self indulgent Trapped in an Otome game webcomic I've been keeping up with, this ones a BL in which the MC is reincarnated as a young child in what will someday become a Otome game plot and chooses to avoid the bad endings by avoiding any ending and resolutely avoiding any romance or interaction with the game characters, which obviously fails pretty early on. This ones pretty cute, I like the art and the "possessive in the way introverts are with their one outgoing friend" love interest, I think the plot moves at a pretty good pace, and the magic school setting is one I like even if it's overused. I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone outside of the slow-burn isekai shonen ai pipeline though, there's almost no memorable characters outside the duo (and no women basically at all), the magic system isn't super well defined or focused on, and the protagonist, while likable enough, can sometimes be frustratingly dense in regard to these future prophesies he's given. Still it's cute to see a childhood friends to lovers story in this setting with a vaguely knight + wizard couple, for aesthetics alone it earns points.

- Captain Ron (Movie) - Movie Night Part 2. I did not so much choose this one as I was subjected to it when my Kurt Russell loving friend found it on Tubi after watching Reservoir Dogs and went "We're watching this now". Would I have ever watched it on my own? No. Did I think it was good anyway? Also No. Technically I had fun watching it as it was nice to rip on it with my friend but content wise Captain Ron is a mediocre to bad early 90's "Family movie" about a normal family employing wacky Captain Kurt Russell to pilot their newly acquired boat around while hi-jinks ensue. It did have a few funny moments either of the ironically bad sort (Kurt Russell's awful accent) or the actually kind of funny sort (Giving a lift to gun wielding foreign revolutionaries who then casually hang out with the family on the boat) but it really dragged in the latter half and overall wasn't interesting enough for me to label it as a good good movie or a good bad movie. Mostly boring and predictable with unmemorable characters but fairly unoffensive overall - There are far better Kurt Russell movies you could watch instead of this.

- Dungeon Meshi (Anime) - Almost done with the first season, will probably read the manga as the anime seems to be leaving out some cute jokes and world building that I would be interested in seeing. It's been great so far as I expected, likable weirdos in a well thought out and interesting setting with a well paced plot. Plus monsters!

- Community (TV) - Despite being a comedy sitcom fan I'd never actually watched this. So far I do see why it got so big, the dialogue is so witty and fun, the jokes are good, and while the cast is a bit intentionally unlikable right now they do play off eachother well. Looking forward to actually liking these guys (Outside of Abed who's already very charming).

- The Witch of Mercury (Anime) - Making my way through fairly slowly so nothing new to report. The girl's are cute together, I'm starting to get into it.

-Mashle: Magic and Muscles (Anime) - Caught up with the anime. My sister and I mostly watched this as the premise sounded funny and the OP was banging. I do think they managed to get some good comedy out of "guy who doesn't have magic goes to magic school and gets by by punching things super hard", though it did start to wear with time. It was also genuinely funny how much they got away with just ripping off Harry Potter - like the school is just Hogwarts with Hogwarts houses, they play a game that's just quidditch, they go to the same wand shop, Dumbledore is there, it's literally just Harry potter that's hilarious please keep stealing from JK fuck her. The cast is likable enough but also largely just tropes rather than engaging characters, though Mash as a protagonist is fine. The animation and plot are passable but generic and the evil organization is largely uninteresting making the 2nd half drag whenever they show up. I can't say any of the ideas or story beats are original or executed very well here, it's mostly just the absurd comedy that makes it likable, and even then it's usually more chuckle worthy than laugh out loud funny. I did have fun with it overall though as a few of the moments were pretty memorable and it was overall just pleasant.

- One Piece (Anime/TV) - Still doing the rewatch of the live action while keeping up with the new episodes. I plan on reading the manga (Colorized) in full, though I haven't made a lot of progress due to some unexpected health issues. Luffy is super cute in the new episodes. The live action is still pretty solid, though on the rewatch I did start to question why ARLONG of all people needs a map to the Grand Line. Like Arlong, buddy, you're FROM the Grand Line. Did you just forget? Did your whole crew forget? Are you only staying in the East Blue as you all got lost? I guess they have more in common with Zoro then I'd assumed.

- Genshin Impact (Video Game) - So incredibly, when I rolled to get Alhaithem, I was disappointed to get a 2nd Kequing - Only to immediately get Alhaithem moments later. Two 5 stars, unbelievable. I also got a maxed out Bennet, a couple Thomas and Sethos, and surprisingly Heizo? Didn't know you could get unrelated 4 stars on the Event banners. I finished Sumeru's main quest and will be exploring the desert a bit before heading to Fountain.

Listening To: Hope by Akano, Tounges & Teeth and Metaphor by The Crane Wives, HateKiller by WON, Dream Girl Evil by Florence + The Machine, The Red Means I Love You by Madds Buckley, Promiseland by MIKA, All the Boys by Panic! At The Disco, Bonjour Au Revoir by Joyce Jonathan, Fences by Paramore, Little Numbers by Boy, Lay All Your Love On Me by ABBA, Song of the Dead by Kana-Boon.