#also what happened to just letting VAs do their thing when it comes to animated

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Just so we clear: if you get mad at MCU for constantly tying everything together and not letting anything be it's own thing anymore but celebrate James Gunn wanting to do the same with DC, your a hypocrite.

[rh3maji]

Lil rant abt Caine

Caine is just a lil guy, despite it all. From a design standpoint I thought I was gonna absolutely fucking hate looking at him because those chattering teeth toys make my skin crawl- but the art direction really helps make him look more appealing and whimsical than a disembodied pair of talking dentures sounds on paper.

The thing with Caine is I didn't initially like him that much after the pilot. While his interactions with Bubble were quite funny, that one episode left me feeling like he'd just end up being kinda one note or at the very least one note in a way that'd get on my nerves. Then everything changed when Pomni Wake Up Time to Go On an Adventure! attacked

The comedic timing throughout that announcement video was so fucking funny and thanks to his line deliveries and animation/model [?] upgrades- CAINE LOOKED AND SOUNDED SO ADORABLE!!

Legit it wasn't until this came out that I realized I actually could be on board with Caine as a character and it's been uphill from there. Episode 2 was better than the pilot not only comedically and visually but also in terms of showcasing just how actually unsettling Caine can be as an antagonist. Not because he's vengeful or malicious, but because he's so oblivious to how people work. His mind's always buzzing with terrible ideas and he's so so eager about these adventures, but at the end of the day he really really doesn't get the circus crew. Try as he might to include them, keep them engaged [ZOOBLE WAIT!], or even give them what they want [Exit doors] he doesn't realize how traumatic and distressing their current situation can be. The very nature of being trapped in a digital world is bad enough but it's especially rough here bc not only does its god have limited capabilities, you also are very well acquainted with him, and he can't fully understand your pain nor can he truly save you from it. He won't mourn your abstraction. He will not attend your funeral. He will not understand the distress of your arrival, nor the weight of your departure.

This isn't just sad from the pov of the circus gang, it's also very sad for Caine- not because i think he'll ever feel sad about it himself necessarily, but instead because the situation is sad. New members appear over and over, you craft adventures and games and distractions like [i'm assuming] they'd asked you to, but over and over, one by one, they abstract. They stop laughing at your jokes. They don't like you. They want you to leave them alone. It's confusing and maybe even inconvenient.

Where I'm hoping the series takes Caine is that this dissonance between Caine's intentions and the distress of the circus gang gets worse and worse and worse until something's got to give. I'm hoping that maybe at some point a character will try to sit down and talk with him and for it to either sorta get through to him but completely backfire in some form because he misinterprets what the others want from him OR i'd also be down for him to listen, but not understand any of it and proceed as tho nothing happened. I don't want Caine to come around really, it'd be interesting to see how Goose would go about having him come around to being a better host that empathizes more with humans, but personally I do prefer him to keep on keepin' on being this oblivious and eager antagonist.

My favorite Caine lines/line deliveries so far:

"You, my friend, stumbled into an incredible world of wonders, where anything can happen!…e-except for swearing."

"And here we have THE GROUNDS! Drown yourself in the digital lake, or engage in ridery at the digital carnival!"

"What do you think of XDDCC? You're right, terrible, LET'S TRY THAT AGAIN!"

"Kaufmo abstracted? Why didn't anybody tell me?"

"Bubble you can't say that"

"-ZOOBLE WAIT!"

"Why are you all just standing there?! The- The Canyon- C-Candy Canyon Kingdom needs you now!" [according to his VA, this was an actual line flub but hoo boy am i glad they use it bc it's hilarious]

"I know you guys love your NPCs, but if I start losing track of who's a human and who's an NPC, who knows...what. could. happen..."

That last line there specifically surprised me the most because up until he said that I was under the impression Caine was linked to every single NPC. I even thought he could see through their eyes if he so chose thanks to his "hundreds of all seeing eyes" line in the pilot. Him saying this here implies lots of things. Has Caine forgotten before? Is someone in the circus secretly an NPC ooooooooh~

"Who knows what could happen..."

Honestly, when Caine first said this I did immediately theorize Jax as being an NPC but now that it's been *checks calendar* three months since I watched episode 2, I don't think this is the case anymore. Jax being an NPC would be...something. Jax not knowing he's an NPC would be interesting [i like it when ppl's realities get shattered], but honestly I think this line was a way to telegraph to the audience that no Caine isn't actually all knowing. He didn't know Gummigoo was coming through that portal until he saw him with his own two eyes. My theory is that Caine is only able to teleport, create, censor, transform, and destroy the world around him, but isn't able to see all of it at once unless he tries to. I think Caine's default state is one where he only knows what he sees directly in front of him/what he himself has left waiting for someone else. And rather than implying someone in the gang is an NPC, I think that line in episode 2 was mainly implying Caine can be tricked, that it's possible to hide something from him, to surprise him even. Though I'm not opposed to an NPC we haven't met trying to join under the guise of being human, it'd potentially create some fun tension assuming the audience was given enough reason to care about them.

Jax is actually my favorite character in tadc, but i couldn't fill an entire post with things to say abt him. Caine seems to be- at least as of right now- the easiest of all the characters to try and wrap my head around. I'll probably have a lot more to say about Jax as he exists in canon as the episodes come out [EPISODE 6 MY BELOVED]

but uhhhh yeah, that's all the things i had to say abt Caine. Pls go watch/listen to the fansong Digital Land bye!

[ravenstargames]

✦ Lost in Limbo Devlog #11 | 05.08.24

AHA! Nope, we didn't forget about April's devlog. In fact, we have been busier than ever—doing early preparations for our Kickstarter, working on the demo, sorting out legal stuff...

Speaking of which...

This month we have been really busy making our studio official by the law! Now, to pay taxes and cry! YAY!

We are very very excited about it—and also terrified! We are still sorting out the studio's bank account, as burocracy isn't the fastest thing in this world, sadly. This is the first thing I wanted to talk about in this devlog, because it's such fantastic news for us! :')

Now, let's jump on the process we've made this past month, shall we? ✨

This past month, Raquel worked very hard on our second Key Art. This was originally made for Steam, but I modified the format a bit so it could also be used in other places! I honestly love this one—we have our first Key Art to represent the darker aspects of the game, and then this one to show off the characters' dynamics! Not everything's going to be horror and mystery in the game!✨💜

Also, we have been working on designing the merch for the Kickstarter, but we can't show anything yet. All we can say is that everything is looking gorgeous and we are so excited to share it eventually!

Thanks to Airyn, we've made great progress with the backgrounds! In fact, there's only one left to finish. The one you see above needs a few final touches (that will be made by yours truly!), and then I'll animate it a bit to get it ready for the build! The rest of the backgrounds are finished, animated, and integrated in the build :3

The survey icon is missing, but it'll be there!

Well, this should tell you everything you need to know when it comes to programming! The whole demo is programmed. Functional. Nothing crashes. Stuff works and I'm over cloud nine. I have been working on the final touches (revisiting scenes, checking sprites, music / sfx volume...) and the beta testing phase will begin soon. Soon as in tomorrow.

We've mainly used this month to review the auditions we received for our casting call, contacting the selected VAs, etc. Every VA has accepted their role, received the document with the lines we'll need for the demo, and we'll work hard to announce the cast publicly as soon as possible! We want to at least do a promotional short video showcasing every LI and their VA!

Sadly, making the studio official has (and will) take more time than we anticipated, and as we want to release the demo on Steam, the review process will most likely slow us down. There's the option of doing an itchio release and then a Steam one, but I'm not sure if that'll hurt the project. We are still keeping the demo release date a secret, until things settle down!

Also, I couldn't finish this devlog without talking about the Magic & Mystery Otome cross-promotion! ✨ We were invited by the amazing folks at Best Laid Plans Studios to participate in this event that showcases 12 amazing visual novels like Alaris, Obscura, Dual Chroma and more! I know I have been pretty annoying with this (can you blame me, though?!) so I won't keep rambling about it—just check everyone out, please!

I think that's all! Well, that's not all, but we gotta keep a bit of mystery surrounding the demo! We have been busy bees this month, with the making of the studio, the polishing of the demo, contacting and coordinating the VAs...

We are so excited for the demo release. I'm personally excited and terrified, but blame it on the OCD. I keep jumping from catastrophic scenario to catastrophic scenario. I'll have no control over what happens when the demo goes live, but I have control on what I can do before that happens—and that's working as hard as I've been doing this whole time.

And that's it! Please take care, enjoy the week, and stay hydrated. The Raventar team, NOW AN OFFICIAL STUDIO, wishes you all the best and sends a huge hug your way! 💜

[lev1hei1chou]

Fun fluffy animes that I loved

This is basically a list of animes that helps get over or deal with the trauma inflicted by various animes. At the moment, I guess fellow JJK fans might need this, and prolly AOT fans on November 5. Have fun watching

Haikyuu

Short Synopsis: Determined to be like the volleyball championship's star player nicknamed "the small giant", Shoyo joins his school's volleyball club.

Episodes: 85 + 5 OVA

The worst thing that can possibly happen is either the 3rd year students graduating or you being unable to support a specific team (nah cuz bro how do you pick and root for one? I end up being happy for the team that won and depressed for the team that lost)

Two movies are coming up soon

Highschool Babysitters

Synopsis: After the sudden death of their parents on a plane crash, two young brothers named Ryūichi Kashima (a freshman in high school) and his younger brother Kotarō (a preschooler) are left orphaned and having no place to call home. The chairwoman of the prestigious Morinomiya Academy offers to take the boys into her care, giving them a new house and free tuition, on the condition that Ryuichi helps out with the school's daycare center while also attending normal classes during school hours.

Episodes: 12 + 1 OVA

Note: Plane crash seems sad but trust me, its only mentioned in the first episode, and the rest 11 is just fluffy goodness. Nothing can prepare you for the cuteness.

Cells At Work

Synopsis: One newcomer red blood cell just wants to do her job. Between bacteria incursions and meeting a certain white blood cell, she's got a lot to learn.

Episodes: 31 + 7

A good mix of science and entertainment. The episodes dont have to be watched in any specific order.

Mr. Osomatsu

Synopsis: The everyday lives of identical sextuplets who cause mischief.

Episodes: 75 + special eps + movies

Has a good amount of 18+ jokes, but its not too overwhelming. It doesnt necessarily follow a plot, and each episode is usually two different stories combined. So, skipping episodes should be fine. Also, it features very popular voice actors for the sextuplets (Geto's VA, Gojo's VA, Levi's VA, Koro sensei's VA, Erwin's VA and Haku/ Sugawara's VA), Iyami (Obanai Iguro's VA), Totoko (Shoko's VA)

The Vampire Dies in No Time

Synopsis: The story follows the famed vampire hunter, Ronaldo, who receives a job to destroy the supposedly invincible vampire lord Draluc and rescue a human boy he allegedly kidnapped.

Episodes: 24

Note: Its a hit or miss, the running gag is used constantly and gets tiring at times, but the overall anime is a good watch. I personally loved John the Armadillo

Buddy Daddies

Synopsis: Assassins Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa meet Miri, a girl looking for her father on Christmas Day. Kazuki, Rei, and Miri unexpectedly end up living together.

Episodes: 12

May get dark at times, so I wont guarantee that itll be a smooth sail, but we get a wholesome conclusion so you can count on that! Otherwise VERY fluffy

Blue Lock

Synopsis: High school soccer players from across Japan gather for a controversial project designed to create the best and most egoistic striker in the world.

Episodes: 24

Isnt exactly true football, but yeah. The anime is pretty fine. It doesnt exactly go under the fluffy anime like i mentioned in the title, but you can check it out if you want.

Free!!

Synopsis: The story is centered on high school student Haruka Nanase, a gifted swimmer. After encountering his childhood rival, Rin Matsuoka from Samezuka Academy, he and his friends revitalize Iwatobi High School's swim team.

Episodes: 37 + specials and movies

This anime to me, personally is what haikyuu is. A great comfort anime which knows how to make the viewer connect with the characters. I dislike it when the whole anime gets reduced to just fanservice, like guys lets look beyond that and actually enjoy the plot.

Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan

Synopsis: From smoking and exercising to nihilistic outbursts, everyone's big brother Uramichi always brings up the not-so-moral side to his life lessons

Episodes: 13

This one is very real and relatable in many levels. Theres a lot of screenshots and panels available online, so you can check a few out before watching!

Obey Me

Synopsis: Brothers Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and Belphegor are among the most powerful demons in the Devildom, serving as officers on the student council at the Royal Academy of Diavolo (RAD). However, being avatars of the seven deadly sins, their behaviors often tend toward the extreme. Their everyday antics belie their high status and fearsome reputations among others of their kind. When viewed behind the scenes, the members of this family are more lovable—and laughable—than they first seem!

Episodes: 24 + 1

It's based on a popular otome game, and can be watched as it is even if you havent played the game. The basic idea is that theyre based on the 7 sins, so their personalities are really amusing. As for the plot, its pretty wholesome.

Play It Cool Guys

Synopsis: Despite their distinctive personalities, Souma Shiki, Hayate Ichikura, Shun Futami, and Takayuki Mima all have one thing in common: though naturally clumsy, the four disguise their embarrassment from tiny slip-ups by maintaining a composed demeanor. However, it is actually the guys' airheaded natures that makes the girls' hearts throb. No matter what happens in their daily lives, the boys do their best not to lose their cool!

Episodes: 24

Each episode is barely 10-13 minutes, so it just doesnt feel enough lol. Most of their slip ups are relatable and could get a chuckle from the viewer. The art style is a little different but its good. Definitely worth watching, once or even multiple times.

Tanaka Kun is Always Listless

Synopsis: For high school student Tanaka, the act of being listless is a way of life. Known for his inattentiveness and ability to fall asleep anywhere, Tanaka prays that each day will be as uneventful as the last, seeking to preserve his lazy lifestyle however he can by avoiding situations that require him to exert himself. Along with his dependable friend Oota who helps him with tasks he is unable to accomplish, the lethargic teenager constantly deals with events that prevent him from experiencing the quiet and peaceful days he longs for.

Episodes: 13 + specials

Not gonna lie, Ive wanted to act like Tanaka. The characters are lovable and the anime is worth giving a try. An underrated gem. I personally loved the school festival episode.

@satoruukisser hope this helps!

[ohmyenjolrass]

things i adored of the catalan version of jesus christ superstar

so i just saw the catalan version of after discovering there is one (it's here, check it out!) and i think it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. shoutout to @this-is-a-name-dont-worry for making me discover it <3

catalan is my favourite language and i am lucky enough to speak it every day, and this production didn't disappoint at all!

so as a tradition in this blog, let's review my favorite parts!

first of all, i adored the setting and the cast. the costumes were also fabulous. so the whole aesthetic of the show was impeccable, giving me the same vibes as the 2018 nbc version. 10/10 for scene.

now, specific things. many of these things have to do with lyrics because i think the translation was EVERYTHING.

heaven on their minds is always a banger, no matter the production. one thing i loved about this particular version was the lyric obri els ulls i escolta el que t'he de dir / que no veus que no vull veure't morir?, which literally translates to open your eyes and listen to what i have to say / can't you see that i don't want to see you die? (more or less).

that translation changed my life forever.

the percussion break right before what's the buzz? gave me +20 years of life.

then, judas's expression during mary's bit was so funny.

and also, some note changes during strange thing mystifying that i LOVED.

i also think it was clever how judas was arguing with the apostles in the background during the first chorus of everything's alright.

moreover, the way mary soothes judas in the second chorus

AND HOW THEY CHANGE THE LYRICS SO THEY CAN MAKE IT PLURAL (like mary talks to both jesus and judas).

ANNAS IS A GIRL !!!!! and an amazing performer, gotta say.

also, the little dancing of the priests during this jesus must die.

i adored how in hosanna, jesus and judas enter together and then mary joins them (and judas gives her a little kiss!!).

also judas telling the crowd to be chill while caiaphas sings.

and how he gets mad when jesus talks about heaven.

SIMON IS A GIRL !!!! and also SPECTACULAR.

the way pilate and jesus look at each other just before pilate's dream.

the priests being in the temple during the scene.

mary confessing to jesus during i don't know how to love him and jesus ALMOST KISSING HER???? WOAH.

a priest offered judas some food while he was having a mental breakdown in damned for all time and i thought it was the funniest thing ever.

okay so during the last supper happened a lot of things

first, JUDAS SMOKING. i'm always a fan of that (please, don't smoke).

also, during their first confrontation, judas says deixa'm que t'expliqui (let me explain) to jesus, and I WANTED TO CRY

the way the apostles tidy up the table after jesus and judas's first fight.

at the end, judas looks for comfort in the apostles AND THEY REJECT HIM???? the audacity.

gethsemane was in general absolutely stunning, but some things i liked about it is the way it was translated. the song in catalan seems like jesus is asking god to show himself so that he can see that everything is real. HEART B R E A K I N G.

ANOTHER HEARTBREAK. the lyrics just before the song starts say ningú es vol quedar despert amb mi? / no em deixeu sol avui, which translates to none of you wants to stay awake with me? / don't leave me alone today. I MEAN.

some other lyrics that destroyed me were the pre-chorus. in catalan, jesus sings: vas donar-me llum / però ara sols veig fum / esperant que tú vinguessis / vaig donar-te el que tenia / una vida / no pots esperar més d'un home sol, which translates to you gave me light / but now i only see smoke / waiting for you to come / i gave you what i had / a life / you cannot expect more from only a man. I MEAN X2.

peter's voice was one of my favorites.

and also, herod serving cunt in that animal print trousers. chef's kiss.

judas's death affected me more than any other production

in superstar, judas singing de debò el teu sacrifici et converteix en salvador? which translates to does your sacrifice really makes you a savior? in the cuntiest way possible. yes, king.

and to finish, the timer above the cross going down before jesus's death.

if you reached this point, hi! i hope you enjoyed it, 'cause i know i did. check out this production, it is truly amazing. see you in the next post! x

[i-hear-a-sound]

Sort of dumb Drakengard and Nier stuff I find really really interesting

this will be long. and dumb. and probably wrong. under the readmore

This is an image of what the Alien’s ship looks like in Automata. And yes, it most definitely looks like a flower. Interesting thing is, aliens coming down in a ship shaped like a flower is something that sounds really familiar to the lore: of how in Drakengard, the Watchers came down with the Flower. (fact check me if that’s wrong though)

This image is faintly in every in-game cutscene in Drakengard. These are implied to be images from the universe’s altered Bible? (Christianity is the main religion in the game, it’s just altered with things like the Goddess the seals etc). Which, means, if you squint…

this image looks like a dragon impaled on a tower. It’s pixelated as fuck but higher quality images do confirm this. If I find one of those I’ll update it. (something something, timeloop is obvious)

These two scenes have been paralleled to death. Yes, the black box scene in Automata does look somewhat moderately kind of if you squint like the scene in which Caim pacts with Angelus, but let’s focus more on the ladder scene because something has always bugged me about it.

Firstly. The souls themselves. Maybe it’s just me… they look like egg cells? Which, no, I’m not going “Caimangelus had sex, good for them” I’m going “If this is the case, what else are referred to as “eggs” in this game?”

In the original version of the game in Japan, the Seeds of Destruction are not referred to as Seeds. They’re called eggs.

another thing. We get to see what happens when a seed is destroyed in ending C. And for a brief second, it looks like this:

Another thing about this scene. Something I also never noticed was that when he pulls out his soul, Caim’s chest does… this?

I’d gif it if i could but atm I cant, but believe me. Angelus just shoots it out from her mouth he just reaches into his chest like it’s liquid. And again, back to the ending C scene:

What does this imply?

…Jack shit lol I just think it’s interesting. Smiley face.

Accord is an incredibly mysterious character in the world of Drakenier. We know nothing of her origins, who created her, why she is at all, and the most we know is:

There is a lot of her. She was created in the “Kingdom of night”. She was created by “something like humans”. She studies singularities. Her goal is to prevent the fall-down. She’s a boob lover.

Something interesting to note is that, the character of Adam kind of somewhat maybe shares a lot of design parallels with Accord. Not even just in terms of the use of white/cream.

Adam has glasses, a black tie, and on one hand has a glove similar to what Accord has. In the anime he gets the same tattoo of the Cult of the Watcher’s Eve had in the game, and Accord is specifically stated to have taken an interest in the branch involving the cult’s creation.

But what’s weird is that Adam… is a machine. And accord isn’t. At least, she’s not supposed to be? Who knows. I have lots so say about Accord but most of it is just theorizing so I’ll leave that for another day.

But I want to talk about the other twin: Eve.

Weirdly enough, Eve and Brother Nier and to an extent, the Shadowlord, share a lot of similarities as well. Sure there’s the white hair, the fact they’re both siblings of someone, etc etc etc, but something I never noticed was how similar their attacks are. Thank the fucking sadfutago church thing for that one lol.

I mean… just the fact that these two not only share the same English VA, but that in the automata DLC for Replicant, the Shadowlord boss music is replaced by Dependent Weakling. (Fact check that for me too, it’s been a while)

Weird parallels all around.

These… doors. Why are they here?

for context, in a Drakengard level you stumble across just this… room with a couple random, red doors. Some of them are open. Some of them are not. I. Don’t. Know. Why. These. Are. Here.

(I mean I do… I very much do, but again. That’s theory.)

Anyways. Doors are actually mentioned in the game, in the final line for ending C. “A pitiful child shall defy the hands of the gods, and a door will close.”

Hmmm?? Thing to note: the “hands of the gods” are dragons. “A pitiful child shall defy the dragons, and a door will close.”

And to end off this post, a fun fact; before becoming the first intoner, Lady Zero had a different name. Rose.

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS ZERO Animate Tokuten Drama CD “A Vampire’s Late Night Snack Terror” [Azusa ver.]

Original title: 夜更かしヴァンパイアの食テロ飯 [アズサ編]

Source: Diabolik Lovers ZERO Vol. 12 Animate Tokuten CD

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Kishio Daisuke

Translator’s note: This has to be funniest ‘late-night snack’ CDs yet. Honestly big props to Azusa’s VA for pulling off those sudden changes in tone so perfectly. You can honestly always rely on Azusa to bring some top tier comedy to the table. Funny moments aside, this track was also very wholesome but I did not expect any less from DL’s very own cinnamon roll. 

*Rustle rustle*

Azusa suddenly appears behind you.

“The refrigator...is so cool and refreshing...”

You shriek and jump backwards.

“Ah...I’m sorry...for startling you...I could hear sounds coming from the kitchen even though everyone should be asleep at this hour...so I came to take a look...But I was surprised to find you here...”

You sigh in relief.

“You were cooling off, so I probably interfered, huh? It’s really hot and humid tonight, so I totally understand.”

You explain yourself.

“Huh? I got it wrong? ...I figured you were using the refrigerator to find some refreshment. Then what were you doing? Looking for leftovers from dinner, perhaps?”

You nod.

“I see. You’re hungry, huh...?”

You nod again.

“I understand. Kou and Yuma...raid the fridge all the time as well...But they always get scolded by Ruki for having no manners...He’ll get mad at you as well if he sees you. You can have breakfast once you wake up so...Try to endure it for now, and let’s head back to your room, okay?”

You shake your head.

“Eh? I see...I guess you won’t back down, huh? ...If you’ve made such a strong resolve...then I am in no position to stop you. ‘I shall have my midnight snack, even if I have to break the rules!’ ...Eve, if that is the path you have chosen in life, you have no other choice but to stick to it, regardless of the many dangers which may wait ahead!”

You ask if Ruki is that scary when he gets upset. 

“Exactly. You shall soon find out too, just how terrifying he can be. Who knows what kind of torture might await you...if Ruki were to find you...He might just lecture you for a whole day while you’re forced to sit still on your knees. On top of that, if you just so happen to doze off...because he uses so many difficult words...the period will be extended to two days...

ーーNo, he might not keep it at just that! He could even forbid you from eating for a whole week...or fold your clothes inside out on purpose! And when you wake up...you find those horrible green peppers all over your room. But when you try to leave, the door’s lock has been rigged with some kind of puzzle you can’t solve! ...I’m sure Ruki would do such a thing. ...Still, you choose food, even if it means making him your enemy, don’t you? ...Okay. If you have made up your mind, then I won’t run either...!”

You start to have second thoughts.

“Eh...? What’s wrong...?”

You admit to Azusa that you’re scared now.

“Huh? You don’t want Ruki to get upset with you? I see. In that case...Hmー That’s a tricky one...I don’t want you to have to go through such horrible things but...Ah! Right! I think Ruki might let it slide if you actually cook something? Then you wouldn’t be doing something rude after all! Besides, it’s much worse to miss on precious rest because you can’t sleep from the hunger! Mmh! Let’s say that you’re allowed to eat something, as long as you prepare it yourself!”

You still seem doubtful. 

“Don’t worry. I’m sure Ruki will understand as well. Besides...I’m kind of hungry as well. Can I join you for a late-night snack?”

You agree and start looking through the fridge.

*Rustle rustle*

“Fufu~ Hooray! ...But do we even have anything left? Everyone in this family eats a lot so...do you think you’ll have enough ingredients to work with...?”

You nod and close the fridge again.

*Thud*

“Eh? What is...that?”

You explain.

“Bitter...melon?”

You ask Azusa if he has never tried it.

“Mmh...It’s green just like peppers...so I haven’t really...”

You tell him it can be good.

“Is that so? If you say so...I suppose I can try a little...”

You tell him that you’ll make something with it.

“Mmh! I’ll help you with the cooking as well.”

*TIMESKIP*

*Cling cling*

*Rattle*

“Hm...Oh...You’re using a bunch of different ingredients, huh? This is...flour starch...”

*Rustle*

“And these are dried bonito flakes...Mayonaise and salt...”

You give him instructions.

“I just need to put them all together into a bowl? ...Okay.”

Azusa puts all of the ingredients in the bowl.

“Ah...Just a little bit of mayonaise and salt, right?”

He follows your instructions.

“About this much?”

 You nod.

“Mmh.”

*Thud*

“Now we add the eggs and a splash of water...Before mixing it well...”

Azusa adds the final ingredients before mixing everything up.

“Like this? Or should I mix it a bit more?”

You tell him it’s not quite right.

“I see...It’s difficult...Perhaps it’d be better to leave this part up to you...I don’t know how much strength to put in exactly...In return, tell me when it’s time to cut up the bitter melon, okay? I’ll try my best!”

You agree.

“Mmh. Good luck.”

He hands the bowl to you as you start mixing.

“Ah...Just as I thought, you’ve got the technique down. Just watching you makes me feel everything will be alright.”

You ask him if he sometimes feels worried when watching someone cook.

“Yeah. There’s been times where I’ve been stressed. I’m never worried when Ruki is the one cooking, but when it’s Yuma or Kou...watch out.”

You raise a brow.

“When Yuma makes dinner, he cuts the vegetables too big, so they’re never cooked all the way through. After starting from scratch several times, I guess he got irritated, because he just flipped over the pot. As for Kou...the kitchen was a mess. It doesn’t matter what he tries to cook, it always ends with a disaster. But the worst part is...Ruki who explodes after witnessing it.”

You flinch.

“Mmh...It’s horrifying...So try to avoid being there when it happens, okay?”

You ask Azusa about his culinary skills.

“Me? I’d like to think I’m a decent cook but...The last time I made something, everyone complained about the flavor. The others go way too light on the chili pepper. It’s so good though.”

*Thud*

“Your hand stopped moving, by the way. Are you done mixing? What’s next?”

You explain.

“My turn, right?”

*Rustle rustle*

Azusa grabs the bitter melon and rinses it with water.

“I need to cut it into thin slices, right? I’ll cut it the exact size you want.”

He grabs a large kitchen knife.

*Cling*

“Fufu...This knife looks...very sharp. Haah...Oh...But...I’m sure it’ll cut even better if I hone the blade...I’m sure it’d feel great to effortlessly slice through meat or vegetables...Fufufu...”

You tell him there’s no time for that now.

“Eh...? You think so...? If you say so, I’ll do it some other time, okay...? Well then, I’ll start cutting, okay?”

Azusa cuts the bitter melon.

“Slices of one milimeter each...”

*Chop chop chop chop chop*

“Hm~ Did I do it right?”

You are very impressed with his knife work.

“Fufu~ It feels nice to get praised by you. Is there anything else that needs to be cut?”

You ask him to cut the meat as well.

“Okay. The pork belly needs to be cut in thin slices of about one centimeter.”

*Rustle*

“And you want the fried tofu chopped up in cubes of around five milimeter...”

*Chop chop chop chop chop*

*Rustle*

*Chop chop chop chop chop*

“Here you go. All done.”

*Clap clap clap*

“You’re making me blush with all those compliments...But I won’t deny that it makes me happy. Should I add these to the bowl from earlier?”

You nod.

“In that case...”

Azusa adds the ingredients to mix.

“Now we mix it well, right?”

He mixes it up.

*Rustle*

“Huh? A frying pan...? Are we going to...bake this perhaps?”

You explain.

“I see...I think I’m starting to picture it all together. Let’s see...I have to pour it in bit by bit, right?”

*Pshhhh*

“Like this?”

You nod.

“Fufu~ We’ve got a bunch of mini okonomiyaki. (1)”

You start flipping them over.

“Oh! It’s perfectly browned on one side already. So that’s how you get it to bake on both side...”

*Pshhh*

“This scent...That’s sesame oil, right? Seems very rich in flavor and delicious...”

You turn off the fire. 

“Done already? Fufu...That was quick, wasn’t it?”

*Dun dun dun*

“...A bitter melon mixed-bake. It smells nice but...I can’t help but think of green peppers when I look at it.” 

You tell him that he doesn’t need to force himself to eat it.

“No...It’s okay...If you’ll have some...I’ll challenge myself as well. Uhmー I guess I put on some of this ponzu sauce over here?”

He prepares himself a plate.

“Well then...Time to dig in. Aahn...”

*Nom*

“Ho..Ho...Ho...Hot!”

Azusa swallows it.

“Oh...Delicious...Mmh...”

*Gulp*

“I guess it’s because we cut it up so finely but...It’s not bitter at all.  You get a nice burst of flavor from the meat as well...and a nice texture.”

He continues eating.

“Mmh...Mm...So good...”

You have some as well. 

“Fufu...Fufufu...You seem to be enjoying it as well. Ah! I’m sure this would go great with chili pepper as well!”

*Thud*

“I suppose I’ll try sprinkling some on top. ...Ah.”

He puts it away again.

*Rustle*

“No, nevermind.”

You seem surprised.

“Mmh. I want to enjoy the pure flavors today. ...We made this together after all, so I’m sure this is its optimal taste...”

Azusa continues eating.

“The next time you get hungry...Let’s make this together again, Eve. ...Ah! But we’re keeping it a secret from Ruki, okay?”

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) Okonomiyaki is a thick, savory pancake with various types of vegetables and meat/fish.

(2) Ponzu is a famous Japanese dressing or dipping sauce, somewhat similar to soy sauce but with mirin and citrus added to it.

[monkie-theory]

Monkie Kid Season 5 Theory

SPOILERS FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T WATCHED THE ENGLISH DUB OF THE SEASON 4 SPECIALS OF MONKIE KID, PLEASE WATCH VIA THE LINK I HAVE PROVIDED BEFORE READING ALL OF THIS. THANK YOU!!!

After seeing the Season 4 specials, thanks to this person on Youtube (and here's the link to watch said video), and knowing that Season 5 is being recorded currently. I couldn't help but catch this snippet of dialogue from a couple scenes...leading me to believe that the real antagonist of Monkie Kid is....

The Seven Kings of the Underworld (plus King Yama) and/or The Underworld is facing corruption.

Now hear me out, that's a lot to take in so let me explained.

During part four of the special, when Sun Wukong, MK, and Azure are talking about who could have let him out, Wukong lets out a lot of information at once, especially about Azure and the brotherhood's imprisonment. (By the way, this scene, the VAs did an amazing job of pulling each word with the animation together beautifully)

The exact words I want to talk about is this large snippet of dialogue between Azure and Sun Wukong:

SWK: "Azure just stop, okay? You've won. You're going to destroy us just like you wanted. Us and the entire universe."

Azure: "No this is not what I wanted, I can still fixed this! I-I-It's the whole reason I'm here at all!"

SWK: "Wait how are you here?"

Azure: "What? What kind of question is that? You know exactly-"

SWK: "No, here and now. I put you in the Underworld myself! How'd you get out? How'd you get the scroll? I know for a fact you didn't steal it. You couldn't have-"

Azure: "I...I don't know. I-I was..."

SWK: "Azure, who gave you that scroll? Because whoever it was they must have known this would happen, wanted this to happened, and they used you to do it."

Okay, now I want to point out some key components from here, especially on Sun Wukong's side of the dialogue.

Sun Wukong states that he put Azure in the Underworld, and from S4, we can now fully tell that the scroll is from the Underworld (I'll explain that later). So how could the whole kingdom of the Underworld, which is known to be pretty meticulous over its citizens, let one of them mysteriously disappear without reporting it to the head honcho, Jade Emperor, or get that soul back? They went to Jade Emperor for Monkey King; why not Azure?

This didn't add up, so I kept this detail in mind while I finished watching the special (which is amazing, please watch it); that's when I came across something that solidified the small inkling that the Underworld has something to do with this whole mess....

After the beach scene we are transported to the very beginning of the story, well the first scene of S4. Which begins with this dialogue from a mysterious person who says...

"There will of course, be an inquiry into how the scroll of memory was stolen in the first place and what is to be done now that the Jade Emperor has been dethroned. The Universe is perilously close to tipping into chaos if it comes to light that any of this party were involved, you can believe that the consequences will be dire. But only a fraction of a price compared to what will come to pass should you succeed."

This creepy dialogue also shows something even more interesting, but I want to talk about how this dialogue says some keywords. Especially how the scroll of memory was "stolen" but not at all who was at fault (like who gave it to Azure), which would be the first thing on someone's radar when something is stolen. But they go on to state that if any of this "party" were involved with such a scheme, they would be punished.

I mean, dethroning a powerful deity by using a puppet would be kinda of treasonous huh?

But when the mysterious dude said "that any of this party..." something caught my eye.

Now if you know the legend of Monkey King and Journey to the West, you would know that there are seven lords of the Underworld with king Yama. Now count how many people are in the circle....

There are eight people in that circle all wearing the same clothing as though they all are apart of the same job and/or world. These are the same people who sealed up the scroll of memory, if you could see the details of the armor of each person in the circle you would see the similarities between the scroll of memory sealing scene and this one.

Which is why I believe the scroll of memory was in the underworld, the same place that the monkey king stated that he sent Azure Lion to.

Not only that, but who else could have gotten Azure the scroll of memory without the Heavens or Monkey King know automatically? It would be some powerful magic, almost as powerful as Lady Bone demon.

Before I state another theory that includes Lady Bone Demon, I also want to add that Lady Bone Demon's look, color palette-wise, looks very similar to the underworld's color palette. Blue, silver, purple, etc. the only difference being white and black. Plus LBD seems to have pulled Macaque from the dead, which is something that the Underworld has a history of being kinda of not happy about.

Now I believe that LBD was similiar to Azure Lion but different, she wasn't a puppet but someone who used to be a part of the underworld before splitting off in her own view of Destiny. (We all know where that ended up anyway....) The similarities of power, the details of each glyph that each party uses is a very creepy coincidence but as I always say:

I don't believe in Coincidences, all of these weird details are leading me to believe that King Yama's domain is either facing corruption or is plotting the tipping point of chaos to consume the universe. Either way, the Underworld is at fault for all of what happened in S4.

At least that's just a theory....

A MONKIE THEORY.

Thanks for reading!

[shy-sapphic-ace]

Ooooooh all of those WIPs sound SO COOL! I can't decide which I want to ask about (first), do you have a favourite/one you particularly want to talk about?

Yee yippee yay!! Thank you so much :’D

And yes, I do kind of have a favourite— my show Sidekick (I’m currently working on the second episode? I think I wrote ep 3 on the post oops, but I have the first & third episodes already written)!

I’ll try to not ramble on toooo much but I really like it,, if I ever end up writing the whole thing my dream is to commission someone to animate it for me and hire some VAs (and with what money?? 😭 let me dream okay) but anyway I have a plan for five episodes, each with 10-15 minutes of story happening.

It’s fantasy medieval with faeries, because yes. It’s also very queer (whaaaat who would’ve seen it coming)

The basic plot of ep 1 is that the main character, Charlie, is the sidekick to his friend Damian, the legendary hero of the lands who slays monsters and is welcomed with cheers in every town the two visit. They’re a team and they both know it, but it’s always Damian the perfect charming handsome hero who gets the glory for it. (But he’s kind of oblivious so he doesn’t realize it— he’s genuinely a good guy though.)

Also, the most important point on the series is that Charlie is deeply, completely in love with his friend Damian. He knows it, Damian has no idea. He kind of hero-worships him too, in a way that he just knows is more serious than all of Damian’s fans out there who’ve never lived side by side with the man himself like he has. He’s his sidekick, his right-hand man, his best friend, and Charlie would never wish for anything more than to be at Damian’s side forever, slaying monsters and keeping people safe.

In the first episode, they follow rumours they heard of a “dark faerie” who’s been terrorizing a village. Damian doubts it’s an actual faerie, since those tend to always stay in their own world (yeah there’s a separate world where faeries live and they try to stick to their own business and avoid humans). They go, find out it’s an actual faery—

Enter my favourite character, Rowan (he’s my little blorbo babygirl I torture him for fun), knight to the Lady of the Autumn Court, loyal servant to one of the four most powerful rulers of Faeryland. He’s here on her orders, to kidnap Damian, the “great hero of the human lands” and to invite his sidekick Charlie to attempt to travel through Faeryland save his friend (his love) and bring him back. All because the Lady is “bored and looking for entertainment”. (I know, not the most solid plot point but ehh)

So yeah, at the end of the first episode, Rowan kidnaps Damian and whisks him away to Faeryland and Charlie jumps through the portal to follow and save him.

The general premise of the show is that Charlie travels through the Autumn Court, one of the four main domains of Faeryland, trying to find Damian to save him while the Lady watches his efforts from afar to entertain herself.

Other basic stuff that happens: in ep 2 Charlie tries to find his way around and is confused, in ep 3 Rowan offers himself as a guide through Faeryland “on the Lady’s orders” (but he actually genuinely wants to help Charlie), stuff happens, we get lots of backstory about the Lady and Rowan’s relationship, and somewhere along the way Rowan falls in love with Charlie as well so that complicates things too (I’m not the biggest fan of love triangles but I swear it just happened in its own, Rowan just. fell in love. I can’t explain it okay)

And um I could ramble on for HOURS about Rowan and his relationship with the Lady (she “saved his life” when he was a child in the Winter Court and he swore into her service for the rest of his life, they have a not-super-healthy mother/child relationship, and she has a spell on him that physically prevents him from doing anything against her orders) and how he can’t decide what he wants (to be loyal to the Lady who’s been his entire world up until now, or if he wants to help Charlie, who is such a good person and loyal friend that he can’t help but fall in love even as he helps him save the one that already owns Charlie’s heart) and how he’s a gay little loser who tries to act like he’s cool but he’s not and I love him 🫶

OH AND IT’S A MUSICAL‼️ I WROTE TWO SONGS FOR EVERY EPISODE :)

So yeah that’s it… if you read through all this I love you and here are the first drafts to episode 1 & 3! I’d love some feedback (on the characters, the story, the songs, anything…) but OF COURSE no pressure if nobody cares I totally get it thanks for sticking through this far <3

(Note if you’re actually interested in reading this— the google docs was written on a computer so if you’re reading from a phone it’ll be easier to read sideways bc of the script format)

EPISODE ONE - ALWAYS BY YOUR SIDE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xZWa-0NHzuYq6R4iMf6smjBVixjOzkhmp5T_0r-VwuI/edit

EPISODE 3 - HERE TO HELP: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12ue2CUzkWBNsm8FBNVb_kY8FOIOYcvBTo3ttuWepQx4/edit

But again no pressure for anyone I’m just having a fun time sharing stuff I wrote here 🫶

[thelanor-s-astame]

Episode 1 Behind The Scenes!

Welcome to Amateur Hour! I mean this whole series is amateur hour, but stating out was REALLY amateur hour. So most of the way our videos worked is we would do a weekly video (Either podcast or Over The Shoulder game review). And I’d release a Funny Joke Video every two weeks. I was given Carte Blanch over my videos and basically just kinda did them on my own. So everything I did was suuuper rudimentary My scripts weren’t formated very well, there were tons of spelling errors, stuff I’d cut out I’d leave in the document and just remember I cut it out. But all this worked just fine because I was the only one looking at them.

And the way I’d send people their lines was I would *send* people their lines over discord and have them send me back an audio file that they’d recorded. I didn’t even really do any audio directing aside from a couple of notes. I might have directed Dalsson and TheDragonLover (heretofore referred to as Dergo), but that was it.

For anyone who might want to make a narrative series, uh… don’t do this with your main cast. If you have a guest star who knows what their doing and might not be comfortable being directed in a discord call with a stranger, that’s fine. But for everyone else you’ll just end up playing phone tag for a a couple of VA lines that won’t be nearly as good if you just set the people down in a call and told them what kinda performance you want them to give. A thing that, And I cannot stress this enough, they will be fine with you doing and in fact would much prefer this to the alternative.

And if you sit multiple people down in the call and do their voice lines in one day, that’s just way better! Your actors will be more comfortable with more friends around, and after the session is over, you have multiple scenes worth of voice lines to work with! It’s one of those “We do this thing like this for a reason.” kinda deals.

But ultimately a lot of the What Worked for those videos I’d put out every two weeks, and the video essays, did not really work here. But anyway lets look at the actual video.

The like first scene you can see how the cutting around is really off. That’s because the footage of me just standing there lasted, like, 3 seconds and I had a minute of dialogue, so I HAD to keep cutting if I wanted to use that footage. I should have just started a new save and rerecorded it but… again amateur hour.

But. The first joke here I think is really good. I have a lot of thoughts about it, so I’m going to make it a separate thread. There’s quite a bit going on there and I’m really proud of it.

But the beginning of the video, and the beginning of the series as a whole, is just kinda me moving from bit to bit like I did in the previous Joke Videos. These started out as those with a tiny bit more structure.

The Conversation with Elderbug here is what got Lordfrezon to get a better mic. Like this video convinced the man to get a better microphone. But you’ll notice Elderbugs mouth keeps moving when he’s not taking. I didn’t start putting a still picture over the talking characters yet

The quirrel scene is probably the best put together in the entire video. The editing is sharp. and I realized I could like, just reverse the video of him looking at the Black Egg to make it a little more dynamic.

But most of the dynamic-ness of these scenes comes down to me zooming in and out of characters faces for emphasis. The footage I’m working with is a character with a one second animation loop and another character staring up at them. So I gotta do a lot of cuts and zooms to make it look like a conversation with multiple emotions in it is happening. And I already had a pretty good grasp of that thanks to the joke videos! Say what you will about youtube video editing, but it sure teaches you how powerful quick cutting for emphasis is!

This was also before I started putting Reverb on every scene that takes place in a tunnel… which most of them do, and if there’s one thing I love, love, love playing with, it’s reverb. Sound design is my passion tbh. It is also the only thing I have any formal training in! I was taught it by a bunch of 80s rockers who showed me how to use an old analog soundboard for live mixing! And I’ve always held to the idea that 75% of video editing is sound editing, and 95% of that sound editing is shit no one would notice unless it wasn’t there.

There a little after the Quirrel scene I got *extremely lucky* and found a sign mender. Which is a really rare event. Just immediately out of the gate I see that man. I’d never seen him before I was getting footage for the video and he blessed me with his presence like an angel. Thank you Sign Mender! You gave me a great bit about property destruction!

The Cornifer scene is firstly, a great look into how a voice role evolves over time, and secondly, a great exemplification of what I started this with. Just Direct Your VA’s. You’ll notice how Saine’s performance on his first line here are worse than any of the other ones he’s given. He didn’t know what I wanted. And if I would have simply directed him, that wouldn’t be a problem!

He did, however get to delever the funniest lines of the video. And he did a great job with those! And, another thing to Saine’s credit is he does a fantastic job as Iselda! Man eats up that whole scene! Just great shit there!

Sly’s change is less in that the voice evolved as time went on and more I changed the character. I focused more on the Shopkeeper aspect rather than the teacher aspect as his Central Thing, and ultimately I think that was the best choice. Surly Shopkeeper who can “Show You Da Ropes” Is always a great character and he’s a lot of fun to write. Also all the thing’s Sly says about ‘God’ put me in a bit of a bind because “Okay, so why the hell does this guy know about The Radiance… a thing that a lot of people were lied to about for decades?” So I had to come up with some stuff for that. But that’s the kind of problem I love solving. Because it goes from “Weird plot hole” to “Ooh new character aspect! let’s give this man some depth!

Dergo’s performance as Myla is the best one in the video. And it’s great that’s the case too, because of how much *that* kicks off a lot of the story. But, yeah 10/10 no notes. Dergo is incredibly good at this shit.

The end bit with the snail man is probably my biggest regret of the video. It very much does not fit in with the tone of everything else. It’s kinda something that just happens in the first episode and I hope everyone forgets about. The implication he just murdered the snail guy is funny but it doesn’t fit in the wider whole. Whole scene just is not very good tbh. I also probably should have had someone else voice the Snail man as well.

And I wholeass forgot I used a different font for the credits! But I think that’s that for the first episode. IT’s kind of just a collection of thoughts, but the episode is just kind of a collection of scenes so, there we go!

[sapphiregrace1224]

This isn’t even a surprise anymore but the Genshin Impact community is just….a cesspool. While it’s not everyone, it’s still pretty disturbing to see how many people practically have their lives centered around this game. Some times seeing the things people say and do in this community is extremely similar to a cult mindset.

And no, I’m not talking about the Natlan boycott or the SAG-AFTRA boycott either. It’s a fact that of course over time media shifted away from the genocide in Palestine especially when America is allied with Israel. I still get plenty of real time updates of what’s been happening over there, just recently there was a video where Israeli settlers attacked a school.

Now Genshin is having another collab with McDonald’s again in America which everyone is participating in because of those oh so exclusive wings we saw apart of the KFC event with Lyney and Lynette. I myself wanted them too and hoped they would’ve been at the KFC’s in America some day or at least given out as a code for players to collect.

But no. They chose McDonald’s who has actively been funding the genocide. The genocide that others seemed to have forgotten. The genocide that they dare to say isn’t real when people—even those who play Genshin have been directly affected by. Human lives aren’t political. That person who let you into their world to farm for materials likely isn’t here anymore or stopped playing due to worrying over loved ones who are still trapped.

Many civilians lost their lives and many are still at risk. It seems that people in the Genshin community aren’t human because they have no empathy or humanity. They don’t care about anything or anyone except for themselves. They don’t care about the VAs who work their asses off for this game. They don’t care if the money they put into a collab funds a genocide that also affects people within their community. They don’t any shame, humility, or a single brain cell to process half of the racist, bigoted, and disgusting words that come out of their mouth to think “Is this really okay to say?”

They don’t care about actual people but god forbid Hoyo or someone messes with a video game character. No, they will actually physically harm someone over a video game character. That’s not even an exaggeration, that’s already happened before when someone attempted to harm someone from Hoyo (You all know who) after the Honkai Impact Bunny Girl incident.

They care more about some big breasted anime character that they would sell their own mother just to C6 that character. While some of us have crappy moms, trading human life for something that won’t even last long is just embarrassing. If you want to say I’m complaining, okay Jan whatever makes you feel better about yourself. You complain, I complain, we all complain, but there’s a limit of how much bull a sane person can take. I’m stuck in the middle of an election watching two idiots trying to out-idiot the other. I’ve invested money into this game before, I’ve enjoyed the game but I’m not selling my humanity for a game that’s not even going to last forever.

Do whatever you want with the games but for the love of whoever the heck you believe in—look in the damn mirror. Saying “Get help” and “Touch grass” is overdone to death at this point, remember that you are a human being with only ONE life. Anything can happen to where you’re laughing or screaming from losing your 50/50 to Qiqi to being bombed the next second.

You have a life outside of this game. If you have no friends or family, that’s okay—it sucks but that doesn’t mean life is over. While so much crap is happening, so many things are leaving this world. Things and people that we took for granted.

Enjoy the game, but don’t forget that you are human being with one life.

None of us are ever getting Isekai’d anytime soon so make the most with what you have left.

[isekai-crow]

Cherry Magic / 30-sai made Doutei dato Mahoutsukai ni nareru rashii Episode 1

Overall Score so far: 8/10

Mainly because Kiyoshi Adachi knows he is in a BL, and is very aware of what might happen to him, and the short hand title is fucking hilarious. Cherry Magic. Cherri Maho. Man I love Japanese.

Also GOOD CROWS ABOVE THIS ANIME IS GENRE-SAVVY. It knows exactly what it's doing, and feels like it's going to deliver what it promises. A wholesome lovey dovey little story.

The whole 1st episode almost feels self contained in a way that will definitely let you know if this show is for you or not. Capybara pointed out that this seems to be a common recent trend with anime for their first episodes. We saw it in Dr. Elise, Frieren, and Dungeon Meshi kind of felt that way too.

My first impression that might not make sense to some people is that this is a toned down Doppo and Hifumi from Matenrou/Hypnosis Mic.

Also, WE'VE GOT TWO POWERHOUSE VOICE ACTORS HERE!!

Adachi is being voiced by the lovely deadpan of Kobayashi, Chiaki - His other roles I know being Langa from SK∞, Gabimaru!! (my beloved) from Jigokuraku/Hell's Paradise, and Mash!! from MASHLE, also this season! I haven't seen Vinland Saga yet, but other might know him as Askeladd! Kobayashi-san has a very particular voice that doesn't fluctuate much, but he knows when to show emotion that gives a good impact. Quote from Capybara - "They picked this guy for his dead pan, but can he emote? Oh, he's Langa from sk8, oh yeah, he can emote."

Kurosawa is voiced by Suzuki, Ryouta a super memorable voice! - Ryusui from Dr. Stone, Yuu ishikami from Kaguya Sama, BISCO!!! FROM SABIKU BISCO!!! That is some RANGE right there! Loud and Prideful, Quiet and Dark, and then a Screamy Boy. This is a younger VA who has had some great starting roles, and has already become a memorable and impactful voice, making this a very good match up!

Anyways, nerding out about voice actors aside, Episode 1 spoilers below!

At first it seems like we're going to get the standard tropes that come with the BL(Boys Love)/Yaoi Genre...

Adachi is ON HIS GUARD and KNOWS THE TROPES.

But the show immediately spins those very same tropes on their head! It's great!! It's been so long since I watched a BL, and despite knowing that the genre in manga form has mostly moved away from a lot of the dub-con tropes (unless you're looking for it of course), it's lovely to see something that actually feels like a proper and semi-realistic romance.

Kurosawa seems like a super sweet dude who's ALSO aware this is a BL, but also that gay guys don't just exist everywhere and that the chance of his crush returning his affection is low.

But. There is no way Adachi is straight. He's absolutely either bi, and/or gay + somewhere on the ace-spec (demi?) depending on how things play out from here.

I bet Adachi stumbled into reading a BL manga (or two or three or) at some point in his younger years, and it had more of an impact on his psyche than he remembers, lmao.

His fascination with knowing Kurosawa has a crush on him is adorable, and he's absolute confusion at stumbling across the other man's fantasies is hilarious.

The tension between them is beautiful when Adachi is pretending to sleep, and we all KNOW Kurosawa is thinking of his sleeping face and then playing it off as just grabbing his phone. I repeat, there is NO WAY Adachi is straight, lmao.

In response to this rhetorical question, No and Yes. If Adachi was the woman, saying yes would imply that she was aware she was being asked to have sex and giving consent (at least by Japanese standards I ASSUME? I've never been in this situation). And if Kurosawa was the woman, that is one very forward and direct lady who is absolutely Down To Fuck (Again, by Japanese standards afaik).

God, then they go out for yakiniku/Korean bbq the next day, and he finds himself enjoying the other man's company and wishing they could be friends, only to brush up again him and remember this man is in love with him. Adachi, you precious child, this is why you're so lovable. The immediate regret for taking the other man's feelings so lightly and not knowing what to do as he runs away is heart wrenching and OF COURSE THE EPISODE ENDS THERE.

It's a running theme that Adachi is worried about other's opinions and doesn't know how to rely on other, which tends to be a negative, but in this case, he's so conscientious of hurting Kurosawa by taking his feelings lightly. Even though he ends up hurting him anyways, I see this as a favorable take on the typical people-pleaser type character.

I'm not really looking to the implied trope of "Best Friend who also has a crush and claims to know him best" in the next episode, but since everything else has been subverted, I'm hoping that will get subverted too? Especially knowing that Best Friend-kun is in the secondary pairing from the PVs.

I WANT TO BINGE THIS. THIS IS GOING TO BE SO DAMN CUTE.

The HypMic Reference:

Adachi is a Toned Down Doppo, who is an over worked businessman at a black company who might as well be Canadian for how often he says sorry, but goes into Berserker mode and absolutely destroys his opponents when pushed too far or his partners are hurt, and is Hifumi's emotion support human.

Kurosawa is a super Toned Down Hifumi, who is the #1 host at a club in Shinjuku and has a split personality of the perfect princely boyfriend, and a charai/flashy and "it'll be fine lol" personality, who is basically a housewife for Doppo and is also Doppo's emotional support human.

There aren't THAT many connection points between the two, but still, I like the comparison, aha.

Anyways, My Hopes For This Anime, having NOT read the manga and not wanting spoilers, are that these two get together by half way through the season and then we get the "newly dating" stages of their relationship, and various mishaps that only serve to strengthen their relationship. They seem like a very good couple and it would be a waste for them to not get together.

If they don't get together until episode 12, I will be so blue balled that I will have to drop it if only to get the circulation in my brain back.

Hype for more!

ep2 ep3 ep4 ep5 ep6 <- these will eventually become links

[fluffypotatey]

Thoughts on Across the Spiderverse:

[spoilers, sorry i cannot do this in a spoiler-free way]

***

first off, the opening????? i was so estatic!!!!! Gwen was one of my favorites in the previous film so the fact that we began with her???? 😍 i love

but also like, maybe it’s the fact that it is pride month or maybe it’s the type of language used during this movie but…..anyone else got like a sort of queer-coming out kind of vibe?

lemma explain, the whole dynamic between Gwen and her dad, Miles and his parents, the fact that every spiderman is on their own in their world and feel so isolated but find community and belonging in the other spider-people (which was something Miles has been craving in the start of the movie).

THE WHOLE SPEECH MILES GAVE TO HIS (not)MOM ABOUT HOW HE THOUGHT HE COULD FIND BELONGING WITH OTHERS “LIKE” HIM LIKE BRO 🤧

also, the scene where Gwen reveals herself to her dad 🥺 and it just doesn’t go well T^T and you can hear the heartbreak and the stiff acting from the dad (jfc those VAs, man 🤧 put their heart into that)

or maybe it’s just me projecting 🤷🏻‍♀️ idk Miles and Gwen are like the two character i adore and relate to so much, so that could be why i saw it that way.

also, i find it a little funny how i was originally against Miles and Gwen having a romantic subplot and now i’m like their #1 fan lmao (i blame my weak heart and the beautiful way the movie depicts their mutual pining because, bro, the pining was real lmao 😂)

me 🤝 Pavitr: sensing the romantic tension between Gwen and Miles and enjoying it

tbh, my original concern with Gwen/Miles was that i worried it would take away from their relationship and bond bc many m/f romances in movies sort make their “romance” the only thing that revolves around them (or is barely there and the girl character grows stale bc the writers/studio ppl forgot about her). but that’s not what happens here. both have their own arcs and issues and neither take away from the other and— ugh, i love this movie so much 🤧

AND LET’ NIT FORGET ABOUT THE ANIMATION BECAUSE BABES!!!!!

IT WAS SO GOOD 😍😍😍😍😍 THE FUCKING ART AND DEDICATION THAT WENT INTO THIS????? MY APPRECIATION AND LOVE THAT I CAM PROJECT WILL BARELY SCRATCH THE SURFACE OF HOW BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING THIS FILM’S ANIMATIOM TEAM DID WITH THIS

like, oh my fucking lord, the detail and stylistic choices that i know absolutely nothing about but they did that and i just 🫠 i am in awe

OH YEAH! AND THE ENDING????? THAT ENDUNG BRO?????? PROWLER BUT IT’S MILES???? THE GRAFFITI ART MEMORIAL FOR HIS DAD INSTEAD OF HIS UNCLE! WHEN I TELL YOU MY JAW DROPPED!

OH DEAR LORD I WILL BE UNOKAY FOR SOME TIME

[aquaburst3]

I'm starting my own take on Pomefiore. That means Neige is coming into play a lot more. While I seen posts saying why they enjoy him and think he's a fleshed out character, I still think he's the complete opposite.

He has almost no personality. His good personality traits are similar to the Golden Aged princesses and princes. Charming, kind, gullible and easily forgiving. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. I enjoy Cinderella. I don't mind Snow White for what she is, especially given the fact it was one of the first animated movies ever and was created at a time when male writers didn't know how to write female characters yet. The problem is that none of Neige's similar traits are examined or developed. He is as static and bland as they come. Hell, Snow White from the 30s movie is a better developed character than him! That REALLY says something...

He has done some pretty shitty things in the arc. He picked his buddies to be on his team, slamming the door on anyone else at RSA with actual talent. Instead of working on his routine, he came up with a half assed on. He relied on the dwarves' cutesiness and childlike appearance to win over the crowd, going against everything the competition stands for. Do I think Neige is a bad person for this? Absolutely not. However, like Kalim, I think he's an inconsiderate, thoughtless and selfish person, who is like a Disney prince who just skipped straight to his happy ending without earning it. Unlike Kalim who learns that how he's acting is hurting others, especially Jamil, and tries to improve himself, Neige is treated as being in the right and never learns anything, despite hurting many other people. That is anger inducing.

He's also rather dumb and gullible. He takes the drink from Vil without even questioning it.

His connection with Vil is all "tell" and no "show." We only get Vil's perspective on the situation. While I love Vil and he's one of my favourites in the game, even I admit he's extremely biased. We never get a chance to learn anything about Neige from his own words. Vil and Neige never directly interact till the climax, despite Neige being the antagonist of that arc.

The same goes for his acting ability. We're told that he's an amazing actor, but are never shown any examples other than two commercials. Let's face it. Acting in a commercial is different than in a movie or tv show.

Honestly, the canon doesn't show us anything that proves that Neige is more talented than Vil in regards to acting and singing. If anything, it seems like the exact opposite. It comes across like Neige is coasting by on only his looks.

I'm 95% sure that Yana pulled that info about Neige right outta her ass after Rook's VA received death threats from the Japanese fandom. For one, all of that info came out AFTER this incident instead of being woven in organically into the previous book. None of it was even remotely hinted at in advanced nor makes any sense when you think about it more than a few seconds. It's so tacked on that I don't even consider it canon. (Seriously, why the hell wasn't Neige taken away by Child Protective Services if he was a minor living with seven other kids, who don't seem all there? What the hell happened to his parents?)

Any opportunity to give them a deeper connection is completely dodged by the narrative. Again, why aren't they stepbrothers? It would make them resemble the original story more and have Neige's backstory make far more sense.

At the end of the day, Neige is just a cardboard cutout for Vil to sneer at and that's it. Ironically, Neige's such an underdeveloped and boring character that Vil is better Snow White analog than him, despite technically being based on the Evil Queen. Both Vil and Snow White are adaptable, capable, stern, value hard work, and want to help out other become their best selves.

Honestly, it's a damn shame. Neige could've been an interesting and fun character, but that was all dodged in favour of lazy and shitty writing. Hopefully my take on his character with his new backstory will improve him a lot, including making Neige Vil's stepbrother.

[olivieraa]

In my attempt to do a spoiler-free review...

If I'm being honest... If I could go back in time... I'd tell myself not to watch this anime, which looks crazy since I was freaking out through most of it

Now it ticked lots of boxes before I went into it, but for it to tick even more when the anime already seemed perfect was incredible. So it ticked an extra three boxes. One of the before I watched it moments being that, I literally had only just made a rant about BL and how that label should be removed from animes and like, y'know, let us be surprised if the main character ends up in a same-sex relationship. Don't spoil it with the BL tag. But I'd made the Banana Fish post a month before that rant. I'd listed the Banana Fish genres, already hyped at it being a shoujo, made by a woman, with the delinquent/crime/psychological genres.

1. And so therefore, I did not go into this knowing that... it would end up being a BL. And anyone that tries to deny it was a BL is actually insane. The author could try and tell me this gay as fuck anime wasn't a BL and I wouldn't believe it (whether she has or not idk). Fucking heart emojis coming outta these fuckers eyes whenever they're in the vicinity of each other. I didn't screenshot the majority of it bc I'd too many screenshots. So yeah, this anime basically... did the exact thing I wanted in my rant. It's honestly the weirdest and most perfect timing. Legit shocked at the gay that happened in an anime not labelled as BL. I'm still not over it

2.

Takahiro Kagami was the key animator. The animation director most known for YGO's signature style. YGO at its most beautiful. The guy who created Joey's chin. The animator they called back to animate DSOD and gave Joey his most perfect look

So I learn just before watching this anime that made me think of Joey in the first place, that Joey's key animator was working on this show? Incredible.

3.

Joey's S!0 VA comes in as our main dudes trainer/mentor, who taught him how to fight and shoot. Like, I been comparing him to Joey the whole time and Joey appears?? What sorcery is this??????

So with the boxes out of the way, I'll list the positives outside of that:

Voice acting was fine, but the MC has risen up the ranks for me and this is my second time hearing him as a main character. Before that he was a side character in animes I barely remember. Actually I just finished Starmyu again and I think he was one of the less memorable characters (ok just checked and yes, also he was a little gay in that, he's always gay that's crazy). But he was fantastic, a scene stealer.

The animation was stunning (as expected). And it being set in New York added so much to that appeal. The action scenes... yes.

And for 24 eps it had a decent pace, I had a few days off so just binged it but took a lot of breaks (even tho it may not look like it lmao).

I had some good ass laughs.

Onto the negatives...

Now... this anime is rated an 8.5 and its very popular.

I rated it a 7.

So I decided on the 8 rating about a third of the way into the anime. It had the potential to be higher but... the anime got sloppy and repetitive. Super repetitive. And it drags, quite a bit. But bc of all the positives, I was like "ah... its going downhill a little but I'll still give it an 8."

Then something happened. And I... just couldn't give it that 8 anymore. What happened infuriated me. There's animes that can do what happened well, and I'll be upset but like, get it. Not in this one. I had to pause and breathe for about 3 mins before pressing play again.

Others may rate this anime low due to how triggering it can get. It didn't trigger me in any way but I can see how it could. The MC goes through a lot. I just wanted to protect him.

But uh, yeah. Due to the thing that happened I'd honestly rather have not watched this show. It kinda erased all the joyous, positive things that happened throughout, in a way. Idk. I need more time to sit on it.

Yeah... idk what else to say. I'm in limbo right now

[skylarynn-ninjago]

Rise of the Snakes - React, pt 1

Rise of the Snakes

00:13 Yo Wu, chill.  Just because you're the son of basically god you don't gotta be this dramatic.  Leave that to Garmadon, he's better at it anyway

1:05 Ayo, was that the Sacred Flute in that little cabinet Wu's meditating in front of?

1:11 That is a lot of cobwebs

1:29 Is this also a Milton Dyer game?

1:53 Excuse me did Kai's voice just come out of Cole's mouth?

2:02 So the Ninja like pepperoni and black olive pizza, apparently

4:31 How far is Jamanakai Village if it takes them this long to fly there on dragonback but Nya just walks on over in a short enough time there's still daylight during the same day when Lloyd comes back with Serpentine?

5:40 Love that the main character of this entire series was named for a pun

5:54 How common knowledge is Lloyd's existence if Cole already knew he was at Darkly's Boarding School for Bad Boys?  

6:27 Why are the Serpentine treated like this ancient legen if they were only put in the tombs like forty years ago?

7:30 Love how Kai says 'muchacho' and then him speaking apparently Spanish is never brought up again

7:58 ...and that was Cole's voice coming from Kai's mouth.  They're just swapping voices today

9:06 And Kai's words from Cole's mouth again.  What communication breakdown happened between the VAs recording and the animators?

9:59 So if the Hypnobrai line with Ice, and the Constrictai line with Earth, the frick are the Venomari, Fangpyres, and Anacondrai supposed to be?

10:01 Also why are Lloyd's teeth green in this lighting?

10:33 We've seen instances where Hypnobrai hypnotism happens almost immediately, so why does literally nothing happen to Lloyd even though he's maintained eye contact with Slithraa for a good 20 seconds?

10:58 What is the aging process like for Serpentine?  Why are there always tiny snakes that match the features of the Serpentine?  Do they hatch from eggs, be little snakes for a bit, then spontaneously grow arms and legs?  Will someone please explain this?

11:29 If Nya's close to beating Kai's speed record on the training course, shouldn't she figure out Spinjitzu way sooner than whenever she actually does in the show?  Might need to fix that in mine, since Misako's shown to do Spinjitzu without having access to elemental powers.

11:59 How early into the show did Nya start working on the Samurai concept?

13:40 Kai having issues controlling his sword is because dragon = stronger elemental connection

13:50 I love the detail that the fire makes a protective/possessive circle around Kai

14:38 Knowing about Morro makes Wu's saltiness about the Green Ninja shenanigans that much more painful

15:41 To Scales's point though you snakes cannot digest large amounts of sugar

16:10 Does the spirit smoke tell the present, or the future?  Because we kinda see it doing both.  Also does this mean Wu gets high?

17:35 ...aside from the General, do they have tails?

17:52 How the frick did Nya know the antivenin was in the staff?  I get her figuring out Slithraa's the general, but were the Hypnobrai just outright stating 'the cure's in the staff, better not let the villagers get ahold of it'?

19:14 Where is Scales's rattle?  Because snake man does not have a tail at this juncture.

19:50 Nothing to see here, just polluting the water supply for the greater good

20:42 Are they foreshadowing Nya's the Samurai later this season or are they foreshadowing Nya's actually the Water Ninja four seasons from now?

Home

1:44 Why are they calling it a roof, it's a courtyard

3:43 Jay's off-and-on Brooklyn accent from early in the show is weird man

3:55 Zane's probably reminding Wu of Morro with the homeless, parentless child thing...

4:13 I'm sorry, are the dragons' reins directly affixed to their jaws?

6:13 Let the man wear his frilly pink apron in peace

7:32 Zane panting with his mouth shut, 100% robot over here

7:47 Mommy issues anyone?

9:00 I'm with Jay here, I'd want to keep the treehouse

9:30 Kai clearly attended the Jack Sparrow school of getting places

10:51 Good news for that unfortunate Hypnobrai, snakes don't really get concussed

10:32 Wilhelm Scream Counter: 1

11:00 Times Ninja have Turned Evil™:  Cole: 1

11:38 Lloyd in a Cage™ Counter: 1 Alternatively, Times a Ninja Has Been Captured: Lloyd: 1

13:32 Times the Monastery has Burned Down: 1

14:39 Priorities, Jay, yeesh

17:39 Fang Kwan Do; so painfully underutilized.

21:31 Excuse me how the frick did Lloyd find them?

Snakebit

2:45 How does giving the cabin a steambath help exactly?

3:29 How did Ed and Edna know where their son was?  This is like the morning after the monastery burned down, the frick

8:17 Why are the Fangpyres Transylvanian?  I know it's because the vampire aesthetic, but like what would the in-story reason be?  None of the other tribes seem to have accents other than maybe the Anacondra [because Pythor sounds British and I don't remember what Arcturus sounded like]

10:50 Does the bite of the Fangpyre affect other Serpentine?

11:08 Being bitten by the Fangpyres - the only time Jay and his parents shared DNA

11:24 That's rich Cole, considering you've been lying to your dad constantly for years

11:49 From this point onwards Kai, Zane, and Cole should've totally weaponized Nya as a motivational tool against Jay.  Pretty sure most of the time Nya would agree with them.

12:05 I swear Wu ripped that thermometer off the side of a building, because where else do you find one that big.  Also, considering he was walking around from behind the dragon, what kind of thermometer do you think it is?

12:11 Love the detail that the dragons are teenagers too

12:41 What's brilliant about this scene is it's impossible to tell if they were legitimately oblivious or intentionally screwing with Jay

13:23 Brilliant that Jay starts to get a slight Minnesotan accent when agitated; he's his parents' son

13:57 I repeat, can they turn Serpentine?

14:10 I know it's supposed to be creepy and snaky but all I can think of with the wrecking ball is an overripe jack-o-lantern

14:42 They each express it in different ways but I love how each of the Ninja has a protective streak a mile wide

14:52 Jay over here straight Matrix™ing the wrecking ball

15:05 Excuse me Nya was that a crotch shot there

16:12 Jay; Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass - Just Add Endangered Parents!

17:16 I'm with Jay here, half the plots in this show would not go nearly as catastrophically sideways as they do if Wu just told people shit

17:55 Jay gets a jet, Kai gets a motorcycle, Cole gets a dope car, Zane...gets a Zamboni.  Or is it a Zaneboni?

18:42 So do they just immediately know how to drive the vehicles because they're in tune with the weapons, or are all these teenagers actually certified drivers?  When did Kai learn how to ride a motorcycle if he's been running a business since he was 5?

19:41 Why did turning into a snake make Ed's goatee black?

20:47 They should totally make the dragon figurehead into a canon at some point in this show