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astralartefact · 4 days ago

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Extra Entry 00b - KamiErabi S1&2 <<content warning: pet death, child murder, abortion>>

Synopsis

Will the blandest anime main character you'll ever meet prove to you that what the world really needs right now is a white boy? also apparently this is a death game (allegedly)

(this post is really stupid, yes, even more so than usual. read it for a long time, not a fun time)

How much did I know before watching?

Let's be real I only watched this because of Yoko Taro.

Okay, I only watched S1 because of Yoko Taro. I watched S2 because I needed to know what they where thinking

Did I like it more than I expected?

At this point I don't even know what I expected going into it, but what I didn't expect was that they bring abortion into this for absolutely no good reason while the story is about how children's entire lives are at the whim of their parents and how children can't do anything against that.

Because I know, you're already thinking: "But isn't the reason kind of right there, isn't that kind of the ultimate 'whim' though, the biggest decision a parent can have on the life of a child and there is literally nothing a child can do about it because it doesn't even exist yet?" - and to that I say: That's exactly the problem, because now you've already thought more about abortion than KamiErabi ever has.

In short: This shit sucked ass.

Since I hated it, here's what I liked about it nah this time i'm just ranting about this

Let's be clear, you can tell Yoko Taro worked on this. There are pieces in here that are clear parallels to stuff he already talked about at length - which weirdly enough means despite it being kind of dog shit it still pairs really well with his other contemporary work because he's clearly been thinking a lot about this topic (the agency of children in the face of their parents) and those thoughts have clearly influenced KamiErabi.

The problem is that KamiErabi posits a lot of those intelligent thoughts about the place of children in a society that mainly sees them as property both in its characters and the story setup - but not only does it not follow up on any of that, it either forgets or actively ignores it as if that stuff never happened to instead tell us a story about how Ono Goro, the whitest boy a Japanese child can possibly be - aside from the fact his single mom hates him, something we're by the way never really given a reason for aside from "mom kinda evil" - is in fact causality's greatest gift to humanity. The thing KamiErabi is most about is that out of our entire cast this one guy is special - he's the only one that deserves to become god. Why is he so special? Well, according to the text he is the only one who "listens to other people's wishes", that's the phrasing Lall uses at the end of S1.

The problem is that whoever is to blame for this certainly intended for that phrase to be understood very literally because if we were to only take it as "they didn't just wish something for themselves" then we quickly find that actually literally everyone else is also doing that. Almost none of these characters are straightforwardly wishing for themselves; most of them do it for reasons that mainly involve others and specifically not themselves.

Sawa wants to resurrect her brother and kill her parents for starving him to death

Akitsu wants to know the future to protect his friends

Tetsuya/the Little Angel wants to end bullying even though he isn't really all that bullied anymore

Koki wants true equality even though he's one of the few people on earth that wouldn't directly benefit from that (because he's rich)

Iyo's fan exchanges his life to keep Iyo's dream alive when she's murdered for idol culture reasons

They forgot to tell us Chika's wish but what we do know is that she wished something for Ryo

Ryo wants to resurrect her brother who died because of her

Every single child that wished for something wished something for somebody else. Even the one guy that brainwashed his whole school wished that to get rid of all bullying - but I guess the text is trying to tell us that we can confidently ignore that guy's reasons for doing so because the way he did it was kind of fucked up.

No, Ono Goro is different from all of them. We're told Ono Goro is "truly selfless".

That particular difference is actually most notable through Sawa: Her only functional difference to Goro - and there's really only one, a fact someone behind the scenes clearly hasn't noticed - is that Sawa is a determined girl instead of being a complacent boy. They both wished to give life to their "not alive" sibling, they both have parents they hold responsible for said sibling being "not alive" - the only real difference is that Sawa actually grasps the opportunity she's given acts "selfish" to achieve that wish and since that's the only thing that's really different about the two of them it highlights that this specific thing is what makes her worse than our main character. Her own selfish actions are why she doesn't deserve to become god.

And I will point out that holding her accountable for that character trait kind of defeats the point when half of the story is trying to be about how children don't have agency about what their parents teach them and how that is a problem that causes parents to ruin their children's life. I guess we're having Lall berate her and everyone else at the end of S1 to make a very necessary distinction about that when it comes to whatever the "aptitude to become god" is supposed to stand for, because it's really necessary to point out that the "sanctity of Sawa's soul" or whatever is fucked and it's her fault.

No, if Sawa really wanted to matter to this world in a karmic way she should have just decided to be born to parents that, if they already had to neglect her, at least didn't also instill her with an "If I want something I have to do it myself"-attitude all while neglecting their other child to death - really, she should have seen that one coming, she should have done whatever Ono Goro did.

Thankfully whoever is responsible for it might have noticed that what they presented to us might have been a little bit under baked, so in S2 they felt the need to expand on Sawa's selfishness - and hey maybe that will help us understand why all of this is actually her fault after all! (it will not)

You see, not only is the selfishness that may or may not have been born of her parent's neglect already weighing enough as it is - even if she decided to try not to be this selfish, to actually grasp agency and do something about her situation that isn't just taking from others, to accept her brother's death the best she can and help others out of situations that she wasn't helped out of - Well, actually, that would be even worse, because that means now she isn't just selfish, now she's lying to herself about it.

Actually, Honoka Sawa, you're just lying to yourself trying to help others, you only do that to feel better about yourself. You will never not be selfish and any attempt to outrun your true nature is not only futile, it is also dishonest and disrespectful to everyone you ever shown your true colors to and I truly hope you'll be able to live with how unworthy you are behaving in the light of your dead brother. Your brother isn't helped by making the world a better place for others like him, your brother would have been helped if you had managed to resurrect him. But you gave up, you were fine with whatever you think you're achieving now instead of chasing a far-off dream that would actually help your brother and only your brother. Who cares about these other kids, from our one single interaction we've had during a particularly stressful time in your life I know perfectly well that you don't care about them, you selfish prick! Shame on you for giving up on such an achievable goal as Resurrection - but good luck with your non-profit! Hope it feels nice, but remember! Giving up like you did was a privilege your brother couldn't afford :)))

Keep in mind that she's lectured about her poor life decisions by S2's mouthpiece Lall, a child that wasn't even born (ever) and therefore has not lived to make a single life decision (ever).

(btw sry my conscience tells me to do this but there is actually some core "sure i guess" in this episode. sometimes these sorts of charity causes are just a way for people to run away from facing what has happened and/or even actively harmful to the cause because now particularly fervent people are working for a change for hell or high water bc they think it will help their own emotional well-being while ultimately not actually understanding what's the core issue, obstructing real progress in the process - but this is clearly not one of those situations. in-universe sawa is doing the best she can to create a semi-comfortable place for children like her brother in a society that at this point actively hates her. she has no family left, she has no real support network because nobody cares about her, she is hated by everyone for something she had no hand in and not even her government protects her from it because her particular kind of discrimination is legal - and even still her activism isn't about her or about getting revenge; it's trying to fix the problems that killed her brother even just a little bit bc that's what she considers worthwhile to do.

but your problem isn't even really that she isn't focusing on her own well-being, even if you maybe try to pretend that, it's that she isn't doing enough. the problem is that she should have still tried to win the god app game to save him and didn't. her not going after something that asinine, something that she already failed and had no reason to believe that she would suddenly win this time is criticized as a moral failing on her part because she didn't even try.

i'm sorry but what the fuck are you talking about. what else do you want someone like sawa to do about her brother having died. she is already doing more than anyone should ever expect her to and if she's not 'doing it wrong' - after all the problem in the episode seems to be that she's protesting at all - it's probably one of the healthiest things she could possibly do about her problems if it's already a fact that she's not looking after herself. even if she realizes months or years later that none of what she did 'fixes her' and that she lost touch with herself a little bit - i would assume she wouldn't regret spending a couple months petitioning for the better protection of children from abusive parents. and i really beg you to reconsider that her only way of overcoming this issue is to resurrect her brother bc if you haven't noticed, resurrection isn't real but situations like sawa's certainly are. please, tell me what you think people in real life that lost their entire family to abuse should do about it.

how dare you tell this girl that she should have tried harder about something that should have, at no point, ever been her responsibility. her parents killed her brother and there's absolutely nothing she could have done about that and you're here telling her that she mourns the wrong way, that she copes the wrong way, that she doesn't do enough, that she suddenly should be selfish because "that's who she is" even if that's literally the only thing that you ever show us to make her an 'unworthy' person unlike goro, and that she's pathetic and stupid for not figuring all of that out by herself. her "giving up" on something so far out of reach at that point - even if it was rationally achievable - is a perfectly understandable compromise for someone in her position, she's not settling for less while stepping on her brother's grave, she's trying to survive a world that actively took everything from her. HER PARENTS FUCKING KILLED HER BROTHER. there is nothing left for her to care for and yet she still tried.

whoever is to blame for this episode, go fuck yourself. whatever moral judgment you believe will take place at the end of your life - it will not show kindness for this.)

Really, she did it all wrong - and it's so easy, too! She should have just been born selfless like Ono Goro who, gifted in his wimpyness, waits for his wish to come be granted on its own - something he mainly just does because he needs several episodes to realize that his shrugging agreement to take part in a death game for his wish to come true might actually have had resulted in him taking part in a death game for his wish to come true. He's probably really glad that his parents' neglect hasn't made him selfish - Instead this guy's most pronounced character trait is the presence of mind of someone that mindlessly clicks on every single blinking pop-up he sees on a tabloid news website, especially if it offers him something that sounds 100% too good to be true. Not that he expects it to be real - he's smart enough to know it probably isn't - but he does click on every single one regardless because hey, it might be!

Outside of that all that's left that makes him remarkably special is his outstandingly unique performance in selfless empathy (i would argue that thanks to his mom's treatment he really only cares so little about himself that he doesn't value his own happiness and therefore can sell it off with his powers to help others without hesitation - but that's certainly not how the show sees it. what he's doing is good! the best even!) - the pinnacle of which is symbolically represented by him being the only one to care, to "look up from his phone" so to speak, when a cat is hit by a truck right on the crosswalk in front of him - something that's later implied(?) to be a weird dream metaphor for his mom having had an abortion (of the child that would have turned out to be Lall).

And I'll say, in a certain way that metaphor does actually track, I guess, because it might feel like a car crash to him, you know, when something unpredictably impactful happens in your private life that you cannot ignore, something that shakes you to your core and yet nobody else's life budges the tiniest bit, they don't even know what fucked up thing just happened right in front of you. I guess I can see that feeling being put like this.

But that isn't really what they did with it. As I said, this metaphor is also presented as the pinnacle of his outstandingly unique performance in selfless empathy. Lall says out loud that him "listening to her wish" is why he's better than everyone else and why he deserves to become god and this was the main on-screen symbolism that he's special and not like others - and since the show never proves Lall wrong in any way, even subtextually, we kind of have to assume her argument is true. (granted, it never talks about any of this ever again)

Might I add, it's a phrase directly commending Goro's empathy for Lall - but because it isn't elaborated on, it also implies that Honoka Sawa's fundamental problem was that when she wished for her sibling to be resurrected, she didn't ask him if he wanted to be resurrected and therefore she didn't actually care about his wishes at all - or at least not as much as Ono Goro, the consent-considerate winner of this semantic argument.

But for whatever reason the show takes this cat metaphor weirdly non-literally (which isn't bad, it's just really confusing if you do it wrong, especially when it kinda makes sense literally). In-universe, he wasn't the only one to see the car crash that symbolized the abortion because he was the only one who knew about it (and then, independently, he also cared about it when he saw it) - He saw the car crash symbolizing the abortion because he is the only one who would care about it. Like, that should be two different things, right, there should be people who could see the truck/the abortion but still don't care and people that would care about the abortion but didn't see the truck - but here it isn't.

Instead this implies that regardless of if he was the only one to see this imaginary car crash - everyone else wouldn't have cared about it either way, because if they did, they would have seen it and if they would have seen it, they would have been as special as Ono Goro and therefore would have deserved to become god. And that might seem like a leap in logic, but we know he is in fact the only person who could care about it if he saw it, because that's why he's special. Him considering the wants of who he wishes for is stated to be supremely selfless - and it's only supremely selfless and/or special if he considers the wishes of others unlike everyone else. And not just "unlike everyone else in this group" - the end of S2 makes very sure to tell us that in this case it's "unlike every single other human being."

So with all of these semantic logistics out of the way: Even in the best interpretation I can come up with, using abortion as the plot thematic for why Ono Goro is so much more special than everyone else feels exasperatingly tone-deaf especially in the climax of S1's finale in what amounts to a gotcha reveal for Ono Goro's wish and for who Lall is.

As I've already mentioned, KamiErabi is - like all of Yoko Taro's other recent works - talking a lot about how the actions and decisions and even just arbitrary inheritances of adults have deep-seated, inevitable and yet semi-foreseeable consequences on their children/the next generation and that, clearly, adults as a whole do not think enough about that. That is a thought I agree with.

But according to this truck metaphor Ono Goro is the singular person on earth to care about this unborn fetus and what that possible child might would have wanted... and not to be (not) christian about it, but isn't there someone you forgot to ask about this? Does the Mom aborting her child not count when that's literally an instance of her thinking about what that child might want, because even if she does it for completely selfish reasons she still saves that child from a future where she's completely hated by her mother? You know, the mother that already outwardly hates her other child.

Like, even if she literally thought "Goddamn it, I really don't want another child only for the singular reason that then I don't have enough time for tax evasion, which we all agree is really evil for the purpose of this argument, but as a one-dimensional character I just love doing it" - I have a hard time believing that even to her there isn't also some fragment of the foundational implication that "A mother who would rather do tax evasion right now is a bad mother for this child", however small that fragment might be in the mother's mind. To me that is an instance of an adult considering the future of a child, who then decides she shouldn't have that child (at least while she would rather do tax evasion). She does the thing that from her estimation causes that child less harm even if that decision comes from a completely selfish place - a selfishness that, pointing at my girl Sawa here, you later say you can't run from anyways.

So what was she supposed to do? She can't change who she is and yet there's a ready option available for child harm-reduction purposes.

But this is the point where I'm sad to inform you that someone in this writing team likely considers Abortion mostly to completely unethical, because otherwise the logistics don't really make sense. The fundamental implication here is that if the mother can do it, Birth is always better than no Birth at all - which isn't necessarily "Abortion is murder" but it is "You shouldn't do an abortion if you can help it" ...which often enough stems from "because Abortion is murder."

The possibility that a woman has an abortion "for" the child doesn't really exist here as long as she could "comfortably" have it, does it. Any consideration that she might have though of that child in her decision is null and void because it's "selfish" behavior. If that mom doesn't want a child solely for the purposes of scheduling her tax evasion, "maybe it's better for the child not to live with a parent like that" is just simply not an option, that's just an excuse. The conclusion is already "Too bad, you're pregnant, be a loving mom to the child you will get soon or else you might as well rot in hell you [insert your favorite gendered insult here]."

And again, this is about another hypothetical mom I made up. All of this isn't taking into account that this child/Lall would be born as the result of an affair into a negligent family with a dad that barely shows up and that already mistreats the one child they have. Ono Mom has a very good reason to go "I shouldn't have another child for the child's sake." The text is just pretending that "she wouldn't think that" because she's evil, I guess. Don't you see? The decision to not have a child clearly serves her, that means she's selfish!

Abortion is just simply beyond the line where we have any empathy for Ono Goro's mom. Her doing that is textually considered as not considering the unborn child - or else Ono Goro wouldn't have been the only one "listening to Lall's wish". If she cared about the child at all she would have had it. Her own needs and wants are worthless the second she has unprotected sex with a man. (actually i think she says her getting pregnant was an "accident" so assuming she knows how contraception works this. is. getting... worse) She just shouldn't have had sex with a man to begin with if she didn't want to live with the consequences - and I guess living with an abortion is not enough of a consequence. A man has never once cared about an abortion after all, so how could that impact a woman?? "Women that sleep around" just simply don't care about something like that so that's not a consequence - and we can't have them go around having Abortions all day! Somebody please think of the children that might have wanted to be born, we'll ask them before we ask the mother what to do with her own body.

there was supposed to be a quick aside here about abortions being legal in japan until 22 weeks under "certain circumstances" but looking that up ono mom's specific circumstances actually seem to open a whole new avenue of "why did you bring any of this up" since i guess the abortion must have also been illegal on the mom's part bc the pregnancy came from an affair(!) and in japan she needs the consent of her husband(!) to have a legal abortion - which of course means that even without an affair in the picture he can just say no (!!!) --- but yeah, the issue they bring all of this up for is that women shouldn't have abortions for moral reasons towards the unborn child, not that men can just legally(!) tell their wives they can't get an abortion, even if they otherwise could get one legally

I'm not trying to defend Goro's Mom from being a bad mom - well, I will defend her for it because she's clearly written exemplary one-sided for a reason (yes, it's the legendary straw (wo)man in person) - but her getting an abortion is also treated very differently than Sawa's parents literally killing a non-hypothetical child by neglect - and debatably worse because one of the two is the S1 climax "fucked up back-story" reveal after all. Like, there is a noticable difference between "What Ono's Mom did was so evil and uncompassionate, look how good he is for caring!" and it's an abortion, meanwhile it's "Sure, What Sawa's parents did was bad, but... idk, if she was a better person she could have handled it better" and her parents literally locked her brother into the room next to hers until he starved to death.

No, Sawa is a selfish normie for using the wrong words to wish for her brother to live again (despite her factoring in that now she could support him without her parents unlike back in the day; she had planned this wish through before making it) and later when all hope is lost for her to win that wish she's even worse for reasonably "giving up hope" and trying to move past his death when she instead tries doing something about a society that lets stuff like this happen. Meanwhile Ono Goro is a saint uniquely worthy of becoming god for his singular deed of asking if his unborn sibling might have wanted to be born into his shitty family situation where his cheating mother already despises him just for existing - and then he does nothing to achieve that aside from gradually making his life worse and worse for arbitrary reasons while waiting for his wish to happen to fall into his lap on its own. Which it does. Good for him.

But no. In S2 we even learn he's "a being god couldn't create" - an unthinking, minorly empathetic child that assumes his experience is the experience of everyone else around him. He is fine with this shit life, why wouldn't anyone else be, if he wants to live clearly that child also would have wanted to live. And he didn't just assume like everyone else, he asked questions everyone else but him already had reasonable answers to - and look! This one child wanted to live so clearly that means all children would have wanted to live. All those people must feel really foolish for just assuming what that child would have wanted! That doesn't count as listening. Really, Ono Mom, why didn't you listen to your unborn child's wishes?

Essentially it seems to me like someone in the writing team thinks God couldn't create a white boy who just found out about racism.

And he doesn't even do anything. Everything in this show just happens at him. Even his karmic sacrifices feel passive. Even his wish didn't do anything by his decree, it was to "hear (and grant?) the unborn child's wish." Even with the one thing he did, the one thing they tell us he was so special for, he still was passive, he still let someone else do something (maybe). All he's doing is considering and "considering" is specifically not doing something (yet) - and yet he's still constantly praised for everything he "does."

I knew since the only S1 episode he wasn't in how much of a problem he is, but writing about it now it's once again hitting me just how much of a problem Ono Goro and Ono Goro alone is to KamiErabi. The show's unbridled faith in their white guy protagonist despite him doing nothing to inspire it is the fundamental problem of KamiErabi - and honestly it would be game changing if the show even just noticed that.

Like, this story is about a guy's self-sacrifical nature inspiring empathy in others, but the guy they do it with, the guy they say is so self-sacrificial, is somehow the only character in the entire main cast (!!!) with which it doesn't work in the slightest. It's crazy how you could make "Isn't it kind of sad all of these children don't wish for themselves" work with literally any other character but not him. None of them, not a single one, has a "fun" wish. They all sacrificed their one and only chance to wish for literally anything at all to change something society - and therefore the previous generations - fucked for somebody they loved. yes even iyo's body double, idol culture is still a culture created by a society.

Ono Goro does wish to "rectify a wrong" for somebody else - but certainly not in the same way Sawa wants to save her brother to make up for what her parents did to him or that the Little Angel was bullied before, knows what it's like and therefore wants to end bullying for everyone else or that Iyo's fan wants to keep Iyo's dream alive after another fan forced her to stop what she wants to do. Those are all people that watched someone succumb to the way their society and their culture works and now they grasp at straws to do something about it. All these people have a very good, non-selfish reason to make their wish for somebody else.

Meanwhile Ono Goro just doesn't want to feel bad about his unborn sibling. He wants to hear what she would have thought about it to soothe something inside of him that thinks this abortion was wrong - even if it's just a curiosity about whether she thinks the same. That is a selfish wish if I've ever heard one. That's the logic of someone who needs to apologize to someone they harmed - not to "make things right", but so the other person can finally forgive them so they don't have to feel bad about it anymore.

And at the beginning of S2 Lall even points out that her mom suddenly treating her nice isn't how that would have happened, that Ono Goro's wish fulfillment idea is some degree of out of line and "selfish" by forcing his mom to act against her character. It highlights to me even more that S1 ended on the perfect note to tell him "Hey, Ono Goro, actually..." about all of this. That he doesn't know anything better, that he isn't special at all just because the one person who had the most to gain from his wish praised him for his selflessness over it. It's also the main reason I didn't fully give up on this stupid series after S1 - because hey, maybe they're doing the thing where they turn around and let Lall learn that she was wrong by explaining in overwhelming detail just how much Ono Goro is actually not all that great of a guy.

Because Ryo literally tells him that her wish isn't his to grant at the end of S1 as if to tell us that he isn't a good person just for using his position to grant other people's wishes. That this is about more, that maybe fulfilling these wishes is at the very least also a way for him to feel better about his shit place in society in the way that they critizied the Little Angel for granting wishes earlier on. But him granting this wish means nothing to Ryo - he doesn't even know her. Him granting her wish cannot possibly be about her aside from some form of generalized pity.

Maybe all of this could work if S2 was about how Ono Goro is actually not just a white boy but a white savior whose dispassion for himself and his place in the world actually makes him a bad person to be the one granting wishes - because clearly he has his own idea of what granting a wish looks like since he rewrites his and Lall's mom to be nice. Honestly, even just the implication that his wish was really just to hear the unborn child's wish and Lall was just a manifestation of what he thinks that child would tell him and wasn't actually that child would turn this anime 180 degree into high art.

But instead S2 was just outright boring. Not only

is its narrative barely based on what was established in S1 (at least not context-wise and i sincerely don't care enough anymore to examine if this author shit lines up subtextually)

is everyone's character premise suddenly fully inconsequential to anything at all

the time skip fully wasted aside from some subtext points that aren't even used (like, "they can't grow up after their wish was granted" was clearly supposed to go somewhere in reference to the whole adults vs. children thing but they barely used it for anything at all except sudden societal xenophobia and not having to do new 3d models)

is Lall an absolutely insufferable protagonist

it also had the Sawa episode I already talked about (this was legitimately the most appalling episode of television i have seen in a while. if you ever do watch this show out of morbid curiosity stop with s1. i beg you with my life to not watch s2. like, it's not even the fun kind of bad, in the few minutes it's not really boring it's "only" wildly out of line trying to lecture you about something that i trust you to 100% know better than them)

the fact that every single character, even the weird evil guy from s1, ends up totally nice doesn't help any case they're making. you can't really have a "chosen one" narrative that's also "everyone has the power to be the chosen one"

well actually this show kind of has the blueprint of something that could make that work - they just certainly didn't do it

something about phone's bad - but also not? they can't make up their minds about whether they are bad or not and never make any conclusive statement about anything

i really don't care enough to think about what the god.app death game and its back story is supposed to be about (it's part of the phone good question mark thing; phone bad bc we don't think about whats inside this thing we take everywhere - but also we as humans have the power to make a thing that made god mad so actually it's good in a "isn't humanity cool" sort of way)

also why was this a death game at all you're years late to the trend and squid game was already years late to the trend but they at least do it for anti-capitalist reasons; here you're not even really doing anything with it

like both of the mainly credited writers were old enough to see all those death game animes 10 years ago, i know bc i remember them

also also why does the politician guy look like grown up Goro?? Are you trying to tell me Atsushi Ohkubo of all people could not come up with another hair- & image color combination??? was he supposed to be goro's absent dad?

but it also, somehow, ends on the lamest pseudo-wholesome ending ever, it made me feel so little I somehow lost the need to complain about the entire show. That need eventually came back but only because I forced myself to chronicle its atrocities even just a little bit.

Like, this could have turned out fine. Make the politician guy from S2 Ono Goro who "grew up" from granting these wishes only to not have understood anything from his experience at all, place him in the literal shoes of one of the grown adults who doesn't consider the future of the generations after him and now all the people that were once, somehow, inspired by him (even though none of them actually were, they say they were but all of them already fought for and sacrificed things for what they believed in before they ever met ono goro) have to fight against him to enact what they learned from him. (you know, like i will have to do if yoko taro somehow ended up an anti-abortionist)

But it wasn't. It was not fine. I'm defending the one dimensional evil mom character for being allowed to have an abortion and how that doesn't make her son all that special for caring. and you know that's a bad thing, because the one dimensional evil mom is one of the 3 main reasons for why I hate ff16's writing with a passion.

But hey, at least they evoked thought, I guess.

Also I will be the one person to defend Atsushi Ohkubo's character designs - not the ones we got in 3D but the somewhat techwear-y ones in the concept art. Sadly the dots and lines necessary for it to look good got lost because the animators couldn't be asked to create even one singular texture for their animation budget of 5 [shrugs in currency].

Specific Impressions that will stick with me

The episode in S1 in which Ono Goro is comatose, easily the best one of the whole series simply because Ono Goro's devoid of content mouth words aren't wasting screen time. Like. I can't stress how much screen time S1 wastes on him saying things, but nothing of value. The Iyo Episode wastes so much time that could be spent on good Idol Bullshit on him saying nothing. He truly is the most bland protagonist of all time.

Ryo Sematei stopping Ono Goro from granting her wish.

I like the idea of Eko/the Author in theory, but very much not in execution. Like, Eko showing up and talking to them as the author/god made me feel something for a second for some reason. Just for a second though, it quickly became really lame.

Outstanding Audio

I mean, it's Monaca on the budget of a favor. They didn't make a lot of songs for the BGM but the ones they made are good enough - by which I mean that I remember the magic scene music.

Favorite Character

I could easily make the case for most of the S1 main cast except for Ono Goro and Lall (and I even kind of liked her until the last S1 episodes). Sadly this story is about them.

Also, special mention for Futana Iyo's/Futana Iyo's body double's character premise. I am beyond mad that that never got investigated in any singular way, that's such a fire premise for an idol character with regards to parasocial relationships - and it was immediately dropped during the episode it was established in. also i still feel really smart for having known what her name references without looking it up

Favorite Arc/Story Line

The thing about KamiErabi is that if you read the setup of it all and imagine what might happen you would probably think of a better story, so I guess the introduction of each character and nothing more than that.

That being said, S1 is much better than S2, mainly for the fact that aside from the characters - well, honestly even with them - S2 feels fully unrelated to S1 and S1 at least felt like someone had a concept of where this is going. S2 didn't even feel internally consistent on its own, even the Eko/Author reveal felt unearned. (for at least a third of S2 i thought Eko was Sawa's brother and the god was just Ono Goro who Eko met when he granted Sawa's wish, I was so confused bc that would have made so much more sense than what they went for and they didn't really directly reference Eko's gender until later)

Favorite Set Piece

The final episodes of S1, I guess? The Drakengardian Blob that made blood rain at least made me feel something, even if Yoko Taro should probably work on making his unrelated works a little more visually distinct why does this always happen

Favorite Scene

Once again Ryo Sematei stopping Ono Goro from granting her wish. I had so high hopes for S2 off of this single scene alone.

--- ENTERING THE PRETENTIOUS SECTION OF THIS ENTRY ---

What about this series gives me Hope for the future?

I guess even if Yoko Taro writes bad stuff, at least it's interesting. Like, this guy just gets into my brain in a very specific way and he didn't even write half of this. Even if he somehow gets himself cancelled (honestly, i'm sure it will happen one of these days) I will be the one to take the aesthetic hit and still play his work. (well unless he does something really fucked up but i cant really imagine that; he's the kind of guy that stays at 'says something really weird that could be a misunderstanding and never elaborates' territory. we will never know if he's actually being evil under that mask...)

I think the only way he could make me not check out his stuff is to do a literal NieR Automata 2 with 9S and even then I would check it out because clearly he won't "just" do a NieR Automata 2, especially if it's called that or like a visual novel with only Natsuki Hanae's voice. I just don't like him. It's just... something about him.

also can I complain about the Automata Anime Ending down here, I still hate they had to show them being put together at the end, god forbid we even have the tiniest bit of implication. I guess we needed to spell it out because see the Anime is distinct!!! A-1 cares about the source material so much they wanted to see their happy ending play out uwu! Isn't that wholesome fun??? All to make 2B's last scene her acting 9S's pure and demure waifu blergh urgh ew ew ew

also i love her, she's beautiful, but the anime doesn't deserve accord, she should have been in reinkane q_q

What about this series makes me scared for the future?

See guys?? I'm not a safe space bubble blowing snowflake mindlessly consuming slop, I'm clearly a stable aesthete of distinguished taste with a box-cutter to match and I can change my mind on someone as quickly as a weather vane - and you're on thin ice, silly little mask man!!! this is how we want our media criticism, right???

btw please don't associate these posts with the word "criticism". these are, at best, me putting my personal aesthetic judgments to paper. if you read all this i tricked you, this is supposed to be worthless for anyone but me.

People are always so weird about "criticisms of their faves." I'm sure I complained about it before, but every time a fandom discovers their favorite series did something verifiably "wrong", everyone suddenly talks as if they're at a wine-tasting because clearly they know what they're talking about, they enjoyed the particular particularities of this narrative at some point, but now they were disappointed with the incomprehensible and frankly unacceptable development decisions that were made! - It's so weird, but it really happens every time.

This is not that though, at least I hope so. I think I always talk like this. I'm just german and school managed to teach me to overwork my sentences.

No, but as a "Yoko Taro guy" I just really wanted to write this so at least someone didn't let this thing slip by just because it's kind of ugly, even if I'm still kind of glad nobody watched KamiErabi. Really, it being ugly is probably a blessing in disguise for everyone involved because could you imagine the discourse? If I've learned anything the past years it's that a righteous shit storm always grows the most unbearable. More storm always means more shit and if you're reading this you are in range.

But I mean, the options we have here are a) one or more of the writers doesn't consider abortion in any way ethical (at least if it isn't an emergency) or b) someone really did not think about abortion while invoking it for a gotcha reveal - and i'll say even if it is a)? If this is their manifesto, it's a really bad manifesto. Like, who are they going to convince that maybe we should slut-shame women "that deserve it" more with this. The people that already kind of want to do that aren't watching this - too few waifus, too little tits and it's also really ugly - and anyone that thinks about it even a little bit more holistically will probably run into the fact that the rest of your story kind of argues against doing that.

And as bad as that Sawa episode is in the moment, what is that whole thing even supposed to tell us. "If you have bad parents you just already lost and you have to accept that, but as long as you try you can still achieve everything you want to achieve." Great, I guess. Like. Okay? Huh? World's weirdest spiritually loaded pep talk telling you if you're born evil, that just means now you might as well just be evil.

As it is I just think it's a badly written show that - for reasons deliberate or not - happens to really slut-shame a woman out of her agency in the name of children, even though I personally think that women shouldn't need the consent of their partner for an abortion, even if they had an affair.

Like yeah, someone should say something about this work for accountability's sake - and I did, am I not proud of doing my part - but... if nobody ever talks about KamiErabi ever again that's probably for the best. Let's just keep this one in our journal and then we'll bring it up when it's worth bringing up, how about that! Let's just hope, we'll never need it again... not just because hopefully these people aren't evil but also... (mostly) because I really don't want to think about KamiErabi ever again.

Also, there's no way around it, the school uniforms we got just do look exactly as cursed as everyone says they do. I legitimately don't get why nobody involved got the animators to do even just one single texture for the school uniform dots even if it means everyone shares the same ones. I can't see that taking more than 5 [shrugs in currency] amounts of effort and it probably would have helped at least a little bit.

#atarasemediadiary #kamierabi #yoko taro

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anonymeqaupdates · 7 months ago

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What would the first years think of hunger games? And the cast being in the hunger games? I picture Rook dominated the games.

Yuu had strictly forbid them from watching those movies but with everyone in his world talking about the new prequel coming out they managed to convince one of his cousins (Louise) to lend them the movies. Once they were done watching the first years swore to do everything in their power to make sure Rook never watch it.

Meanwhile Rook and Vil got their hands on the movies months ago, had even read the books and had a long marathon session were they dissected the movies and nitpicked everything from the survival tactics to the quality of the adaptation. It's not like they disliked it, but it's so rare for their domain of expertise to meet like that that they overanalyzed the hell out of it. As a matter of fact at the same very moment the first years were making their oath and coming clean to Yuu, Vil and Rook were on a date in Yuu's world to see the prequel in theater.

Eventually they all end up watching the movies, and they all freak out about Rook potentially watching it. At one point though they catch Vil and Rook having a marathon night and after clearing thing up Vil is so annoyed at them.

Vil : IT'S A WORK OF FICTION!

Seriously Rook is eccentric but he knows what's acceptable or not.

And yes, Rook would stay a long time in the games but I don't think he would win. He wouldn't have it in him to sacrifice Vil or Epel or anyone really. So he would be among the last one to die. Lilia is also in the same case since he's experienced but would definitely sacrifice himself for his boys. If I were to be absolutely ruthless and in the spirit of the books then the Heartslabyul boys would be among the first ones to die, closely followed by Kalim, then I could see Ruggie and Jack biting it, then I guess this would be around the time Idia's lack of survival skills would bite him despite Ortho's best efforts to save him, and without his brother around Ortho is likely to either give up or go on a rampage. Anyway he would be next to go. then I can see Jamil and the Octatrio taking each other out. Rook would probably pass around that time, probably against Lilia. Epel would want revenge and Lilia wouldn't want to hurt a kid so... Then Sebek, Silver and Malleus would want revenge and Vil would still be pissed over Rook and Epel's death would the one push too many. I can see him injuring Silver and killing Sebek but Malleus would definitely kill him. Leona would try to use the occasion to kill Malleus then so show down between those two and then Malleus realize that Silver is the only left besides him. He can't kill Silver so he heal him and take himself out. That's it.

#thanks anon!#ask #fixing it before it broke

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asavt · 4 years ago

Text

I wanna share more of the squad™ (Madeleine-Espresso-Latte-Almond-Roguefort with the addition of Creampuff and Walnut too) headcanons because.

-First of all, I gotta say that when I draw them I'll most likely start my music play with either "What's going on?" or "Life goes on" both from the P5 ost, idk, settles a good mood for them. (like right now, as I write this the latter is playing)

-As said before, none of Madeleine, Espresso nor Almond (nor the girls) know that Roguefort is Phantom Bleu, Madeleine and Espresso both see something suspicious about them, and Almond and Walnut, with who Roguefort spends the most time with, might or might not have seen a few similarities between the two, but the idea has never crossed their minds.

The only one that knows, as also said before, is Latte. Although she was a little wary of it at the beginning, is this what made her and Rogue good friends, she is the only one that knows (for now) after all. Roguefort is someone that can trusted it seems.

-As an addition to that, is not uncommon for Roguefort to come into Latte's atelier as Phantom bleu at night if they see she is still awake (is weird to happen, but sometimes it does). In those nights those two just talk, Latte asking about how the place where they all live in is like at night. And sometimes Roguefort might use their shapeshifting abilities to try and copy their friends and do bad impressions of them, both them and Latte laughing a lot afterwards.

-I do headcanon Walnut and Creampuff to be really good friends. For some reason the idea of Walnut asking Creampuff to be her crime-solving-partner when they grow up is cute to me...

-They all share a collective braincell, is Espresso, but it doesn't always works at it's fullest so they are all still idiots.

-Going back to Latte and Roguefort because their friendship is something I love. Latte once, early on when she had just found out about the secret, if they were keeping up an act to take advantage of the other. This Roguefort answered that ''that wouldn't be a fair game now, would it?''. Whatever Roguefort finds about the others that can be deemed as a weakness they don't use it against the others (useless is some kind of urgent scenario where they need one of the others to do something, but they try to avoid that at best). This is what proved to Latte that they can be trusted, as they also shapeshift into any of the others way less (especially espresso, they know they would be killed on sight if they do).

-More with Latte, from what it says in the game I think she helped Espresso in the development of coffee magic, so both have known each other for a long time. People often confuse them as siblings, truth is, they are not, they just act that way. Espresso may say that Latte is a bother, but he really appreciates his friendship with her, as well as he thinks of her as a great mage too.

-Espresso got to meet Creampuff in one of the meetings, before him and Madeleine started to date and before the group got to meet Roguefort. She seemed a little intimidated by him at the beginning, and Espresso had thought some of her movements at the moment to cast spells a bit clumsy, but he still saw some promising future in the young mage. Creampuff eventually started to stop begin intimidated by the coffee mage, she respects him greatly, and she warmed up a bit more after Madeleine was brought one afternoon when she was visiting Latte and Espresso and Madeleine came by.

-Madeleine tends to shower the young girls with gifts when he can (either small things like candy, something one or both of them might have said they wanted, or just take them to a shopping trip). Well, he tends to give gifts to every single one of the group if he has the chance (which is pretty often tbh). Each one of them must have at last ten gifts from him, if not more.

-The group was pretty surprised when once Almond brought with him not only Walnut, who wanted to meet with Creampuff in the atelier to then go walk around, but also Roguefort. It was a few weeks after a pretty bad night after work, the detective had been close to collapsing on the ground on his way home when Roguefort, who had been off work, saw him, approached and offered help, something the detective first rejected but had to accept as he almost tripped and fell face first. The thief was well aware of how tired Almond was half the time he saw him (it wasn't as much as they saw Walnut in the middle of a chase of crime scene, they mostly had seen him when they weren't dressing up in their cape and top hat), and they were also well aware of the danger it was to engage with the detective when in their normal self, but begin honest they were worried of Almond's well begin. The two of them started to see each other more after that small encounter, mostly because Roguefort decided to stop avoiding Almond when they were off work.

-Once, Almond arrived really really late at the meeting, Roguefort behind him saying "he got caught up in various cases today", and the detective looked absolutely exhausted. Just as he sat down his cellphone started to sound with an entering call. Roguefort frowned, Latte sighed, Espresso and Madeleine exchanged looks and just as Almond was about to answer Madeleine snatched his phone and answered the call with "Hello, this is Sir Madeleine Cookie of house Madeleine, Detective Almond was requested to help both me and the renowned coffee mage Espresso Cookie with an issue we have at the borders of the city, so, may I ask for you to not call useless there's a problem as big as a dragon attacking the place, thank you and good evening" and hung. Latte and Roguefort were laughing hard, Espresso was chuckling and Almond was looking at Madeleine in complete disbelief.

"You did not just did that"

"I did, and hey, I got you a day off, enjoy it"

#headcanon time baby!#cookie run #cookie run ovenbreak #cookie run kingdom #Roguefort cookie #Latte cookie #Almond cookie #Espresso cookie #Madeleine cookie #Creampuff cookie #Walnut cookie #Espresseleine #Madelespresso #The cookie squad #^that is the tag now #madespresso

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survivor-halsingland · 3 years ago

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Ep. 1: "There's 100% going to be a Canada alliance." - Amy

Amy

Initial reaction of cast reveal: I’m toast But for real this can go a couple of ways for me, none of which have me seeing myself make merge lol. I’m either going to be a very early boot here or be nice and active enough to solidify a place for a while. Lots of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Hopefully the people familiar with me won’t want to immediately vote me out. I have already mentioned to Derrick that I played with DeNara before, so hopefully we can bond over that and it not be used against me. I have explicitly asked Jared to not exclusively lie to me this go haha but we both said we were more playing for the other half of our duos and just agreed to do it. I was excited to see Blue on my tribe and I also know Leanne, and have already had a good chat with Klied - but his name does have “lie” in it 👀. Honestly I want to do a quick portion of divide and conquer, I planned on chilling in a pool tomorrow and going to drag bingo with Ava. But no one has solidly chosen anything so they are really about to force me to be tribe leader and sort this out. Things I look forward to: vibes, chatting with cool people, meeting people, twists, and drama Things I will not be doing: sitting on hours and hours of video calls. Not my style. But I know several people in this game love it. Let the good times roll y’all

Kenneth

HERE WE GO AGAIN! i'm fresh off of ingary, but jay has magic powers and pulled me in to another season of a potential clown fiesta <3 but seriously, this already seems a lot more enticing and spicy because of the theme in itself and how the challenges and idol hunt are structured so i am very excited to play :) i learned a lot about my last game and i will improve on it (hopefully) by taking more risks and plays that WILL be appreciated by the jury, and not be overly attached to people, which would result to tunnel vision. the first challenges are already pretty great, and i cannot wait to play this game. TO WIN! hehe >:)destiny i’m super confused about a lot of stuff tbh but everyone on my tribe is so nice and welcoming and i’m sure i’ll get the hang of it all soon :) i’m excited to be playing and just hoping i don’t screw things up for my tribe :/

AmyThis tribe is exhausting. Challenges where I need to send a photo back quickly really hate me. My phone took like a minute to actually send the photo, but Waldo went well. Except I started in the bottom right looking with vertical transects and Waldo was hiding in the bottom left 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Woulda been 30 seconds had I started over there. But I’m already expecting tribal so I’m just hoping I wasn’t the worst portion of our challenges haha!

Leanne

Not very much to share so far. Some people on this tribe are much bigger talkers than others, Jared, Derrick, Klied, and Amy. It’s been harder to get Convo from Jesse and Blue, and I’ve barely heard from Josh or Aubree. I wonder if other people have had the same experience. Haven’t dared try game talk with anyone yet. Hoping I’m not behind, but it’s only day 2 right? Maybe I’ll try to put some feelers out with Amy. Maybe I’ll tell her about some things in the idol hunt and see if she’ll give me anything in return, maybe try to get a partnership going. I’m glad she’s on my tribe, but also a little bit scared because I’ve seen exactly how good she is. Aside from that, the person I feel best about right now is Derrick. We’ve had some good chats and seem to connect well. Hope he feels the same way. And Moth. I’m especially nervous about them. When we played before we didn’t exactly hit it off, but I think we’re both… trying. I hope we can have a new start this time, a new story. And from what I know of them they are a very loyal allies so, here’s hoping. Also happy to see Sarah here, and my yinzer JG. Maybe he and my dad can bond over that? And that’s all I’ve got so far. God I hope I did enough in the challenge today. *whines* I don’t wanna go to tribal first!

Jared

Don't mind me making a confessional before the game even starts, call me a game changer. https://youtu.be/JFOxzamkcH8

Jared

Not one, but two, confessionals before the game even begins. Sorry not sorry! https://youtu.be/SETx-0LoI9E

Shawn

Well, things are going good so far! I think anyway. Although I like everyone on my team, I do have to say it's odd playing with someone whose older than my father is, Frank. Usually I like to take charge in games like this, I like to be the leader. Yet, with Frank, it's difficult because he's so much older, I feel like I'm a little kid around him. I don't wanna tell him what to do, because I don't wanna be disrespectful? I'm so excited so far though, absolutely loving the challenge and how we get to pick! Im not that bright so I'm happy I can do creative stuff.

Aubree

This is my first BvW confession! Idk about the other tribe, but the Mysa Tribe is super chill. Most of the conversations yesterday consisted of everyone saying hi and that they were busy and would be active later. Day 2 and the activity level is still the same, which is kind of a relief since I am much more of an introvert. I have been trying to be the first to reach out to people since I feel that is something I have struggled with in past ORGs I’ve played in. I’m usually the reserved/silently-strategic player, but I’m going to try and be more proactive for this game. Ive talked to Klied, Jared, Amy and Leanne a decent amount and have enjoyed our conversations. I know of Amy due to the games she has played with Sarah, so I am hoping that works in my favor. Amy did say that Sarah voted her out in the first game they played in, so that could work one of two ways for my game… like if it came down to a vote between me or Sarah later on?? but maybe it is too soon to think that far ahead? Lol Even though I’m an Art Teacher I chose to steer away from the Creative part to our first challenge. Tbh I’m so burnt out irl when it comes to being creative due to my job, so I’m okay with taking a step back from the creative challenges for now. I’ve enjoyed being a part of the Scavenger Hunt, even though it was a bit harder than expected. I was so stoked to have a Starry Night print, but since it wasn’t real it didn’t count… Like who the heck has a REAL VAN GOGH?? (Or quick access to one) LOL As much as I would LOVEEE to have an original painting, that teacher salary-bracket doesn’t allow for that!! Lol I haven’t had anyone directly ask to me to be in an alliance with them… so that is - interesting? I’m used to the last two games I played where it felt like everything was very paced. Now, It’s either A) everyone is just chillin’ and not wanting to rush things or B) bonds HAVE already started to form but I’m not a part of them? I guess things will spend up more after the first challenge is over and we see where our strengths and weaknesses are in the tribe. Until then! - Aubree

Moth

Hi!! I’m back again and playing with someone I know. I actually happen to be on call with Destiny as I type this but like- were vibing And also once again I’m starting off on the wrong foot, not at home when the game starts.

Moth

I don’t trust Jared Straight up And I feel like that’s fair- Twice I’ve been voted out for my connections to Kyoshi island and it’s really fucking frustrating- Jared apologized and sounded sincere but idk I trust people too easily.. Brayden, Denara, and Leanne are also all in this game All people I’ve played with Leanne I don’t trust right off the bat. I tried that before but like- that didn’t work for me. I just want to at least make it to the merge

Frank

Having fun, learning as I get going. Truly impressed by the comraderi among people whom I've never met. Old dogs, new tricks, this is cool.

Klied

The game is going pretty well so far! Everyone has been really nice and supportive of one another. I hope this tribe dynamic continues for the next rounds of the game! :>

Moth

I fucked it up I genuinely feel really bad because everyone’s so confident in me- And I’m totally going to be a target now

Moth

Ohhhhh thank god Thank god because I was absolutely going to be on the chopping block if we lost I don’t want to be first out That being said

I don’t want Destiny to be first out either

Shawn

I'm not very happy tonight with how things went. I truly believe the other team deserved the win, the video was creative and a lot of effort was put into it! I think it was a great thing. But I disappointed that we lost so many of the challenges. I'm also getting annoyed that people are being present on the chat. I feel like it's me and another tribe member that is putting in all the work. Not impressed, but whatever. I just really hope I don't get voted off tomorrow.

Kenneth

welp i bombed the where's waldo challenge and my team lost by a hair in the riddles challenge because of an advantage so rip. i really hope i don't get voted off first because i severely underperformed in the challenge akjdnsajkndkjsnd i'd be really disappointed in myself :/

Amy

Shocked. Absolutely shocked we aren't headed to tribal lol. And here I thought my 4 minutes on Waldo was too slow but it was enough. Honestly we are lucky Blue's quit disadvantage was only what it was bc they quit after 30 minutes apparently. All these advantages at play! And I'm sitting here with a disadvantage. I think I'm clearly doing the idol hunt wrong 😆 all I have is a disadvantage from poison feast food and a chipmunk named Wadsworth in my pocket. Based on how little anyone is speaking I was certain we'd be going to tribal hands down no question. So I am very, very happy we avoided it in the end. I think it would have been between Jessie and Josh though bc they aren't active. I would have voted Jessie bc Josh did the video even after saying he didn't actually want to do the creative part so that's major props to him in my book! I am very curious as to who the other tribe is going to vote off in the end. I hope it's no one I want to make it far. Oh basically I know I'm probably not making merge so I'm trying to align things to get certain people farther and get other people out. I'm rooting for a newbie to take it. Anyway woo day off and I won't be first boot. Fingers crossed it's not Ava. I wouldn't be surprised if she was targeted for her association with me. Love this game! Love this cast! Love the idol hunt! The reward challenge was the most fun bc Ava and I were incredibly intoxicated after Drag Bingo and we did better each time! The last one we went "office" and "turnip" and literally bust out laughing and both said "Nate". I would like to personally apologize to Ellie for having to witness that nonsense. Thank you to everyone! Oh one last thing. I did not want to work with jared at all but it looks like I am going to be forced to do so. I think I have to put trust in Jared and in Leanne who has voted me out of two games prior 😆 but that's me always just bonding most with the people who are active and want to talk to me.

Amy

There's 100% going to be a Canada alliance.

Aubree

Who won the first challenge?? MYSA DID! Woot woot! Even though Jared, Jessie and I didn’t win the Scavenger Hunt portion after the advantages were added in - we did win as far as how many total objects were found, so I’m pretty proud about that! To top it off Sarah and I won the Reward Challenge!!!! We both get 3 stat points to add to our Idol Hunt… which I have yet to do… I should probably do that tomorrow O_o

Avat

hings are going well i think!!! i've had a lot of fun and i sorta vibe with everyone so far on the tribe. i'm really hyped and fingers crossed we do well. i've been sorta inactive with my challenge bc of work but i'm doing what i can for now. more to come soon

DeNara

Well this is my first confessional of the game and oh my is this going to be an interesting game. Initial impressions of my tribe...... Sarah +Jodi- frenemies because they are so good at survivor Frank- I really like him. He seems like a cool dude Kenneth- Seems cool, I may want to work with him, but he seems to be playing harder than he should so early Brayden- Didn't get the best first impression, but that could change Shawn- Super quiet, then they started chatting so that helped Ava, J.G., Destiny- Really inactive so I don't really know- potential first vote I want to work with Sarah, Frank and maybe Kenneth. Jodi would be good to work with although who knows what she is thinking. Everyone else I will stay open to working with, but really don't care too much as of yet.

DeNara

The first challenge was weird because everyone just took their roles and stopped talking. I HATE QUIET. Period. The creative challenge on my tribe wasn't super creative imo, but they tried. I didn't help in the scavenger hunt as much as I wanted too so that sucks, but at least we won that part so that looks good. I am so excited for this idol hunt! It is amazing! Props to the hosts! WE LOST, DAMMIT. At least Derrick won't be the first boot. I hope I am not either or HE WILL NOT STOP BUGGING ME ABOUT IT AND I WILL DIE.

DeNara

Well it is chaos now. Shawn has made an alliance with Sarah, Kenneth, and myself. I like the safety of that. Jodi, Sarah and myself also made a Subrosa alliance (we all knew that would happen) and I feel like this will keep me safe for a while at least. Both Sarah and Jodi want to work with Brayden and potentially Kenneth so we may make an alliance of 5 with them- but that also means Sarah and I would have to talk to Kenneth about not telling Jodi about the other alliance and that could be very risky early on.... hmmm idk about that. Also, Frank is my dude. I hope he stays. I think I am going to lean towards J.G. or Destiny.

Sarah

https://youtu.be/RzlLHyHZguQ

Kenneth

I am now in 2 alliances: one with denara, sarah, and shawn, and another one with ava and brayden! i feel good about both alliances, with the first one feeling solid and loyal (for now), and the second one for the long term! i feel very solid about sarah and denara, i feel like i can last long with them as my good allies. jodi's a tricky one, because i know she's a damn good player, but it's better to keep her on my side for now until an opportune time to make a move (and i actually really like talking to her!).

Jared

me: i'm gonna try to make this concise also me: 8 minutes on the very first episode where i'm not even going to tribal oh boy

Brayden

https://youtu.be/reALs2hizjk hey everyone I'm here

DeNara

So now I am in a bunch of alliances. I guided Kenneth to make an alliance chat with Sarah and me to tell us to keep our alliances with 1. Shawn and 2. Brayden and Jodi a secret. Insert evil laugh here lol. So all together right now I should have Sarah, Jodi, Kenneth, Brayden, Shawn and Frank backing me, so I shouldn't be first boot. It sounds like we are going for Destiny because they aren't very active, which was the name Kenneth threw out first so he is getting what he wants without upsetting me.

Ava

so so so bummed about going to tribal i thought we had it in the bag especially with our advantages but alas... i formed an alliance with brayden and kenneth which i'm super obsessed with i really like both of them - hopefully this means safety for tomorrow. i hate working two jobs and the week after next ill be working just one which is just so fucking sweet fingers crossed i can make it that long in this game. anyway that's all for now

Jodi

I'm so happy to be back. This time, I promise to play a chill Jodi game as I said in my intro, and I want to relax and enjoy this twist of a season. Jared and I are thrilled to play our second season together in the actual format of BvW, and we will be playing our own games. So far, I'm glad to have Denara, Sarah, Brayden on my tribe, as we all know each other but never played before (except Brayden). I want to keep an open mind and play fluidly. Kenneth told Brayden within 10 mins of the game starting that he was scared of me, but I hope I can gain the trust of people and not play as flashy as people remember me for. Looking forward to the connections I make!

Jodi

I promised y'all a chill Jodi game and here i am, delivering it. I think. DeNara and Sarah immediately made the "The Best of SubRosa" chat because obviously that was bound to happen, but additionally, the 3 of us are in an alliance with Brayden and Kenneth called "the clock" (because of our time zones ahahahaha). This game's dynamic is so different because even though we hate going to tribal, it also means that our loved ones are safe from tribal, which sometimes, could be better. I hope Jared is doing good on the other side. Obviously I trust Sarah and DeNara but I also know Sarah will cut my throat when it needs to happen, even if she gonna be crying while doing it, so I'll just...not be blinded by that. I trust Brayden 100%, Kenneth calling me scary is not great but I guess he rather be with me than against me, for now. Y'all Ingary kids what did you say about me??? LMAOO ♥️ I did ask him why he didn't cause ruckus at 5 and whip out the superidol and he said "tunnel vision". Hey that's two of us I guess!

Sarah

https://youtu.be/RzlLHyHZguQJessie So I’m still working on making like connections and stuff but we won the first challenge so no tribal which is a very good thing . ❤️ I’m enjoying this interactive scavenger hunt and I’m totally not trying to pull a Danni from Midsommar lol.

Brayden

hey guys im in a 5 person alliance rn with jodi sarah denara and kenneth and i feel pretty good and excited bc i think ill win this whole game but sadly destiny is prob leaving tonight <\3

Derrick

First challenge done. We rocked it! I don't really have any sort of alliance at this point but I seem to be getting along with everyone. Josh didn't seem to put too much effort into our creative set up but it still worked out OK. It was unfortunate I was on my trip at the time as I could have done so much more with. I think as long as we support eachother we can rock every challenge that comes our way!joshIM SOO HAPPY WE WON! our tribe seems to be like friendly but i havent made any alliances i think so idk if im in a good spot if we lose a challenge but we didnt this time so🙃ShawnEveryone in the tribe is messaging about Destiny, and that is who everyone is thinking of voting off. I'm still thinking of voting Frank off, and I think that's who I'm going for. He's not good at technology, and this whole game is about technology! We lost the creative challenge because all we could do with him was write! Still, everyone thinks because Destiny isn't very active she should be the one to go. I'm not sure what I want to do. JGOh hey! Here we are round one. I feel so out of it playing this game. For the first time in a while, I barely know any of the other players. Which is refreshing and tough. I also feel like my social game is kind of lacking but that is kind of my brand for round 1. I have had some great one on one conversations with DeNara, Jodi, and Sarah. I've talked to Brayden and Kenneth as well a little bit less than the first three. Shawn and Ava, barely. Frank and Destiny not at all. The vote should be Destiny since we sadly lost. Which works for me. I feel the closest with DeNara and Sarah. Really hoping I can start to get my footing. If we were to lose again, Frank would probably go but I don't wanna put myself in the line of fire again. Well here's hoping things improve. Hopefully, I'm not blindsided. Here we go.blueMy tribe seems pretty cool so far, everyone is nice and seems pretty active so thats nice. Shawns going to tribal so I hope theyre gonna be safe :(((DeNara As far as I know, the vote is going to be Destiny. I feel bad for them for not getting the chance to play, and I feel really bad for Moth, they always have the worst luck in ORGs. That being said I sure hope nothing crazy happens tonight or I will cry 100% Tribal, here I come...AubreeThere is hardly any game talk (at least from where I’m standing), so I may start trying to get a feel of where people are at by asking some game-related questions in the tribe chat. Don’t get me wrong, I love the personal chit-chats… BUT I’m also feeling a bit empty-handed as far as knowing everyone’s game motives. Maybe I’m being too bold… idk. I’m not normally the one to standout in ORGs, so hopefully my tribe doesn’t take this as me prying… even though I guess I kinda am?? 😬 “Oof look at me being all dangerous and shit!” 😤🤘🏼😂blueSO here are more detailed thoughts on my tribe. Amy of course is a queen and a legend and we've played together before and have a good rapport. Leanne is so kind and so funny, and I would be super down for working with her. Jared is SO nice I get really good vibes and really enjoy talking to him. Aubree is also very nice and seems genuinely interested in my irrelevant stories 10/10 good vibes. Moth is dope as expected and turns out we have a lot of the same interests ie. witcher and the mcelroys very fun. The rest are yet to be determined.AmyI would like to start out by saying that Brayden's video during their tribal almost made me seasick thanks buddy. So today was a DAY. It was a day off and like I had a weird day at work lol 😆 and then I remembered there was the task of talking to people who h i slacked on today whoops sorry. But for half these people idk if they even noticed bc my tribe is so quiet. Did I already say I tried asking Jessie what their favorite berry was? Like that's how exhausting conversation has been most all around. I think I'm talking to Leanne, Derrick, and Jared the most. I am begging for bygones to be bygones. But anyway I was trying to do a little of the hunt throughout the day bc after seeing

all those advantages last go I was SHOCKED. Then at the end of work I made it to thevpart where I was talking to the grumpy sad flower crown man and after falling on my weak ass on a ladder I picked the lock with a bobbypin and charisma's him to make me a flower crown which got me to the maypole which had me do a scavenger hunt and I got an idol. Writing this all out is absolutely hilarious. But yeah I have an idolllllllllllllllllllll which I don't want to use anytime soon. But I have a feeling I'm going to struggle to make merge. Anyway I got this idol like directly after the other tribe finishing tribal and I love a funny timing like that. I'm glad Ava survived weee! And wow they have some very vocal tribe members haha I'm sure Denara and Jodi are working together which tracks bc I've been closest to both of them individually in prior games early on. Curious if it will stick. So next was rock paper scissors for which I have a 10% disadvantage which apparently applies to the overall tribe score ☠️ . I won my game against Brayden who was at seemingly a raging Big Brother watch party. Sorry buddy. But we've been chatting like he asked how josh was and I said Josh is great and really stepped up to the plate for the creative challenge even though it wasn't what he wanted and also he loves tom holland so I instantly trust him. Then he said everyone likes ava bc she's just so cool and yes I get it I am personally intimidated by how cool Ava is and I have to be around that cool level every day honestly I don't know why she talks to me but she's a badass. Anyyywayyyy he doesn't seem keen on actually talking game and I need to figure out if I need to just tell my tribe I have a disadvantage rn or be like what the fuck the other tribe is so mean to give me a disadvantage 😭 Anyway excited to explore the hunt some more and this game is so fun. If we go to tribal I think Jessie is most at risk tbh. Okay that's all bye ❤️

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spacepanda7 · 4 years ago

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Second cast of Crows (maybe they're rivals with the first cast... 🤔):

Well, the image of sakuatsu as helnik (matthias helvar x nina zenik? I think?) wouldn't leave my head. Hate each other at first, warm up to each other, Sakusa/Matthias lets their guard down for the first time with Atsumu/Nina, who break their trust to save them, and when they meet again, Sakusa/Matthias absolutely hate Atsumu/Nina and hate that they still have feelings for them. Atsumu/Nina had been longing to see them again but when provoked, physically or otherwise, absolutely refuse to take that lying down and immediately fight back. Classic enemies to lovers to enemies to allied enemies to lovers. The basic staple of sakuatsu, really. 🤣

Now that I'm attached to sakuatsu helnik, might as well make it a national team (+friends) party. Hinata strikes me as the perfect Wylan, except maybe that Wylan was never that exuberant. But Hinata is so nice and friendly (unless you insult him) that he would be horrified by the cruelty and death that the Crows live with on a daily basis. But then, once he got used to it and started to really love and care for his friends/teammates, he would be the fiercest and most protective of all. Also, can you just imagine the national team looking at Hinata after he casually suggests murder a la Wylan, like, "oh my god, we've corrupted him," and then having a miniature crisis? Also, he starts with natural talent, albeit with an uncontrollable disadvantage that he then turns to his advantage, becoming better than anyone hoped he could be. Hinata had extreme athletic gifts, but the disadvantage of his small height. Wylan had dyslexia but also extreme intelligence and knowledge. Plus, everyone wants to be Hinata's dad, like how Kaz adopted Wylan. 😆

That would make Kageyama Jesper. They both have fantastic, utterly precise, superhuman (literally in Jesper's case) aim. Kageyama is definitely impulsive at times, but although I can totally see him gambling away all his money, I feel like that would be more because he had no idea what was going on and someone conned him into it, rather than Jesper's addiction. Their personalities are almost complete opposites, but they both come alive the most during high pressure situations (fights/games) and perform at their best in them. They can both be offensive, although Kageyama is mainly just blunt, while if Jesper is insulting, he's probably doing it on purpose. They both encouraged their counterparts in their own ways, and convinced them that they were valuable despite their perceived disadvantages. Kageyama was the first to treat Hinata as a serious opponent and rival, and to take him seriously. Jesper was one of the first to make Wylan feel like he was more than his inability to read and that he was, regardless of the disadvantage, incredibly smart and special. They both were condescending at first to Hinata/Wylan but grew to respect them and care for them.

I'm not sure who would be Kaz... no one on the national team really strikes me as scheming and manipulative enough to be him... Maybe Suna, but I like the idea of him as Inej. Inconspicuous at first, especially compared to their colleagues, underestimated, but very skilled. Plus, the whole Thief of Secrets thing really suits Suna's tendency for collecting blackmail. If anyone on the national team is collecting information to use against people to gain an advantage over them, it would probably be Suna. Ship-wise, that would make Osamu Kaz but... Osamu is not like Kaz in the slightest. He's all impulse and Kaz is all calculation. Personality wise, if we spread the candidate pool to be Japanese-born volleyball players at the Olympics, Oikawa would definitely be Kaz. Scheming, strategically turning his weaknesses into strengths, manipulating, thinking ahead, bringing out the strengths of his team, and very powerful and frightening in his own right. Ship wise though, I feel like Oikawa and Suna wouldn't last a day. They would probably destroy each other. Maybe Iwaizumi and Osamu are two of the Dregs that come along with the group, but don't participate in the actual heist, staying on the ship instead. There were a few of those in the book; I think Rotty and Dirix were supposed to go but one of them died when their decoy ship was attacked by Pekka Rollins. There were others but I forget who.

Komori can be Kuwei. I don't know how smart he is, but he doesn't have a prominent partner he's shipped with, and I can see him flirting with everyone for the fun of it and making everyone else really mad. He and Sakusa are probably not cousins in this AU.

I left out Hoshiumi, Ushijima, Hakuba, Yaku, Hyakuzawa, and Aran, which makes me sad, but I couldn't think of a role that would fit them well. Ushijima is (I think) their captain but he is way too himbo to be Kaz (@ him and Kageyama discussing gravity in South America). Hoshiumi would be a good Jesper but Hirugami Sachirou is too experienced and calm to be Wylan. Hyakuzawa could be Wylan, but he doesn't have an obvious partner, I don't remember very much about Hakuba except that he's huge, and Aran isn't calculating enough to be Kaz, stoic enough to be Matthias, outgoing and purposefully charming enough to be Nina or Jesper, or innocently inexperienced enough to be Wylan. I included Bokuto in the previous set of Crow volleyboy musings, so I won't count him here. Yaku is probably waiting at the Crow Club/Slat to take care of everyone when they get back and yell at them for being stupid and reckless.

Or, using a similar cast of characters, Atsumu and Osamu split up Kaz's character (Atsumu is the schemer and manipulator, Osamu handles the logistics of being a leader - he has his own business, he's used to records and numbers, plus it would probably have been very useful for Kaz to have a doppelganger to use as an alibi), Sakusa and Komori split up Kuwei's character (Komori is the chaos, Sakusa, the university graduate, is Kuwei's scientific prowess; they can be cousins here), Suna, Hinata, and Kageyama as Inej, Wylan, and Jesper, and Ushijima as Matthias. We'll bring Tendou on to be Nina: he is very out there and not afraid to be himself, and I can totally see him sacrificing his relationship with Ushijima to keep them both safe, and Ushijima being so hurt and confused by Tendou's betrayal that he keeps a distance when they're reunited and accidentally comes across as aggressive.

Anyway, if you've reached the end of my Six of Crows/Haikyuu!! rant, thank you for sticking around! A gold star for you! ⭐ I love the volleyboys and the Crows (the Dregs ones not the Karasuno ones, although I love them too) very much and they take up much of my mental real estate.

SIX OF CROWS HAIKYUU!! VERSION just slammed into my brain at top speed and refused to leave.

First version that came into my head was this: Kuroo as Kaz, scheming and always thinking several steps ahead and manipulating others, friends and enemies. Bokuto as Jesper, powerful and has a presence, loves the adrenaline of a fight (or facing a wall of three blockers, whatever), and loud and cheerful (most of the time). Oikawa and Iwaizumi as Nina and Matthias. I probably don't need to explain to you who is who and why. Matthiwaizumi, of course, lives to a ripe old age, happy and in love with Ninoikawa. That's what happens, yep.

I ran into an issue with Inej and Wylan. Because to me, Akaashi is quite similar to Inej, quiet but calculating and dangerous and threatening when they want to be. Independent and supportive and unfalteringly loyal, but also keeping their counterpart honest/humble/etc. And Kenma reminds me of Wylan in that he's not super dedicated to and in love with volleyball in the same way as the others are, like Wylan was not used to the life that the others led before Kaz pulled him in. Also, Kenma is very smart and good at thinking strategically. Wylan was very good at engineering and math, and I feel like Kenma's video game prowess would lend itself well to learning about technology systems. And Kenma is the least physically threatening out of these six, like Wylan was among the crows. But the way the ships work, Kenma should be Inej and Akaashi should be Wylan... well, it's an AU, anyway. Akaashinej can be pining after Bokutojesper. And after pulling him in, Kazuroo falls for Wylenma.

Terushima is Kuwei. Smart and flirtatious. Makes Kenma extremely angry by flirting with Kuroo excessively. Tried on Bokuto at first, but Akaashi and his knives put an end to that very quickly. Daishou would probably also work, plus, it would be hilarious to have him flirting incessantly with Kuroo.

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