#amano…… what even was July

[what-the-fuck-khr]

A Year With Amano: 2016

[zoroara]

July Mammon Redraw 17 of 31!      

I am not very appreciative of the fact that literally all of the varia aside from xanxus perv on Chrome the first time she's introduced. Like Levi I at least understand he's made to be that type of character, why are all the rest doing that, even the fucking frog is doing that. Also this happening before a fight filled with tentacles being used as the main attacking. Like thanks amano that's really what i needed. Truely. We could totally not live without that.

Also if you’re interested in Submitting for other Varia members for me to redraw in their months you can check what I still need (here~)  

The Image I redrew is under the cut, just to keep the post small.

[ID: 1: A full-colored digital fanart of Viper | Mammon, from the manga and anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

They're in their cursed form, standing on the floor slightly on their profile. They have a neutral expression on their face, but they look threatening and resolute, their cloak fluttering near their legs. Fantasma crawls down from where it's on top of their head.

2: The reference panel from the manga. /End ID]

IDs courtesy of @hopeswriting

why did the frog have to be horny i don't like that, i only chose the panel tho cause it was the most phantasma ever moves

[coverteyes]

Escaflowne Voice Meme Part 1

Encouraged by @fayrinferno, here I am, six years late for @drkstars-art's Escaflowne Voice Meme. I'm a newer fan, though, so you'll have to forgive me. I'd love for anyone else new to this or the fandom to join in!

Introduce yourself! When did you first watch Escaflowne? What brought you into the fold? 

I'm afraid to answer because...gatekeeping, but here goes.

My husband watched it on Fox back in '96. He heard about the kickstarter and bought the Funimation Blu-ray set and forced me to watch it, quite against my will, in July 2020. I didn't start liking it until the episode Van pushes Merle's head down. Even then I didn't pay much attention until the moment Van catches Hitomi near the drag-energist mine, then I died hard and reawakened a new woman. (Wish I were joking. Totally not.)

I'm now familiar with both the original English and the Japanese dubs. I like them all.

Who is your favorite character and why? Was it love at first sight?  Has any of their qualities or quirks swayed you on characters in other series? 

I relate hard to Hitomi. I was a green-eyed, annoyingly energetic, average-looking, and very boy-crazy teenager. I ran in track, dabbled in tarot reading, and crushed on many a tall boy with blue eyes. I even had a crush on the cute, tall track star (more on that later).

So, that said, who's my favorite character?

Van, obviously. There's something I just get about him. Perhaps because I was raised by a very manly, very stoic man. He just resonates with me.

Which side are you on? What do you think happens Post-Hitomi when she leaves? Who do you think will be the next opposing power? 

I'm on Van's side. I hope he keeps Basram in check.

Least favorite plot point? Was there something you think should have changed? What do you think would have made it better. 

Varie. I loved her and her black-green hair and also hated how she totally emotionally ruined Hitomi, blaming her for all the bad things that happened to Van and Gaea. Hitomi's going to need years of therapy to undo the damage she did with one conversation. We want to know what's with that green energist that Van gets?

Also, in spite of the fact that the scene where Van catches Hitomi changed my whole heart, I do not, in fact, fangirl over his wings.

OTP? What kind of art and fiction would you like to see? What are some head canons you have for them? What is you NoTP

Van and Hitomi. All the SFW art and fiction. All the head canons. Every iteration. I love AUs the most. I've read almost all the complete AUs out there.

I'd love to see more Dryden and Millerna stuff. And Gaddess with any other lady in the series. Also, I would totally read Hitomi and Folken.

NoTP? Allen and anyone else. He's so EWWWW.

Anyone with Celena/Dilandau, unless it's an AU. You have to really convince me that they've had a lot of therapy before they're healthy enough to have a relationship.

Merle and Van, obvs.

Lastly, Hitomi and Amano.

Storytime. When I was 15, I was in track, I was in love with the popular track star, and I wanted him to be my first kiss. BUT when we got close enough for that, he had a super greasy face that grossed me out. Also, he rejected a gift I gave him.

What did I try to give him?

A stone pendant.

Here's part 2

[burningdarkfire]

books i read in july 2023

[these are all short + casual reviews - feel free to ask about individual ones if u want my full thoughts or ask for my goodreads!!] 

in hindsight i feel like i lived three different months in july so uhhh it makes sense i read a decent amount? maybe?

the first fifteen lives of harry august - claire north ★★★★★ (scifi)

i won’t tell you that this is objectively good literature but i will tell you that it is peak trope-y intellectual rivals “whatever these freaks have going on is definitely weirder than actually having sex” media and you should definitely read it if you’re into that

the last to vanish - megan miranda ★★★★☆  (thriller)

a slower thriller that read more like litfic at times. the “reveal” is definitely the weakest part of this book so YMMV on if that breaks a thriller or not!

the world keeps ending, and the world goes on - franny choi ★★★★☆ (poetry)

all the poems that were explicitly focused on the political movements du jour were rather trite but the poems that reached deeper into history were absolutely beautiful

fourth wing - rebecca yarros ★★★★☆ (fantasy romance)

this was great fantasy romance (but you must understand that it is fantasy romance before you read it). fun dragon bonds, half-baked fantasy war, star-crossed lovers, horny young adults ... what is there not to love?

everything is beautiful, and i’m not afraid - yao xiao ★★★★☆ (contemporary comic collection)

simple but powerful comic collection! each comic is meant to stand on its own, but there are still meaningful running threads

moonflower murders - anthony horowitz ★★★★☆ (mystery)

it’s not as good as magpie murders but that is a nearly impossible ask anyway! it’s messier, less satisfying, and generally too full of silly contrivances, but it’s still a lot of fun to read

burning in this midnight dream - louise bernice halfe ★★★★☆ (poetry)

great individual poems but repetitive as a collection

the mill house murders - yukito ayatsuji ★★★☆☆ (mystery)

the “whodunnit” is obvious and the “howdunnit” is uninteresting, but the way it’s written is still quite engaging

let’s make ramen! - hugh amano ★★★☆☆ (cookbook comic)

cute comic cookbook! i obviously didn’t read it page to page but it was gorgeous to flip through. i did wish it offered more cultural background

little fires everywhere - celeste ng ★★★☆☆ (contemporary)

the plot escalated beyond belief and needed a lot of crazy coincidences to tie together, but it was still a really enjoyable read

dear prudence - daniel m. lavery ★★★☆☆ (nonfiction essays)

this really was just like reading r/AITA to me

shutter island - dennis lehane ★★★☆☆ (thriller)

i’m not convinced it was worth reading the book, having previously watched the movie a couple of times, but there were a few turns of phrase that a movie couldn’t quite pull off (the inverse is definitely also true though!)

our missing hearts - celeste ng ★★☆☆☆ (dystopian)

the first part was very enjoyable and i’d even say better than celeste ng’s usual, but then it took a hard left and turned into a heavy-handed and clumsy pandemic book that i just didn’t care about at all

[hotarutranslations]

Moulin Rouge/Umebo 18th Shutter Guy

Evening

Today I went to multiple plays! An amazing day!

"Moulin Rouge! The Musical"

Umebo 18th "RE"SHOW "Shutter Guy"

.😎👏🏻

I loved my time with both of them!!! It was packed with things I like!!!

Various things were amazing but,

Moulin Rouge…

I went with Takeuchi Akari-san And then Sasaki Rikako-chan came as well

Takeuchi-san, Was actually planning on going with her parents but, It seems like it wasn't convenient for them anymore so, I was suddenly invited😳⚠️ lol

I'm happyyyy to see it again this year

When I saw it last year as well, Its impact was impresive but,

seeing its impresive impact again, Also I was closer than I was last time, The entire casts great concentration… Like I'll make those facial expressions they made too…

Eeh, my impression is strange, right 🫤🫤lol I often make the same face when I see it🫤🫤 lol

Thats how charming the facial expressions were, that I saw!

Kaga Kaede-chan was also really cool as expected~!

The attractive dancing in these kinds of performances, There are many dances where the people support each other, Where its also important to have physical muscle mass, and trust in the other person is also necessary, But it flows beautifully and its really cool~~❤️👏🏻

Really! Its an amazing work!

Also,

Umebo 18th "RE"SHOW "Shutter Guy"…

🍊🍊

I also went to see this at the premier in 2018, Umebo-san's "Shutter Guy"

At that time Furukawa Konatsu-san was also in it, right🌻

And, Hirai Miyo-chan already went to go see it

I also went to see it today🕺

I went with Takase Kurumi-chan🕺

It was fun~~~ I laughed and shouted,

While letting you feel emotions like, Eh..I'm gonna cry.. and then made me laugh right after, I really really like, the emotionally busy feeling of Umebo-san😂😂lol

There were some scenes I remembered from the premier performance but, What's more in my memory is that,

Its flashy!! Doing whatever they want (as praise)!!

I think the memories will be pretty changed, in a good way so,

Therefore wouldn't it be amazing if it was even better..?

It was flashy.. The lighting was also cool🫣🫣

The dancing was amazing but, The dance there was amazing, is this considering dancing, Its difficult to comment on it🤔💭 lol

That is the world of Umebo-san😂😂

I went and met with Naraki Kazuya-san and Amano Kazuki-san, That have worked with us in Hello Pro Dance Gakuen!

.🐈🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛⋆͛*͛

(My cat hands are perfect because Momochi-senpai taught me how)

Since its a done as a double cast,

I know about this, How interesting a double casting is,🫤🫤 I remembered from when Morning Musume did this for plays Those doing it have twice as much to remember🫤🫤 lol

But since double castings are really interesting,

I just finished watching it, but I'm interested in the other pattern~~

.🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

If you're interested in it everyone, by all means? fufu

How you feel the persons energy in this way, Its great on stage in live performances-- I really thought that today🐣

I'm also doing best towards the Hellocon rehearsals as well! lol

I'm looking forward to it from the 13th!

Play▶️List

Graduation Announcement Blog🐣🪽

Hello! Station #531 I also talk about my graduation in this video

📺Hello Pro Dance Gakuen Season 11

Every other Thursday at 11:30PM~ Learning Locking from HIYORI-san

📺Sendai Broadcast "Ara Ara Kashiko" Ishida Ayumi Goes~! I appear once a month as part of the AraKashi Family

The previous shows, and makings, are on OX VIDEO STORE!

Thank you for following.. Instagram💙🩵

💿 August 14th new single✨ "Nandaka Sentimental na Toki no Uta/saiKITOU"

Cheki Sign Talk Meet Announcement

̗̀📣You Can Apply On This Site

̗̀📣Limsta

🪩The MusiQuest 2024 July 21st (Sun) PiaArena MM

We're challenging a new festival stage❤️‍🔥 Absolutely, Definitely, Thank you for your support❤️‍🔥

🪩Hello! Project 2024 Summer ALL OF US "Vega" "Altair" From July 13th~September 1st Traveling To 7 Cities Nationwide All Hello! Project groups are performing🔥

⚾️"Hawks SUMMER BOOST" July 28th (Sun) Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka

After the match, we'll be having a live!

📚July 20th Release "non-no September" special issues cover is, Morning Musume '24

Preorders are here

Releasing on July 23rd

"Up To Boy vol.341" September Issue I will be on the 7net limited cover page

Preorder it soon🪽

I'd be happy if you could pick it up❤️

📻Morning Musume '24 Morning Jogakuin ~Houkago Meeting~

Airs Every Saturday, On Radio Nihon at 12:00AM~

Past Broadcast Episodes Are Available →Program Details

I visited as a guest🪽 "Sayashi Riho and The Time From Now On" presented by Meiji Bulgarian Yogurt

see you ayumin <3 https://ameblo.jp/morningmusume-10ki/entry-12858528785.html

[ariel-seagull-wings]

TOP 12 SNOW WHITE PORTRAYALS

@princesssarisa​ @superkingofpriderock​ @sunlit-music​ @mademoiselle-princesse​ @amalthea9​ @theancientvaleofsoulmaking​ @astrangechoiceoffavourites​ 

Lips red as blood. Skin white as snow. Hair black as ebony. The fairest woman of all.

Snow White is one of the most iconic fairy tale characters ever created. And also  one of the hardest to portray. This happens because, the story is less about her as a person, and more about following her exploration of the world and how this world reacts to her. The tale calls her a princess, but really she is more meant to be a common everygirl for a variety of readers and audiences to see themselves in. So the greatest challenge to portray the character becomes how to make at the same time universally relatable, and an individual character, and today, i’d like to share my favorite portrayals, that camed closer in acomplishing this goal.

12º Laura Berlin in Sechs Auf Einen Streich (2009)

Berlin’s Snow White acts as an outgoing, playfull young lady who deep down is trying to deal with the longing for her dead mother. And then, her father marries a new, vain and cruel woman, and sayed woman orders that the portrait of the previous queen be trown out, wich obviously makes the princess verbally snap against her father weak-willed and her tyranical stepmother. And then her father has a stroke and her stepmother orders her death. Here is a young lady in an emotinal turmoil and distress, wich makes her very relatable to audiences.

11º Nicola Stapleton and Sarah Paterson in Canon Movie Tales: Snow White (1987)

One of the first times that we see the fair princess explicitly growing up from child to young adult. Nicola Stapleton is probably more charismatic as child! Snow White, having more time on scene where she gets to sing with her father, explore the room where her stepmother keeps the magic mirror, until finally having to run trough the woods and meeting the dwarfs, but Sarah Paterson also makes adult! Snow White likable, singing about her desire to someday leave the dwarfs house because she is growing and may need her own space, and showing the doubt between fear and curiosity in her interactions with her disguised stepmother. This highlights more the themes of coming of age and confronting ones fears from the tale.

10º Yuri Amano/Donatella Fanfani/Eileen Stevens in The Legend of Snow White (1994)

In this italian-japanese coproduced anime, the twelve year old Snow White is an inquisitive, merry and kind girl, that has to adapt to a more scary reality when she has to run away from the castle to not be killed. At the dwarfs house, where she is so hungry and tired she takes all bread from a basket and sleeps for hours, she decides to give her hazelnuts and try to do shores to compensate for entering the house and eating the bread. Unfortunally, being a princess who lived in comfort all her life, she fails hard when she tries to do domestic shores, burning bread and cutting lettuce that she tought were garden plagues. But she is so sweet and kind, that it doesn’t matter. Conquering the affection of people for who she is, and not for what she can do in exchange, is the greatest strenght of this encarnation.

09º Elizabeth McGovern in Faerie Tale Theatre (1984)

A lonely girl who just wants some atention and love. Those are the characteristics that McGovern’s Snow White extablishes for herself in her first appearance, trying to impress her stepmother with juggling tricks learned with the Court Jester. Later, in the forest, when she is about to be stabbed, she prays to God for the soul of the Huntsman who is about to kill her, and to her surprise this act of kindness is what changes the Huntsman’s heart and convinces him to spare her life. In the woods she finds the dwarfs cottage, and can finally have friends to talk about things like her nostalgia for swiming in the castle moat/pit. She won’t feel alone again. 

08º Kristin Kreuk in Snow White: The Fairest of them All (2001)

In this Hallmark TV Movie, Kreuk gives a 16 year old Snow White who searches friendship in garden gnomes. In a way, she expands the theme of loneliness explored by McGovern, and goes deeper about it, relating sayed loneliness with beauty: she is an awkward and melancholic person, who feels that people only care with her pretty appearance, but don’t actually come close to truly meet her as a person. In a lesser hand, this idea of a person who thinks being considered beautifull is hard could sound absurd and over dramatic, but the screenwriters and Kreuk’s sincere performance make it a compelling dilema.

07º Natalie Minko in Schneewitchen (1992)

An energetic fifteen year old, who likes to run around to play with the Court Jester, and mess up the kitchen while doing pancakes that glue in the ceiling. Minko’s Snow White is one of the few Snow White’s who is allowed to act as a normal teenager: she makes messes, she sometimes verbally fights with people, she constantly questions the adults around her, all the wille still being a genuinelly kind hearted person pursuing the path of truth.

06º Tamara Rojo in Emilio Aragon’s Blancanieves (2005)

I loved watching the DVD of this ballet production over and over as a kid. Trough dance movements, Tamara Rojo gives us a gracious and fun princess. Whetever she goes, a party will always start.

05º Adriana Caselotti in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

My first portrayal of Snow White. The Disney version was raised working as a palace scullery maid, wich her stepmother hoped would make her ugly. But that didn’t work. She grows beautifull in body and soul: her singing voice is so sweet it is enough to make a dashing Prince fall in love with her, the animals are always engaged by her joyfull and sassy conversations, and she has a firm way of talking that assures a position of leadership among both the animals and the dwarfs who later befriend her. Really, she is awesome. What can i say about her that hasn’t been sayed already?

04º Marguerite Clark in Snow White (1916)

The version that inspired Walt Disney to make his version. Based on a 1912 stage play, this is the version that extablished being raised as a palace scullery maid as the reason Snow White is good with domestic tasks despite being a rich princess. Clark’s Snow White is also compassionate, sweet, romantic and dreamy, and she mix those qualities with some energy and spunkiness, being an almost wild girl.

03º Carol Heiss in Snow White and The Three Stooges (1961)

The sass, spunkiness and sweet romanticism are back, but with a new adition: an athletic hobby. Carol Heiss was originally a golden medal winner olimpic ice skater, and this movie was made to capitalize in her popularity at the time (along with reviving the Three Stooges popularity). So, we extablish in this version that the heroine who is linked to the snow loves the winter, and one of the most popular sports in this season. No other version before or after that did this, even tough its the most obvious and most awesome thing to do with the character. Ad to that the (uncredited) singing voice dubbed by Norma Zimmer, and you have one of the most complete portrayals of Snow White: she is beauty, she is grace, she can sing, she can cook and she can ice skate. She is the most interesting woman that ever lived.

02º Sakiko Tamagawa/Julie Maddalena in Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics (1989)

Orphaned from her mother at birth and having a father who is always too busy rulling the kingdom to pay attention to her, this version of Snow White grows up raised by a nurse named Doris, and playing on the garden with a young boy named Klaus. Her favorite pass time is to climb trees to pick apples, her favorite fruit. But one day her stepmother, who for years has been ignoring her, calls the princess to her chamber, and asks if she thinks herself to be most beautifull than the Queen. Annoyed with the absurd of the question, Snow White calls her stepmother out in her vanity. What follows is her running away, having to survive as a fugitive. Getting lost from her Klaus and stumbling in a root, she crawls for her life, until being saved by the seven dwarfs and their wolf friends. Time passes, and she finds a bit of fullfilment while slowly learning to do domestic chores to help the dwarfs, and finding friendship in the wolfs and a giant black bear. But she still craves to reunite with her friend Klaus and to find some love, while the Queen’s menace lures in the air.

And now the moment everyone was expecting... My number one favorite portrayal of Snow White is:

01º Camryn Manhein in The 10th Kingdom (2000)

I know what are you thinking: “Wait, a two episode cameo in a tv minisseries, instead of a protagonist, this is your favorite”? Yes. Yes, she is. In the Hallmark minisseries The 10th Kingdom, a young lady from the real world comes to the magical world to help to disenchant a Prince that has been turned into a dog. This dog prince is Snow White’s grandson. And then the heroes arrive at the Dragon Mountain in the 09th Kingdom, and Virginia has a conversation with the spirit of the late Snow White for counsel. And Snow White counsels Virginia by simply telling her story of once being an afrayed, lonely lost girl in the woods, finding new friends in the dwarfs, suffering three murder attempts from her stepmother, being aesleep for years with the poisoned apple in her troat, until the Prince’s servants stumbled with her casket so she could trow away the apple piece, so she could finally live happily ever after. While she narrates the tale, she says that she knew the danger presented by the ribbons, the comb and the apple, but she also knew that she could hide in the dwarfs cottage, afrayed to be hurt, forever. And her husband was a good man, but she saved herself from death. With that dialogue, Manheim’s sensitive and wise Snow White ressignified the fairy tale for me, making me appreciate better the story and her character. And that is why she my number one portrayal of the fairest princess of all.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Elke Arendt in Schneewitchen (1955), Maresa Hörbiger in Schneewitchen (1971) and Elaine Bilstad as White Snow in Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995).

[therefugeofbooks]

July felt like an eternity! I made good use of the time, though, and finished a book with 600 pages! I haven't been reading big books so I'm glad I didn't dfn it. Overall, July was a mix of lightheaded reads and some dark ones.

Talking about all the books I read in July under the cut!

Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon

Spooky! I liked the concept of the story, and the execution was pretty good. I can't get tired of kids saving the day and fighting the monsters and their fears. I was pleasantly surprised by all the turns the story takes and the end as well.

Read if you want: middle-grade horror, kids saving the day, a harmless play turned dark.

The Misadventures of an Amateur Naturalist by Ceinwen Langley (x)

I didn't like the first part of the book because of the pacing and lack of the magic and romance I was hoping for, but the second part is great! See my complete review of this book here.

Lady Killer Vol. 2 by Joëlle Jones and Laura Allred (x)

It's super fun! I loved the thriller and dangers that came with Josie's new situation and was shocked at the end! I'm even more curious to see where the story will head now.

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

I loved the gothic atmosphere of the story, the seclusion, the cult things, the mysterious deaths. The dark academia vibes are on point! Nevertheless, I didn't feel hooked up in the mystery, and I didn't particularly care for the main character.

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

Oh, this was lovely! I loved the romance, the characters, and their backgrounds, and all the action of it. I liked the plot twists and the ending was really sweet.

Read if you want: adult mlm romance, historical fiction, planned thefts.

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

It's been a long time since I read The Great Gatsby, so I vaguely recall what happened to compare with this book. Anyway, I liked that the protagonist is a Vietnamese girl and all her inner conflicts. The magic and its repercussions on the world were interesting, but I was not that interested in the story. Apart from Jordan, I thought the characters were annoying and didn't care for their conflicts. Also, the magic is sl fascinating but in was not a major focus.

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis by Anne Rice (x) (x)

So, I think I disliked it less than Prince Lestat because many things happen in this book. But I'm baffled by the new additions to the vampire lore. The consequences to the vampire as individuals are interesting, at least. I'm glad Lestat and Louis had a moment, in the beginning, to talk things through and are on good terms again.

Sasaki and Miyano Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 by Shou Harusono

The romance is super fluffy and lighthearted, and I needed something between some heavy reading. Super excited to read the next volume!

Read if you want: fluffy bl manga, school romance.

Crota by Owl Goingback

Scary! I haven't read a lot of horror about monsters but this one was super cool. It deals with indigenous legends and the cave hunting part was suffocating and scary! Just not a big fan of a disabled child getting cured at the end of the book, the kid is not the main character but it kind of put me off in the end.

Read if you want: horror with monsters, police procedure, indigenous legends.

As I Descended by Robin Talley (x)

This was pretty dark! The arc of corruption and madness was pretty well-done, and the characters made me want to read more and more. I read it for Disability Pride Month as the main character is disabled. I was glad that her arc isn't only about her disability while also mentioning her difficulties and people's prejudice.

Read if you want: spooky YA, queer retellings, Shakespeare retellings.

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino, tr. Alexander O. Smith

I'm not a big fan of police procedure, but this story is full of twists and turns that made me so curious about what would happen next! It's more of a mind game between the police and the killer than a thriller full of action, but it was an enjoyable read.

Read if you want: psychological thriller, police procedure.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows By Balli Kaur Jaswal

Super fun and thought-provoking! It deals with stories bringing a community together, women finding a space to share stories, and also a mystery in the middle of everything. One of my favorites of the month!

Read if you want: fun stories, book club books, contemporary fiction.

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (x) (x)

I took my time to read this book as it's a literary work, and it's very experimental. I liked the narration and the flow of the story. There're so many fascinating things about the story, the magic, the culture, India's history, and many others things. However, it's a long book. I was a bit tired at the end, but still, a great read.

Read if you want: literary and experimental fiction, magical realism.

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

The pacing of this thriller was slow, but I was interested in the diversity drama in Nella's work, so I was not bothered at first. But most of the main events happen right at the end, and the known villain does a "villain explaining their plan" that was a bit cartoonish. Also, the villain was only a part in the big scheme, and we don't get answers about this big thing happening. Still, there're some thought-provoking topics in this book, and the more "fantasy" aspect of it was super spooky.

Read if you want: slow-paced thrillers, psychological thrillers.

Ariel by Sylvia Plath (x)

I want to read more poetry, so I chose this one from the library. I enjoyed some poems and the images the writer created, but most of them fell flat for me.

Rereads:

Reborn! Vol 1 by Akira Amano, Frances E. Wall (translator)

Livros disponíveis em Português:

Links para os meus reviews no skook!

Baú de Sonhos Impossíveis de Filipe Bedendo (x)

De Repente Adolescente de vários autores (x) (x)

A Botija do Fantasma de Pablo Praxedes (x)

And feel free to talk to me about the books of this list :)

Read in: Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June |

☆Book Photography ☆ Storygraph ☆ Scribd ☆

[vgdensetsu]

From the Akira Toriyama Project to Secret of Mana: the making of a sequel to a Game Boy game

Version française disponible ici.

Cover illustration by the late Hiroo Isono / 磯野 宏夫 (1945 - 2013)

At the end of the development of Final Fantasy IV in spring 1991, the developers of Square Tokyo are divided into 4 development teams: the Final Fantasy V team, the Romancing Saga team, the "simulation" team directed by Kazuhiko Aoki (Hanjuku Hero) and the MaruTori team, in charge of the "Toriyama Akira Project". A few months earlier, Shinichi Kameoka left his job with no idea of what he was going to do next, until he came across an illustration of Final Fantasy by Yoshitaka Amano. He had already played games such as Dragon Quest or Castlevania and was familiar with Square's main series, but didn't know more than that about this industry or even the name of the company that developed the series in question. Because of his interest in art (a quite common reason at the time for graphic designers in that industry), he decided to join Square after leafing through a magazine of job ads containing an article about Square. Once he got the job, the first task he is given by Hironobu Sakaguchi is to buy about twenty Super Famicom in Akihabara with a colleague's car in order to debug Final Fantasy IV.

After completing the debugging phase, Kameoka is assigned to the ToriMaru project (also known as Maru Island) and trains to reproduce Akira Toriyama's style in pixel art. Toriyama, who was put in touch with Square via his employer Shueisha, had already started to make concept art for the game and sent it to the development team, but the team soon came up against 2 problems. The first one is that the mangaka's schedule has been changed at the last minute. He intended to finish Dragon Ball with the Freezer arc, but his editor didn't see it that way and asked him to continue his series for another year (which will turn into 4 years). So he can't fully invest himself in a project with Square before at least one year. The second problem - the main one according to Hiromichi Tanaka, producer of Secret of Mana - is that the Super Famicom CD player, for which the MaruTori project was thought, has been postponed. On May 29, 1991, the information that Nintendo had decided to ally with Philips to produce its CD-ROM player leaked to the press and was made official 2 days later at the CES, forcing Sony to revise its plans for its Play Station project. The ToriMaru project is therefore put on hold and the development team must quickly find a replacement project. They decide to start creating an Action RPG for Super Famicom, at a time when turn-based RPGs were selling better than Action RPG in Japan. The type of game chosen by the team led Hiromichi Tanaka to chose the Seiken Densetsu license, whose first episode released for Game Boy (also known as Final Fantasy Legend in North America and Mystic Quest in Europe) had met with some success. Their goal is to do better than Zelda.

The Seiken Densetsu 2 project (Secret of Mana in the West) begins with a small team composed partly of newcomers and a character design contest is launched to determine the main characters of the game. Kameoka designs Randy and Prim while Tetsuya Takahashi comes with the original design of Popoi. However, it is Kameoka who animates the 3 main characters as well as 2 bosses (Hexas and Wall Face), while Yasuyuki Narushima supervises the creation of the monsters and Shinichiro Okaniwa animates some of the non-playable characters (NPCs). Among the NPCs featured in the game is Moti the dancing shopkeeper, a reference to an Indian restaurant of the same name that the developers often visited during development.

An intermediate version of the design of the 3 playable characters: Popoi, Randy and Prim.

While Kameoka completes its work on time - the graphics must be completed before the end of the programming phase, which includes integrating these graphics - the game is delayed due to Square's lack of experience in action-oriented games and more specifically to a bug that causes slowdowns and blinks as soon as a monster appears. The task falls to Nasir Gebelli, programmer of the first 3 episodes of Final Fantasy.

The game is released in August 1993 and sold nearly 1.5 million copies worldwide. Kameoka is granted 2 months of vacation and, on his return, the developers of Square, whose number has soared in a few years, are divided into 6 development teams (+ the team located in Osaka), each with the goal of surpassing the million units sold mark. The games in question: Final Fantasy VI, Romancing Saga 3, Marutori Project / Chrono Trigger, Live A Live, a secret project with Nintendo (which will turn out to be Super Mario RPG) and Seiken Densetsu 3. Only half of the developers of Seiken Densetsu 2 (about ten including Kameoka) are assigned to its sequel which will be released 2 years later.

As for the MaruTori project, it seems that only the idea of a collaboration with Toriyama survived, all the work done before the cancellation of the Super Famicom CD drive having been abandoned according to Hiromichi Tanaka. While Shinichiro Okaniwa was able to work on Chrono Trigger (he graphic designed Enhasa, the Mammon machine, Johnny's car and Zeal), Kameoka didn't have the opportunity to do so. After Seiken Densetsu 3, he worked on Saga Frontier and Legend of Mana before leaving Square to found Brownie Brown, a company that will develop Magical Vacation and its sequel Magical Starsign, Sword of Mana and Children of Mana, all illustrated by Kameoka.

The final version of the game's characters, drawn by Shinichi Kameoka / 亀岡慎一.

Sprite sheets of these characters, drawn by Shinichi Kameoka.

The 2 bosses that Shinichi Kameoka animated.

Non-playable characters animated by Shinichiro Okaniwa.

Mock-up made by Kameoka for a promotional flyer.

Bonus: Illustrations made for the July 1993 issue of Hippon Super magazine by various artists.

Hitoshi Yoneda / 米田仁士

Masaya Hokazono / 外薗 昌也

Masaki Takahashi / 高橋政輝

Yoshimiru / よしみる

Mila Aizawa / 相沢美良

Sources: How Kameoka joined Square: https://web.archive.org/web/20130728034016/http://www.gpara.com/contents/creator/bn_100.htm Final Fantasy IV debugging https://twitter.com/ShintaKameoka/status/1202887907750494209 Hiromichi Tanaka - Seiken Densetsu Music Complete Book http://www.vgmonline.net/seikendensetsuboxliners/ Seiken Densetsu 2 & 3 + Square's internal organization http://brownie-games.co.jp/201205311500.php http://brownie-games.co.jp/20130621104.php http://brownie-games.co.jp/201308021020.php http://brownie-games.co.jp/201309271500.php http://brownie-games.co.jp/201311151933.php http://brownie-games.co.jp/201402051731.php http://brownie-games.co.jp/201404111818.php Tetsuya Takahashi designed Popoi: Art of Mana Shinichiro Okaniwa - NPC https://twitter.com/zerohime524/status/700054099866169344 Mock-up created by Kameoka for a promotional flyer https://twitter.com/ShintaKameoka/status/870135544486875136 sprite sheets https://twitter.com/ShintaKameoka/status/870129295670231040 Seiken Densetsu 2 remake? https://twitter.com/ShintaKameoka/status/1017715290317058048 https://twitter.com/ShintaKameoka/status/1017675873321795584

[sparklyjojos]

CARNIVAL DAY recaps [10/13]

Today’s recap: Finally some explanations, or: the R language, bulls and deers and horses, and everything’s connected.

--

FIFTY-ONE

26 Jul 1997 — 01 Aug 1997

LABYRINTH

--

(Amagi Hyouma was one of RISE’s guests along with Ryuuguu Otohime, Tsukumo Nemu, Christmas Mizuno, Yaiba Somahito, Diana Hosey, Hanto Maimu & Kuraimu. During their time in the Sanctuary, they learned the identities of the Rainbow Sophists.

Below is Amagi Hyouma’s testimony. [Originally in first person.])

Hyouma had never seen this Fabian woman before, but she seemed to believe (or convincingly pretended to believe) that he was Yemon. She claimed she didn’t know any Yakuma Suzume.

Well, it was true that Yakuma hadn’t shown himself since that day when Hyouma had been taken to the Sanctuary. White even said Yakuma was “no longer here”.

Hyouma pointed out how weird it was that only JDC-related people were chosen to be RISE’s guests. Fabian answered that they didn’t need anyone else; JDC was important, even more so considering the Billion Killer had chosen them for his first attack. Japan would play a great role in the events too, especially the Japanese language. R language had a very similar base to Japanese, but was much more fluid and freestyle, resembling the kind of language young people in Japan spoke these days. Basically, Fabian claimed that Hyouma had been already unknowingly using R language.

Just like Japanese words are often written and pronounced in many different ways, R language also has “the rule of no rules”. For example, the tower of the Moonbow Palace is called Tow Dreamer, a mix of English-like words “tower” and “dreamer”. However, this name is written 夢幻想塔, which would normally be read mugensoutou. The kanji convey “a tower where one can dream”, and mugensoutou also points to the infinitude (mugen written 無限) of their fuhrer (soutou written 総統).

...which sounded horribly farfetched to Hyouma. Was this entire R language just puns? Fabian claimed that it conveyed the entire history of humanity, and using it—seeing the meaning hidden in Japanese words—could help uncovering the world’s secrets.

At least they got an explanation for why all the guests were young adults from Japan [Yaiba is like forty, but I guess he still counts]. Diana Hosey came from the USA, but she had been secretly taught R language by her father Theodore, who always told her it was just Japanese.

--

Done with their conversations with the Sophists, all the guests returned to the round table and talked about what they had learned.

Since the Rainbow Sophists had been wearing masks and acting like the S-detectives all the time, none of them knew the true identities of the others before (only RS and the Master had known). This round table talk was the first time they learned about who their fellow executives were.

Yellow Bishop turned out not to be Ajiro after all. But then where was Ajiro? He’d been missing ever since the explosion. Hanto Maimu got that strange phone call allegedly from Ajiro, but it was just Tanna Sazen using his voice mimicry. Tanna would sometimes pretend to be White, and other times share a single role of Yellow Bishop with Theodore Hosey. (There was a bit of chaos when Tanna was chased off a cliff that one time, but he knew how to survive the fall, and then he simply cancelled the pursuit by calling the pursuers as Yellow Bishop.) Tanna hadn’t anticipated his child would inherit his knowledge, so RISE investigated the Hantos just in case.

Everyone wanted to know where Ajiro was (Hyouma especially). Yaiba had come up with a theory almost by accident. Back when he had been in Russia, the boy Amano noticed the number on the train engine was 999, which was 666 upside down. Inspired by this, Yaiba thought of the word Russia (Ro-shi-a), also turned it around, and it became A-shi-ro… Ajiro. Maybe Ajiro and Russia were connected? This would be just a ridiculous wordplay in any other situation, but Hyouma couldn’t laugh it off now that he’d been told about R language.

Seeing that the detectives wouldn’t leave the topic alone, Black said they would have a chance to see Ajiro soon.

Indeed, when they met by the round table some time afterwards (with Black, Red, and the real White also present), Ajiro was there and alive. However, he was seated in a wheelchair, unmoving and unresponsive, his eyes completely unfocused, like an empty shell of a person. White explained that they had been keeping him locked on the Russian space station Mir. No proper astronaut training and long-term isolation resulted in this sorry state. White claimed they had had no choice but to keep Ajiro in space, just like they had to drag Christmas through hell, and that it was all for the future of humanity.

It wasn’t impossible for Ajiro to return to his former self, but it would require everyone’s help. Maybe his friends would manage to break through the mental wall that kept him isolated from the outside world, and Ajiro would go back to being the JDC representative they know and love.

And speaking of JDC… White casually informed them that JDC had been created by RISE. Not directly created, mind you—that was Ajiro’s doing—but RISE had pulled all the necessary strings to cause the events to run like they wanted.

The Ajiro Family Murder Case, the Saimon Family Murder Case, the Geneijo Murder Case and the Locked Room Lord Murder Case, the bombing of JDC—all of them had more meaning than the detectives suspected.

If they wanted to know more, they should get around to bringing Ajiro back to his former glory.

--

No matter how much they talked to Ajiro, he wouldn’t respond, but they never gave up. They recounted their times together at JDC, both joyful and sad. They all stayed in the same room with him as long as they could, then established shifts.

Two weeks passed and nothing changed. They even got a pack of Ajiro’s favorite cigars and put it in his lap, but he still didn’t react.

At the end of a shift, Yaiba left the room to call the next pair, leaving Hyouma alone with Ajiro. Though Hyouma had stopped smoking a few years ago, in this depressing situation he decided to help himself to a cigar, which mostly resulted in a fit of coughing. Then he noticed something—tears were running down Ajiro’s cheeks. Unsure of whether or not this was just an instinctual reaction to smoke, Hyouma experimented some more, until Yaiba came back with Otohime and Nemu and yelled at him for tormenting the patient with smoke—but then Ajiro just slightly moved his finger. After a short time of Hyouma desperately calling his name, Ajiro slowly moved his hand, then wiped his own tears.

“...don’t have to be so loud…” he murmured. “...I can hear you…”

--

Ajiro’s mind was back in working order in a few days more, but he still had to undergo two weeks of physical rehabilitation. He told everyone that he’d been able to hear everything they said to him even when he couldn’t respond, and he promised to do his best to help them solve all the mysteries around.

At the beginning of June, they all sat at the round table: Ajiro, Hyouma, Yaiba, Nemu, Otohime, Maimu with Kuraimu, Diana, Christmas, and also Black, White and Red. With Ajiro around, it felt strangely like yet another meeting at JDC.

Ajiro recalled the day of the JDC explosion. He clearly remembered sitting at his desk, his assistant Mito Muramasa working nearby. Then came a rumble and vibrations like an earthquake—and then Ajiro was suddenly floating in a small room in outer space. He did consider the possibility that he’d been rendered unconscious by the explosion and then transported to space, but it seemed to him like there had been no lapse in his consciousness. He really was just instantly transported from Kyoto to the space station. But how?

White only replied that there was a lot the guests didn’t know about the world. When people saw something they couldn’t understand, they would often give up on thinking and just believe in transcendent beings.

White tried to move to the topic of Beasts and Gods (or rather, those two groups and a third type that is neither), but he could see that Ajiro was more interested in how much influence RISE had on JDC, so Beasts and Gods would have to wait.

Ajiro could see how RISE could have been the masterminds behind Geneijo and the Locked Room Lord. But what could they gain from the family cases of the Ajiros and the Saimons? It’s true that his own family’s case had inspired him to create Nihon Tantei Club. It was also the first time he came in contact with Saimon Ryuusui, which would lead to getting involved in solving the Saimon murders.

White added that after that case, Nihon Tantei Club was renamed to JDC. Both the organization and Ajiro became famous as the ones who solved “the crime revolution” that was the Saimon Family Murder Case. Basically, had that case not happened, JDC would need much more time to become well-known.

All those great cases also led to Tsukumo Juku becoming famous and revered. The one who contributed to solving the Saimon Family Murder Case! The one who solved both Geneijo and the Locked Room Lord! Propelled by the trust and popularity given to JDC and Ajiro, Tsukumo Juku quickly gathered recognition as the God of Detectives.

And that was exactly what RISE wanted. They needed to raise Tsukumo Juku to become the world’s greatest detective so he could stop the Crime Olympics. That was RISE’s end goal, after all—it’s not them who wanted to kill everyone, but “the union of 666 worst evils”, Akuren.

(This was the first time the detectives heard the name Akuren, so Black Rook explained more about it—see Black Rook’s testimony from earlier.)

Way back when, RISE realized that Akuren was about to attempt the destruction of humanity once more. RISE got their hands on the Crime Olympics plan so they could hopefully mitigate the impact. Back then, the plan was a bit different; the Crime Olympics were supposed to start in July 1999 and last seven months, resulting in the human race being wiped out by February 2000. The Crime Olympics were eventually moved to three years earlier.

In order for RISE’s own plans to work, they had to keep Akuren’s trust, and so had no choice but to really prepare the Crime Olympics using their trump cards of Alive, the Billion Killer, and the Cosmic Bomb. Thankfully, Akuren didn’t plan on killing everyone instantly—they wanted to drown humanity in evil and despair first—and they determined a time limit before the Cosmic Bomb would drop.

Akuren wanted to make sure everything would go smoothly, so they sent one of them to oversee RISE’s actions—a man with the code name Tsukumo Jaki. He was actually White’s younger brother, Endou Masato. The detectives may have known him as their fellow Yakuma Suzume (actually an imposter).

Christmas wondered whether that minotaur “Great King Enma” he had met wasn’t also this fake Yakuma. According to legends, if you lied to Lord Enma, he would cut off your tongue. This could be connected through a wordplay to the Tongue-cut Sparrow, Shita-kiri Suzume, the same folk tale that Juku had used to guess that Jaki was Yakuma Suzume. Also, the first kanji of the name Yakuma (役間) could be read as en, making the entire name Enma. (Again, this seemed like just another strange wordplay, but knowing all that stuff about R Language…)

What about the horse mask man and the deer mask man that had assisted Enma? Otohime recalled that the short story Another Joker had a horse and a deer in it. That was specifically a man-eating horse, so maybe it was a hint about all the cannibalism in Shangri-La.

Lemuria admitted he’d been the one wearing the deer mask. He stated he was actually Jaki’s loyal underling, and it had been on Jaki’s orders that he first entered RISE and became Red Knight. The horse mask man who cooperated closely with him and Jaki was someone the detectives didn’t know. He had stayed behind and died in Shangri-La, as his role in the plan had ended—just like the horse in Another Joker, he ended up reduced to a pile of bones.

All those animal masks… Why would Minase Nagisa wear a bull mask when she killed Juku? Sullivan explained that the mask was the symbol of RISE’s leader, something they had inherited from the organization before them. Similarly, RISE’s second and third in charge were a deer and a horse. The bull mask symbolized that the wearer’s actions were done in the name of RISE’s leader. Nagisa was chosen to kill Juku because of her hatred for the man and her familiarity with the terrain around Gensoukan, and though she died from Alive in the process, she managed to fulfill her mission. Jaki’s true goal in killing Juku was stopping RISE’s secret plans—preventing the God of Detectives from ending the Crime Olympics early.

But why would Nagisa hate Juku so much? Black explained that when Juku had solved the Locked Room Lord case, Nagisa’s brother Dakushoin Ryuusui’s name was irreparably tarnished. Juku even personally confronted Nagisa afterwards and stopped her from hiding critical evidence. Cosmic and Joker further hurt Dakushoin’s reputation. With all that frustration already present in Nagisa, Jaki just had to redirect it all towards Juku.

But there was another reason why Nagisa wanted to kill Juku, the same reason why Fuumonji Jouka was killed, and it would be protecting someone’s (the third writer’s) true identity—but that would be explained later.

Ajiro noticed that something didn’t seem right. If Lemuria Sullivan really was working together with Jaki, that is with Akuren, then why were Black and White casually discussing RISE’s plans right in front of him? White admitted that no matter how stealthy RISE tried to be, Akuren still managed to know their every step, so there was really no point in hiding their true goal anymore. Both groups knew the other was ultimately an enemy, but RISE was still useful. After all, it’d be hard for Akuren to achieve their goal without the Cosmic Bomb.

Ajiro stated that it all seemed to have a single point of origin to him, though he didn’t yet know what it was exactly. RISE, the Sanctuary, the Billion Killer cases, Alive, the Cosmic Bomb, Beasts and Gods… White only responded that they would learn everything later. For now, they would make a short stop in the Moonbow Palace, and then the detectives would be taken to Heaven / El Dorado in the depths of the Mariana Trench.

With this, the meeting concluded. When Hyouma saw the news afterwards, he learned that Yuiga Dokuson had disappeared after leaving a strange message that he was the Billion Killer. However, Black said that Dokuson’s actions had nothing to do with RISE, and that it was still too early to talk about the actual Billion Killer.

--

(And in the latest news…)

...the number of Alive victims have been falling since New Years and finally reached zero in July. It’s estimated that 240 million people died from Alive, making it the worst pandemic to date. WHO and CDC announce the end of Alive, but warn that it can possibly come back. It’s still unknown how the number of infections diminished so rapidly without a vaccine in place.

--

[>>>NEXT PART>>>]

[pearwaldorf]

There’s a big Sandman sale on Comixology until the end of the month (July 31). I made a post about what to buy last time there was a sale, but apparently I deleted it or something because I can’t find it. So here we go again.

Here is a quick overview of the general concept of the series. And a brief overview of the 10 main story arcs (for now we’re going to ignore the spinoffs).

If you just want to dip your toe in, I recommend The Doll’s House even though it’s the second story arc. This gives you an idea of the grander shape of the story. Preludes and Nocturnes is definitely the series finding its feet, and is a little more straight horror than fantastical. On the other hand, Preludes and Nocturnes is the collection with #8 “The Sound of Her Wings”, where we first meet Death. (She’s wonderful. You’ll like her.)

If you want a longer, continuous story, you’ll want The Doll’s House, Season of Mists, Brief Lives, The Kindly Ones, and The Wake. These focus on Dream and the consequences of decisions he made a long time ago. 

If you’re more into one-offs, you’ll want Dream Country and Fables and Reflections. Dream Country contains the story about how cats used to rule the world, and the only comic book to ever win the World Fantasy Award. Fables and Reflections has various stories about Dream throughout history, including “Ramadan”, honestly probably the most beautiful single issue DC has ever produced. 

Other titles of note:

Endless Nights is a collection of stories about Dream and his siblings, each illustrated by a different artist. Two stories take place after The Wake, so probably best read afterwards.

Overture is a prequel to Preludes and Nocturnes. Probably best read with some familiarity of the main universe.

Death: the Deluxe edition collects both Death miniseries. Must be read after A Game of You. If you want to pick up anything outside of the main series, I’d recommend this.

Dream Hunters is a bit of an odd bird. It is a miniseries adaptation of a stand-alone Sandman story originally illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano, with art by P. Craig Russell. 

Dust Covers is a collection of Sandman covers designed by Dave McKean. I have this in hard copy and it’s beautiful. 

There’s a bunch of single issues too, which is where you’ll find The Dreaming (alas it has never been collected) and probably a bunch of other interesting stuff. 

That should be enough to get you started. Have fun! 

[makeste]

KHR 061: Feelings All Up in My Daily Life Arc

If for some reason you ever ask me what my favorite Daily Life chapter is, and I tell you I don’t have one, you should know that I am straight up lying, because I do and it’s this:

This was requested by @gokudirt! This is also the last of the chapter requests, but seeing as it takes place right before the start of the Kokuyou arc, I’m thinking I might just continue the reviews chronologically from here. At least until I finally tire of doing this (which could be a good long while from now).

Anyway, let’s discuss Target 61, which started me on a path of being obsessed with Gokudera Hayato for the rest of my life.

Before we get to the actual chapter, I want to take a moment to appreciate that title page up there, because I think it’s the first time Amano successfully achieved what she was so obviously trying to do from the very start, which is to make Gokudera’s hair sexy. It’s not at peak sexiness yet, but it’s come so, so far from his intro nearly 60 chapters ago. I attribute this to him finally turning fourteen. We all know thirteen is a very awkward age.

Unfortunately the change is not quiiite permanent just yet, as we can observe on the very next page.

The thing is, I feel like she’s getting better at drawing him from side angles, but from directly front-on it’s a whole different story. His hair is still doing the thing where the back parts stick out awkwardly at extreme pointy angles, and also his bangs hang down way too straight and rigidly, like they’re one big sticking-together blob, instead of being all soft and ~wispy-looking~ the way they get to be later on.

I, a fully grown adult woman who apparently has nothing better to do than to analyze Gokudera’s hair and rant about it for multiple paragraphs, can actually tell you the exact moment when that transformation finally becomes permanent and perfect, and it’s right at the very start of the Future arc, immediately after TYL!Gokudera poofs back into normal Gokudera. It’s like Amano drew TYL!Gokudera’s hairstyle, and then suddenly everything just clicked about what the teenage version’s hair was always meant to be. It’s a beautiful thing. Haha, this chapter recap is going to be waaaay too long and very singularly focused, isn’t it.

Suddenly some thugs appear, because I guess they just wanted to get their asses kicked by the future Vongola Tenth’s right hand man!

Firstly, “as if there weren’t already this heat” is SUCH a July 2018 mood, so thank you, Gokudera.

Second, he’s really fucking violent here and I kind of adore it. He’s so often a glutton for punishment that it’s sort of nice on those rare occasions where he gets to kick ass himself. Especially here where it gets really physical with elbows and knees and the whole business! Usually this kind of brutality is Hibari’s domain.

Anyway, it turns out they were sent by Dino!

STILL SO HANDSOME. How come there were never any problems with his hair??

At any rate, Dino has some “good news” for Gokudera. (FYI those aren’t just any quotation marks--those are full blown sarcastic air quotes.) Now that he’s fourteen (ALL GROWN UP), the Ninth has apparently decided to promote him and put him in charge of a bunch of casinos. That makes so much sense! And he asked Dino to tell Gokudera because Dino is basically an honorary Vongola. That part actually does make sense. Does anyone really think of the Cavallone as a separate family? Pretty sure no one is raising their hand.

What great news! Oh but there’s just one small thing; the job is in Italy! Which, aside from probably not being Gokudera’s favorite place in the world for a multitude of other reasons, is also notably NOT where Tsuna is.

This is followed by one of my favorite Gokudera moments in the entire series.

Okay let’s press pause and engage rant mode.

So as we all know (I assume? Unless you’ve never actually read this chapter, in which case go do it! because it’s great and I love it!!), this whole thing is actually some kind of fucked-up loyalty test that the Ninth came up with, because for some reason he was suspicious of Gokudera and whether or not he’d actually stay devoted to Tsuna. So they figured they’d offer him a token power position, and see if he’d take them up on it, even if it meant abandoning his boss!

Here’s why that’s the most ludicrous fucking thing anyone has ever tried to do in this entire series.

SERIOUSLY? YOU NEEDED TO TEST GOKUDERA GODDAMN HAYATO’S GODDAMN LOYALTY TO THE GODDAMN TENTH? HAVE YOU EVER MET GOKUDERA?? PLEASE SPEND TWO FUCKING MINUTES WITH HIM AND THEN COME BACK AND APOLOGIZE TO ME ON YOUR KNEES FOR WASTING ALL OUR FUCKING TIME.

But okay, for some reason the Ninth has inexplicably become an outrageously bad judge of character. So fine, let’s test Gokudera’s loyalty. Except that

HE PASSES THE TEST ALMOST BEFORE THEY CAN EVEN GIVE HIM THE TEST TO BEGIN WITH.

Seriously. “Gokudera here’s a promotion for you but you’ll have to leave Tsuna and go to Ital—” “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THE ONE I FOLLOW IS THE TENTH NOT THE NINTH, IF IT’S GOING TO BE LIKE THIS THEN I’M NOT GONNA DO IT.” Dino, your response should be, “Well, shit, okay then,” and then you walk off and tell the Ninth what an asshole he was to even fucking try this.

But instead!!!

So Gokudera already passed the test, which is all about being loyal to Tsuna, but Dino tries to guilt him by insisting that staying is selfish, and leaving is actually the best way to serve Tsuna? What kind of damned-if-you-do bullshit is this? We’re trying to see how loyal you are, so we’ll tell you how to be loyal, but if you listen to us you will actually fail the test. What the fuck kind of fucking logic…

Anyway, lacking any other type of mentor figure (because Shamal is a fucking deadbeat), Gokudera goes to talk to Reborn about it.

WTF WHO’S THIS RANDO—

REBORN-SAN YOU APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE

Things I will never get tired of: this fucking gag.

So Gokudera explains his problems, but he frames them in such a way so as to make it seem like he’s worried that Tsuna won’t be able to get along without him, when of course it’s really the exact fucking opposite. Reborn is exactly as helpful as you would expect Reborn to be.

Having just savagely murdering Gokudera’s hopes and dreams, Reborn proceeds to set a challenge for him.

Hahaha. Okay, so. On the surface, this seems really fucking harsh, and kind of like Reborn is trolling the ever-loving shit out of Gokudera in this chapter just for giggles. However, I don’t think that’s what’s actually going on. But I’ll get to that in a bit.

So Gokudera accepts this challenge like the sweet delusional child he is, and goes to visit Tsuna.

Tsuna’s just so fucking thrilled to see him.

Gokudera’s wavelength: ~~~~~~

Tsuna’s wavelength:

                                            ~~~~~~

DO YOU GET IT THE WAVELENGTHS ARE DIFFERENT Critical lack of communication and understanding between these two kids who are trying to be best friends but neither of them has the slightest fucking clue how to do it. That’s all I’m saying.

This is something that’s better suited for an essay, so I’ll leave it alone for now, but it’s just interesting to note the contrasts in how they think of each other at this stage in their friendship.

They sit in Tsuna’s room and Tsuna drops moods for all to enjoy.

Pictured above: every thirteen-year-old since the beginning of time.

Gokudera has a stars-in-eyes moment of thinking Tsuna is about to ask him for help, buuuut

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF SOMEONE WHO’S FULLY AWARE THAT HE’S FUCKING OVER HIS FUTURE SELF, AND DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN.

Tsuna continues his mood marathon by freaking out at the sudden appearance of a cockroach!

Gokudera gets ready to BLOW THAT SHIT UP (you don’t fuck around with roaches okay)

But Tsuna ignores this completely and calls his mom because of course he does. What else are moms even there for?

Next, Maman calls Tsuna for help moving the couch. You can see where this is going.

…Okay, I was trying to hold off on essaying about this until the end, but this in particular is the perfect example of what this chapter is trying to get at (and outright says later on). Tsuna and Gokudera occupy different positions in each other’s minds, and right now, these feelings don’t line up. Gokudera thinks of Tsuna as his boss—someone above him. But Tsuna does not think of Gokudera as his subordinate (someone below him). He thinks of him as his friend! An equal!

But unlike Gokudera, Tsuna is actually aware of this dissonance between them. After all, Gokudera makes no secret of the fact that he worships Tsuna. And because Tsuna doesn’t like it, he goes out of his way not to actually treat Gokudera like a subordinate. Therefore, he doesn’t ask Gokudera to do menial tasks for him like killing a bug or moving the couch. If they actually were more like normal friends, he probably wouldn’t hesitate! But since Gokudera constantly treats him like a boss as it is, the last thing Tsuna wants to do is actively encourage it and actually start bossing Gokudera around in any sort of way.

This is something Gokudera just doesn’t get, and I’m 100% sure is one of the main reasons why Reborn came up with this challenge for him to begin with. Because if these two are ever going to learn to understand each other better, Gokudera needs to realize this for himself.

Anyway.

Next up, Lambo haphazardly endangers someone’s life again because that is basically his sole function in the entire Daily Life arc. Long story short, he blows up a telephone pole, which proceeds to fall over, nearly killing Tsuna in the process. Fortunately, Gokudera is there to save the—

Well. He tried.

Anyway, once this is all over, and Gokudera apologizes, Tsuna finally asks him what’s wrong, because of course he was able to tell because he’s the best, TSUNA I LOVE YOU. So Gokudera tells him all about the promotion.

Tsuna acts fucking thrilled and over the moon for him and insists on throwing a party to congratulate him, and I’m sorry but I have to stop and rant AGAIN, because Amano packed so many feelings into this simple little chapter, and I don’t have any more room in my closet to put them!! So I’m just going to vomit them all over my blog s-sigh.

This.

is.

all.

fake.

Tsuna is not thrilled to hear that Gokudera is going back to Italy. He is not actually happy. But he pretends to be happy, for Gokudera’s sake. Whoa there, HOLD THE FUCK UP because LOOK AT THIS SUPER SNEAKY CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THAT JUST DIVEBOMBED IN OUT OF NOWHERE.

So Tsuna has gone from being terrified of Gokudera, to genuinely thinking of him as a friend! To the point where not only is he upset to learn that he might be leaving, but he’s also conscious enough of Gokudera’s own feelings to pretend that he’s not upset and to try and support Gokudera as much as possible.

And maybe that doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but it is, because if you go back to some of the earlier chapters and look at their relationship, it’s so fucking different from this. The only emotion Tsuna ever seems to show around Gokudera in the early chapters is “stressed.” There is literally a chapter dedicated to making fun of the fact that all Gokudera ever does is stress Tsuna out and all Tsuna ever does is complain about it.

Fast-forward to here, where Tsuna has become completely accepting of Gokudera’s weird behavior and just rolls with it, because underneath that initially scary layer of “wacky, destructive, overly-devoted Gokudera” is a solid core of “Gokudera who is my friend.” They’ve known each other for a year and a half now, and Gokudera has always been there for Tsuna no matter what—even when that commitment only ends up causing more trouble—and Tsuna has finally come to appreciate it. And it’s about damn time too, because Gokudera Hayatos don’t just grow on trees! KEEP APPRECIATING HIM, TSUNA. You lucky bastard.

Sob so where was I oh my god. Okay so Gokudera gets a ton of warm fuzzies from this and decides that he really will go to Italy, for Tsuna’s sake. Because remember, Dino is a fucking liar.

So Gokudera runs off! BUT SUDDENLY he realizes he left his lighter at Tsuna’s house. How convenient! And at this very same moment, Reborn abruptly decides to initiate a conversation with Tsuna all about how much he really does appreciate Gokudera as a friend and doesn’t actually want him to leave. ALSO CONVENIENT.

Except I don’t think for one second this is a coincidence, and in fact, I fully believe that Reborn actually stole Gokudera’s lighter, waited for him to realize it and come back, and then purposely went and got Tsuna monologuing at exactly the right moment for Gokudera to “accidentally” overhear it. Yep.

Am I giving Reborn too much credit here? Maybe. But then again, maybe not, because it’s Reborn, and if you don’t think he’s playing the long game with Tsuna’s future right hand man just as much as he is with Tsuna himself, then you may just be underestimating him.

Anyway, so we then get a page or two of Tsuna blabbing about his complicated Gokudera feelings, but since I already essayed about them above, I will spare you the rehash.

Gokudera overhears it and has a Moment of Feels and decides he will stay in Japan because Tsuna wants him there, as his friend, and to Tsuna that’s more important than Gokudera serving him in Italy as just his subordinate.

If you don’t think that’s exactly what Reborn fucking planned, then clearly we are not reading this series with the same conspiracy goggles.

The next day, a wild Yamamoto appears (wow it’s so weird how you run into people at the airport don’t you think that’s weird), all set to go on a trip to Italy with Dino, because Gokudera told him that was a thing that was happening, so obviously Yamamoto believed him because WHY WOULD GOKUDERA EVER LIE.

This is adorable, and while you may think it was kind of dumb of Yamamoto to actually pack his bags and everything, you have to consider that it’s impossible for anyone to actually say no to that face. Which was probably his back-up plan, AND IT FUCKING WORKED, too.

Dino is happy that Gokudera didn’t come, and Reborn pops up and they have a very disturbing conversation about how there was a plot to murder this innocent child if he actually did fall for their fucked up bait-and-switch, and even though Dino says he would have secretly helped Gokudera escape if it came to that, I still kind of want to punch him in his handsome face, just a little bit.

But Reborn knew all along it wouldn’t happen.

Because he’s the master fucking manipulator raising the splendid tenth generation of the Vongola, and we’re all just here to watch him do his thing

Finally this chapter ends, on two note-perfect moments.

This may honestly be my favorite line in the series.

And words can’t express how much I love the fact that Dino, faced with the prospect of turning down Yamamoto’s innocently smiling face, decided it would be easier and less taxing on his soul to just actually fly him out to Italy for a nice vacation. I wonder how many times Takeshi has pulled this kind of bullshit with his dad. I wonder if anyone has ever turned him down for anything, if it comes to that. Dino, you done been played.

[tricksheart]

Christmas in July!!

( or SERE answering Christmas things months later ).

@orderbourne​​ said: "Here, kid. Don't spend it all in one place." The blonde hands the young man a simple envelope. In it? About 11,500 yen. There's no card or message or anything? So much for the Christmas spirit...

“Thanks”. Well, at least Akira didn’t have to fight demons for money for a little while. He could take a easy for a day. But that just meant having to work at LeBlanc or any of Akira’s other jobs because he wasn’t going into Mementos and farm cash from the Reaper like he normally does. Still, it’s a nice thought. With this money, Akira could get what he actually wanted instead of some awful printed socks or a grapefruit plus other variations of fruit in a stocking. That was one of his Christmases back when Grandma Amano was still alive. Akira doesn’t miss her one bit, even if she was his mom’s, Maya’s, own flesh and blood.

He pockets the money in his wallet and then goes. “Okay, since you gave me a gift, I’ll give one too. Can you guess what it is? Yeah, that’s right. I won’t make jokes about you loving the moon or anything to do with the big thing in the sky at night for one week. Aren’t I just in the Christmas mood or not?”. He prepares one heeled boot towards the exit, just in case discount Vergil over here wanted to slice him alive at this awful dark humor of his. Nothing like taking the money and running away. That’s what thieves do.

[another-kiraidesunosekai]

I finally watched "What To Do With The Dead Kaiju" on my local cinemas!!! Seeing Yamachan on the big screen!! Wahooo!!!

It was supposed to be released on 27 July, but I was surprised to saw the "now showing" display above the movie poster. So it was a spontaneous act to quickly booked the ticket while I was about to watched another movie. 🤣

I don't regret the spontaneous act at all. 🤣

Even though I try to follow the story line, but I still couldn't understand the whole movie. I was also too occupied with seeing Yamachan on the big screen. So clear and he's so freaking HANDSOME!!! 🥺

Basically, the story is about what to do with the Kaiju corpse that suddenly died. It was mingled with the mystery of how the Kaiju died with an open slash on it's chest; the mystery of the strange light before the Kaiju died; the effect for the environment and the people because of the decomposed Kaiju corpse; the tension between who would be in charge to handle the corpse between the ministries and it's lower personel; the politic strategies and lack of setting priorities from the government, also the mystery of the disappearance of Arata, the male main lead.

To be honest, the story was quite difficult for me to understand, people would find it as a weird movie. Even I kinda feel that way although I was quite entertained to see familiar faces on the screen.

The movie gives me a "WTF" impressions even as I wrote this post 🤣 Because when it was getting interesting, when Amano said, "I will show the real you to the people." (A very familiar phrase). When Arata pulled out a square device, lift it up and said, "Deus ex machina." then a bright light appeared and took the Kaiju's corpse up above, I was like, "WHOAAA?? THEN ARATA IS ...." before I finished the sentence, the movie ends. WTF??!! 🤣🤣🤣

I feel that the whole movie point was at that ending scene, to show who was Arata, aka the choosen one, aka the warrior of the light, aka ultraman. That's explained why he was suddenly missing and suddenly comes back after 2 years. With that, some thoughts have been cleared out of my mind. 🤣

Now, the fan girling part. Damn ... Yamachan really is so handsome! He's an art of beauty!! That boy has grew up really well!! To be honest, there's no need his slow motion scenes because in normal speed he's already so fine!! His facial expressions are top notch! His voice, his body language, his smile, even his silhouette clearly show his strong aura! Aaaaaa!!! I love seeing Yamachan in the big screen! It was really an honour! 🤣🥺 Luckily I was wearing my flu mask inside the cinema so no one would see my bright smile every time Yamachan appeared. 🤣

To conclude it, the movie was quite okay (after I clear out some thoughts), I quite enjoy it. And I'll said it again, Yamachan is so freaking HANDSOME!!!

😘😘😘

[rooigseix]

This is just my assumption because let be honest, Amano sensei just dump the Simon family there and nothing more, the information regarding them is not even the tip of the iceberg:

- I think he started the whole plot using the Simon when Tsuna was young. As young as when Enma’s parents were killed, maybe. (It was revealed later in the final fight that he lost his family when 7) But not precisely against the 10th gen, I think that Daemon wanted to using the Simon against Vongola.

There are hints in the final fight too, that Daemon “observed” the Vongola throughout the generation. (There was Secondo, Daniela aka the Eighth and someone too old for me to recognize)

So maybe in the first place, Daemon observed Timotheo by being someone at CEDEF, and the position was convenient for him too since somehow he can watch over Tsuna at the same time. (Not Iemitsu, since he was CEDEF boss there was little chance he was gonna be Vongola boss later on) Like you said, just in case Tsuna became an heir. This is mafia world and it's not that weird when the supposed heir died in conflict or caught in war fire. (Not to mention Daemon was one from the war time himself, he knew exactly how fragile human's life can be in this world)

So what did this have to do with the Simon?

I assume it’s because of their “dormant power” that Daemon knew - and seemed to be the few one, if not dare say the only one knew about that power. Remember that Triniset is the world system itself and it is the Sky contribute, and even Timoteo, boss of the Vongola, was surprise and warry at the “Simon’s power”, I think Earth flame is a rare power that even Vongola boss like Timoteo also hardly had chance to encounter. But Daemon did, and that was the problem.

The Simon held a power that can counterbalance the Sky. A rare flame that nowadays had no information about, and thus no information of how to counter them. Amano sensei showed how powerful Earth flames were at the beginning (yes I know sensei just cast that aside later on, but that’s not the point here) and Daemon knew that. Together with the knowledge of the first Simon, he knew this family was strong, and had potential. (One reason Daemon targeted Cozart was because his family were getting attention at that time) 

So no. He had to make sure Simon stayed enemy with Vongola. That’s why he nurtured their hatred, as you say.

About Daemon posing as Iemitsu, I really wonder if this really related to little Tsuna at that time. Well, maybe yes, so convenient as Iemitsu was Tsuna’s father and after things and stuff our 27 was the legitimate heir, but there is another angle here. I don’t know if you have caught up to the ending of the arc, but it was revealed later on [SPOILER] that Iemitsu was the one in charge of investigating a matter that involved Enma’s father - Kozato Makoto. And Makoto was the prime suspect of killing Iemitsu’s subordinates. So what I want to say here is Daemon posed as Iemitsu can be because Iemitsu was the most convenient person to be related to the incident. In case Enma looked up the old file about his family’s death, Iemitsu’s name is gonna still on the top list involved and have the highest chance of murdering his family. And boss of CEDEF is Vongola’s men too. The boy will still direct his hatred toward Vongola on personal level, being Tsuna’s father is just like cherry on the cake.

When did he possess Julie, oh boy. That is a legitimate question because the real answer is no, we don’t know. Sensei did not tell us. One thing I’m sure is that it have to be a long time ago, not a few months like you feel. I mean, ok spoiler again, but Julie real care about Enma and Adel, to the point he pushed Enma away when he sensed danger.

But Dae-Julie? He acted so violently to Adel and so disrespect Enma (the beginning of the arc when he called Enma “weak”, and ignored Enma’s word to the Simon-Vongola meeting) We writers gonna call that “OOC” :V Yet the Simon showed no reaction towards that, maybe they were in too deep of hatred to realize or maybe because those action was familiar to them. If that was the later, Daemon had to possessed Julie long time ago to make it happen.

Lately, about Simon knew the “truth” of Primo’s betrayal when Adel said Vongola cover it up. No, think back about what Adel told them at the ceremony: Cozart brought men to the battlefield and was left there to die. That was exactly what Giotto and Cozart wanted the world to remember, that Cozart and Simon family was killed at the battlefield. And since it was a battlefield belong to the Vongola, against Vongola's enemy, from point A to point B is really simple: if Primo's friend died in the battlefield, what did he do at that time to not prevent it happened, especially when the First Sky was such an endearing person who would not turn back to his friend? Most logical thought is that he let that happened on his own account, and if that's not betrayal from Simon's perspective then i don't know what is.

okay someone please help me make sense of the whole shimon/daemon using them/daemon possessing julie timeline.

here’s the relevant scenes i’ve got so far:

[ID: Panels from the manga Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

1: Daemon posing as Julie, thinking to himself “Indeed, it was I who planned the revival of Simon, used Julie Katou as a vessel and controlled them, but my plan would be nothing but theory if there was no one to execute it.”

2: Adel says “The real Daemon… Impossible… I knew that Julie was getting information from Daemon Spade… but I never thought… that Julie himself was Daemon Spade… Then where is Julie…?”

Daemon says “Adelheid, you’ve done well in pulling the Simon this far. As for Katou Julie, he is my vessel and probably thankful too.”

3: Daemon says to Tsuna “The dormant power of the Simon and their intensified hatred are the perfect tools to crush the foolish Tenth Boss candidate who inherited Primo’s ideologies and has appeared once again in this generation–to clear the path for a new Vongola.” /End ID]

so like, what happened there, when did he start his whole plot of using the shimon against the 10th gen, what is he saying here?

i’d say he started plotting as soon as tsuna became vongola decimo? but then again it’s likely he always knew about tsuna being a legitimate heir, and i feel like he would have prepared for it right then and there regardless of how unlikely it was back then tsuna would actually end up being made the heir of vongola. especially as he’s always been aware of “the dormant power” of the shimon, so he wouldn’t have needed for them to discover their rings to see their worth as his tools.

but when did he possess julie then? how long ago, and maybe even how many years ago? and i have yet to reach this point, but when did he kill enma’s family too? i’d say sometime when enma was under 10 years old? (tho that’s just a wild guess lol.)

(there’s also the fact he killed them while posing as tsuna’s father. so either he only killed them 2 years ago give or take when tsuna became the heir to vongola, tho by the flashbacks we’re given it doesn’t seem to be the case, or he really always knew tsuna was among the candidates to become vongola decimo and–idk? prepared that plot just in case he’d have to use it? i mean he’d have needed the time to “nurture” them and their hatred and resolve to take revenge on vongola, so i feel like he killed enma’s family a couple of years ago before we meet the shimon.

but from then when did he start possessing julie? this one i feel could be only a matter of weeks, or a month tops. maybe he did it when they discovered their rings.)

and how did the shimon even came to know about the “truth” of primo’s betrayal when in the same breath adel says vongola covered all of it up to the point the next generations of vongola knew nothing about them? from daemon i suppose, right? but it’s weird he’d let that “truth” disappear when he’d have profited from the shimon being actively hated and despised by the mafia, especially by vongola. and you’ll tell me that’s what ended up happening anyway, but still.

(also it’s really telling of what the mafia is that everyone kept persecuting them because of pure habit even when they forgot why they did it in the first place. like they kept persecuting them just because they could and learned from their predecessors it’s the way it had always been.)

thoughts??

[cornelianlute]

full name. princess sarah of cornelia pronunciation.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ nicknames.  princess

height. 5′5″ or 165cm age. anywhere between 18-21. (i thought i had written down 16-21 but :”)) zodiac. cancer (her birthday is july 12th) languages. english, japanese

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair colour.  blonde, pink, GREEN eye colour. blue skin tone.  fair body type. b accent. none dominant hand. right posture. perfect posture ✋😔👌 tattoos. none (her parents would screech in horror lbrh) most noticeable features. i personally like her gba/psp look so from there it would be her mint green hair but because square prefers her amano art, it would probably be her headdress (which kinda looks like it has chaos on it to me…)

CHILDHOOD.

place of birth. cornelia castle in world a hometown.  cornelia birth weight / height.  average manner of birth. by… human… parents…. first words. mother. siblings. younger sister (cordelia) parental involvement. she has both a mother (queen jayne) and a father (king conner). they sought out the best for sarah. this included the best education - standard education like mathematics, geology, history, etc. as well as more formal education like ‘how to be a lady’, politics, music, and such. prior to garland’s kidnapping, her parents were a bit laid back and didn’t really pressure sarah all that much except when it came to finding a husband. they were always setting up some kind of match for sarah and sarah would always refuse because she wasn’t ready to marry. she’d also get angry after a while because her parents never seemed to understand her wishes. this is ultimately what causes her to reject garland’s proposal because she believed he was only acting on her parents’ wishes. of course, because of her rejection, this causes darkness to grab hold of garland’s heart and then he kidnaps her and after the warriors of light rescue her, her parents become much more strict. sarah has to have someone by her side at all times pretty much which causes sarah to sneak out and hide amongst her subjects. they don’t pressure her as much to find a husband but they do wish she would settle down even though that’s not what sarah wants to do - she wants to travel the world and see everything it has to offer.

ADULT LIFE

occupation. princess/queen current residence. castle cornelia close friends. the four warriors of light in world a, relationship status. single and not ready to be married (gdi mom & dad) financial status.  she a rich bitch driver’s license there’s no cars in world a criminal record. none because sarah? a criminal? never.

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation. romantic orientation. het. preferred emotional role. submissive | dominant | switch  |  unsure preferred sexual role.  submissive |  dominant  |  switch |  sex repulsed libido. c. turn on’s. kindness, inner strength, turn off’s. kidnapping her, being a jerk, love language. lmao what?? umm… quality time & physical touch??? relationship tendencies. the healthy ones *finger guns*

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song. this one cuz i’m a slut for it. mental illnesses. i don’t think sarah would have/has any. i’m sure being kidnapped had some affect on her but i headcanon that she believes it was her fault because she believes if she had just listened to garland then none of that would have happened. physical illnesses. none left or right brained. right self confidence level. pretty good but it can fluctuate at times. an example would be if she fails at something or if her parents doubt her abilities to protect herself once she starts to get the hang of it with her bard abilities. vulnerabilities. being alone for long stretches of time due to being by herself when garland kidnapped her, anything to do with her family, there’s probably more but i’m drawing a blank…

[craveanimeblog-blog]

Confirmed! New Film Weathering With You is Finished

Shinkai is also confident that fans will enjoy the performances from the film's two leads, Kotaro Daigo and Nana Mori, as he stated, "They have wonderful voices to listen to, which can make you think that they are the boy and the girl you want to support. Since the audition with 2,000 participants, they have delivered their hand raising-like voices, like 'Look at me!' They showed great performances that convinced us that these two were here for this film."

Currently scheduled for a release on July 19th in Japan, Makoto Shinkai will direct and write Tenki no Ko: Weathering With You for CoMix Wave Films, Masayoshi Tanaka returns from Your Name to design the characters, Atsushi Tamura will serve as animation director, and Hiroshi Takiguchi will serve as art director. The film stars Kotaro Daigo as Hodaka Morishima and Nana Mori as HinaAmano along with Tsubasa Honda, Shun Oguri, Sakura Kiryuu, Sei Hiraizumi, Yuki Kaji, and Chieko Baisho in currently unconfirmed roles.

Makoto Shinkai's Your Name was one of the most critically and commercially successful anime films of all time, so there's bound to be a ton of pressure on his next project to either reach or go beyond these heights. This definitely puts his newest film, Tenki no Ko: Weathering With You, in a strange predicament as all kinds of old and new fans of his works will be expecting something different.

In a recent press conference in Japan, Shinkai revealed he was confident in Weathering With You, but was worried that audience response to the film was going to be divided considering some of the decisions he made with its story.

Your Name is one of the most commercially and critically successful anime film releases of all time, so naturally there have been a lot more eyes than ever on what director Makoto Shinkai would be releasing next. Luckily, the wait won't be for too much longer for fans in Japan as his newest film project, Tenki no Ko: Weathering With You, is gearing up for its theatrical release in Japan in just a few days.

According to a report from Mantan Web, Shinkai said the following about the upcoming film's release, "As a big-budget entertainment film, I want to do something that is absolutely fun and does not cause a loss. Based on that, I think this is a film that might divide the audience's opinions. I am doing things that are different from the people can agree as a classic story. This is the film that asks the audience, 'What would you do?'"

So it seems like Weathering With You will be evolving differently than Your Name did, and it could potentially effect the critical response to the film. But by the sounds of the quote, Shinkai is confident that audiences and fans will respond well to the narrative choices he has made.

Currently scheduled for a release on July 19th in Japan, Makoto Shinkai will direct and write Tenki no Ko: Weathering With You for CoMix Wave Films, Masayoshi Tanaka returns from Your Name to design the characters, Atsushi Tamura will serve as animation director, and Hiroshi Takiguchi will serve as art director. The film stars Kotaro Daigo as Hodaka Morishima and Nana Mori as Hina Amano along with Tsubasa Honda, Shun Oguri, Sakura Kiryuu, Sei Hiraizumi, Yuki Kaji, and Chieko Baisho in currently unconfirmed roles.

GKIDS has confirmed that they have licensed the film for an English language release with the current release window of 2020. They describe Weathering With You as such, "The summer of his high school freshman year, Hokoda runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hokoda meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong­willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky..."

Proclaiming that the film is finished, Shinkai shared a sweet behind-the-scenes photo to fans on his Twitter. There's a lot of pressure on the film after Your Name's massive success, and Shinkai himself even mentioned that he has a worry that the film will even divide audiences. Although the new film might not have as universally of a relatable of characters as his previous work, fans will definitely love seeing his other directorial quirks making it into the new film regardless.