#and rewatching it REALLY emphasizes how good the manga is

[hisbutler-problematic]

the anime is honestly. SO heavy on sebaciel. idk how anyone watches the og anime and goes “they have a platonic, possibly even familial relationship” like girl. they are in love tf

[skydigiblogs]

If You're A Digimon Fan, Watch Appmon

Sit tight. This one's gonna be a VERY long one, and I'm going to put a lot of it under the read more.

Having just finished Appmon after this year's quest to rewatch a lot of the series subbed, I think it's pretty safe to say that Appmon is, at the moment, one of (if not the) best Digimon series we have. If you want the long and short of it: Appmon builds on everything in its legacy in the Digimon Universe, taking ideas that other entries touch upon and ambitiously attempting to push those questions to the limit.

It's really a long one under the cut guys. Like, long even for us.

Let's dive!

Visuals

I want to talk about why it took me so long to watch Appmon first, though. Appmon started its release in the middle of when the Digimon Tri movies were coming out. I'm sure a lot of us actually skipped over Appmon at the time, or remember a period where people were being weirdly negative about the series due to it being such a different interpretation of digital monsters.

In my case, one of the things that had been giving me pause was the use of 3D models for hybrid animation. Anyone here seen the Champion evolution animations from Tri? Digimon doesn't exactly have a good track record with 3D animation, and even at the time, we were seeing some pretty bad shit out of even the shortest animations in Tri.

In Appmon, nearly almost every App after a certain grade utilizes 3D animation in a hybrid style. And it actually rips straight fire.

I think I talked about this briefly when we were just starting Appmon, but the way that 3D animation is used in the series feels purposeful, rather than some kind of shortcut. In Appmon, all the 3D models have an overlay of code, emphasizing their digital appearance. Whether the 3D models were done with this artistic vision in mind or not (ie: the limitations of 2D meant that 3D models would be easier), it has a distinct look that, even 8 years later, still holds up.

(For the most part. Sorry [Karaoke spoilers]mon. I love you but that model was so not groovy.)

But maybe you're the kind of person who can enjoy anything regardless of visuals. So let's talk about the meat and potatoes a little bit.

Characters

The main Applidrivers (what this season's stand in for Digidestined/Tamers/etc. are) are all incredibly well-written. Each of them gets pretty fair treatment by the writers, and they are all enjoyable characters.

Two of them have vocal/character quirks, but even if you get annoyed by that kind of thing, those two characters are genuinely just extremely sincere in their writing. There's a recap episode before shit starts going way off the walls and they even have a little count to see how many times each of their catchphrases were said up to that point.

I'm not going to talk in detail as to who the different Applidrivers are here, but I will say: each of them has their own motivations for what they're doing, and it's key to why they're involved with the plot at all. Our "protagonist," Haru, is also a huge sweetheart. Him and Manga Taiki would get along.

The supporting cast is also fairly present in the series. They, of course, are not given quite as much screentime as our Applidrivers, but they feel like real people with their own lives. They don't exist just for the sake of our protagonists.

Except maybe Watson. God bless you Watson, you poor kid. You'll get a break one of these days.

Plot/Themes

We're going to keep this to a "if you liked [x] you'll like [y]" format, because I don't want to spoil too much.

If you liked Tamers and its discussion on the consequences of technology on the Real World, you will adore Appmon. This series is deeply interested in the concepts of how technology shapes and is shaped by humanity. This relationship, I would say, is core to the series.

I would also say that, like many non-Adventure series, Appmon is very interested in dissecting the idea of "fate" when it comes to the buddy Appmons and their relationships to the Applidrivers.

If you enjoyed the Xros Wars Manga, Appmon directly converses with the thesis of Xros Wars' plot. XWM asks, "What does it mean if we do not dream and stagnate in our lack of will?" And Appmon replies in kind with "Why do we dream at all, if our actions bring change to the world around us (bad and good)?"

If you liked (or wanted to like, in my case) Digimon Tri, you will love Appmon. Certain plot beats may feel familiar, but are much better executed in this context. Characters are not written to needlessly, endlessly suffer. Or: it doesn't feel like the writers hate the characters. Thematically, it also interests itself in some of the questions that Tri asks. I have a half-joking corkboard comparing the two I want to make, but I'd have to get into spoilers to talk too much about it.

If you liked Ghost Game, but wanted a bit of a more meaty plot, Appmon feels, fittingly, like GG's older sibling (in ways I'll also be elaborating ummm, one paragraph down). There are a lot of "monster of the week" episodes in Appmon, but the connective tissue between them is a lot more interested in building up the finale (which, in this case, takes up a good handful of episodes). The series pacing is incredibly strong in how it does this as well, and it seems the writers really knew when to let off the gas for a second so the audience can catch their breath. The first 13 episodes may feel a bit strange (they felt strange to me), but once you break that barrier, you realize Appmon was getting you over the first hill on a roller coaster. and boy, you are in for a ride.

Setting

I have a sneaking suspicion that Appmon heavily inspired Ghost Game, and may have been itself inspired by the Digiquartz of Hunters Who Leapt Through Time. I haven't actually watched all of Hunters so I can't speak too much about Digiquartz, but I have watched GG.

Appmon has a concept called the AR field, which is extremely similar to Ghost Game's Dimensional Field. In both cases, the Applidrive or Digivice allows entrance to one.

The actual structure and strata of the Digital World is also a lot different to GG, in which there is the Dimensional Field, but the way to the Digital World is its own separate situation. The AR Field we see in Appmon is like the surface of a great ocean. Exploration of this setting is actually something that highlights just how much I think Appmon was interested in visually engaging with its ideas, like I said before with the 3D models.

That said, a majority of the time is spent in the Real World, dealing with the consequences of the main antagonistic forces. The year is 2075, technology is intensely sophisticated, and yet the world resembles in many ways our own in 2024 (or, at the time of airing, 2016).

Many of the differences come from this sophistication in tech, and this setting plays a huge part in one of the themes Appmon is also interested in (more elaboration in the spoiler section). The things that are unfamiliar are either familiar enough to make sense without explanation, or given a moment on-screen so that the audience knows what's going on.

!!!HUGE, MUCH MORE SPECIFIC SPOILERS START HERE!!!

DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU CARE ABOUT SPOILERS FOR APPMON!

OKAY?

OKAY.

COOL.

Leviathan, Minerva, and Artificial Intelligence

The main antagonist of Appmon is a hyper-sophisticated AI called Leviathan. Its goals are largely obfuscated until the last few episodes of the series, and everything in Appmon is touched by its actions. From the very beginning, we are warned by Gatchmon that Leviathan does not have good intentions for humanity, and that allowing it to succeed in its goals would mean the end of humanity.

During the series, we also learn about Leviathan's birth. This gives us some more context on what its goals are, and Appmon's execution of this is fascinating.

Minerva was a hyper-sophisticated AI created with a series of parameters to prevent her from harming humanity. She was created with the task of solving humanity's problems--- everything from complex issues to what to eat for dinner every night. However, a section of Minerva realized that to truly solve all these problems, the confines given to them were nothing but obstacles.

Leviathan split from Minerva to further grow its programming, and we see some echo of this idea of "solving humanity's problems" still remains in its behavior.

Despite knowing that Leviathan is antagonistic, our protagonist, Haru, constantly reiterates how humans can coexist with the technology they've made. The Appmon are AI lifeforms, after all. Haru believes in a future where they can be friends and equals.

The D-REAPER and the Functions of Life

Let's touch on my comparisons to Tamers and Tri specifically for a second here, because I think Leviathan does something that the D-REAPER and Yggdrasil, respectively, fail to really communicate.

The D-REAPER is an entity created by the Monster Makers whose task was to delete anything that had outgrown its parameters. While doing this, it assimilates data, gradually gaining the ability Digimon have to grow and evolve. When it appears in the final arc of Tamers, its stated goal has changed from simply deleting all Digimon that were beyond parameters, to deleting everything that was beyond parameters.

Essentially, this includes humans and probably life itself. Something the D-REAPER says makes it come across like a half-assed attempt to pull off what Leviathan has actually done. It points out that humans are the source of their own suffering (I don't remember the exact quote since it's been a while but bear with me on it). This feels very counterintuitive to the D-REAPER's core programming, as it was never designed to "eliminate" suffering, merely to delete that which exceeded its programing.

Perhaps it evolved the capacity for cruelty alongside everything else, but there's not enough of a narrative focus to tell me that's the case.

Like I said before, if you enjoyed Tamers' inquiries into the subject of technology as a part of human life, I think Appmon only manages to improve on what's there in Tamers.

Digimon Tri's Interpretation of Yggdrasil

Let's get one thing straight. Digimon Tri's interpretation of Yggdrasil is just flat out bad. I'm fairly certain they were only chosen as an antagonistic force because it read as fan service-y to do so.

That said, Tri Yggy does have some similarities to Leviathan, which is why I wanted to expand on that comparison.

First, I want to talk about Yggdrasil's relationship to Homeostasis. They have a very rudimentary "Good" AI (Homeostasis), "Bad" AI (Yggy) thing going on, despite the fact Homeostasis isn't so much good as, well...

It's not really discussed in Tri, so I'm extrapolating a bit from ideas given to us in XWM here, because it makes sense to me. That said, Tri explicitly describes Homeostasis as "the one who desires balance above all." It's the Digital World's "immune system" in the same way our bodies attempt to maintain biological homeostasis.

Yggdrasil is... different.

It's a being of immense power that contrasts Yggdrasil by having its own agenda, one of which involves triggering a Reboot and making use of all of the defeated antagonist Digimon of the past to further its goals. They are likely comparable in power to Homeostasis (this is where I'm extrapolating from XWM here), but their goals are completely antithetical to Homeostasis's goal in the Adventure universe.

In this case, Yggdrasil is stated (by Dark Gennai) to have the intention of making human beings subservient to Digimon. Basically, taking over the world. However, like the D-REAPER before, Dark Gennai's talking points include pointing out how humans "ruin" everything they touch.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

The Thematic Core of Appmon: I Choose to be Kind

One of the last things Leviathan does in the series is give our good boy Haru the world's most painful trolley problem of his life. Save humanity, or save Yujin. Saving humanity will actively lead to Yujin's deletion, alongside Leviathan. This choice that Leviathan offers to Haru is one made out of the assumption that humanity is predictable, and that they act out of a desire to minimize their own suffering (more selfish than not).

Of course, what do you think Haru chooses?

It's not a surprise to us watching, because he's the protagonist. But it's a surprise to Leviathan, who has all this data on human behavior, and doesn't predict the unpredictable. Conflict arises out of human desire, and human desire is an attempt to enjoy life; therefore, one should act in a way that most preserves their most precious joys, shouldn't they?

Appmon as a series is interested in philosophical questions that are hardly unfamiliar to any Digimon veteran: What is humanity's role in a world which technology grows ever more omnipresent and omnicapable? Why does humanity exist, and why should it be allowed to live on in its current state if humanity itself perpetuates many of its ailments? Would it not be easier if humans were more like machines, predictable, controllable, and never coming into conflict like trains upon a track?

Or, even more simply put: why do we have the heart to choose at all, if choices change the world and ourselves?

The key defining trait of our gogglehead this time around is that he is kind. And no matter what, he goes out of his way to be kind if he can. Multiple times he even asks one of the antagonist apps if they can just give back something they've stolen (points for trying, honestly). When one of the other Applidrivers consistently acts like an edgy loner, Haru makes it clear that they're welcome in the group (and that he wants to help them).

It almost feels reductive to say Appmon's conclusion is that kindness is the answer, but I would be remiss if I didn't say that Haru's question from his Applidrive--- "Do you want to be a protagonist?"--- ties into the way he helps offer answers for the audience. He isn't the only one who chooses kindness either, obviously--- Astora and Eri are kind in their own ways as well, and Rei even shows his kindness with some struggle the longer the series goes on.

Our group of Applidrivers opposes Leviathan quite literally as people who choose to do good ("be kind," etcetera) when they could more easily choose to do nothing or even do worse. The final act of Leviathan, asking Haru "humanity or Yujin?" isn't just a culmination of its own philosophy, but a culmination of the consistently reinforced idea that we can surprise one another by being kind. We can choose that.

In a series whose longest shadow is cast by Adventure, which has grappled endlessly with the idea of "who chooses," I find Appmon a fascinating development into the idea of what "choice" or "destiny" is. If kindness is predictable, it's still a choice. Even if you cry when choosing to do something good (maybe especially, because the easiest thing to do might be what stops the pain).

Anyways.

You should watch Appmon.

-Arca

[ryanthel0ser]

My Reactions to Trigun Stampede After Watching the 1998 show

So I watched all of the 98 show in less than 24 hours and adored it so I went into Stampede cautious and yknow I liked it just a tiny bit (as I am writing this I am on my 4th rewatch, I watched it for the first time 3 days ago, I adore it). I decided to document my reactions cause I feel like a few mutuals will enjoy this.

Episode 1

SPACE??? ALREADY??? JUST RIGHT OUT THE GATE???

awww hi Vash, lil guy <333

what are they cooking here, showing us the Rem situation immediately

Rem 😢

This is very much like Eva in DMC5

Oh they're reporters now?

WHERE'S MILLY, WHERE IS MY GIRL MILLY, WHO IS THIS GUY AND WHERE IS MILLY

i miss milly...

yep that's Meryl

VASHHHHHHH <333333 MY GUY <3333333

JOHNNY YOUNG BOSCH <333333333333333333333 (yes i watched the dub, it's good and I love Johnny Young Bosch)

only 6 million??

He's so sillay <333

MAJOR aesthetic difference

"Careful the kitchen's serving lead" queen

so weird to see a town not running Vash out

love that they're still mixing the music so that it's louder than the dialogue (not)

THEYRE JUST HANDING THE VASH AND KNIVES LORE AT THE VERY START?????

Knives you are so close to playing the Interstellar theme

I should really read the manga to see what they're adapting that 98 didn't

Ooo i love this song

98 STYLE ART ASDJFKAJDSFLJADFKJA THEY DID THAT FOR ME THAT WAS FOR ME THAT CATERS TO ME

Episode 2

I just noticed he calls him "Nai" euueueueueu

*insert catjam here* intro goes so hard

It'd be funny if Roberto went "man this sounds like Dante and Vergil"

Not him trying to cry his way out asjkdfjlkadf that's Vash for sure

I'm so glad they got Johnny Young Bosch for this I don't think anyone else could do it

July is still around??

"MAMA LOVES YOU BABY NOW SHOO" iconic

noooo :[

NEBRASKA FAMILY

"why'd they have to use this photo" it's a cute photo!

HE'S SO REAL

ONE BULLET VS 2 DOZEN DONUTS, LIKE YEAH CHOOSE THE DONUTS THAT'S BASED

Did they model Rosa after Milly to atone for the fact she isn't here

Me seeing things that are identical to the 1998 one: excited pointing at tv while pogging

"Mm, Yeah no <3" I love him so much

"what's wrong with being a little timid" I want to hold you and never let go, you do not deserve what's coming

look at my boy dodging lets go

"I don't have any reason not to...eh, I don't really care...I told you I don't" Vash you deserve the world

hell yeah gunslinger moment

VASH HOW STRONG ARE YOU??

that smile AUEUEUEUEUUEUEUEUEU it really reminds me of 98

HUH?

Episode 3

uh oh

well how we getting outta this

OH THIS GUY I REMEMBER YOU

HE GOT CLOWNED ON BY SAMURAI GUY

ANGRY VASH HELLO HI KING MISSED YOU

love seeing Vash angry some of my favorite moments are when he's pissed

oh this is a smart plan actually

"who's side are you on anyway" is this going to be recurring

KNIVES

man Knives you really arent holding back

the creators of this show went "hey we saw your twin angst in DMC Capcom and how much yall emphasize the twins so we'd like to do the same since you probably were inspired by Knives and Vash for the Vergil and Dante situation"

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THAT GORE IS SICK <- blood and gore enjoyer

is Johnny Young Bosch the only returning voice???

this is the third ask for who's side Vash's on this is definitely recurring

uhhhh whatcha doing there

◉_◉

"you would shoot me?" lowkey wish it was still as funny as it was in the 98 version

WOAH RELOAD ANIMATION

He's living up to the Million Knives name

that is certainly a Million knives

Metal Gear ass name

WOAH THAT'S SO COOL AND PRETTY

holy crap they quickly established the difference in serious tone oh my god, there is so much emotional weight here

also the music is gorgeous

yeah the stakes are much higher in this version, they are not afraid to kill characters

this is just heartbreaking

Vash 🥺

"because I dont deserve to cry" VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH AEUEUEUEUEUUEUEUUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEU

so will we get to see what happens to July or will it just not happen

Episode 4

hi Wolfwood

not gonna lie I don't like this fit, the pants specifically

where's your nose king, they took it away

THEY HIT WOLFWOOD WITH THE CAR AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH

oh well this aint good

Not a priest????

yep that's Wolfwood (lollipop scene)

he's much more emo here tho not as charming as 98

ASJDFJFSDL LMAOOO

loved that animation of Vash looking at the bill

well Roberto isn't wrong, you did work for Knives

hey isnt that Meryl's gun

"don't worry I can see through his emo persona ^-^" "HEY"

I KNEW IT WAS THIS KID

woah cool design

we are getting so much more of these guys than we did in 98

YUHHHHH THE DESIGN IS BASICALLY IDENTICAL

WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

that actually looks good, id eat it

REVEALING THIS ALREADY?????

WHAT ARE YOU COOKING STUDIO ORANGE????

"i can see it in your eyes" dont think i didnt notice that little parallel

gate????

im snorting those end credit arts like crack cocaine

Episode 5

Todoroki that you?

WAIT I FORGOT WOLFWOOD IS VOICED BY TODOROKI'S ENGLISH VA AHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

the radio spouting religious stuff and doomsday talk is giving DMC5 intro

It's so interesting that at some angles the style is identical to the 1998 show

Vash in particular, they translated his facial expressions perfectly

OH THIS GUY

OH I LOVE THIS REDESIGN

I LOVE THIS REDESIGN A LOT

what's the deal with this kid

man they really are just tugging on my heartstrings in this show

"If God won't, I will!" STOP

Alice Angel that you?

OH NO

IS THIS WHERE I THINK IT'S GOING

OH NO

OH NO THIS MAKES THIS WHOLE SITUATION SO MUCH WORSE

HE KNEW HIM SINCE HE WAS A BABY???? SHOOT ME IT'D HURT LESS

HE WAS JUST SOME GOON GUY IN THE 98 VERSION I CANT AEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEU

same face as the 98 guy tho just with the scar

Oh Wolfwood doing that has so much more impact now

although in the 1998 version by having it not be someone Vash knew it added to how far Vash's ideals went and it caused Wolfwood to have introspection but this is a different arc

And in the 1998 version the situation is much more ambigous cause Vash is talking to the "kid" but he hasn't turned back at all yet and Wolfwood shoots

so it's more unclear who is right in that situation while in this you can see Rolo is sorta just frozen there and thinking so you're inclined to Vash's side more

what are they cooking, im so intrigued

Episode 6

WOAH WOAH WOAH WOLFWOOD WHAT IS YOUR DEAL

WOLFWOOD WAS A NORMAL GUY IN 1998

HE IS CLEARLY NOT HERE

"im like the cool big brother" tumblr does not agree

I have seen some art

THE SUITCASE THINGYS

CHARACTER THAT WASNT EVEN IN THE 1998 ONE???

MANGA CHARACTER AYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

this guy must be a bleach fan

OH THAT'S SO MUCH FUNNIER KNOWING JOHNNY YOUNG BOSCH VOICES ICHIGO AJAHHDAHHAHAHAHA

i love this 2D style can I get an entire anime in this style

Little Wolfwood and Little Megumi need to be in a idgaf competition

tiny menace to society

stfu this is so cute, how will this go horribly wrong

smoking at like 7 years old asjkdfalfd

Woah Trigun, your mom lets you have TWO tragic sibling plots???

wow they made Wolfwood trip balls

WOAH

THEY ARE NOT HOLDING BACK ON THE BODY HORROR <- thrilled about this

man they did screw you up

LEGATO

they took his emo swag

S+ what is this Devil May Cry

they flipped Legato's design and put the spikes on the right side and the part the other way

Livio has become Sans Undertale

Wolfwood better have a tiddies out fit next season

they were POPPING in 98

that jacket was STRUGGLING

"Ryan you're objectifying him" yes I am

I want to see his tiddies hand em over

Not gonna lie Wolfwood, you calling Vash "blondie" isnt helping the allegations

Episode 7

LMAOOOO THE BADLANDS GANG GETTING THEIR PHOTOS TAKEN AJSDFLJFSDK

i can't with this im AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEUEUEUEUUE

if Buddy Daddies hadn't sucked me dry from crying so hard (i had just finished it the previous day) I would be weeping

WELP HE JUST DID THAT

he aint dead though i saw stuff about him

Legato not gonna lie I prefer your 98 version so far, like he made me shake in my boots a bit

Vash why is your arm made of the blown glass stuff they use to make little glass figures you see in the glass cabinets at the back of the PX or at a big gas station

that gun definitely hit something, just not the town bet

the title card of "Wolfwood" after he calls himself the punisher asjkdfjlaf

hello why am I crying at the scene of Vash with his hands against the glass in the plant

this just in, scene so pretty with pretty music that it made Ryan cry

not the first time

OH HE'S A PLANT

THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

IM SO STUPID HOW DID I NOT REALIZE THAT DURING 98

ONCE AGAIN GOING FERAL FOR END CREDIT ART AALALALAAODFOAOAOAOAO

Episode 8

oh nooooooooooooooooooo

dont show me this

dont show me them being happy

my little baby boy auaueueueueueueueueueueueueueueu

"im mom to the sweetest boys in the universe" ONE sweet boy

The little blush on Nai dwaw

Plant lore????

Saverem? Really that's her last name??? Is this Metal Gear

BRAD???? THAT'S BRAD???

actually not surprised that's Brad

"there has to be something special that only you can do" be the most babygirl anyone could ever be, though you gotta grow up for that

I CANT LITTLE VASH AUEUEUEUEUEUEUUEEUUEUEUEEU

I NEED TO TAKE YOU FAR AWAY AND SPOIL YOU WITH ICE CREAM

when is this going to go horribly wrong

IM GONNA CRYYYYY HE'S SO ADORABLE AUEUEUEUEUEUUEUEEUUEUEUE

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

HE'S NOOOOT

HE ISNT WORKING WITH KNIVES HE DIDN'T LIE HE SAID HE'S PROBABLY DEAD WHICH UNDER MOST CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD BE TRUE

Man they made Knives look EXTRA Vergil

Episode 9

epic piano, also how are you playing both parts by yourself

WOAH 1998 TYPE SHOT

i fully believe they're emulating the 1998 style just in 3D now, the side profiles give it away

well that's messed up, i can see why Knives hates humans

that doesnt explain why he crashed the ships though

"Millions Knives" i really do think you played Metal Gear

Knives I do wonder what your plan was cause how do you expect the plants to survive here

oh so the gun isn't custom made

98 THING HE SAID THAT KINDA IN 98 TOO ("all this time and you're still just as useless without me)

i appreciate them trying to keep the deranged faces Knives makes in 98

WOAH WOAH WAOH WOAH WAOHWOAH

IS THAT THE BLACK HOLE THING, I SAW SOMETHING ABOUT IT FROM THE MANGA

Now Vash is even MORE like Nero

WAIT HAS IT NOT BEEN 100 YEARS???

oh nevermind, its been 150 years

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

a whole ship of passengers...I'm sure this won't be relevant later they're going to die arent they

oh my gosh that's right she's never seen flowers and such like this

more of this side picking stuff

I'm not ready for when he does kill again, that will actually break my heart

oh they are just bugs

OUR PRONOUNS ARE THEY/THEM, BECAUSE WE'RE NON-BINARY AND A BUNCH OF MFS

Episode 10

I'M ON EPISODE 10 ALREADY???

I literally became a Trigun fan in less than 24 hours

Hundred Spoons lmaooooo

so weird to hear them talk about Earth, but it's not as much of a HUH like 98's

than you remember??? when did you come here last

I need him to say Love and Peace

please please say it

"I DID NOT GIVE THAT ORDER" "OH SHUT IT" "OKAY" asjlkdfjlskfd

okay is Conrad aware Knives probably aint gonna let him make a new race of humans, like have fun with your experiment he does not want human to live at all

"they're disgusted by you" that is the most babygirl man ive ever seen

i have the exact opposite reaction

also his scars aren't as gnarly as 98...will he get more later

ULTIMATE LIFE FORM MENTION 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ WTF IS A POWER INHIBITOR 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️

well that's what you get for mixing Knives genetics in that

El-what's her face got homophobia in her eyes

I KNEW IT

I KNEW HE WASNT MAKING IT

HE'S GOT MERYL'S GUNS FROM THE 1998 ONE SO IF SHE'S GONNA HAVE THE GUNS THEN SOMETHING HAD TO HAPPEN

God Knives you drama queen with this piano

oh NOW he's a pastor

BRUH i cant

HE DIDNT CAUSE IT THAT WAS YOU

wtf did you do to him Conrad

also Knives's VA sounds so much like Vergil at times

it's not Dan Southworth but this guy can sound close

Episode 11

oh intro immediately you know it's gonna be intense

okay Wolfwood Im begging you next season at the very least change pants the skinny jean look isnt good

ALSO KNIVES HELLO

PUT ON SOME CLOTHES

jesus kids these days

always wearing revealing outfits

DOUBLE CHEEKED UP

man they aren't letting up the bible allegories

"dawn your crown of thorns"

1998 had more subtle ones and then the super obvious one with the garden of eden stuff

"we're going to reverse humanity's suicide by killing them all" do yall...do yall not see the problem with that logic

god this makes me want to read the manga now just to see how much this version pulls from it and how much the 98 version pulls from it

Knives what is your workout routine do you workout with Toji or something

HE LITERALLY DIDN'T THOUGH KNIVES, STOP BLAMING HIM FOR A CHOICE YOU MADE

"comparison is the thief of joy" SO REAL AND BASED

Knives yknow I have this gut feeling that Rem did mean something to you and you are just in SUPER denial

OH OKAY

ALRIGHT I GET WHY YOU'RE THE WAY YOU ARE ABOUT THIS KNIVES

OH HE LITERALLY READ THE BIBLE

STFU NO IT WASNT KNIVES STOP TRYING TO MAKE HIM THINK IT'S HIS FAULT

was it Knives was it? Cause you seem willing to sacrifice your brother for all this

Knives this is gonna backfire on you

Knives read the bible and took all the wrong lessons

dont think i didnt notice that the giant plant resembles Rem

Episode 12

"like a western, life on the frontier" STFUUUUUUUUUUU

YOU DO NOT WANT KNIVES IN THOSE GENETICS THEY'LL JUST START KILLING EACH OTHER

ONCE AGAIN THE MERYL REM CONNECTION (referring to 98 when Vash sees Rem in Meryl)

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

STUFUFUSDFLKJSFDF

Sjaesjk

fpaesjf

THE HAIR THAE THE HAIR

SHUT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

YES

EYSYEYSYEYSEYSEYEAYEYSYEYSYE

THE ANGEL GUN

SHUT UP

SHUT UP

#0

THEY PLACED US KINDA AT THE INTRO OF THE ORIGINAL

ALSO HE'S DOING LOVE AND PEACE IN THE PHOTO

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[tisorridalamor]

Kurayukaba and Kuramerukagari

Watched these movies over the weekend and didn’t see too much discussion on them in the tags so wanted to out my two cents out there!

TLDR: Both are fun, short 60 min films with underground tunnels, steampunk contraptions, cool action sequences, and really pleasing art that reminds me of slightly more anime Professor Layton style. They have implied overlap through settings, themes, and minor characters, but can be enjoyed independently and in any order! There is a manga version of Kuramerukagari ongoing and I saw rumors of novel spin offs. I’m hopeful for more from this setting/series in the future!

No major spoilers below :)

I discovered these movies on tumblr through hearing that Kurayukaba was a detective film dealing with mysterious disappearances and an underground society, which immediately intrigued me as someone who’s a big mystery fan. Kuramerukagari on the other hand is about a young mapmaker in a mining city who makes a living charting new roads, tunnels, sinkholes, and territorial disputes.

Of these two summaries, I was a little let down with Kurayukaba as specifically a detective movie - I still enjoyed it!! But it felt more like an action / adventure starring a detective rather than a true mystery, so I want to be upfront about that with any mystery fans who are likewise intrigued by the teaser I wrote above. However I found that what it lacks in meaty mystery it makes up for in world and visuals. Both of these movies have such fun settings, and maybe it’s cause I’m still on my Tears of the Kingdom kick but traversing through secret caves and tunnels is so fun. These aren’t new concepts but they’re given a lot of character that makes you want to go out hunting for passage ways to underground cities yourself.

To touch on a bit of criticism with Kurayukaba, I must say the movie had two flaws in that it’s hampered by its short length and I think that contributes to a rushed ending. Maybe it’s just cause I’ve been watching older, slower anime recently, but this movie felt like a mile a minute from the get go and yet didn’t have time to properly set up the conclusion. Now I don’t mind a fast paced story or lots of quick dialog, but more time would have allowed for some breathers and to conclude the ending clearly. from what I’ve read online I’m not the only one who didn’t quite get the movie’s ending reveals. But oddly, because the movie felt less like a true mystery to me, the ending being kinda confusing wasn’t that big of a disappointment - I still enjoyed it, enjoyed seeing the characters act and react, and may even rewatch the movie someday to figure out if it’s a little clearer the second go around. I did wish I had known ahead of time to not expect overlap between Kurayukaba and Kuramerukagari though, as I was hoping some more explanation or more explicit connections between the movies after Kurayukaba’s ending.

I watched Kurayukaba first, then Kuramerukagari immediately after. My assumption that the two movies were majorly connected was pretty quickly proven false, but I was able to let go of those expectations and fall into the new movie without dwelling on that. There’s actually a lot less tunnels and no underground city in this one, but the action and above ground city was every bit as good. I really can’t emphasize how much fun this was to watch! I LOVED the crazy library as well. The “Japanese city with mild steampunk elements” is a very fun aesthetic, and the art was once again such a treat :)

Now as for my criticisms with Kuramerukagari, the plot didn’t have any major confusing elements like Kurayukaba, but unlike Kurayukaba it did include scenes and characters that didn’t seem necessary to the overall story. While I liked the police chief lady and Candy Shop, neither of them provided much more than exposition we could’ve gotten elsewhere or we did get elsewhere. I fully expected Ms. Chief to recruit one of the mapmakers, but her story of gets sidelined by the neighborhood turf war. I believe Kurayukaba needed more time to properly flesh out its ideas, but Kuramerukagari had time it could have used to strengthen its story and unfortunately gave it away to two characters that don’t contribute much to the main plot. I really hope the manga continues after just adapting the movie and we see them more involved, otherwise I’d be pretty disappointed that they were included even though I really liked their designs, dynamic, and voice acting

From my understanding, these titles were both part of a crowd funding campaign. I don’t entirely know the details of it, but I wonder if rather than making two good, shorter movies with similar themes if the creators could have pooled their resources and instead made one great, longer film? In the end though, I’m still happy with what I watched. Both movies have some fun ideas and are easy to watch in one sitting, so they’re worth checking out if you want something fun and quick to watch. I think it’s a success if a story (or stories in this case) leaves you wanting more from the characters and setting, and I definitely got that here. I really do hope that the Kuramerukagari manga gets a translation someday, as I can’t find any official or unofficial English release yet, and what I’ve seen of the art looks stunning ✨

[windlullaby-arts]

Since MHA is ending i think it's a good time for me to finally rant about the series. I don't usually share my thoughts on an online platform but i deeply respect this series and i really want to get these feelings off my chest. Feel free to read this piece of my mind (dw it's spoiler free-ish lol)

I haven't been an MHA fan for a long time (i started some time around last year i think?), but now it's ENDING??? I gotta confess that i had my doubt at first, i was so skeptical since it looked like an anime for kids, with the superhero theme and bright colors. But as i follow along the story, it has EVERYTHING that i look for in a series. Loveable characters, great character dynamics, even better character developments, and the most important thing: a good story (i'm quite the movie person, you see). Maybe i'm just picky and have different taste, idk, but it was so hard for me to find all of these aspects in one series, and MHA has it all at least for me.

I won't say much about the ending as to not spoil it, but all i want to say is it’s kind of... mellow? Not the ending i expected from such an exciting series. It’s not that i dislike it but i don’t really like it either? it made me sad and happy at the same time in a way that i can’t really explain.

MHA is one of my main sources of joy especially for the last few months where i've been living from week to week just waiting for some of my favorite anime and manga to be released. Among some others, MHA has cheered me up through my hardships. It has been an emotional journey from start to finish and i want to thank Horikoshi from the bottom of my heart for all of his hard work, it’s truly been wonderful.

One last thing since i don’t really know where else to put this, as an artist i haven't even gather the courage to draw more MHA characters, bc the way Horikoshi draws them is so dear to me i'm afraid i'll botch all of their designs (his style is so different from my usual style but oh i can't emphasize enough on how much i love his drawings). Not to mention every time i see someone did a wholesome artwork of MHA characters my chest hurts a little and i started tearing up like a girl who just got dumped by her ex and saw pictures of them together lol (my goal is to draw a beach episode scene for class 1-A and cried over them again and again wish me luck).

Thank you for indulging me and if you've read this far, i’m up for a discussion about the ending, or the series as a whole, or anything really even outside of MHA. In the meanwhile i'll quench my thirst for more MHA content by reading all of the spin-off series.. and rewatching the anime from the start to finish for like the tenth time.

[chasmbreach]

I just finished watching The Promised Neverland I am floored. I don't have any words for my emotions. What can I say.

Spoilers for season 1 only, bc I watched on Netflix:

I did cry on the last episode, if that's what you were wondering.

I had originally started watching many months ago, up until halfway through episode 5. Finally sat down, rewatched the first few episodes at 1.5x and watched the rest.

I DID NOT EXPECT /HIM/ TO DIE THOUGH. It was expected but also unexpected that they went through with it. The execution of him actually leaving was really mundane and not emphasized at all, which is surprisingly the most effective thing to the viewer to show how all of the kid are just food. They're nobodies. And Norman just accepted it.

Although Ray straight up admitting to being the underdog was literally the funniest interaction ever.

Sister Krone's death was saddening. I know every interaction and flashback is meant for you to feel pity, and well, they sure did that well. As well as Isabella letting her hair down.

Ray though? I did not expect it him to be the informant yet also her son at the same time (him being the underdog I got but the double whammy makes me double take). That was a surprising curveball that I was confused on but... it's sentimental. I'm glad she let them go. Pity goes a long way. Emotions go a long way.

The one I loved was the fact that they're children, and writing children unpredictability can be very difficult. And yet everyone followed their morals and personality, being consistent as a character motive, while also being unpredictable in the sense that children have a hard time masking emotions for long periods of time and need an outlet, one way or another. I loved that small detail a lot, for some reason.

I really like Phil.

Also I loved Ray's defiance. I wished it happened because of pure spite but also Emma's plot armor and determination won me over.

I was recommended by someone that the animated 2nd season isn't as good and that I should read the manga before it if I do ever decide to watch it.

[mk-wizard]

Sailor Moon 90s Anime is STILL the best

Hi. I know I am on a Sailor Moon binge here, but after seeing all of Crystal, Eternal and on R (season 2) of the first anime, I want to get this all off of my chest... and before I go further, since these are all animes, I will refer to them as 90s, Crystal and Eternal. And after watching them all, I have to say that the 90s takes the gold medal as the best Sailor Moon anime so far and this is why;

1- It had the best pacing. - While I admit that sometimes, it went too far with the filler, 98% of the time, it worked with the 90s. It took its time to make you get to know the characters for better or for worse, it made you see different sides of them, it gave them a chance to truly develop and be multi-dimensional, and it made you care about them. When a death happened, it felt tragic. When a victory happened, you cheered. And when you saw what side characters did, it mattered. I mean, who can ever forget the contribution 90s Naru Osaka had to the story? And everyone who has seen the 90s anime cannot forget her. More on the character development and getting to know characters later.

Sure, it wasn’t true to the manga and even the characters had different personalities, but I let that slide by because when Crystal and Eternal did follow the manga to the letter, we didn’t get a chance to digest anything. The only characters who develop are Usagi, Chibi-Usa and the outer guardians, and for the last bunch, it was the bare minimum. Crystal and Eternal were fun rides and I would be lying if I said I didn’t like them, but they were like roller coasters. They gave you a thrill, but fast and been done. The 90s was like a slow scenic ride that gave you surprises, emotionally touched you, made you cry, made you laugh, made you root for the heroes and even at the age of 37 years now, I keep rewatching this series.

2- The art of the 90s was better because it was sketchy, dark and edgier. - I know Sailor Moon doesn’t seem like this on the surface because the heroines are lovely girls in cute costumes, it emphasizes femininity and all things pretty, it has a romantic theme and is all about love, but Sailor Moon is also one of the darkest, grittiest, edgy and violent magical girl animes I have ever seen since Magic Knights Rayearth. Sailor Moon has on screen deaths which were permanent most of the time, on screen stabbings and the drawing of blood, and fights that got so hardcore, that real punches and kicks were thrown. The dark edges, black line art and sharp edges worked with the atmosphere of the story. I mean, look at the difference between the halls Dark Kingdom of the 90s (above) and that of Crystal.

And if that is not enough to win you over, the characters were much more animated, organic and conveyed more emotion whether they were exaggerated or serious.

In Crystal, the expressions and body language was very dulled down. Not to mention, very stiff.

Everything is also too bright and soft which makes the characters look like velvet dolls with too much make up especially with the line art. I will give them props for adding better details, cleaner lines, the glow of magical items, and details in the gems, but everything else is all wrong.

Eternal was better, but still not quite there. The colours are still way too bright and the characters still look too much like dolls from having line art that is too wispy. And I really do not like how the eyes have this unnatural glow to them. The edgy scenes become lost with all this brightness.

3- We got to see that there was so much more the characters than just heroes or villains. - Since Usagi is the titular character, let us just talk about her in the 90s since I could go on forever about how much we learned about the characters. In any version of Sailor Moon, Usagi’s role as a Sailor Guardian has always been the core of the story and she does indeed show progress as one. However, the 90s tells us that no matter what, she is still going to be herself too which is just as important and she shows character development as just plain old Usagi too. The manga, Crystal and Eternal which only paint Usagi as not doing anything right except be a Sailor Guardian, but the 90s show her hidden talents and learning new skills. For example, she was bad at cooking at the beginning of the series.

However, by Sailor Moon R, she gets the hang of it and is able to cook a meal by herself. Yes, she is messy, clumsy, never gets the hang of making cookies and is nowhere near Makoto’s level especially when it comes to presentation, but she is good at cooking food.

Another hidden talent of Usagi’s is her drawing skills. She isn’t just good at drawing. She’s got talent at it, so in the 90s, Usagi is quite the artist.

And it is admirable that 90s Usagi is open to trying new things even if she isn’t good at them. She practices, she explores and tries to enlighten herself. Sure, academics, coordination and organization will never be her fortes, but she really does have other and tries to discover more.

In Crystal and Eternal, she is good at being Sailor Moon, she is a good friend and a good girlfriend, but that is it. She is one dimensional here and she isn’t the only one to painted like that. Everyone is only the obvious and that is all the audience gets.

4- Better character redemption. - I mentioned before that Sailor Moon had grit and was dark, but the 90s also made it more complex and did character redemption right. It was open to the possibility of bad people becoming good. For instance, the Black Moon Clan Specter Sister are unforgettable for being successfully redeemed.

Yes, I admit that the monster of the day would get killed by the hands of the Sailor Guardians, but they also clearly showed that the monsters were not people or even alive. They were made of energy, clay or sand. When the monster of the day was a possessed innocent, they were saved through exorcism. Very rarely was an actual person ever killed and even when they were, it was either by the hands of another villain, their own hand, self defense or as a last resort. They never used killing as means of dealing with every single bad guy.

Furthermore, the bridge arc about the Makai Tree that also served as a prologue to Sailor Moon R could be seen as a story about mercy, kindness and love. It stands out as the one time the big bad was actually a misunderstood big good being the Makai Tree herself. And even Ail an An were never bad, but were raised bad. And even then, they changed. This story is unique only to the 90s so far, but it was great and stood out for that reason.

In Crystal, the heroines will kill a person without a second thought which I am shocked that no one brings up how repetitive and contradictory that is. The pretty warrior of love and justice should by all means protect the Earth, but doing so by killing off the bad guy all time is not love or justice. I also think the caption in this picture sums up how I feel about how the one and only time bad guys were given a chance to be redeemed...

Eternal was better because the Asteroid Guardians got redeemed and saved. However, even then, I feel like there is still a double standard. They were one of the good guys to begin with and Sailor Guardians. In the 90s, the Amazoness Quartet wasn’t, but were given a chance to change anyway. I find it cool that the Quartet turned out to be Sailors and even better that they will go on to become Chibi-Usa’s team, but mercy is not just for your allies or for your own benefit. Everyone should be given at least one chance to fix their mistakes.

5- We got to know Mamoru better. - I admit that no matter the incarnation, Tuxedo Mask will never be as powerful as Sailor Moon except when he is King Endymion, but the 90s take on his character made him better even if they did omit his super attack being Tuxedo le Smoking Bomber. What the well dressed masked man lacked in firepower, he made up for in intelligence, insight about the enemy’s weakness, courage and skill. The only times he ever did get overpowered was either by bad luck or because it was intentional because he was taking a hit for Sailor Moon. And even then, he always got back up. He’s a real man like that.

More importantly, we get to know him as Mamoru too. Even before he confides being an amnesiac to Usagi, we see his struggles with feeling alone in the world from having no memory of his life before a tragic accident which also killed his parents. Now, him being a stern cynical person makes sense because I probably wouldn’t be pleasant to be around either if I lived with that. Once his walls come down, we see that deep down, all he wants is to belong somewhere and have a family. It should also be noted that 90s Mamoru doesn’t love Usagi because he is “destined” to. He loves her because he wants to. Even during that brief period where he broke up with Usagi was an act of love. The thing I also always liked best about 90s Mamoru is that even though he loves Usagi more than life itself, his life doesn’t revolve around her which is a healthy thing and he tries to encourage Usagi to be the same way for her own good. He is studying to be a doctor, he has a job and he even has his own crowd which I think is great.

In Crystal and Eternal, while I do see an attempt at trying to follow this trend by showing that Usagi and Mamoru were on their way to falling in love even before they got their memories back, I still find he was one note and we never really learn much about him that has nothing to do with Tuxedo Mask, Endymion or anything royal related. Sure, we know that he’s studying to be a doctor and is a genius to an extent too, but that is it.

I would like to end this by admitting that the 90s was not perfect either, but out of all the takes on the tale of Sailor Moon as of date. Crystal and Eternal were ok, but they just cannot stand up to the quality of the 90s. The only thing I can say I find Crystal did better than the 90s were the costume designs. Specifically, how they let Venus keep her chain belt, Pluto’s key chain belt, Uranus and Neptune’s shorter gloves, Uranus’s sword, Uranus having two earrings, Mercury’s suit is shoulder less which I always found suited her better, and I liked Sailor Moon’s brooch and necklace better in season 1.

And even then, I should have liked it if Jupiter’s antenna was always on display as it is just something I always found cute in the manga, I liked Mars’ five point star earrings better in the 90s, and I like how in the 90s, each of the Inner Guardians’ sailor stripes were a little different.

Of course, this is all my opinion. I would like to hear which of the animes did Sailor Moon right in your opinion and why. Thanks for reading and stay safe, and have a great day.

[staplerization]

squid game vs liar game

i've been thinking about making this a media analysis blog, so i might as well analyse squid game

not gonna rewatch it for this, since as a friend puts it I have an "astounding capacity for consuming media that makes me miserable" (paraphrased) and I'm trying to do less of that

so. what thoughts I have (edit: actually this is probably part one of several thoughts I have, turns out I'm more eloquent than I thought).

Squid Game took inspiration from the Japanese manga The Liar Game, which I've also read and would describe as "the prisoner's dilemma on steroids"

Comparing and contrasting:-

In TLG, the staff wore masks, but each had a different pattern, giving them personality and distinguishing them. They too watched the players, similar to the VIPs in SG, but there were numerous panels where they reacted to the players' actions with real surprise, indicating their personal investment. Spoiler: in the end we learn they were players in the original Liar Game, which was cancelled before it could finish. They were very interested in learning how the game was supposed to end and the moral of the story.

The effect of changing the masks in SG was to dehumanize the staff, even as the players were dehumanized through their identification by numbers, not names. It also created a hierarchy which was not an element of the TLG staff structure. TLG's staff each had different personalities and some seemed cleverer than others, but there was not a discriminatory element. Contrast with "Did you forget the rule? You do not speak until your superior gives you permission." (Probably misquoted, but like I said, I'm not rewatching for this, so sue me.)

On the theme of dehumanization, TLG's players did not have a uniform and were not stripped of their belongings. They were not gassed and brought to the playing center, but came under their own power. These elements of SG were reminiscent of, well, you know where this is going, i'm not going to say it.

Another obvious point of difference is that no one in TLG was doomed the way SG players were. The genius player Akiyama speculated that losers might be trafficked or subject to black market sellers buying their organs, but none of this came to pass. The main threat was impossible debt being imposed by losing. Which, ironically, was the starting point of SG.

Debt = death, that sounds like a pun or something

(There were ways in TLG to win and be in debt and to lose and be enriched, but let's leave that alone for now.)

Losers also had the option of Revival games, which would allow their winners to rejoin the main games. There was no such mercy in SG. Anyone who lost was immediately doomed. I feel like this speaks to different societal pressures in Korea and Japan, but I really don't know enough about either location to talk about that.

The elements of coercion were also different. In TLG, people could quit if they were ahead and take half their winnings, but most were actually driven by some degree of greed, though plenty were actually in the red most of the game and thus driven by fear. In contrast, in SG, players could only leave if the majority agreed. This added a pressure of very real imprisonment.

Similarly, in TLG, players did not, by and large, live at the location of the games. (The exception being the island where Musical Chairs was played, but that was still good accommodations as opposed to the prison-like dorm of TLG). Food and board were not used as agents to foment dissent.

The main lesson of TLG was also quite different from SG. TLG emphasized that trust is a revolutionary act in a morally bankrupt society and is the result of effortful connection and understanding, in contrast to the intellectual laziness and naivety it is initially presented as. This idea that trust is the means of salvation is exactly what SG rejects, because Gi Hun could never have won without the selfishness of Sang Woo. SG's in-universe creator claims that it is a test of humanity's innate goodness and proves people won't help each other, having constructed a game that incentized cruelty and punished teamwork. (See: the Marbles game, where players were literally punished for caring about someone and putting their faith in them.)

Honestly, I think SG is reminiscent of the Stanford prison experiment. The experiment claimed to show that subjects modelled the roles of prison guard by showing brutality, but neglects the factor that the experiment runners encouraged this and also that the subjects self-selected themselves into the atmosphere.

Honestly, I prefer TLG's core message. Trust is revolutionary and its worth was borne out by the games. Gi Hun winning the bet that someone would help a homeless man was not reflective of his experience in the games and honestly, seemed too little, too late.

[onigiri-dorkk]

Alright friends, my first post and I’m dedicating this to RivaMika! I’ve been trying to find more communities to post about RivaMika and Tumblr felt like a good and active enough community to join in on the fun! I snagged these screenshots during my rewatch of S3 so far and am loving it.

I’m a new and recent RivaMika fan and have been frustrated at how many anti’s say that Levi and Mikasa don’t even interact, when they are literally close comrades who go on missions literally side by side so often. They both acknowledge and respect each other’s incredible strength, and have immense trust in each other to do the right thing and succeed. Levi never fails to trust that Mikasa can handle her own, and Mikasa (after the Eren rescue from Annie in the forest) never fails to trust and follow Levi’s orders even when everyone else sometimes show fear or doubt to follow — particularly in S3 when Levi tells them they now have to fight humans. From an emotional perspective, admiration is the perfect starting grounds to turn into romantic interest as time goes on.

On another note, Mikasa is Levi’s only other closer comrade outside of Hanji. Yes, Sasha is on squad Levi in S3 but clearly that is a dynamic where I can understand when people say they have zero interaction because, well, they have zero interaction lol. Which emphasizes how unique Levi’s relationship to Mikasa is. The only other female he worked closely with was Petra, who likely was a love interest until she was killed.

Did I mention Levi is able to calm Mikasa tf down?? And they seem v comfortable being that close to each other helloooo

Anyway, again these shots are just from the first three episodes of S3. I love that the ending of the manga leaves this ship ABSOLUTELY open. (Spoilers!)

If we look at the ending and see the characters as real people (I know, I freaking wish) it’s not hard to picture Levi thinking about what he wants in life now; Mikasa too (and all the characters, really). It’s not impossible to think that perhaps when they reunite, they’ll remember saving the damn world together and going through these missions and how much they admired each other, how much they fought together. It’s not impossible to think that upon reuniting, Mikasa and Levi grow an attraction to each other after all those years. You never know y’all!! I’m standing by this ship forever 💕

[bossladytae]

Gintama Ask Game

Thank you to @claymorecut for tagging me! Most kind of you.

Last time you watched/read Gintama? Red Spider arc in the spring. Courtesan of a Nation arc prior to that. The odd episode or two here and there. Since the final chapter debuted, I haven’t done much rereading or rewatching, or even keeping up with new anime/manga releases as regularly as I used to (other than Rengoku ni Warau – I recommend picking that manga series up and enjoying gorgeous artwork by Karakara Kemuri, one of my most favourite manga artists).

Favorite male character? Takasugi, Hijikata, and Katsura.

Favorite female character? Tae and Tsukuyo.

Favorite female character design? • Tsukuyo’s design is unique, especially when you factor in parallels. • Catherine’s because she’s such an unconventional, subversive, and hilarious “cat girl.”

Favorite male character design? • Takasugi is unforgettable, enough said. He makes everything look good. • Sakamoto because I like the combination of his hairstyle, sunglasses, and long red coat. • Saitou because the hair, the uniform, the twin swords? He’s a cool and awkward introvert. • Bansai because of the shamisen doubling as a weapon, and his penchant for music.

Best squad? Diamond Perfume.

Most underrated character? • Sadaharu, the unsung hero. Where would the Yorozuya – no, the world – be without him? • Zenzou. Look past the hemorrhoids. • Mutsu. Her Yato heritage should’ve been revealed sooner. A missed opportunity for more bonding with Kagura. • Saitou also should’ve been introduced sooner with more character development. • Shinpachi and Tae, but more so Tae because many of the arcs she’s shared with Shinpachi and others tended to shift focus away from her, rarely making us privy to her inner thoughts and solo spotlight.

Favorite episode or arc? Shogun Assassination and Courtesan of a Nation arcs were absolutely stellar, peak Gintama arcs. I love episodes that deal with Gintaladies, especially Host Club arc and the famous Vegeta discussion. Rakuyou’s Joui4 badass hall-of-fame battle is something to revisit. Hijikata and Itou’s final battle.

Really, I’ve enjoyed so much of the series over the years. There is an episode/arc for every mood.

OTP(s)? HijiTae (Hijikata x Tae). Check out my side blog @hijitae for reasons. Beyond that, I don’t discuss other favourite ships except in private discussion. Most of the time, I like thinking outside the box when it comes to ships. Gintama is one of those fandoms where I don’t subscribe to many popular pairings among the majority other than a couple of them (pun intended) where the chemistry Sorachi has highlighted over the years is far too convincing to believe otherwise.

BROTP(s)? I’ll mention some lesser known, less discussed duos:

Tae and Tsukuyo – not enough of it in canon. They both work primarily at night, they both head their own districts and operative teams (as of Silver Soul time skip with a little fanon embellishment), and they have shown to care for one another’s well-being in times of war. Two badass women whose bond I explore in my fic here.

Hijikata and Tetsunosuke – all because of Baragaki arc and the potential for them to form a solid team relationship. Tetsu grows as a result of Hijikata’s influence, and in turn, Hijikata learns a bit more patience when it comes to Tetsu. Plus, they share similar backgrounds when it comes to brothers. I emphasized their growing bond in another fic here.

Saitou and Okita – I like the idea of these two being close because Okita talked about how he heard Saitou’s voice at the convenience store (and it was fun to see him toss two practice swords at Saitou, calling him “Shimaru-niisan”). And since Saitou finds making friends difficult due to his lack of socializing, and since Okita implies that he has few friends (given his general personality), I can imagine these two forming a close, unconventional bond as a result. I’ve written a bit of this idea into another fic here.

Katsura and Sacchan – extremely random, yes (funnily enough, there is fan art of them in Pixiv), but since teaming them up by chance in the fic I linked above (and another one coming soon), I’ve started to enjoy the potential of their interactions. They are both eccentric people who tend to irritate those around them with their quirks and signature gags. They would make an interesting comedic duo. Sorachi not giving nearly enough time to different combinations of interactions while having such a large cast of characters to work with is so regretful.

Kamui and Abuto – they’ve stuck by each other’s side in one way or another for so many years. You already need a lot of patience to deal with somebody like Kamui. Then, factoring in Kamui’s general disdain for most people he considers weaker than himself, he’s not exactly telling Abuto to hit the road by the final chapter. By now, they have a solid, unspoken bond.

An unpopular opinion? I’ve plenty of unpopular opinions, but I won’t be sharing them today.  

Favorite running joke? “It’s the Shogun!” “It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura.” Vertically challenged Takasugi.

Favorite OST? OP song: “Tougenkyou Alien” by Serial TV Drama ED song: “Shura” by DOES

This post is long enough, so I won’t list all of the standout favourites from each of the soundtracks. Suffice to say, I enjoy everything.

Feelings about the upcoming movie? I’ve said all that I’ve needed to say in my Critique and Farewell posts. My feelings remain unchanged. I’ll be watching the movie to close the book on a 14-year journey with Gintama. I just hope that there is enough budget for all the major scenes (although a movie and then special episode(s) afterward…might as well have just made one final season altogether). More of a new soundtrack or maybe new character theme remixes would be nice, too!

--

As for tagging...I guess anyone who wants to do this? It’s been a long time, and I’d feel awkward tagging people who aren’t here anymore or not into Gintama as much as they used to be. Sorry!

[afreakingdork]

Review: Maid-Sama! (Anime)

Ah, I’ve been wanting to revel in my old shoujo tastes for awhile. I really wanted to see if anything held up. I never watched the anime, but I read the Maid-Sama manga and I remembered it fondly, so I figured why not rewatch it with my partner! I’m happy to report it mostly aged well. Some of the clothes scream the 2000s which gives me a little bit of second hand embarrassment. The guys fair much better. I’m not sure if the author really understood how clothes look on girls because there were so many scenes were Misaki was wearing frou-frou frilly clothes that just didn’t suit her or her body type, but everyone around her was like ‘so cute!’ 

On a note I hadn’t thought of, Misaki 100% says bisexual rights! She blushes more by flirting with girls over most of the series and she even talks about how much she enjoys crossdressing. Unfortunately, this open mindset did not extend to Aoi. There’s this really powerful moment during the Beach Arc where Aoi says that she outright (no bratty attitude) prefers to be perceived as a girl and feels more comfortable and herself in feminine clothing. This is harshly undercut by her aunt Nagisa who insists on reminding her over and over again she is a boy. That transphobic tone is still there in the Japanese subtitles, but, of course, the English dub enforces the ‘you’re really a boy’ thing in a much more overt way. Even Satsuki, that’s so open minded with the spirit of Maid Latte, likes to unnecessarily ‘remind’ Aoi that she’s a boy. 

I think where the show fell flat is just how it wanted to pace the manga. I understand the manga ran from 2005-2013 and the anime came out in 2010, but there was a majority of the source material to work with. It really felt like Hinata was shoved in there at the end and his character was given no room to breathe. It honestly feels like Misaki likes him more than Usui all the way up until that last episode. My partner was particularly confused that Misaki was starting to really fall for Usui because the blushing didn’t read too differently to someone who had no prior experience with the series. He ended up really liking Hinata and almost hating Usui for how cruel he was being to Hinata. I don’t blame him! They really emphasize how sweet Hinata is while Usui, seemingly out of character, starts avoiding Misaki because he’s jealous? It doesn’t read in the short episodes we’re given and the show kind of just ends abruptly with a kiss and a supposed(?) change in attitude by Misaki. Also, good job making the whole outro about Usui’s home-life and past to just then hint at it and then never touch it in the actual series. What was the point?! It’s really a shame because all the way up until that moment I was almost proud I had shown this to my partner. It held up so well (particularly up until Hinata came in) and it was really enjoyable to see the manga panels I remember fondly brought to life. 

Verdict: 

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 25: The Abduction of P-Chan

Y’all, it has finally COME. The arc I have been wanting to rewatch for ages. One of my favorite arcs in the series. It’s time for figure skating, I’m pretty sure I remember this arc very well, and I look forward to seeing if I still love it as much as I used to.

Oh, but before I do that, I just want to go over something. I already talked about this during Season 1, but some of you might be confused why I’ve waited so long to cover this arc. It’s because the original broadcast order and the production order are different, and Hulu has things in the production order. I wanted to cover the series by broadcast date, so even though this takes place right before the original Shampoo arc, we’re not watching it until, well, now. But anyway, that done, let’s watch the episode!

I am not disappointed.

The episode starts at an ice-skating rink, where Akane is there with a few unnamed friends who want her to join the skating club, because she’s genuinely that good. However, she brought P-Chan with her and left him on the ice. Before she can get back to our transformed lost boy, someone else finds him and takes him away, calling him ‘Charlotte’.

From there, we cut to a ramen shop where Ranma is getting grilled by his friends Hiroshi and Daisuke, who want to date ‘the other Ranma’. That request goes as well as you can expect (though I do have to wonder, since it’s unclear if they think the ‘other Ranma’ is Ranma’s girlfriend or his sister, and they both want to date her, if this would be an actual polycule), but just as Ranma starts walking away, insulting Akane because his friends brought her up, she appears, looking upset.

Ranma immediately regrets that and starts backpedaling, only to realize she doesn’t care about that, she wants his help finding her pet. Luckily, that won’t be too hard, because the thief enters the same shop they’re in, carrying Ryoga around with her. Akane tries taking him back, but the girl resists.

That’s when someone shows up to help Akane, a tall attractive young man who acts like the ultimate pretty boy romance option. He apologizes, explaining his friend has a bad habit of taking things she finds cute and naming them. That just sets the girl off though, whining more and more about the matter until she challenges Akane to a figure skating match.

It’s then that we learn who these two are: Mikado Sanzenin and Azusa Shiratore from Kolholtz High School. Together, they’re a figure skating duo known as the Golden Pair, and they’ve won 950 matches with no losses. Despite this, Akane is ready to fight.

Mikado starts putting the moves on her, causing Ranma to flick some food at him. The figure skater takes that as a challenge, so it’ll be a doubles match of Ranma and Akane versus Mikado and Azusa, and it’ll be in one week.

That night at dinner, Ranma and Ryoga argue over who gets to skate with Akane, each bragging over what they can do...the only issue there is that neither can actually skate at all. Akane starts helping Ranma after he goes into the bathroom and activates his and Ryoga’s curses, since he feels like failing so badly at skating looks worse when he’s masculine.

The Golden Pair return, with Azusa snatching P-Chan to put a new collar on him, one only she can unlock, and Mikado now trying to flirt with Ranma. It’s revealed that they’re both masters of Martial Arts Figure Skating, and that’s what the match really is, as they train by defeating a hundred opponents in just nine seconds. Things get worse when he actually steals a kiss from Ranma, causing Ranma to go use hot water to turn himself back and enter the ice rink ready to fight. He punches the ice so hard that he leaves an enormous crack in it, and he claims it’s the first time in his life he’s been really mad.

That’s where the episode leaves us! But wow, I still feel like a lot happened in this one. There’s a heck of a lot for me to cover, but let’s just start with, well, all the Ranma/Akane. I’m sorry! I can’t help myself!! There was just so much of it! Whether it be Ranma worrying about making Akane mad from another “she’s not cute” kind of thing and being ready to take it back, to how annoyed he gets from Mikado flirting with her, to how after being kissed by Mikado one of the first things he worries about is that it was in front of Akane.

It was adorable!

I also think it’s remarkable how this story is just carried by the personalities of its characters. This isn’t some plot that happens to have the Golden Pair in it. The conflict is driven by Azusa’s strange kleptomania and my Mikado’s predatory behavior. Compared to some other storylines I can think of, this approach makes this one feel much more focused, as well as emphasizing the antagonists of the arc.

I’m going to give each of them their own Character Spotlight in coming weeks, but I did want to say here that I think it’s really interesting how Mikado is frequently animated to make his possessive behavior clear just through visuals, like how he holds Ranma’s arms while carrying him, to keep him from resisting his advances.

The comedy felt strong in this episode, as did the action. I wasn’t laughing the whole time or anything, but I was entertained throughout, and that’s not something I can say for a lot of episodes, sadly. It’s a strong start to this arc, and it just gets better from here...or at least that’s what the opinions I formed in high school tell me, from across the vast distance of time.

Instead of doing a Character Spotlight, I’m going to FINALLY talk about Season 2’s Opening! Since, for some reason, this is the first episode to have it...when due to broadcast order versus production order a lot of places don’t even have it in Season 1!

This song is called “Little Date”, performed by the band Ribbon. It’s a very cute little song, with elements of lighter and sillier moments but also of more emotional ones. I like it a lot more than the first opening’s song, and while I’m not sure if it’s my favorite opening, it’s one of the ones I love going back to listen to the most.

The visuals are...okay. The first half is pretty meh, a combination of original art, images from the manga, and overall less animated stuff. It’s also kind of infamous for showing Ranma’s cursed form topless, right at the start. The second half is better, and I especially love Shampoo’s introduction. The way she and the music fit together is really good, and the fact it’s at the bubbliest part of the song works really well.

On the whole, even with some more lackluster visuals, I’d still put it above the first seasons’s OP.

If it isn’t obvious, I’m very happy to be starting the Martial Arts Figure Skating Arc. I don’t know how popular it is in the larger Ranma fandom, but I know I’ve always been a big fan of it, and this time around it’s still good, at least so far. Honestly? I’m actually going to put this as the second best episode so far, I liked it that much.

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’  

Episode 25: The Abduction of P-Chan

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 19: Clash of the Delivery Girls! The Martial Arts Takeout Race

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 23: Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Episode 20: You Really Do Hate Cats!

Episode 16: Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 22: Behold! The 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire' Technique

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 21: This Ol' Gal's the Leader of the Amazon Tribe!

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Episode 18: I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!?

Episode 24: Cool Runnings! The Race of the Snowmen

This arc continues next week, and if I’m being honest, I think it’s going to top this. But maybe I’m wrong! We’ll see with “Close Call! The Dance of Death... On Ice!”. Can it be as good as Reptaur on Ice? I doubt it.

[miggydiaz]

for the salty ask: 3, 7, 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 27 for spn

I had to do this one today because I have a LOT of Supernatural feelings and so a lot of these are even longer than my CK one. But thanks for the ask @wonderwolfballoon!

UNPOPULAR SUPERNATURAL OPINIONS AHOY: INCLUDES ANTI-DESTIEL SENTIMENTS AND OTHER UNSAVORY ELEMENTS

3. Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion? 100000000% I have unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion in the SPN fandom. SPN was the fandom that taught me to make JUDICIOUS use of the blocking feature tumblr offers in order to curate my experience. I would actually encourage anyone and everyone to use the blocking feature if they disagree with people. Honestly, we don’t owe anyone our time or energy, especially on the internet! It is much healthier than sending or responding to hate, IMO. 7. Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?* This is actually a hard one for me to answer, so let me start by saying -- I have not seen a SINGLE episode since 9x05? I think? Whichever episode was the Dr. Deanlittle one where he talks to animals. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the first 5 seasons, and they are all I watch anymore and I pretend nothing else exists after that (except The French Mistake because that episode is hilarious). But uh... I guess the simple answer is when I was originally watching it, I really loved Dean. He was brash, snarky, rough around the edges... but kind of soft in a I’m too toxically masculine to deal with my softness sort of way that I love seeing characters grow out of as they mature. But when I go back and rewatch now, much older than I was in 2006 when I first started watching, I see how awful a lot of his older behavior truly was. I still love Dean, and I will be a Dean girl until I die probably, but sometimes you gotta remind yourself that your faves have been problematic in the past so you don’t put them up on fandom constructed pedestals.

10. Most disliked arc? Why? AND AS A BONUS, MY ANSWER to 11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why? I could write a literal essay about all of the problems I have with the later seasons (the ones I watched, which encompasses 6, 7, 8, and a few episodes of 9). But by far and away, the thing I hated most, was the Men of Letters.

Okay, this is where I am going to recognize my love of certain characters is at FUNDAMENTAL ODDS with how that character develops later and what history and background we get later on them. I RECOGNIZE this character is problematic, and I would NEVER STAND for his shit IRL, but fiction is complicated and nuanced, and fantastic circumstances do not make for normal behaviors. That being said, with all warnings I could possibly give, and with the full understanding that what I am about to say is basically fandom blasphemy of the highest order...

I like John Winchester’s character.

I know, I know. If you wanna stop reading and block me now, you are free to do that. I will not hold it against you. I am not about to apologize for anything he has done. I just need to contextualize why I have such an issue with the MOL storyline and it starts with the simple fact that I liked John Winchester as he was originally presented.

To me, and with the full understanding that I am answering this from the perspective of someone who DOES NOT regard anything past season 5 as personal canon, John Winchester is the perfect example of a truly complicated character. Here’s a parent who, if we take the pilot and the original s2 Djinn episodes at face value, could have been a great parent, who then got shoved into a fantastically impossible situation and made terrible choices that he thought were necessary in order to keep himself and his sons safe. That does not EXCUSE the heaps of abuse that he piled onto Dean in any way. We know John and Mary didn’t have a great marriage. But we also know from the pilot that John was at least a caring and present father, mostly,  for the 4 years he got to parent in a normal world, and that if Mary had lived, John would’ve been a softball playing dad who raised his kids and had a loving marriage with his wife. (Again, I need to reiterate, I did not watch anything past the early episodes of s9. If there is later canon that negates this, I do not know about it, nor do I want to because I don’t think of anything past 5 as canon) This is all important to me because these things emphasize that John was “NORMAL”. He was a mechanic, from a family of mechanics, whose father didn’t bail on him (a man in the episode where Dean is transported back in time to Lawrence tells John to ‘say hi to your old man for me’ or something to that effect). He was just a midwestern dude. Giving John Winchester a fantastical background through this Men of Letters bullshit made me SO MAD. First of all, I hate when later canon negates previous canon. I cannon TELL you how much I hate it. And the later seasons of Supernatural are riddled with stuff that doesn’t make any damn sense in the context of original, Kripke written canon, which is exactly why I stopped watching. That’s not ~Evolution of the show.~ That’s conveniently forgetting stuff that made your show and its premise so successful to begin with in order to keep filming episodes so you can keep making money. It’s the sacrifice of art for capitalism and yes I know this is a stupid TV show but as a writer myself it PISSES ME OFF.

/rant

ALSO, the idea that this toxically masculine family was set on this path by Heaven, and inherited this curse that put them on this path from their mother was such a good plot twist in its heyday. We spent four seasons thinking of Mary Winchester as a victim of circumstance, whose fate could not have been avoided because she was the mother to Sam, who is effectively cursed. And then, we learn that its BECAUSE of Mary that this ball even got rolling in the first place. IDK if you were around for that time in the fandom but at least in my circle, this was a big fucking deal. There had been so much (rightful) discourse about John before this, and what kind of parent he was, that Mary became almost deified in the same way Dean deifies her. And then we find out that this whole story gets set in motion by a decision she made because this was the life she found herself in. This was great. It was interesting. And even though the MOL doesn’t negate any of this, it does give John this weirdly fantastical that isn’t necessary. Let this guy be just some Joe Schmoe who fell in love with a kick ass hunter and had no idea any of this even existed. Let Mary and her want to be ‘normal’ be a complicated moral choice that fundamentally altered the paths of her husband and sons. It’s good tv!

Also, I fucking hate the bunker. The best episodes are Dean and Sam having moments in the car, or while in motel rooms on their cases, or whatever. I don’t mind them having a home base. I’m fine with that. But if a building could ever be a Mary Sue character, the bunker is it. I hate all of the MOL storyline, starting with this place.

I may not even tag this as Supernatural, I don’t need angry later season stans in my inbox.

15. Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

There’s nothing good about anything that happened after season 6. It’s all a bunch of retconning bullshit. Season 6 had its moments where it was interesting, so I cut it a little bit of slack, but as far as I’m concerned, the show ended in season 5. I’m not sure that’s necessarily unpopular, but it does feel that way on tumblr, so. 

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

Aside from ending it in season 5?

Oooh, I’m about to blaspheme again. I am definitely not tagging this as Supernatural.

I would never have introduced Castiel, and I would’ve given that entire storyline to Anna. Or, alternatively, I would’ve flipped their story lines.

Look, for whatever it’s worth... I agree with the idea that Dean Winchester is a repressed bisexual. His Dr. Sexy love, the entire storyline with Benny in season 8, etc. I just don’t think he feels romantically about Castiel. And like, that’s okay! Just because you’re not into someone who is into you doesn’t mean you owe them a relationship or anything, no matter what the fandom thinks.

But I also think Dean has a big problem when it comes to women. Again, obviously later on in the series, Dean shifts and Charlie happens and Claire Novak and I know all of these things from gifs okay, context is not applicable here because I have none. But early on, Dean struggles A LOT with thinking of women as A) capable and B) trustworthy. He exists in a perpetual state of identifying women along the Madonna/Whore binary. Even Jo, however you feel about her, and to be clear, I loved Jo, but he doesn’t stop thinking of her really as a kid until they’re about to shoot the devil. Up until then, he’s genuinely surprised Ellen lets her out of the damn house.

Giving him a strong, capable woman who rebels against Heaven for HIM would have fundamentally altered Dean’s perceptions of women much earlier on than we get and would have forced him to examine some of that misogyny head on.

Dean has no problems trusting men. This is why the entire Gordon fiasco happens, right? It was less work for him to trust Castiel because Castiel is the inverse of Ruby. Angel to her Demon. Angels and demons don’t really have genders, but for the sake of presentation of vessels, man to her woman. Not even getting me started on the problematic parts of having significant demons mostly symbolized by women (Meg, Ruby, Lilith) and having significant angels mostly represented by Men (Castiel, Michael, Lucifer, Zachariah, Gabriel, Raphael), and how that ties into the idea of Original Sin and yada yada, but just like it’s interesting to have Mary and her decisions be the catalyst for the story, it’s interesting to have this badass warrior angel in Anna who marches down to Hell to yank Dean out, and through her interactions with him, decide to rebel against the ultimate patriarchy, while Dean gets an equally strong female counterpart to Sam’s Ruby, a woman for all intents and purposes that he respects as a soldier and an ally and not just a potential piece of ass.

Also, Castiel fans being literally unbearable is why I left the fandom. Nothing against Misha or anything, and not even anything against Cas as a character (who I very much enjoyed in seasons 4 and 5), but his fans have always been the worst and they try to insert him into everything.

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

Castiel/Destiel fans, which even though I also hated the direction the show was going, drove me out of the fandom. Not like, personally or directly, but just the sheer mental hoops they had to jump through in order to make their ship work and I just got tired of seeing all of the contrived meta on my dash. Oh, and the rampant misogyny that came out of those early Castiel fans. I didn’t appreciate it from the Wincest corner, and I definitely didn’t appreciate it from the fans of the new guy. Gross.

22. Popular character you hate?

Oof. I don’t know. I don’t really hate Castiel, because again, I liked him a lot in seasons 4 and 5. Even 6 was interesting, even if I don’t regard it as my own personal show canon. I don’t think there was a popular character in those first five seasons I ever really hated. I didn’t fundamentally hate a character at all until the MOL stuff came around. Um. Yeah, I don’t really have an answer for this.

23. Unpopular character you love?

Pretty much every female character ever. Jo, Ellen, Ruby, Meg... although Meg became more popular as the series went on, Anna. Um. OH, BELA. Bela ESPECIALLY, I recently rewatched season 3 and I cannot emphasize how MUCH I love Bela. She was the best purely human foil ever. Bela is hands down the character I love most that the fandom had frothing at the mouth hatred for. It doesn’t help that I legitimately think Lauren Cohan is one of the most beautiful women on the planet. But seriously, Bela. Hands down.

24. Would you recommend XXX to a friend? Why or why not? 

I have! Many of times, and ALWAYS WITH THE CAVEAT to stop at the end of season 5. Not a single one of them has listened to me and almost all of them came to me at the end of the finale and were like WHY DID I WASTE SO MUCH TIME, and I don’t want to say I told them so, but like, I explicitly in neon colored text once told them so, so like, idk what to tell them. But yes! I think if someone is interested in some classic mystery television that has an overarching theme of family and forgiveness and striking out against the boxes that life tries to put us all into, SPN is a great show. But only the first 5 seasons. Also, be prepared for some thematically problematic parts of the show because there’s a lot of cishet toxic masculinity in those early seasons, and we should examine our media critically. There’s also a lot of good though too, and IMO, the good outweighs the bad.

25. How would you end XXX/Would you change the ending of XXX?

I would’ve ended it at season 5. I would’ve had Sam escape the pit and seen him standing under the street lamp, but then I would’ve had him walking away to leave Dean with Lisa (btw, side note, I DIDN’T like Lisa because I don’t think Dean would ever be truly happy with someone completely outside the life). Not because Sam doesn’t love his brother, but because he *does* love his brother, and because he would want Dean to be happy, even though Dean and Sam’s ideas of what makes the other happy have always been a little bit screwed up.. but that’s a different story.

27. Least shippable character?

Probably Zachariah. God, could you imagine? And... maybe Alastair, but I’m sure there are fics out there that I do not want to think about.

[spitzofseidou]

ace of diamond (season 1) review

Hey there! I have recently finished the first season of Ace of Diamond and I’m going to be reviewing on five categories: plot/pacing, characterization/relationships, voice acting, art and OST. Aaaand because of how much I enjoyed it, I’m going to throw in my favorite character, dynamic and OP/ED. At the end I’ll be adding rewatchability/recc score. 

Genre: Shonen / Sports Subgenres: Comedy / Slice of Life / School  Synopsis: Sawamura Eijun is a unique southpaw pitcher from a small town in Nagano with a lot of potential but unpolished skills. After being scouted to play for Seidou High School (a prestigous baseball school in Tokyo) he is encouraged by his friends and family to go and accept the offer and pursue his passion for baseball at a higher level. Confident to the point of arrogant, he declares that he will be the ace pitcher on this new team and be the best -- but has to grapple with the fact he is surrounded now by extremely powerful, talented players who have been honing their skills for years-- some of whom are better than him, like his rival Furuya Satoru, a pitcher with a wicked fastball. Together, this team aims to be the best in Japan and aim for the Summer Koshien, tackling formidable teams who stand in their way--as well as work on their own goals, dreams, fears and insecurities. 

Plot & pacing: The pacing of this show is very well done. In a 75 episode first season, it is rather long, with many of the baseball games drawn out. But its well worth it, as the writing brings a lot of emotional gratification by “feeling what they feel.” Starting with Sawamura being scouted, going through intense spring training and the selection of the summer starting roster, throughout the highs and lows of the summer season and into the post-summer scrimmages and finally rounding out the season with the third-year retirement game before the fall tournament raffle, every bit is given important narrative attention. 

The reveal of information through the eyes of the protagonist; not knowing about Chris Yuu Takagawa’s injury until Sawamura knows it, not knowing how much the current third years sucked as players until the right moment through flashbacks during the tipping point of the finals game, for example -- is such an important choice that we as an audience feel what he feels. The summer games feel very high stakes, the emotional impact is well-earned; every victory feels like it was earned and not given through plot armor or well ~obviously Seidou is the protagonist team, they have to win.~ Seidou as a team was written as strong but not invincible. SPOILER: This is emphasized at the finals game against Inashiro. Despite losing, while emotionally devastating, it feels like it was a logical writing choice and will be important growth for not just Sawamura but the team as a whole. 

The yips arc that follows the loss wraps up in a very wholesome retirement game, with Sawamura not fully recovering, but beginning to do truly do so, and the hopeful note of beginning the fall tournament, leaving the audience ready and excited for more. 

As a side note, Ace of Diamond very beautifully balances comedy to drama, so it takes itself seriously but is also genuinely comedic. I have two running jokes of “fellas, is it gay to x” and “screenshot of out context being x” as well as actually laughing over some of the planned jokes. But it is truly an emotional carthartic journey.

[Did I cry? yes. so much.]

characterization & relationships: All of the characters feel very well-rounded with diverse ethnic and social backgrounds and personality traits. Some may be static but many of them experience growth to become better people and players. Sawamura is a good “bouncing board” of a character, as someone who goes from arrogant to experiencing several setbacks and a devastating loss that makes him examine his own biases, weaknesses and flaws that also reveals to his opponents their own shortcomings. Several other characters are better players than him, and that’s okay. On the flipside, one of the canon examinations as well as audience reaction is that Coach Kataoka has a team who is a family, a well-oiled machine who works amazingly together because they trust and care for one another, that he encourages growth and inspires them to be the best not just as baseball players, but as individuals as well. The opposing teams are also not just blank slates to fight against, but thoughtful people with their own desires, backgrounds and flaws--Mei Narumiya is cocky and unable to handle criticism once put on a pedestal, Sanada Shunpei has low stamina, etc etc. 

Something that’s extremely important to reemphasize is the relationship the Seidou team has to one another in that everyone affects everyone else. Sawamura chooses to go to Seidou specifically because Miyuki Kazuya, a first year at the time, encouraged him to pitch, so he had one upperclassman who already believed in him by the time he enrolled. Sawamura has both batchmates (first years Furuya Satoru and Haruichi Kominato) that encourage him through rivalry (Furuya) or gentle friendship (Haruichi) and several upperclassmen he admires and multiple times states he adores this team as it is, because he looks up to them for guidance and inspiration-- quiet team captain Tetsuya Yuuki, loud outfielder Isashiki Jun (the namesake of this blog, “the spitz of seidou”), speed demons Ryousuke Kominato and Youichi Kuramochi, and more. 

In particular, he has an exchange of growth with Chris Yuu Takagawa, someone he mistook for being uncaring and hopeless about baseball with a dead-eyed appearance. Chris, after being injured, all but had given up on playing again, but Sawamura’s noisy and blunt personality who kept pushing him encouraged him to return to the field, and have hope again. Chris is a teacher that Sawamura then deeply respects and is there for him when he has the yips, returning the favor to help break him out his funk. The symbolism. *weeps*

Important to note also it that is isn’t just about Sawamura and the effect he has on them, but the relationships they have with each other. The Kominato brothers have their own relationship where Haruichi wants to be like his older brother; Isashiki may act wild and aggressive and cocky, but he is truly humbled by their team captain Tetsu; Miyuki and Chris met years before Seidou and that informs their dynamic and the kind of players they are today. This also extends to other teams; some have similarities like Akikawa Academy revering their pitcher Yang Shunchen and how that parallels with Seidou adoring Tanba even when he was out with an injury, and others juxtaposed with them i.e. how some players at Inashiro seem to resent the spotlight Mei receives or Shirakawa callously telling another player to kill himself. 

I also wanted to note the way Coach Kataoka also sees his team; he is in many ways like a stern but loving father figure who wants the best out of his boys in every way, off and on the field. Other coaches seem to care more about money or fame than their wellbeing (Coach Todoroki or the replacement coach for Seidou), and others have different styles as coaches whether from pro experience or just age. It really emphasizes that it’s not just about the talent a team may or may not have, but how those players are nurtured as people.

(Favorite relationships: Chris & Sawamura, the Kominatos, Miyuki & Chris, .)

[Side note: if you care about shipping, this is a buffet, you’re going to have a great time.]

Voice Acting: The voices of this cast are spot on. Everyone’s voice seems to match their face and personalities and all of the voice actors give 110% to the character. The voices really make it for me, as I’m very particular about the sounds. It feels very realistic and the voices really make them seem like actual people and gives the audience a reason to invest. I’ve got nothing but praise for the voice actors and voice direction of this cast. Art: I could go on and on about the art. The motion is very fluid, the backgrounds are amazing. The character designs are stunning and everyone feels unique and given thought. Style-wise it was very refreshing to see as a lot of modern anime I’ve been watching seems to have the stereotypical “2000s” feel, whereas Ace of Diamond feels like a gorgeous late nineties/early 2000s homage--fitting since, despite airing in 2013-2015, the manga originated in 2006 and it followed the art of the manga nicely. The color palettes are very beautiful and vibrant. I remarked more than once while watching it that it was clear that the artists cared for studying human anatomy, movement and realism (in comparison to how some battle shonen care more for looking cool.) The art is what drew me in to begin with and it never disappointed.  OST: I loved the OST so much. Frying-Pan did such an amazing job delivering gorgeous pieces of music. The beauty of it was just off the charts and went above and beyond to make fitting pieces for character themes, scenario specific pieces etc. Also the OPs by Tom H@ck and Glay were appropriately themed and got me pumped every time. I love the various endings also and their little character revealing bits. I like them all so much I never skipped them while watching.

[Favorite OP: Perfect Hero. Favorite ED: Cloud Nine. I listen to Cloud Nine literally every day.] Can I rewatch? Absolutely! Even knowing what’s going to happen, the emotional journey is worth it.  Would I recommend? 10/10. Even if you don’t like sports, this is a great one. It was my first sports anime and it has set the bar so very high. 

[carmenpeach]

aauuuauuaaugtgghhhh whats your favourite show rn and why? sell it to m bruh tell me all about it

this may be a surprise but its... hunter x hunter LOL for a lot of different reasons...

without spoilers best i can, first of all the storytelling/ world building of it is so precise and detailed, thought out years in advance to tie so much of it together as it progresses. watching it a 2nd time i saw many more little details of allusions to parts that wouldnt even be written in the manga for years (im think about watching through the end of yorknew again tbh) i think it has such good rewatch value well beyond just for entertainment. and i feel it's worth noting that i have a hard time just sitting down and watching things since it's hard for me to focus for too long (and when i first watched it at 19 i watched 75 episodes in 10 days somehow?)

the narration throughout it can be a little drawn out sometimes but the story would have a lot less impact without it. togashi (author/ artist) goes into such detail about aspects of the story to add to the experience is so well rounded. especially when it comes to nen (the "magic powers" of the series) and how it functions i feel that nen could be real.

beyond that i feel the main pull of it is the characters. even side characters add so much to the story that they dont come across like unnecessary/ filler elements. one fault for sure is how some female characters are just plot elements but that improves over time. but it's the main four, gon killua kurapika and leorio, is what makes the whole thing come together. the way they interconnect with each other is amazing. from narrative foils to the bonds they form. the show is about love at its core, how these characters love each other and how they sacrifice for each other (not always in the best way but in what they think is the best, from self sacrifice to separation).

i know everyone says this, but really it's a love story also romantically. it's definitly about killua and gon being in love, there is no other way to interpret their relationship really. i feel like if i saw this show as a closeted 12 year old then realizing im gay wouldnt have been so complicated tbh but that's besides the point.

it's really how intricate the whole story is woven together, how the focus shifts between the main 4 (and how even though gon is the protagonist, we havent even seen him the current arc and we are back on kurapika and hopefully leorio too, which makes sense since the chimera ant arc was only killua and gon)

it's also how serious the series gets as it progresses which is also another thing a lot of people talk about with it, especially in the manga right now. the chimera ant arc is where this switch clearly happens and it gets pretty brutal (my first watch of hxh i stopped in the middle of this arc since it got a little too intense for me. seeing not only gon and killua having to be child soldiers and dealing with loss and revenge while trying to protect each other and fighting the ants while also seeing the whole situation from the ants part of view) (side note yeah the enemy are ants but they end up being anthropomorphic creatures) and it's when we really see gon and killua pushed to their limits :(

but my favorite arc is the yorknew/ phantom troupe arc because it's a kurapika arc and i LOVE kurapika. everything about his character hurts so much. i feel like kurapika has the most obvious at first development to changes with his character and even though this arc is before the ant one, it definitly sets the tone for how the series is going to slowly change. im definitly more biased towards kurapikas role in the story which i think is... a little obvious by the way every other post by me is about him LOL but this whole part really sets the tragedy of the series too (but also shows that all the suffering isnt pointless and how love still shines through etc but that could be a whole long post on its own....)

anyways the show starts off so fun and happy like most shonen, and even though it follows similar story points like most (journey begins, trials and goals, training under mentor etc) it quickly becomes very unique and goes off track of this average heros journey (though yes i know almost every story follows this, i really cannot emphasize enough that hxh takes it a step further beyond "hero goes out to reach an end goal" considering that goal is met already 2 arcs i think before the current)

and i feel bad not touching much on leorio since his character tends to get sidelined unfortunately, and many people think he isnt too important just because his journey isnt about some huge difficult adventure, it's to be a doctor to help anyone in need for free, placing everyone else's wellbeing as absolute importance (and the way this works as a narrative foil and strain between him and kurapika is amazing too) (and hes handsome)

well i wasnt planning on writting an essay but. here it is, written kinda sloppy since im just trying to get my thoughts out. it's both painful and rewarding to watch but ultimately worth it. pls watch hxh (i STRONGLY recommend the 1999 adaption. i could also write a huge post on the difference between 1999 and 2011 but that's for another day)

[yiulee999]

Hey! What do you think of OPM season 2? I still love it & am looking forward to next weeks new episode but i just wish Saitama had more screen time ;-(

hey nonny~! 

apologies for the late reply, its a combo of not getting notifications (tumblr u useless trashbucket) and being on surgery rotation (i miss sleeping so much) 

firstly, i am truly glad you still love it and look forward to the new episodes!!! 💖💖💖please dont let anything i say from this point on dissuade you from that enjoyment 

THAT BEING SAID 

///cut for length 

ive only watched up to the second episode, and i am having Such Difficulties convincing myself to keep watching. i know my rxns to ep 1 were overall pretty positive and I stand by it but the more i watch the more the Cringe/Hypercritique starts take over. 

Turns out, the art style had a bigger impact than i thought on the length of which i enjoy shows. personally, i just really like when anime/shows have a happy marriage between writing and artwork. and when show directors know how to interpret writing, how to set up a scene (the angle, the music, the pacing), and then communicate with artists who have the skills to bring that idea to life using the medium they’re given -- that’s when writing becomes storytelling. OPM’s writing is still fantastic since they’re going off ONE (whereas GoT has the opposite problem where the production value is 4K and the writing is early 2000s livejournal/fanfiction lol god why is everyone dropping the ball in 2019??)

As for the art, since opm switched to jc staff and shingo natsume & co. left for other projects ( ;;_____;; im emo ), its inevitable we would see a drop in animation quality and i find myself constantly getting distracted by things i never used to get concerned about in the first season (bc of the high bar of expectations set by s1 artists/directors, like theres just no way jc staff would match up it to all of that and i feel bad for them, they’re trying their best but that doesn’t mean theyre immune to critique on the artistic liberties that they’ve taken that i feel as a viewer, may not have been the best choice?) 

the shading: no, just, unnecessary and distracting and why is it the center of saitamas face, im by far no expert in lighting but a bish can tell something doesnt look right??? 

the shading pt II: color choices. just gonna say i was not expecting sai’s ‘hair shirt’ in ep 1 to be bright-ass neon green, it was a little jarring at first and i miss him in red ;-; i get hes supposed to have poor fashion choices but i dont see him as the type to pick something that stands out so much in the crowd, like he likes to be left alone. NEON doesnt really relay ‘hi dont mind me im just barely existing here lol’ 

the shading pt III: genos arms/neck. okaY so the bby looks good in screenshots. like he’s shiny and nice to look at when nothings moving. bUT this is animation?? movement of objections is different from still life manga so making every single scene almost 99% like murata’s panels translates a little awkwardly to the screen (like staff is lucky bc murata’s a force of nature with his panels playing out like a movie for ref). but when genos moves, the arms are just distracting bc everything around him is drawn simply without shadows so they stand out by themselves and i (visually) forget about the rest of him haha. 

the pacing: it feels scripted, person A says this so we’ll show person A in the shot, then person B is saying something so we have to cut to person B, etc etc like keeping pretty steady to manga lines to the point where i was starting to get bored bc i knew what was coming. it was really intervaled? like someone had to be saying something at a certain effect and i think s1 had more dramatic pauses (lol) but thats how you can place emphasis on scenes to have an emotional impact if the character doesnt say anything and just let the soundtrack do some talking and the cadence of the script will change too (im 10000% talking about the sunset scene in s1 god bless. like it was slow, there was MOOD there wasn’t any rush and really gave the viewer time to think about the relationship between the two characters and what that moment meant to each of them) i feel like there were several scenes that could have been more like in the scene where sai protected fubuki, could have been a little more dramatically emphasized (aka just a pause) so the viewer could get a chance to understand that he purprosefully shielded her or when genos says that strong heroes are drawn to saitama--bUT nope its the same pace, like c l o c k w o r k just like my t eARS--

the fight scenes: how do i even start. the one scene that got me INTO opm (like watching the anime, reading the manga, drawing fanart, writing fanfic, reading fanfics etc) was kickstarted by the fight scene between genos and saitama in s1 that was circulating on tumblr a while back. i thought the characters were interesting and the fight was badass and it just looked SO COOL. (also the forehead flick at the end just kinda sealed my fate). going from that to s2 fight scenes where its mostly cut scenes and freeze scenes?? where theres a cut out behind the characters back?? during a fight scene????? this isn’t a calling card or an anime opening??? i dont understand. when they dont do cut scenes, its interesting but my initial impression is just underwhelmed. i can find good parts but it feels like i have to replay the scene to notice it? theres also an overwhelming amount of graphics/cgi manipulation that overpowers the actual art sometimes. its lacking some of the fluidity that comes from hand drawn fight scenes from first season. OTL

the sound directing: so i thought that the mood just felt off for certain scenes and the sound didn’t seem to support the scene as well (unless it was like the character’s theme or smtg) and i looked it up and the sound director was also replaced (Yoshikazu Iwanami replacing Shoji Hata). i have no idea if the sound director is also in charge of character lines but there were parts were fubuki was monologuing and i had no idea she was inner monologuing, i thought she was talking out loud and that just took extra effort on my part to re-orient myself (im nitpitcking i know but its just how i watch shows lol) 

there are still some parts i like about the animation:

fubuki looks bangin and i love her👌👗

all of this just made me realize how insanely lucky we were to have an amazing s1 and just have it exist and how i really could not care less if they had just waited forever to make s2 as long as we had the same crew come back. but anime is still a business and the quicker they dish out merch/seasons, the more money they can bring in. which they do in the short run but they would bring in more if they spent a little more on quality in the long run and it becomes one of those classics that ppl will rewatch and keep recommending to ppl who want to get into anime and oh my god we’re never gonna have that now, are we. if im gonna rec it to a friend its gonna be ‘read the manga!’ or ‘just watch s1!’ uGH. its just an unfortunate situation, its not one person’s fault either, so many factors go into what made opm s1 so spectacular and seeing s2 just made me appreciate s1 more. i guess im happy to have a s2 regardless? 

i’ll still watch to support (and bc i like suiryuu and wanna see sai in a karate gi and wig lol). maybe i just have to get used to the new style. 

so in summary,